Nurse Peggy was hot in that way that only nurses can be. They always look so healthy and clean, don’t they? I’d been flirting shamelessly with her all weekend - it was the only thing I could do to take my mind off my miserable situation. Luckily, she’d given as good as she’d received, and it felt like we were old friends by now. It was pretty clear on day one I wasn’t going to be fucking this one, but maybe that was for the best. I needed more friends and less ex lovers…
“You ready to go home, Colorado?” she asked.
“I thought you’d never ask, Peggy,” I replied, winking at her.
“Your home, cowboy. Not mine,” she said, shaking her head and laughing. “Not that I wouldn’t mind having a piece of you… If you’re not careful I’ll ask the doctor if he’s got any bits of that shattered knee still laying around the office.”
“Oh, Peggy, you’re a twisted woman, aren’t you?”
“The best kind of twisted,” she said, as she pressed a cold stethoscope to my chest.
“Maybe you need a good man to straighten you out,” I said.
“Talk about unicorns,” she replied wearily.
“Touche!” I said, laughing.
“This guy harassing you again, Peggy?” my coach, Will Fox asked as he walked in the door. He’d been checking in on me everyday since the accident and I was glad to see him.
“Does he ever stop flirting?” she asked.
“Nope,” he replied. “I’ve even seen him sweet-talking the football before he throws it.”
“I’m not surprised,” she quipped. “Does it work?” she asked, turning back to me.
“Better than it does with you!” I replied.
We all laughed as Will sat in the chair next to my bed.
“You ready to get out of here, Champ?” he asked.
“God yes, I can’t wait to get home to my own bed!”
“Not so fast, Romeo,” Peggy said. “Doc said you have to go straight to rehab.”
“Today?”
“Yes, today,” Will replied. “There’s no time to waste. You’ll be spending most of your days at rehab, you can go home at night, but you gotta get right back there every morning. You have about six months of healing to do in three months time.”
“I was hoping for at least a day to rest,” I replied.
“You just spent three days in the hospital on your ass,” Peggy said. “You slept the whole time.”
“You’re not helping, darlin’,” I replied, wearily.
“I’m not here to help you slack off. I’m here to kick your ass into gear.”
“Are you always such a hardass?” I asked.
“Nope. Only to cocky sonsofbitches like you,” she winked, handing me a clip board with discharge papers attached. “Sign these and you’re out of here.”
I shook my head, scribbled my name and handed the clipboard back to her.
“Sure you don’t want to give me your number before I leave?” I asked.
“I’m sure, Colorado,” she replied. “You take care of that cute tush, okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah…” I replied, looking warily over at Will. “Alright, we’ll I guess you’re the boss.”
“I like it when you call me that,” he said, standing up and handing me my crutches.
“Shouldn’t I be in a wheelchair?”
“And let your other leg get weak, too? No way. You’re going to work your ass off until you’re back to a hundred percent. No short-cuts.”
“Goddammit, I’m surrounded by a bunch of tyrants!” I exclaimed.
“Yeah, well, you gotta earn those millions, buddy,” he said, helping me to my feet and helping me place the crutches under my arms. Grady stood at my side, ready to catch me if I fell. “Unless you want to hand over all this fame and glory to the next guy in line?”
“Over my dead fucking body.”
4
MAISEY
In my quiet nights alone during the last ten years, I’d imagined this moment happening a million times. I’d wished for it to happen and prayed for it not to, all at the same time. I’d thought about what I might say. The things I wouldn’t say. Questions I would ask. Answers I might receive.
And yet nothing had truly prepared me for the way I was feeling right now. I reminded myself that I was a professional. I reminded myself that I had no choice but to open the door in front of me, and that no amount of unexplained begging to Larry was going to get me out of it. I’d tried. Twice.
I had no choice but to face the demons of my past. Today. Right now. In patient room number three, the most luxurious physical therapy suite of the Steadman Hawkins clinic, my worst nightmare was waiting for me like a monster in a closet.