Page 29 of Coping Skills

He said the last sentence with conviction. Was he trying to convince her or himself?

But she didn’t feel like arguing, so she nodded. “What happened out there? Do you know? From where I was sitting I just saw him go over the back of that one guy, then a big pile of bodies, and when they got up, he didn’t. Did he land on his head or something?”

Lips compressed into a thin line, Coop nodded. “Yeah. Kind of on the side of his head. But I think when number thirty-six on the other team tripped and fell on Carter’s head, that was what did it. I saw him go down, and even though falling on your head sucks, the way he went down shouldn’t have knocked him out on its own.”

“Oh.” He’d hit his head, then someone tripped and fell on it? That was worse than she’d thought. “Thanks for filling me in.”

“Sure. Of course.” He opened his door, so she did the same, and they climbed out, following the signs to the Emergency Room entrance.

Coop lifted the old-school phone next to the door they’d been directed to at the front desk and told whoever answered they were there to see Daniel Carter. With a buzz, the door opened, and Coop ushered her through. “They said he’s in room eight.”

Following the numbers on the doors, they found his room, slipping around the curtain to see him lying on a hospital bed, one arm thrown over his eyes, a blanket pulled up to his chest, his red Marycliff jersey peeking out of the top, looking oddly deflated without his shoulder pads underneath it. One of the trainers sat in a chair off to one side reading a magazine. The trainer looked up as she and Coop walked in. Daniel lifted his arm, blinking at them, then a smile broke out on his face.

“Hey! You guys came to keep me company, huh?”

Elena hung back at the foot of the bed while Coop moved to the side, clasping Daniel’s extended hand for a second before letting go. “Of course, man. Everyone knows hospitals are boring as hell, so your girl and I are here to entertain you. Plus, you’ll need a ride home once they clear you to leave.”

Daniel chuckled softly. “Yeah, man. I got back from the CT a few minutes ago, so you have good timing. We’ll be here for a while waiting for the results. I heard them announce a trauma on its way, so that’ll take priority over me.” He turned his attention to Elena. “What’re you doing way down there? Come over here.”

She stepped around to the side of the bed, following his beckoning hand. Coop moved out of the way, giving her room to stand next to Daniel. The rail was down on that side of the bed, and he looped his arm around her, pulling her close.

He let out a sigh, closing his eyes. “I’m glad you came. I wanted to text you, but they wouldn’t let me have my phone.”

“It’s fine. If you have a concussion, you shouldn’t use your phone anyway.”

“He has a concussion.” Elena turned at the sound of the trainer’s voice. She’d barely paid attention to the pale woman sitting off to the side of the room with her brown hair pulled back in a bun and wearing khaki pants and a Marycliff Football polo.

“You’re sure?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Elena wasn’t used to being called ma’am. It felt weird. “He lost consciousness after a hit to the head. His balance is off, and he shows other signs of minor cognitive impairment consistent with a concussion. We just want to make sure there’s no bleeding.”

“Of course.” Her voice came out weak, and she had to swallow down the bile rising up in her throat at the mention of bleeding being a possibility.

Elena sagged against the bed, grateful for its support and the warm weight of Daniel’s arm around her waist. Its presence grounded her, reminded her that he was conscious and aware, and staved off the flashes of memory that ignited every time she closed her eyes—memories of a different hospital bed holding her unconscious father, him blinking at her when she came to visit after he finally woke up like he couldn’t figure out why she would be there, him yelling and throwing dishes at the nurses, overturning his table when he got angry or irritated, which seemed to be most of the time.

No. Daniel wasn’t like that. He was conscious, and while he seemed a little sleepier and dopier than normal, he was himself and glad to see her and Coop. She clung to that thought while they waited, Coop filling in Daniel on how the game ended. She stayed with him, half her weight on the bed next to Daniel, one foot still on the floor, his arm staying wrapped around her. He kept his eyes closed a lot of the time, and that was good. He needed to rest so his brain could heal.

After what felt like an eternity, the doctor swept the curtain aside and strode into the room. He glanced at Elena and Coop and introduced himself to them as Dr. Reed. “Well, Daniel, your CT is clear—no skull fractures and no bleeding—which means you can go home. You took a pretty hard hit, though, so be sure to rest as much as you can so you can recuperate with as little stimulation as possible. If you feel dizzy, you can take some dramamine, but it’ll make you sleepy, so keep that in mind. Any questions?”

Daniel had opened his eyes and sat up as the doctor spoke. “Yeah, uh, could I get a note for my professors? I think I might miss a couple days of class.”

Dr. Reed chuckled. “Of course. The nurse will be in with your discharge papers in a few minutes. She’ll have the note, too.” He shook Daniel’s hand and gave the trainer a nod before striding out of the room.

Coop sat up in his chair. “Oh, man. I forgot to bring your street clothes in. They’re in the car. Hang on, and I’ll get ‘em.”

He stood, but Daniel waved him back down. “Don’t worry ‘bout it, man. I’ll change at home.”

The trainer stood, placing her magazine back into the rack on the wall. “Since your friends are here, I’ll go ahead and go. Coach Hanson and I will be in touch to monitor your recovery and get you approved for play again.”

“How long do you think I’ll be out?”

“A week or two, probably. We’ll see how it goes.” She shook his hand too and slipped past the privacy curtain, leaving Daniel to Elena and Coop.

Daniel gave her a sleepy smile. “Sounds like I’ll have lots of time to hang out.”

“Yeah.” She couldn’t bring herself to look him in the eye. Relief didn’t begin to describe how she felt that he seemed okay. Everyone, including the doctor, seemed to expect him to be just fine in a week or two. Though she knew from bitter experience that doctors tended to tell you the hoped-for scenario as the likely possibility even if it wasn’t. Her dad gave the perfect example of that. They’d assured her mom again and again that cases like his often made a full recovery. But he hadn’t.

Daniel wasn’t her dad. She had to remind herself of that. He would be fine. But the toll of waiting and wondering was too much. She couldn’t do this again and again. And she knew that every game he played she would feel this anxiety that he’d get hurt again, that this would be the day he got hit so hard or so many times that he had long-lasting problems.

Too bad he wasn’t a boxer or MMA fighter. She never would’ve gotten involved with him then. Now she was in too deep to extract herself painlessly. It would kill her to end things with him, but she didn’t see any other choice.

And he would be so hurt. Especially on top of getting injured in the game. Should she wait to break it off? Maybe. At least wait until after tonight. She’d help Coop get him home, and then she’d have Hannah come pick her up and figure it out from there. No need to make any decisions right now.

The nurse’s arrival stopped her thoughts and made her realize she’d been unconsciously chewing on her thumbnail again. This had to stop. Or her nails would be rough nubs again.

Elena walked beside the nurse as she wheeled Daniel out to the entrance where Coop would meet them with the car, entertaining them with a story about a man who’d come into the ER a few weeks ago and climbed into the drop ceiling.

And Elena did her best to only worry about what was happening right then, pushing away all thoughts of the painful conversation she knew loomed ahead of her.

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