Page 56 of Thunderstruck
Mel frowns. “You’re either being a baby, or this is worse than I’d like. And you’ve never been a baby, Auxier.”
Moxie clenches his jaw, sweat dripping down the sides of his face. “I’ll be fine for the second half.”
“Carissa, help me get him up.”
We each grab an arm, and Moxie groans as we haul him to his feet. He’s putting weight on his leg, which is a good sign, but that doesn’t mean he avoided serious injury. Surrounded by sweaty Thunder players, we slowly move off the field to words of encouragement and concerned questions.
“Dean Oldman will sub in for Malcolm Auxier and finish out the first half,” the announcer says, and the rest of the team reluctantly heads back onto the field to play the last few minutes.
By the time we get Moxie to a chair, he looks completely spent, and I have a bad feeling that he’s downplaying the amount of pain he’s in. I don’t think anyone touched him during that play, but from what I saw, I can guess what might have happened.
I really hope I’m wrong.
“Talk to me, Malcolm,” Mel says. Her voice wavers as she crouches in front of him. She seems to be trying to see inside his knee with how laser focused she is on it.
The knee is already swelling, and as we were walking, his leg kept wobbling, like he had no control over where the limb went. I’ve seen that before.
“Mel!” someone shouts.
She bites her lip, reluctant to leave.
“Go,” Moxie breathes. “Carissa’s got me.”
I nod to agree, and Mel reluctantly jogs down the field to help another player. She passes Cole, who meets my gaze with a furrowed brow before he returns to the game.
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” Moxie says, pulling my eyes back to him. “I can see it in your eyes.”
My stomach knots again. “I’m not the expert here. Mel should—”
“Tell me.”
“You might have torn your ACL.”
He moans, closing his eyes and dropping his head back. “Tell me something else.”
I worked with plenty of knee injuries at the clinic, and while it’ll take a physician to offer an actual diagnosis, I know what I saw. “Did you feel anything pop?”
He growls. “Am I going to regret it if I say yes?”
“Do you think lying to me will change the outcome?” I throw back.
The announcer says something about the first half coming to an end, and we’re suddenly swarmed by the Thunder. They all want to know what happened and if Moxie will be okay, and he puts on a smile and forces out some jokes before telling the team to hit the locker room. There are only fifteen minutes in between halves, so he probably doesn’t want them towaste any time.
As the Thunder filters into the tunnel, Mel joins me, looking frazzled. “I’m not very optimistic,” she whispers to me.
“Me neither,” I whisper back.
“I can hear you,” Moxie whispers in turn. His eyes are closed again, his whole body tense. “Someone tell me I can still play. Please.” Based on the desperation in his voice, he already knows that’s not going to happen.
Tears fill my eyes, and I furiously try to blink them away as I turn my back to Moxie so he doesn’t see. He’ll recover. Eventually. But if I’m right about his ACL, there’s no way he’s playing the rest of this season. When my vision clears, I realize not all of the Thunder went to the locker room. Cole is standing just a few feet away, his expression anguished as he stares at Moxie.
I don’t think. I just step forward and wrap my arms around Cole’s torso even though he’s hot and sweaty. He tucks his arms around me without hesitation, and I don’t know if he’s comforting me or the other way around. I was right about how it feels to be held by him, but this is far from the circumstances in which I would have liked to experience Cole’s enveloping hold for the first time. Still, I bury my face in his chest and cling to his protective embrace, hoping he can make everything better.
Some first game this has been.
Chapter Sixteen
Cole
