Page 129 of Unbreakable
Our friends. I hoped Jeannie saw the significance of that small phrase. We had friends again. It was still early, and they weren’t Rachel and Chappy, but we had friends.
“Do you want me to get them or just go home?”
“I need to go home. I need you.”
FORTY-NINE
JEANINE
NOW | JANUARY
Soooo this is Dyl’s knee right now
(pic)
RACHEL
EW OMG
I mean
Yikes. I’m so sorry.
For both of you
“Let me get your door.”
Christine still had our kids from the night before when Dylan got injured. It had been a long day of outpatient appointments, one after the other. The team doctor, an orthopedic consult, imaging, a follow-up, and an initial consult between all the members of his care team. The privilege of being a professional athlete is having a care team that can meet like that.
He’d torn his MCL, which of all the ligaments, apparently that one was the least troublesome. He didn’t need surgery, butit was going to be a full-time job to rehab it. Dylan pivoted once his left foot was on the ground and winced, sucking air through his teeth.
“No twisting, no twisting,” I reminded him. “Rely on the brace. Take the crutches.”
“I’m so pissed,” he grumbled.
“I know, baby. Let’s get you back on the couch.”
I sat on the floor next to the couch where I got Dylan settled with an ice pack and a pillow for his leg.
“Thank you,” he said.
“It’s just six to eight weeks,” I said. “You’ll be back before you know it.”
He sighed. “Realistically, probably not until April.”
“Well, that’s still this season.”
He rested his head back on the arm of the couch, pinching the bridge of his nose and squeezing his eyes shut. “What if this is the sign that it’s time to quit? This is going to be so much work.”
I laced my fingers with his. “Do you want to quit?”
“If I quit, we can go back to California.”
I stuck my lip out. “Sure. But what do you want?”
“I want you to be happy. And I screwed up in coming here.”
I shook my head. “I used to think that, but I don’t really think that anymore.”
