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My glare stays pinned on Billy, and Joe notices this before he shakes his head. “I know Billy’s your guy and you two are close, but he does this sometimes,” he says as he glancesfrom me to Billy, then back to me again. “You know how he gets uncontrollable when he’s too drunk. It doesn’t happen frequently,but it does.”
Just then, Billy’s head whips over inmy direction, and the smile on his face falters. Joe is right. I do know Billy’s weakness,but he’s stayed sober for a long time now and I didn’t think…I didn’t think this through, and trusting him was my mistake.
The other players he’s with laugh and jeer at him while poking his shoulder, and he doesn’t take his eyes off me the entire time.
A shadow falls across his expression and hints at guilt, but I’m too pissed to consider it. All I hear is the hilarious trickle of laughter filling the air, taunting me until I grit my teeth hard.
I toss the ball to the ground, and Billy heads toward me. I march toward him, too, ignoring Joe’s warning not to cause a scene.
“Let it go, man. It’s not worth it,” Joe says while trying to pull me back. The pound of adrenaline is all I can focus on. I can nearly taste the sour feeling of anger on my tongue.
“What are you looking at, man?” I challenge Billy, letting my building annoyance get the best of me. Joe tries to stop me again, but I push his hand aside.
“Trevor, I didn’t mean for it to …” Billy starts speaking, but I don’t give him the chance to finish his statement before I shove him back a bit.
“Dude,” Billy calls out. “I’m sorry, okay. I didn’t mean to tell anyone. I just got wasted and …”
“Next time, don’t go telling my business to the press, got it?” I say, and Billy’s about to reply when our coach blows a whistle to distract us.
“Game time, guys,” he announces, cutting into our fight and clapping twice to get our attention.
We gather to resume the game. Once the ball gets to me, I start my dribble, dodging every player until I make it to the net and slam the dunk.
My ankle twists as I land on the ground, and a searing ache slices through me. A hushed silence fills the air as I drop to the ground, roll over, and clutch my leg with both hands.
“Trevor … Dude …” voices call around me, but their terrified sounds fade away as the roar of my ache fills my ears and echoes through my head. The pain keeps me rooted to the ground, and the chaos erupts around me as the first aid team runs towards us on the court.
The rest happens in a blur, and the medic team rushes me out of the court on a gurney.
“You’re gonna be fine, dude,” Joe says while they take me to the ambulance waiting outside. I can’t think through the pain and the blinding sting of tears.
***
About an hour later, Doctor Gilbert examines my ankle in a private hospital room, and my teammates gather outside the door, all waiting for news about my injury.
“It looks like a sprain, but we’ll have to do a scan to make sure nothing’s broken. In the meantime, I’ll need you to keep that ice pack over the swelling,” the team’s doctor explains as she adjusts the ice pack over my ankle.
“Thanks,” I say to her with a shaky smile, and I don’t miss the flush that creeps up her neck before she gives me a flirtatious grin. The team always has a doctor on standby to treat any players who get injured.
“You know, you’ve never been in here for any injury of the sort,” she says and gently places a hand on my upper arm. The door bursts open, and Gracie comes running in.
She’s all flustered as she tosses her bag to the ground, then rushes towards me.
“Oh my goodness, are you alright? What happened?” she cries, her eyes wide with panic as she peers down at me.
The doctor instantly withdraws and clears her throat. “Looks like it’s just a sprain. He’ll be fine,” she says to Gracie, then tucks her hands into her pocket. “We’ll do an x-ray just to be sure though, and I’ll write him a prescription for the pain.”
“So, it’s nothing serious?” Gracie asks in a shaky voice. “I mean, he can still play, right? I’ve heard of athletes and injuries that end their careers. This is nothing like that, right?”
Gracie’s eyes are wide as she rambles on with her questioning, and Doctor Gilbert only smiles at her. “I’m sure he’ll be fine. It’s nothing serious,” she says to console Gracie, then leaves the room.
Alone with Gracie now, she huffs in a deep breath, then pins those bright eyes on me.
“How did this happen?” Her lower lip trembles as she asks, and the tears in her eyes melt my insides. “When I got the call from Zane, I thought it was a terrible accident. He sounded so panicky, and I just … Goodness, I thought you’d lost a leg.”
Her right hand rests on my shoulder and offers me a little comfort before she blows the air out of her lips again and closes her eyes.
“It’s cute when you worry about me,” I whisper, and she smacks my arm. “Ouch,” I groan, then chuckle with her as her laugh fills the air and warms my heart.