You, Worry?

I thought I was gone. I had the rugby ball tucked tight in my arm and I just ran. There wasn’t anyone ahead of me on the field, I had broken through the line of defenders, and I was flying. I hadn’t ever run so hard in my life.

That’s probably why I didn’t see her coming - the giant girl from the other team coming at my blind spot on the right. She took me around the waist and I went down hard. I heard the popping of a few ribs and I felt my left arm dislocate from the impact. I dropped the ball, which was picked up by one of my teammates, and immediately curled into a ball.

I heard footsteps behind me, ones not made by rugby boots. I heard my coach’s voice mingling with my mom’s, and a shadow fell over my view as they bent over me. Times like this made me glad that my mom was a nurse.

She laid a hand on my side, probably trying to get my attention so she could check for a concussion, but I cried out in pain before she could say anything. I didn’t even realize that the cracked shout was mine until a second later.

“Cracked ribs,” I heard her say. DJ, my coach, groaned. “We need to get her off the field. I can’t carry her, though.”

“I’ve got her, DJ,” a third voice said. I knew the owner of the voice without opening my eyes; it was Tyler.

“Careful!” my mom warned, but there was no need. I was swept up wedding-style in gentle arms. My ribs and arm twinged a little, but not nearly as much as they could have. I took a rattling breath and tried to block out the pain.

“Ssh,” Tyler mumbled into my hair. “We’re getting you out of here, okay?”

I was a little surprised. I’d never seen this side of Tyler before. He’d always been the class clown, or the hardcore rugby and football player.

I looped my good arm around his neck and rested my head on his chest, letting myself pass out.

~

“So a concussion, a few cracked ribs, and a dislocated left shoulder,” a voice whispered. “We’ll keep her one more night to make sure things have set right, and then she can go. No real activity for a while, though.”

“Yeah, okay,” my mom said, probably to the nurse. “Can he stay? He hasn’t left her side since she was brought in.”

“Of course,” the nurse replied. “He’s asleep anyways. We won’t wake him up.”

“All right. Thank you.” Footsteps shuffled s as the two of them left. I settled into my stiff pillow and opened my eyes just a little. Tyler was on one of those super uncomfortable chairs, sleeping in an awkward position. Now I was really surprised - I never expected him to stay with me. As long as he was still sleeping, though, I turned over and settled in as much as I could.

“You awake?” Tyler’s drowsy voice came from behind me.

“Yeah, kind of.”

I heard a pop as he stretched. “That damn chair sucks.”

“Then come sit over here.” I started to sit up, but he was already right beside me.

“Don’t sit up. You’re all broken.”

“Fine,” I sighed. My heart raced as I looked up at him. I had a crush on him for the longest time, and now here he was, standing watch over me while I was in the hospital. “Thanks for staying,” I said, not being able to think of much else to say.

“No problem.” He hesitated a little before admitting, “I was worried, actually.”

I faked a gasp, trying to hide the fact that I was blushing. “You, worry? Nuh uh!”

He shrugged. “About you, I guess I was.”

That made me pause. I looked up at his face, and there was this moment of quiet, just us looking at each other. I loved it.

He moved first, crawling over my feet and coming up to lie behind me. I drowned in the feeling of warmth emanating from him, of his arm draped delicately over my waist. I got goosebumps from his light breath on my neck.

“This doesn’t hurt, does it?” he mumbled.

“Not at all.”