Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 86321 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86321 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
The segment cuts to clips of Zimmerman’s career and highlights from today’s game. He has been in the league one year longer than I have, but our games are similar and the media has compared us against one another. He excels in places that I’m weak and vice versa. He also has a better team than I do at the moment.
Still, I wouldn’t wish an accident like this on anyone. It’s tough on your psyche to lose a game and then to have this happen. I feel sorry for him, losing his girlfriend like this. I can’t imagine what he’s going through.
When Peyton announced that she was heading to Northwestern, I acted happy for her. Truthfully, I wanted her to go to UCLA with Elle because selfishly I liked the idea of them being together, but Peyton wanted to spread her wings and be on her own. I understood her reasoning, wanting to break away from being a twin. It was the same reason I chose to stay away from the University of Texas…my dad. Not that they wanted me to play football for them.
Deep down I was nervous that Peyton would be in Chicago by herself and when I was drafted I was praying that the Bears would take me. It was a long shot considering they didn’t need a quarterback, but I had hoped. Moving from Beaumont to Chicago is life changing. The fast-paced world of a major city is vastly different from the ho-hum life that we were used to living. But Northwestern has the best sports broadcasting program in the country and that’s what Peyton wanted.
Watching ESPN, I kept waiting for them to announce the name of Zimmerman’s girlfriend. There was a growing pit in my stomach that this accident and Peyton’s were somehow related, but I can’t put much stock into it because if she had a boyfriend, she would’ve told me, even if the guy she was seeing was someone in the league. Honestly, I expected Peyton to marry a pro baller. He’d be the only one who could keep up with her and keep her on her toes.
The flight attendant walks by, telling us we’re about to land. I rouse Betty Paige so she had a chance to be alert when we hurry off the plane and into the waiting car. I half expect a media frenzy at the hospital, but I’m hoping that word hasn’t gone out that Harrison’s daughter is in the hospital. It’s bad enough when we have to deal with the media on a normal day.
“Are we there?”
“Almost, Little B,” I tell her as she rights herself in her seat. She looks out her window at the cityscape below. She’s used to traveling and being on tour with the band and has long gotten over the thrill of arriving in a new town.
“Do you think Eden will be here?”
I hadn’t thought about Jimmy and Jenna arriving, but I would imagine they would be. We’re a close-knit family and when one is in trouble, we all come together for support.
“I’m sure she will be soon if she isn’t already.”
“Do you think Mack and Amelie will be here as well?” she asks.
I groan like any big brother should do. When I look at Nick, I see a father figure, but Paige doesn’t. She sees the Ashfords as family friends who happen to have a son her age and a daughter a few years younger than her. Mack is a great kid, a lot like me in many ways, but a boy nonetheless and Paige is at that age where she has a crush. I suppose in the grand scheme of things it could be worse, although my dad vows that a Westbury will never marry an Ashford. I suppose there are some things you never get over and for my dad, that would be Nick hitting on my mom while they were dating. Never mind that shortly after I was born, Nick and my mom started dating. But we don’t talk about that much.
The plane touches down and taxis right to a private hangar where an SUV is waiting. Pleasantries are exchanged as we pile in and within seconds we’re on our way to the hospital. The closer we get, the worse I feel. I try not to let my father’s words from earlier seep too far into my subconscious. I figure if I keep telling myself that the words “they don’t expect her to make it” are overly dramatic then when I see her, she’ll be sitting up and smiling. Except Katelyn would never allow a sentence like that to be muttered about her children.
I don’t know if my dad paid the driver to break the law or if this is how he drives on a normal basis, but we’re weaving in and out of traffic with our hazards on while he presses the horn every few seconds. By the time we pull up to the hospital entrance, I have never been more relieved to get out of a car.