Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72990 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72990 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
We vie for yardage and momentum, Coach yelling instructions from the sidelines like a man possessed, but Alex, the quarterback, keeps his head on the field. We execute our plays with precision, the sound of helmets colliding, pads crunching, and the cheers of the crowd punctuating every gain. We’re dominating, gaining yards with each play, closing in on the end zone. It’s so close I can practically taste it.
I’m bruised already, but that’s an inescapable part of this game. Sometimes I leave the defenders grasping at air, and sometimes they floor me. Maybe Gabs can kiss me better later. The thought of her lips pressing against my ravaged purple skin makes my head swim.
Alex drops back, scanning the field for an opening. The defensive linemen charge to disrupt the play, but I’m already running, losing the defenders who’ve been crowding me, my legs pumping, arms ready to catch. The ball sails through the air, Alex’s throw arching perfectly towards me, as if my palms are magnetized.
The crowd roars with excitement as I charge towards the goal line. I see an opening and make a sharp cut to the left, evading a tackle attempt. I’m going to do it, and Gabriella will get to celebrate my success, but before I can complete my imminent touchdown, a massive hit blindsides me. A burly linebacker from the opposing team comes at me with full force. I brace myself for impact, but the hit is brutal. His shoulder crashes into my chest, and my feet lose contact with the ground. Time slows, seconds ticking as I fly through the air, the ball slipping from my grasp.
I can’t fucking breathe and when I hit with force, my head snaps forward with such momentum that I see stars.
The referee blows his whistle and I try to get up, but my head won’t stop spinning. The cheers of the crowd trail off into silence, or maybe it’s just my hearing. Maybe it’s a concussion.
My chest feels dull, empty, my focus fades.
21
GABRIELLA
The stadium has gone deathly quiet, and I fly to my feet, straining to see, my fingernails digging into my palms so deeply I feel like I’m drawing my own blood.
Kain’s down, and despite his teammates and the medical team crowding around, he hasn’t gotten up yet.
“He’s going to be fine,” Ellie says softly, her hand touching mine, but there’s a constrained pinch to her voice, a certainty wavering with doubt.
Suddenly, more people run onto the field, and the medic at Kain’s side begins chest compressions. Quickly, Kain’s team gather around, their big backs forming a wall around Kain, blocking the crowd’s line of sight.
Ellie’s arm goes around my shoulder and it’s only then that I realize I’m sobbing. My fingertips are wet from my tears and my huffing, panicked breathing. “He’s…what’s going on?”
A man holding a large item of medical equipment is let into the protective circle and Ellie starts crying too. “That’s a defibrillator, Gab. They’re trying to restart his heart.”
“What?” I gasp.
“His heart,” she whispers again, “There’s something wrong with his heart.”
The words don’t penetrate immediately. They linger in the air around me, somewhere outside of my mind and my heart, held there because absorbing them means knowing they are true.
The man in front of me starts explaining something about a rare condition that can occur when someone’s chest is impacted hard. Something that stops a heart from beating. I hear what he’s saying, a clinical explanation about a one in a million chance, and I still don’t absorb what’s happening right in front of me.
“I gave him a button. A lucky button.” The words come out of my mouth calm, still, and quiet.
I can feel the weight of Ellie’s eyes on me, her arm tightly holding me together.
“He’s going to be fine,” she says. “He’s going to be fine.”
It’s those softly uttered words of reassurance that pierce the bubble, and let reality come rushing in.
“Oh god.” I collapse to my seat, my breath rushing as I lose control over my body, rocking with noiseless sobs that shift everything inside me.
“Hey.” Ellie sits beside me, pulling me against her awkwardly. “Gab, honey.”
“The ambulance is here,” the man in front says.
Ellie stands to get a better view, and she tugs roughly at my arm. “Gab…they’re taking him to hospital. You should go.”
“What?” I stare at her, blinking, eyes as wide as an owl’s. “They won’t let me. I’m not family. I’m not…”
Not what? Important?
“Here.” She pulls her diamond engagement ring from her finger and slides it onto my hand. “Tell them he’s your fiancé. Tell them whatever you have to. Come.”
She drags me by the hand, rushing on the steps so much I fear we’ll both fall. I’m light-headed with sweat blooming on my skin, fear constricting my lungs and heart so tightly that I feel like I won’t make it. Ellie doesn’t give up, though. We burst outside, and she frantically scans for the ambulance, finding it around a hundred feet away, parked by an emergency entrance. “Shit,” she says, breaking into a run, with me still dragging behind her. A crowd of people emerges through the doors, the wheels of the gurney visible through gaps in their feet.