Satisfied 2X

I took a step back. The nausea rolled through me. I clutched my stomach.

Steve looked worried.

“You ok, Vanessa?”

I nodded. “Just exhausted and worried. There are a lot of implications for Isaac’s injury,” I whispered to him as if I was taking him into my confidence. As if I was thinking about the team and not the man I loved. “Look, I can’t go before halftime. But can you get to the hospital now?” I asked. “Stay with Isaac. Tell him I sent you.” I eyed him. “And I’ll be there as soon as the game is over.”

It was going to be a torturous two hours, but I was going to have to wait.

Steve nodded. “I think we need to consider what our press statement is going to be before the postgame media event. Applewhite is going to be hounded.”

“Which is why it’s perfect if you go to the hospital. I want you to call me as soon as you find out anything about Isaac’s leg.”

“I’ll start on the draft when I get there. I’m sure the reporters will already be there.”

Damn it. I hadn’t thought about the reporters. Well, at least if I arrived after the game, it wouldn’t look nearly as odd.

This was all I could do for now.

I practically pushed Steve out of the box. “Go,” I urged. “Don’t forget, call me as soon as you see him.”

I turned around just in time to see Luke to throw the ball into Dylan’s hands. He took two leaps and landed in the end zone. Touchdown. I clapped my hands together.

My grandmother looked over her shoulder and smiled at me, like the cat who had snatched the goldfish from the bowl.

And I wondered if that’s who she had been all this time.

Thirty-Five

Vanessa

Hospitals always made me uneasy. The last time I had been here was the night my grandfather died.

My stomach lurched with the overwhelming smell of disinfectant when I walked in.

A nurse grinned as he walked past me. Steve had given me Isaac’s room number.

I stopped outside the door, trying to calm my nausea. Isaac needed me to be strong. I had to help him through this.

I tapped on the door and slid it to the side.

“Hi.” I smiled.

Steve was sitting in the corner typing away on his laptop. He looked up. “Oh good, Vanessa. You can approve this statement for me.”

I had to shake the blur from my head. I wanted to rush to Isaac. Kiss him. Touch him. But none of that was possible with Steve in the room.

“Oh sure.” I walked to the corner and leaned to read through the statement he had prepared.

Isaac’s eyes were on me. His leg was elevated in the bed. He was wearing a cotton hospital gown.

I nodded. “I think it’s what we need to say tonight.”

Steve stood, collecting his things. “I’ll head back to the stadium. It’s going to be a zoo over there once the news breaks.”

I closed my eyes. I hadn’t actually faced what had happened.

“Thanks for your help. I’ll talk to you later tonight.”