Two Minute Drill (Bases Loaded Jam Series #2)

Ch. 9: Rehab (Gordon)

I wake up to a bright light. The light soon becomes
more yellower. I then see a few heads. Is this heaven? When the picture becomes clearer, oil then realize where I'm at.

"Well, Mr. Henry," one head, who turns out to be a doctor says. "How do you feel?"

I try to catch my senses. I realize that I'm not exactly in the best shape right now. There is a sense of pain in my right arm and some in my knees. I can sense this isn't a good sign.

"Never been better," I say trying to be sarcastic. But the doctor isn't laughing. "How long have I been out?"

"A few days, but we had to get you into emergency surgery right away."

"What happened to me?"

The doctors sighs and tells me. It turns out that in my anger, I ran a red light and was side swiped by oncoming traffic. Supposedly, my car flipped a few times before coming to a stop near a ditch. Local residents called an ambulance and fire trucks arrived to help me out for fear of my car burning up. I was then taken to a hospital, which I'm currently at for surgery.

"I'm afraid have more bad news for you," the doctor continues. "It turns out you have some severe damage to your arm and leg that will take a while to heal. In the meantime, I'm sorry to say you probably won't be able to play football again."

"What?" I say. "You can't be serious? For how long really?"

"This is a career-ending injury. I'm telling you now that you cannot comeback from this. If you try, then you'll damage your body even worse."

The doctor shows me the damage through X-rays. While I must admit that the bones were clearly messed up inside, I thought it wouldn't be enough to prevent me from coming back and playing again. I was the quarterback at Florida and I was determined to return.

What I didn't prepare for was that news of my accident would have major effects on me once I returned to campus. It took me a few months to realize that life had taken a dramatic turn. When I got back to campus, my coaches told me they would sit me out for next season as I would rehab myself. Not seeing through their minds, I took up on their suggestion and red shirted my sophomore year. It was a big mistake.

The next season saw some of my backups get some experience before the coaches decided to have their hot shot quarterback recruit in Brad Cummings take over at the helm. Brad and I didn't necessarily get along because he was considered to be this hot prick and I was seen as more of a nice, respected, and humble gentleman. He would refer to me as an old-timer even though I was only a few years older. When he checked my stats in high school and compared them to his, you would've thought he was the guy that won the state title my senior year at high school.

However, life around Brad became hard to deal with. The once attention I received from my peers on campus had slowly disappeared until I was left to fend on my own. The women left as did the fans who wanted his autograph more than me. Brad became the talk of the campus and he was everywhere on and off campus even during school hours. I don't even think he bothered to take an exam and had others do well for him.

Adding insult to injury was that Brad was really talented. My sophomore season started poorly as we lost three of our first five games while I was on the bench. That was due to the coaching staff trying to decide who should be the quarterback. Once Brad got the start, he was able to guide Florida to seven straight wins and into a bowl game. By now, it was clear that Florida had fallen in love with Brad and I was no longer their quarterback.

I had hoped that I would stay on to be a coach since I considered coaching if football never worked out. But instead, Florida did the unthinkable and removed my scholarship. I can't say I blamed them because I wasn't going to be contributing like I was brought in to do. As soon as I got the news, I packed up my belongings and left never bother saying good-bye to anyone I met.