Finally Home

6. Jenna

Sam was so upset by her injury. We were too. For her. I knew she loved basketball but didn't realize she thought it was one of the only things she and Tyler had in common.

When they came back from her X-rays I could see the pain killer she'd been given was kicking in. Her eyes were glassy.

The porter and Tyler helped her back onto the stretcher and she lay back and closed her eyes. A few minutes later, she was asleep. I sighed. She needed the rest.

I took her hand and held it while Rosie sat quietly in my lap.

"Jen," Tyler said. "Why don't you take Rosie home and get her some dinner. I'll call you when we know more."

"I want to at least wait for the X-ray results," I said. Tyler nodded.

Samantha slept on, and I was okay with that.  Tyler texted Josh and asked him to come pick Rosie up and take her home. She was fussy and tired and with Samantha asleep, she wasn't having fun. They showed up about twenty minutes later, checked in on Samantha, who was still asleep, took Rosie and our car and left us with Josh's car.

About an hour later, the doctor came back with the X-ray films. Samantha was still asleep.  Dr.  Smith put the films up on the light box and showed us what was happening.

Samantha had shattered her ankle. There were bone fragments out of place. Even we could see that.

"So," Dr. Smith said. "You can see the bones are obviously broken. It looks like she may have had a fracture from the initial injury which today's injury, well, did that. We're also seeing some torn tendons and ligaments.

The long and the short of it is she's going to need surgery on the ankle to stabilize the bones and repair the torn tendons and ligaments. We'll admit her today and try to get that booked for tomorrow."

"I'm afraid to ask," Tyler said. "But how long will her recovery be?"

"Six weeks  post surgery, and barring any complications, with physio and hard work, maybe three or four months after that before she can get back to sports."

Six weeks. Plus three or four months.  The high school basketball season would be over in March.  Samantha was going to be devastated.

We thanked the doctor and waited for Sam to be admitted and for her to wake up.

A little while later, just as she started stirring, a porter came to take her up to a room.

"What's happening?" She asked, groggily.

"You're being admitted, sweetie," I said. I'd stayed until she woke up so Tyler and I could both tell her the news. She was not going to be happy.

"Why?" She asked, as she was settled into the bed in her hospital room.

"Well, hon," Tyler said. "You're going to need surgery on your ankle."

"Not funny, Dad," Samantha said.

"Not kidding, kiddo," Tyler said.

Samantha looked at us.

"What do you mean 'surgery'?" She said soberly.

"Sam, you shattered your ankle and tore tendons and ligaments. They're gonna need to put in some pins and some other stuff and fix the ligaments and tendons."

"But I'll be okay, right? I'll be back on the court in what? 6 weeks?"

"No. Your basketball season is done, sweetheart," Tyler said, sitting on her bed.

"What do you mean?" Samantha said, tears coming to her eyes. "It can't be over. It just started."

"Sam," Tyler said, looking into her eyes. "You're going to need physio for your ankle. You'll be six weeks post op and then three or four months before you can go back to sports."

"What?!" Sam cried. "That's not fair!"

"But that's what it is," Tyler said.

Sam broke down into tears.

"Why didn't I just listen and sit out today?" She cried. "Now I'll probably never be able to play again!"

"Well, pumpkin, you might have been out longer than a couple of games anyway. The doctor thinks you may have fractured your ankle yesterday to begin with."

"But then it would only have been six weeks or so and no surgery. Now it's like, six months!" She cried. Tyler wrapped his arms around her and let her cry. Sam had come so far in the past couple of years that she'd been living with us, and had found her way in the world on her own terms. Basketball had been one of the first things she tried when she started becoming more confident and joining teams and clubs at school.

I went and sat beside her and took her hand.

"Sam," I said. "Your season is over. Not your career."

"But scouts come to State. And if we beat Hillhurst today, we'd probably make State!"

Samantha knew Tyler had gotten a basketball scholarship to college and I realized then, she was trying to follow in his footsteps. Even though she didn't need to worry about college in terms of tuition. Her birth father had, surprisingly, set her up rather well after his death, leaving her his entire estate plus their house, which Sam had wanted sold immediately. She had a large trust fund waiting for her.

"Sam, you're in tenth grade. Even if scouts come to State, they're still looking when you're in eleventh and twelfth. And you don't need a sports scholarship to go to college," Tyler said.

"But you got one. I wanted to, too," she said. Tyler hugged her again.

"Sweetheart, you'll probably get academic scholarships til you're buried in them. Sports scholarships aren't the end all be all. And if you get injured while playing college ball, you lose your scholarships. Academic ones you can't lose unless your grades plummet. And you're already taking college level courses. You'll be fine."

Samantha was not impressed.

Just then there was a knock on the door and a doctor came in.

"Hi there," he said. "I'm Dr. Evans. I'm an orthopaedic surgeon and I hear we need a little tune up on an ankle?" He said, looking at the films Dr Smith has shown us. He put them up on the light box in Sam's room.

Dr. Evans went over the X-rays with us and Sam saw, finally, the damage to her ankle. She was shocked. The doctor explained what they were planning on doing and how he expected recovery to go. And he reiterated her physio could take up to four months after surgery before she could really push it and play ball again. Tears filled her eyes.

"So. I have you scheduled for tomorrow morning at ten. Try to get some rest and I will see you in the operating room."

He took the films and offered Sam a fist bump, which she halfheartedly returned.

Samantha's face fell as soon as he left the room.