Moment in the Sun

15. Crushed

Nick POV (TW Injury, Medical discussion)

I'll admit I was showing off a little because Charlie was watching. He's seen me play before but never with this team. But I shouldn't have been showing off the way I was. Even my coach had called me up on it during a time out.

With the end of the game nearing and our team winning by far, I really should have played it cool but part of me was still desperate to impress Charlie. So I set up to tackle a guy from the other team who was somehow three times the size of me. I'm not exactly sure what happened, whether it was just the fact that he was so much bigger or if we collided in a particular way but I found myself crashing to the ground, coming down heavily on my left leg. The impact ripped a scream from me and I lay there partly in shock but mostly in pain. My entire left leg felt like it was on fire, shocks of pain shooting up and down the limb.

Opening my eyes, I looked towards where I knew Charlie was sitting and saw the look of complete horror on his face. He moved to get up but the girl beside him grabbed his arm and pulled him back down. He said something to her and she replied gesturing towards the field and me. It's probably best that he stays away for a bit.

Seconds later I heard a voice talking to me. The medic, Melissa, was kneeling over me.

"Nick, can you tell me what hurts?"

"My, ah fuck, my leg." I managed to get out, still trying to figure out exactly where the pain was coming from.

"Okay, anywhere else?"

"I don't think so."

"Can you roll onto your back for me?" I muster every ounce of strength in me to roll onto my back as pain shoots down my leg again.

"Fuck!" Tears are building in my eyes but I blink them back, lifting my head to try and see my leg. I was expecting blood and cuts but there was none. Instead, my knee looked deformed, part of it swollen really bad already.

"Call for an ambulance." I dropped my head back to the ground as Melissa spoke to someone nearby. This is going to be the end of the season for me, maybe even the end of rugby if the injury is bad enough. 

Melissa says more, I think trying to figure out the logistics of getting an ambulance crew out here, but I'm not paying attention. Instead I turn my head back towards where Charlie had been sitting, seeing that he is making his way towards me, concern clear on his face. He pushed his way through the players still surrounding me and dropped to his knees.

"Oh baby," He says, hands hovering over me as if afraid he'll hurt me.

"Charlie..." My tears spill over now. He leaned over to kiss my forehead.

"I'm here. It's okay." He's quiet so only I can hear him. "What hurts, baby?"

"M-my leg." I can hear sirens approaching and the people around us start to move away, making room for the paramedics.

"It will be okay, Nick. I'm right here with you." Charlie promises as the paramedics arrive and he moves out of their way but stays nearby so I can see him.

The paramedics work quickly, hooking me up to a machine and checking me over before they slowly and carefully get me onto a stretcher. They give me some medication to help with the pain and it worked pretty quickly. As I'm wheeled across the field to the ambulance, I feel great. Charlie walks beside me, smiling but still looking worried.

"This is my first time in an ambulance." I announced as we got in and Charlie pulled a face.

"Not mine."

"Oh, right." My mind was a little fuzzy. Charlie moved to sit behind my head as instructed by the paramedics, one hand reaching to gently stroke my cheek.