path of heal - j.b.

5

"Hey, tell me, would you say that Cordell is 6 feet tall and weighs 191 pounds?" Elle, who was just about to enter the note for Cordell's review and his place in the massage, looked puzzled at Joe as she read the values on Cordell's profile.

Joe, who had by now made himself comfortable on the couch and was watching Elle type into the computer, furrowed his brow. "Well, he's definitely taller and nothing against Cordell, but definitely heavier too," he shrugged. "Why are you asking?"

"Because those are officially the values entered for him during his first health check with us after the draft. But that just can't be, can it?" Elle mumbled to herself as she pulled up the profiles of the other rookies.

"According to our data, Cordell and Dax have the same height and weight. That can't be right. Plus, I'm listed as the one who conducted the test for both, but I was in charge of the defense guys, definitely not Cordell," Elle's confusion was growing with each passing second. Someone had made a huge mistake.

Dax Hill, a safety from Michigan and the first-round pick for the Bengals in the draft a few months ago, had a completely different physique from offensive lineman Volson. Dax was, as expected for a safety, rather slim and of average height. Cordell, on the other hand, like most offensive linemen, was stocky, sturdy, and easily towered over Elle.

Sighing, she pushed away from the table and grabbed her phone. "I need to call Dan real quick. Something's not right here, and we need to fix it before it causes problems," she explained to Joe.

"And this can't wait until tomorrow?" Joe asked with a sigh. He had been pretty sure that Elle wouldn't be coming home early, if at all, tonight, so he wanted to spend as much time as possible here. She was a workaholic and quite the perfectionist in her job, often correcting even the smallest errors of others without them knowing.

Of course, she couldn't just let a mistake like this slide. That was evident in the apologetic look she gave Joe before picking up her phone and heading into the hallway.

After a few minutes, she came back in and sank into a chair with a sigh. "I think you should go home now," she said, running a hand over her forehead before giving Joe a pained look.

"What did Dan say?" Joe asked. Elle sighed again. "He said I should retrieve the protocol for Cordell's health check from the cloud and update his entire profile before accessing the protocols of the others and checking all the rookies and new players."

"All of them?!" Joe was astonished. "Isn't that a lot of work?" Elle nodded. "That means I don't have to do today's tasks. How kind of him," she added. Joe rolled his eyes.

"So, you have to work the night shift now because someone was too dumb to enter the right data for Cordell?" Joe asked, shaking his head. "It happens," Elle shrugged. "And you should go home and get some sleep. You need to be fit for training tomorrow," she said, getting up and sitting down on the couch next to Joe with a sigh before gently stroking his cheek.

"You know I'd much rather go home with you, but this needs to be fixed as soon as possible. You understand, right?" She looked at him lovingly. Joe nodded before sighing. "I guess that means I can't expect you home tonight?" Elle shook her head gently.

"All right. I suppose I can't do anything about it," Joe sighed again before looking at Elle with concern. "Promise me you won't overdo it and that you'll get enough sleep, okay? You need to be fit tomorrow too."

Elle nodded. "I won't overdo it," she promised him. "Good. I'll still come by before my first meeting tomorrow and check on you," Joe gave her a kiss on the forehead before standing up.

Elle accompanied him to the parking lot, where they said goodbye with a long kiss before Joe got into his car and drove away. When he was out of sight, she retrieved her bag from the car.

Every athletic trainer had a packed bag in their car for emergencies, allowing them to sleep in the facility in cases like today. Elle's bag included a comfortable pillow, one of Joe's shirts to sleep in, a cozy blanket, and her toiletries.

Back in the building, Elle first went to the players' lounge and grabbed an energy drink from the fridge. If she had another massive task ahead of her, she'd need some extra energy.

Honestly, she felt like she had completely lost track of time when she eventually turned off the computer and changed into more comfortable clothes. Afterward, she snuggled into the plush blanket on the couch and closed her eyes. With Joe's scent still on the shirt, she quickly fell asleep.

The sense of time hadn't returned when she opened her eyes again. Oddly, her phone on the desk hadn't rung yet, even though it felt like she had overslept for hours.

In the half-darkness, she fumbled her way to the door and turned on the light before stumbling over to her phone. The clock on the phone startled her. She should have been at the athletic trainer's meeting over an hour ago.

She was about to hastily gather her things when she noticed the note on which her phone was resting. She recognized Nick's handwriting immediately.

Hey kiddo, we decided to let you sleep. After all, you did enough last night. Your first appointment is at 10. I'll swing by before that so you don't oversleep

Relieved, she sank back into the chair. She still had enough time before duty called, maybe even enough to take a quick shower. At the very least, she needed to get something to eat.

As if by magic, she suddenly spotted a coffee cup on the small table in front of the couch. She blinked a few times. Was she hallucinating already? But the coffee cup seemed real.

When she stood up and reached for it, she couldn't help but smile. Someone had written something with a black marker on the side of the cup.

Have a nice day.
I love you.
-J

(Hope y'all remember writing on a coffee cup from the first part🤫)

OMG WE WON

I MEEEAN defense clearly won that game for us. Hendricksons sacks, Wilsons interceptions, Dax Hill being literally everywhere?! they were on fucking fiiiire

The offense was hard to watch again, it was bad but they had some good moments and I'm glad that sparks of the offense we saw last year could be seen so there's still hope!
Now let's move on and get the next win!

WHO DEY 🧡