Lost in the Lights

Chapter 11

Freen’s jaw drops when she sees those two players tackle Becky to the turf. The crunch of bodies colliding is engrained in her memory and pulls an audible gasp deep from within the brunette. Freen knows that Becky wears all sorts of padding and protection under her uniform but when she sees the quarterback motionless on the ground, her heart plummets.

The next thing Freen knows, she throws down her pompoms and runs for her life out onto the field.

Freen can faintly hear Nam calling after her but it doesn’t slow her down one bit. She has heard stories about concussed players and broken ribs and punctured lungs and whatever else could go wrong on the field. She can’t just stand on the sidelines and watch this happen in front of her eyes; she has to get to Becky, she has to make sure she’s okay for herself.

She’s bound to be breaking some kind of rule, but she doesn’t give a shit about that – not when Becky’s just lying there.

There’s already a crowd of players gathering around the quarterback and Freen pushes past Billy and Tack before sinking down to her knees next to Becky’s head. The brunette’s eyes are closed and there’s this pained expression on her face. Freen is so used to seeing Becky as this invincible, gorgeous girl that it breaks her heart even further to see Becky hurting like this.

She leans over the quarterback, trying to blink away the tears starting to well in her eyes.

“Becky,” Freen urges, awaiting some kind of movement, “Are you okay?”

Freen can feel someone trying to pull her away but she blindly pushes them off of her.

“Freen, let the Trainer look her over.”

The voice belongs to Nam, but Freen’s not moving until she sees the brown of Becky’s eyes again, even if that means one of these assholes has to throw her tiny body over their shoulder and haul her away.

She’s not moving until Becky does too.

The Trainer crouches down on the opposite side and Freen eyes him up and down.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” Freen questions bitterly.

The Trainer looks surprised by the question, “This isn’t my first rodeo, kid.”

“That doesn’t mean you know what you’re doing,” Freen bristles.

“Freen,” Nam chastises with another tug on the brunette’s arm, “Let him do his job.”  

“What?” Freen huffs, “Who knows what kind of medical experience he has? He could be a drop out for all we know!”

The Trainer scowls at her, “I’m right here.”

“And?”

The Trainer shakes his head and continues his examination.

The longer Becky keeps her eyes squeezed shut, the more worried Freen becomes.

 She thinks about every moment, every word she has said to Becky over the past couple of days, and she doesn’t want them to be the last Becky hears. She doesn’t know if she’s being dramatic here or what, but in this moment it feels like her whole world is falling apart.