Don't Let Me Fall

Chapter 23: If Tomorrow Never Comes

Chapter 23

"People Die...Beauty Fades...Love Changes...And You Will Always Be Alone" ― L.J. Smith

I couldn't talk. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe.

"Sam!" I heard my dad shouting.

In some way, this all seemed like a scene from a movie.

Noah pushed my dad back.

"Get back Kevin, you shouldn't be over here."

"But that's my girl, I need to be with her."

Definitely a movie scene.

I was dizzy, and my head was throbbing.

"I'm sure you think that, but you don't. Now, you're going to go back over there and sit with your very pregnant wife, and you're going to keep her calm. Because if she doesn't stay calm, that baby might just come out right here. If you try to get by me, I'll take you down. I'm a big guy, and you're short, so it will hurt you."

I was surrounded by people. A man was shining a light in my eyes, and a woman was examining my neck.

"Samantha, can you wiggle your fingers?" The woman asked.

Noah sat down by my face, then put a hand on my cheek.

"I thought the last time we did this was the last time." He laughed a half hearted laugh.

He grabbed my hand. I squeezed it.

He smiled, then wiped an unexpected tear.

"God damn you, you're making me cry." He said, wiping away a few more tears that had fallen.

Why was Noah crying? Why was everyone so panicked? What was even happening? God, my head was really hurting.

"Can you wiggle your toes for me?" The same girl asked.

Someone began strapping a neck brace on me.

I looked at Noah, who was still squeezing my hand.

I wiggled them.

He wiped another set of tears away, not unclenching my hand.

"This is the big one. Can you speak for me Samantha?"

Noah began rubbing my hand with his thumb.

I clenched my jaw, then opened my mouth to speak. No words came out.

I looked from the paramedic to Noah then back. Both of them wore the same expression, fear.

"My name's Sam." I informed the paramedic.

"Don't you ever do that to me, or your family again. Do you promise me that?" He smiled, then quickly kissed me on the forehead.

"Ok." I shortly replied, still confused.

I searched through my day, trying to find the last thing I remembered. I remembered riding the bus to the arena. Then I remembered the captain's meeting, then the half time pep talk, but nothing else. Zilch.

"You took a pretty hard hit there. I think you may have a concussion." The man said.

"What happened?" I asked.

That didn't sound familiar at all.

"You ran into a screen and you hit your head. You were knocked out for a few minutes. We're just here to help you."

I was beginning to get scared. I had no clue what was going on, my head hurt, my side hurt, and I was surrounded by people I didn't know. Maybe this was a nightmare, a pregame nightmare. Maybe I'd fallen asleep on the bus.