Last Shot » [s.c.]

010»Laѕт Ѕнoт

two months later

»Steph,

Today was the day. My official game. My old teammates were all still the same , welcoming me back with open arms and uplifting words. The best I could imagine after leaving the way I did. Ill have to admit , at first it was just like when the situation had first happened, I couldn't get my focus right. My mind would always drift. Eventually though , I got back in the hang of it. My old technique and skill returning to me and it was shown through practice.

Teammates and coaches commended me and made sure that I knew I had their support. I had even had almost more talk sessions about the car accident than I had when I scheduled them myself. Some were even broadcasted , meaning they reached even more people.

Now here I was , on game day , the last few seconds counting down as the ball was passed to me. I watched as the clock was going down from forty five seconds before my mind wandered.

I thought about my beautiful , wild personality having daughter. Dancing around with my MVP trophy nearly a year ago. But then I thought about Elise and how much love I had for her now. I thought about my invitation I had given her and began to search around the stadium's bleachers. Did she not come? I asked myself , slightly becoming saddened before I saw it. I saw her. I saw her with her son as they along with everyone else stared at me , reminding me I was in the middle of a game.

I turned back towards the goal as the timer counted down from ten. I dribbled the ball a couple of times , sweat dripping down my forehead along my face. She came , I thought right before raising the ball upward and shooting it towards the basket. It seemed as though everything moved in slow motion as the time jolted to five, four three then two seconds. The basketball fell into the net and the buzzer buzzed throughout the stadium.

Cheers up roared as my teammates ran up to me. I breathed heavily , double punching my chest before pointing upward. I caught my breath as they patted both my back and butt for sportsmanship.

Then I remembered Elise. I looked up to the bleachers, through the cheering fans at her clapping and Maurice having a great time cheering. I jogged over to her as she carefully came down the stairs. I picked her up unknowingly into a tight hug, taking in her fragrance. I put her down , running my thumb over her lips before I ran my hand over her curls. She stared deeply into my eyes as her mouth gapped open. I furrowed my eyebrows together before hearing her say slowly ," Stephen." She stuttered.

I gasped before noticing her ear and the device attached to it. She did get the implant.
"Y-you can hear me?" I asked. She nodded before I pulled her into another tight hug. I felt tears fill at the brim of my eyes before feeling a nudge at my side. I looked down to see Maurice.

"That was so cool. You're like the best basketball player ever." He said. I let Elise go for a moment as I gave him a handshake , kneeling down to his level. He gave me a hug as I patted his back.
"Thanks for helping my mommy too." I stood up straight and grabbed Elise hand , gently pecking her lips. She smiled and ran her finger over my eyes.

"Love." She stuttered before looking at me. I nodded.

I heard my name being called from different parts of the stadium all at once. After taking pictures , signing autographs and whatever else, I had a post meeting to do of telling my story of course . That's after talking about the win. I had Elise join me. She sat In the back of the room , just like before , with Maurice. Her hands resting in her lap as she watched and listened intently. I answered the few questions , commented on the few remarks and then started my story. It was less than ten minutes when I was finishing off.

" Throughout this long journey though , I felt as though this was my purpose. To tell my story to others. Now I do that while continuing my career I've worked so hard on. I can honestly say that this was my last shot and I made it."

The End.
Thank you for reading my Stephen Curry short story.
- Diamond 🙂✨