On Wednesday Lydia and I walked the 30 feet from my house to Kate's house. The three of us piled into the back seat of the car, her parents up front. We all sang in the back seat the entire hour and a half drive to Osceola. When we got there they had just finished warming up. It was freezing cold and I felt so bad for the guys. We wrapped up in blankets and cheered and yelled in the away teams stands.
By half time we were ahead by 23 points. In the start of the 3rd quarter Tanner was put in to play. Tanner intercepted the ball and started running for the end zone. Then POW! He was tackled by a huge kid probably twice his size.
"Oh shit! Oh my god he's not moving! What the hell why is nobody helping him?" I scream whisper to Lydia and Kate. My stomach churns and I hear the sirens of an ambulance in the distance. My breath quickens. I see them load him into the vehicle and place an air mask on him. What he can't be having trouble breathing? Oh my god oh my god! I'm barely aware of the fact that Lydia and Kate are squeezing my hands. As the ambulance whirls away the game goes on and I sit there stunned. How could they possibly play normally without pretending that he's gone. Like it's just nothing, nothing happened. After the game we left as soon as possible. It was 10:45 and we had an hour and a half drive. So even if we knew what hospital he was at, we wouldn't be able to visit him.
Only when we got home and I went to bed did I let myself cry. What if they couldn't do anything for him? Could he die? What would I do if I lost him, if I never got to hug him or kiss him or see his smile ever again? It was so hard to not talk to him after his game. To hug him and tell him he did great. Even if he's all sweaty I'd hug him and make sure he knew how much I love him. Oh shit. I love him. Just then my phone buzzed with a long paragraph from Tanner.
"Mikayla? This is Tanner's mom. I don't know who you are but my son keeps asking for you. I know you're not family but he's not doing well. I know it's 1 am and I'm sorry if this woke you up but I can come pick you up and you guys can have some privacy if you're willing to tell the people at the hospital you're a family member."
"Yes. Yes I will do anything it takes to see him. Thank you." 15 minutes later I saw headlights in our drive way and I ran outside. We didn't talk the whole way there. It was only when she parked the car did she turn to me.
"Sweetie I don't know how close you two are but I can tell you right now that this boy really likes you. I wouldn't expect much when you walk in there. He's having trouble breathing and his injuries are fatal. He can still talk and he hasn't opened his eyes but he's awake.
