Just Remember

Chapter 13 Tears of a Broken Man

Grace was silent and brooding as she drove her husband to Bush Airport the next day, and they were half way there before she spoke again. "Justin, I've got a slight problem," she said making him look over at her from the passenger's seat as he checked over the contents of his large duffle bag and his wallet one last time.
"What kind of problem, Grace? Are you sure that you won't just come with me to the game? If we win, we'll be playing the super bowl here in Houston next week," Justin asked with a hopeful expression on his face?
"Justin, that's the problem. I was contacted by the NFL, and the Super Bowl committee, last night. They want me to ride one of my trick horses or the bull, while the band plays during half time next week. I tried to tell them that I couldn't, and that they'd have to find someone else to ride around the stage, but they weren't listening to me, and the line went dead on their end," Grace frowned as she pulled through the traffic light and pulled the truck closer to the airport where the rest of the team was waiting for J.J. to join them.


"They sure have the damndest timing don't they. Grace, is that why you were on the phone almost all night long and for most of this morning," J.J. asked?
"Yes, I've been trying to get through to them, but I haven't been able to get a live person on the phone yet. I've decided that after I drop you off that I'm going to drive over there, and see if I can meet with them in person in an attempt to make them see reason, and to replace my act with something else, before it's too late," Grace said as she stopped the truck and J.J. unbuckled his seat belt before leaning over and kissing her lips.
"Call me or shoot me a text when you get their answer," Babe, otherwise I'll be worried the whole time that I'm gone, and don't let them push you around," he said as he got out of the truck and hoisted his bag to his shoulder.
"Maybe I'll pick up your mom before I go over to have a little back up with me," Grace said thoughtfully before Justin turned away from the open window of the truck.
"That's a good idea, she's dealt with the NFL for years and definitely will help out ," J.J. smiled before reaching through the window and giving his wife's outstretched hand a gentle reassuring squeeze before running into the airport with the team who were giving them cat calls and making kissing sounds like a bunch of immature hormone driven teenaged boys.



It was all that J.J. could do to keep his mind on the game after receiving his enraged wife's call informing him that the NFL refused to allow her to back out of the halftime show. The Texans managed to pull of the win barely scraping passed by one point and J.J. was now sitting on another plane wishing that he was already home. He had called, and texted his wife until he had to turn off his phone, and was worried that something was wrong when she had not returned his calls or texts. It just wasn't like her to give no response at all. He sighed with relief upon exiting the front doors of Bush airport later that evening when he saw his wife sitting on the roof of her dad's old Humvee with her legs hanging down into the moon roof opening scowling and scribbling upon a notebook while she muttered to herself attempting to ignore the press and the fans that crowded every inch that wasn't occupied by the police or the family members of the team as they returned.


Upon hearing the reporters calling out to her husband she looked up briefly before sliding inside of the vehicle and popping the front passenger door open for him before buckling herself in and turning the engine on with a rumble as he slid in beside her looking very pissed off. "What the fuck, Grace? Why didn't you answer your phone when I called or texted you? I've been worried sick about you," he raged as she handed him over a cell phone box with what remained of her shattered and completely destroyed phone wordlessly before pulling out into the traffic.
"I had to replace it, and barely found the time to get it done until just before I came here. It got crushed when I got distracted and it dropped out of my pocket when I was unhooking the horse trailer," she said as she held up her new phone, just as J.J. opened the box and gaped at what was left of her old one.


"What smashed it, did you run it over with the truck," he asked as he frowned at the old destroyed phone?
"No, I kinda, lowered the Trailer supports down onto it. It took me an hour of searching before I found it shattered beneath the trailer. Are you still angry with me," she asked not looking at him as she drove?
"No, Babe, I was just worried when I couldn't get ahold of you. I'm sorry that I yelled at you," J.J. apologized as he placed a tender hand upon her hand when she shifted gears, making her glance at him through the corner of her eyes and smile briefly before she returned her full attention to the road.


"So, what do you have planned for your part in the halftime show on Super Bowl Sunday," he asked hoping that she'd give him a hint or a sneak preview of her performance?
"I haven't figured out everything yet, so you'll just have to wait and be surprised like everyone else. The only thing that worries me is the fact that my fucking mother has been stalking me lately. I had to drive around for hours in the back roads after I dropped you off last Tuesday. I'm seriously considering having dad's Humvee painted another color," she growled as she stopped at another street light and noticed a familiar blue Ford Focus in her rear view mirror with a driver who was trying unsuccessfully to hide her identity.
"What's wrong," J.J. asked as he noticed her tighten her grip on the steering wheel and grumble under her breath?


"She's doing it again. Check the side view on your side, do you see that Blue Ford Focus behind us," Grace said as she prepared to pull away from the light?
"Good lord, your mother has let herself go," J.J. said as he frowned at the reflection of the older woman in the rearview Mirror.
"Yeah, she has, you might want to buckle your seat belt," Grace said as she turned the opposite direction that would lead them home with a smirked as the Houston city limits sign whipped by as she drove.
"Babe, you do realize that our house is the other way," J.J. said as he realized that she had changed directions?
"I'm aware of that, Sweetie, just hold on to something, because it's time to play dad's favorite game of Ditch the Bitch," Grace said as the open highway spread before them and the Blue Ford Focus sped up attempting to catch up with the Humvee.


J.J. watched with wide eyes as the speedometer needle climbed with ever up shift of the gears. They were now traveling at a speed of well over seventy Miles per Hour, and just as it looked like Grace's mother was about to catch them Grace flicked a switch on the dash and slammed her hand down on a large red pedal that popped up from the floor board making J.J. scream in shock as the Humvee shot forward as if it were running on jet fuel. He grabbed the hand grips as she flew off road, and rocketed through the uneven hills and broken terrain of a construction ground, then clenched his eyes shut and screamed as Grace drove up a large hill of dirt and the Humvee went flying through the air. As the tires hit open road and the vehicle spun around and sped into the other direction, Grace laughed at the expression on her petrified husband's face as she disengaged the high speed boost and slowed the Humvee down to a normal speed as they reached light traffic.


"Holy shit, Grace, where the fuck did you learn to drive like that? I thought that I was going to die," J.J. exclaimed as he finally opened his eyes upon hearing her laughter to see that they were now headed home!
"I told you, that my Daddy taught me how to drive. Did you think that I was kidding back in high school when I said that my dad had me driving this Humvee and an Abrams Tank," Grace smiled as she reached up and tapped the picture of her father in uniform that hang from the rearview mirror?
"Grace, that was like riding a roller coaster. Please don't drive like that when you start showing, or with our child in the vehicle, ever," J.J. said as he sank into the seat and tried to stop his hands from shaking.
"I promise, I won't, but we need to do something about my mother, before she does something stupid. That's another reason that I really hate the fact that the NFL, wouldn't let me out of the halftime show. I don't trust their security. I've stopped showing completely, and have still came out from various places to find my tires slashed, and I'm getting tired of it," Grace frowned as she pulled into the drive of the farm and backed the Humvee into the garage.


"How many times have you involved the police in helping with this problem," J.J. asked as he got out of the Humvee and grabbed his stuff from the back seat?
"Let's just put it this way, How many away games have you played since you came to Houston," Grace asked as she let herself into the house and hang her keys on the hook by the door before flopping down on the sofa and kicking off her shoes as she opened her notebook once more?
"All of those times, and they haven't gotten her to stop," J.J. muttered as he sat beside her and pulled her feet into his lap thoughtfully.
"Yup, she always seems to vanish before they can catch her, and apparently is driving other people's vehicles, and lives somewhere where its unlisted. I'm honestly debating on stopping and talking to her long enough to place a tracking devise on her, so that they can find her," Grace sighed as J.J. rubbed her feet making her toes curl.


"Can you actually do that," he asked feeling calmer now that he was home?
"I can, and will if I ever get close enough to her. The only thing that I'm thinking on now, is my routine, and how I' going to protect my horse, before Halftime I've been having horrid dreams ever since you left about my twisted mother doing something to General, that causes us both to get more than hurt. I've always wake up just before the paramedics on the field tell you that I'm dead," Grace shook thinking of the dream that was growing more and more vivid as the day of the Super Bowl drew near. Justin frowned at her words. He didn't like it when Grace was upset and knew that it was rare that she was wrong when something unnerved her.


------


It was now Super Bowl Sunday, and J.J., Becky, and Bradly were all trying to sooth and calm Grace, who was more than unnerved. General had been acting strangely since his visit to the vet to ensure that he was in peek condition for the performance, and Grace was more than worried and considered turning around and picking up another horse for the show instead of using her most trusted horse that day. For extra security she brought along one of her best and most trusted stable hands, to act as guard for the horse and her tack so that she could sit on the sidelines and watch J.J. play in the biggest home game of his career.


As halftime drew near J.J. watched her leave to prepare for her part, through the bars of his helmet before he sacked the quarterback for the opposing team with brutal force. Later he sat on the bench watching every move and stunt that Grace preformed as the halftime show went on. He was on the edge of his seat as he noticed along with Becky and Bradly that something was defiantly off with the General's behavior. He was sweating more than was normal for that level of work that Grace was asking of him, and seemed to pick up speed at the worse time making Grace slip out of the planned stunt to his back to regain control of him more than once.


"J.J., why are you gripping the bench like that, man? Your wife's done more dangerous stunts than that on the bull," Arian said as he clapped a hand on J.J.'s shoulder.
"That's not the point, Arian. She didn't want to do this at all, because she's pregnant, with our first baby. The fact that General is acting weird today, has both of us worried," J.J. gasped and shot up from his seat as General took that opportunity to rear sharply making Grace slid back onto his back in the middle of a flag stunt and spin him in tight circles.
"J.J. your wife is the best rider that I've ever seen. It will be alright," MacNair said attempting to calm J.J.'s nerves as they watched Grace preform with the horse that was getting more and more hard to handle as the show progressed.


"I know that she's the best that you've ever seen Rob, but I'm warning you now, if anything happens to her or my unborn child because the fucking NFL and the Super Bowl committee refused to allow her to back out of this, I'm going to quit the team, and will never touch a football for the rest of my life," J.J. said as he watched his wife as she continued her performance.
"J.J., I don't think that you'll have to do that," MacNair said trying to calm J.J.'s nerves.
"My wife is everything to me, Rob, I can make more babies if we lose our first, but I can never replace, Grace," J.J. said as he leapt to his feet again


Suddenly as Grace passed where the Texan's sat J.J. heard Grace curse as the horse beneath her sped up again for the final time and collapsed before Grace could either get him under control or could jump from his back. The crowd and everyone in the stadium screamed in terror as Grace was flung from General's back and went rolling toward the edge of the stage where the band was playing and hit the steal support with her helmet and remained there unmoving.


Before anyone could move J.J. ran onto the field leaping over the lifeless horse on the ground as he screamed Grace's name with his heart pounding in his ears. She was laying on her back with her head against the steal support of the stage and a trickle of crimson was slowly rolling down from under her helmet that was cracked straight down the center. "NO, no, Grace, babe don't leave me," J.J. sobbed as he was about to pull her into his arms only to be stopped by his team mates and the medical team that had rushed onto the field with their equipment.


He screamed as they found that her heart had stopped and commenced to shock her back to life. It was all that his team could do to hold him back as they quickly lifted her onto the stretcher strapped to the back board, and started to run with her from the stadium. He slid from their grasp and ran stopping the rear door from closing and leaping inside of the ambulance surprising the driver. "Sir, you can't go with her," said the driver as J.J. buckled himself in, and refused to move.
"Don't you dare tell me that I can't go with my wife, get your ass in and fucking drive already," J.J. snarled as he grabbed the door and slammed it shut with force that cracked the back window.


"She's pregnant, by two months, and she's allergic to Codeine," J.J. said as he ran his hands shakily through his hair and tried to gain control of himself.
"It's too early to tell, Mr. Watt , but she definitely has a few broken bones from that fall, and a concussion at the least. She may or may not lose the baby in this early stage," the paramedic said as they checked her over.
"She's strong, I know that she'll pull through this. All she has to do is to wake up," J.J. said as his tears continued to flow freely down his face as he held the broken helmet that was removed from her head and frowned at her blood that had soaked into the protective inner padding.


As they reached the Hospital, J.J. followed them as far as they would allow him, until he was stopped by two orderlies and a rather stern looking nurse who handed him a clipboard with forms that he needed to fill out. He glared at the nurse before screaming in frustration and rage, and slamming his fist clear through the wall leaving a large hole in the plaster wall and the sheetrock beneath it, before he sank to his knees dropping the clipboard and sobbed praying harder than he had ever done in his life, until his mother's voice penetrated his mind and he was pulled into her arms while his father collected the forms from the floor.


He allowed his parents to lead him to a chair in the waiting room and tried to answer his father's questions to the best of his abilities, so that the forms could be filled in. An hour later they had received no word and J.J. was falling apart as Becky and Bradly entered the Hospital with Grim expressions upon their faces. "There's been no news on her condition yet, what's Fucking taking them so long," J.J. growled as he was pulled into Becky and Brad's arms?
"J.J., darling, these things take time. Calm down, you're going to make yourself sick," Connie soothed.


"We've managed to get help to get General's body into the trailer, and took him to the vet for a necropsy to find out what went wrong with him. Becky thinks that he was drugged," Bradly said making J.J. look up at them with a cold look in his eyes.
"Drugged, who would have done that? Grace didn't have anyone near the horse that she didn't trust completely," J.J. said getting angrier and turning red in the face upon thinking of how it could have happened.
"Hold that thought, this might be the vet now, Becky said as she answered her ringing cellphone.


"Yes, what? Fuck, I want a full written report to hand into the police A.S.A.P.," Becky growled making Bradly give her a frightened look.
"What is it? What did the vet say, about the General," J.J. asked not knowing if he really wanted to know?
"He's been dosed with high amounts of Steroids, sometime between his visit to the vet, and Grace's performance. That's why he was getting harder and harder for Grace to control as she performed. The drug caused his heart to burst, and that's why he fell out from under her before she could stop him or jump off," Becky said with narrowed blue eyes as she dialed her phone and dragged Bradly out of his seat.


"Where are you going," John asked giving words to the unspoken look in J.J's eyes?
"We've got to get to the Farm before the person that I suspect gets away. Keep us posted on Grace, when you find out what's going on with her. Yes I need squad cars out to Eternity Farms right now, there's been an attempted murder and the one responsible is definitely there. I'll meet you there," Becky said as she ran from the hospital with Bradly on her heals.


Another hour passed, and J.J. leapt to his feet as the Doctor entered the waiting room and called for the Watt family. "My wife, how is she," J.J. asked before the Doctor could speak?
"She's stable at the moment, Mr. Watt, but, she hasn't woke up yet. She's suffered three broken ribs, that narrowly missed puncturing her lungs, her right leg is broken in three places, and there is at least four nerves in her spine is pinched. It's amazing that she's able to breath on her own, and that she so far has not terminated her pregnancy," the Doctored said making Connie and John give J.J. a stunned look.


"Why hasn't she woke up yet," Connie asked?
"She's slid into a comatose state because of that hit she took to her skull. Had she not been wearing a helmet it would have killed her," the Doctor said as he looked through the chart.
"Coma, good lord, what are the chances of her coming out of it," John asked as J.J. fell into the chair and slumped as he shook with sobs?
"These things are often uncertain, Mr. Watt. As long as she continues to breath and her pulse remains strong, there's hope that she'll come out of it. However the pregnancy could pose a problem," the Doctor said with a grim expression upon his face making J.J. look up.


"What kind of problem," J.J. asked in a hoarse voice?
"Well Mr. Watt, she's healthy with the exception of her current injuries, but is she does not wake from her Coma before the baby is to be born you run the risk of losing them both, without preforming a C-section to remove the baby. It might be prudent to terminate the pregnancy at an early stage to avoid complications," started the Doctor before he was cut off with Justin's firm refusal.


"No fucking way, you're going to do that, unless it will cost Grace her life. We want our baby. You're to do everything in your power to keep both my wife and my child alive. When can I see her," J.J. asked coldly?
"You can see her now, sir, we've had her placed in a private room in the I.C.U.," the Doctor said as he turned to lead the Watt's to Grace's private room.


A week passed and J.J. refused to leave Grace's side. He spent his time talking to her though it was uncertain if she could hear his voice, and using the laptop that Becky had brought him to write a few strongly worded letters to the NFL and the Super Bowl committee, as Rob knocked on the door of the room softly followed by several of J.J.'s team mates who carried in arm loads of flowers. "Holy Hell, J.J. have you even slept? You look worse than she does," Arian said as he placed a hand on J.J.'s shoulder as he snapped the laptop shut with a growl.


"Thanks for stating the obvious Bro," J.J. grumbled as he placed a tender hand over Grace's still left hand wishing to feel her move even a little.
"How is she, J.J.," MacNare asked in a soothing voice?
"Her injuries are healing, and she didn't lose the baby, but she's still in a Coma," J.J. said as he wiped a tear from his eye not hiding how this whole thing was effecting him.
"She's still pregnant, isn't that dangerous," Brian Cushing asked giving J.J.'s wife a worried look?


"If she wasn't breathing on her own and if her heart stops again it could cause the baby to die, but, the Doctors say that she can still have the baby with no ill effects as long as she continues to improve. I just wish that she'd wake up. I hate seeing her like this," J.J. frowned.
"What happened with the horse," MacNair asked?
"He was drugged by one of our most trusted stable hands who had been paid to do it by her fucked up mother. The police have arrested him and charged him with two counts of attempted murder, and are searching for her fucked up mother. I swear if I ever see that Bitch again, I'll see that she gets the death penalty for this, and that's if there's anything left of her when Grace's brother's and I get through with her," J.J. growled.


"They think that their mother did it in an attempt to collect on a large insurance policy that their dad placed on both the General, and Grace. She's been trying to take control of Grace ever since before their father divorced her for messing around on him. She'd better pray that Grace survives this, or, I will make her burn for taking my wife away from me," J.J. said as he rested a hand over Grace's small bump and caressed it lovingly.
"So, were you serious about quitting the team, or can we convince you to stay with us," MacNair asked as he handed J.J. over his Super Bowl ring?


"So, the team actually won without me," J.J. asked as he looked down at the ring in his hand?
"It took us time to regain order after what happened to Grace and her horse, but we figured that we could support both of you by bringing home the win. Read the inscription inside of your ring," MacNair suggested with a smile on his face. J.J. turned the ring so that he could read what was inscribed on the interior of the band, and tears filled his eyes as he read what was written there.


Inside of the ring was clearly printed,' This win was claimed in Honor of G.G. Watt and her Valiant stead, who gave it one hundred fifty present at all times despite all odds.' J.J. slid the ring onto his finger before he spoke in respect to his truly quitting the team. "I don't know if I can honestly continue to play without her. Every game that I've played up until this point was played knowing that she would hopefully be watching. I think that she'd be pissed at me, if I backed down. So, as long as you understand that I won't play any away games until she's recovered, I'll stay on the team. She'd curse me out for being a quitter, if I didn't at least try to carry on. I'll just have to arrange to have someone here at all times incase her mother attempts to show up. As long as she keeps healing, and her condition doesn't deteriorate, I will be on the home field, but the NFL better pray that she pulls through or they'll see a side of me that they'll hate," J.J. said as his mother entered the room and handed him a black cup of coffee.


As the months passed slowly J.J.'s spirits and attitude fell drastically. His wife had healed from the broken bones, and thus far their unborn son was despite all odds strong and growing stronger as he grew within his mother's womb. J.J. spent every available minute by his wife's side talking to both her, and their son, and begging her to awaken, as he prayed for a miracle. His games were starting to suffer, and he truthfully didn't know how much longer he could keep it together on the field. He was falling apart the longer that his wife remained unmoving and lifeless to the world that moved on around her.