More Than Friends

Next Move

Kenya POV-

First Man: And your NCAA football champions are the LSU Tigers thanks to an amazing game by Jarvis 'Juice' Landry who showed up big time after the Tigers star receiver Odell Beckham Jr went down after a hard tackle. Doctors say he has a bad rib fracture that will take an entire year to heal.

Second Man: It just so sad to see a young man with so much potential go out like that. He was poised to win the Heisman. Be first in the draft and now all that is gone away due to his injury. It really shows you how life can change in a split second.

I wish I could turn off the tv in the hospital waiting area, but for the entire night I have seen nothing but replays of the game and in particular the hit that landed Odell here.

That tackle got him a major rib fracture and doctors had to immediately do surgery to make sure his rib didn't puncture his lung.

I was starting to think maybe I was the bad luck magnet. I definitely wasn't attracting good luck. Since the beginning of the year, I've attracted all bad.

I didn't get the Rhodes opportunity, something I worked tremendously hard for. My mother died and now O may never play football again.

Can you imagine how soul crushing this must be for him? For me, I didn't get Rhodes but I have other options. Grad School. Dr. Thompson and this new opportunity she might have me head.

But as for O, there were no alternatives. Football was the end all be all, and with how bad his injury is, he can't play for at least a year. He has to have more than one surgery. Rehab. And the NFL combine where college players are invited so scouts could see them, is in two months.

Which means no combine. No draft. No NFL career. There was no miracles happening with this. If he wanted to recover, just so he could function normally even without football, he had to sit the rest of this year out. It wasn't worth risking permanent injury to rush his recovery.

I had to figure something out. I wanted him to focus solely on recovery. I'll handle the thinking. I had no leads, but I was sure if I could come up with formulas, I could figure out our life plan.

"All I was thinking was I had to win for O. Nobody works as hard as that man. We are only here because of the work he put in on the field, and I know for a fact he's going to come back bigger and better." Jarvis said on the tv screen, surrounded by the team holding the trophy.

"We love you O." Karter and Duke yelled into the camera.

His teammates cheered.

"K you can gon up there." O's father came down with Sonny and Jazz.

I had gave his parents time with him, then I was going to go. The room was one of those shared rooms, and I didn't want to crowd it out.

"Thank you." I went up to the third floor. Room 317, where he was.

His mother was still in there, sitting by his bed. Her eyes red from crying all night.

"I'll let you have your moment." She kissed O's forehead, then hugged me and left out.

I sat in the chair next to his bed and rubbed his forehead lovingly.

"We'll get through it. Just like you tell me. I don't know a way but I will find one."

O removed my hand from his head.

"Really O?"

He ignored me.

"You didn't give up on me and I'm not going to give up on you Odell. We'll figure it out?"

"Figure what out K? That I'm not getting drafted? That I can't play football again? What the fuck do we have to figure out?"

"O I understand you're angry and frustrated. But it's not the end of the road for you."

He rolled his yes. "K just go. You making me mad."

"I don't care about making you mad. You can't get up and walk out so..."

He looked at me because of the shade I threw but this was tough love.

I looked back at him. "So you're going to listen to everything I have to say. Now I'm going to be there for you, the same way you were for me. Whatever I have to do, to make sure you get back right I'm going to do. If it means I got to go to work and school, and come home and take care of you. I'll do that. Whatever you have to do to make sure your body is back right and you get to live out your dream, I will figure it out. I will figure it out O, I promise baby." I broke down.

He held his arm out for me to grab. I put my hand in his. He wanted me to lay in the bed with him. I took off my shoes and cautiously laid next to him.

I laid my head in the crevice of his neck and he laid his head on mine.

"I trust you baby. I'm handing the reigns to you because I'm lost." He said.

There was silence and I felt tears on my face.

I wiped his eyes. "I won't steer you wrong." I kissed his lips.

He silently shook his head he understood and broke down.

I held him into my chest like a baby. I kissed his forehead.

God please help me to figure out our next move.