We Come Alive 3

Late Alarm

That night, Andrew had gotten off a work hours ago and was just leaving physical therapy. He was in the car with his cousin Adam on their way home. Adam was driving while Andrew was in the passenger's seat.

"You alright?" Adam asked, looking back and forth between Andrew and the road. "PT went good?"

Andrew nodded as he looked out the window. "Yeah. It just...sucks. The emotional toll that this is taking on me isn't helping at all."

Adam could hear Andrew moving around in his seat. He was adjusting his leg so he could sit comfortably, but he eventually fell back into the same position he was in before.

Adam nodded slowly understanding what he meant. He had seen Andrew at his peak of his athletic ability, but he didn't want to see Andrew never play again. So, he couldn't let him give up.

"Hey you little wimp," Adam called out to him, making sure he was paying attention, "this ain't easy. No one said tearing your ACL is easy. It ain't. Yeah, maybe you won't be able to play now, but--"

"But how am I going to play if my knee barely wants to bend but it doesn't want to be straight. I'm in a brace all day everyday!" Andrew yelled at him. "It hurts 24/7 and I can't do anything! My life is on the line here and you don't seem to understand that."

Adam just stared at the rode with a blank expression. He didn't say anything to him, he just let him yell. He had learn over the past month that it was best if you just let him yell and get the emotions out before saying back to him.

"He had me do this wall sit the other day." Andrew sighed. "It felt like my knee popped out its joint or something. It was the scariest fucking thing to ever happen to me. I thought I wasn't going to have the chance to play again."

"But alright, right?" Adam wondered.

Andrew nodded, watching Adam pull up to their house. He turned off the car and let them sit there for a moment.

Andrew sighed as he opened his door and let his legs dangle out of it. "It's frustrating cause I see Clover and Jose and Diego and Ethan talking about their upcoming season. About the conditioning and summer practices. It just sucks because Mateo knows I can play and would give me my sport or a spot, but I don't play for him anymore."

Adam punched Andrew in the shoulder so he would look at him. When they made eye contact, Adam gave him a sly smirk. "I've been doing some research on ACL, they say after the first month you'll be able to go swimming, cycle on a bike, and lightly jog. So, how about we go for a jog?"

Andrew chuckled as he pulled himself out the car. "I can only barely bend my leg. Stephen was helping me bent it today, but it only goes so far."

"I'm not Stephen." Adam smirked, getting out the car and closing his door. "You're bending your knee and we're going for a jog. It's not optional."

He started to jog down the street. He turned around to see Andrew trying to follow him. Adam laughed as he had to slow down so Andrew could keep up with him. Once they were side by side, they jog around their neighborhood until they made a circle back to their house. Andrew didn't stop once.

~**~

The following morning, having missed his first alarm and being forced awake by his sister, Ethan was running around the house trying to get ready. His phone was already blowing up with messages from his friends wondering where he was since he was responsible for picking them up and driving them to work.

Ethan grabbed his keys off the coffee table and padding his pocket to make sure he had everything.

"You ready?" His aunt Nina chuckled, laughing at how he was frantically running around.