#1 In the Company of a Stranger (A fanfic-complete)

La La Love

After Odell flew back to New Jersey, he was reassessed by the doctor the next morning, and more bad news was added to the already overflowing plate.

All morning, Odell had been extremely nervous though he was trying to pretend like everything was ok. At the last minute he gave up the act and weakly asked Cas to come with him while he went to see Dr Shatter. Cas held his hand as the physician assessed the ankle and then told them again that he needed more imaging.

It pretty much went downhill from there. The doctor did a lot of talking.  It appeared the hardware in Odell's ankle likely dehisced or separated from the bone and slipped out of line with all the stress that he had put on it on the field. If that was the case, the only option at this point was to fuse the ankle completely to limit movement. Cas could feel Odell's palm sweating in her hand.

She interlaced their fingers and held tighter. She could tell he was only half listening.  He knew whatever the news was, it was bad news for his return to football.  So she listened for him, asking the necessary questions.

"...It's not the most complicated surgery in the world. But needless to say you will effectively be ending your career."  Dr Shatter said to Odell.

"Yea." Odell replied quietly accepting while not accepting his fate.

Cas rubbed his back while Odell sat waiting to get the MRI. He had a drawn distraught look on his face that Cas had never seen before. He was quietly letting her rub his back while he sat staring at the door that led to the back of the radiology department.

Finally the tech came out and got him. He held tighter to Cas's hand and asked weakly. "Can she come back with me?"

The tech said, "She can come into the holding area but not beyond there."

Cassandra held his hand until they wheeled him into the room with the MRI. Odell looked like he was about to have a full-blown panic attack at this point. Cassandra placed her forehead on his forehead and said soothingly. "I'll be right out here O. It'll be ok.  I promise."

He nodded trying to buck up and look unfazed, but still looked frightened and miserable.  He held tighter to her hand. Finally the tech got the doctor to give him something to relax in the very cramped and very loud MRI machine.

He made it through the test and then passed out from the sedative in the car, as Cassandra drove home to wait for further news from the physician.

Cassandra sat on the couch in the den with Odell stretched out with his head in her lap and his leg elevated on several pillows. She played in his curls with one hand while he snored lightly.  With the other hand she worked on her laptop.  She had been doing this a lot over the last few days, Odell wanting to be up under her constantly while he was resting.

She enjoyed being the one taking care of him though. Odell had been a mess thinking that this injury meant he was out of the championship game, or worse permanently. And then when the word 'surgery' started to get thrown around he almost lost it, having visions of the years prior. His doctor said if he had the fusion surgery, his career was essentially over and his obsessive google searches had not turned up anything better.

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A few mornings later, I woke up around two am missing the comforting presence of Odell's body against me.   I went downstairs to find him stretched out on the couch asleep with his arm thrown over his face. Film from the Falcons' season, who the Giants would be facing for the NFC championship, was still playing on the flat screen television.  Shooing Mowgoli and Bagheera from their spots next to him, I curled up along side him as I was just small enough to fit on the strip of empty space left on the couch.