AllFreeNovel
Share Us
4Count on Me
From Personal Foul
Alex
This issome serious déjà vu that I would willingly trade one of my nuts not to be experiencing again. Hell, maybe both jewels. I’m really starting to hate hospitals. I’m really thinking the baby makers aren’t worth it.
Rob’s sitting across from me, looking dazed, his shirt covered in blood. The pain etched into his forehead makes my knee seem like a papercut. The baby he won’t let go of is the only marker between present and past.
I clear my throat. A lot has changed since then. I stayed silent eight years ago, too wrapped up in my own head. I can’t take that route again. Evie didn’t ask me to be here to stare at her husband. “You gotta get cleaned up, man. Might as well take advantage of the spoiled jock private room. You don’t even have to go home to shower.”
He shakes his head and clutches the baby burrito closer to his chest. “Evie told me to take care of Robbie, so that’s what I’m gonna do.”
Evie is currently in the OR while doctors try to stop intrauterine hemorrhaging or something like that. I didn’t really pay attention to the fancy medical mumbo jumbo Rob rattled off so much as the way he fisted my shirt in his bloody hands like I had the power to change any of this shit.
“You’ve got a whole team here.” I glance around at the other worried faces—Evie’s and Rob’s moms and Mike. There are more people in the waiting room, but none of them are as recognizable as a trio of pro football players. The last thing anyone needs is for other visitors to make a scene, so we’re holed up in the private room the hospital set aside for D-Day. “Why don’t you let one of these eager grandmas hold their new grandson before shit gets really ugly? I don’t think Mike and I can stop them from mobbing you if you make them wait much longer.”
Rob glances at the dynamic duo he and Evie refer to as the moms like he just realized they’re here. “Oh. You want to hold him?”
“When you’re ready, sweetie,” his mom answers.
Evie’s mom holds her arms out, her voice choked with tears. “Give him. Now.”
Mike and I exchange a glance. We both hear what she isn’t saying. This kid is her only connection to her daughter who might not make it. Rob’s not the only one suffering.
For a quarterback, Rob really doesn’t want to pass this particular ball. He hesitates before the hand-off in a way he never would on the field.
The second the buck is passed, Mike and I make a dive for Rob. We’ll drag him to the damn shower if we have to. He’s a dad now. He doesn’t have time to wallow. That’s why we’re here. To make sure he doesn’t fumble now.
“Come on, Falls. Up and at ‘em,” I grunt as Mike and I work together to hoist him up. The jolly green giant is like dead weight. “Gotta make you a pretty boy again, so your wife will recognize you when she gets back.”
“What if she doesn’t come back?” he whispers as he trudges toward the en suite with us.
“Positive mindset,” I answer. “If you’re expecting the worst, the worst will happen. So, expect the best. Manifest it in your mind to turn it into reality.”
Mike and Rob stop moving and turn to stare at me in unison.
“What? That’s successful pro athlete mentality 101. Didn’t your team shrinks teach you this shit?”
“You have a team shrink?” Rob mumbles as we push him through the door.
“You don’t?” Mike questions.
“You’re probably the team shrink,” I tell him. “You’ve been doling out advice since before you got a lousy bachelor’s degree in psych.”
Rob sighs as he pulls his bloody shirt over his head. “Really? You two are really going to pull this crap today?”
Mike throws Rob’s shirt in the trash when he turns his back.
“Hey, we’re just trying to keep you grounded,” I admit. “You really wouldn’t know what to do with yourself if Mike and I played nice for a few hours. It would be even weirder than accepting you’re a father now.”
Mike looks impressed. He nods.
Game on.
The fucker draws first blood. “Dibs on godfather!”
“Fuck you,” I hiss. “You’re not even Catholic! You can’t be his godfather!”
