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The way Stephanie would have held her.
That night Maybelle didn’t fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow like every other night. She was awake, staring up at the ceiling again, her body energized with a whole new motivation. If she was going to be a part of this world around her— she needed to wake up, she needed to walk. So, she stood herself up leaning heavily against the bed. Her limbs trembled from the soreness and excessive use from her earlier physical therapy session, but she hissed in a breath, and she made herself walk.
17 Bruises and Toppled Bookshelves
How is it that five days felt far longer than the last year ever could? Trey was antsy to get home and see how Maybelle was doing.
It was driving him crazy that he could only depend on his mom for small updates here and there on how Physical Therapy was hard for Maybelle but going well and that she was asleep more than she was awake most days.
He needed to be there with her, not here.
He needed to help her through this, not be “living it up” at college playing football, even though he was far from “living it up”. Each of his days were full of work, football and preparing for the upcoming semester. He and his roommates had recently helped move another guy into the apartment, Trey had been finishing out a summer class he had TA’d for and he’d been spending a lot of time in the gym training and working through the anxiety of not being home.
But as much as Trey would love to drop everything and bail for home in the middle of the week back to the girl waiting there, he also couldn’t just throw his life and opportunities away. And it's not like she was alone, his mom was there, Maybelle would be alright she just needed time.
Even through the reassuring pep talk going on his head, it still ate Trey alive to not be there with her. The rest of the week before he left back to school had been devastating compared to that first day, he had spent with her. That first day he and Maybelle spoke, teased, had fun but those last few days she only had the energy to eat and sleep.
Trey felt stuck in a cruel limbo in which she was finally awake but wouldn’t stay awake and it was killing him. Keeping him constantly on edge that she would just stop waking up. The hair on his arms stood on end and he shivered with the thought.
All he knew was that he was thankful it was officially the weekend which meant he could go home. Maybe while he’s there he could get Maybelle out of the house, take her to do something fun, keep her awake.
“Damn it, Bear!” A male voice hollered from the other room. Trey was in his apartment, packing his weekend bag as fast as possible so he could get on the road. Past his door he could hear the raging chaos of noises from the TV the boys were playing video games on.
“Bear, I swear to God man, if you let me down again…” The boisterous voice of Chad Larson ricocheted through the hall of their little apartment.
Trey opened his bedroom door at the end of the hall passing the other three bedrooms, entering into the small living room that led to sliding doors with a balcony to the left, and to the right their kitchen and front door.
In the living room on the two-cushion couch sat Larson, next to him on the six-foot-long massive bean bag was Adam Steverson, better known by his friends and the team as ‘Bear’.
Larson was gnawing on the inside of his cheek in concentration while Bear sat stone faced, like he would rather be doing anything else in the world.
Bear was the first to notice Trey and his bag, “Where are you headed?”
“Bro, pay attention!” Larson scolded.
Bear rolled his eyes.
Trey chuckled, “I’m headed home.”
This had both Larson and Bear looking away from their game, “For the weekend?” Larson asked after pausing the game.
Trey nodded, dropping his bag on the kitchen counter so he could grab a couple road trip snacks from the pantry. With two pop tart packs in hand Trey turned back to face the guys who watched him like he might combust at any moment.
“What? Is there something on my face?”
Trey brushed a hand over his face to scrub away anything that might be there even though he knew why they were staring. Keeping up with the theatrics, Trey brought his palm down the rough stubble on his chin then made a show of inspecting his hand for any removed debris.
Bear, in his deep tone asked, “How is she doing?”
His whole first season at UCLA Trey had left back home nearly every weekend, never joining the parties or celebrations.Always getting home to sit by Maybelle’s side, just in case she finally woke up. After a few months Larson being captain of the team felt it was his responsibility to sit Trey down with Bear and ask if there was a problem, if there was a reason he avoided them and the team every weekend.
They hadn’t been roommates, or teammates for long before that but it led to a friendship Trey couldn’t be more grateful for. It was the first time he had ever opened up to anyone besides his mom about the beautiful sleeping girl he waited patiently for.
The boys always made an effort after that to ask for updates on Maybelle each time he went home for the weekend. It got to a point where he felt they were almost as invested in her recovery and wellbeing as he was, and it meant the world to him.
“She’s doing well, my mom said she’s having a hard time with physical therapy and is still sleeping a lot but she’s doing good.” Trey did what he could to sound hopeful but by the skeptical look Bear gave him, he wasn’t very convincing.
“Speaking of your mom,” Larson interrupted before Bear could ask more, “tell her I miss her and that I’m still waiting for her to call me back.”
