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“What are you trying to say, Derek?” I asked with more ferocity.
“Only that I’ve never seen two more uptight people be so carefree.” Derek slid off the table once my massage was done and gave me a wink before he left the room, leaving Nolan and me alone.
The silence between the two of us only hung heavy for a few moments before Nolan broke it. “What was that idiot going on about?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but I think he was trying to say he saw the two of us Friday night.”
Nolan groaned and I knew exactly why. If Derek Allen saw the two of us do anything compromising Friday night, it was equivalent to the town gossip knowing the biggest secret the town had ever had.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” I told Nolan as I began our pregame treatment routine we’d been doing so far this season.
“If you think Derek Allen isn’t going to act like Paul Revere and tell the entire locker room the moment he sees it with his own eyes, you’re mistaken.”
My head snapped up to meet Nolan’s gaze once I’d secured the electro-stimulation pads around his knee. “Should we be worried?”
“With the guys on the team?” Nolan clarified. “No. Everyone loves you and there are other things to be concerned about than the two of us dancing at a party. Derek doesn’t know anything else; I haven’t spoken with him about it.”
Relief washed over me. The two of us sat in the training room in silence as a few of the linemen filtered in and out to get their ankles taped.
“Can we talk after the game?” Nolan asked, breaking up the silence. He didn’t say that he wanted to talk about going on another date. Gone was the tough exterior he had given me this morning.
“Yes, we can,” I told him. “But you’ve got a game to win first.”
Shortly after Nolan left the training room, I bundled up against the cold for the game and headed out to the field. Everything started normal this game. Nolan threw a touchdown pass to Derek. Hawthorn kicked the extra point. It was starting off exactly how everyone thought this game would go—a sure win.
That was until just before the second half.
Nolan had taken the snap and dropped back into the pocket only to have to scramble to his left when pressure came from the right side. He tried to give himself more time as his eyes stayed down field, hoping for an open receiver before he’d get sacked. But he couldn’t get the ball out before he was brought to the ground with his legs tangled up underneath one of the defenders that had brought him down.
The entire stadium gasped when they saw it because everybody knew there was no way Nolan was going to get up from that hit completely unharmed. I took off running onto the field as soonas the referee blew his whistle. It took only a few seconds to get to him with my heart beating wildly the whole way.
Nolan had rolled over onto his back by the time I got there and was groaning in pain as I kneeled next to him.
“What is it?” I asked, trying to assess where the injury occurred.
“My knee,” Nolan groaned as his hands went to grab at his injured knee.
“Can you bend it at all?” I asked as I noticed swelling already.
“Not well,” he told me. Pain marred his face as I prodded the injury.
This was my job. I was used to dealing with my athletes getting injured. I was always a sturdy pillar for them during moments like this, never showing them any panic. So, the worry deep in my stomach as I tried to get Nolan to sit up was a new discovery.
Zeke and another trainer helped me get him to his feet and support his body weight as we walked to the training room. I heard the crowd cheer behind us as Caleb took the field in place of Nolan.
“Goddamnit!” Nolan yelled as soon as we were the only ones in the training room. “This can’t be happening. Not now.Whynow?”
Nolan was falling apart in front of me, with the threat of an injury pushing him off his equilibrium and toward an unknown outcome.
I stayed quiet as I helped Nolan slide onto one of the beds. I needed to assess the knee first to see if he needed an MRI or if the team doctor needed to be called in, but I also wanted to give him a few moments to work through what was currently happening. Injuries could be devastating for athletes, and even more so for an athlete in Nolan’s position in the middle of his last season. If this was serious, there was a good chance he had just played the last snap of his career.
“Nothing feels torn,” I told him after I did my initial assessment. Nolan had covered his eyes with his arm and still hadn’t looked at me yet. “But I still want you to have an MRI done.”
“If you think it’s fine, then it’s fine,” Nolan replied with an edge to his voice.
“I also think you should get an MRI,” I fought back. It had been over a month since the last time that Nolan had second-guessed my professional judgement.
“I’m not getting the MRI.”
