The nurse wrapped his foot tightly, then fitted Ty with crutches and gave them a couple of prescriptions to fill.
Kazlyn hovered over him while they waited for the discharge papers. She was the only bright spot he could find. Just seeing her brave smile and feeling her hand in his made him think he could get through this nightmare. But then Ty realized that everything he’d had to offer her if this relationship got serious, like he hoped it would, was gone. Would she be interested in an injured man? If he couldn’t play in Europe, could he even get a coaching job? How was he going to help his sisters and mom now?
Darkness overwhelmed him. How could this have happened to him? He was a good guy. He tried to treat others right. How could the Lord let this happen?
Luke’s face appeared above Kazlyn’s. He was the last person Ty wanted to see right now. His career was over and he couldn’t help blaming Luke. It wasn’t a Christian thing to think, but he still felt it. Had Luke hit him on purpose? The glare Kazlyn sent Luke’s way made Ty feel warm all over.
“Get out of here,” Kazlyn commanded.
Luke stared at her, pleading with his eyes. “I want to talk to Ty.”
“So you can make fun of him or hurt him again? No!”
Her brother towered over her, but this beautiful woman was willing to fight for him. Ty loved it.
Luke sighed. “I was only taking care of you…” He glanced at Ty then back at Kazlyn. “Like Dad would’ve done.”
She tossed her blonde hair. “Dad wouldn’t have acted like this. He would’ve trusted my judgment.
Plus, Dad would never have treated anyone unkindly.”
Luke clenched and unclenched his fist. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
Kazlyn stared at him for a few seconds before giving him a nod. “Thank you.”
Luke hugged her against his side. “I’m sorry,” he repeated, tenderly brushing a lock of hair from her face. “Can I talk to Ty now?”
Kazlyn leaned into his hug for a second. “Do you want me to leave?”
Luke shrugged. “It’s fine with me if you stay.” He looked at Ty.
Ty nodded, wishing he knew what Luke was going to say and wishing even more that he could foresee how he was going to respond. He offered a brief prayer for forgiveness to be in his heart. He needed divine intervention for so many reasons right now.
Luke stared at him with such anguish. “I’m so sorry, Ty. You have to believe that I didn’t push you on purpose. I was going for the ball. I would never try to hurt you…not like this.”
Ty stared at Luke for several seconds. Luke didn’t squirm or look away and Ty could read the truth in his eyes. The warmth of forgiveness flowed through him. “I believe you.”
Luke swallowed. “Thank you. I’m really sorry you got hurt.”
“You and me both.”
“What’s Doc saying?”
“It’s not good. A Lisfranc fracture, ligaments torn, bones broken and separated in the middle of my foot. Meeting with a specialist in Billings in the morning.”
Luke shook his head mournfully. “Could I drive you to Billings tomorrow?”
“I’d appreciate that.” He looked shyly at Kazlyn. Should he keep asking her to be with him or let her go? If he didn’t have anything to offer her by way of a future, he should just say goodbye now. But, he needed her, needed her like he’d never needed anyone in his life.
“Can I come, too?” she asked.
Ty exhaled and smiled. “I would love that.”***
The night’s sleep was miserable with the tight wrapping cutting off circulation to his foot and the worry gnawing away at his heart. Telling him he couldn’t play basketball was like saying he couldn’t eat or sleep. Basketball was who he was.
A knock on the guest room door around two a.m. was a welcome relief. “Ty?” Jamison called softly as he cracked the door. “You awake?”
“Yeah, man, come in.”
Jamison crept slowly to the edge of the bed. Ty couldn’t see him very well in the darkened room. “How you feeling?”
“Pretty good. The pain isn’t too bad.”
“You talked to coach?” Jamison was never one to waste time.
“Just my mom. Figured I’d wait until after I saw the specialist tomorrow to break it to coach. Keep hoping maybe this doctor was wrong.”
“I’m so sorry, man.”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“Doesn’t make me feel any better.”
Ty grunted. “Tell me about it.” He clutched the bedspread in his fingers.
“What did your mom say?”
“‘This too shall pass.’” Ty half-laughed. “She’s upset, but we’ve been through worse.” He shrugged. Losing his dad was definitely worse than this.
Jamison sighed. “Wish it was already in the past. I’ll let you rest.” He shuffled toward the door.
“Goodnight.” Ty lay there brooding, and his mom’s voice repeating in his mind, “This too shall pass,” wasn’t really helping. The thought of not being able to play basketball ripped at him, but the thought of not being worthy of Kazlyn, of having nothing to offer her shredded him completely.
Sobs worked their way up his chest. His body shook. He clenched a fist to his mouth to stop the sound from coming out.
One wrong fall. One wrong twist of his foot and his future was over. How could he help his sisters and Mom now? How could he even dream of a future with Kazlyn?
Why had this happened to him? Why?
He rolled to his right side, folded his arms, bowed his head, and begged the Lord to help him through this. Just getting through tonight and tomorrow was all he could ask for, but he wanted to beg for some kind of miracle.
Chapter Thirteen
THE DRIVE TO BILLINGS WAS UNCOMFORTABLE. Luke and Kazlyn tried to talk with Ty, but he was quiet, obviously nervous about what the specialist would say. He held on tightly to her hand as she sat between him and Luke in the truck. She kept picturing him falling on the court. It had been awful to watch this strong, amazing man be injured. She’d prayed hard last night for him to heal and for him to be able to deal with the injury, especially if it was the end of his career.
They made it to the doctor’s office and waited over an hour in the examination room. The door burst open and a small, balding doctor stormed in, holding the x-rays they’d brought with them from Snow Valley.
He sat down on a chair across from the three of them, looked at Ty and said, “I have no idea how you screwed up your foot this badly.”
Ty extended his hand. “I’m Tyrese Wilson. Who the heck are you?”
The man shook his head and Ty’s hand. “Doctor Shaffer. Son, your foot’s a mess. We’ll take an MRI to confirm, but you’ll need reconstructive surgery. We can schedule it here for next week or if you prefer to have a doctor in Cache Valley do it, you can meet with one of them. Honestly, I might recommend the latter. Cache Valley Orthopedics, or even better the University of Utah, deal with a lot more Lisfranc fractures than I do.”
Ty stared at the ground. “I’ll need to talk to my mom and my coach and see what they recommend.”
“I understand.” He placed a small hand on Ty’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, son, but there’s no way you’re playing basketball this year.”
Ty took a long breath and then nodded. “What about next year? I had some offers to play in Europe.”
The man shook his head. The look in his eye was not promising. “Possibly. But you’ve got to understand, son, your midfoot supports you during high-impact athletics, and with the damage you’ve done.” He sighed. “The ligaments you injured got their name because a surgeon in Napoleon’s army used to amputate the foot when someone was ripped off their horse and their foot got caught in the stirrup.”
Kazlyn wanted to tell the doctor they didn’t need a history lesson right now, but at least Ty’s foot wasn’t getting amputated.
The doctor sighed again. “I’ve personally never seen an athlete recover from this and play competitively. But, y
ou’ll have to see how recovery goes.” He patted Ty on the shoulder. “Sorry to ruin your Christmas.”
He walked out of the room without saying goodbye and Ty muttered, “More like ruin my life.”
Luke shifted in his chair, staring a hole in the shiny floor. Kazlyn was at a loss for how to comfort Ty and was grateful when he used his crutches to lumber to his feet and they escaped the doctor’s office.
They went to a fun bakery, Harper and Madison, for a sandwich. She could tell Ty was trying to be upbeat, but he was failing miserably.
After they picked up their delicious-looking sandwiches, that no one was hungry for, Luke banged his fist on the table. “Dude, I am so sorry.”
“Luke.” Ty shook his head. His voice was low and scratchy. “Please, don’t blame yourself. This is tough enough without me worrying about how to comfort you.”
Luke pressed his lips together for a second. He finally nodded. “You’re right. What can we do to help you, Ty?”
Kazlyn was grateful Luke had obviously softened toward Ty. Now, if they really could help him.
“Just being here is helping.” Ty squeezed Kazlyn’s hand then let go.
“Really. You don’t know how much I appreciate that neither of you are giving me empty reassurances and I’m sorry that you have to watch me be such a downer.”
Kazlyn reached around his waist and hugged him. She really had no words of comfort, though.
“I don’t want to pretend I know what you’re going through,” Luke said. “But, when I gave up my job at Boeing, I felt like I’d lost everything I’d worked for, every dream. I hated it.”
“How did you come out of it?” Ty asked, a bit of hope lighting his dark eyes.
Luke picked up a huge club sandwich and took a bite. “Who said I’d come out of it?”
Kazlyn winced.
“Ouch.” Ty’s shoulders rounded. He played with the pickle on his plate.
“But, that’s life sometimes,” Luke said. “Things get easier. I enjoy being with Mom and Porter. I’ve been able to really help with the finances on the ranch and the hard work is rewarding. It’s just not where I want to be. Sometimes you have to change your dreams.”
Ty studied him. “Change them, maybe. But not give them up completely. Have you looked into using your degree through the internet or hiring some help for the ranch and finding a job in your field here in Billings? You could still help on weekends or even commute.”
Luke laughed. “I thought this conversation was about helping you, not me.”
Ty shrugged and picked up his panini sandwich. “Your situation seems a lot easier to me right now.”
Kazlyn found she was holding her breath as she waited for Luke’s answer. She’d asked him a few times to look at other options. Even if he wasn’t working for Boeing, he could find something he loved to do. Anything would be better than being miserable.
Luke looked at Kazlyn. “I knew I didn’t like this guy when I saw him kissing you in the booth at Tina’s.” He shook his head. “Trying to push me out of my comfort zone.”
Ty laughed and took a long swig of his water. “And I thought you didn’t like me because I thumped you on the court.”
Kazlyn took it as a very good sign that Ty could joke about basketball.
Luke chuckled. “So many reasons I don’t like you.”
“As long as Kazlyn likes me.”
She winked. “Oh, I do.”
Ty gave her a heated look and a hug that had Luke grunting with disapproval and her flushing. Ty turned back to face her brother. “So, you’re committing to do something?”
“I’m committing to think about it, search through some job openings, and talk to Porter and my mom.”
Ty nodded. “Sounds good.”
“Are you committing to not let yourself get too depressed and realizing that things will work out?” Luke asked.
Ty chewed another bite before saying, “I’ll try my best.”
Kazlyn smiled at him. “I’ll be praying for you.”
Ty returned the smile. “That’s exactly what I need…and a few kisses of encouragement.”
He leaned closer, but they broke apart as Luke threw some of his water at them. “Not where I can watch!”
Kazlyn wiped the water off Ty’s cheek. “That means I’ll give him double the kisses later.”
Luke groaned and Ty pumped his eyebrows. “That’s the kind of therapy that can save a man.”
***
When they got back to Kazlyn’s house, Ty excused himself to make some phone calls. Everyone watched him like they wished they could take the burden from him. Kazlyn walked with him while he hobbled into Luke and Porter’s office near the entryway.
“Good luck,” she said.
Ty sank into the office chair, propped his crutches against the desk, and grabbed her around the waist. He pulled her onto his lap, careful to keep her on his right side. She squealed in surprise.
“I could use a kiss for good luck.”
Kazlyn laughed and leaned into him, giving him a lingering kiss on the lips before standing.
Ty sighed. “You think that’s enough to get me through?”
She leaned over and kissed him again. “I’ll give you more later.” She winked and walked out of the office, closing the door behind her.
Ty jammed his hand through his hair. He hoped he’d acted brave enough in front of Kazlyn. Inside he was still sobbing. But he had to trust that the Lord had a plan for him and he had to deal with this somehow.
He sighed again and pulled up his coach’s number on his cell phone. His finger trembled as he pressed call.
“Hey, Ty,” Coach Anderson greeted him. “How’s vacation?”
“Um, well, not so good, Coach.”
All levity left Coach’s voice. “What’s wrong?”
Ty fought to keep his voice level. It had to be the painkillers that were making him so emotional. “I got hurt, Coach, playing in a three-on-three tournament up here.”
Coach Anderson cursed, but didn’t reprimand.
“Ripped the ligaments and broke a bone in my midfoot. They called it a Lisfranc fracture.”
Coach sucked in a breath and muttered, “No.”
When he didn’t say anything more, Ty continued, “I’ll have surgery when I come back home, but I’m definitely out for the season.”
There was silence on the line for so long Ty didn’t know if Coach had hung up on him.
“You don’t know how sorry I am to hear that, Ty. How are you holding up?”
It was so like his coach to be concerned about him. Ty actually sniffled. How humiliating. “It’s been…I’m a mess. I might be done playing forever.”
“Europe?”
“They p-probably won’t want me.” He cleared his throat, determined to at least sound like he wasn’t a sniveling disaster. “By the time I get through rehabilitation, they’ll already have their teams formed.”
Coach exhaled slowly. “Don’t count yourself out. I’ll call in some favors after Christmas. We’ll get you with the best ortho and therapists in the state. I hate to lose you your senior year, but sometimes junk like this happens.”
Wasn’t that the truth? Junk happening was about the best explanation he’d had so far. “Thank you for being so understanding, Coach.”
“I’m crapping my diggers, Ty.”
Ty laughed.
“But, it’ll get better.”
Ty actually believed him. He swallowed and said a prayer of gratitude. This was what he’d been praying for last night, some sense of comfort and hope.
“You know, Ty, I’ve talked with a lot of your professors and I’ve watched the way you instruct the younger players. I know your knowledge and love of the game...”
He paused and Ty wondered where his coach was going with this.
“I’ve been scheming. I thought it would be five years down the road that I’d be making this offer, after you’d enjoyed traveling Europe.”
Ty had no clue what Coa
ch was talking about, so he just waited.
“If it doesn’t work out to play in Europe, I want you as one of my assistants next year.”
“What?”
“Stephenson was offered the head coach position at University of Idaho this weekend. I’m going to need to replace him. Maybe all of this is meant to be.”
Ty was stunned. He leaned forward in the chair and had to press the heel of his hand to his eyes. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Thank you for taking a chance on an unseasoned rookie?”
“I said that when you recruited me.”
“Well, say it again.”
“Thank you for taking a chance on an unseasoned rookie,” Ty managed, hoping his coach couldn’t hear how close he was to crying again. Wow. Was the Lord already showing him the miracles he had in store for him?
“I didn’t regret it the first time. I won’t regret it this time.”
“I’ll make sure you don’t.”
“I know that. Now go have a nice Christmas. I’ll let you know where and when to be for those appointments. It might be the first of next week with the holiday.”
“Okay. Thank you, Coach.” Ty meant the expression of gratitude on so many levels.
“Anytime.”
The phone disconnected and he held it to his chest for a minute before quickly dialing his mom. They’d already talked last night about his injury. This conversation was much more positive and he could feel her relief almost as strongly as his own. Maybe he did have something to offer that beautiful angel and his mom’s words helped him to smile about it. “If that little girl doesn’t realize what a catch you are, I’ll just call her up and tell her all about your many talents.”
“Thanks, Mom, I think I can handle it.”
“You love her?” she guessed.
“I think so.”
“What a Christmas. You having this horrible injury, but Coach making you this incredible offer, and you finding a woman of faith who you think is worthy of you. I might disagree because nobody’s worthy of my boy, but if she’s the one, I’ll love her like she’s my own.”
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