Chapter 16
Sixteen
Present Day
I glance about the locker room, my teammates in their training kits, while I’m in athletic shorts and a Red Tails T-shirt. They’ll be headed out to practice soon. I have to go to physical therapy before I get to sit on the sidelines and watch practice.
I’m realizing that while I’ve had compassion for guys who were hurt and on the sidelines, it was never enough.
Killing yourself on the field is hard. This is harder.
“How’s the leg?” Sawyer, our Red Tail goalie, sits on the bench next to me.
“Better every day,” I lie. The truth is, my leg is healing slowly. Slower than they would have thought. It’s still swollen and not strong enough for me to sprint yet. And while the doctors and therapist are unsure why, I’m frustrated beyond belief.
Sawyer clears his throat. “And Rosalie?”
A shirtless Lucca walks up behind Sawyer and slaps a hand to his back. “She’s better every day, too,” he says, saving me from answering.
Sawyer nods, looking from Lucca back to me. “Good. I’ve got you both on the prayer roll at my church.”
I didn’t even know Sawyer went to church. And now, while feeling physically weak and emotionally beaten, I also feel like a bad teammate.
“Thanks,” I tell him. “It’s helping.” And maybe it is. I’ve spoken to Rosalie. After months, we’ve talked to one another. She knows my name again.
He stands to leave, noting how Lucca hovers over him, waiting to take his seat.
“Any word from our girl?” Lucca asks as he slumps into the seat beside me.
“Nothing.” I lean against the lockers behind me. “It’s been three days.”
Callum and Roman, dressed in their practice gear, follow suit, sitting on the benches across from us.
“Three days,” Lucca says, filling them in. “No texts from Rosalie.”
“Dang,” Roman mutters.
“She just needs—”
“Time,” Roman and Lucca say in unison with me. Callum is much more patient than the rest of us. Although I’ve never considered myself an impatient man.
But I can’t help it. I want my Rose back. The one who will allow me to love her.
I exhale, my chest heavy with loss and hurt that’s more confusing than not. “I don’t know what else to do.”
“She’ll get there,” Callum says.
But it’s been more than six months, and her memory isn’t any better than the day of our accident.
“There’s no guarantee her memories will come back.” I grind my teeth. I’m saying what we all know, I’m stating what cuts me to the core every night I lay my head down to rest. “What do I do then?”
“Then,” Lucca says, throwing an arm around my shoulders, “you make that girl fall in love with you all over again. You did it once. You can do it again.”
“I’m working on it,” I say—it’s my number one goal.
“We could throw a team party. That worked for Maggie and me.”
“She wouldn’t come,” I say. “She’s not really peopling right now. That’s what Fran says. Besides, if she saw me with the Red Tails, knowing we possibly met in the past, I think she’d stay as far from me as humanly possible.”
Roman clears his throat. “Uh… she came to my place a few days ago.”
“She what?” I say, my friend coming in and out of focus. This is news.
“Yeah, Noreen brought her for a pottery lesson. Stella said she played with Ivy and they talked—a little. She said that for five minutes, it felt like we had the old Rosalie back.”
“Well, that’s something,” Callum says, a hand on my back.
“Yeah.” I smile. It’s good news. It is. It’s also news that makes me jealous as heck. I stand, wishing I could run off the jitters inside me. “I’ll see you guys out there.” Then I slip past my friends and into the empty showers.
I retrieve my phone and pull up Noreen’s number.
Me: You guys visited Stella?
Noreen: We did. It was good for Rose.
Me: She did okay?
Noreen: Yes. Only now Rosalie’s ill and I’m out of town for the week. I’d ask you to check on her, but you aren’t supposed to know where we live.
Me: What’s wrong?
Noreen: She caught a cold. She’ll be okay.
Me: I could make something up and stop by.
Noreen: Darling Zev. If I have to tell you it’s creepy, it’s quite creepy. You cannot do that. I’ll have Fran look in on her.