Husband for All Seasons

"Help! Help!" Chad Reece struggled to open his eyes, wondering why he couldn't move. Was he lying on the gym floor with a heavy weight on his chest? "Help!" a weak voice called again. Chad was always the first to help when any of his teammates were injured. Responding to the distress call, he tried to sit up. Gentle hands on his shoulders pushed him backward. "Don't try to move," a kind voice cautioned sternly. "You'll pull out your IVs if you don't settle down. I'm supposed to keep you quiet, so cooperate, please." Chad opened his eyelids slightly, and even that was an effort. He wasn't lying on the floor. He wasn't in his apartment. He wasn't in his parents' home, so where was he? Who was this woman hovering over him--a woman, with a soft voice, who smoothed his pillow and wiped his face with a warm, moist cloth? "Where am I?" "You're in OSU Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio." In the hospital? He never got sick--not since the ear infections he'd had as a toddler. "Are you real? Or am I dreaming?" "It isn't a dream, Mr. Reece. You were recently airlifted to the medical center from a small hospital in eastern Ohio. I don't know all the details, but it seems you had an injury that hospital couldn't handle. Don't worry--you're doing great. You've been calling for help, and I'm here if you need me. Go back to sleep." Chad closed his eyes, but he didn't want to sleep. Airlifted to this hospital! The last he remembered, it was the first weekend in September, and he had been in Pittsburgh heading for the goalpost during the first football game of the season. He recalled the shouting of the spectators and the victory celebration of the cheerleaders--sounds that had been music to his ears since he had started playing football as a teenager. When he had vaulted to safety with the ball, he must have grazed the goalpost, for it toppled and knocked him down. He had felt a sharp pain in his back, but that discomfort had faded into the background as they celebrated. He had scored for his team and started his third NFL season with a winning touchdown. Why worry about a pain in his back? Eluding his many fans, at the end of the game, Chad got into his car, needing some solitude to unwind from the tension he'd been under for several days. After the emotional high of a game, nothing settled Chad more than driving alone through the rural area of Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio. He didn't want to talk. He turned his cell phone off so he could concentrate on driving. But a few hours of driving brought excruciating pain in his side and back. Although he was bent double with pain, he drove slowly to a hospital in the next town. He must have blacked out before he saw a doctor, for he didn't remember what happened after that. Chad opened his eyes again. "And who are you?" he asked the aide, hardly recognizing his own voice, which sounded faraway. "I'm Vicky Lanham, a hospital volunteer, and I'm sitting with you through the night. Your parents will be back tomorrow morning." Parents? His parents were in Alabama. Although they had rarely missed any of his high school and college games, they had stopped following him when he turned pro. They had watched his last game on television. He must be having a nightmare. He tried to sit up, but he couldn't move. When Chad woke up again, he was more alert and aware of his surroundings. He was in a hospital, but the young woman had gone, and his parents stood beside his bed. Tears glistened on his mother's wrinkled, wistful face. Trying to smile, he said, "Aw...it can't be that bad, Mom. What happened to me?" She shook her head, unable to speak, and Chad turned questioning eyes toward his father. "You had an accident at the football game. Don't you remember?" "I remember Tommy and me bumping into each other and toppling the goalpost." His fatBrand, Irene is the author of 'Husband for All Seasons ', published 2007 under ISBN 9780373812967 and ISBN 0373812965.