Digital publication | Page 74

When I opened my eyes, my parents were talking to the doctor. I glanced at my mother's worried face, her attention switching back from the monitors and the conversation. After a minute, she finally noticed I was staring back at her. 

"Sandra!  How are you feeling?” Well, I’m great, thanks for noticing. 

I learned that my knee had been  cracked by  a large amount of force on my leg while it was in the air. After the sentence "takes 4-6  weeks to heal, an additional two  week s before strenuous  activity," I felt like disappearing off the face of the earth. It was the middle of my fall soccer season, and that would mean I would miss all the other games. All the after-school practices, tournaments; I would miss it all?

While at the hospital, I met a variety of nurses and doctors. As they monitored my progress and asked me how I felt, I couldn't help wondering what they saw. How many years have they worked? Are broken arms and legs just normal to them? Have people died in here? Sighing, I laid back, knowing I should be grateful it wasn't worse, but bitter that anything had happened at all. 

I found that I was missing school for about  three  weeks  until I was able to use crutches, but, lucky me, I received many worksheets from school to muddle over. At least my math test was on hold, I thought, trying to find an optimistic look  on things, but even that brought little comfort to me. 

The next couple of days were monotone. More checkups and tests, even more schoolwork, but it was mostly waiting. I filled the void by reading books, taking a nap, or just staring out the window. But why was it taking so  long? I was more than ready to hop back into the thrill of soccer, the satisfaction of a job well done on the field.

Soon, a smidge of normalcy visited me. My teammates,  Avery, and Penny  came  with flowers in their hands and tears forming in their eyes. I  grinned,  happy they were here, but immediately they bombarded me with watery apologies. I was taken aback. 

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Why are you crying? I should be!  ran through my head, and although it was childish, I couldn't

stop it. I haven't cried a single tear since the first day, but you're acting like it happened to you! 

After, I wished I could take the thought  back. 

"Guys, don’t worry. I'm fine." I managed to pull together an optimistic smile, although judging

from their expressions it didn’t seem to be very successful. 

"But… how will you play soccer?" Avery managed  in a wobbly voice.

I tensed up. What did she mean by that? The atmosphere dropped, and Penny hastily switched the topic to school. I tried to be attentive and friendly, but I couldn’t help but feel a little bit of resentment.  

After ten more minutes of awkward conversation, they headed out after leaving me with a book titled  The Champion's Comeback: How Great Athletes Recover, Reflect, and Re-Ignite.  I thanked them for the gift and waved goodbye, but I knew I couldn't bear to look at it.  

Three days later, while I was puzzling over radical equations (courtesy of Mrs. Mull) a nurse named Lily came by to run an x-ray on me. After I slowly positioned my leg to lay under the large metal equipment, she activated the machine. I held my breath, excited for the results. 

After the four scans were done, I took my leg off the table a little too quickly, causing a stroke of pain, but I didn't mind as I was focusin on the picture. "How does it look?" I eagerly stared at her, expecting something great, something wonderful to light this dreadful week.