Secrets: The Hero Chronicles (Volume 1) (14 page)

“What?”

“Listen, you did a good job, but if you don’t quit, we will have to move or something worse may happen.”

“Okay, I will tonight.”

“You have to Nicholas,” she said.

“I will tonight, but I will do it my way.”

HOPE

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

I
concentrated on Elle while in the tunnel waiting to run onto the field. The fireworks went off. We ran up the tunnel and through the banner, splitting the cheerleaders.

I couldn’t quit football. Who would want to be friends with a quitter? Not Elle. I couldn’t do that. I had to fake an injury. That was the only reasonable way to stop playing and not look like I was abandoning the team.

“Okay, men! Get out there and stop them. Nobody will score on us tonight,” Coach Miller roared over the cheers of the crowd.

Oliver continued to struggle horribly. Every chance we had to score, he either messed it up or missed out on the opportunity.

“Set, hike.”

I ran past everyone right to the quarterback, knocking him back several yards.

“Keller, keep it up,” Chad said, hitting me on the helmet. “Without you, Oliver would have already lost this game for us.” With every play I made, I felt the pressure of not wanting to let my team down with a fake injury.

Time after time, Oliver could do nothing on the field. After Coach Miller’s screaming at halftime, I figured Oliver would wake up, but the second half was the same.

“Set, blue 44, hike,” Oliver yelled. He went to throw the ball and threw it right to the other team for an interception.

The score was 0-0 with 45 seconds left now. The crowd was eerily silent. Thanks to Oliver, the Eagles only needed five more yards, and they would be in field goal range.

Coach Miller was yelling at me, “Let’s go, Keller! We need a big play!”

The Eagles’ quarterback hiked the ball and dropped back like he was going to throw it. Chad and I hit him right when he scrambled out of bounds to stop the clock. He had gained a yard. There were only 38 seconds left on the clock. Back in the huddle no one was talking. Everyone was panting, out of breath. We had been out on the field most of the game.

“33 fire. Nicholas, just go get whoever has the ball,” Chad barked.

“Set, hike!”

The quarterback ran the ball away from me toward the sideline. It was like the coach on the other side told him to get the ball and run away from me and try to get a yard or two. I caught him and pushed him out of bounds after he gained a couple more yards. There were only 30 seconds left. Their kicker was warming up on the sideline. They were close enough to send him in to attempt a field goal.

The quarterback ran up and hiked the ball quickly. We were not ready, and he ran toward the sideline, but without as much speed as before. This time he was purposely not going out of bounds. He was taking time off the clock. Right before a group of us hit him, he went out of bounds. Ten seconds were taken off the clock, which now read “20” in bright neon yellow numbers that seemed to taunt us with every second that went by.

“Time out!” Coach Miller ran out to us in the middle of the field. “Listen, they have taken Keller out of the game these last couple of plays. We need to block this kick so we can give Oliver and the offense a chance to at least win it in overtime.”

I glanced into the stands, which were motionless. I saw Elle in the crowd standing in the front row. She had her hands folded like she was praying. She was praying for a miracle. I would have to be that miracle.

My muscles on cue began to pulse and tighten. My heart began to pound. My surroundings slowed as the Eagles set up to kick the game-winning field goal. I was focused on Elle, who started to cheer. I could see her face and how alive and radiant she looked, full of hope. She was triggering something inside of me; the fire that normally was ignited by rage was now being unleashed.

I turned from Elle and focused on the kicker. The ball was snapped back to the holder. I ran around the grasp of the other team’s players with ease just as the ball went hurtling toward the holder, who was waiting to put the ball down for the kicker. He caught the ball, and I dove in front of them to block the kick. In midair, I focused harder and everything slowed even more. The kicker’s leg was blurred from his forward motion to kick the ball. His leg created a wake behind it. I couldn’t just block the ball, because it would give Oliver the chance to be the hero. I would have to do something that would guarantee a win right now for Elle. Not by Oliver’s doing, but by mine.

The kicker’s leg went forward, connecting with the ball. The ball hit right into my midsection. In midair, with my left hand, I caught the ball and threw it to the only player from our team that was close enough to catch it, Chad. To everyone else it would look like it deflected into his arms off of my block. When I hit the ground I saw him catch the ball and run. No one was near him as he sprinted down the field. A couple of the big linemen from the other team had stumbled back onto me. I couldn’t see if he scored, but then the crowd roared. The horn sounded that the game was over. Chad had scored the winning touchdown.

The crowd’s cheering was deafening. Fireworks were going off. I closed my eyes and realized this was my only chance to end everything my way. I closed my eyes and lay perfectly still. I could feel the players all around me getting up. I didn’t want to give any indication that I was conscious, so I continued to lay motionless.

“Keller! Hey, Keller! Can you hear me?” One of our guys was yelling at me. Then he yelled to the sideline, “Coach, Keller is hurt!”

The chain of events that followed went so fast. The trainers were trying to wake me up. They used smelling salts, but right when they put it under my nose I held my breath so I wouldn’t react.

The coaches were also trying to get me to open my eyes. “Keller, can you hear us?”

I had to make this a serious injury so I wouldn’t be allowed to play again. They must have summoned the paramedics because I was being strapped to a board and loaded onto a gurney. The crowd’s cheers had gone quiet. I was being rushed across the field. The paramedics were taking my vitals and then I heard Cora’s voice.

“Is he okay? Please, Lord, let him be okay. Is he okay? Can someone answer me?” Cora sounded so scared. I wanted to reach out to her and grab her hand to tell her I was okay. Instead I opened my eyes. “His eyes are open! Nicholas, can you hear me?” she said with her eyes full of tears.

A bunch of unfamiliar faces surrounded me. The trainers were replaced with paramedics and some other people in plain street clothes. I guessed they were doctors who had been in the stands, because the paramedics were listening to them. Then Cora pushed into the crowd of faces around me.

“Nicholas, can you hear me?” she asked me again.

“Yes,” I whispered.

Immediately everyone around me quieted. One of the doctors said, “Do you know where you are?”

“At the football stadium, I think. Did we win?” I said. Relief passed over the faces around me, but Cora still looked upset.

“Nicholas, can you move your feet and arms?”

I wiggled all of them one at a time. I had to do it slowly to keep up the charade.

“He should be all right,” someone yelled from out of view. The paramedics continued to talk to me, asking me all types of questions.

Then, over the stadium intercom, I heard, “Nicholas Keller is going to be all right.” The crowd erupted with loud cheers.

“Let’s get him into the ambulance,” said the paramedic closest to Cora. Cora began to talk to him while they loaded me into the ambulance, and right next to her Elle was listening. Her back was turned to me, but her black hair was all I needed to see to know it was her.

“Keller, you okay?” Coach Miller was in the ambulance with me.

“Yes, sir. Did we win?”

“Yes, we did, son, thanks to you.” He patted me on the arm and got out.

The trip in the ambulance was extremely bumpy. Cora continued to talk to the paramedics about me. I was grateful it was a short trip because with all of those bumps I might have ended up actually being hurt. The short trip meant we had arrived at Bethesda South, the closest hospital to the school. Then I thought of something that I hadn’t thought of before. They were going to run tests on me that would show that nothing was wrong. They would say I had a slight concussion or something, and that would be it. They would clear me to play again in a couple of weeks. Then I would have to quit for sure. This plan seemed better when I was lying on the ground. But even though I hadn’t planned on this, it still felt like the right thing to do.

They unloaded me. Several doctors were waiting for me. The paramedics and doctors were talking about me as I was being rushed inside. I couldn’t hear what they were saying. They rushed me into a room. The room was buzzing. Nurses and doctors were hurrying in and out. They began to ask me all of the same questions I had been asked previously on the way here. They slowly removed my helmet, and I could feel them cutting through my jersey and removing my pads. Luckily enough, I had on a t-shirt and boxers.

“Excuse me, excuse me. Who is the doctor in charge?” Cora was not anxious or scared anymore, but now sounded like her normal, determined self.

“I am. I’m Dr. Jeffrey Flemming, head of the ER. Are you Nicholas’ mother?”

“Yes, my name is Cora Keller. I would like for you to wait for our family doctor to get here before you proceed with any tests.”

“My staff is more than qualified to handle this. We are top in the nation for any brain or spinal injuries. We need to run tests now to make sure your son doesn’t have serious injuries. We don’t have time to wait, Ms. Keller; we will get your family doctor up to speed when we are done with our tests.”

“Our family doctor, Dr. Chase Letterby, will be here any minute.”

“Did you say Chase Letterby?”

“Yes, I did. Do you know him?”

“You mean
the
Dr. Chase Letterby?”

“Is there another?” There was a long pause.

“Ms. Keller, there is no way he will get here in time.”

“Actually, when Nicholas didn’t get up off the field I called him immediately. Luckily, he was on his private jet about to land in Chicago, coming home from England. He should have landed nearby ten minutes ago,” Cora said like she was name-dropping. It was so snobby and rude; I had never heard her be that way before. It was disgusting. She sounded more like that old hag Ester Theasing than Cora.

“Yes, Ms. Keller. We will wait for a little bit, but then we have to start the tests. Even Dr. Letterby would agree that we can’t wait too long.” The doctor was defeated. I guess the way she was name-dropping, making Dr. Chase Letterby sound like a celebrity, was effective. Slimy, but effective.

“Thank you, Dr. Flemming.”

The room cleared out, including Cora. There were still two nurses in the room making sure everything was fully stocked and ready. I closed my eyes when they looked over.

“Can you believe they know Dr. Chase Letterby?” one of them whispered.

“Isn’t he the top doctor in the country, and wasn’t he operating on a member of the Royal Family just last week? That’s why he was in England.”

“He’s the doctor to the stars, you know, and is drop-dead gorgeous. He is tall, dark, and hunky.”

The two nurses continued to gossip about his good looks and what of theirs they wanted him to examine. I tuned them out. I drifted off thinking of Elle. She was the only one moving in my thoughts; everyone else was like still cardboard cut-outs. Then the black swirling clouds blocked my view of her and closed in on me.

“Nicholas, Nicholas.” I opened my eyes. I thought I had died because the silhouette of an angel was over me. My eyes focused. It was Elle. I couldn’t tell if I was asleep or awake until I tried to move and found I was still strapped to the table.

“Are you okay? Do you want me to get a doctor?” she asked, looking very worried. I ignored her question; I was more interested in why she was at the hospital.

“What are you doing here?”

She took my hand. “You got hurt, so I had to come see if you were all right.”

“Why?”

“What kind of question is that? We are friends, aren’t we?” she asked with a smile.

“Yes, of course we are, Elle, and to answer your first question, I feel fine. No need to get a doctor.”

“I’m glad. You had me worried. I couldn’t get much information about how you were at the stadium, so I came here right away to find out for myself. Plus, I had to see you in person.”

There was a lot of commotion out in the hall. I couldn’t turn to see what it was. Elle never looked away from me to see what all the excitement was about. Her eyes were just staring into mine. I wanted to tell her everything because I didn’t want to lie to her. After years of lying to people about pretty much everything, I just wanted to be honest with her. I could hear voices getting louder and louder outside the room. Even with them talking right outside the door, Elle still stared into my eyes. I hoped whoever it was would leave me and Elle alone just for a couple minutes longer. Right then the doors opened.

“Excuse me, miss, you will have to wait outside,” a deep voiced boomed. Elle squeezed my hand and disappeared out of sight.