Gladiators of the Gridiron

The clacking of the keyboard was just one of the many jarring sounds filling the hospital lobby. ‘You’ll need to go to room 759. The elevator is just down the hall and to your left right there,’ the receptionist said, looking up at the young man before her, though he was already rushing down the hall.

‘Thank you!’ the man called out without looking back. His head of short, blond curls bounced wildly as he hurried over to the elevator. His finger mashed the button to call the elevator to his floor, as if each subsequent press would make the mechanism move faster somehow.

When the doors finally opened with a ding, he burst through them, almost knocking another man over. ‘Oh, gosh I’m so sorry!’ He put his hands on the shorter man’s shoulders, keeping him from stumbling over.

‘N-No you’re alright,’ the older, stouter man said with a cough, looking up at the young man and a bit taken aback by him.

This old gentleman wasn’t exactly short, but even so, he still had to crane his neck to look up at the young man who was in one hell of a rush. The boy was big, not just tall, but broad and strong enough for two men.

The older man quickly made his exit, shaking his head and muttering about “Kids these days”.

‘Hold the door, please!’ The curly-haired man’s finger hovered over the “close doors” button, but he refrained from pushing it, stepping aside as a young woman entered and pressed the button for the third floor.

He tapped his foot against the floor rapidly, waiting as more people got on and more people got off at each floor before his stop, wondering if he should’ve just taken the stairs before he finally reached the seventh floor.

Once again as he came bursting out of the doors, he almost bowled someone over, offering a quick apology as he rushed past, ignoring the angry cry of “Watch it shithead!” that followed him.

The only thing that pounded louder than his heart, was his footsteps as he raced down the empty, sterile hall.

His first memory of this hospital came to him, the first time these plain white walls had been rushing past him. It was a much happier occasion back then, though he was still heading to see the same person.

‘Tommy!’ He almost would’ve kept running if his mom’s voice didn’t call out to him. He slowed down to a complete stop, panting as he stood in front of his family, each of their faces tear-stained.

They all hugged him at once. His mother buried her face into his chest, her eyes puffy with fresh tears flowing from them.

His father pulled Tommy’s head to his firm, comforting shoulder, even now the man still felt like a larger-than-life protector, despite Tommy having already outgrown him.

And Tommy’s little sister, Chrissy, was like a cannonball to the gut as she tackled him, sobbing loudly while she clung to him the tightest out of them all..

‘H-Hey Tommy…’ Eddie gave a half wave as he rose up from his chair nearby. Tommy rose his hand in acknowledgement but was too stunned to say anything for a while.

When the group hug was finally over—which felt like it had gone on for minutes—Tommy finally said, ‘How is he?’

His mom sniffled and looked across the narrow hall, gazing through the window opposite them. ‘H-He hasn’t woken up yet… but the doctors say he’s stable.’

Eddie hung his head. Tommy walked closer to the window, his dad keeping a hand on his shoulder and sticking by his side.

Father and son looked through the window, and a tear rolled down Tommy’s cheek as he saw his brother alone in the room, laid out in a hospital bed with one leg in a thick cast, bandages around his head, and one arm in a sling.

Jackson was in the clouds, surrounded by the familiar mountains of his home and with the desert beneath him. He was alone, and floating in the air. The sun was shining, bright and full in the sky he inhabited, but it wasn’t hot, nor was it cold… he was perfectly at ease and totally comfortable.

He looked around, confused as he drifted through the air. His eyes landed on the only other object in sight aside from the clouds and mountains—a lone football, hovering just before him.

He backed away from it, his mouth going dry and his heart beginning to race. A shadowy hand crept forward over the sun, blocking it from view as a giant loomed behind it.

Jackson plummeted from the sky. He tried to scream but nothing could come out, he couldn’t even open his mouth, he couldn’t move. His eyes were locked on the giant silhouette above him and the football, which was held within a spotlight.

‘You could never grasp it. You don’t deserve it. You’re not good enough.’ His own voice echoed around him.

He saw his mother’s face, contorted in pain and sadness. ‘Why are you hurting me like this? Why are you such a disappointment!?’

He closed his eyes, but it did nothing to stop his visions. Next, he saw the faces of his friends, laughing at him. ‘Thank fuck that loser gave up track. Now we don’t have to carry his dead weight with us.’

‘Yeah, now we can run free without having to worry about him holding us back.’

‘He’s so worthless… he left us for something he can’t even do. He’ll never get anywhere playing football, what a retard.’

‘I’d never let you on the team,’ his dad’s voice boomed, his face angry and his eyes full of judgement. ‘Someone like you could never get a scholarship.’

‘To think I wanted to play with you one day…’ Jackson went cold as he heard his brother’s voice.

‘No…’ he managed to squeak out. The silhouette above grinned maniacally.

‘You’re a disgrace to the game, I’d never let someone like you play on the same field as me. You’re the lowest of low, and don’t even deserve to touch a football again.’

‘No!’ Jackson screamed as his friends and family turned their backs on him. He fell further and further away from them, the wicked grin of the silhouette only growing.

‘It’s all HIS fault!’ Jackson cried as his limbs flailed helplessly, unable to slow his fall. ‘He did this!’ He aimed his despair at the silhouette.

The massive, shrouded figure loomed closer, leaning forward as its face lit up, his own reflection staring back at himself.

‘Yes! It’s all your fault! You have no one to blame but yourself!’ Jackson slammed to the ground.

In his bed, Jackson jolted awake. The light filtering through the curtains of the hospital room was dwindling, and he was staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling.

His body ached all over, and he winced as he slowly raised his head up, looking around. There was extra weight on his bed, a mess of curls and thick, burly arms at his hip, as Tommy laid his upper half against the bed.

‘Oh, shit… Jackson?’ He looked over upon hearing Eddie’s voice, his best friend sitting in a chair right beside him on the opposite side of Tommy.

‘Eddie?’

Jackson’s dad was startled by the voices and stood up from where he had been slumped over and asleep in his own chair. ‘Jack? You’re awake. Oh, you’re awake!’ He scrambled to the door and fumbled with the handle before rushing out and down the hall to get a doctor.

Tommy lifted his head, flashing a sad smile to his little brother. ‘Hey, bro… how ya feeling?’

Jackson just sunk down lower in his bed and didn’t say anything, tears flowing from his eyes. Tommy moved closer and carefully hugged him so as not to hurt his still tender and sore body.

‘Your mom and Chrissy were just making a run to the vending machine,’ Eddie said as he got up and moved closer. ‘... I’m glad you’re awake, bro.’

It wasn’t much longer before Chrissy and Jackson’s mom came rushing through the door, Mom almost dropped the drinks she was carrying in her excitement to hurry over and hug her baby boy.

‘Ah! M-Mom that hurts… please…’ Jackson complained.

‘S-Sorry!’ his mom sobbed, easing up and pulling away, sniffling and wiping her face. ‘I’m so happy you’re awake.’

Chrissy flopped onto Jackson’s bed as well, giving him that same, cannonball hug she’d had to Tommy, though much more gently, but it still hurt Jackson nonetheless.

Tommy would pluck her off the groaning Jackson, and both he and their mom chastised Chrissy to be more careful with her injured brother.

After that, Dad soon returned, a doctor in tow. ‘Good afternoon Mr Woods, it’s nice you’re finally awake. I’m Dr Saha, and I’ll be looking after you, is it okay if I ask you some questions right now?’

The woman spoke with an overly calm and soothing voice, though her dark eyes hardly looked up from the clipboard she carried with her. She felt as cold and stale as the hospital she worked in.

‘I-I don’t mind but… how long was I asleep for?’

Dr Saad checked her watch. ‘Just over thirty hours. What do you last remember before your accident?’ everyone else backed away from his bed as Dr Saad moved closer.

‘Uhh… I was at… Thornrock hill… and I was riding my bike down it.’

‘I-I was there too,’ Eddie chimed in.

‘And what else?’ Dr Saad asked. Jackson could faintly recall hearing Eddie’s panicked voice begging him to slow down.

With a frown, he said, ‘And I crashed my bike… because we were racing.’ He glanced at Eddie, but neither boy could look at one another for long.

‘Do you remember your birthday?’ Dr Saad now shone a little flashlight into each of Jackson’s eyes, checking his pupils.

‘F-Febuary 28th… 2008.’

‘Very good. We’re still waiting for the test results to come back, but it doesn’t seem like there’s any major head trauma to worry about… no signs are showing so far at least, which is usually a good thing.’ She lowered the light and scribbled on her clipboard.

‘Wait… you said… I was asleep for thirty hours?’

‘Technically, you were in a coma, but yes. It’s now Monday, do you know what date it is?’

‘Th-then it’s… the second of September, 2022? Wh-What about my game?’ He tried to sit up more but winced again.

‘You shouldn’t try to get up yet, just get your rest… what game is this?’

‘Ah, J-Jackson just started playing high school football, JV… his first game was supposed to be yesterday.’ his dad butted in.

‘I see…’ Dr Saad’s stoic expression shifted as she frowned and looked at Jackson. ‘Well, I’m sorry to tell you this Jackson, but along with your minor head injury, you broke your collarbone, which shouldn’t take too long to heal, they’re meant to break easily to protect your body from further harm…’

She paused and the air hung heavy around her, Jackson couldn’t breathe, it was like his chest was being slowly crushed. ‘But you also broke your leg, it was quite a bad fracture, and it could take up half a year to properly heal.’

Eddie sat back down, hanging his head in his hands. Tommy looked away, his fists clenched tight. Mom and Dad held each other for comfort. Jackson was taking longer to process the information.

Dr Saad broke the silence. ‘You won’t be playing any football this year. I’m sorry. But, if you rehab correctly, there’s always your sophomore season.’