Full Court Devotion (7 page)

Kazlyn
woke early
the next morning, even though she’d stayed up late with Ty. She sighed
dreamily, remembering the feel of his lips on hers, his arms surrounding her.
He was so big, but she didn’t feel like a child with him. She felt like a woman
desired by an unreal and captivating man.

She
donned a leotard and descended the stairs to the main level and then to the
basement.

She
was ten when her dad, Luke, and Porter had built this house. She’d been certain
she would perform on Broadway someday. Her dad had built a dance studio in the
basement for her. He’d always done anything to make her happy. She couldn’t
believe she’d been so stressed the past year and a half that she’d let dancing
go.

She
turned on the lights and the music, just being in the room made her feel like a
carefree child. She had to dust-mop the floor, but then she was ready. She
danced until sweat ran down her back and the stress of the past three months
poured out of her. She was about ready to collapse from exhaustion when she
heard clapping behind her.

She
whirled around and grinned. “Porter. What are you doing down here?”

“Watching
the most amazing dancer.”

She
blushed and turned off the music. “I’ve missed it.”

“Why
don’t you dance at school?”

“No
time.”

He
looked at her knowingly. “Maybe you should make time. Mom says to shower and come
for breakfast. Our first game is at nine. Are you going to come watch?”

“Watch
Ty thump you? Sure.”

“Ha.
We’ll see how tough your pretty boy is.”

***

The
high school parking lot was crowded. “Is there something other than the
tournament today?” Kazlyn asked.

“No.”
Luke grunted. “Word spread that Jamison brought some hot shot from USU, so
people are actually turning out to watch the tournament this year. Ty and
Jamison had a game at eight.”

Kazlyn
remembered him saying something about that last night. She should’ve been here
earlier. She vowed to herself she would support him better; she wasn’t going to
miss another of his games.

One
of her church friends, Molly, was working at the concession stand. Kazlyn waved,
but didn’t want to stop if there was a chance she could see the end of Ty’s
game. She’d come back later to chat.

They
entered the gym in time to see Ty pass the ball to Jamison’s little brother,
Jacob. Jacob scored and the buzzer went off. The score was 68-20.

“Ouch,”
Porter muttered. “Glad we don’t play them first.”

Porter
and Luke found Shawn and went to warmup. Shawn and Luke had been the superstars
while they were in high school, but Kazlyn didn’t think they stood a chance
against Ty.

“Kazzy,”
Ty called out to her. The entire crowd seemed to watch as he made his way
across the floor.

“I’ll
go find us some seats,” her mom said and slipped away.

Ty
jogged up to her, grinning. “You look beautiful this morning.”

She
glanced down at her sweatshirt and jeans. “I’m going to look better tonight
when the champ of the tournament takes me to dinner.”

His
grin broadened. “You just gave me even more incentive to thump on the locals.”

“Be
nice.”

“I’ll
try.” He winked and the buzzer sounded.

“I’d
better go sit with my mom.”

He
grabbed her hand. “Will you cheer for me?”

“Obnoxiously.”

He
gave her a quick peck, and even though he was sweaty and hundreds of people
were watching, she wanted to melt. “I’ll see you later,” he whispered against
her lips.

“Plan
on it.” She walked away on unsteady legs.

There
were eight teams in the single elimination tournament. Luke, Porter, and Shawn
easily won their first game and their second. Ty won two more games. Kazlyn and
her mom busted out a cooler full of sandwiches, fruit, and Gatorades to feed
Luke’s team. She wished Ty would’ve come over to eat with them, but she’d
noticed Jamison’s mom feeding him earlier. He’d stopped by their spot between
his games to chat with her and her mom several times.

It
quickly became apparent that her brothers would be battling Ty, Jamison, and
Jacob for the championship game. It had been a long day of basketball, but
nobody was leaving, the gym just seemed to get fuller as the day wore on.
Kazlyn hoped Ty really would be nice to her brothers, but it wouldn’t hurt
Luke’s pride any to get beaten.

***

Ty
dunked it a few times in their brief warmup. Showing off for Kazlyn. It was so
fun to play these easy games and know she was watching. He still didn’t have a
plan for a date tonight, but hopefully Jamison could give him some ideas.
Billings wasn’t that far away and there had to be some nice restaurants and
something fun to do there.

The
buzzer sounded and although he was exhausted from playing all day, the
adrenaline kicked in. They’d finally be facing Luke, Porter, and Shawn. Shawn
was a thick dude who could play, but was a little out of shape.

The
game started and Shawn stuck to Jamison, Porter went after Jacob, and Ty knew
he’d have Luke all to himself. He didn’t hold back, but drove to the hoop,
slamming it for the first two points.

He
stole the ball from Luke on defense and headed back for an easy layup. The
crowd was screaming, “Tyyyy-reese,” just like his Aggie fans did and he felt
like he was on fire.

Porter
sunk a three-pointer on the next play. Jamison slung shot it down the court to
Ty. Luke was on him quickly.

“Guess
you were just toying with me yesterday,” Luke said.

Ty
dribbled from his right hand to his left and dunked it over Luke left-handed.
“A little bit,” he admitted, tossing the ball to the ref.

Luke’s
jaw clenched. He started fighting as hard as any college athlete Ty had played
against. Pushing and getting really rough.

The
ref told him several times to calm down, but as the score got farther and
farther apart, Luke just put on more pressure. He didn’t play dirty, but he
didn’t quit either.

The
game was almost over, with Ty’s team up thirty points, when Jamison shot from
the foul line. The ball bounced off the rim. Ty leapt into the air for the
rebound. Luke jumped next to him and slammed into his right side. Ty was thrown
off balance. He landed on the side of his left foot. It twisted awkwardly with
an awful snap that he both heard and felt. Pain shot through the middle of his
foot. He crumpled to the ground, gritting his teeth so he wouldn’t cry out.

Luke
extended a hand and yanked him up. “You all right, man?”

“Yeah.”
Ty grunted and tried to stand. His foot wouldn’t support him and he fell again.
The court spun and he was afraid he was going to throw up. The entire gym
erupted in sound, but he couldn’t focus on anything besides the throbbing in his
foot. He’d been injured before, but never like this.

Jamison
and Luke each took a side and helped him up. He tried to support himself on his
right leg.

“Coach
is going to kill me, coach is going to kill me,” Jamison kept repeating over
and over.

“Kazlyn,”
Luke hollered, supporting Ty with an arm around his waist. “Get my truck!”

Ty
wished he could see Kazlyn. He started to pray for the pain to go away and for
some miracle that his foot would be okay. Maybe it was just a sprain or
something. If Ty had just ended his basketball career… No, he couldn’t think
like that, he’d be fine.

They
hobbled out of the gym, Porter and Jacob making a pathway through all the
concerned bystanders. Kazlyn had the truck waiting at the front entry. She
rushed around to meet him, tears streaming down her face. “Oh, Ty. Are you
okay?’

He
tried to smile through the pain. “I’m good,” he managed through clenched teeth.
Luke and Jamison manhandled him into the truck. Jamison and Kazlyn jumped in
the back and Luke rushed around to the driver’s side after yelling, “Jacob,
would you bring my mom and Porter?”

Ty
didn’t hear the reply. He leaned his head back against the headrest and closed
his eyes against the pain. A tear streamed under his lids and he brushed it
away, embarrassed. Kazlyn wrapped her arms around his shoulders from behind. He
reached up and grabbed onto her hands with one of his, grateful she was there.

The
drive to the hospital was quick. They helped him into the emergency entrance
and were in a sparse room before long. The hospital was clean with no frills. A
big step up from the inner city hospital he’d gone to when he was twelve and had
dislocated his collar bone.

His
foot was already swelling when the doctor entered the room. Jamison had finally
quit muttering and just sat in the corner looking miserable. Kazlyn kept a hold
of Ty’s hand and Luke paced. They all greeted the older doctor like they knew
and respected him.

Doctor
Taggart shooed everyone out, had the nurse give him a dose of morphine in his
IV, then probed and twisted his ankle and foot before the medicine kicked in.
Ty clenched his teeth, clinging to the bed. The doctor asked some questions,
then ordered a bunch of x-rays. The medicine made the x-rays bearable.

They
wheeled Ty back into the room and the doctor returned with the results within
minutes. It must’ve been a slow day at the little hospital. “Son, do you want
anyone with you?”

“Kazlyn,”
he murmured, exhausted from the stress and the effects of the morphine.

Kazlyn
rushed into the room half a minute later. She hurried to his side to take his
hand. He smiled up at her. Thankfully he wasn’t hurting anymore, just terrified
of what this doctor had to tell him.

“You’ve
suffered what’s called a Lisfranc fracture. The ligaments in the midfoot are
torn, the first and second metatarsals are separated, and the second metatarsal
is fractured.”

Ty
sucked in a breath and forced himself to clarify, “Torn and separated as in
stretched and they’ll heal or…”

“Torn
as in completely shredded, ripped apart.”

“Surgery?”

“Yes.”
The doctor held his gaze.

No!
Ty wanted to scream. He couldn’t go through surgery. His foot couldn’t be
messed up. What about all his plans?

Kazlyn
clung tighter to his hand. Her breath was coming hard and fast and Ty was
afraid she was crying.

“I’ve
called a friend who’s an orthopedist in Billings. He’ll see you in the
morning.”

“Will
he be able to play basketball?” Kazlyn asked quietly.

The
doctor shifted his gaze to her. “I’m no expert, but I doubt it. The Lisfranc
fracture isn’t something that heals easily. After surgery you could be on
crutches for months.”

Ty
swallowed hard. All of his dreams of winning the Mountain West Conference and
making it to the NCAA tournament this year were gone. His plans to play in
Europe might be gone, as well. Despair overwhelmed him. The doctor gave Kazlyn
a card for the doctor in Billings and explained the pain meds he was
prescribing. Ty could hardly listen. His future, as he’d planned it, was gone.

The
nurse wrapped his foot tightly, then fitted Ty with crutches and gave them a
couple of prescriptions to fill.

Kazlyn
hovered over him while they waited for the discharge papers. She was the only
bright spot he could find. Just seeing her brave smile and feeling her hand in
his made him think he could get through this nightmare. But then Ty realized
that everything he’d had to offer her if this relationship got serious, like he
hoped it would, was gone. Would she be interested in an injured man? If he
couldn’t play in Europe, could he even get a coaching job? How was he going to
help his sisters and mom now?

Darkness
overwhelmed him. How could this have happened to him? He was a good guy. He
tried to treat others right. How could the Lord let this happen?

Luke’s
face appeared above Kazlyn’s. He was the last person Ty wanted to see right
now. His career was over and he couldn’t help blaming Luke. It wasn’t a
Christian thing to think, but he still felt it. Had Luke hit him on purpose?
The glare Kazlyn sent Luke’s way made Ty feel warm all over.

“Get
out of here,” Kazlyn commanded.

Luke
stared at her, pleading with his eyes. “I want to talk to Ty.”

“So
you can make fun of him or hurt him again? No!”

Her
brother towered over her, but this beautiful woman was willing to fight for him.
Ty loved it.

Luke
sighed. “I was only taking care of you…” He glanced at Ty then back at Kazlyn. “Like
Dad would’ve done.”

She
tossed her blonde hair. “Dad wouldn’t have acted like this. He would’ve trusted
my judgment. Plus, Dad would never have treated anyone unkindly.”

Luke
clenched and unclenched his fist. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

Kazlyn
stared at him for a few seconds before giving him a nod. “Thank you.”

Luke
hugged her against his side. “I’m sorry,” he repeated, tenderly brushing a lock
of hair from her face. “Can I talk to Ty now?”