Full Court Devotion (8 page)

Kazlyn
leaned into his hug for a second. “Do you want me to leave?”

Luke
shrugged. “It’s fine with me if you stay.” He looked at Ty.

Ty
nodded, wishing he knew what Luke was going to say and wishing even more that
he could foresee how he was going to respond. He offered a brief prayer for
forgiveness to be in his heart. He needed divine intervention for so many
reasons right now.

Luke
stared at him with such anguish. “I’m so sorry, Ty. You have to believe that I
didn’t push you on purpose. I was going for the ball. I would never try to hurt
you…not like this.”

Ty
stared at Luke for several seconds. Luke didn’t squirm or look away and Ty
could read the truth in his eyes. The warmth of forgiveness flowed through him.
“I believe you.”

Luke
swallowed. “Thank you. I’m really sorry you got hurt.”

“You
and me both.”

“What’s
Doc saying?”

“It’s
not good. A Lisfranc fracture, ligaments torn, bones broken and separated in
the middle of my foot. Meeting with a specialist in Billings in the morning.”

Luke
shook his head mournfully. “Could I drive you to Billings tomorrow?”

“I’d
appreciate that.” He looked shyly at Kazlyn. Should he keep asking her to be
with him or let her go? If he didn’t have anything to offer her by way of a
future, he should just say goodbye now. But, he needed her, needed her like
he’d never needed anyone in his life.

“Can
I come, too?” she asked.

Ty
exhaled and smiled. “I would love that.”

***

The
night’s sleep was miserable with the tight wrapping cutting off circulation to
his foot and the worry gnawing away at his heart. Telling him he couldn’t play
basketball was like saying he couldn’t eat or sleep. Basketball was who he was.

A
knock on the guest room door around two a.m. was a welcome relief. “Ty?”
Jamison called softly as he cracked the door. “You awake?”

“Yeah,
man, come in.”

Jamison
crept slowly to the edge of the bed. Ty couldn’t see him very well in the
darkened room. “How you feeling?”

“Pretty
good. The pain isn’t too bad.”

“You
talked to coach?” Jamison was never one to waste time.

“Just
my mom. Figured I’d wait until after I saw the specialist tomorrow to break it
to coach. Keep hoping maybe this doctor was wrong.”

“I’m
so sorry, man.”

“It
wasn’t your fault.”

“Doesn’t
make me feel any better.”

Ty
grunted. “Tell me about it.” He clutched the bedspread in his fingers.

“What
did your mom say?”

“‘This
too shall pass.’” Ty half-laughed. “She’s upset, but we’ve been through worse.”
He shrugged. Losing his dad was definitely worse than this.

Jamison
sighed. “Wish it was already in the past. I’ll let you rest.” He shuffled
toward the door.

“Goodnight.”
Ty lay there brooding, and his mom’s voice repeating in his mind, “This too
shall pass,” wasn’t really helping. The thought of not being able to play
basketball ripped at him, but the thought of not being worthy of Kazlyn, of
having nothing to offer her shredded him completely.

Sobs
worked their way up his chest. His body shook. He clenched a fist to his mouth
to stop the sound from coming out.

One
wrong fall. One wrong twist of his foot and his future was over. How could he
help his sisters and Mom now? How could he even dream of a future with Kazlyn?

Why
had this happened to him? Why?

He
rolled to his right side, folded his arms, bowed his head, and begged the Lord
to help him through this. Just getting through tonight and tomorrow was all he
could ask for, but he wanted to beg for some kind of miracle.

The
drive to
Billings was uncomfortable. Luke and Kazlyn tried to talk with Ty, but he was
quiet, obviously nervous about what the specialist would say. He held on
tightly to her hand as she sat between him and Luke in the truck. She kept
picturing him falling on the court. It had been awful to watch this strong,
amazing man be injured. She’d prayed hard last night for him to heal and for
him to be able to deal with the injury, especially if it was the end of his
career.

They
made it to the doctor’s office and waited over an hour in the examination room.
The door burst open and a small, balding doctor stormed in, holding the x-rays
they’d brought with them from Snow Valley.

He
sat down on a chair across from the three of them, looked at Ty and said, “I
have no idea how you screwed up your foot this badly.”

Ty
extended his hand. “I’m Tyrese Wilson. Who the heck are you?”

The
man shook his head and Ty’s hand. “Doctor Shaffer. Son, your foot’s a mess.
We’ll take an MRI to confirm, but you’ll need reconstructive surgery. We can
schedule it here for next week or if you prefer to have a doctor in Cache
Valley do it, you can meet with one of them. Honestly, I might recommend the
latter. Cache Valley Orthopedics, or even better the University of Utah, deal
with a lot more Lisfranc fractures than I do.”

Ty
stared at the ground. “I’ll need to talk to my mom and my coach and see what
they recommend.”

“I
understand.” He placed a small hand on Ty’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, son, but
there’s no way you’re playing basketball this year.”

Ty
took a long breath and then nodded. “What about next year? I had some offers to
play in Europe.”

The
man shook his head. The look in his eye was not promising. “Possibly. But
you’ve got to understand, son, your midfoot supports you during high-impact
athletics, and with the damage you’ve done.” He sighed. “The ligaments you
injured got their name because a surgeon in Napoleon’s army used to amputate
the foot when someone was ripped off their horse and their foot got caught in
the stirrup.”

Kazlyn
wanted to tell the doctor they didn’t need a history lesson right now, but at
least Ty’s foot wasn’t getting amputated.

The
doctor sighed again. “I’ve personally never seen an athlete recover from this and
play competitively. But, you’ll have to see how recovery goes.” He patted Ty on
the shoulder. “Sorry to ruin your Christmas.”

He
walked out of the room without saying goodbye and Ty muttered, “More like ruin
my
life
.”

Luke
shifted in his chair, staring a hole in the shiny floor. Kazlyn was at a loss
for how to comfort Ty and was grateful when he used his crutches to lumber to
his feet and they escaped the doctor’s office.

They
went to a fun bakery, Harper and Madison, for a sandwich. She could tell Ty was
trying to be upbeat, but he was failing miserably.

After
they picked up their delicious-looking sandwiches, that no one was hungry for,
Luke banged his fist on the table. “Dude, I am so sorry.”

“Luke.”
Ty shook his head. His voice was low and scratchy. “Please, don’t blame
yourself. This is tough enough without me worrying about how to comfort you.”

Luke
pressed his lips together for a second. He finally nodded. “You’re right. What
can we do to help you, Ty?”

Kazlyn
was grateful Luke had obviously softened toward Ty. Now, if they really could
help him.

“Just
being here is helping.” Ty squeezed Kazlyn’s hand then let go. “Really. You
don’t know how much I appreciate that neither of you are giving me empty
reassurances and I’m sorry that you have to watch me be such a downer.”

Kazlyn
reached around his waist and hugged him. She really had no words of comfort,
though.

“I
don’t want to pretend I know what you’re going through,” Luke said. “But, when
I gave up my job at Boeing, I felt like I’d lost everything I’d worked for,
every dream. I hated it.”

“How
did you come out of it?” Ty asked, a bit of hope lighting his dark eyes.

Luke
picked up a huge club sandwich and took a bite. “Who said I’d come out of it?”

Kazlyn
winced.

“Ouch.”
Ty’s shoulders rounded. He played with the pickle on his plate.

“But,
that’s life sometimes,” Luke said. “Things get easier. I enjoy being with Mom
and Porter. I’ve been able to really help with the finances on the ranch and
the hard work is rewarding. It’s just not where I want to be. Sometimes you
have to change your dreams.”

Ty
studied him. “Change them, maybe. But not give them up completely. Have you
looked into using your degree through the internet or hiring some help for the
ranch and finding a job in your field here in Billings? You could still help on
weekends or even commute.”

Luke
laughed. “I thought this conversation was about helping you, not me.”

Ty
shrugged and picked up his panini sandwich. “Your situation seems a lot easier
to me right now.”

Kazlyn
found she was holding her breath as she waited for Luke’s answer. She’d asked
him a few times to look at other options. Even if he wasn’t working for Boeing,
he could find something he loved to do. Anything would be better than being
miserable.

Luke
looked at Kazlyn. “I knew I didn’t like this guy when I saw him kissing you in
the booth at Tina’s.” He shook his head. “Trying to push me out of my comfort
zone.”

Ty
laughed and took a long swig of his water. “And I thought you didn’t like me because
I thumped you on the court.”

Kazlyn
took it as a very good sign that Ty could joke about basketball.

Luke
chuckled. “So many reasons I don’t like you.”

“As
long as Kazlyn likes me.”

She
winked. “Oh, I do.”

Ty
gave her a heated look and a hug that had Luke grunting with disapproval and
her flushing. Ty turned back to face her brother. “So, you’re committing to do
something?”

“I’m
committing to think about it, search through some job openings, and talk to
Porter and my mom.”

Ty
nodded. “Sounds good.”

“Are
you committing to not let yourself get too depressed and realizing that things
will work out?” Luke asked.

Ty
chewed another bite before saying, “I’ll try my best.”

Kazlyn
smiled at him. “I’ll be praying for you.”

Ty
returned the smile. “That’s exactly what I need…and a few kisses of
encouragement.”

He
leaned closer, but they broke apart as Luke threw some of his water at them.
“Not where I can watch!”

Kazlyn
wiped the water off Ty’s cheek. “That means I’ll give him double the kisses
later.”

Luke
groaned and Ty pumped his eyebrows. “That’s the kind of therapy that can save a
man.”

***

When
they got back to Kazlyn’s house, Ty excused himself to make some phone calls.
Everyone watched him like they wished they could take the burden from him.
Kazlyn walked with him while he hobbled into Luke and Porter’s office near the
entryway.

“Good
luck,” she said.

Ty
sank into the office chair, propped his crutches against the desk, and grabbed
her around the waist. He pulled her onto his lap, careful to keep her on his
right side. She squealed in surprise.

“I
could use a kiss for good luck.”

Kazlyn
laughed and leaned into him, giving him a lingering kiss on the lips before
standing.

Ty
sighed. “You think that’s enough to get me through?”

She
leaned over and kissed him again. “I’ll give you more later.” She winked and
walked out of the office, closing the door behind her.

Ty
jammed his hand through his hair. He hoped he’d acted brave enough in front of
Kazlyn. Inside he was still sobbing. But he had to trust that the Lord had a
plan for him and he had to deal with this somehow.

He
sighed again and pulled up his coach’s number on his cell phone. His finger
trembled as he pressed call.

“Hey,
Ty,” Coach Anderson greeted him. “How’s vacation?”

“Um,
well, not so good, Coach.”

All
levity left Coach’s voice. “What’s wrong?”

Ty
fought to keep his voice level. It had to be the painkillers that were making
him so emotional. “I got hurt, Coach, playing in a three-on-three tournament up
here.”

Coach
Anderson cursed, but didn’t reprimand.

“Ripped
the ligaments and broke a bone in my midfoot. They called it a Lisfranc
fracture.”

Coach
sucked in a breath and muttered, “No.”

When
he didn’t say anything more, Ty continued, “I’ll have surgery when I come back
home, but I’m definitely out for the season.”

There
was silence on the line for so long Ty didn’t know if Coach had hung up on him.

“You
don’t know how sorry I am to hear that, Ty. How are you holding up?”

It
was so like his coach to be concerned about
him
. Ty actually sniffled.
How humiliating. “It’s been…I’m a mess. I might be done playing forever.”

“Europe?”

“They
p-probably won’t want me.” He cleared his throat, determined to at least sound like
he wasn’t a sniveling disaster. “By the time I get through rehabilitation,
they’ll already have their teams formed.”

Coach
exhaled slowly. “Don’t count yourself out. I’ll call in some favors after
Christmas. We’ll get you with the best ortho and therapists in the state. I
hate to lose you your senior year, but sometimes junk like this happens.”

Wasn’t
that the truth? Junk happening was about the best explanation he’d had so far. “Thank
you for being so understanding, Coach.”

“I’m
crapping my diggers, Ty.”

Ty
laughed.

“But,
it’ll get better.”

Ty
actually believed him. He swallowed and said a prayer of gratitude. This was
what he’d been praying for last night, some sense of comfort and hope.

“You
know, Ty, I’ve talked with a lot of your professors and I’ve watched the way
you instruct the younger players. I know your knowledge and love of the game...”

He
paused and Ty wondered where his coach was going with this.

“I’ve
been scheming. I thought it would be five years down the road that I’d be
making this offer, after you’d enjoyed traveling Europe.”

Ty
had no clue what Coach was talking about, so he just waited.

“If
it doesn’t work out to play in Europe, I want you as one of my assistants next
year.”

“
What?
”

“Stephenson
was offered the head coach position at University of Idaho this weekend. I’m
going to need to replace him. Maybe all of this is meant to be.”

Ty
was stunned. He leaned forward in the chair and had to press the heel of his
hand to his eyes. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Thank
you for taking a chance on an unseasoned rookie?”

“I
said that when you recruited me.”

“Well,
say it again.”

“Thank
you for taking a chance on an unseasoned rookie,” Ty managed, hoping his coach
couldn’t hear how close he was to crying again. Wow. Was the Lord already
showing him the miracles he had in store for him?

“I
didn’t regret it the first time. I won’t regret it this time.”

“I’ll
make sure you don’t.”

“I
know that. Now go have a nice Christmas. I’ll let you know where and when to be
for those appointments. It might be the first of next week with the holiday.”

“Okay.
Thank you, Coach.” Ty meant the expression of gratitude on so many levels.

“Anytime.”

The
phone disconnected and he held it to his chest for a minute before quickly
dialing his mom. They’d already talked last night about his injury. This
conversation was much more positive and he could feel her relief almost as
strongly as his own. Maybe he did have something to offer that beautiful angel
and his mom’s words helped him to smile about it. “If that little girl doesn’t
realize what a catch you are, I’ll just call her up and tell her all about your
many talents.”

“Thanks,
Mom, I think I can handle it.”

“You
love her?” she guessed.

“I
think so.”

“What
a Christmas. You having this horrible injury, but Coach making you this
incredible offer, and you finding a woman of faith who you think is worthy of
you. I might disagree because nobody’s worthy of my boy, but if she’s the one,
I’ll love her like she’s my own.”

“I
know you will. I love you.”

“Not
as much as I love you.”

***

After
dinner that night, the rest of the family made various excuses and disappeared.
Kazlyn didn’t complain about the chance to be alone with Ty. It was the best pre-Christmas
present she could ask for.