Love Unmatched (7 page)

“Huh,” he said reflectively. “Your throws are good but not great. You’re not calling out the right plays and you’re not following through. Tell me, is that ‘being one with the turf’?”

I couldn’t argue. He was right.

“Here’s the thing,” he grabbed a pen from his desk and pointed it at the board. “Do you see all that?” I glanced at the chalkboard. “Those X’s and O’s will not matter if the plays are not executed. They will just be drawings on the wall if they’re not carried out on the field. You are the quarterback for this team. You were hired because the management and I believed that you could get the job done. You’ve got to start getting it into your system that you were picked to lead this team from being the 40
th
team in the NFA to number one. If you don’t believe that then the rest of the team won’t.”

I swallowed, and determinedly I said, “Thank you for the trust. I do believe that we can be number one.”

He stood up. I followed suit.

Before leaving I said, “You’re right coach. I am the quarterback. I should start acting like one.”

I didn’t get to talk to Sedona until 9:30 that night. She went out with her roommate and when she finally called I was slumped on the bed and could barely hold my head up. She listened to me as I gave her a short and sleepy recap of the day’s events. Even in the blurry state of my sleepiness, her face lit up the screen of my phone. She was so beautiful to me.

I must have dozed off longer than I wanted, because when I woke up it was the next morning. Sedona had left her computer on. It was a good thing that my phone was charging on the wall. I saw her image on the screen, sleeping peacefully in her pink pajamas. The top of her shirt had ridden up, exposing the smooth skin of her pregnant belly. A sense of serenity washed over me at the sight.

Before I left the house for a quick jog I texted to her.
Miss you. Love you. Can’t wait to see you. Kisses to u and baby.

It didn’t matter how bad my day went. It just took one look or one word from my woman to make me feel that everything was okay in the world.

“I long for your presence and crave for your touch.”

Sedona

“Mackenzie, you forgot to give the patient her pain medications.” The way he said those words increased my ire. In this hospital, everyone called each other by their last name. It was not part of the policy; it was just the way it was.

I faced him and raised an eyebrow. “I did not Dr. Klinefelder. Ms. Morris received the I.V. morphine that you ordered twenty minutes ago. She is not due for pain medication for another hour, just as your order states.”

His dark grey eyes honed in on me with the right side of his mouth turned up. I wanted to grab the chart that I was holding and thump it on top of his perfectly gelled head.

My nursing mentor, Nessie Vang, even commented that he always seemed to be on the lookout for me. She was a Filipino-Vietnamese woman who was super smart, strict, and a great mentor. I’ve heard that nurses ate their young. Well, not me. Vang swallowed me whole. Some of the nurses called her the ‘terror nurse.’ Sure, she was very strict and set in her ways, but she was also gentle when she taught me. She always explained to me the rationale of why things were done the way they were. The lives of our patients were in our hands, and there was no room for error. I was lucky to have her as my preceptor.

Vang said that Dr. Klinefelder was a nice guy. He probably was, but not to me.

“I was just testing you.” Now his words were cajoling.

I turned my back on him, but I continued to feel his stare on me.

He was always finding a reason to talk to me; to annoy me, to put me on the spot, or to ask me out.

Harassment was a serious offense. If he kept this up, I would go to the HR department and file a complaint against his butt.

Leonard Klinefelder was the bane in my existence. He was a handsome guy with his grey eyes, tall frame, and dark hair. He had the kind of look that screamed, ‘Look at me. I’m young, handsome, and I’m a doctor. What else could you want?’ Ever since I told him no he had been hounding me with his ‘superior’ physician skills and status. When we were around other staff he was always trying to impress me with medical lingo, and he went on and on about it.

I thought he was done quizzing me. With him I was always wrong.

“When is your next break?” he asked.

“I don’t think it’s any of your business.” I moved towards the cabinet that housed the patients’ charts.

It was just the two of us at the nursing station of the Cardiac Telemetry Floor. I was assigned to watch the patient’s monitors that corresponded to the monitors inside their rooms while some of the staff was on break. Dr. Klinefelder always seemed to time himself perfectly. He was around the unit when I was alone at a certain spot or I had no choice but to stay where I was at.

“Come on, Sedona,” he urged. “It’s just lunch or dinner.”

I stared at his profile. He was wearing a blue plain shirt with tie, black pants, and a white lab coat.

“Please do not call me by my first name,” I scolded. “It is not professional.”

He ignored me. “So, maybe after your shift today we go grab something to eat?”

He was so persistent. I had the urge to announce to him that I was pregnant, that I had a smoking hot fiancé, and that he had no chance with me. But I did not want to do those things because I did not want to stoop to his level.  At four and a half months pregnant my loose scrubs still hid my growing belly. Most of my co-workers knew I was pregnant. Obviously the news did not reach the ears of Dr. Pompousness. I could not wear my engagement ring in the hospital, because jewelry was not allowed, and I did not want to lose my ring. Plus he should have taken the clue that I was not single after I told him that I was not available. The only reason I even said that was to have him back off. He did graduate medical school, so he must have some functioning brain cells, right?

“I think you’re just trying to play hard to get.” His arrogance was higher than the Statue of Liberty.

“Look, Doctor,” I said, exasperated. “I will never go out to dinner or lunch with you. Please get that through your head.”

I heard the pitter patter of feet closing in. Thank goodness, the rest of the staff was back. I got out of my seat and ignored him.

I gave report to Vang and let her know I was going on my lunch break for thirty minutes. I could not stand being in Mr.-I’m-So-Cool-Now-Date-Me’s presence any longer.

I texted Zander as I sat on the bench outside the hospital’s cafeteria. He was probably getting ready for his game tonight, but he responded right away.

Zander:
How are my two babies doing today?

Me:
I’m doing great. Baby did some flip flops in my tummy this morning but it’s okay now.

Zander:
Oh no. Still feeling sick?

Me:
I’m okay. Just trying to finish this shift. Ready for the game tonight?

Zander:
You know me, babe. Always ready
.

Me:
I know

Zander:
Miss u

Me:
Miss u more

Zander:
Me too

Me:
Have I told you lately I love you?

Zander:
No

I just told him many times this morning.

Me:
Well, I do. I LOVE, LOVE you!

Zander:
Love, love you too. To the infinite power

Me:
You mean, infinity? There’s no infinite power

Zander:
Whatever, u know what I mean

Me:
I do. Alright babe, I’ll talk to u later. Gotta go back to work

Zander:
K, love you. Talk to u after the game

Me:
K

The rest of the day went by quickly. Doctor-Can’t-Take-A-Hint was no longer in the unit when I came back up.
Whew!
What a relief.

I really had no idea why he was singling me out. I was sure there were lots of women here who’d return his interest with no problem. I was just not one of them. I had my man. I did not even dare talk to Zander about him. Knowing Zander, and the jealous streak that only showed up when it came to me, it would come out and bite me in the rear. As long as Doctor of Arrogance kept his paws off of me I was going to be okay.

*****

“The weight of the world may be put on my shoulders; you lighten the load and make it possible for me to carry it.”

Zander

This was my dream.

Since I turned
fourteen I had envisioned this moment.

Nothing could compare to the feeling of when your dream and reality collided.

I looked up at the stands. Somewhere out there, in a sea of people, was my woman. It was too far for me to see her. She did not want to be in a private suite to watch the game. She said that she liked the feel of being in the crowd. She arrived four hours ago from New York, but I haven’t seen her yet because I had to prep for the game. But she was here for me. She did not want to miss this.

From the sidelines I saw John in the huddle with the defensive line. It was 3
rd
and 8 on our 40-yard line. The Raptors’ offensive line took formation on the field. From my perspective, it looked like it was going to be a running play up the middle. Our defense read it perfectly. As they snapped the ball, the Raptors’ running back started up the middle and our defense broke through the offensive line and tackled their running back behind the line of scrimmage. It was a one yard loss for the Raptors. 4
th
and 9. Change of possession. They were going to punt the ball to us.

After the punt we got the ball at our 20-yard line.

As I stood next to Coach Benson he gave me the play. “Zander, we’re going to run the wheel route. Their defense will scramble on that one.”

I soaked in this moment. I was nervous, but I was prepared.

All the drills, the training, the late nights of watching video footage and studying the playbook, the meetings with coach and the team; they all converged to this moment.

I nodded my head at Coach, stepped towards the field, and my offensive line and I huddled. I gave them the play and they acknowledged it.

We broke huddle formation. I stepped behind my center, Rennick, and scanned the Raptors’ defense for possible inconsistencies to ensure that I didn’t have to audible the play.

I gave Rennick the go ahead to snap the ball. The play was in motion. It all had to work like clockwork. Precision was key to this play. As I dropped back to pass, holding on to the ball tightly, I saw the defense rushing towards me. My two wide receivers, Johnson and Cornick, ran their routes perfectly, crossing paths with each other to confuse the defense of the Raptors, which was exactly what the play called for. I saw Cornick get separated from the cornerback. I rifled the ball and threw a perfect, arching spiral.

Cornick caught it at the Raptors 25-yard line and ran untouched towards the end zone.

Touchdown Minnesota!

I raised my right hand up in the air and heard the yells, screams, and the roars in the stadium. The jumbotron was flashing “TOUCHDOWN”.

I breathed out. My teammates were running towards me as I approached the sidelines. I heard “Great job” and “Good throw” all across the board.