A Reagan family football game gets out of hand, maybe playing in the snow and ice wasn't such a good idea.
I was home from my first semester of college and it had absolutely been more challenging than I thought it would be. At first the adjustment part had been harder than I thought it would be. I could handle the deadlines and workload but the loneliness was something new. The first couple of Sundays that did not include a family dinner were rough. I remember sitting in my dorm room alone not knowing what to do with myself. Then in the weeks that passed I threw myself into my studies. Nights spent in Harvard's library, pouring over textbooks and writing papers. By midterms I had found some friends to hang out with Sunday night studying became catch up time for all the assignments that I had put off to go to parties or to hang out. By the time thanksgiving rolled around I was exhausted. Now at the end of my first semester and there had been too many nights with not enough sleep, too much to read, and far too much coffee. As a result every time I sat still for more than a few minutes I found myself drifting off to sleep. But I needed the long weekend.
"Hey Harvard?" came a gentle whisper, "HARVARD!" yelled a familiar voice the shout was followed by laughter as I rolled off the couch in surprise. It took me a minute to gain my bearings.
"Danny?" I croak rubbing my hand roughly over my face. "What are you doing?" I squint at him.
"Dinner time kid, Ma told me to come wake your sorry butt up." Danny explained extending a hand to help me up. I'm a little taller than him now, "Damn little brother I thought you were supposed to be growing out not up," he playfully ruffles my hair and smirks at me. "Come on kid I'm starvin' and achin' for a chance to kick your butt at football."
Danny throws an arm over my shoulder as I rub sleep from my eyes as we make our way to the dining room. Nikki scurries over to me smiling "Uncle Jamie, I've missed you." She runs to me and gives me a big hug.
Dinner at the Reagan household was never a dull affair, tonight being no exception. Erin and Danny got into it as usual, Grandpa ended things by decreeing that they had to do the dishes together giving me and Joe time to catch up. We sat in the living room the news on at a low volume and talked. Joe told me about his partner and walking the beat. He told me how since Dad became the PC everyone had begun to treat him differently.
"Jamie, Joe it's game time let's go before it starts snowing again." urged Danny, he came out of the kitchen drying his hands on his jeans and ushered us out the door.
Jack grudgingly came out to play with us and was on Danny's team. Joe and I started the game out strong we knew with Jack on Danny's team it was a pretty uneven in match up and it was getting to Danny. He was hitting harder than necessary, knocked the wind outta of me a couple times but I shrugged it off. That's when it happened. I intercepted a pass from Jack and was flying across the yard I didn't even see Danny coming at me diagonally. That was until he hit me like a load of bricks and sent me sliding in to the mail box.
"-mie!...ak up, Jam…JAMIE!" I pried my eyes open and see my brother's face swim in and out of focus.
"Danny?" I question hazily, blinking rapidly to clear the dizziness from my head. My head was pounding.
"Kid can you stand up?" Danny asks his brow furrowed in concern he reaches down to help me up and I feel a sharp pain radiating around my shoulder. I pull back from his offered help, "Come on Jamie quit screwing around."
I groan through clenched teeth, "I'm not, it hurts." I lay my head back in the slushy mud pressing my body hard in to the sloppy ground. "I think you broke something."
Danny scoffed, "Quit being such a wuss, you little girl." He teased, thinking that maybe I was just being dramatic.
"Did you kill him Danny 'cause if he's dead I win by default," joked Joe as he trotted over stopping short when his eyes fell on me. "Holy shit Danny, what did you do to him?" shrieked Joe and he knelt next to me in the frozen mud.
"Nothin'" muttered Danny, "Harvard just doesn't know how to take a hit anymore."
"That wasn't a hit that was attempt at murder." I pull myself up so I was sitting and took a deep breath as my world spun.
"Jamie sweetheart, what happened?" squawked my mother as she rushed out to the front yard her feet bare, sliding across the icy ground with little footprints in the snow dad and grandpa following closely behind.
"Where's it hurt son," asked dad.
"It hurts to move my shoulder." I grimaced; embarrassed by the prick of tears I can feel forming in my eyes, "I think I hit my head" I reach up and touch the back of my head, where there is a constant throbbing, my fingers come away slick with blood and mud.
"Joe help me get him up," dad motioned to my prone form on the ground, sitting in the icy rain.
"I can help dad," offered Danny reaching down.
"I think you've done enough Danny," snapped Erin, as Jack put his arm around my sister, trying to help ward off the impending argument.
"Screw you Erin," barked Danny, a scowl decorating his face.
"No screw you Danny, it's your fault we are even in this mess."
"Hey that's enough you two." scolded mom as she brushed a hand over my hair. "You doing okay honey?" she asked me, I nodded as my family ushered me out to the car, as I fought dizziness and nausea.
"I'm gonna throw up," I doubled over and heaved, my stomach empting itself of the fantastic Thanksgiving dinner we had eaten a couple hours earlier.
"Oh Jamie," my mother soothed gently rubbing my back as I continued to puke. I could just hear Erin and Danny bickering over the roar of blood in my ears. "Stop it both of you, you're not helping anyone with all this fighting," my mother scolds as I coughed and spat ridding my mouth of the sour taste. "Sweetie are you okay?"
"I don't feel good," I tell her pitifully.
She frowns at me in sympathy "We'll get you checked out soon honey, let's get you to the ER alright." I only had the energy to nod as I gently slid in to my parents car and we were on our way to the hospital.
The hospital was busy full of people who were the victims of family fights, drunken cooking accidents, the people who hurt themselves tryin to deep fry or carve their turkeys. After sitting for three hours to simply be called back for an examination it was determined that I not only had a concussion and a head wound that required fourteen stiches but a broken collar bone.
Danny was defending himself furiously, "I did not hit him that hard, it was the angle he slid in to the mailbox." Even though I knew what he was saying, it was like I was watching a TV show with a delay, the words came after his mouth stopped moving.
Erin scoffed and rolled her eyes "Bull Danny just admit you got carried away."
"I'm not admitting to nothing cause I didn't do anything wrong." Danny huffed.
"It was an accident it's not anybody's fault" soothed Joe taking his place as the family peace keeper.
Danny heaves a great sight and plops into one of the chairs along the wall, "What a way to spend thanksgiving, huh?" he rubbed his close cropped hair, "By now we'd be eating leftovers and pie, I could really go for some pie."
A smile slowly crossed my face, mom's pies were the best flaky crust the filling was never mushy, "Mmmmm pie, do we have pie mom?"
"At home dear and next year we are going to let the professionals play the football in the snow, we'll stick to what we know eating too much turkey and pie." Slowly one by one my family broke down in fits of laughter, the frayed nerves from the day beginning to fade and enjoying each other's company and the holiday the way we had intended.