Five Missing Scenes from Jason Street's Life
1.
There was a beeping noise in the background. He could hear someone moving next to him. He wanted to open his eyes, but he just couldn't.
He heard his mom speak, her voice soft as she asked someone how his night was.
I'm right here, Mom he wanted to say, but his mouth didn't want to move either.
He felt her hand on his arm and then she was gone again.
Later he heard his dad come in. This time his eyes fluttered opened and he licked his dry lips. There was something resting on his face. He tried to brush it away, but his hand wouldn't obey.
"Dad?" he asked, not understanding what was happening. Were his hands tied down?
"There was an accident, Jason," his dad said as he took Jason's hand in his. Jason looked down to where his dad was holding Jason's hand.
He couldn't feel his dad's hand in his.
He couldn't feel his legs.
He couldn't feel anything.
He closed his eyes and tried to think back. Then it all came rushing back. The interception. The tackle. He had been so mad—at himself, at the cornerback who was headed toward the end zone. He'd just barreled in there, putting his head straight into the guy who had his ball.
He licked his lips again and shrugged his shoulders. That worked. He lifted his right arm up off the bed, then his left. He tried to tighten his hand around his dad's. His fingers moved slightly.
He felt a tear run down his cheek. He moved to brush it away, then realized he couldn't. Another tear followed as his dad pulled a tissue from the box on the table next to his bed and reached up to dry Jason's eyes. He held the tissue to Jason's nose so he could blow.
He tried.
He couldn't even blow his own nose.
His dad wiped gently and then turned away. Jason could tell from the way his dad's shoulders were moving that he was crying.
What had he done?
2.
"What time is it?" Jason asked his mom as he came into the kitchen.
"Almost one o'clock," his mom said as she finished the last of the dishes from lunch. "Why?"
"No reason," Jason said as he leaned on his arm, shifting slightly in his chair. "Well…Lyla sent me a text message."
"The team competition doesn't start until 2:30," his mom added. "I mean, I assume she sent it to tell you she's going."
Jason looked up at her. "What?"
"I talked to Tim when he came in the other night," his mom admitted. "He didn't say much, but the girls at the office have been talking too."
Jason shook his head. "This town is unbelievable."
Joanne walked out of the kitchen and pulled out a chair from the dining room table so that she could face Jason at eye level.
"It's okay to still care about her," she said as she touched Jason's arm. "It's okay to be concerned about how she's being treated."
"It was supposed to be just between us. Why does my whole life have to be on display now? I can't go anywhere without everyone noticing me and wondering what I'm doing," Jason complained.
Joanne laughed. "Oh, Jason, you haven't been able to go anywhere without people noticing in this town for at least two years. You were QB1 of the Dillon Panthers dating the captain of the cheer squad who just happened to also be Buddy Garrity's daughter. You may not have noticed it as much before, but people have been up in your business for a long time now.
"Do you want me to take you down there? If we get in the van now, we can probably make it before she goes on."
Jason looked at his mom and nodded. Part of him just wanted to stay in the house, to not deal with all of the eyes on him like they had been at Homecoming. And if he went now there would be thousands of people looking at the poor crippled kid whose best friend slept with his girlfriend. How had this happened? How had he gone from having it all to having nothing…to having less than nothing?
But nothing short of this chair would have ever stopped him from playing football and he knew Lyla well enough to know that cheering was the same for her. And yeah, she had done this horrible thing, but she was also the only person who'd stuck by him. Even Tim, his best friend, had disappeared. But Lyla…Lyla was always there. It didn't mean he forgave her, but if for no other reason, he owed her.
3.
"Hey, Phil," Jason said, greeting his physical therapist as he entered the gym.
"Good to see you, Jason. You're looking good."
"Gonna be lookin' better, though," Jason said as he smiled.
Phil nodded and headed back toward the storage room off the gym. Jason waited eagerly for Phil's return, nervously fidgeting in his chair.
"I think the blue looks really nice," Phil said as he pushed a new wheelchair out toward Jason.
Jason took a look at the new chair. It looked great—the blue tubing, the wheel guards instead of arms, the lower back. This was a chair for a guy who was actually recovering rather than something the rehab loaned out. He let out a low whistle.
"You're gonna like this," Phil said in his usual under-stated nature. "The chair's lighter than the one you've been using and it's got a little more dump in the seat to help you with your balance."
Jason let out a quick laugh. "Never realized how psyched I'd be about getting a wheelchair—it's almost more exciting than getting my Jeep."
"It's a big part of getting back to your old life," Phil replied. "I know it makes it all seem that much more real, Jason, but this chair was made just for you and it's going to help you get all of those places you used to go and the places you still want to discover."
"You're sounding like a Dr. Suess book there, Phil," Jason teased.
"Let's try it out," Phil replied.
Jason transferred over to a raised therapy mat as Phil brought the chair over. Phil turned the chair in front of Jason to show him the back.
Jason reached up and ran his fingers over the blue P on the back of the chair.
"Lyla called and asked me to have that added," Phil said.
Jason looked at the Panther crest. Once a Panther, always a Panther.
"Okay, let's do this," he announced, sliding the transfer board across the wheel of the new chair. New chair. New life.
4.
Jason looked up as he heard the familiar rumble of Tim's truck coming down the street. Tim pulled up in front of Lyla's house and put the truck in park.
Without saying anything, Tim got out and came around to help Jason into the passenger seat. He picked the chair up and put it in the back of the truck. He walked back around and got in the drivers seat.
"Where to, Six?" Tim asked.
Jason shrugged, his eyes fixed down at his hands. How had he ended up here? What was he trying to prove with Suzy? Had he subconsciously wanted to hurt Lyla the way she had hurt him? How could he go from asking Lyla to marry him to kissing another girl in just a few weeks?
Whatever his intent had been, Lyla had made it clear that she had had enough and he didn't really blame her. But he also couldn't imagine his life without her.
Tim put the truck in drive and pulled away, heading toward the edge of town.
"Not the lake," Jason finally said. He couldn't bear to go back to the last place he had been truly happy with Tim and Lyla.
Tim turned down a gravel road and turned off the ignition.
"You want to tell me what's going on?" he asked Jason.
"It's over with Lyla," Jason said quietly. Saying it out loud made it true all over again. They were done.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah," Jason answered.
Tim didn't say anything else. He just sat there, next to Jason. With Tim, less was always more.
5.
"Okay, we've got the coaches here in the convertible. Rally girls, we want you in the back of this truck right here and cheerleaders, you'll be marching along ahead of the trailer with the starters."
Jason looked over at the parade as it was beginning to line up. He wasn't sure where to go. Coach Taylor and Mac were heading over toward the convertible Buddy's assistant manager was driving. The line coaches were headed toward the bed of one the trucks.
"Come with us, Six."
Jason pivoted so he was facing Tim. "Uh, I'm not sure…"
"You may be a coach now, Street, but you're one of us," Tim responded, answering the question Jason wasn't even sure how to ask. "This is your ring, too."
Jason looked up at the trailer, tipping as it filled with players.
"C'mon Street," Smash said as he walked up, his injured arm and shoulder hanging in a sling on his chest.
"I'm just gonna…"
"I'll just get you up there, Street. Everyone else is so busy patting themselves on the back, they won't even notice," Tim said.
Riggins could always read him, but he still wasn't sure. He hated the spectacle of the chair.
"I'll have Pudnick help me…no one will even notice," Smash offered.
"I…I, uh, can't sit on those bales," Jason stammered.
"I'll just put your chair up there," Tim replied. "Would that work?"
Jason looked up at the trailer again and thought about it. "I don't know…I could roll off there."
"Bradley!" Tim called.
"Yeah," the offensive lineman replied as he headed over to the boys.
"Okay, we're gonna lift Street up there and then you need to catch that bale in front of him. Get Murphy in there behind him," Tim said, pointing toward the defensive end standing over next to the trailer.
"Absolutely," the red head replied.
Before Jason could protest Riggins had grabbed two other linebackers and they were lifting him up onto the trailer.
"Easy," Jason called out as he started to tip to the left.
"Don't drop the coach," Smash called out. "Saracen's going to need him next year if we have half a chance of repeating."
Tim adjusted Jason's chair, then waited as he set the brake. "You okay, Six?"
Jason nodded.
"Allen, move your ass," Riggins ordered the sophomore sitting on the bale next to Jason. The younger player looked at the imposing fullback and then got up.
Tim took a seat on the empty bale of hay. "I'm right here, Six."
"Hey, baby, let's rock and roll!" Smash called out as he climbed up and grabbed a spot between Tim and Jason.
"Just don't fall on me, Williams," Jason warned as the truck jerked and they began to move.
"Woo hoo! State Champions!" Smash yelled in reply as the marching band started up their cadence.
fin