Chapter 10: No One
They rushed Tiny into the ICU and asked Smash questions, so that he would let the doctor examine him. "What's her full name and date if birth?" Dr. Nashami asked. "Giselle Kiely Porter, born September 10th." He answered. "ok, does she have any preexisting medical conditions?"
"Yes, she has asthma, allergies, and juvenile arthritis." he told them. "Blood type?" the doctor asked again. "O+" Was Smash's response. The doctor left the room to speak with his mother. She was waiting outside with Tim, Erica, Julie, Tyra, and Matt, who were all called while Tim and Erica made their way to the hospital." He's a little banged up, but nothing two day's rest can't take care of. His vitals are excellent. I just asked him some questions about Giselle's medical history, and he was surprisingly able to give me all of the answers." The doctor reported, obviously impressed. Corinna smiled at her son's progress. "However, Giselle is still unconscious. We've been able to stabilize her, but we still have some tests to run. You can go in and see Brian now though." Corinna went in to see her son," Baby, you scared me to death, but I'm so glad that you're ok." She said hugging her son to her body. "Mama, do you know how Tiny's doing?" He asked. "Well, I'm not 100% sure, but she is pretty banged up." She couldn't bring herself to tell her son that his girlfriend is in a coma. Smash's wounds were all cleaned up; he was only left with a black eye and a bruised rib. He was discharged the same night, but refused to go home until he could see Tiny. After waiting for what seemed like hours, Erica spoke first. "Mrs. Williams, do you think you could get some information out of the doctor?" She asked. "I suppose it's worth a shot. Try to engage him with some talk and then go right into it." She said as he stood up to find the doctor. Corinna returned with the doctor who agreed to talk to the whole group on Tiny's condition. "She has been stabilized, but she has a broken ankle, two broken ribs, a fractured wrist, multiple bruises, and unfortunately, she miscarried. You guys can go in and see her, but only two at a time. Everyone's face dropped, no one even knew she was pregnant. Smash didn't understand how he could miss it; he noticed everything about Tiny. They decided to let Smash go in first by himself. He walked into the room and saw her little body lying in a hospital bed, unconscious. He choked back his tears and sat at her bedside. He stroked her hair, and put a hand on her little stomach. "I wonder if it was a boy or girl?" he asked out loud. "I'm sorry baby girl, I failed you. I'm supposed to be able to protect you, but I couldn't even do that, I hope that when you wake up, you'll be able to forgive me for not being able to protect you, and for making you lose our baby." He let Erica and Tim come in next, Tim swore under his breath and Erica cried over her best friend's motionless body. Eventually, they stepped out and everyone else rotated their turn in Tiny's room.
The next few days saw many school staff and administrators visiting Tiny. She was also visited by the football team, the student government, the rally girls, cheerleaders, and boosters. They all left behind a plethora of cards and get well gifts. Of course her parents and siblings came to see her as well. Smash was on bed rest for two days before he was able to get back to practicing for the state game. However, every free moment he got, he was at Tiny's side in the hospital. This particular day, he was sitting there reading a magazine when he heard her stirring in the bed. He looked up, and saw her eyes opening. He pressed the call button for the nurse to come. She appeared at the door with a doctor. "Glad to see you're awake Ms. Porter." the doctor said as he greeted her. "I bet you're thirsty, so I need you to sip this, and I'll ask you a few questions." he said handing her a cup. The doctor asked Smash to step out of the room so that he could examine Tiny. "Giselle, what do you remember about the night you were attacked?" he asked her. She proceeded to tell him what she remembered. "Ok, you recalled everything very well." he told her. "How many injuries did I sustain?" she asked quietly. The doctor took a deep breath. "Well, you broke your right ankle, fractured your wrist, two broken ribs, and unfortunately you miscarried your baby." He said in a sad voice. Her eyes welled up with tears, and the doctor walked out of her room. Smash walked back into the room, but she refused to look him in the eye. "I'm sorry." was all she said in a tiny voice. He gently hugged her body to him. "Why are you apologizing?" He asked gently, but with confusion in his eyes. "I lost our baby. God trusted me with a life that I was supposed to protect, and I failed at that. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you before. I was planning to, but it just never seemed to be the right time." She said with sobs racking her body. "No baby, that's not your fault. I'm the one that was supposed to protect you and the baby, but I couldn't do enough to spare you from the pain you're in now. And I'm so sorry that you're going through this, but we'll get over together." he told her reassuringly. Her sobbing slowed a little. "Can I see my face?" She asked him. She could see the hesitation in his face. "Um, I guess that shouldn't be a problem." He went to the nurse's station right outside of her door, and asked for a mirror. When she held it up to her face, she saw her two black eyes, he cut in her bottom lip, and the swelling in her top lip, as well as all of the bruising on her cheeks and the gash in her forehead. She began sobbing again. He hugged her to his chest again. "Tiny, you're a little banged up, but you're still you. Beauty and all. I don't find you any less attractive because three enormous assholes decided to prey on someone who's 1/4 their size." He told her reassuringly. She gave him a tight smile. He made sure that his mother took care of her when she was on duty, and soon left for practice.
Smash walked onto Hermann Field angry as ever, and it came out in the drills they practiced, and the game they played. He was in the locker room preparing to go back to the hospital when Tim approached him. "Smash, what's up with you?" Tim asked him. "Nothing." He replied sharply. "Is that why you almost killed the blocking post?" He asked him. "Listen, I have to get those guys back if it's the last thing I do. They beat up my girl, killed our baby, and now she thinks it's her fault that she lost the baby and that she's hideous because they bruised her face a lot." he said in a biting tone. "Trust me; I'm one step ahead of you. We'll talk about a plan later, but for now, we'll just go see how Tiny's doing." Tim replied. They walked into Tiny's room, and saw her talking away on her BlackBerry giving instructions on what to do for the pancake breakfast. He shook his head and smiled. This girl will never stop working herself. When she saw him and Tim walk in, she abruptly ended the conversation. "Well I see you're feeling better." He said to her. "Yeah, I was thinking about what you said, and I realized that it's sure to only get better from here. As long as you and me are together through the days and nights, I don't have to worry because everything's going to be all right. No one can get in the way of that." Smash and Tim hung around a little longer before she told them to leave, they were scheduled to head up to the hotel where they'd be staying for the state game in the morning.