Chapter 6: Hospitals & Jerseys I

Fulton stood at the gates waiting for Taz to arrive, absently wondering if she could play go between with Portman and Julie. She seemed to have gotten on quite well with Jules during practice.

And Portman had not shut up about Julie since she broke up with Scooter.

He grinned seeing Taz appear, but the grin faded. She was walking slowly, looking far more lame than he'd ever seen her, and she was white as a sheet.

He rushed over to her. "Are you ok?"

She pursed her lips. "Been better," she admitted. "Bad day."

"Maybe you should be at home. I can borrow Adam's car if you want me to drive you," he offered.

"No, it'll wear off soon. It usually does."

He didn't believe it, and by the look in her eyes, she didn't believe it either. "What happened? Did you fall?"

"No, it just came on. It does that sometimes, usually it's the cold weather." She shrugged it off.

A thought hit him. "Was it the skating?"

"No," she said quickly. "It just happens sometimes for no reason."

"Are you sure?"

She looked him in the eyes. "I'm sure. If anything it was Ms. Joy making me do cross country running. The skating was fun. Perhaps the cold of being on the rink didn't help, but it's nobody's fault." She began walking again then winced, and rolled her eyes. "I should have brought my walking stick, but I was scared that people would laugh."

"I can still take you home if you want."

She shook her head. "If it doesn't wear off I'll call my dad." She gave him a smile. "Can't have you missing class, or you won't get to play tonight."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "But I wouldn't object if I could lean on you as we walk."

Taz sat in class trying to ignore the aches in her body. It had started on Sunday morning, just a small twinge in her hip when she moved awkwardly, but now the pain was full-time whether she was moving or not. It had also worked its way up her back and over to her other hip.

She hadn't told her Dad how bad the pain was because she really wanted to see Fulton play tonight. She had told him that it was hurting, but by the look in his eyes, he had noticed how bad it was.

Which was probably why he'd called her doctor and set up an appointment to see her specialist tomorrow morning.

In fact, she mused, he had to know. It was near impossible to get a last-minute appointment with Mr. Lambert, it was hard enough to book them a month in advance.

There was one small bonus to her situation. She was in so much pain that she couldn't focus on what people were saying about her.

She had to admit, it was pretty ironic.

Fulton met her at her locker during break. "How are you feeling?"

"A bit better." She wasn't lying. Much. She was only doing it so that he wouldn't feel guilty about the skating. "Oh, I won't be in school tomorrow. I have to see my specialist about my hip."

"Because of the pain?"

"Just a check-up." Another tiny lie. "I have to go every six months. I hate it."

"Why?"

She smiled at him. "Do you promise not to laugh?"

"When are you going to stop asking that? I—"

She held a hand up to stop him. "I know you're a good guy, but this is really silly."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "Ok."

She lowered her voice. "I'm scared of the X-ray machine." She fought the blush creeping into her cheeks. "Pretty pathetic, huh?"

The corners of his mouth twitched. "I'm not laughing," he told her. "Why does it scare you?"

"I don't know, I just get in there and I can't stop shaking. And the creaking noises it makes… I don't know. It's just not my favorite thing to do."

"Well," he said finally. "At least it's an interesting fear. Most people are scared of spiders and creepy crawlies. Are you still coming to the game tonight?"

"Sure, why wouldn't I?" she replied.

"I thought that, well, if you're not feeling great."

"I'll be there." She rummaged in her locker. "See, I've got my pain killers and my water. I'm good," she said, holding up the items.

"Your Dad doesn't mind?"

She shrugged. "Dad knows the drill. It'll hurt wherever I am, so I might as well be somewhere I want to be. Besides, I get grumpy when it hurts, poor old Dad gets it in the neck a lot. Anyway, I feel a bit better." She smiled at him, realizing that she did, in fact, feel better.

"Hey!" Portman greeted her cheerfully.

"Hey, yourself," she responded, negotiating the busy hallways.

"Fulton told me to find you," he told her. "He had to get something from the dorms."

"Oh, right," she replied. She wasn't sure what to say, she'd only spoken to Dean once. Then inspiration struck. "Julie was telling me what a great player you are." She made sure she emphasized Julie's name.

"Yeah?" His eyes lit up, then dimmed somewhat. "She was probably just being kind. I bet she said that Guy was the best on the team."

Taz frowned, trying to remember who Guy was. "Connie's boyfriend?" she asked. "She didn't really mention him. She mentioned you a lot."

"She did?" he asked. "Really?"

"Yes, really. By the way she was talking you'd have thought that you could win a game single-handedly." She smiled innocently. "I think she might have a crush on you."

"Hey, guys." Fulton appeared at her side, he turned to Taz. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm not going to break," she told him. "Don't worry so much."

"I'm going to find Julie," Portman said. "See you later."

"Something I said?" Fulton asked, noting the rapid exit.

"Something I said," she replied. "So where did you vanish to?" They began walking outside.

"I had to get something." He led her to a bench and they sat down. He opened his bag and started rummaging around.

Taz leant forward interested in what it might be.

He brought out a green jersey with a duck on the front. "This is my first Ducks jersey. I thought you could wear it to the hospital tomorrow, for luck or something."

She was touched by his kindness, and couldn't seem to make an intelligent response.

He misinterpreted her silence. "Sorry, it didn't seem such a stupid idea in my head." He started to shove the jersey back into his bag.

She quickly reached for his hand. "It wasn't a stupid idea." She smiled. "It's a really nice idea. Thank you."

"Really? You're not just saying that?"

"No." She leant forward and kissed him. "Meeting you is one of the best things that's ever happened to me." She winced at how trite that sounded, but smiled when she saw that Fulton didn't seem to mind.