By the time Joe woke the next morning, Frank was gone. Frank had left a hurried note on the white board across from his bed saying that he left for school and that their mom would be in by around 10:00 AM.
Joe ate the tasteless breakfast that was left on the tray for him, wondering why no one thought to open the little container of juice when they saw he could only use one hand. After he had finished with only a minimum of juice in his lap, the doctor and his mom arrived.
The doctor performed a quick checkup. "Joe, you can go home now. You'll be just fine if you rest. Wear the sling for a week--" the doctor said before he was interrupted.
"Then can I play football?" Joe asked anxiously.
The doctor laughed, "Big game, huh? What I was going to say is, have it checked out by you family doctor before you go back to sports. Your hip will be tender, just rest it and it will heal. No football practice until you are cleared by your doctor. Got it?"
"Oh, he's got it alright. And if he forgets, I'll be right there to remind him," Laura said with a small smile. The doctor left and Laura let Joe change before taking him home.
Joe spent most of the afternoon on the couch flipping channels on the TV. When he had finally had enough of the soap operas, he went to his room to catch up on his homework. It wasn't until he looked around his room and failed to find his backpack did he remember that it was probably still in the van.
"Well, I really didn't want to do homework anyway. And the bed seems to be calling my name," he muttered to himself as he climbed into bed and fell asleep.
A few hours later, Joe woke up to hear the shower in his bathroom running. "Frank must be home from practice," Joe thought.
Frank came in a few minutes later, drying his hair with a towel. "Hey little brother, how are you feeling? We are really missing you at practice."
"I'm fine," Joe said stifling a yawn. "Is Coach mad at me?"
"No, he's not mad at you, just worried. He just wants to make sure you are in shape for the game."
"I'll be just fine," he assured Frank. "Hey, you don't have my backpack do you?"
"No," Frank said thoughtfully. "It must be still in the van. I'll drive you over to the body shop to pick it up if you want."
"Yeah, I really need it. I need to get yesterday's homework done before I go to school tomorrow," Joe said as he pulled himself up from his bed and took a step. His bruised hip protested and he wobbled slightly. Frank reached out quickly to steady him.
"Don't rush. Just take it slow. It is likely to hurt when you first get up," Frank said calmly. He knew that Joe was counting the days to the game and cringing at the rapidly diminishing numbers.
"I'm okay," Joe said as struggled on the next few steps. "Let me clean up and I'll meet you downstairs."
Frank nodded and left to tell their mom that they were going to get Joe's backpack.
"That's fine Frank. You can take my car. Just don't let Joe talk you into letting him check over the whole van while you're there," Laura said. "He doesn't need the added stress right now."
"I won't Mom. I was going to see if he wanted to go to Mr. Pizza's afterward. Just something to cheer him up a little," Frank said.
"That's a great idea Frank. I think he could use a change of pace. Don't stay out too late, you both have homework to do," Laura said. "Take a jacket, it's going to get cold out," she added as an afterthought.
Frank walked back to the closet and pulled out his and Joe's jackets and headed out to the car. Sometimes, it was just easier to do what Mom said than to remind her that they were growing up.
As the boys drove across town to the body shop, Joe stared out the window lost in thought. Finally, Frank asked jokingly, "Okay, what is going on in that thick head of yours?"
"I don't know Frank. Everything is just going wrong recently. I feel like I have this little black rain cloud following me around," Joe said.
"Joe –," Frank started to reply, shaking his head.
"Oh come on, Frank," Joe said. "It hasn't been a good fall so far," Joe said running his fingers through this hair and making it a jumble of curls.
"Well, how do you feel about not getting a part in the play?" Frank asked, hoping this time he would get a straight answer.
Just then though, Frank was pulling into the body shop.
Joe ignored the question as he saw the van. "Oh man, look at our van." Joe's face showed his distress. "This is horrible. The whole front end is crunched."
"Come on. Let's just get your backpack," Frank said as he came to the passenger side in case Joe needed help. He was only a little unsteady this time as Frank walked with him over to the van.
Frank slid the door back and grabbed the backpack. As he did, the contents spilled out onto the floor of the van, scattering Joe's notes in the process. As Frank started to gather the mess, he said, "Well looks like your zipper broke. When did that happen?"
"I don't know. It was fine before," Joe replied, much more interested in trying to get the dented hood opened.
"Well, you'll need a new backpack now. This one won't hold anything," Frank said as he stuffed the last bit into the bag. He stood up and looked around for Joe. "Where did you go?"
"I'm right here," Joe replied, still trying to get the bent hood latch undone and the hood raised with one hand.
Frank came around the front of the van, "What are you do--?" But he cut off his question as it became very apparent. "Oh no, forget it. I promised Mom I wouldn't let you stand out here in the cold and look over the van. And besides, you'll never get that bent hood open with one hand."
"I'll get it open if you can just come over and help me with this part," Joe said with that pleading look in his eyes.
Frank closed his eyes so he didn't have to look at Joe's puppy dog face and took a deep breath. "No Joe, let's just go."
Joe tried one more time, but still couldn't get the latch open. Reluctantly, he limped back to the car and climbed in.
"Don't be mad. Let's go to Mr. Pizza's and I'll make it up to you," Frank said.
Frank tried to steer the conversation back to Joe's feelings about the play and the other things that had happened in the last few days, but Joe was too upset about the van to talk about anything else. Frank finally gave up and listened to Joe recite all the maintenance he remembered doing over the last year.
When they finally reached Mr. Pizza, Frank was relieved. Hopefully a change in atmosphere would do Joe some good. Joe finally smiled and stopped his van maintenance monologue when he walked through the door and found Vanessa and Callie at one of the tables.
Joe slowly made his way to the table with Frank at his side. He eased into the seat next to Vanessa and gave her a quick kiss.
"Are you okay? I was so worried about you. Should you be out already?" Vanessa said without taking a breath, her faced etched with worry as she looked him up and down to see what else was wrong with him. "Callie and I were going to stop over at your house as soon as we were done to check on you two."
"I'm fine, really," Joe said. "In fact, I'll be back at school tomorrow, but I can't play football yet."
"That's great that you'll be back in school!" Callie said. "You can help Vanessa with the scenery and props tomorrow after school since you can't practi-," she jumped slightly as Vanessa's foot caught her in the shin. She coughed to cover the little break. "Well, you probably need to rest rather than work after school," she amended.
"No, that's okay," Joe said quickly. "I have to wait for Frank to finish practice anyways, so I'll help you with the scenery Vanessa. I'll try not to screw anything up," he said as he cast his eyes down at the table.
"Joe, I'd love for you to help, and you don't screw things up, but I still think you need to take it easy," Vanessa said as she squeezed his hand under the table. "You can come with me, but you're not working. Frank and your mom would have my head if they thought I had you doing too much."
Joe shot Frank a look and saw the worry in his eyes. He knew Vanessa was right. "Okay, okay. I'll just sit there."
When the foursome finally left Mr. Pizza, it had grown dark and chilly. Vanessa and Callie, who had come into the restaurant while the sun was still warming the air, both shivered.
"Man, it's gotten cold out here," Callie said.
"I know it. I wasn't prepared for this," Vanessa added.
"Well, Mom was prepared. She made us bring our jackets," Frank said with a laugh as he took his off and put it around Callie. Joe pulled his off with a little difficulty and gave it to Vanessa and they parted company.