Chapter Six: Going... Going... Going...

It didn't take long for the ambulance to get to Tim and Billy, since Tim slammed his truck right into a telephone pole in the middle of a busy street around 6 o'clock at night. Getting them out of the car, well, that was a different story. The Jaws of Life had to be used to get both doors open, but trying to get them out was even more difficult. As a result of the head on collision with the pole, the dashboard slammed right into Billy, but was an inch short of keeping him stuck in his seat.

Tim's condition on the other hand was much worse. He first slammed his chest into the steering wheel, causing some damage to his rib cage. The whiplash of the impact made him slam into the headrest with force. But he didn't stop there; slamming once again into the steering wheel before his body finally stopped moving. Paramedics were looking at broken ribs, maybe some internal injuries, not to mention the cuts all over his face and arms as a result of the crash. He was in bad shape, and if they didn't move fast he was a goner. The clock was ticking.

The Next Day… March 4, 2008

"You ready?"

"Yes sir."

Coach Dickies slowly slid the letter of intent towards Smash, who of course had no hesitation to sign it, in front of his family, friends, Coach, and tons of reporters.

"Smash is going to Whitmore baby," he screamed out when he finished signing his name, the crowd clapping and cheering him on.

Smash made his way around the room, thanking the reporters for coming, his friends for showing their support, and Coach Taylor, for giving him this opportunity when Smash thought his future was lost.

"Sir, I want to thank you for everything you've done for me these past few years. I don't know where I would be, or what I would be doing if I didn't have you as a coach."

Coach felt deeply touched at Smash's words and was about to say something in response when his phone rang. Curious as to who could be calling him at this very moment (considering the whole damn town knew about this day), he excused himself from Smash and answered his phone, but not without a little annoyance in his voice.

"Hello?"

"Alright, listen up, you go in, say a few words, and that's it. He's not the only one in there so I don't want no horsing around. You respect the other people that are in there. You got me? Now go."

Coach watched as a few of his players walked out of the waiting room and down the hall towards the I.C.U. where the hospital kept Tim. Some of the others, like Smash, Matt, Bradley, and Landry stayed behind and waited until everyone else left before they went to see him.

"How's Billy doing?" Tami asked her husband as he sat down next to her.

"He's in bad shape, but he's doing better than Tim that's for damn sure. Tim's lucky to be alive."

"He'll be alright." Tami held onto Coach's hand tightly. "He'll be alright."

Three Days Later… March 7, 2008

Friday night was all about celebrating Smash signing with Whitmore. Even though many of those in attendance were worried about Tim, who was still unconscious in the I.C.U., they tried to forget all about it and just have fun. It could be worst. Tim could be dead. And where's the fun in that?

The small bonfire near the edge of the lake kept those who decided to take a break warm on this cool night, but there was still a bitter chill in the air. Some thought it was too weird for them to handle, as if Mother Nature were telling them it wasn't right to be here when one of their friends lied in a hospital bed. They didn't say anything about it though, as to not be considered a buzzkill.

"This is nice," Tyra quietly said to Landry as she sat on a lawn chair in front of the fire. The crackling of the tree branches gave her peace. She could use some. Landry didn't say anything back. He didn't want to ruin the moment.

Matt and Julie sat across from them, Julie sitting on Matt's lap as he began falling asleep in his chair.

"Hey, you feeling okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine. I'm just a little tired that's all."

"Just a little tired? You've been like this all week. You sure you're not getting sick?"

"I'm fine. I'm just worn out from all that extra training I've been doing for next season. You know that. I'll cut back if you stop bugging me about it." He rested his hand on her waist and slipped his finger into her jeans.

"Tease," she said, slapping his hand. Julie was sure that at this moment, he was more than just tired.

"You wanna go inside?" he whispered into her ear, so softly that even she had a hard time hearing it.

She didn't respond, but instead slowly got up off his lap and walked back inside the house, ahead of him, so as to not make their plans completely obvious to everyone. She made her way up the stairs, and looked around the hall for an empty room. It was late, and Julie was pretty sure half of the rooms were already occupied. She finally found one at the end of the hall, a good portion away from the others and waited for Matt, who was there a few seconds later, standing right in front of her, his hard-on already noticeable if you looked hard enough.

Matt looked into Julie's eyes with intensity before he gently picked up her and laid her across the bed, shutting and locking the door behind him, his lips and tongue quickly finding hers, licking and sucking and biting like there was no tomorrow.

Julie began tugging at Matt's shirt, her hips grinding hard against his, faster and faster they went. It made her laugh inside at how much and how badly she wanted this, wanted him. This was the last thing she expected out of this night. And now the only thing on her mind is that they needed to do this quickly before they would both burst, because Julie was aching, and she wanted to scream every time Matt's hips pressed against her. She threw her arms up as Matt whipped her shirt off, tugging at her bra clasp on her back, throwing it on the floor with the rest of their clothes when he got it undone, and pressing his chest against her breasts. God damn, he could do this every single day, and it would never, ever get old.

Matt threw off his shoes and socks as Julie unbuckled his belt and unzipped his jeans, bringing them down to his knees, gripping his cock, stroking it up and down, ever, ever so slowly. Julie can feel the heat and the sweat coming from his body and it turns her on more that she thought it would. She wants to be soaked in him it's a little ridiculous. She moves her hand out of the way so Matt can do the same to her, bringing her jeans and panties down to her knees, letting her kick them off the bed. He gently brushed his fingers against her clit, so soft, so wet, so, so wet, he just had to do it. He bends his head down and runs his tongue across her clit, feels her hips and thighs twitch just a little bit. He smiles to himself and leans up, grabbing his wallet out of his jeans and grabbing a condom.

"Would you like to do the honors?" he asked Julie, holding the condom in the air for her to see. She laughed and grabbed it, tearing it open and putting it on him, before looking him in the eyes and kissing him, leaning back down against the bed and the pillows, letting him pressed him body against hers as he went inside.

"Matt," she whispered as he went deeper inside her. She shut her eyes and rested her hands against his back, letting her hips do the work for her as Matt's own hips moved up and then back down away as he dug his face into her hair. It smelled so damn good, her hair. Like strawberries or some shit. And he begins to realize how he isn't worried about anything of this now. Hell, he may not of lost his virginity to Julie (he finally knows how much of a mistake Carlotta was), but he was worried he would do something wrong their very first time, whether he would crush her with his weight, hurt her down there, or fart while they did it, or some shit. Whatever could go wrong, he imagined it happening. But now he's not worried, he knows nothing wrong will happen, and if that makes him more confident, then he'll go with that. Because that's what he feels now, just losing himself in this moment, knowing it'll be gone in a few minutes. He comes a few seconds later, and just lies that on top of her for a few seconds, kissing her all over the place, he loves her so damn much.

Julie began staring at the ceiling as Matt slowly withdrew and took care of the condom. She began to notice something weird on the ceiling. Could it be? And yes, it was, there were small white clouds painted on the ceiling. It puzzled her, and she began looking around the room, seeing a football shaped lamp on the dresser beside her, a toy box on the floor near the corner. She began laughing hysterically. She was so busy thinking about having sex with her boyfriend to realize they were doing it in a little kid's bedroom. She couldn't believe how stupid she was.

"What's so funny," Matt asked lying down next to her, brushing her hair away from her face, and across her back.

"Look at what kind of room we are in."

Matt looked around the room, and at the sheets of the bed, noticing that they were covered with a SpongeBob blanket.

"Well how 'bout that. My bedroom used to look a little bit like this when I was a kid. Before I… well, you know."

"I bet you were a really cute kid. Real small, with fat little cheeks."

Matt laughed and nudged Julie's side.

"Had a cute little girlfriend too, right?"

"Not like you. Not even close."

Matt leaned down and began kissing her, running his hand through her hair. He could spend the rest of the night here with her like this, the rest of his life really, but the eerie feeling the room gave both of them began to creep them out. Whether it was flashes of Dillon when he was a kid, or a throbbing headache, Matt slowly and quietly got dressed with Julie, walking back downstairs hand in hand, to enjoy the rest of the night with their friends.

Coach sat in the waiting room on the 5th floor of Dillon Memorial, as Tim was transferred to his own room. When the nurses and techs were finished, Coach walked inside and sat down next to Tim, watching him lie there, wondering just how the fuck something like this can happen. The heart monitor next to Tim's bed drowned out Coach's thoughts the more he began to let the beeps inside his head.

BEEP… BEEP… BEEP...

"If you can here me, well, I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can, I want you to know that you can pull through this. You understand. I don't want you to give up. Don't give up."

Coach pressed his hand against Tim's. Hoping and praying that he would wake up, and this nightmare would be over.

Then Coach began to hear the beeping of the heart monitor go faster and faster. For some reason, this didn't sound right to him at all.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP…

About an hour after rejoining their friends, Matt and Julie left the party and soon found themselves in front of Julie's house. It didn't take Julie long to move across from the passenger seat to the driver's seat, grabbing Matt by the neck and bringing him in for a nice long kiss goodnight.

"I love you Julie," he said to her when their lips parted.

"I love you too. You sure you feel okay?"

"I'm fine, okay? You don't have to worry." He leaned his head towards her and kissed her again.

"But I am worried. This whole thing just doesn't seem normal to me. And after what happened to Tim and even my dad, I think I have a right to be concerned. So, please, can you just go to the doctor? Can you do that for me?"

"Okay, I'll go. If nothing is wrong you owe me."

"Oh really? Like what?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe a little bit of this…" Matt grabbed Julie's by the back of her head and brought her in for another kiss. "Maybe a little something extra why were at it?"

"I'll have to think about that one, considering we just did that earlier."

"Well you are the coolest, most understanding girlfriend in the world, so I'm sure it wouldn't take you that long to come up with a decision."

"And what happens if there is something wrong with you?"

"Well that's not going to happen, okay? Everything is fine. Hell, I'll go to the emergency room tomorrow and have someone check me out."

"You really think that's going to work?"

"Yeah. I'm QB1, I have special privileges."

"Don't let that big head of yours give you a hard time getting inside. It might not fit."

"That's funny. Look, I just don't want you to worry about me when you don't have to. That's all."

"Okay. I won't. I'll try not to."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Good. You should go before you mom comes out and yells at us."

"Alright. Call me tomorrow. I love you."

Matt gave her one more kiss before she got out of the car and walked inside her house. He drove home to more throbbing in his head. Going to the emergency room didn't sound like such a bad idea after all.

He walked inside once he got home, quickly got changed, and fell on his bed. Maybe he just needed some rest. It's been a long couple of days, and he was physically drained after tonight's activities. But then again, he always felt the same even if he slept all night. Never getting better, always getting worse. Whatever it was though, Matt knew it needed to get fixed. And fast.

"What happened? What's happening to him!?" Coach screamed at the nurses and doctors who ran inside Tim's room and to his side.

"Coach, I need you to leave the room. Go, just go!!"

Coach ran out of the room and stood near the doorway as the nurses and doctors took care of Tim. He completely drowned out all their voices, didn't try to look at what they were doing, only hearing and seeing the heart monitor next to the bed. Watching the red line going up and down, faster and faster. The beeping was going just as fast, getting louder and louder every second.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP…

And then there was nothing. No red line, no loud beeping. Just complete, dead, silence.

Grandma sat on her chair and looked up at the clock in the kitchen, 9:13 am. She shook her head and walked inside Matt's room.

"Matthew, Matthew honey, c'mon, it's time to wake up now."

She began tapping him on the shoulder and thought she heard him make that grunting sound he usually makes when she wakes him up, so she walked out of the room and sat back down on her chair, watching TV.

She looked up and the clock again a little later, 9:32 am. And he was still sleeping. She shook her head and walked back inside his room.

"Matthew, c'mon. I need you to help me with the garden. You said you would wake up and help me do it. Now let's go."

She tapped him on the shoulder again, and again. But still, he wouldn't move, wouldn't open his eyes and look at her. And it was at that exact moment she knew something was wrong. Very wrong.

She ran out of the room, and ran outside of the house, screaming as loud as she could.

"Someone help me!!"

/tbc/