The Road Not Taken

Chapter 13

March 3, 1973

Sam exited the locker room and walked towards the almost empty auditorium where he knew Donna would be awaiting him. He'd been happy she'd been able to plan the trip to the home game at Purdue to coincide with her trip to Chicago, where she was presenting a poster at a regional physics meeting. West Lafayette was about two hours south of Chicago so it wasn't too difficult to drive up early to the Windy City on a Saturday. It had felt nice tonight, knowing she was out in the crowd, cheering for him. Too bad Purdue lost the game. But the Minnesota Gophers had wanted the win too much, ultimately succeeding by 13 points. As he came around the corner, he saw Donna. She knew that the loss would be bothering Sam.

"Sam, better luck next time. You guys gave it your all though."

He shook his head, indicating he didn't agree. "If that were the case, we would have won." Donna noticed as his head shook it was still rather damp. He'd come out of the locker room as quickly as he could not wanting to leave Donna alone for any more time than was necessary.

"You know its a little cold out there tonight. Don't you think you should dry your hair a bit more?"

Sam shook his head. "Nah, it will be okay. It's almost dry. I can't tell you how many times I had to walk home from school with a wet head so I could get back to take care of the cows. Can't let the animals wait too long for your own comfort."

"I guess."

Suddenly Sam changed the subject. "Donna, you won't believe what I got in the mail today."

"What, Sam?"

"A letter from The New Artist's Group. They want me to play as a guest artist at Carnegie Hall during this summer's Upcoming Artists Series. My music professor, Dr. Martin, sent in a cassette for them to listen to. I hadn't known he was going to do that, but I guess it was good he did." Sam pulled the letter out of the outer pocket of his bag and handed it to Donna, who took it and started scanning it.

"Wow! This is quite an accomplishment. I knew you played piano, but Carnegie Hall!"

They started walking to the exit but Sam continued, "I love music! Playing sometimes makes me feel closer to the universe, you know? It's like hearing the fabric of reality and seeing the diversity in everything."

Donna stopped walking. Sam also stopped and turned, looking at her quizzically; she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the lips. "What was that for?"

"You're such a romantic, Sam Beckett. You should have been a poet."

Sam guffawed. "I hate English Lit, remember? Why would I want to add to that? Anyways, I'm not very good at expressing myself sometimes."

Donna shook her head as she started walking again. "Sam, you are just fine at expressing yourself."

"With you, maybe. With other people, I don't always connect."

They had reached the door and Sam held it open for Donna. They headed to a local restaurant that was close to the campus. Sam was originally planning to travel with Donna the next day up to Chicago to attend her conference session, but the coach had called another practice. Even though the season was getting close to the end, they still had a chance to finish it well.

They walked into the local hangout and found they'd have a little wait. The establishment was one that was frequented after a home game and lots of the Boilermaker fans had already arrived. They were just about to go into the bar to wait their turn when Pete Fisk waved them over.

"Hey, you guys. We have enough room for two more if you want to join us." Pete was sitting at a table for six, but only four chairs were taken. They obviously hadn't ordered yet as there were no glasses at the table. Pete had his girlfriend, Amy, with him and another couple that Sam didn't recognize.

Sam looked over at Donna, allowing her to make the call. "It's okay with me, Sam. I'm a bit hungry. I didn't eat much earlier." That settled it. They let the hostess know that they would be joining their friends.

Pete started to make introductions. "Theresa Connors and Bob Starr, I'd like you to meet Donna…" Pete started to blush. "Uh…I know your first name but not your last."

Donna smiled. "It's Elesee."

Pete grinned gratefully and continued with the introductions, "…Donna Elesee and Sam Beckett."

"Nice to meet you," both couples simultaneously said, laughing at the chorus nature of the response.

Pete decided he needed to provide some context to the introductions. "Bob, Sam was my roommate my first year here, before I decided to join the fraternity. Sam, Bob's a fraternity brother. He's taking Chemical Engineering and is graduating this year."

"Where are you from, Bob?"

"I've lived here in the Chicago area most of my life. Theresa and I have been dating since high school. We plan to get married after graduation. Amy will be Theresa's maid of honor."

"Congratulations to both of you."

Bob grinned. "What about you, Donna?"

"I'm a physics major over at Lawrence in Marion, Ohio."

"Marion's not exactly the next town over. Did you and Sam know each other from before?"

"No, one of his teammates, George Fetzer, introduced us. He's from Marion." Donna went on to explain that this trip combined both seeing Sam and the conference.

"I was planning on heading up to Chicago tomorrow for that. I have a friend who's also presenting. Maybe I'll see you there."

Their waitress, having a full house to deal with finally came to the table and got drink and appetizer orders. A few minutes later, she was back with the beers, sodas, waters, and chicken wings. They all quickly ordered their main meals, consisting mainly of burgers and fries.

As they ate, the conversation evolved through the evening, covering school activities, Bob and Theresa's upcoming wedding plans, the game and how they would win the next time, and what everyone was planning to do after graduation. Bob indicated that he would be working for a petroleum refiner in the Chicago area. Neither he nor Theresa wanted to move far from their families. Amy was obtaining her teaching degree. She planned to teach at the primary school level but where she taught wasn't really an issue for her. Sam figured that she and Pete would get married and go back to Pete's family farm but didn't say anything. Donna indicated her desire to continue research in Quantum physics. Sam and Pete both indicated a desire to keep working on their respective family farms.

They had a great evening and left the restaurant a little after eleven. Donna indicated that she was a bit tired and asked Sam to take her back to her hotel. He walked her to her room.

"Would you like to come in, Sam?" asked Donna as she used her key to open the door.

"Uh…no, Donna. You're going to need to be up early to get to Chicago and I've got practice tomorrow."

"You're probably right."

Sam took her into his arms. "I'm sure glad you came to the game tonight." He looked into her eyes. They both moved their heads to the right angle for a kiss. As he held her, Sam could feel his body responding to her as she moved in closer to him. Sam wanted to hold her forever, savoring her lips, breathing her in.

"You can still come in, Sam," whispered Donna.

He wanted to. He wanted to be with Donna but it wasn't right. He knew he was in love with her and waiting, even though it was the most difficult thing to do, was what he'd always believed to be the right thing to do.

His voice betrayed his emotions, through, as he answered "No, Donna. I can't." He gave her one last kiss and then pulled away. "Goodnight. I'll see you tomorrow night."

Donna was a bit breathless herself. She knew that Sam's refusal wasn't because he didn't want to be with her, but because he did. There were times that part of her wished he didn't have such a deeply rooted "boy scout" attitude. But then would I love him as much? "Okay. I'll call you after the session tomorrow night." She then slipped into her room.

Sam watched the door close. He hesitated for a second, but then turned away and called the elevator. His body was wrapped tighter than a steel cable. He so wished to be with Donna. One day. It will happen one day. Sam comforted himself with that thought as he went out to his car and drove back to the campus.

XoXoXoXoXo

The practice was going smoothly. The coach had introduced them to some new drills and they had performed them well. They had reached the time for scrimmaging and the team broke into two opposing groups.

Sam jumped up to make a basket; but as he came down, he landed wrong and his leg twisted awkwardly. Sam hit the floor with a thud and he felt something pop. The pain was excruciating.

The coach ran over to his fallen player, "Tell me what hurts, Sam."

"It's my right leg, coach. I…I felt something pop as I went down."

The coach called the team doctor over. He felt Sam's leg gingerly before giving his prognosis. "It's broken, son. Let's get you to the hospital and set it. I imagine you're in some pain?" He asked the coach to call the ambulance.

Sam nodded. The doctor pulled out a vial and a hypodermic. After filling the hypodermic with the correct dosage of the medication, he gave Sam a shot of morphine. It didn't take long before the pain in his leg started subsiding.

The paramedics had arrived and put Sam onto a gurney, wheeling him out to the ambulance. This was a lousy turn of events. When Sam arrived at the emergency room at St. Elizabeth Hospital, he initially had to wait thirty minutes to be seen. The doctor ordered an X-ray. He was wheeled down a hallway and left there, being told that the X-ray technician would be out to get him soon. Apparently the call hadn't connected with the X-ray Department, though. He ended up waiting in the hallway for a solid hour before he was finally retrieved and the X-rays taken.

It turned out to be a fairly clean break and the cast was finally put on. They gave Sam lightweight metal crutches. He took a cab back to the dorm, arriving there about ten p.m. Ryan told him that Donna had called about nine p.m. asking if he was there. "I told her to try back in an hour so she should be calling back anytime. I guess you had a pretty eventful day today, huh."

"Yeah. 'Hurry up and wait.' I hate hospitals."

Ryan smiled. Although they kept the room relatively neat by college standards, Ryan made sure that the floor was cleared of obstacles. He voiced his condolences that Sam would be on crutches for a while and thus was effectively out for the rest of the basketball season. "Tough break, man."

"Yeah, in more ways than one." Sam said wryly. He looked thoughtful for a moment adding, "Then again, it will give me more time to practice piano even though it will be just about impossible to use the pedals. I'll just have to practice the fingering and work on the pedals when the cast is off." Ryan gave him a confused look, not understanding the connection. "I'm going to play at Carnegie Hall in June."

"Wow, that's pretty impressive. I knew you played, but that's awesome."

The phone rang. Ryan picked it up, answering the question he'd obviously been asked, "Yeah, he's back. Let me put him on." Ryan brought the phone over to Sam, the cord barely reaching where he was sitting.

"Hello." Sam smiled. "Hi, Donna.

"I thought you'd be back from practice sooner than this."

"Uh, practice was over a long time ago. I broke my leg. It was a freak accident, but I'm out for the rest of the season."

"Oh Sam, that's awful. Are you okay? What did the doctor say? You have to be upset about not playing for the rest of the season. Geez, you played so well last night too. I'm sure your team's going to miss you."

"Yeah, but nothing can be done. It's just a normal broken leg and I've been told I'm lucky it was a straight forward break. The doctor said it would take anywhere from six to eight weeks to heal, but enough about that. How did your poster session go?"

"It was very well received. There was quite a bit of interest in elementary particle research. Oh, before I forget, a Dr. LoNigro said to say hello."

"Dr. LoNigro was there?"

"Yeah. I told him you'd be in New York in June playing at Carnegie Hall. He said he'd try to get down there from MIT for the concert."

"It would be nice to see him again. How did he know you knew me?"

"I was talking with another presenter. She wondered why I wasn't at the mixer last night. I told her that I was at the game at Purdue, watching you play. She asked your name and when I said your name, Dr. LoNigro overheard. He came over and asked if you were the Sam Beckett from Elk Ridge. When I confirmed it he said to say hello to you."

"Thanks for passing on the message, Donna. I hope he can make it down from Boston. I'd love to talk with him again."

"Well, Sam. I'd better go. I have to get back to Lawrence tomorrow. You take it easy, ok?"

"I'll do my best, Donna. I'll talk with you later. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Sam."

They both hung up the phone. Sam realized how beat he was and settled in as best he could. The cast made getting comfortable next to impossible. Sam was grateful for the painkillers. At least they let him sleep.