Bend It Like Becker

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Chapter 24 - FOULS BEFORE THE FALL

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Becker had come to the conclusion that he definitely hated Chas Whigham.

First of all, Chas was such a stupid name. Not that Hilary was any great shakes, but at least Becker knew enough to keep it mostly to himself. Chas, on the other hand, insisted that everyone call him "Chas" instead of Charles, so Becker was enjoying calling him "Whigham" instead and watching him bristle.

Chas was also a terrible boyfriend for Ghani. Becker had no idea what she saw in the bloke – he definitely wasn't what Becker had envisioned for her.

"He's not what my parents envisioned either," Ghani had joked before practice, "but they've come around."

But Becker wasn't sure why anyone should come around, as clearly Chas was a prat. What sort of bloke blatantly flirts with another girl right in front of his girlfriend? Yet Ghani hadn't even seemed to bat an eye; in fact, she'd been the one to mention Jess's short skirts. Becker hadn't liked the way Chas had eyed him suspiciously when she'd said the guys at the ARC drooled over Jess - for all Chas knew, Ghani could've been talking about guys he'd never met. And so what if Becker enjoyed Jess's skirts; it wasn't as if he had a girlfriend that he should be paying attention to, unlike Chas. Ghani definitely deserved someone better, and Becker planned on giving her an earful about it tomorrow.

Though perhaps he'd best wait till Saturday, when they no longer needed Chas to act as ref.

And that was the third thing: Chas was a horrible ref. He kept blowing the whistle on everyone, especially Becker himself. Becker knew that it wasn't against the rules to simply be aggressive, but Chas seemed to call him on it every time he even got near the ball. And Chas had also given out so many yellow cards, not only to Becker but to Abby and Lester as well, that had it been a real game, they would've been kicked out long before. What was Chas trying to prove with his strict refereeing? Surely the refs wouldn't be this tough in the real game – if they were, then the team was definitely in trouble.

The whistle sounded once again, and Chas indicated a direct free kick for the other team.

"What?" Becker asked, storming up to the ref and confronting him face to face. "What was that for?"

"You charged your opponent."

"Are you joking? There's no way that was charging!"

The prat smiled smugly. "Abusing the ref can be an automatic red card, you know. If this were the real game, you'd be out."

"That's ridiculous!" Becker yelled. "You're doing this on purpose!"

Jess ran up and tried to get between them. "Look, let's try to remember this is just a game. And Chas, we really appreciate you helping us know what is and isn't allowed in the game, as we can't afford for anyone to get kicked out on Saturday." Jess looked pointedly at both of them. "Now, can you boys get along and let us get back to playing? Because this isn't helping!"

Becker glared at Jess, knowing she was right but annoyed that Chas had, in a sense, won. However, the soldier noted that the ref looked somewhat chagrinned as well, which made Becker feel a bit better at having been scolded.

Of course, he would've had a much better attitude about this entire practice if he wasn't so tired, but he was physically exhausted from his lack of sleep and was having some trouble even staying upright at this point. But he reminded himself that he need only get through the rest of practice, and then he could drive himself home to his empty flat and finally get a good night's sleep.

And if his subconscious chose to dream about Jess and the couch, where would be the harm in that?

But now was not the time for dreams. He needed to stay awake and alert for the rest of practice...if only to avoid the constant urge to punch Chas in his smug little face.

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The instant Jess saw Becker fall, she knew it was serious. It wasn't just the way he fell, or the look of pain that crossed his face as he went down, but the fact that he didn't immediately jump to his feet and start arguing with Chas's call, as he'd done with every other call this entire practice, that made Jess realise that Becker must really be hurt.

She hurried to his side, even as the others continued to play.

"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

He frowned and nodded his head. "I'm fine," he insisted, starting to stand, but the moment he attempted to put any weight on his ankle, he cringed and fell back down.

"Becker, you're hurt," she cried before turning to the others. "Matt, Chas, stop the game! Becker's really hurt."

Emily scooped up the ball as the others all started gathering around.

Jess knelt down at Becker's side, her brow creased with worry, but he just glared at her, clearly annoyed. "Jessica, I'm fine," he grumbled as he once again tried to stand.

"Careful," Neela said as she and Chas hurried to his side and gently helped him back down to the ground. Chas reached for Becker's foot, but the soldier jerked it away, obviously causing himself pain as he did so.

"Becker, let him examine you," Jess scolded, figuring Chas and Neela knew all about footy injuries.

"Is it your ankle?" Chas asked as Neela began to take off Becker's shoe. Jess watched helplessly as Neela and Chas carefully moved his foot around, causing Becker to cringe.

"Is he going to be okay?" Lester asked as he and the others looked on.

Neela nodded. "I think it's just a sprain." She shared a look with Chas, who seemed to agree.

"You THINK?" Lester repeated Neela's words back to her. "But you don't KNOW?"

Neela shrugged as Chas answered, "There's a slim possibility he broke something, but I don't think so. His range of motion and the pain seem consistent with a sprain."

"Well, we need to be certain," Lester said. "We've got to get him to a hospital straight away."

"I'm not going to hospital," Becker grumbled angrily. "I'm fine."

"You're NOT fine," Jess said. "And we need to have you checked out. It could be serious."

"I'll drive him to hospital, yeah?" Matt said, stepping up. "Chas, is it? Grab his other arm and let's get him up."

"This is completely unnecessary," Becker grumbled even as Matt and Chas hoisted him to his feet. Once up, Becker tried to shrug off their support and put his foot down, involuntarily gasping in pain.

"Don't put any weight on it till it's been x-rayed," Chas instructed.

"And even then you'll want to stay off of it," Neela said as the guys started helping Becker towards the carpark.

"Keep us updated," Lester called after them. "And do whatever you need to do – we need him fit for the match."

Jess nodded and followed worriedly after the boys plus Emily, who had run ahead to unlock Matt's car. However, after a few steps, Jess remembered practice and realised she should probably stay. She turned to say something, but Abby approached, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'll sort things out here. You go with him, yeah?"

Jess gave her friend a grateful smile and hurried to catch up with Becker and the others.

"We'll need to elevate the leg," Chas was saying, having reached Matt's car.

"Then let's put him in the backseat, yeah?" Matt suggested, and Emily quickly opened the back door for them.

"Really, this is ridiculous," Becker complained, though Jess could tell he was still in quite a bit of pain. "There's no need for all this fuss."

However, no one was listening to him as Matt and Chas unceremoniously deposited him in the backseat, helped him prop up his ankle, and then closed the door on him as he continued to protest.

"I'll go with Jess," Emily said, steering Jess off towards her car as Matt got into his. "We'll meet you there," she called back over her shoulder.

Under Emily's direction, Jess absently got into her car, her mind focussed completely on Becker. What if it was serious? What if he was really hurt?

What if he couldn't play on Saturday?

…

to be continued