Chapter 37
Riley was at her register laughing at something Lucas had said. "I missed this y'all." Everyone turned to Maya at the register behind the brunette.
"Missed what babe?" Josh sauntered towards her station.
"I know y'all weren't together for only a week but I missed laughing and joking with all of us together." The brown eyed girl placed her hand over her heart.
"Awe, peaches. I'm here, don't you worry."
"RILEY!" She turned towards the manager office and saw Devin and Adam waving her to come over. The cheerleader looked at her friends, a little worried. She flipped off her light and left her friends behind.
"What was that about?" The guys turned to Maya.
"I have no idea, hopefully not what we're thinking."
Riley sat down in the chair opposite of Devin and Adam. "Am I getting fired?" The managers started laughing.
"You think you're getting fired?" Devin smiled at Adam.
"Yes! Get out!" It didn't take long to figure out Adam was kidding after he got a punch to the arm. "No, actually we wanted to talk to you about the Granbury store opening."
"They open next Friday right?" The brunette felt a lot more at ease.
"Yes, and we are sending 3 groups of some of our best partners to help them open. It has come to our attention that you get out Thursday for Thanksgiving break. Is that right?" The cheerleader nodded her head. "We want you to lead one of the groups. You'll leave Thursday night and come back on Sunday. HEB pays for your hotel, and meals."
"Wow, that's very flattering, thank you. I'd love to. Who's in my group?"
Devin cleared her throat. "Well, we were going to let you decide." Adam started laughing.
"So, that means she'll choose Lucas, Josh and Maya." Riley started smiling. "Which, Devin and I have no problem with, they're all hard workers. But, being the lead you'd have to make sure you get your entire group to their shifts on time, you'll all work the same one, and you keep them all out of trouble. You'll be representing Burleson HEB after all."
"I understand."
Devin clapped. "We were worried that you may be busy." Riley shook her head. "You'll all meet up here and we will give you per diem for gas and food when you show up. Keep all receipts and make sure you return money you didn't use."
Adam cleared his throat. "Also, the managers there are aware that our leaders are able to take charge in difficult situations, since they will be busy they may depend on you to help out." He got a mischevious grin. "Now, do you want to play a prank on your friends?" Riley joined in with his grin.
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"She's not getting fired is she? I mean she trained me, she couldn't be." Lucas looked at the door.
"No, because then we'd all be fired." Josh pointed out. The office door opened and Riley had her HEB shirt off with her black tanktop showing and passed the shirt with her name tag to Adam. She didn't make eye contact with her friends, because they'd know. Maya flipped off her light and all 3 of her friends ran over.
"Adam? What's going on?" The blue eyes bore into his soul.
"If she's fired, I quit!" Lucas said.
"Me too." Maya nudged Josh.
"Yeah, me too!" Adam couldn't contain himself anymore.
"Oh you drama queens. You're all on break." Everyone looked at the brunette who was putting her shirt back on.
"That wasn't funny!" Maya said. Eventually everyone started laughing.
"Riles, take them to the break room and talk to these 3. Please and thank you." Riley escorted everyone to the break room and shut the door.
"What's going on?" Lucas took his usual spot next to Riley at one of the break room tables and grasped her hand.
"Alright so, we all know the Granbury store is opening next Friday. They are sending 3 groups of 4 people to help open it. They wanted to talk to me because i'm lead of this group right here." All of her friends started smiling. "They will pay for hotel and per diem, but we'll be working 8 hour shifts on an opening weekend so we will be busy. We'll leave not this Thursday but the next and come back Sunday night after shift. Basically, they just wanted me to make sure you were in?"
"YEAH!" Everyone started laughing at the fact they said it in unison.
"Wonderful, Lucas we'll take your truck." Both of the girls noticed that their boyfriends were smiling. "Maya and I will be in one room and Josh and Lucas will be in the other."
Josh raised his eyebrows. "We'll see." After a kick to the chin the group went back out front.
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"Alright, let's do this! Missy, take base with Allisa please. Riley you're flying." The brunette tightened her brace and got ready. She didn't understand why they still had to do stunts like this, it was just basketball season. Plus, they flew all football season no problem.
Before Riley got in position she turned to Missy, they'd argued yesterday and this morning, the glare on Missy's face didn't comfort the brunette. "Hey D?" The cheerleader took her captain off to the side. "Can anyone else be base? I don't trust her, like at all."
"She's the only one that's here today that's been a base before. Everyone else is injured or didn't show up." Riley's shoulders dropped. "Alright, places please!" The brown eyed girl smiled at Missy hoping to relieve some tension, that didn't work. She placed her hands on their shoulders and was thrown, she flipped and started coming back down. "MISSY!" Darby exclaimed, the brown eyed girl shut her eyes to prepare for the landing and tried to turn on her side to avoid hitting her head. "WHAT THE HELL?" Darby pushed Missy out of the way and ran to her friend.
Riley was screaming out in pain, grasping her knee. Tears were falling down her face. "Lissa, trainer now." She tried to stop crying and slow her breathing but it wasn't working. "Riley shush, it's okay, calm down. I'm so sorry I should've listened to you." A trainer came running into the gym with a bag of ice.
"OUT OF MY WAY!" He bent down and placed the bag on her knee, the cheerleader bit her finger and turned away. "Can you move it?" She shook her head fast and turned to look away from everyone.
"Missy you're off the squad! Go! NOW!" Darby turned back towards Riley and put her hands over her mouth. The trainer was trying to elevate and straighten the knee out when Riley let out another scream of pain.
"We'll see about that." The brunette hit the hardwood hoping to get some relief from the pain and saw the doors to the gym open as Missy left.
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Lucas was waiting by Riley's locker, like he always did and even when the warning bell rang there was still no Riley. The running back meandered into the classroom and saw Mr. Matthews grabbing his things. Cory looked frantic trying to find his keys. "What's wrong?"
"I'll explain later Mr. Friar." The teacher took off as a substitue walked in. The green eyed man looked around and followed Cory.
"Mr. Matthews what's wrong? Where's Riley?"
"Her knee. She flew and landed on it." Lucas' heart sank.
"Is she okay? Where is she? Where are you going?" The pair ran down the stairs taking two at a time. Lucas was fixing to ask again when he finally answered.
"Emergency Room, she needs to get an x-ray or an MRI or something. You need to get back to class."
"Sir, i'm coming with you. You'll need the help anyways." Cory shook his head and exhaled.
"I really wish you wouldn't. I'm still a teacher." The guys were in the athletic hall and opening the door to the arena. They both saw Riley laying on the floor in tears and ran towards her.
"STOP!" Riley exclaimed, as tears ran down her face. "Please, just stop." She was barely able to get the words out as the sobbing took control and the trainer stood up giving her some space.
"WHAT HAPPENED?" Shouted Lucas as he slid beside her. No one answered him, he grabbed her hand. "Baby are you okay? Can you stand?" Riley didn't answer she tried to quit crying. The trainer cleared his throat.
"I wouldn't recommend walking on it, until we know what's going on. Keep it elevated, and keep ice on it, it will help reduce swelling. The MRI won't be able to tell what's going on if it's too swollen." The running back stroked her hair and immediately scooped her up in his arms.
"Mr. Matthews please go get your car." Riley winced in pain and some more tears fell. "I'm so sorry sweetheart, i'll try to be gentle okay?" She nodded her head as Cory sprinted to pull his car around. "Darby, walk with me." The captain was distraught, the brunette had tried to tell her. "Open doors and tell me what happened." They were silent, except for the occasional whimpers from Riley. "Come on, what happened?! We have to know how she hurt it."
Darby opened the arena double door, he manuevered himself sideways and the captain cleared her throat. "She was a flyer and Missy was base. I screamed out Missy's name when I saw her drop her arms and that must have startled Riley because she twisted her body to not land directly on her back and she ended up landing right on top of her messed up knee." Lucas' eyes turned red at the sound of Missy's name. "I'm so sorry Riley, you tried to tell me."
"It's fine." The cheerleader dried her eyes and was still breathing heavily, tucking her head into his neck. "You didn't know."
"Riley is it your ACL?" She shook her head.
"No D, I don't think so. This hurts but not near as bad. I'm so stupid." She stopped talking and bit her cheek to prevent from screaming. "I was so stupid, turning myself over. I was trying to protect my head."
"That's not stupid, that's instinct." The running back didn't look at Riley his jaw was clenched and his stare down the hall was filled with fire.
They walked outside and Darby opened up the car door. "I thought i'd be getting in trouble from school not from her."
"Darby go on the other side of the car and help her get situated. Mr. Friar please sit on the floorboard back there and keep her leg raised." The kids did as Mr. Matthews instructed. Lucas sat down by her leg and tried to touch her cheek, she had calmed down and stopped crying now that she quit moving.
"I'm sorry sweetheart." Lucas pronounced.
"It's not your fault." Cory drove slowly to the hospital to prevent any jolting. "I'll be fine. I was last time." He stared into her eyes and knew she was telling the truth, but that didn't comfort him.
"What happened Riley?" Cory spoke up and turned the wheel.
"One of my bases wasn't ready for me when I came back down so I rotated to protect my head." The green eyed man furrowed his brows.
"No, don't sugar coat it. Missy was her base and intentionally let her fall to injure her."
"Lucas-" The cheerleader tried to interrupt him, she could see he was worked up.
"No, i'm so sick of her. Is there anything we can do Mr. Matthews? There has to be some sort of disciplinary action for intentionally injuring someone."
The teacher shook his head. "No, not really unless she admits to doing it on purpose. Cheerleading is dangerous-"
"Guys, please just stop. She got kicked off the squad, which unfortunately doesn't do me any good because I probably won't be able to cheer for awhile."
"Unfortunately, I don't think Darby can make that decision. It has to be approved by your coach?"
"Coach Stratford? She hasn't been to like any practices all year." Riley swung backwards punching the door when they came to a sudden stop. Lucas hated seeing her in pain and wanted to take it away from her, even if that meant enduring it himself. She started to breathe heavily again.
"I'm sorry sweetie. But, unless she admits to it, there's nothing we could do."
"She's just mad about me interrupting her dance and being with you." Lucas rolled his eyes and Cory scoffed.
"I get it, teenage drama. Been there done that, but seriously kids are getting worse. No matter what was done, that is no excuse for what she did." Cory pulled into a parking spot and with Lucas' help they brought Riley inside.
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"Where's Riley?" Josh pulled out his phone to check the time.
"I don't know. I haven't heard anything from her this morning. She usually texts me if she's sick." The blonde bit her lip. "Text Lucas, he has first period with her." Her boyfriend did as instructed and put his phone on silent so the vibrations wouldn't alert Ms. Vu. After a minute his phone went off.
Missy didn't catch Riley at practice this morning. Landed on her knee, at ER.
The blonde read the text message and immediately got heated. "Baby, don't get angry. Cool it."
"I'm going to punch her right in that fake plastic nose."
"No, you aren't." He placed his hand on her shoulder. "You'll get suspended and if you are wanting to apply to UT then you don't need to have a delinquent background." Her blue eyes turned to a glare.
"Who's side are you on?"
He leaned his head towards his shoulder. "Don't be dense. You know I love you and I am on your side and Riley's side and that's why i'm preventing you from doing something that you'll regret." Her tense shoulders relaxed when she heard the warning bell.
"Come on." She clutched her boyfriends hand and drug him out of class.
"May I ask where we're going?"
"ER. I can't let my peaches suffer without me." Josh intertwined their fingers. "Thank you for coming quietly."
"Leaving class to go see my niece and spend time with my girlfriend and best friend. I don't mind, considering the circumstances."
"You could be a little more worried." She huffed. "Missy is going to get hers, I don't care how. This is ridiculous." The blue eyed girl pulled out her cell phone and texted Smackle.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm texting Smackle. She can make an announcement for people to send good thoughts to Riles, that'll get under Missy's skin. People like Riley, for the most part." She put her phone in her back pocket and was blinded by the sun when the couple stepped outside.
"You think she would?"
"She would, hopefully she will be allowed to." Josh opened the door to his truck and the blonde sat in the middle. "Ugh, i'm just so sick of her."
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"Alright Ms. Matthews here is the dealio." The doctor placed the picture from the MRI on a block of light for all to see. The brunette raised herself up on the bed with her arms, and a lot of Lucas who wouldn't leave her side and Mr. Matthews stood up with his arms crossed. "You have damaged your PCL, your posterior cruciate ligament. Not super common, occurs when someone lands on a bent knee, obviously that's what you did. This is one of the many ligaments that connects your thigh bone to your shin bone, it's job is to prevent your knee from moving back too far a.k.a. hyperextending." The brunette raised her hand.
"So, what's the recovery time?" Lucas placed his hand on her back.
"Well, you've sprained it. On the grading scale it's a 2 out of a 3. Your ligament came pretty loose, it isn't torn though that's a plus, we won't have to do surgery." The cheerleader raised her hand for a high five with no return.
"Or, leave me hangin'?" Cory put his pointer finger to his mouth instructing her to keep her yap shut.
"Doctor, what will we have to do? She's injured her ACL and miniscus before so is it similar?"
"I saw the scar tissue." He pointed to the MRI and Lucas took a step closer to see. "No, it isn't similar, it hurts but not near as severe. She will wear a brace for about 2 weeks, crutches for 2 days, keep it elevated, ice the back of your knee several times daily and after 2 weeks she'll go to physical therapy for about a week. The brace will basically do what your PCL is supposed to do." Riley dropped down on the bed, clearly aggravated. "I'm sorry, but everything will be on the discharge paperwork. Unfortunately Riley, I highly recommend you wait at least 2 months before cheering, the PCL prevents your knee from hyperextending and that's a vital part for cheerleading."
"Okay. I understand." Cory tapped her uninjured foot trying to comfort her. The running back didn't say anything, he was still fuming.
"I will have a nurse come in to put on the brace and all the information you'll need will be on the discharge paperwork."
The green eyed man interjected. "What about pain medicine?"
"Oh, Tylenol 3 once every 6 hours for a week and if you feel like you need more than call for a refill and i'll approve. But after week 2, no more strong stuff." She exhaled and gave him a thumbs up, the doctor left the room and Mr. Matthews turned to Riley.
"Why are you agitated?"
"Oh, no reason just the fact i'm going to be on crutches for 2 days, wearing a brace for 2 weeks, and taking medicine that makes me sleepy and forgetful for at least a week. Other than that i'm chill." Cory rolled his eyes, he hated it when she was sarcastic. "Sorry dad, just frustrated."
"I know honey. But, you're going to take your meds, lets not have a repeat of last time." There was a knock on the door, Maya and Josh entered. "What are y'all doing here?"
"We're here to see Riley. Hi peaches. How are you feeling?" Maya hugged her.
"Why do you all think that you can just leave school with zero reprocussions?" The kids looked at him and smiled. "Oh fine, ya' jerks!"
"I'm fine, can't cheer for 2 months. Brace for 2 weeks. Crutches for 2 days and medicine for at least a week." Maya raised her eyebrow. "Yes mom?" Lucas chuckled, and shook hands with Josh.
"Hello Ms. Matthews!" The nurse shut the door and there were 5 faces staring back at her. "Wow, lots of people. Clear a path please, got to get to the patient." The nurse set the crutches down and started unwrapping the brace from it's plastic covering. "This is going to uncomfortable, i'm not going to lie to you." Riley took a deep breath when the nurse lifted her leg. She continued to hold her breath and her face was turning red.
"Riley, breathe." Maya demanded. "You do that every time." A tear fell from Riley's cheek, she quickly wiped it away to try to hide that she was in pain. The running back offered his hand for her to squeeze and even he occasionally would wince from the pressure.
"What does she do every time?"
The blonde chuckled. "When she tore her ACL and Miniscus she would hold her breathe to prevent herself from screaming or making any sort of incinuation she was in pain. She even passed out before." The green eyed man widened his eyes and dropped his jaw when he glanced at his girlfriend. "I think that's the reason she didn't take her medicine, she didn't want people to think she couldn't handle the pain." Her brown eyes rolled at her best friends statement.
"Alrighty, here we go. You can't take this off so what we recommend is getting a shower chair and a chair to keep your leg on to leave out of the shower."
Cory cleared his throat. "We have all that, thank you."
"Do you know how to use crutches?"
"Yeah, I do. Do y'all have the cushions for them? I threw my old ones away."
"We don't, and how tall are you?" The brunette sat up and started to try and get up off of the bed.
"5' 9"." Lucas prevented her from standing.
"Wonderful." She adjusted the crutches for her height. "Now, you'll be taking Tylenol 3 every 12 hours but, if you feel like you need a little pick me up you can take tylenol in between doses. Ice the back of your knee, 15 minutes on 15 off for the rest of the day and a good portion of the day tomorrow." The nurse turned around and saw the patient sitting up already. "Oh, good. You've done this before?"
"Unfortunately. Thank you for your help." Riley grabbed the crutches and stood up. "This is going to take some getting used to again." She smiled trying to lighten the mood.
"Since you aren't 18, I need your father to sign the discharge paperwork." Riley exited the room and entered the busy hallway, ringing phones, running nurses and crying patients were all she saw and heard. And, Lucas' heavy, angry breathing.
"What's wrong?" She continued to move forward to practice using her crutches.
"I hate seeing you this way. I hate seeing you in pain and I can't do anything about it." The brunette stopped and looked at her boyfriend.
"I'm sorry i've been rude. I'm just, frustrated." She exhaled heavily. "I'll be fine though, this isn't nearly as bad as my last knee injury. I'll take medicine so I won't be in pain-"
"I meant with Missy." Riley chuckled and shook her head.
"Drop it Lucas, she got what she wanted. Maybe now, she'll leave me alone."
"Who are you and where's my girlfriend? Because, the Riley I know would be furious." She looked him in the eyes.
"I'm not happy about it, but there isn't anything I can do. So, you don't need to worry about it either." She smiled, trying to make him happy. "For me, don't worry about it anymore. What's done is done." His shoulders dropped seeing her smile. "I think i'm most mad that I can't hold your hand for a couple days."
"Oh stop!" He mumbled and leaned in for a kiss. "Yep, that's all I needed to relax." Riley practiced some more with her crutches.
"What are you doing for the rest of the day?"
"Is that a serious question?" The brunette nodded. "I go where you go." Riley stopped and looked towards the ground, she couldn't believe how much she loved him. Lucas always made her feel so special.
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