Chapter 12
Ashlyn’s POV:
As soon as the post-game team meeting was over I grabbed my bag and hauled ass to the hospital, still in my uniform. I couldn't even tell you what Coach Parsons had said in that meeting. All I could think about was seeing my princess. I approached the front desk and was about to ask where Ali was, when I heard a voice call my name.
“Ashlyn Harris?” I turned towards the voice and saw a doctor in his 40s wearing blue scrubs. “I’m Dr. Stroger”, he said.
“Where’s Ali?” I asked hurriedly.
“We have her in the operating room right now.”
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“She took a very hard blow to the head. She hasn’t regained consciousness yet”, Dr. Stroger said.
I started to panic. “I want to see her”, I said.
“Miss Harris, we have her in the operating room”, he repeated. “We will let you know when she’s ready to receive visitors.”
“No, I want to see her now”, I said, a little more forcefully.
“Miss Harris, please. If you’d like, you can have a seat right over there, and we’ll let you know when you can see her.”
I sighed, resigned, and dropped my shoulders. “Fine, I’ll sit over there”, I said. I started walking over to where the doctor pointed.
“It might be a while, Miss Harris.”
I turned around to face him. “I’m not going anywhere”, I said, and then looked at him hard. “You’d better bring her back to me, doctor.”
********
After what seemed like forever Dr. Stroger showed me into Ali’s room.
“How is she, doctor?”
“She’s resting now.”
I took a deep breath. “So, what happened?”
“Ali sustained what equates to a blunt force trauma injury to the head. There was some internal bleeding around the brain. Fortunately we were able to stem it, and we expect her to make a full recovery, but she needs to rest.”
I exhaled what was probably the biggest sigh of relief I’ve ever exhaled, and tears started to form in my eyes. “Thank you, doctor.”
“We have her sedated right now, but you are welcome to go in and sit by her. We just ask that you not disturb her, though.” Dr. Stroger nodded at me and then closed the door. I looked over at Ali. She was lying motionless in the hospital bed. I walked over to her and leaned over.
“Al, can you hear me?” I whispered. No response. “Hey princess, I’m here.” No response again. “I’m with you.” Still no response, but I kept talking softly anyway. I pulled up a chair next to her and sat down. “When I saw you go down…my heart stopped. I’ve never seen anyone take a blow like that on the field. I-I-I…I was so scared. And when I saw you lying there, motionless, I…I thought for a moment…that maybe…I might lose you.” Ali remained motionless. Tears started forming again in my eyes as I thought about losing her. I wiped them away and kept talking. “I’m so sorry, baby. I’m so sorry for everything.” I paused, wiped another tear from my eye and kept talking. “I know I’m your friend, and I used to be your best friend. Maybe I still am your best friend, I don’t know. But I want more. I want us to be together." I paused and then said, "I love you, Ali Krieger.” I paused again and then continued. “I'm sorry I didn't have the courage to tell you that before, but I was afraid. I was afraid that you’d freak out, and that you wouldn’t want to ever talk to me again, and then I wouldn’t have you in my life at all. I couldn’t bear to have that happen, so I settled for whatever I could get from you. But that’s not what I want. I want all of you. I want to be with you. I love you and I don’t want to live my life without us being together.”
I was balling now. The pain of seeing her like this combined with the regret of not saying everything I should have said sooner had tears pouring down my face. I stood up, leaned over her, and kissed her forehead. A tear dripped onto her cheek, and I wiped it away with my finger, even though the doctor had told me not to disturb her. I wiped the tears from my eyes and sat back down in my chair. I inhaled a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. I felt hollowed out. I closed my eyes and put my head in my hands.
“I’m sorry.”
“What?” I muttered. I raised my head, and then realized what had just happened. Ali had just whispered something. I got up out of my chair and leaned over her.
“Princess?” I said.
“I’m sorry”, she whispered. She laid still and her eyes were closed. Her mouth barely moved and she spoke in a whisper, but she was talking.
“Baby, it’s Ashlyn”, I said. “Are you awake?”
“I’m sorry”, Ali said for a third time.
I understood her this time. “Baby, it’s okay”, I said. “It was just a game”, I said, for some reason thinking she was talking about the game we had just played.
“No”, she whispered. “I’m sorry for pushing you away.”
I stood there, stunned. What did I just hear? “Baby-wait, what?” I thought I heard her say, “I’m sorry for pushing you away”, but I didn’t quite make it out.
“I love you”, she whispered.
“W-w-what?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Baby…what did you just say?”
But Ali had slipped back into unconsciousness. I stood there, leaning over her, trying to process if I had really heard what I thought I had just heard. More tears came, and I leaned down to kiss her again, this time on the lips