what I expected.
And if I don’t belong
then who would have guessed it.
As a cop, a person who goes out of their way for anyone and everyone, her favorite thing to do on Friday nights was to relax at home and play her favorite romance movies off of HBO Demand while sitting in the most comfortable pajams she'd ever worn with a big bowl of popcorn in her lap. But tonight was different. Tonight, on the second of november, she wanted to go watch the person she lived for-the person whom she’d grown to love most in the world-her son, Daniel Munroe.
His high school wasn’t all that far away from their house and having been busy on many other previous Friday nights, she really wanted to make him happy by showing up to at least one of his games. At least once just to cheer him on and scream his name to the crowd so it was that obvious that he was her son. Hell, she wouldn’t even care if he was on the sidelines. She’d still yell his name for him over and over and over again.
She sat near the top of the bleachers, right smack in the middle. There were people all around her, either sitting and eating popcorn and occasionally inhaling a diet coke, or there were people standing, mindlessly crunching on her already sore feet and bumping her shoulder every now and then.
And as much as it should irritate her, she actually found herself having a good time.
I’m sorry, Dan. If only I could be more supportive of you.
We were now offense, having just intercepted and made the run to score yet another touch down.
Damn, number sixty-two just got knocked out of bounds.
But that meant he’d step onto the field in no time, which made her smile even more. He already had two touchdown passes and a touchdown himself.
What a great quarterback you are, Dan.
Offense stepped onto the field, not missing a beat as the two teams switched. His time would start momentarily.
He caught the ball and was looking-looking for someone to pass to. Anyone!
Just take it yourself, baby! Go honey, go!
As if reading her thoughts, he went for it to only be thrown hard onto the ground.
She flinched, hissing in a breath as he limped back up onto two feet once again.
God, he made her proud.
It was second down, six yards to go. They got in their ready positions, Dan hollering out words that got lost in the air to only be heard by his teammates.
The ball was hiked to him. He trotted back a few steps, searching and looking for his wide receiver. The defense was pushing past their great wall of muscle.
Pass it!!
Seeming to change his mind, Dan went for a rush yet again. He weaved in and out of people, dodging this way and that, making those defensive suckers fall to the ground in genuine misery.
He still had people to rush by, but she knew her son. She knew he was quick on his feet, as well with his head. He’d figure something out.
He kept running, not daring to look back nor sideways nor any other direction except for the place in which he was headed for.
He could hear the crowd cheering already.
But caught off guard, a swift tackler came from somewhere near his side. Ducking his head down, he was prepared to sidestep him and reach his sweet glory.
Only, that’s not exactly what happened.
The tackler came out of nowhere and crashed strong into Dan’s chest region.
Dan made the mistake of ducking his head down even further.
In a matter of seconds, both men were on the ground, once screaming in agony and the other not moving.
Ororo Munroe stood up abruptly, knocking hard into someone next to her as the crowd gasped in shock.
It was hard to register what she was seeing, but it clicked soon enough as an ambulance made its way across the field. It clicked as soon as she saw people stand fearfully around him, both medics and trainers from the sidelines and the ambulance. It clicked soon enough as two big men pulled out a long, navy stretcher from inside the ambulance.
God, did it click.
Her body taking a mind of its’ own, she steadily made her way down the bleachers, tripping every now and then until she finally reached the bottom. She jogged towards the gates of the track to be let onto the field, but was found to be stopped by another one of her own.
“You’re not aloud ma’am.”
Ororo struggled to get past him to be only yanked away from the gates and somewhere behind the bleachers.
“N-no. No! He’s my son! HE’S MY GOD DAMN SON!!”
“Lady, relax. Everything will be-”
He never did get to finish what he said. Ororo would later find out that she broke his jaw and cheekbone in three different places.
Sprinting towards the ambulance, she ignored shouts of protest from people on the sidelines. She guessed that one of the coaches made an attempt to grab her and haul her ass off the field, but she squirmed away yet again for her son.
Her heart beat in fast, hard thumps; pounding hard against her rib cage. She felt powerless not knowing if her baby was alright or not.
Dan,
“Ma’am, you’re not supposed to be here right now-”
“He’s my son! Please, tell me he’s okay!”
“Ma’am…”
“TELL ME HE’S OKAY! THAT HE’LL BE ALRIGHT BY TOMORROW! TELL ME THAT MY SON’S JUST FINE!!” Ororo screamed, tears spilling out of her eyes at a rapid rate.
“He’s…unconscious, ma’am. If you want, you can ride with him to the hospital.”
“Oh god,” Ororo breathed, her breath hitching in her throat as she saw the same two large men carry the occupied stretcher into the ambulance.
He really wasn’t moving.
And he’d never know that this was the one night that she had been able to come to his game.
She even wore his practice jersey tonight.
