Trust me - A Liam Dunbar fanfiction

V - LIAM

Liam winced as his step-father moved his foot. The motion had been so small, but strong spikes of pain had still shot up the entirety of his leg. His entire ankle and a portion of the top of his foot had gone purple, almost black.

"OK, all right..." His stepfather let go of his foot and took a step back from the bed.

"It's broke, isn't it?" Liam said, the disappointment evident in his voice.

"It's definitely going to need an X-ray," said Dr. Geyer, one of his eyebrows raising slightly.

"It's broken," Liam hissed through clenched teeth. "And it's my fault."

"You wanna tell me what happened?"

"I went up against two juniors," Liam said after a sigh. "One of them is Captain of the team." That only made it worse. He'd been so excited to get an opportunity to play with Scott McCall. But the tryouts, and Liam's run in with Ruth that morning, clearly showed Liam that the excitement wasn't mutual.

"Remember what we always say?" Dr. Geyer paused, putting a hand on Liam's shoulder. "Play smart, not hard."

Liam looked away, clenching his jaw even harder. "Are you mad at me?" He hated how small his voice sounded.

"No, of course not," Dr. Geyer said. The lack of hesitation made Liam look back at him. "Your mom might be mad at me for getting you into lacrosse, but maybe we should both wait for the X-ray before we panic. And trust me," he went on, "I have more reason to panic than you." He chuckled, then took his hand off Liam's shoulder and started getting ready to leave. "It's not over yet. Wait for the X-ray." Dr. Geyer gave him one last smile, then walked out of the room.

Liam lay down in the bed, covering his eyes with the heels of his hands. His stepfather's voice had told him everything he needed to know. His days of playing lacrosse were over and there was nothing anyone could do about it. He felt all the hope and happiness he had had that morning drain out of his body.

He'd been so excited for a do-over at Beacon Hills High. Start out fresh somewhere no one knew what had happened at Devenford. Where no one knew he was an I.E.D. Where he could play lacrosse without everyone fearing that he might explode. Those dream where now over and Liam just had to except that.

There was a gentle knock on the door and when Liam raised himself up onto his elbows he was met with Ruth, standing awkwardly in the doorway. For a moment, they just stared at each other. Liam had no idea what to say, he couldn't even manage a 'Hi'.

"Can I come in?" Ruth finally asked after a painful amount of awkward silence. Liam just nodded, lamely, and she came further into the room. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I was tackled by a junior." He scoffed, gently. "My dad gave me some medicine for the pain. But it's the ankle I'm worried about. If it's broken...that could be a life-time injury."

Ruth came closer to the bed, looking at Liam's bruised foot. "I know it probably isn't any consolation," she started, "but Scott didn't mean to hurt you. He was just trying to prove himself to the Coach. He's fought really hard for his position as Captain and doesn't want to loose it."

Liam nodded. "I know. And I don't blame him. I should have been better about sticking the landing."

"Liam..." Ruth tried to interject, but Liam cut her off. "It's nice that he took me to the hospital, tho. A lot of guys from my old school would have just walked away."

Ruth looked astounded, almost like she thought Liam was lying. He wasn't. Especially after what happened with the coach at Devenford Prep. All the guys on the team would have left him for dead if they got the chance.