Getaway Car

This Curtained Room in This Hospital Gray

Travis was exhausted. The adrenaline of the game had long worn off and he was on hour 3 of getting poked, prodded, and tested. A flurry of team executives, sports medicine specialists, and orthopedic surgeons had been coming in and out of his hospital room non-stop. They particularly loved to have conversations about his knee, standing over his hospital bed, as if he weren't in the room. Understandably, getting Travis Kelce back on the field was the number one priority of the Kansas City Chiefs.

The team had come by to check on him, but he insisted they go celebrate. You could see the relief on the faces of the younger players. They would never be disloyal to their teammate, but they'd just won the Super Bowl! They were ready to party; not be soberly deferential in a sad Las Vegas hospital. No offense, Travis. So the rest of the team was out celebrating and he was stuck in this hospital bed. Were hospital beds always this small? Or were they just not made for guys that were 6'5"? The hospital gown they'd put him in was a joke.

Mama Kelce, Jason, and his dad made appearances as well. In their own ways, they all tried to be positive. "Look at Tom Brady! Four Super Bowls after his ACL surgery!" Jason had said. But Travis knew Tom Brady was the exception, not the rule. Most guys came back after an ACL tear, but few were ever the same caliber player. Travis was also 35 at this point. He'd had two concussions, a knee surgery, and a shoulder surgery during his career; now he was looking at another knee surgery and extensive physical therapy. He'd always given Jason a hard time about hinting at retirement, but maybe Jason wasn't wrong; this sport took a lot out of you. Dammit, but Travis loved football. He couldn't imagine his life without it, and he couldn't imagine himself as anything other than a tight end. If he didn't have football, who would he be?

Those concerns played out in the very back of his head, but for now, he could focus on fixing the present issue. They were flying him out to Los Angeles tomorrow to talk to one of the best orthopedic surgeons in the business; this guy had worked on Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, and even Kobe Bryant. If anyone could get him back on the field, it was this guy.

Travis laid his head back and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the conversations going on around him.

"September should be doable..." "...how's the MCL?" "...lucky it was at the end of the season..." "...bring him back too soon..." "...months of rehab..."

And then a different voice broke through, "Travis?"

Taylor was standing in the doorway, holding an enormous bouquet of "Get Well Soon" balloons and, quite frankly, an ugly pink monkey with Velcro hands and feet, wearing a t-shirt that said, "Feel Better."

Travis quickly sat up. "Give us a minute, guys?" he said, dismissing the doctors who all looked very surprised by the Grammy winner's sudden appearance.

"I stopped by the hospital gift shop," Taylor said, placing the gifts to the side. "I'm sorry this monkey is so ugly, but I thought it might make you smile? It kinda looks like a troll." She stood at the side of his hospital bed.

A huge smile grew on his face. It was the first time he'd smiled like this since January. He still wasn't sure what to say.

"Hey! It worked," Taylor smiled at his big grin. "I just needed to see you were okay. And I didn't want you to think I didn't care, after everything. I do care, but I understand if you don't want to see me. I can go." She turned to leave, but Travis grabbed her hand.

"Wait," he started, still holding her hand, "I wanted to apologize. I sprung a lot on you and that wasn't fair. You've always been up-front about what we were, and I should have listened. I'm sorry."

Tears welled up in Taylor's eyes, "No, we both know this thing went off the rails a while ago. Fake publicity boyfriends don't usually make you chocolate chip cookies on your birthday."

"I wasn't a very good fake boyfriend, then, was I?" Travis smiled despite himself.

"No," Taylor sighed. "I think you know how I feel about you. These last few weeks have been horrible. Do you know how many unflattering screenshots of you mid-play I have on my phone?? And I couldn't send them to you," she started to smile.

"Unflattering? Of me? Impossible," Travis laughed.

Taylor took a deep breath. "I'm scared. I'm still scared, but not having you in my life feels worse. But I was with the person I thought I'd be with forever until a few months ago. I don't trust myself and I feel like every romantic relationship blows up in my face. And I'm not ready for that to happen to you."

"Okay," Travis said.

"Okay?" Taylor asked, puzzled.

"Okay. We don't have to go there then. You're not ready. I can respect that," he explained.

"I don't know when I'll be ready, if ever. You're okay with that?"

Travis laughed, "You think I've never liked a woman that I couldn't be with before? There was this one girl, I made her a friendship bracelet with my number on it and then I couldn't even talk to her. I ended up alright." Taylor rolled her eyes but smiled. He continued, "But I hated not being able to see you, talk to you. Did you know Japan has a dog that sells sweet potatoes from a stand?? I saw it on TikTok. Did you go?" Travis asked.

Taylor dramatically gasped, "No?!"

"See, I wanted to tell you about that while you were there! You could've gone!" Travis threw his head back, jokingly exasperated. He continued, seriously again, "You're important to me. Everything I said is still true, I won't lie, but you're too important to lose over that. I'm sorry I didn't say this sooner. I'd rather be your friend than be nothing at all."

"Thank you, Travis," Taylor said.

"And now I've got a good six months of recovery ahead of me where I could use all the friends I can get. Particularly ones that text me pictures of cats I did not ask for," Travis went on. Taylor smirked.

"What're they saying?" Taylor asked.

"Torn ACL, meeting with a surgeon in LA tomorrow, hopefully surgery by the end of the week, then four to six months of PT. They think I should be able to start the season on time, fingers crossed."

"LA?" Taylor asked, an idea sparking.

"Yes?"

"You should stay at my house in Beverly Hills while you recover! It has rooms for your family too, if they wanna visit. There's a great garden you can pad around while you get better. Oh and a big library and a screening room," Taylor said excitedly. "And depending on how you're doing, maybe you can come see one of my Australia shows?"

Travis smiled widely, "I'd hug you, but I'm kinda stuck in this bed at the moment."

Taylor leaned down and threw her arms around Travis' neck, so glad to have him back. She whispered in his ear, "I'm gonna send you so many pictures of cats."