You Get Me :)

Chapter 22

My mouth fell open as Clay laid on the ground, not moving. Our players on the field and bench ran out and started yelling at the player who had just hit Clay. The stands were yelling as well, it was chaos. While the referees and coaches tried to break up the fights happening on the field, our athletic trainer ran out to Clay. I felt my throat start burning as I tried to keep tears from falling down my face.

"What the fuck was that? That dude can be suspended from the rest of the season right?" Nick yelled, more confused than I had been.

Clay's dad hopped over the fence and ran out to his son, who was still laying on the ground, completely still. His head was facing away from me so I couldn't see if his eyes were open or not. All I could see was his sweaty dirty blonde hair with his headband tied in the back of his head.

I heard footsteps behind me running, so I turned to see both Nick and Clay's parents running over to us with the younger kids at their side.

"Is Clay dead?" Brady asked, clinging to Nick's waist.

"No honey he isn't dead." Nick's father said to him as he looked worriedly onto the field.

I followed his gaze to notice Clay had his arms above his head and he was now laying on his back. Clay's dad was talking to him, meaning he was probably awake if he had just been unconscious. Clay's mom took a deep breath as she looked over towards the field to see her son. Henry hugged me tightly as I looked at Clay, unable to peel my eyes away from the sight.

Clay's dad and the athletic trainer held out their hands for Clay to grasp onto. He slowly grabbed their hands, unable to bring himself up. They reached down and grabbed under his arms to help him up. They started to lead him towards the bench as he walked slowly with their support.

I was able to get a good look at his face. His eye black was smudged, and he had his eyes closed, looking slightly down towards the turf field. He looked pale, as if he was sick.

Before they were able to get back to the bench, Clay moved his mouth guard out of his mouth with his tongue, quickly saying something to both his father and the trainer. They quickly led him towards the grass where he vomited, putting his hands on his knees.

Clay's mom looked away as he did, covering Matt's eyes with her palm. I felt nauseous as I watched, but my eyes weren't able to leave Clay.

"Definitely concussed, probably major." Nick's father said. Nick looked worried as he tore his eyes away from Clay to his fathers gaze.

After he was finished, they led Clay to the bench where he sat, leaning over to face the ground. His father took a gatorade water bottle and sprayed some onto Clay's head before lifting his head up to squirt some into his mouth. I looked up at the rest of the players, who had moved away from the bench, only to make eye contact with the tallest one, James. I felt his eyes glaring at me as Clay vomited for the second time on the bench. I moved my eyes away from him, looking at the ground.

My throat burned from holding back my tears, it was my fault wasn't it. It was my fault that Clay got hurt because he was looking at me. I knew I shouldn't have came to this game. My father was right when he called me a disappointment. I always had a way of messing something up. Tears started to fall onto the ground as Clay's dad walked up to the fence.

"We're taking him to the emergency room, probably a major concussion and some cracked ribs. You guys go home and rest ok? He's going to be ok."

He reached out and patted my shoulder as he walked back over to the bench to help Clay up. I looked up at Clay who had his cleats off. He was being helped up. He looked over at us and met my gaze. He nodded slightly as he walked towards the parking lot slowly with his dads firm grasp around his right bicep.

"Ok boys let's go home. He's going to be ok." Clay's mom said to us as she held out both of her hands for Matt and Henry to grab. She started walking towards the car so I followed behind.

"George text me when he's home alright?" Nick said to me before I walked away.

"I will."

"Be strong George, call me if you need me."

I nodded in response as I walked over to the car and hopped into the front seat. I rested my head against the back of the chair, letting the rest of my tears fall silently.

When we arrived home I slowly walked up the stairs. I got into Clay's room and took off the jersey and my sweatshirt. I threw my shoes off and sat on the bed. I cried into my hands as I felt my stomach flipping and turning inside of me. I felt a wave of nausea, making me get up and run into Clay's bathroom before emptying my stomach into the toilet.

I cried as I cleaned myself off, worrying about Clay. I wanted to see him and make sure he was ok, but there was no way that I could. I looked at my phone to see it was only 8 pm. I fell back onto the bed and let my emotions take control, tears falling onto the soft blanket that I laid on.

As it got later, Clay and his father still had not returned home. I knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep, so I got up and walked into Matt and Henry's room. I crawled into the bottom bunk with Henry, and laid on my back, worrying about Clay the whole night.
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The next morning, I got up and walked into my room to see Clay still not home. I sighed and grabbed my phone, heading down the stairs and into the kitchen. Clay's mom had been stood at the stove, sizzling bacon in the pan below her. She turned around and smiled at me. I could tell she hadn't slept either, her eyes were red and the bags under her eyes were noticeable. Matt and Henry walked into the kitchen and sat in the stools, not saying a word.

"Here boys eat up." Clay's mom said as she slid plates of bacon and eggs over to us.

I looked down at the plate. I couldn't bring myself to eat it. I was too worried about Clay.

After about 10 minutes of staring down at the plate, the front door opened and in walked Clay's dad, behind him was Clay, wearing sunglasses and his dads sweatshirt from the night before. Clay's left arm was in a sling, and he walked slowly as if each step was painful. Besides the obvious pain he was in, Clay still flashed a smile at me.

"Hey Clay!" His mom said as she walked over to him, looking into his sunglasses. He smiled down at her as he wrapped his right arm around her back.

"Alright so we've got a pretty bad concussion, a dislocated left shoulder, and one of his ribs is cracked and four of them are bruised." Clay's dad said as he walked over and gave Henry, Matt, and I a hug.

"Why did that dude hit you after the play was done?" Matt asked, getting out of his stool and walked over to Clay. He wrapped around his torso, and Clay put his right arm around his back.

"I have no clue, but he won't be playing football for the rest of the season." Clay responded, walking over to me. He kissed the top of my head and wrapped his arm around me. I was still sitting, so I wrapped my arms around his torso and buried my head into him.

"Sorry you had to see that George. I'm sure it wasn't pretty even though I can't remember it." He smiled down at me and I smiled back.

"What's with the sunglasses?" I asked.

"I have light sensitivity so now I get to wear these cool sunglasses." He giggled slightly before wincing in pain. "Yea I need to lay down. Can you help me upstairs dad?"

Clay's dad walked over to him and put his right arm behind Clay's back. Clay put his arm around his fathers shoulder for support as they slowly went up the stairs, one at a time.

I frowned because I hated seeing Clay in pain, but I was glad that he was going to be ok, and nothing was seriously wrong.