Once in a Lifetime

by Caila Olsen

  Chapter 20

  ADEN

  “Two more days until we get our girls back bro,” Ethan says to me. “We’d better get in as much practicing as we can.”

  “It’s been a great week,” I type as I reminisce of the past few days. Ethan and I have been in hard core training mode this week. An all protein diet and intense football practice. The past few days we have been working on just building our muscle and strength up. I need to build up as much muscle as well as cut my body fat. This will help me to block my opponents better, tackle harder, and above all, just overpower my opponents. Ethan and I have been working on a set routine of full body exercises that involve two exercises per major body part. Yesterday, we added in some heavy weight lifting. This will help us to apply as much force as we can in fast bursts on the field. Today, we are upping our game. We are going all out in this practice. We will do strength exercises with max performance followed immediately by a power exercise. I am pumped and ready for this. This is my favorite part of training. I love to push myself to the max, see how far I can go.

  “Come on, let’s go, we don’t want to waste our day away,” Ethan says as he swings his duffle bag over his shoulder.

  “You’ve got everything we need?” I type.

  “Water, towels, football, and a few pepperoni sticks,” Ethan says as he takes one last look in his bag, double checking that he didn’t miss anything. “I think we are good to go.”

  I toss my bag into the back of Ethan’s Mini and get in. You know, for such a small car I am surprised at how much stuff you can fit in the car plus two big guys like Ethan and me.

  “What’s on the agenda today?” Ethan asks.

  “I was thinking maybe strength and performance,” I type in response.

  “Oh ya!” Ethan says enthusiastically.

  “The girls must be enjoying themselves. I haven’t heard too much from Riley since they left,” I type.

  “Sam probably has her banned from talking to you this week.” Ethan laughs to himself.

  “You’re probably right,” I type. “Sam made it clear that this trip was supposed to let Riley relax and not worry.”

  “Did Riley tell you about the start of their week on Monday?” Ethan asks.

  “No, like I said, I haven’t spoken to her much. Just a good morning or goodnight or saying they arrived safely,” I type.

  “Well apparently Sam got Riley wasted that first night,” Ethan says as he bursts out laughing. “The security guard at the club had to help her to the taxi, the taxi guy helped her to the hotel, and the hotel guy helped her to her room! Sam was just as wasted as her!”

  “Riley? No. I can’t believe Sam got her to drink that much!” I type in disbelief. “I would have liked to have been there to see that! I am glad she is having fun.”

  “I know right?” Ethan says. “That would be a one-time only deal for Riley to do that.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me this info sooner?” I type.

  “I forgot all about it until now,” Ethan says.

  I roll my eyes at him. “Anything else I should know?”

  “Not that I can think of. They have been doing a lot of sightseeing and shopping. I’m sure that Riley will tell you all about it when she gets home,” Ethan says.

  “I am sure I will get an earful,” I type.

  Ethan pulls the car into the university parking lot. On school days this place is usually packed. Today, since there are no classes, the place is barren. Only us and a few other cars here today. It’s nice not having to fight for a parking space or circling the whole lot two or three times before finding an open parking spot.

  “It’s going to be a hot one today!” Ethan remarks as he gets out of his car.

  I feel the rays of the sun warming my face as I get out of the air conditioned vehicle. “Yes it is,” I type.

  “We probably won’t get in as long of a workout today as I thought,” Ethan says.

  “We can,” I type. “We will just have to break it up into smaller circuits and make sure we cool down and hydrate in between.”

  “Let’s just see how we feel after the first circuit and go from there,” Ethan suggests.

  “What? You don’t think you can handle a little heat?” I type, challenging him.

  “I can handle anything, I’m a man,” Ethan says as he beats his chest.

  “Let’s warm up with a lap or two around the field,” I type as I set my bag down on the bleachers and run out to the field.

  “Wait up!” Ethan yells as he throws his things beside mine and runs over to catch up.

  Running and jogging is a passion of mine. I can just run and leave the world behind. My focus now is on my breathing and every step I take as I run down the field. I don’t have to worry about conversation or the fact I am mute. I can leave my speaking device on the sidelines and just run.

  “I think one lap is good enough for me bro,” Ethan says out of breath as we pass the bleachers we started at. He stops to catch his breath and wipes the sweat off his forehead with his jersey.

  I hold up one finger and continue on, starting a second lap around.

  “One more? Your crazy dude! I am going to sit this one out,” Ethan says as he sits down.

  I can’t help myself. Running gives me a high like no other. Halfway through my second lap I start to feel a bit off. I shrug it off and continue running. I then start to see black speckles everywhere and I feel dizzy. I stop and give it a second to see if it goes away. It doesn’t. My vision gets blacker and blacker until I completely black out.

  …………………………………………

  I wake up to the steady beat of monitors beeping. Aw man, this is de ja vu all over again! This can’t be happening. I still have a couple more days left of freedom until I have to come back here. I was having such a great start to my day too. I was making my way to the end of my second lap, about to start the best part of training and that’s the last memory I have of today. Riley will not be happy about this. I promised her I would be careful.

  “Mr. Hansen, it’s a surprise to see you here so soon,” Dr. Harley says to me as he brings a chair up to the bed.

  “I just love it here so much I just couldn’t stay away,” I type. “So what’s the damage?”

  “It appears that you only suffered from heat exhaustion. We will get you all hydrated up and you should be good to go. Just to be on the safe side, we will perform another MRI scan on your brain to make sure it was not affected.”

  “Sounds good Doc,” I type. “We don’t need to inform Riley of this right?”

  “Well, I did ask Nurse Daisy to contact Riley just to let her know what happened and that everything should be okay with you. I can page her and see if she was able to get a hold of Riley yet and if she hasn’t then I will tell her that you request her not knowing,” Dr. Harley tells me.

  “Thanks. She is on a trip with Sam and I don’t want her to worry about anything she doesn’t have to,” I type. “As long as it’s nothing serious I think this one can slide.”

  “On that note, let’s get you prepped for your scan,” Dr. Harley says as he claps his hands together.

  “I will have my fingers crossed that everything still looks good on my scan,” I type.

  “I will do the same,” The doctor says. “Next time, try not to push yourself so hard out there. With or without a brain injury, extreme heat is hard on the body, especially if you are working out in it.”

  “Sorry, I will be more careful next time,” I type.

  Dr. Harley assists me down the all too familiar hallways to the MRI scanning room. Up on the table I go and I lay still as I go through the machine. It is like second nature going into these things now. I just lay there and think of what Riley could be doing right now. I wonder if she would be going across the Golden Gate Bridge or tanning herself on the beach. Maybe they found a cute, little shop and are finding all sorts of crazy unique things only she would find. I really hope Nurse Daisy hadn’t gotten a hold of her. I f
igure that she probably hasn’t yet. If Sam won’t let her text me, I am sure she has taken Riley’s phone hostage so Riley can’t sneak any texts.

  “All done for today,” Dr. Harley says to me as my scan finally finishes. “I am just going to have you spend the night here just in case anything was to happen. I should have the results of your scan by tomorrow morning.”

  “Thanks again,” I type.

  “Do you need me to help you back to your room?” he asks.

  “No, I think I can manage,” I type. “After all, this is my second home you know.”

  “All right then, we will see you around Aden,” Dr. Harley says as he checks his phone and heads down the hallway.

  I pull out my phone and check to see if I have any missed messages. Nothing, my screen is blank. I guess that’s a good sign. Riley must not have found out.

  Where is Ethan? I suddenly remember that I was with him up until now. I bring up my messages and go to his name. Where are you dude, I type.

  In the waiting room, he responds.

  Meet you in my old room here? I type.

  Be there in 5, Ethan texts back.

  Just as I arrive in my room, I see Ethan just turning the corner to meet me.

  “Hey dude. So is everything going to be okay? Are you going to live?” Ethan asks.

  “Ya, I’m fine. Just heat exhaustion that’s it,” I type. “They just performed another brain scan just to be on the safe side, but I don’t think that they will find anything from it.”

  “That’s good news,” Ethan says. “So you are stuck here then for the night?”

  “Unfortunately,” I type. I jump up onto the bed and prop a pillow up behind me.

  “So I am guessing that we won’t be going as hard in practice tomorrow?” Ethan asks.

  “If this heat wave continues, then no,” I type. “Unless we just go to an indoor gym and just work on the equipment they have there.”

  “I heard that the gym that just opened up near your place is supposed to be epic,” Ethan says. “The equipment they have is first class. I even heard a rumor that Dwayne Johnson worked out there a couple times.”

  “Sweet, we will have to check it out,” I type.