Page 68 of Hers to Crave
At the addition of another fifteen minutes, we all grow quiet. You can see the fatigue on the players now, the heat taking its toll. After rehydrating, they jog back out onto the field. We all stand up when Brazil makes a break down the field, setting the ball up. There is a collective gasp from the crowd when our goalie just manages to catch the goal kick.
He runs out of the goal, looking downfield at where Alex stands bouncing on his toes. Realizing what is about to happen, two defenders run toward him. They’ve spent the game double-teaming him to try and prevent Alex from scoring. He’s known for not only being fast but also wickedly accurate when he kicks.
Time seems to slow down as we watch the ball fly down the pitch toward them. Alex leaps into the air like I’ve watched him do a hundred times to head the ball. Both defenders jump with him, the taller one jumping higher. He uses his arms to try and gain extra height to power the ball away from Alex, connecting his elbow to Alex’s face.
Though I can’t hear it, I can almost feel the sickening crunch as blood spurts down his face as he lands. The giant jumbotron has managed to capture it all. Alex lies on the ground holding his face in his hands as the referee runs to him, calling a stop to the game.
The medics run in as his teammates bend down to talk to him. They help him up as I continue to stare at the TV in horror as the gash in his nose continues to bleed. The defender has received a red card for intentional roughness before contact with the ball, resulting in a free-kick for England.
Alex is motioning wildly to the medic who is shaking his head. I watch a heated argument between the manager, Alex, and the medic before they come to some kind of agreement. The medic shoves gauze up Alex’s nose before he leans over, retching.
When he stops, the medic pushes the gash in his nose together, fixing butterfly bandages over it. Alex spends a couple more seconds bent over throwing up in a bucket before walking back onto the pitch. The gauze in his nose quickly turns red as he pants out of his mouth.
The crowd goes deafeningly loud when he rips his bloody shirt off, replacing it with one a trainer has run out to him. Christie and I are holding on to each other tightly as we watch the man we love standing alone in pain.
“Alex is tough, he can handle this,” George says.
“Aye, we did worse things than that growing up,” Robert says, squeezing my shoulder. I reach up, grabbing his hand for support.
We all hold our breath as he lines up the free-kick, studying the goalie. I know he’s already spent hours learning everything about how the man plays. He knows how he likes to creep out of the goal slightly, that he is stronger to his right, and that he will drop an arm slightly when he jumps.
Alex walks back a few feet before turning around. All I can hear is silence as the crowd rises to their feet, English flags growing still.
It takes only three seconds for the world to explode. That’s how long it takes Alex to kick the ball. The world watches it head for the goalie’s right before bending to the left. It brushes by his fingers before slamming into the upper back corner of the inside of the net.
The stadium sounds like a switch has been flipped. Alex’s mom and I are still holding each other, but now we’re jumping up and down screaming. The whole box is jumping around in celebration.
“Look!” Robert yells, pointing to the pitch. The team is crashing into each other in victory as Brazil walks off. One solitary player, his once clean jersey now tinged with red again as he rips the gauze out of his nose, walks toward the center of the field. Looking directly at our box, he points at me with his bloody towel before pointing down at the space in front of him. Tears start to flow down my cheeks as I blow him a kiss.
“Mrs. Ross?” a large guard asks from the back of the box. “If your party will follow me, I’ll escort you to the field.” I nod my head, walking toward him. Reaching behind me, I grab for the nearest hand. Rory wraps her fingers around mine, following. The rest of our family and friends file out behind me.
We have to work our way through the crowd, meeting up with other emotional families near the barricades. After verifying our credentials, we’re let onto the pitch, which is already crowded with people.
“There he is!” George tells me, pointing over my shoulder at Alex, trying to get to us. Dropping Rory’s hand, I run toward him. He picks me up, swinging me around before setting me back down.
“Here, I dinnae want tae get blood on ye,” he says with concern.
“Alex, don’t be stupid!” I say, pulling him in for a kiss. He dabs with the towel at the blood oozing out of the top of his nose where the bandages aren’t holding it closed. I look up at him. “You did it.”
“Naw, we did it,” he answers, pulling me back to him for a soft kiss. I can feel the flashes going off around us. He then drops to his knees, placing a gentle kiss on my barely noticeable baby bump.
“We did it,” he whispers against my stomach. Flashes pop all around us as questions are shouted at Alex. Standing, he grins at me. “I guess that cat’s oot of the bag.” I laugh, we had agreed to wait until I started my second trimester before telling anyone. I guess that extended to everyone but Robert.
“Xander, let’s go. They’re waiting on you to present the trophy.” His teammates are yelling for him, gesturing wildly with their arms.
“Go, Alex. It’s everything you’ve ever wanted. Go get your trophy.” I smile, pushing him toward his teammates. “I’ll wait right here with our family. I’m sure they have a few questions for us about the baby,” I laugh as I watch them talking excitedly a short distance from us. He steps back to me, pulling me to his lips. He looks at me, then up at our family waiting anxiously behind me.
“Naw, ye’re wrong,mo ghaol. This” —he points to me, runs his hand over the baby then motions to our family— “this is all I’ve ever wanted. Fitbaw is just the icing on the cake.” He jogs toward his mates before stopping. Looking over his shoulder, I see his beautiful, goofy grin as he says, pointing at me, “Make sure ye stay here or I’ll have tae come find ye. Ye know I can, wife!” Laughing, he jogs off.
Our family and friends surround me with hugs as they throw questions at me, but I just watch Alex jog off. He doesn’t have anything to worry about. He’ll never have to hunt me down again. I intend to be right here with him, every step of the way.
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