The rest of Ty's week was uneventful. Mainly, because he didn't go back to school for the rest of it. He did his stretches and exercises early in the morning, gritting his teeth to keep quiet, and by the time he was done… well, he needed to rest. Wasn't everyone saying how much rest he needed and how good it would be for him? Next week he'd be back at school, so what was a few more days of absences?
The only downside he saw to this, was that he hadn't been able to pick up The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Hobbit had been surprisingly absorbing, and the first time he put it down after starting reading was when he'd finished it.
Then he was visiting Dr Goggins again. She didn't look pleased to see him, and once they were in her examination room, the atmosphere became as cold and hostile as the arctic.
'I heard you had a bit of an incident the other day at school,' she said. Before he could answer, or offer any explanation, she continued on. 'Yet, before that, and after, you haven't been showing up.'
Ty held his jaw steady, refraining from grinding his teeth. Coach Long and Dr Goggins must've had a nice phone call since the last time Ty saw her.
'I can explain—'
'—I don't need an excuse, nor an explanation, especially if you're just going to bullshit me, and, worst of all, yourself.' She sighed. 'The one you're letting down, and the one you need to apologise to, is yourself.'
'I thought I was ready for it,' he said.
'You don't need to be thinking about that. DON'T think about that. I'll tell you when you're ready, but if you try some dumb shit like that again, you can go find somebody else, alright?'
Frowning, swallowing his pride, Ty nodded. Dr Goggins sat back in her chair, looking relieved, but also as if she'd just gone a round with Ty in a boxing ring rather than he cosy office. She massaged her temples.
'I swear, boy, you're gonna age me five years with all this stress you're putting me through. No, don't talk; you don't need to talk, you just need to listen. You ARE going back to school—every damn day, boy—and this time you're taking your damn crutches!'
'I was going to anyway,' Ty muttered.
'Don't push me, Tyrese.'
That was the last either of them said for a little while. Dr Goggins got up, and started poking and prodding Ty's knee, extending and stretching his leg. The process took several minutes before she was happy enough to step away and let his leg droop back onto the table.
'Lucky for you, it doesn't seem like you re-aggravated your tear in any significant way. This week you just didn't make any progress, but that's the least of your concerns. It's already going to be a long recovery, so losing a week—as long as that's the LAST time you do something stupid—is no big deal.'
Ty scrunched up his face. To her it was no big deal, but a week was a valuable thing in a world as young as Ty's, and especially the world of football. A week meant a game, and every game could be important. One game could be the difference between Regionals and State… between a National Championship and rehabbing for a year.
'I don't care how sad that face of yours gets,' Dr Goggins said. 'Be as sad as you like, just follow my rules and you'll be fine in the end. Besides, it isn't ALL bad.'
Ty's glare found her, daring her to point out the silver lining to him. She rolled her eyes at him, moving over to her desk, and pulling a book from one of the drawers. It was a large, hard-cover book, which she slapped down next to him on the table.
'I wasn't confident in you following my advice last week'—Ty had to hold back a laugh. Advice? Yeah right—'so I went and got a book I thought would do you a world of good. You're gonna read it this week.'
He reached over and picked it up, looking at the cover. The book was titled: Finding My Feet (Again)by Malakai Vimes. The art was a close-up of someone's legs as they were climbing a stairway carved into a mountain, the front leg was stripped away to nothing but bone.
Ty had heard of Malakai Vimes. A football player—and a Cornerback at that—he'd only recently made it to the NFL by way of Miami University, and everyone was sure he'd be a future star. Which is why the Cardinals selected him with the 7th overall pick.
He'd started off by meeting expectations, winning Defensive Rookie of the Year, but halfway through his sophomore season, he blew out his ACL. He missed the rest of the season, AND the next.
'I thought you could learn a great deal from reading this,' Dr Goggins said. 'They've been through the same thing you're going through right now, and their hard work paid off, bringing them right back to the height of their strength.
'It's important to see this side of things, and see that I'm not just trying to sugarcoat things or make them sound better than they will be. You WILL recover from this if you put in the work, and you'll be back, as good as new.'
Ty stared at Malakai's name on the cover. Despite never meeting, they shared an experience. A painful, horrendous one, for now, but when Ty made it through his rehab, it would be through a road shared by Malakai… maybe just not paved the same.
'Thank you.'
'Make sure you read it. Don't just stare at it and fantasise about what you want it to be. It's a hard and gruelling challenge ahead of you, but one you can get through even if it'll be the most difficult thing you ever do.'
'I'll read it,' he said, 'but you got one thing wrong about me.'
'Oh really? And what would that be?' She crossed her arms, though wore an expectant smile, waiting to hear what tale he'd amuse her with now.
'I did listen to your "advice"—though it was more like completing a challenge—and I actually read something between our last session and now.'
For the first time since they'd met, Dr Goggins was impressed with Ty. She grinned wholeheartedly, but said: 'Don't expect a round of applause or a participation trophy. Let's hear what you read. Any readings good, but I don't want it to be some tiny comic book. Was it Percy Jackson? Or a different autobiography.'
'The Hobbit, actually.'
And now Dr Goggins was surprised. She made no attempt to hide it from her face. 'I didn't expect you to be one for the classics, though I guess I shouldn't have expected anything when it came to your literary tastes. Why The Hobbit?'
He shrugged. 'Everybody's heard of it and how good it is, but I also remembered it was on the shorter side.'
'So you wanted less work?'
'What kid doesn't? But that was only at the start. It was surprisingly hard to put down. The words just kind of pulled you down into the story, like a vortex. I enjoyed it, for the most part. Didn't really like the main character.'
'No? Didn't find Bilbo relatable?'
He barked a laugh. 'How could I? He's a coward, content with the most boring, miserable life there is, and when a golden opportunity comes his way, he spits in its face. It'd be like if we were told of the National Tournament and said "no thanks".'
'Ah, of course. Tyrese Samuels would never be one to refuse the call to adventure, even if it was an obvious suicide mission like the journey to reclaim the Lonely Mountain seemed.'
'I just can't understand being satisfied with mediocrity.'
'Hm.' Dr Goggins jotted in her notepad again. 'What seems like mediocrity to you, is the highest goal to others. Some people don't want glory, or adventure, or risk, they just want comfort and stability. While others chase after trophies and championships and records, others just want a warm home, good food, and a comfortable rhythm… won't you have to find that in your retirement?'
Ty opened his mouth, then closed it with a frown. His brow furrowed deeply, and Dr Goggins left him to ponder the thought for a little while.
When she returned, there were no new exercises to hand out. Like she'd said earlier, he'd basically lost a week of his rehabilitation, but was lucky to only be setback that much by his fall at school. She still gave over the autobiography, though mentioned that he wasn't restricted to just one book a week, and he could read as many as he liked.
He thanked her again, and left with Coach Long. Though, for once, the drive back to Ty's home wouldn't be a quiet one, filled only by the podcast Thaddeus had playing from his phone. Only a few minutes in, Thaddeus said:
'I'm sorry for pushing you to go back to school before you were ready… I always seem to be pushing you too much, Tyrese. I've been such a terrible coach to you.'
'Bullshit,' Ty said before thought could intervene.
Coach Long's widened eyes flicked to him. 'Language.'
'Well it's true! You've been nothing but the best for me and every other Don. This definitely wasn't your fault. I should've been going to school, and you're not the one who decided I should do it without my crutches, that was all my idiocy.'
'I should've made you—'
'—You couldn't. It was my decision, and you already tried to get me to bring my crutches along. But don't worry, I'll be back at school again, and this time I'll bring my crutches with me.'
Coach Long shook his head. 'You shouldn't even be in this situation to begin with. I failed you as a coach when I failed to protect you.'
'That's bullshit too, and you know it.'
Coach Long tightened his grip on the steering wheel, but he didn't reprimand Ty for his language again.
'Why should you apologise for letting your players chase the greatness they desire above all else? I won't have you taking away MY choices and MY shortcomings. You've done everything we could've asked of you, supported us better than some of our families do, and pushed us to be the best versions of ourselves.'
'I pushed you too hard.'
'That's not true!' Ty slammed a fist against the dash, and Coach Long pulled over to the curb. Both stared at one another. 'How are you going to take the blame for every freak accident that happens to your players? Everyone knows the risks we take when we step on the field. Why do I have to keep saying it? I didn't fail because of you.'
Coach Long sighed, leaning over and pulling Ty into a hug before Ty could even react. He squeezed the boy close, and said: 'But I did. Of course I did. All of you did so great this past season. You made it to the finals of the first ever National Tournament. Tyrese, you yourself were labelled as the best defensive player in the nation, and you more than lived up to that moniker. But somehow—despite being the best player, on the second best team—somehow you see that as a failure, and I'm supposed to believe that isn't a cause of my own shortcomings as a coach?'
Ty flinched. The words cut at him, leaving behind a strange sickly warmness, like a spreading fever his body desperately fought back. Even if he was the best defender in the nation, that didn't mean anything if the best offensive player—specifically the best Receiver—was better than him. The same could be said for being on the second best team. There was no trophy for second best, and as much of an accomplishment as it was, second best was still just the first loser. That wasn't good enough for Ty.
'I'm not satisfied with that, Coach,' Ty whispered, 'but that's not because of anybody but myself. All I want is to be the greatest.'
Coach Long opened his mouth to interject but Ty held him off with a raised hand.
'I don't want any qualifiers before or after that statement. I simply want to be THE greatest. Period. Second best won't do it. So if you feel sorry for anything, feel sorry for the fact your game plan had us down with under two minutes to go.'
They looked at each other, not saying anything, for a long time. Eventually Ty extended a fist between them, then he said:
'You expand that mind and come up with brand new ways for us to beat our opponents, and I'll forge this body into something capable of being the greatest.'
Coach Long nodded, bumping his fist against Ty's. His job as a coach was to prepare his players and help them achieve their goals—or at least set them on the right path for achieving them—as best he could. He would do that for Ty, but it was a bitter-sweet admission, because he couldn't shake the lingering foulness of failure. At least now he recognised exactly where he'd gone wrong with Ty over their first year together.
Ty was obsessed with greatness, and—in Coach Long's mind—incorrectly assumed it was the only thing that could bring him fulfilment and happiness. But what was greatness if you couldn't share it with anyone? Thaddeus Long knew the euphoria he felt after finally winning a State Championship, would've paled in comparison if he'd done it with a different team, or if he didn't have as deep a connection with all the boys. Seeing the tears of joy on some of their faces, the absolute glee in others, that was an even better feeling than raising the trophy himself.
But he hadn't convinced Ty of that; hadn't opened his eyes to such a heartwarming and vibrant state of being. That was where he'd failed greatest of all throughout the past season.
It would be even harder to help Ty establish such a connection in the upcoming years, because no-one knew better than Coach Long just how much of a family the Dons had become thanks to their seniors and the bond they shared. Having to rebuild that familial bond with a bunch of fresh faces would be his hardest task yet. There was nothing else for him to do but face it head on.
Ty didn't know why, for the rest of the drive, Coach Long had a hand on his shoulder. Probably a sign of comfort and care after what could've been considered an argument between them… though that didn't explain why Coach Long held onto him as if he was going to float right out of the car without such a strong, yet tender grip holding him to reality.