Step Backwards
September 18th, 2021
4:48pm
It was just a simple run, that was all it was supposed to be. Until there was an uneven part in the sidewalk and down she went with the pop of a knee. Annabelle didnât feel it until a couple seconds went by, the adrenaline rushing off and her right shin to knee hurt.
No one was around where she runs, because she goes the way Quinn tells her to go, by the golf course.
Then she remembers, she is a two minute walk from yost, itâs in her eye line and there is for sure players that she knows in there.
It took a few tries but she managed to get up with a few groans and walked really slowly but it only took Two steps for her to go back to the ground. Sheâs so close but so far, but she needed help and decided to call someone.
Lukeâs contact came up first, but no answer, then she tried Truscott, then Mackie, finally she called mark but was left with a dead line, her phone was the dead line. âFuck!â She curses and chucks it to the side, most likely cracked.
She didnât know anyone who was free right now, but all hope was not lost when she saw a figure walking down the pathway, noticing almost instantly that it was Ethan.
âEthan!â She shouts and his head snapped up, stopping but then jogging to her.
âAnna, what happened- are you okayâ he could see the tears almost spilling out of her eyes.
âNo, can you get my brother, pleaseâ she pleads.
âYea of course, stay- Nevermindâ he sprints, while she smiled at him almost saying âstay thereâ as if she can get very far.
Not even 2 minutes later Ethan and Luke came sprinting outside. âAnnie, what happenedâ Luke asks as soon as he is by his sisters side.
âI fell and heard a pop, it hurts- really hurtsâ She tried so hard not to cry infront of her little brother but the pain was only getting worse.
âWeâre gonna take you inside okay- Ethan can you-â
âYepâ the Canadian replies, moving over so he can carry her. Since Lukeâs coming out of a minor shoulder injury. âFuckâ she groans when her knee bends.
âyour okay, just a minute till you can lay downâ he mumbles and carryâs her effortlessly down the path and into the building, straight to the medical room.
âwoah whatâs going onâ the nurse in there asks.
âMy knee popped and it really hurtsâ she cries while Ethan sets her down.
âLet me have a look, boys can you step out for a minuteâ She asks, Luke was about to protest but they heard coach calling and decided to go back to the gym.
âCall me when your done pleaseâ Luke says and exits the room.
The nurse came to a conclusion that is most likely a meniscus tear and she needed to go to the hospital, so they called an ambulance and Luke to come back down. Panic washed over mark when he heard Luke say Anna was going to the emergency room. But he had to stay put, nobody went with Luke especially since there was a game in about an hour.
9:51pm
Around 5 hours later, with waiting and tests and a few mental breakdowns they decided she needed surgery which will be taken place tomorrow morning and she needed to stay in the hospital overnight. Which she was expecting, her parents had come and gone but what she wasnât expecting was most of the guys time coming into her room.
Ethan, Dylan, Mackie, TJ, Jacob, bordeleau and last but not least, mark.
He seemed the most worried, so Luke let him take his seat next to the bed.
âDo you have to stay here tonight?â Ethan asks while looking at all the different machines.
âUnfortunately, which means Iâm gonna miss the game tomorrow- shit I wonât be able to danceâ she gasps and just like that when she thought she couldnât cry anymore.
âHey hey hey, itâs gonna be okayâ mark said and reached out to her hand to hold it.
âI know Iâm just.. tired and⌠tiredâ they all chuckled and Luke coincidentally let out a huge yawn.
âYou guys can go, Iâll be fineâ
âAre you sure?â Her brother asks.
âYes Luke, Iâm sure. Turn off the light whoeverâs last to go outâ
She shifted to get comfortable as they all shuffled out but then she noticed mark zoned out.
âHey, Estapa time to goâ she waved at him, which he then snapped out of his thoughts.
âwhat- no your not staying here aloneâ he says softly, which takes her by surprise.
âMark, Iâm gonna be -â
âYou keep saying that but I donât buy it, Iâm sayingâ he states and she knows she isnât winning this battle. âFine, but go turn off the lightâ
He smiles and gets up to shut it off, closing the door then reclining the chair to lay down.
September 19th, 2021
9:20 am
Mark had already been awake since he is usually awake this time everyday, when the doctor came in to start preparing for sugary which he gave mark the lovely pleasure of waking Annabelle up.
âAnnaâ he says gently, which doesnât do much.
â Annaâ he says again, she starts wake up very slowly but not much.
âHey princess wake upâ he says louder and this time it worked. Thankfully he didnât notice the small blush that crept on her face when he said that.
âWhat?â She groans and looks over at the clock.
âSurgery timeâ he whispers and smiles. Then the doctor arrived and went thru instructions.
âYou should be able to go home by tonight, depends on the swelling and pain.â Doctor explains and they start to wheel her away,
âYou got this princess, Iâll be here when you wake upâ He says as she waves.
10:45 am
Mark sat in the recliner with his legs shaking as he waited for her to be done which wouldnât be any time now. Jack wasnât supposed to arrive in Michigan till the afternon but caught an earlier flight when he heard his younger sister was in the hospital.
He had been sat in another chair at the end of the room with Nico to his left because he wanted to visit her.
âMark, if you donât want to stay you can go. Weâre here nowâ Jack says to the boy.
âItâs fine, I told her Iâd be here when she was done-â just as he says that the door opens and in comes a very loopy Annabelle who was a giggling mess.
âSheâs been laughing for 10 minutes, anything is funny nowâ the nurse says and leaves the room.
âWoah! You play hockey!â She exclaims and looks to mark then Nico. âHey kid I play hockey tooâ T this point he was recording for anything worth showing her later.
âNo⌠you seem more of.. tennis guyâ which then everyone laughs.
âWhereâs moosey mooseâ she ask but gasps.
âIm tiredâ she whispers and closes her eyes. Before they knew it, she was right off to sleep.
11:09 am
Once again she wakes up, but mark is gone and itâs just Jack in the hospital room in the chair next to her.
âThe fuck are you doing hereâ she groans, alerting him that she is awake.
âI told you last week I was coming home today, but I came a few hours earlier because you donât seem to goodâ
âMy knee feels like shit, this hospital bed isnât very comfyâ
âWell donât worry, weâll be home soon, just a couple hours but I gotta tell you somethingâŚâ
âWhatâs that?â
âYou canât dance until Mayâ he sighs and her jaw drops.
This is gonna be one hell of a yearâŚ














