Chapter 41

ARDITH PUT THE TEAM through an intense workout on Tuesday. It was focused on plays they’d missed Monday while playing the Falcons. That morning, she’d received word that they would play the Lions at four in the afternoon Thursday. The Lions had blown away the Raiders by twenty points Tuesday morning. She wanted to be sure the team was confident in their moves. On Wednesday the workout was much lighter. She didn’t want them worn out when they played on Thursday.

The team brought their lunches to the locker room at noon on Thursday and set about getting ready. They all touched their uniforms and warmups, oohing and ahhing over how they looked brand new. Dennis and Lana worked on getting them taped up and ready to go by the time Ardith came to get them at 1:00 for the pep rally and ride into Des Moines. The girls ran around naked a while, but didn’t fool around when it came to getting dressed. They were ready for the rally at 1:00 and entered the gymnasium to the sound of all the junior and senior high school students gathered to cheer them on.

Coach Byers came out on the floor to congratulate the team and Coach Graves as the cheerleaders led the student body in chanting, ‘Angelines.’ By 1:30, the team was on the bus and students went back to class. The fan buses would leave at 2:30 when classes got out. Most of the students were headed for the game, with many parents following the team bus.

Dot was not among them. The trip to Des Moines was difficult for her, but it was taxing on Peg, who didn’t like car trips. She was just preparing to leave at two when her phone rang.

“Mrs. Enders, this is Doctor Jacobs. I’m happy to tell you that your husband has woken up.”

“Oh, my. Is he staying awake?”

“He is disoriented and may sleep more, but tests indicate he is no longer comatose.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” she answered. She looked at her daughter. She needed to change plans and couldn’t take Peg into the hospital room with her. It would be too hard and only used as a last resort. She called Lily Armor.

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Lily exclaimed.

“Lily, can you come by and pick up Peg to ride with you to the game?”

“I can’t! Darn it. We followed the team bus to the game and are almost in Des Moines.”

“Who should I call next?”

“Let me see. I know Renda, Donna, and Naomi are all in the caravan. Try Elsa Brown. They don’t usually leave until closer to game time.”

“Thank you, Lily.” Dot hung up and called Elsa’s number from the list of moms willing to help. “Elsa, it’s Dot Enders. Have you left for the game yet?”

“No. We’ll be going in about fifteen minutes. Do you need a ride?”

“Not me, but Peg. I know this is an imposition, but the doctor just called and said Will was awake. I need to go to the hospital,” Dot said. “Could you give her a ride to the game?”

“Just sit tight, Dot. Randolph and I will be on the way in a few minutes. We need to pick the other kids up at school on the way. We’re out the door.”

“Thank you, Elsa. Thank you so much.”

Dot spent the next ten minutes explaining to Peg that she needed to ride with the Browns in order to get to the game because Mommy needed to go see Daddy right away. Peg was nervous, but Mrs. Brown had stayed at her house with her and they baked cookies once. She was convinced just as the Browns pulled into their driveway.

“Thank you for taking Peg on such short notice,” Dot told Elsa and Randolph when she walked her daughter to the car. “You don’t know how much this means to us.”

“I’m just glad we decided to pick up the kids and follow the fan bus,” Randolph said. “Hello, Peg. Are you ready to go to the basketball game and yell, ‘Swish!’?” he asked. Peg clung to her mother a moment until Elsa offered her hand. Then Peg shyly went with her, waving bye-bye to her mother. Fortunately, Peg liked the Browns’ younger children, Nils and Sofia, and when they got in the car she no longer felt alone and isolated.

Dennis and Lana were busy with settling their team. They had to wait until the end of the Wildcats and Braves game before they could move onto the court. They’d play the winner of that game on Saturday. If they won today. They would. Everyone was sure.

The first game went into overtime and didn’t end until the Wildcats commanded a 58-57 lead at the end of the extra period. Dennis led his team onto the court while their fans cheered. Many were just arriving and many of the earlier game fans were leaving. Dennis left Lana to lead warmups and took the scoresheets and lineup to the scorers’ table.

“You get a full half-hour to warm up,” the ref told him. “The game horn will sound for the opening at 4:15.” Dennis ran out to run the shooting practice and Lana switched to putting towels and water bottles out on the bench. And then the horn sounded and things swung into full motion.

The delayed start had both teams keyed up. A lot of shots were missed at both ends of the court and the ref called fouls left and right. It wasn’t because the teams were getting too aggressive, but rather that they were just making a lot of mistakes. At the end of the first quarter, the Angelines held a two-point lead at 8-6.

“Okay, you’ve had enough practice now,” Ardith told the team in the huddle. “It’s time to settle down and play the game you all know. Be aware. Know where the ball is and where your teammates are. And make your foul shots. I don’t know when I’ve seen you girls miss every free throw opportunity. I’m going to start sending Dennis in to make your foul shots.” The girls got the levity and weren’t too tired to laugh. Dennis patted each girl in the huddle and they went out in the second quarter more focused and relaxed.

It showed and they began committing fewer fouls and shooting more accurately. It still took a minute to get in the groove, but once they calmed down, the score began to show the difference between the two schools. Bartley led by fourteen at the half.

“Thank goodness,” Dennis said when he walked the row of players giving them backrubs and drying them off. “I was afraid for a minute Coach was really going to put me in.” He leaned close to Natalie and whispered, “And I’d really miss my tackle.”

She laughed. “So would we.”

When the second half began, the Angelines were clearly in control. They opened the lead to twenty-two and ended the game at 54-32.

“Dennis!” Elsa Brown called as he passed the crowds. He looked up and saw Peg bouncing up and down and waving as well. He paused, as several players had to wave and greet parents on their way out of the gym. “Hi, Mrs. Brown. Did you enjoy the game, Peg?”

“Mommy’s not here,” Peg breathed.

“What? Why?”

“Dennis, your mother got a call right before she left for the game that your dad was awake. We picked up Peg to come to the game so Dot could go to the hospital. If she isn’t back when we get home, you and Peg can stay at our house,” Elsa said.

“Hooray! Dad’s awake. I knew it would happen soon.” He paused. “Um ... you don’t need to keep us overnight, though. The um ... Longs are staying over tonight.”

“Oh, they are? That’s very nice. I’ll be sure to thank Renda when I see her next.”

“We’ll swing by and pick up Peg at your house when we bring Lana home. Okay?”

Dennis got tugged away to join the team and head for the bus.

“My dad’s awake,” Dennis shouted to the team when they reached the bus. Everyone cheered. He was pulled down into the seat next to Diane.

“How would you like to celebrate tonight?” she asked.

“Um ... I hope you and Judith are still planning to spend the night,” he said. “We need to pick Peg up at the Browns’ when we take Lana home.”

“Mmm. You bet we’ll be there. I have a new flavor for you to try.”

“We need to make dinner and take care of Peg,” he cautioned. “But there’s nothing stopping us from going to bed early.” Diane took his hand and held it all the way to Bartley.

The girls all made a point of taking their uniforms and underwear off to shove in the laundry bag and stopped to kiss Dennis on their way to the shower. It was a school night and many parents were just getting dinner ready, so they didn’t dilly-dally getting ready to leave. Dennis, Judith, and Diane headed out to take Lana home.

Dot was not having a good time at the hospital. There had been more tests to be run and Will was rolled out for a complete MRI before she really got a chance to speak to him. When he got back to the room, the doctors hooked him back up to the monitoring equipment. As his nurse gave Will a sponge bath, the doctor took Dot aside.

“The MRI is not conclusive, but there are signs of deterioration in the prefrontal lobe, the subiculum, and hippocampus,” he said. “The officers at the scene acted quickly in administering Naloxone, but it is unlikely they were there early enough to help. Still, things could go back to normal. But you know the effects of alcohol and fentanyl ... there is still a strong likelihood of permanent brain damage.”