Love, Bets and Football

8.0

~Rachel~

"Here's some more ice for your eyes."

"Thanks."

I took the ice bowl from him, placed the spoon back in for a few minutes, and then I was placing it back on my eyes.

For the past two days, I had locked myself in my room, bawling my eyes out.

As a result my eyes were swollen and puffy, and even though I would rather stay holed up in my room, taking pity on myself for my rather terrible current life, I still had to make an appearance in society. Besides, if I showed up with swollen eyes, that would only make my mom worry.

At the moment, Cain and I were in his car, headed for the hospital. I needed to see my mom. Although I wanted to head there alone, Cain had insisted that he drive me there.

After much resistance from my side, I had caved, giving into his persistence. I hadn't realized how stubborn he would be about this. Besides, I'm guessing my vulnerability played a role too. I had literally bawled my eyes out in his arms two nights ago, and now, I couldn't help but feel embarrassed and self conscious about it.

Cain, however had been thoughtful, not letting me take the blame even after I felt guilty towards what happened to his leg. Things would have definitely taken an ugly turn if he had so much as suffered another injury. It would have definitely worsened everything. Probably putting his football career at a stop, or worse.

I shook away the ugly thoughts. Thank God, none of that happened.

Even after practically being a mess and bawling in his arms, Cain hadn't pried even though I knew that I owed him a bit of an explanation.

We had developed a somewhat mutual relationship, a neutral ground of sorts, none of us sure how to go about our newly created atmosphere. Something had definitely changed, but I wouldn't go as far as saying that we were friends.

Even that being the case, I didn't think we were still enemies. Something had definitely changed between us.

The rest of the car ride was spent in comfortable silence. It didn't take long for us to get there. Even after trying to convince him to come inside with me, Cain insisted to wait in the car, no matter how long I insisted.

All he said was, "Take your time, and I understand that you need your privacy. I'll wait here. " After that, I just gave up and went ahead.

It only took me a short while to sign in and then I was heading for mom's room. I opened the door, letting myself in. My heart broken that the sight. She looked small, the bed and the sheets covering her small frame. There were tubes coming from her left arm, similarly connected to her nose. She lay there, still with her eyes closed, her chest lifting with every breath she took.

"Mom, " I croaked out, unable to hold back the emotion in my voice.

Her eyelids clicked open and then a soft gasp which was quickly followed by her trying to sit up. I rushed to her, making sure she was laying back in her bed. "Don't get mom. You don't have the strength yet. "

"I'm alright. I'm fine. Just let me hug you. " She said, pulling me in a tight embrace. I hugged back, planting my face in her neck. Her familiar scent was gone, only leaving behind the smell of soap and drugs. Gosh, I really didn't want this for her.

I pulled away, but she kept on gently patting my hair. "How are you, darling? "

"I'm alright mom. "

"How are you? " I couldn't help but ask.

"I'm alright, there's no need to worry. " After that, neither of us said anything to each other. The question lingered at the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't bring myself to ask about it. Not before I burst into a sea of tears.

"Help me sit up. " I obliged, making sure her iv tubes didn't get in the way. I didn't have to say anything because mom was speaking up for herself. "Look, I know this might sound untrue, but I promise it's not what you think it is. I've already put you through this before, but I promise I wasn't trying to hurt myself."

I knew she could tell that I still doubted her, so she continued, "I promise it's not what you're thinking. I can explain. I got this really bad headache and I just really wanted it to go away. That's why I continuously took a couple of pills in a short range of time. I didn't realize how strong they were."

I didn't know what to believe, but I guess I had no choice. "Alright, mom. If that's what you say. I'll take it."

"I promise you, baby." She reached, gently caressing a stray lock of my hair. "I'm telling the truth here."

I nodded, deciding to be hopeful for a change. It looked like I had no choice but to believe her.

There was a slight knock on the door before a small face came peering inside. It was Richie. As soon as he caught sight of mom, he came fully sprinting into the room and stopping once he was by her side. Mom who had obviously taken long without seeing him gushed over him. Being the baby he was, he completely melted in her arms.

I smiled at the sight, happy that I could see the two of them together and happily chatting away. If only it didn't seem so temporary. My worries tingles at the back of my mind, but I didn't want to ruin the mood, so I excuses the both of them.

I shut the door quietly and as soon as I turned, I came face to face with Uncle. I was startled completely surprised he was here. "Uncle, you scared me there. "

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

I nodded, and we both stayed silent. I had no idea what to say to break this awkward atmosphere, and it was getting uncomfortable with each passing second. Uncle rubbed the back of his neck before asking me if I had spare time to grab a cup of coffee.

We sat down with steaming cups and it was awkwardly quiet before he started the conversation. "You're a good kid, Racheal and I should have listened to you before I got angry at you. And for that I'm sorry."

"It's o-" He held up his hand, silencing me.

"It's not okay. I'm obviously the adult here and I'm completely ashamed at my actions. "

"No, don't be." I held his hand. "I'm equally responsible and I should have at least called you. You hired me as Cain's caretaker because you trusted me and I broke your trust. I shouldn't have been careless."

"So, let's forgive each other, alright?"

"Good God, Racheal. " Uncle breathed out and I watched as his shoulders slumped with relief. l. "You're such an angel. "

I grinned back at him, glad we got that out of the way. "I know, right? "

****

Hours later, I reclined in my old room, where I had planned to spend the evening with my friends, except that it wasn't such a good evening. At the moment, I was getting chewed out, by yours truly, Kayla.

"I can't believe all this happened and you decided to keep your mouth shut. Granted, we've all been pretty much occupied this past week and hardly got anytime to see each other, you could have already sent a text or called one of us.." Kayla was on a rampage and I clearly understood her rage. I shouldn't have been so careless and not tell any of my friends anything.

"I'm so sorry," I scotched away from her, deciding I was far better off cowering behind the soft pink fluffy pillow I held in my arms and not facing off anymore of her wrath. "I promise I'll do better next time."

She grumbled, folding her arms across her chest, which wrinkled the oversized tshirt she was currently wearing. "I can't stay mad at you if you're making that face."

"Forgive me?" I blinked innocently, adding in a pout for good measure. Kayla squinted her eyes at me, mumbling under her breath, before throwing her arms in the air. "Whatever."

"Thanks." I grinned, gesturing for her to sit behind me. She rolled her eyes but complied nevertheless, then proceeded to wrap her arms around me. "If something serious happens again, please promise me I'll be the first one to know."

I nodded, placing my head on her shoulder. "I will."

"Anyway, all that being said, I'm hoping Davie knows everything already. I guess he drove you to the hospital." I hesitated, forcing Kayla to untangle herself from me. "Right?" She narrowed her eyes at me, forcing me to look away.

"Oopsie..."

"Racheal!!. God, you're such a headache sometimes."

Two hours later, Davie, Kayla and I were scrunched up in my old room. By the time I was done retelling the past events of my life, both Kayla and Davie were dumbfounded by the current whirpoolof my present life.

"And all this happened in less than 3 days?"

"Yeah." I nodded, laying back on my bed "I'm glad all of this is over though." Kayla laid back too, mirroring my actions as she crossed her arms and laid her head on them. Just like I had done.

"I'm surprised Cain actually defended you from your uncle. I thought the guy hated you and would have definitely blamed you for what happened. Without a doubt, coach would have sided with him."

"That's what I had actually thought, but I guess he's not the villain I initially thought he was. He's actually nice if you really think about it. Helpful too.

The room fell silent, as if the words had been sucked out of it. I blinked my eyes open, wondering why neither of them had said anything. I sat up, finding both of them staring at me like I was crazy, eyes widen open and mouths ajar.

"What?"

Davie was the first to recover from his bewildered appearance. "Wow. I never thought I'd get to see the day where you would say Cain was nice. Let alone helpful. All that used up in one sentence."

"Well," I brushed my to the side, feeling defensive. "It's not like he wasn't."

"Oh now we are even defending him too? This day just keeps getting wilder and wilder." Kayla chimed in, wearing the fattest eat shitting grin. I had the biggest urge to wipe it off her face. As if she could tell what I was thinking, she continued taunting me. "At this rate, the both of you will soon be kissing and indulging in baby making activities."

She humped the air and I couldn't hold myself back as threw the closest thing I had at her. A soft fluffy yellow pillow. I wished it was much harder and not soft at all.

"Don't even joke about that. I'm not having any kids, especially one's fathered by Cain."

"Sure thing, Rachel." Kayla's grinned widened, and I was sure I wasn't going to hear the end of this. " Afterall, he's not the villain you once thought he was."

"But Kayla," Davie joined in, mocking me in his best impression of my voice. "He's so nice."

The two threw their heads back, chortling at my expense like this was the funniest thing they had heard in ages. I was their source of amusement and I didn't like a single bit about it.

"Guys, stop teasing me." I whined, hurling my pillows at them as hard as I could when neither of them showed no signs of stopping.

"Alright." Davie said in between guffaws. "Fine. We'll stop." They said at the same time, although I could still clearly see them secretly snickering behind their hands.

"I swear you guys always have fun at my expense." I pouted, folding my hands across my chest and glaring at the two.

Kayla cleared her throat before wrapping her arms around me in s comforting hug. "I promise you we won't do it. Not anymore."

I arched a brow at Davie. He responded immediately. "I promise we won't do it again. Fingers crossed."

"Good. Because none of you or anyone else for that matter are seeing me in a relationship with Cain. Not anytime soon or ever. Are we clear? So no more jokes about that. Okay?"

"Clear."

"Clear."

"Speaking of relationships, guess who has a date with a hot guy at the end of this week?" Kayla bounced on her tippy toes, excitedly clapping her hands as she made her mini announcement.

"Are we supposed to be supposed to be surprised?" Davie rolled his eyes. "You have a date almost every other weekday. There's nothing new about this."

If looks could kill, Davie would have been pronounced dead on spot, considering how harshly Kayla was glaring at him. He probably didn't care much for his life since he met her furious gaze with a bored one.

"What? Did I lie?"

Unable to stand him, Kayla flicked her ponytail, brushing him off and focusing on me instead. "I don't care what you say, but this one's special. I can feel it."

"We've heard you say that before too."

I had to interfere before Kayla decided he was good as dead. "Stop being mean, Davie. You know how important this is to her."

"Fine. Maybe I was being mean and I'm sorry. So please promise me you'll atleast date someone who's truly worthy of your time."

"I promise I'll do exactly that and more."

"Atta girl."

"So, " Kayla turned to me. "What are we wearing? "

"We??" I was confused. I thought she had just said she was going on a date. Then why was she asking me what we were wearing?

She narrowed her eyes at me, and I realized she had done a lot of that this evening. "Of course, we. You and I are going on this date together.It happens to be a double date. Don't tell me you already forgot what you said last time? "

Last time? Last time? I searched my memory and I was both horrified by my actions and the very idea that I really had to go on a date. I swallowed nervously as I looked back at her and decided it was best if I tried to push my luck.

"Why do we... " go next time?

"Don't even think about it. I already confirmed everything and I'm not cancelling. At all. "

Welp. Looks like there was no getting out of this.

"Fine."

The room was filled with gleeful squeals as Kayla celebrated her victory. Gosh, this sucked.