Between the Pipes (Offsides #3)

by J.J. Mulder

The proverbial elephant in the room feels enormous. “You can ask, if you want. It’s okay.” I look over at Anthony, and find him already watching me, eyes fixed on my mouth. When I stop talking, he meets my eyes. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,” he says earnestly. I feel a stab of pain at these words, even though they were delivered with compassion. Every damn thing in my life makes me uncomfortable. “It’s okay,” I repeat. He doesn’t speak again for a few minutes, and I let him have his silence. God knows I’d rather sit here in the quiet than answer questions about my disability. “I never was much of a science guy, so forgive me if this is a stupid question. But if the visor injuries were what damaged your eyes…why can you still partially see?” “Ah. That’s a good question, actually. I did get a corneal abrasion from the visor, but actually the most damage from that occurred to my face.” I gesture at my slim scars. His eyes barely flick toward them before settling back on my eyes. “When they first brought me back to the locker room, there was so much blood and nobody could tell what was going on. It probably looked like a scene from a horror film, and I think the immediate worry was that I’d lose an eye. Luckily, that didn’t happen. And actually, the corneal abrasions would have healed and my eyes would have been fine.” “But,” he prompts, correctly hearing the rest of that sentence. “But I got an infection, and by the time that was brought under control…I was legall...