anyway. He'll get you a drink. Coffee?"
Darci sat again. "Thanks, I'd love a coffee."
After Tim left, Barb leaned over, and said, "He has to get up at half time. He can't stand listening to the women gossiping."
Darci forced a smile. She knew Barb's comment was meant to be funny, but she couldn't help wondering what the women had been gossiping about. Had she and Taylor been the subject of their half time chats? She knew without asking, that they had.
A few of the other mother's, women Darci didn't know very well, took turns coming to sit beside her to pass on their well wishes for Taylor. "It's so good to see her back on the field," one woman said. "I'm glad she's feeling better," another told her.
Darci answered their questions as best as she could without offering too many details. After all, they didn't need to know the ins and outs of what had happened. She was relieved when Tim came back with the coffee and the interrogations fizzled out. Darci sat back on the bench, and let the conversations of the other parents float around her.
Once or twice she caught Susanna looking in her direction, but the other woman never spoke to her. Strange, because Darci would have expected that she'd be the first person asking her about Taylor.
"So, what do you think, Darci?" Barb was staring at her waiting for an answer.
Darci shook her head free of her thoughts and turned her attention to Barb. "I'm sorry," she said. "What were you saying?"
"I was just asking if you thought that maybe Taylor would like a little company at the hospital tomorrow afternoon? Maybe the girls could come by and they could do homework together? What do you think?"
"Oh." Darci glanced around. "I don't..." she started to say how it wasn't necessary, but then she looked at Taylor down on the player's bench, surrounded by her friends. She was smiling and having fun. Darci hadn't seen a lot of smiles in the last few days. "I think Taylor would like that a lot," Darci finished.
"Excellent." Barb stood and called over Darci's head across the bench, "Hey, Susanna. I'm going to take Abby to visit Taylor tomorrow. Maybe Jennica would like to come too?"
A flash of fear crossed Susanna's face. It was quick, but not so quick that Darci didn't notice it. "Oh, I think Jennica has a hair appointment tomorrow afternoon," she said. "Too bad. Maybe next time."
There wouldn't be a next time, Darci wanted to say. Tay would be coming home soon and the hospital would be a distant memory. Taylor needed her friends now. She wanted to say that, but the she didn't. Instead, the whistle blew and Darci, like all the other parents on the bench, focused her attention back to the field.
###
"I wish I could go."
Taylor sat in the front seat of the car and stared out the window at her friends, loading into their parent's cars. The Chargers had won their game, securing their spot in the rankings and the whole team was going for celebratory pizza and cokes at Peppi's. But Darci was taking Taylor back to the hospital.
"I know, kiddo," she said. She eased the car out of the parking lot, away from the team. "I'm sorry you have to go back."
Taylor didn't say anything. She turned and stared out her window. After a moment, Darci heard a sniff and when she glanced over she would catch Taylor swiping at her eyes. Darci didn't push. Instead, she popped a CD in the stereo and cranked up the volume.
A few seconds later, music filled the car and Darci started singing along to the classic Mama Mia.
She stopped at a traffic light, and loud as she could, belted out the chorus. Taylor still didn't look over, so Darci added some dramatic shoulder dancing to catch her attention. Darci had been playing Abba songs since Taylor was a baby and had accidentally discovered that the songs soothed her. As Taylor got older, she'd quickly learned the words, and instead of listening to Raffi or The Wiggles, the seventies band had become her favorite.
Waiting for