[Jestor]

Still numb with my lingering sorrow, I force myself to check my e-mail and view the day's results. It is not something I particularly feel like doing, but it is a thing to pass the time with.

Friday June 17, 2004

Racine 0
Miami 3

...What? What day is it?

I check the calendar. According to my schedule, it is still the 11th of June. How could 6 days, including my 25th birthday have gone by without my realizing it?

Disturbed, I reach my cell phone, ignoring the fact that it is three thirty in the morning, and dial Delbert's number. He answers on the first ring, his voice groggy.

"Who the hell is it calling me this damn late at night? I'm trying to sleep, you *******!"

Liar. I can hear over the line the sounds of a woman moaning. The bastard is getting laid. Putting on a facade of false cheer and chipperness, I respond.

"Hello, Delbert! It's Tim... Listen, I'll let you get back to ****ing in a minute, but I was just wondering about something. It says on my email that we've already played in Miami on the 17th, but my calendar still says it's the 11th. Did the league office decide to play a joke on me or something?"

"...Hold on a minute, Coach."

I hear him yell for the girl, apparently named Sasha to "get off my dick and go hop in the shower. My boss is on the phone." A moment later, he's back on the line, his voice a little hesitant.

"Umm, I'm not sure how to tell you this, Coach. But it *is* the 17th... We're all down in Miami. You got so drunk after we won on the 11th that you slipped into a coma and were in the hospital until yesterday. Even after you came out of it this morning before we left, you still didn't seem like you were with it, so we left you at home... Scotty took over as the player-manager for today's game."

Stunned, I pull my ear away from the phone, missing some of Delbert's following words. I can't have lost almost an entire week! I can't have! The very idea is so absurd that I... My thoughts are interrupted by Delbert's screaming my name. Grudgingly, I put my ear back to the cell.

"Coach, just take this series off. Scotty can manage the team for the next couple days. We're worried about you, man."

"**** that ****, Delbert! I'm taking the next plane down... I'll be there for tomorrow's game."

Before he can get a chance to reply, I hang up on him and crawl out of bed, stumbling and falling on top of a pile of Sports Illustrateds on the floor with a loud thump.

Damn it, I need to hurry! I need to make it down to Miami ASAP!!

But will I? I don't know... but I'm damned determined to try.

How the hell could I have lost almost a week? I still don't understand...

...And now I'm not only sad, but scared, too.