Coach Kinen appeared above Danny. “Okay, stop screwing around, Danny.”

“Oh, oh, oh!” Danny squeezed his leg below the knee, rolling on his side in pain. “Coach, my foot.”

“Are you kidding me, Owens?”

“Coach, I’m not.” Danny winced and gritted his teeth. He couldn’t believe the pain. It made no sense.

“What did you do?” Coach Kinen knelt down beside him.

“Nothing. I was running. It felt like someone stabbed my foot, or like I stepped on a nail.” Danny had his ankle in both hands.

Coach Kinen looked at his cleated foot. “I don’t see anything.”

Suddenly Danny swallowed hard. Bile churned up from his stomach. He was scared, scared enough to make himself sick.

“What is it, Coach?”

“Here, let’s try to get you up.” Coach Kinen put his hands under Danny’s arms and lifted.

Danny stood on one leg and tentatively placed his right foot on the ground. As soon as it touched he snapped it back into the air because it felt like he’d stepped on the same nail, maybe worse this time.

“Did you twist it?” Coach Willard asked. “Is it your ankle?”

“It’s my foot.” Danny’s voice broke and he bit down on his mouthpiece. “I can’t walk.”

“Foot?” Coach Willard looked at Coach Kinen, who shrugged.

“I have no idea,” the head coach said. “Let’s get his mom to take him to Doc Severs. You call her and I’ll get him up to the locker room.”

Coach Willard took out his phone and Danny told him his mom’s number while Cupcake and Coach Kinen each slipped a head under one of Danny’s arms. The rest of the team fell in behind them, keeping respectfully quiet. Danny had no idea what had happened, but the pain told him that whatever it was, it wasn’t a minor injury. As hard as he fought it, the pain and the fear made his eyes watery. He sniffed and kept his head down, thankful for the helmet and the cover it gave him.

There was a bench outside the locker room, and that’s where they set him with his leg up. Coach Kinen removed Danny’s shoe, which hurt enough that Danny couldn’t help grunting with pain even though he clamped down tight on his mouth guard.

“Mom’s on her way.” Coach Willard held up his phone as he marched past.

Coach Kinen and Cupcake stayed with Danny, even as his other teammates began to filter out of the locker room with their street clothes on. Cupcake’s brother, Herman, pulled up in his pickup and got out to investigate. Cupcake filled him in with a hushed voice.

Herman put a strong hand on Danny’s shoulder. “I bet you’re gonna be fine, Danny. Can’t be anything too serious, right?”

“Right,” Danny said weakly.

Ten minutes later, Danny’s mom pulled up along the curb and stopped with a screech before jumping out of the car. “Danny, what in the world?”

“I don’t know.” Danny shook his head.

“I texted Doc Severs at the health center,” Coach Kinen told Danny’s mom. “He’s the best. Just give your name at the desk and he’ll take you in right away.”

“Thank you, Coach.”

“Here, let’s get him in the car.” Cupcake helped Coach Kinen as Danny limped between them.

He got loaded into the front seat. Coach Kinen tossed his cleated shoe in the back and patted the roof. “Okay, Danny. Good luck. We need you, kid. If we’re gonna win a championship, we surely need you. Let me know what they say.”