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Stories from the field (Charliesweb7 & CntDestyr)

charliesweb7

Supernova
Joined
Sep 20, 2013
Location
United States
She was a little nervous honestly. This was one of her first real assignments. It was training camp for the Miami Dolphins. Everyone seemed to have fun. Getting into the swing of things as they easily ran drills. Sure, there was a few bobbles here and there but they all worked like a machine. All of the cogs meshing to run a bigger item. Her rich green eyes looked the training facility. These things were always odd honestly. Like a big...bubble. Just a big marshmallow. Weird things... but it prevented the rain from getting in. And that was the point as Miami was known for lots of thunderstorms. They always had nice warm weather but thunderstorms. No place was perfect right?

She was on the sideline, a pen and a small pad of paper. Yes, she looked like kind of a writer in her outfit. But she was a reporter. She was quite the stunner. Shining green eyes, silky chocolate brown hair. Her body was clearly something to look at. Her frame was that of a bombshell. The toned frame, long legs and large breasts along with a shapely rear. She was beautiful really. And the woman was not one to boast about it to everyone. There was a different between having confidence and being overly cocky. A body like hers took work. Eating right and making sure to stay in shape. She wasn't the lucky one that could eat like a horse and still be skinny. If only right? Because food was so amazing... And now she realized just how hungry she was. She really should have eaten a better breakfast. Or at least snacked on something...

The woman wore a pair of charcoal slacks, wearing a pair of black pumps. Yes, not very conducive for standing on the sidelines. She wore the matching short sleeve jacket, cinching in at her waist and flaring slightly at her hips. She wore a nice teal colored satin tank, lace detail in a v-neck at the bust. It just so happened to match the teams colors. Maybe trying to make a good first impression? Possibly. Then again, who would she be trying to impress? Perhaps the man she was supposed to be watching. Number twenty two. The rookie running back out of the University of New Mexico; The Lobos. Andrew Standish. But there was more reasons to be nervous than just her first assignment...

When Amelia Kodie Cassadine was born, she had a heart defect. Ventricular Septal Defect is what it was called. Essentially there was a hole in between the wall of her left and right ventricles. She would need surgery rather soon to make sure that she would be okay. Once the surgery was done to close the hole, she had really no troubles for most of her life. She was able to do sports and act just like a normal child. She did sometimes have some murmurs and had to go to a cardiologist once a year to make sure she was alright with an echocardiograph. Life seemed to be perfectly fine for Amelia. Until she was fourteen. She got into a minor car accident. T-boned in an intersection while her family was heading to the grocery store. Just some minor cuts and bruises. But it was her insides that had issues. Somehow... she had ripped another hole in her heart. She didn't even know it for a while. She progressively got worse over a few months, declining rather rapidly. That is when she was in the hospital, them telling her she had another hole. Her heart was too weak for surgery for the hole to be closed. The only option left was a transplant. She was immediately put on the transplant list, hoping they could find a perfect match before time was up. Each day went by and they looked bleaker and bleaker; no one was a match. She had to be put on a machine that kept her heart beating to keep her alive. Sometimes donors waited years before they got a transplant. She had months left. It seemed that she would die...until a tragic accident occurred. A thirteen year old boy was killed by a drunk driver in the town over. He just so happened to be an organ donor thankfully. And he turned out to be an exact match to Amelia. So she went into emergency surgery to have her new heart transplanted within hours. Of course her family was thankful that Amelia was alive now, however sad for the other family. Their daughter lived...but only because of the tragedy of another family. Losing their young child. It was something her parents were upset about. They wanted to contact the other family but could not due to privacy issues. They just wanted to thank them for giving their daughter a new life.

So Amelia went on to live a normal life, only a small scar from the incision in surgery left to remind her physically. Well, it used to be much bigger but she made sure to put as much vitamin E and coco butter she could to diminish it. It had embarrassed her and she wanted to wear a bikini. She was an active swimmer and was able to do many things she never thought possible when in the hospital. Run a 5k race. Go rock climbing. Travel. But she wanted to meet the other family. It had been something that had been nagging her for a while. She wanted to thank the other family for their son giving her a new life. Maybe become close to them? Not that she could ever replace their son but hopefully they would possibly accept her. She just wanted to give a thanks. Simply.

By doing a little research through articles, she was able to narrow down the accidents on that day. There was obviously a fair amount of accidents. Even fewer with fatalities. And only one with a thirteen year old boy. He had been driving with a friend and a friends mother. The boy, Derek Standish, had been in the back. And because of the impact, he was the only one to die. The others were in critical condition but pulled through. Through more searching, she found Andrew Standish, the older brother. The male who was exactly her age. Just a few days older than her. And she started reading articles about him. How he was a great running back. How he dedicated his playing to his little brother. All so sweet and caring...

For the longest time, Amelia wanted to be a sports reporter. She loved sports, almost any kind. Well, MMA wasn't her favorite or wrestling. But basketball, football, hockey, baseball, softball, swimming, track, tennis. Anything. Something about the action and the hype that she loved. The way the crowd got all excited. The cheering, the chanting. The fan base. It brought people closer...it tore people apart. Just something about it was so intriguing. Maybe it was the fact that her father and brothers were big into sports. Their Sundays (and other days) were spent around the TV with football. She wanted to spend time with her father and brothers so that is where she would be found. After growing up in California, Amelia wanted a change. She had grown up in Texas, around Dallas, until she was nine years old or so. That is when she had moved to Long Beach. She decided to return to Texas for her degree. She went to the University of Texas, deciding to major in Communications and a Business double major with a French and Spanish minor. During her time there, she was an intern at a local station. It wasn't long before she got the break she had been wanting. ESPN. She knew she had made it. They were looking for a young reporter to go to either their Miami or Seattle office. Of course, she opted for the warm sand. It just also happened to be where Andrew ended up.

After what seemed like hours of her writing down notes about strategies, they were wrapping up. She had noticed a few of the guys had been looking at her. Not like she wasn't the only girl there. But who knew. She finally locked eyes on Andrew. She lightly started across the field, noticing it was a little hard to walk on grass. "Andrew Standish!" She called out. Hopefully he would hear her and stop. Her heart was beating faster. This was the moment. The moment she had been waiting for for years. She was finally going to meet the brother. Then again, not like she was going to blurt out "Hey, I have your brothers heart!"... yes. Like that would go over so well. He would think she is a lunatic. Amelia moved a little faster, hoping not to sprain her ankle while trying to catch up. "Andrew, could I please have a moment!?" She called out to him.
 
It was an honor to share the same aqua and coral colors that had been donned by amazing players by this amazing franchise since about 1970. The man was starstruck in the locker room, and the fact that he got to play in the same stadium that greats like Larry Csonka, Bob Griese, and who could forget the greatest Dolphin of all time, Dan Marino. He would also wear the number 22 that 11 players in the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio had worn. The face made the 21 year old kid's head absolutely swim, and the best part was: he was the projected started on the team! He hadn't even played a single snap of professional football, but all of the "experts" and scouts had projected him to beat out the incumbent running back, and start the season with the starters. That meant that he would be practicing with the starters, running with the starters, and playing with the starters of all of the other teams in the League. It was a mind - numbing experience. It really, really was.

The man would have to fly cross country to his new home in Miami. Originally, he hailed from Fresno, California. This kid was a winner. He led his high school to three consecutive state titles, before getting a five star rating by most of the recruiting websites in America and being named Mr. Football of the state of California. At any given time, his phone was being blown up by representatives from Notre Dame, University of Southern California, THE Ohio State University, Penn State University, and a host of other representatives from major programs with long histories, trying to get him to go to their school and play football for them. Towards the end, he had almost sixty full-ride scholarships to play football for some of the biggest and most expensive schools in the country. In the end, he ended up committing to University of New Mexico, becoming one of the Lobo greats, and one of the best player to ever wear the cherry and silver jersey. At least that's what the major sports news networks were saying after he won his second Heisman trophy. Opting to stay for his senior season, the Lobos had a record of 44 - 4, playing some of the best teams as well as some of the weaker teams. On some Saturdays, people would turn on the New Mexico game just to watch him play, he was that dynamic of a running back.

Onto draft day. The kid's draft didn't go exactly as planned. He was expected to be taken in the Top 3 picks, but that didn't pan out, as the first three picks consisted of 2 lineman and a quarterback. His family's heart dropped with every pick afterwards until the seventh pick of the draft, when the Miami Dolphins traded up in order to draft him. The time between the third pick and the seventh pick seemed like it took a decade at least, but in reality it was only twenty or so minutes. Andy was happy just to get drafted, but when he made his way up to the stage, he heard the Dolphins fans cheer the loudest, well not as loud as his family of course, but loud enough. From there, he was quick to negotiate his contract, not bothering to hold out for more money and telling his agent to sign the first contract that came his way. He wouldn't go into details, but the money was more than enough to buy a suave penthouse atop a skyscraper in Miami that had a view of the whole city, a brand new house for his parents in Florida, and two new cars with more than enough left over to fly them out and have a nice chunk of change in the bank.

Andrew's highlights left most breathless. His head movement was phenominal, and he was fast. If he hit a seam, he hit it hard, and normally he would be gone. Even against some of the NFL talent in college, he would make most of them look silly. He had taken some big hits, and he missed a large portion of his sophomore season due to injury. Still, he didn't look fast on the tape, but he was a much different player on the field. Even at practice, he had made some of the more crafty and better NFL veterans on the defense miss. As upset as that made them, they were sure to vocalize it to him after he ran safely out of bounds and while he was trotting back to the huddle. Andy stood at 6'4, and he filled out the jersey quite nicely. He wore gloves, for when they needed to pass it to him out of the backfield, tall socks, and a dark visor on his helmet. Andy wasn't a shit talker, but he was far more humble than most of the people in the locker room, or so it seemed. It didn't matter, Andrew kept to himself for the most part. Every now and then he would have to talk to reporters, but he was still humble in those interviews. He knew hard work got him here, not talking trash.

Towards the end of the practice, the team had a full contact scrimmage in preparation for their first pre-season game. Andrew didn't get to touch the ball much, but on the last play, they finally gave it to him. Taking the ball from the quarterback, he ran to the left, behind the guy who was supposed to be blocking for him. Something had happened, a miscommunication or something, and one of the defenders was able to get through. He was holding onto Andy's leg, and Andy tried to get away. That was when the big middle linebacker came through and absolutely blew Andrew up. As the guys celebrated, he could hear the coach yelling all kinds of expletives and curse words at his defense. Andrew seemed super human at times, but he was very much a human. Dropping his mouth guard from his mouth, Andrew stayed down for just a moment trying to catch his breath. He didn't get up until the quarterback trotted over and gave him a hand. That hit had hurt. It must have made the defense upset with how much he was gashing them earlier. It didn't matter, Andrew didn't really care.

"You alright man?" The quarterback called out to him as he picked Andy up and got him to his feet. "Gotta watch out for that man." He said with a laugh, patting Andrew on the shoulder pads. Andy unfastened his chinstrap, taking his helmet off and walked alongside the quarterback. His head was still ringing from the hit, but he wasn't hurt. At least he didn't seem hurt, he was walking just fine and all of his extremities seemed okay. Still, he knew that the coach would likely baby him for a little bit after taking a hit like that. "On the bright side, you are projected as like the ninth fantasy running back this year." He said with a laugh. "That's the highest rated position on our team!" The quarterback was clearly trying to cheer him up, but Andy's head still wasn't right. When his new friend had heard Amelia coming, he smiled. "Looks like you are on, stud. Oh! You got a hot one." He said as he trotted off to join the rest of the guys going into the locker room.

Turning to her, he smiled. "Yeah, what can I do you for." He asked Amelia. He wanted to tell her to make it quick, he just couldn't. He liked all of his fans, and everyone who wanted to talk to him. Holding the helmet by the facemask, and glancing at her. He dwarfed her in his size, but it didn't matter, the soft spoken man looking down at her waiting for the question to come.
 
That last hit...he was walking off the field so that was a good sign. Some of the hits were hard and they could cause damage. After all, a 300 pound lineman, tackling a person at a certain speed...she could do the physics on it but that was forever ago. It was just incredibly amount of force. But the biggest sign was walking off of the field. That signaled that it wasn't a spinal injury. Hopefully. Probably just some bruises she guessed. She knew that he would be checked out as soon as he went into the locker room. Amelia smiled as he stopped, her finally catching up to him. Sure, she had read his stats. 6' 4" and about 250 pounds of pure muscle. But being face to face with him... she noticed just how small she was compared to him. Amelia was about 5' 6" at best, pushing 5' 9" in the heels she had on. But his features were oddly calming and soft. Well, not really but in her mind.

And there she was. Face to face with the man she had been searching for. For the man...whose brother made her life possible. And suddenly, she felt like she forgot everything. What she wanted to ask him. What she was supposed to do. All she wanted to do was hug him and then say "I have his heart" or something along those lines. She swallowed and finally pulled herself together. "I am sorry." She mentioned. "I am Amelia Cassadine, reporter for ESPN." She mentioned. "Thank you so much for stopping to give me a moment Andrew. I know you much be a busy man." She mentioned to him. "My job is to get a personal interview with you. I was hoping at some point I could set up an interview with you to pick at your brain?" She asked, flashing a charming smile. She hoped this worked. She needed a good article and she would be doing a special about it. If she wrote the perfect article, she would get a small special to interview him on national television in his own special on ESPN. Those ones that are played to tell about the players? That was exactly it. Andrew Standish was like Tim Tebow or Peyton Manning. People couldn't get enough of the humble man. His story was so inspiring and he had a good head on his shoulders. People were dying to get to know him. And as much as Amelia knew, she wanted to get personal details. As each second droned on, she felt that she had said the wrong thing. Would he accept? She wasn't asking for a long interview now. But one soon. It would require them meeting off of the field.
 
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