Sunrise Read Online Free PDF Page B

the school and left the team reeling. Counselors were brought in to talk to the players, but most of the burden of helping kids through the trial fell on Jim and the other coaches.
    For a month afterwards, Jenny would catch Jim staring into space. “What’re you thinking?” she’d ask.
    His answer was always the same. “How come I didn’t see it? Why wasn’t there a sign?” Once he had confided in her that maybe if he’d let the boy start a game or two, he might still be alive.
    Now Jim leaned against the doorframe. “You can go in.” He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and flipped it open. “A few of the players texted me. They’re coming down to the hospital to talk.”
    “Who?” Bailey looked like she was holding her breath, her eyes glued to Jim.
    “Tanner Williams, Jack Spencer, Todd Carson. The captains.”
    “Other than Cody.” Jenny stood and went to her husband. She put her arm around his waist and leaned her head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry. This is so hard.”
    Bailey got up slowly and looked at the floor. When she lifted her eyes, Jenny saw the mixed emotions there. Ever since she broke up with Tanner, she’d had hours of regretting her decision. He had been a good boy while he was dating Bailey, but recently Jenny had heard rumors that Tanner had joined the ranks of partying players. Because of that, Bailey was angry with him.
    “Don’t tell Tanner I’m here, okay?” She leaned up and kissed Jim on the cheek. “I don’t want to see him.”
    “You think he’s been drinking?” Resignation filled Jim’s tone.
    “I do.” Bailey bit her lip. “Maybe that’s why he wants to talk.”
    Jenny had to agree, but she said nothing.
    “Whatever’s going on, we need to get rid of it.” Jim raked his fingers through his hair and hugged both of them. “Go see Cody. He needs people praying around him.”
    Bailey nodded and then moved into the hall.
    Jenny let a long sigh fall across her lips. “Have the doctors said anything?”
    “They’re not sure. He needs to come out of the coma.”
    “Weren’t we just saying that about Dayne?” Jenny kissed her husband. “When will the guys be here?”
    “Any minute.”
    “We’ll stay away until they’re gone.” Jenny gave him a sad smile. The guys wouldn’t open up if she and Bailey were in the waiting room. And the drama between Bailey and Tanner would definitely bring a halt to any meaningful talk.
    Jenny went to Cody’s room. As she stepped inside, she felt her heart breaking. Bailey was standing at the far side of Cody’s bed, gripping the bed rails. Her head was bowed, and she was quietly sobbing, her shoulders shaking. She looked up and found Jenny. “I don’t understand—” her voice was choked by tears—“why he won’t wake up.”
    They’d already been over this three times since the ambulance had come for Cody. Jenny moved closer to the bed. Her daughter didn’t need another lesson on alcohol poisoning. Just the support of knowing that she wasn’t alone, that Jenny would walk her through every step of this trial. The way she and Jim had always walked their kids through the hard times.
    Bailey stared at Cody. “Why’d you do it?” Her whispered words were angry and drenched in pain. “Why?” She looked across the bed. “What would make him do it? drink a whole bottle like that? And right in our own house.” She pushed back from the bed, crossed her arms, and shook her head. “He knew this could happen.”
    “He did.” Jenny kept her voice down. She understood Bailey. Clearly fear was at the root of her daughter’s feelings. The angry outrage was only her way of dealing with it. “He thought he needed another drink, but that wasn’t what he needed at all.”
    Bailey sniffed, and the anger lifted for a few seconds. “He needed us.”
    “When Cody wakes up—” Jenny took his hand and ran her thumb along the top of it—“he’ll need Jesus more than us.”
    And there it was. The lesson Jenny and Jim