It didn’t take long before Mahos, Kelsey, Fuller, and Hill arrived at the hospital as representatives of the team, bringing a special gift from the team.
An autographed jersey.
The jersey was densely covered with signatures; after filling the front, they even signed the back. Every player and key staff mber of the team had signed it.
Except for Li Wei’s signature.
Moreover, the most important part was the jersey number:
Number 100, Felix.
In the NFL, there is no jersey number 100; the highest number is 99. Nonetheless, the Kansas City Chiefs custom-made a jersey for Felix to send their blessings and support in this unique way.
Just as they said, the millions of fans in Kansas City are also part of the team, standing on the field alongside them and fighting together.
From today, Felix officially beca a mber of the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad.
Felix was extrely happy. He put the jersey over his hospital gown imdiately and kept stroking it over and over, his smile fully blooming.
However, they didn’t stay long—
Felix needed rest.
Felix was too weak. In barely twenty minutes, he could no longer keep his eyes open and drifted off into a hazy sleep, unable to control his body despite his best efforts.
Laughter still surged in the ward, yet they could all clearly feel that sothing had inevitably changed.
As they left the hospital, no one spoke; the corners of their mouths, which had been uplifted, now drooped heavily, with a weight pressing down on their chests like a rock.
At the entrance, Li Wei saw Anderson, Provo, and West leading the Old Oak Tavern fans, arranging cards and flowers into a book for Felix to peruse in his hospital room.
Mahos and the others walked forward, but Li Wei noticed a young figure hidden in the corner, looking fresh out of college.
If Li Wei wasn’t mistaken, he seed to be a fan who’s been frequently seen with Felix lately, but Li Wei couldn’t recall his na.
Thinking a bit, Li Wei walked over to him.
"What, here all alone, were you left out?"
Li Wei started with a teasing remark.
At the sound of his voice, Carter reflexively looked up and imdiately saw Li Wei.
Under normal circumstances, he might have been so excited that he’d jump three feet high and almost fly, but now, Carter couldn’t muster any enthusiasm.
Carter rubbed his face awkwardly, mumbling indistinctly.
"No."
"I just... don’t dare to see him."
Sha, embarrassnt, frustration, and then he lowered his head in annoyance.
A short sentence concealed a multitude of emotions, difficult to articulate, but the complexity and helplessness of it gripped the heart firmly.
"I knew he had health issues, after all, he was always in a wheelchair, but he never showed pain, seed just like us."
"I thought he, like , was a fan of victories, cheering for the Kansas City Chiefs rely because they kept winning, continuously giving us hope and strength. But if one day the team started losing, he would leave without regret."
"Obviously, I was wrong."
"He has always been fighting, just like the team, burning his life to fight. The focus was never on winning but on fighting because in his life, there were no retreats or wins. If he stopped fighting..."
The words stopped, as the young face revealed unease and fear, even so sha, and his expression began to struggle.
All along, Carter had been lost, aimlessly floating without dreams or goals. After graduation, he impulsively moved to Kansas City. He didn’t find a proper job, only worked part-ti here and there.
Car chanic. Waiter. Delivery. Assembly line worker.
Regardless of the short-term or temp jobs available in Kansas City, he tried almost all, just earning enough for rent and basic living expenses before continuing to play, squandering ti wantonly while young, fully enjoying life.
He never considered there was anything wrong with that—
YOLO, you only live once, life is only once, so you should enjoy it fully.
Carefree, wild, living with a casual yet unrestrained attitude, nothing could settle him or make him genuinely care.
Even living in Kansas City, claiming to be a fan of victories, Carter never took things seriously. He still believed if one day the Kansas City Chiefs began to lose, he would turn away without hesitation and support the Super Bowl champion team of that year, becoming a fan of another team.
Anyway, he was still young, always ready to move and start anew, leaving Kansas City for another city was never a problem for him.
However, overnight, things suddenly beca different.
Matters of life and death, starkly presented before him, made Carter realize football wasn’t that simple, nor was life.
While he enjoyed life without using dreams, goals, or beliefs to bind himself, he also missed opportunities to explore life’s limitless possibilities. The shadows hidden behind life’s brilliance, unseen didn’t an nonexistent, always lurking in the dark, ready to deliver a fatal blow when least expected.
Carter, utterly unprepared, found himself completely lost suddenly.
He couldn’t imagine, nor comprehend, what the Kansas City Chiefs ant to Felix or what Felix was truly experiencing.
Outside his understanding, a strange world unfolded, and he lacked the courage even to face it; fear and confusion gripping his heart, with a trace of pain in his expression.
Words, chaotic and powerless, left Carter unable to articulate himself.
Carter rubbed his cheeks hard, thinking he would cry.
However, he didn’t.
His cheeks were clean, and his eye sockets dry, dread and panic gripping his heart, sinking without ti for tears.
He hated himself for being like this. Foolish and selfish.
Watching the young man before him, Li Wei felt his powerlessness, tinged with so anger, so bitterness, like a headless fly crashing around.
Over the years of his football career, if it’s taught Li Wei anything, it’s that he’s not alone.
Whether it was cross-country running in a previous life or mixed martial arts in this life, Li Wei had always been accustod to confronting challenges alone, as these were his personal battles; but football was different. From NCAA to NFL, in less than four years, Li Wei began to learn to trust teammates and to fight side by side.
This is their battle.
More important than anything else is that they are still here, they still... refuse to surrender.
Li Wei thought for a mont, showing a faint smile,
"But you’re still here, aren’t you?"
Carter jerked his head up, a golden ray of sunshine broke through the clouds, spilling down, obscuring Li Wei’s features, only revealing the curve of his upturned lips. He blurted out, "What?"
Li Wei, "You didn’t run away, did you? When adversity ca knocking."
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