"Patrick, do you understand? No one is missing! ”

The enthusiastic and hot words hit Willis's chest word by word, so heavy that he almost couldn't breathe, but the strength of his shoulders was tightening little by little, Willis looked at Lu Ke in front of him quietly, looking at the San Francisco 49ers No. 14 who was supporting the entire team and even the whole world with his shoulders.

"Remember? When I was hurt, you stuck to your post and did your job, and then waited for me to pick up and follow in your footsteps again, and go hand in hand together! Now, it's our turn to wait for you. ”

"Patrick, I'm going to stick to my post, and each of us will stick to our positions, finish our battles one by one, and move towards the goal one step at a time, until you come back! We will try to fill your vacancy, but no one can take your place, no one! ”

"We need you to come back and continue to fight with us! The defensive group needs their captain! David and I need our defensive captain! I need my comrades and partners! Do you understand? I need you! Rest assured, we'll keep going one step at a time until you come back, and we're waiting for you to finally return! ”

Looking at Lu Ke in front of him, he was still young and immature, the outline of his oriental face seemed to never be old, still full of youthful atmosphere, but the eyes full of stars flashed with a resolute and decisive light, and after the vicissitudes of life and through the ups and downs, it was still not faint or extinguished, which made Willis's nose slightly sour.

He avoided his eyes in some embarrassment.

The pain of those injuries, the joy of victory, the bitterness of setbacks, the hardships of battle, all of them surged on the tip of the tongue, and finally turned into the sourness of the nose, which is difficult to describe.

Willis deliberately laughed out loud, hiding the sweat in his eyes - yes, it was just sweat, "Ha, haha! I never knew I was such an important person, but it's an honor to know that. It's just that you don't move too fast, or I may not be able to catch up if I limp down. ”

Willis could clearly feel the pain in his knee, for a while, he almost couldn't keep his attention focused, and even when he spoke, he continued to wander, and then he suddenly felt unwilling, really, really unwilling, he couldn't even tell where this unwillingness came from, could it be that Lu Ke's words stimulated it again?

Smiling and smiling, Willis's mood gradually calmed down.

"Patrick!" Walter's voice came, his examination was over, and now the stretcher was in the field, they had to take Willis to the hospital for a radiograph, the situation might be more serious than imagined, he didn't want to jump to conclusions casually, especially after hearing Lu Ke's words just now, just imagining the worst, Walter's heart couldn't help but curl up.

Because of Walter's urging, Willis quickly made up his mind, and he cast a reassuring glance at Walter.

Willis looked at Lu Ke again, his expression became serious, but the sweaty forehead and the corners of his mouth that twitched uncontrollably were leaking his pain, only those eyes were still bright, revealing the resolute and huge energy in the depths of his soul behind the layers of injuries.

"Bambi, you know what? After I retire, I may never be able to stand up to go to the bathroom, I may never be able to take my children to sports, I may be able to use a disabled parking space, and for God's sake, I'm only twenty-eight years old. ”

A very, very ugly smile tugged at the corner of Willis's mouth.

"But I promise you that before I decide to officially retire, I will crawl back from the hospital to the Candlestick Stadium, even if I crawl with my hands on my own! Because I'm a warrior, because I'm a fighter, because I'm a warrior, and because I'm nine! What is Nine? is to know that the result may be doomed, but still like a moth to a fire! Bloom the last glory of life! Others say it's stupidity, but I say it's self-worth! You wait, wait for me to come back, let's work together and fight for the championship! ”

"Remember? Ryan Baldwin's pact? I haven't forgotten that I'm going to sprint to the end! Either way! ”

Willis stretched out his right hand and stretched out towards Lu Ke, "Deal?" ”

Lu Ke also stretched out his right hand, and the two of them high-fived as an appointment, "Deal!" ”

Then, Willis turned to Walter, "Hey, man, we might need to go to the hospital together, so we don't get in the way of the game on the court, how about it?" ”

Ignoring Willis's teasing and joking, Walter beckoned to the stretcher, lifted Willis into the battery car, and left the court.

In the distance, among the crowded teammates on the sidelines, Willis saw Aldon at a glance, the little guy who was most worried.

Willis raised his right hand, clenched his fist, and swung twice at Aldon, baring his teeth and shouting, "Come on!" But the battery car didn't stay long, and just like that, it carried Willis off the pitch, and his figure was swallowed up in the shadows at the entrance to the players' tunnel, and finally disappeared completely.

Aldon stood still watching Willis's back leave, stunned.

He now finally understood the meaning of Lu Ke and Marcus's original words: Do you know how much effort Willis put into standing on the ring? And you don't have injuries to worry about, but here you feel sorry for yourself and squander your talent, and then blame all the mistakes on others, you are something I look down on.

Willis, who was a beacon to Aldon, struggled for a season due to injuries and eventually lost to injuries.

Players who are trying their best to be part of the team are not able to play; And those players who can use their abilities to contribute to the team refuse to integrate.

For the first time, Aldon hated himself so much that even he was tired of his face.

"What to do? What to do, what to do, what to do? Bambi, what to do? Aldon seemed to have lost his goal, blindly searching in the crowd, and then he saw Lu Ke's tired figure, but Aldon didn't notice it, because he was completely immersed in his sadness at this time, "If Patrick can't come back, if ......"

"Aldon, wake up! Hell God, wake me up! Lu Ke's mood was also a little irritable, he didn't have the patience and didn't have time to guide Aldon slowly, his roar made Aldon retract the tears that he hadn't had time to come out like this, and his eyes stared at Lu Ke blankly, "First, this is Patrick's battle, I believe he can overcome the injury, just like I did at the beginning, and we still have our own battle to complete, remember?" There is still a battle waiting for us before Patrick returns to the team! ”

Aldon nodded stunned.

"Aldon, you're not a kid anymore, no one is going to spoil you like college, take care of you, you need to be strong, you need to finish your own battles, you need to beat your demons and you need to be part of the team, understand? Secondly, we don't have time for you now, you can do your part for Patrick now, you can do your part for the team, the team needs you to step up and finish this game for Patrick, you need to pick yourself up! You need to concentrate! You need to cooperate with your teammates! The San Francisco 49ers need his ninety-nine! ”

Aldon looked at Lu Ke like this, his bright eyes faintly began to turn red, and the urgency and pride hidden in the depths of his soul were blooming wantonly!

After the ups and downs of the past period, the baptism of the last hard battle, and most importantly, the perseverance of collective training - Aldon has followed Lu Ke to complete two consecutive weeks of additional training, and has never been absent, although two weeks is not a long time, but it is unprecedented for Aldon.

Now, it's time for Aldon to really grow.

With Willis off the field due to injury, Navoro being sent off by the referee, and the San Francisco 49ers' already stretched linebacks facing a severe test, and getting Aldon on the pitch was the best solution.

Under the burning gaze of Lu Ke's eyes, Aldon straightened his waist little by little, raised his head and chest, opened his shoulders, and then raised his hand to wipe away the faint tears from the corners of his eyes, plucked up his courage, bypassed Lu Ke, and took steps in the direction of the coaching staff step by step, and finally stopped beside Hubble, "Coach, I want to play." ”

At this time, Hubble was struggling with the shortage of linebackers, and when he saw Aldon who took the initiative to ask for help, the words of refusal subconsciously swirled around his lips, but the words stopped in Aldon's convicted gaze - such Aldon has never been seen, not even in his rookie season.

It just so happens that they're short of linebackers, aren't they?

"This is your last chance." Hubble whispered, patted Aldon on the shoulder, let him get on the pitch, and then called in backup interior lineback Michael Wiehot, who could only deal with it with such a tinker-style lineup for the time being: damn injuries!

Aldon turned his head and cast his gaze in the direction where Lu Ke was.

Lu Ke didn't say anything, not even "come on", just stared at Aldon with burning eyes, the resolute strength that burst out of his eyes was already the best encouragement, Aldon nodded heavily, and then ran towards the court with his fists clenched.

After waiting and waiting, after five weeks, the No. 99 player of the San Francisco 49ers finally appeared again! And this time, he is no longer willful and no longer self-willed, because he is carrying the weight of the whole team on his shoulders!