Chapter 979: Chapter 979: Three Text Messages

Chapter 979: Three Text Messages

The celebration was still going on, but surprisingly, it wasn’t as wild and crazy as imagined.

Defeating the New England Patriots on the road could be said to be the San Francisco 49ers’ most important and difficult victory of the season. Logically speaking, any kind of celebration would be reasonable. But in fact, while the celebration in the locker room was happening, it lacked the unrestrained madness that was expected.

The slump of the past few weeks could actually be seen as a cool-down period, giving the team time to calm down, re-evaluate themselves, and readjust their goals. A perfect season? That was a rare and even sought-after historical achievement. But the Super Bowl was their ultimate goal. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Defeating the New England Patriots was an incredibly tough game, but it should not be the most important achievement of the season. They could celebrate it, but they didn’t need to go crazy over it.

From starting as a young and spirited team, relying on a burst of energy, some talent, and a fresh approach to gain a foothold in the professional league, to becoming a well-rounded team that had its own style of play and confidence to earn a place in the fierce competition, and finally to becoming a mature team with its own unique character, they had truly become a top-tier powerhouse.

This was an incredibly long and difficult process.

The current 49ers could only be considered to have entered the second stage, but the important thing was that they were still improving.

But a victory was a victory, a celebration was a celebration, and a party was a party. Exhausted both physically and mentally at the end of the season, in a predicament where their performance was fluctuating due to locker room issues, and in a desperate situation where they were shut out in the first half, they had defeated the New England Patriots and won this game. At the very least, they could cheer and celebrate properly today.

It wasn’t until the coaching staff entered the locker room that Jim Harbaugh and the other coaches shouted loudly, "Whoever needs an ice bath, go get an ice bath. Whoever needs a massage, go get a massage. Do what you’re supposed to do." It was only then that all the players scattered like birds, laughing and spreading out. The celebration party came to a temporary end.

Lu Ke went to his locker, opened it, and found his gear bag. Before heading to the shower, he found his phone and discovered a huge pile of unread messages. They were all text messages congratulating him on the victory. He scrolled through them and saw a series of familiar and unfamiliar names.

In the beginning, when he had just started, Lu Ke would reply to them one by one, expressing his gratitude. But later, he realized that was too foolish, because it was almost impossible. For example, now, the number of unread messages had exceeded 100, and even a mass reply was not necessary.

It was worth noting that this was Lu Ke’s private phone number, not something he gave out randomly. Otherwise, the number of unread messages would be much more than this.

Among the messages, Lu Ke saw a message from Candice Swanepoel: "You did it!"

It was a unique congratulatory message. A simple sentence, without any unnecessary words, but full of unwavering trust.

In the past few weeks, although Lu Ke didn’t say it directly, Candice could feel his tension and irritability. She didn’t make a big deal out of it. Instead, she silently supported Lu Ke, sending an email every day to report on the small things in her life. She didn’t need Lu Ke to reply. She just wrote down her daily life in the email, as if she and he were still living together. It invisibly allowed Lu Ke to relax a little.

She had never doubted Lu Ke’s ability. The only time she mentioned it was after the overtime game against the St. Louis Rams. She said, "Bambi, you should believe in yourself. Because I have always believed in you. Even if everyone else doubts you, I believe you can do it. Just like this game."

She was always on his side.

The corners of his mouth couldn’t help but curve up slightly. Lu Ke picked up his phone, replied with a short sentence, and then quickly scrolled down again. When he noticed an unfamiliar name, his finger stopped. He thought for a moment, but he still couldn’t find the answer.

Why would Emma Watson text him?

Lu Ke thought back for a moment and then his memory was awakened.

Before, Lu Ke and Emma had recorded a talk show together. To make it easier to contact them, the show’s staff had proactively exchanged their contact information, but that was all. Lu Ke had saved Emma’s phone number but had never contacted her privately. He had not sent a single text or made a single call. He had even forgotten that he had Emma’s contact information until now.

"Congratulations! Great win!"

Emma had written this on the text message, without much additional commentary. Lu Ke was a little hesitant: should he reply out of politeness?

The problem was that they were not friends, just colleagues. Even their work was a one-time thing. How should he reply appropriately?

Thinking back to their previous few unpleasant encounters, now that the other party had taken the initiative to extend an olive branch, whether it was a social greeting or not, he should reciprocate and show his manners. So, he also picked up his phone to reply. To avoid causing more misunderstandings and arguments, the reply should be as concise as possible.

After reading all the messages, Lu Ke finally opened his contacts and found a name. From the beginning, he had specifically looked for his phone because he wanted to send a message before going for his recovery treatment. After finding the contact, he drafted a message, clicked send, put his phone back in his locker, and then Lu Ke was ready to start his post-game cool-down.

San Francisco General Hospital.

The public lounge was full of cheers. Everyone was celebrating wildly. Some people who couldn’t cheer to their heart’s content hit the table with their hands, making a clanging sound and joining the party. It was hard to imagine that the victory of a football game could be even more effective than ten hours of psychological therapy.

Kate Wiggins, a professional physical therapist, stood at the door of the lounge, with a look of helplessness on her face. She shook her head slightly. She really couldn’t understand this, but... there were so many people who loved football, so maybe there was always a reason. She just didn’t care.

Generally speaking, the number of female physical therapists was relatively small because there was a lot of strength training during the rehabilitation process, and many patients could not even exert any force or stand still. It was very likely that the patient’s entire body weight would fall on the therapist, which would undoubtedly put more pressure on women.

But in fact, female physical therapists did exist, and they weren’t just for female patients. Sometimes, male patients with relatively mild conditions would also be assigned to a female physical therapist. It mainly depended on the specific situation of each patient.

Before, Ryan Baldwin’s rehabilitation was always handled by another male physical therapist, but Ryan’s condition was special. He was not completely paralyzed. It was more that the rate of muscle function decline could not be stopped. So, Ryan’s rehabilitation exercises were also different. In addition to daily walking and standing, there were also auxiliary exercises like holding a pen, writing, drawing, and reading. At the same time, he also needed better communication and regulation.

A month ago, Kate took over Ryan’s case from her colleague and began to be responsible for Ryan’s daily rehabilitation work. Who knew that a football game would also become a part of her work?

She waited and waited, but the celebration party didn’t seem to have an end in sight. Kate finally couldn’t wait any longer. She went up to Ryan. "Ryan, we agreed. We would start your rehabilitation after the game ends. Now, it’s time to start."

Ryan was still beaming with a bright smile. He shouted, "Kate! We won! We won!"

"Yes, yes, I know." Kate helplessly agreed repeatedly. "But today’s rehabilitation must still be completed."

"Of course! Of course!" Ryan didn’t mind and nodded happily in affirmation. "Let’s go now!" At that moment, his phone vibrated in his arms. Ryan gestured to Kate, "My phone. I’ll just check my phone. It’ll be quick, ten seconds... no, no, five seconds is fine."

Kate didn’t stop Ryan.

For ALS, it was very important to keep the muscles as active as possible in daily life. If Ryan was willing to play on his phone and send text messages, it could also be considered a form of rehabilitation, just like writing a journal.

Ryan opened his phone and saw a text message from Lu Ke. "I’m keeping my promise. What do you say, are you ready?"

"Haha!" Ryan couldn’t help but laugh happily. He closed his phone and looked up at Kate. "Now, I’m ready. We can start today’s rehabilitation."

"What, you don’t need to reply to the message?" Kate asked curiously. The two of them walked toward the rehabilitation room with this back-and-forth conversation.

Emma Watson was feeling annoyed. Or rather, regretful.

She couldn’t believe herself. She had actually sent a text message in a moment of impulse. Such a girly, proactive, and naive action was just too stupid!

Now, even she herself couldn’t tell if she was hoping for Lu Ke to reply or not. That kind of contradictory and anxious feeling was impossible to describe in words. All kinds of thoughts started to pop up in her mind. The more she thought about it, the more complicated and agitated she became. Then she couldn’t sit still and just started pacing back and forth in the room like an ant on a hot pan.

"Ding-dong," the sound of a new message came.

Emma’s actions immediately froze. She subconsciously wanted to pick up her phone, but then she thought to herself that she shouldn’t be too excited, or it would make her seem cheap. So, she stood in place, adjusted her breathing, counted to ten in her head, and then walked to the bed, picked up her phone, and started to read the message.

"Thanks."

What?

Emma could barely believe her eyes. Was that all there was? Just one short word? "Thanks"? What... what kind of reply was this?

She had been feeling anxious and conflicted for thirty minutes, and this was the only reply she got?

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