Michelle's last comment had at least made Gale smile a bit. "Thanks, Michelle," she said. She had to agree, though. Brent didn't talk a whole lot, but he could be stubborn when he did. Slowly, Gale pulled away and used her hand and arm to wipe away some of her tears. She sniffed one more time before speaking again. "What do you think Brent's gonna do to him?" she asked. "I hope he doesn't get himself hurt."

---

Having lost his sense of balance, attempting to get up was a challenge for Brent. With his right hand, he pushed himself into an upright sitting position; with his left, he lightly touched his nose. Pain shot through his head at even that. When he pulled his hand away, he realized his nose was bleeding from the small stain on his hand. The soccer ball had done some damage, that was certain. Luckily, Joshua had come to his aid. If Brent hadn't been dazed from the ball nailing him in the face, he might have been able to shake the boy off him before, but given the situation, he had been helpless.

Brent miraculously got his feet beneath him and stumbled to the edge of the court and, for the moment, nursed his bleeding nose, wanting to stay in the vicinity should he be able to help Joshua at some point. After a few seconds, maybe his balance would come back to him.