I look at my finger knowing something is wrong, but it doesn't hurt. I just hope for the best. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is the second day of basketball practice, and everything is going fine. Everybody is ready to see me play, as the only freshman on varsity. Then during a drill, things went bad. I was on defense, and the person I was guarding had the ball. He went to pass the ball, so I went for the steal. My hand didn't hit the ball it hit the defenders hand, but then I go to look at my right hand. Everything was fine until I saw my pinky. It wasn't straight anymore, it went to the side. I knew something was wrong, it didn't look the same as my left pinky. I practice for a little bit more, but my grip on the ball didn't even feel the same. I t felt like a piece of the ball was missing. I knew I had to get it checked out. I show coach and he says it's ok for me to leave practice.

I call my mom and send her a video of what it looks like. She has a weak stomach, so once it sends she gasps at it. She takes me to her friend who is a trainer. She takes a look at it and presses on it. She says it's not broke, because I didn't feel pain when she pressed on it. She tells us to go to a clinic to make sure everything is fine so we do.

When we go I get my finger x-rayed and wait to get results. The lady comes back to tell us that its fractured. We are both a little sad but it will just be a few weeks until I come back. They send the x-rays to the doctor the trainer suggested to us. He will tell me how long I will be out. We go to the doctor a day later. We go in hoping it will just be 2 or 3 weeks. They x-ray it again, and we wait for the doctor to come back. When he does, another woman doctor comes in with him. He says she’s a fingers doctor and she examines my finger. My heart is pounding, I hope it's not anything to bad. Then she breaks the news to us. She says I need to get surgery with pins on my finger, because it is rotated. She gives us the rest of information, but I'm just thinking when can I get back to play. When she says the time table was 6 weeks my heart dropped. It was longer than I expected, and it was only for a pinky. I stay positive though. We tell everybody, and they are in despair. Everybody wanted to see me play. They wanted to know if the hype was real about me. Then 2 days later it was time for surgery.

I wake up early in the morning to leave. I was super thirsty. I had not been drinking anything since last night. We wait about 30 minutes until we go into the room. I get dressed and lay down in the bed. They put the IV in me and say they will be back in about 10 minutes. I just lay there hoping for the best. I talk to my parents until the doctors come in. They put the anesthesia in me, and I feel it as soon as they do. When they roll me out I looked at my parents and looked at the doctors then I was out.

I wake up after the surgery thinking I had pins like she said. The man gives me some apple juice, and he tells me I had to get screws in my finger. He said the pins wouldn't work. They wheelchair me outside, and I get in the car. He tells me I have to hold my hand up all day and not get my cast wet. My uncle and papa visit me later that day to check up on me. I go 2 weeks with the cast. I have people ask me about it at all day school. It sucked having to wrap it in a trash bag everyday just to take a shower. I still wanted to help my team. I didn’t just want to sit on the bench ,since I couldn't play. So I became the towel and water boy. I have never been that, but until I could play I was. I also cheered on the team a lot from the bench. It was hard at times going to every practice and game not being able to play. Everyday I had someone ask me about basketball, and when I was coming back. I kept my head up though, trying to always stay positive.

When I went back to the doctors in 2 weeks I finally got to take my cast off. I was tired of my bad handwriting, carrying it around, and having to wrap it in a trash bag when I take showers. The doctor said it healed great, from what she saw on the x-rays. She also said I had to start moving my finger and going to therapy. It was gonna be really stiff from having the bone tissue opened, and from my hand being in a cast for 2 weeks. They gave me a removable splint for my hand, so I can move it. It actually looked stylish too it was white and black.

The next day is my first day going through the finger exercises she told me to do. It was extremely stiff and hard to move. I knew overtime it would get easier and feel normal. I did the exercises 3 times a day for 10 minutes for the first week. I had to rub vitamin e oil on it every day, to get rid of the scar tissue. I went to therapy 2 times a week. I wasn't sure what to expect, when I first went. All I expected was a lot of pain in my finger, but the first two times weren't like that. It was just simple hand movements. They said I was doing good with the progress I had made.

Then the next week they started stretching my finger. They bended it more and put me through harder hand exercises. Now it started to hurt but I knew it was progress. I could tell the differences after the therapy sessions. After the therapy, they would wrap my finger in special tape to make sure it didn’t swell. The best thing about going to therapy was after when I got food. I would usually go to a barbecue place nearby. It was really good, I would get the chicken sandwich there. My last 2 weeks, I had to buddy strap my fingers. Finally, I didn't have to wear any sort of splint anymore.

Then the 6 weeks were up. It felt like it took forever to get to this moment. I went to the doctor to see if I would get cleared. I did my finger exercises in the waiting room, so I could show her how good my hand movements were. When they sent me and my mom to the room we were nervous. This was the moment we had been waiting for. I was even more nervous when the doctor came in. She had looked at my pinky and said there was still scar tissue. That was a downside, but she also pointed out other good things. She said my pinky was completely healed, and that there was bone growth in it. She also said my hand movements were great. Then she asked for me straighten my finger out. That was where it went wrong. My finger wasn't very straight. I couldn't make the tip of my pinky straight. Then she said I had to wait 2 more weeks until I could play. She gave me a thing to make it straight that I had to wear all day. I was heartbroken by the news. I had waited so long, and now I had to wait even longer.

Afterwards, we went to the barbecue place. I got a frito pie this time. I was quiet the ride home. The rest of the day I was sad, but the next day I stopped being sad. I went back to being the waterboy for the 2 weeks.

For my 2 weeks left I exercised and worked on my left hand. It wasn't even that bad, the time went by fast. Next thing I knew it was a day before the game. I was ready to finally play my first game. The day I was ready for was finally here. Now it is time to get back and better.