Chapter 98 – Sparks Under the Lights
The gym hadn't changed.
Same dusty hardwood, same echo of sneakers squeaking, the same banners hanging above the bleachers — champions of tournaments won, years remembered. But for Ryan, it all felt like a stranger's dream. Something he was told he belonged to, but couldn't grasp.
Until now.
He sat at the edge of the bleachers, his wheelchair angled so he could see the full court. Jack was next to him, quiet as always. The Wolves were playing their final home game before the playoffs. The crowd was buzzing, the energy thick in the air — but Ryan felt… disconnected. Like he was floating through it.
Ben was on the court, drenched in sweat, calling plays, trying to hold the team together. Savannah cheered from the student section, screaming his name. Anna was somewhere too, probably watching from the other side of the bleachers. Ryan hadn't seen her yet.
He watched the final seconds tick down.
The other team scored.
The buzzer rang.
They lost.
And just like that — the gym went silent for a beat.
Then a roar exploded.
It wasn't disappointment. It wasn't anger. It was pride. Applause. Cheers. The Wolves had given everything. This was Rosehill. This was home.
Ryan blinked.
Suddenly, everything hit.
The tryouts.The coach's hand on his shoulder.The team huddles.Ben grinning with a bloody nose after their first win.Savannah handing out water bottles and playfully mocking their sweaty socks.Anna — sitting in the bleachers in that blue hoodie. Her hand in his. Her laugh in his ear.
His chest tightened.
And then…
Something shifted.
His legs.
A pulse. A twitch.
Ryan gasped.
Jack noticed immediately. "Ryan?"
Ryan stared down at his feet.
His left foot had moved.
Just a little.
But it moved.
"I… I felt that," he whispered.
Jack was already waving Coach Daniels over. "He moved! His foot—he moved it!"
Ryan couldn't hear the rest. The noise of the gym drowned everything. But not the noise of the crowd — the noise in his own mind.
The memories were flooding in. Not pieces. Not fragments.
All of it.
The bookstore.The café.The storm.The kiss.The heartbreak.The secret.
Everything.
His hands trembled as he looked out at the court again, eyes locked on Ben who was staring back at him now, frozen in place.
Savannah saw too. She pushed past people and rushed toward him.
Ryan's breath was shaking. "I remember."
Savannah knelt beside him, her eyes wide. "What?"
"I remember everything."
His voice cracked.
He looked at her — at Jack, at the gym, the team, the court — and for the first time in months, he wasn't lost anymore.
He was home.
And even if he'd never play again…
He was still part of the Wolves.
Still Ryan Whitmore.