Timeless - Mal Pugh (Third book to Attached and My Cure)

Chapter 11

Morgana's POV

I spent the next morning and afternoon in D.C. with the Ashley's and Trinity. We went out to breakfast and took a few pictures before they took me to the airport and gave me a speech about how I need to take care of Mal and how I can't do stuff like this. 

I told them I wouldn't let them down, and I'd see them in a few weeks. We exchanged big hugs and I boarded my plane. 

I brought Mal cookies from her favorite place in D.C, as well as my favorite type of cookies, Hatchy's homemade. 

I hope she's not mad at me, which she definitely is. 

I burst into our house, leaving my shit by the door and walked straight into the living room where she was sitting. 

"Mal, I'm ready to be done with whatever selfish bullshit I was going through. I'm ready to be fucking responsible for once and take care of you every minute I possibly can. I'm with you 100% in this recovery process and I will do whatever you need to get you back on the field as soon as you're ready." 

"Thank you Morgana." She said, tears in her eyes. "I was starting to get worried that-" 

I sat down and hugged her, not letting her finish that statement.

"It's always you, Mal." I tucked her hair behind her ear and grabbed her face, looking her dead in the eye. "Always you. Forever." 

She kissed me to finish off our moment. Then her parents came in, and she pushed me away like I was her secret high school boyfriend or something. 

"Look what I brought you." I smiled, running to the door to grab the cookies from her favorite bakery and the cookies Hatchy gave me. 

"You're gonna share those, right?" Her dad asked, diving his hand into the cookie tin. "I've heard too much about Hatchy's cookies to not try one." 

We all laughed and I sat back down, flipping through the channels. 

I was happy everything was cleared up. 

I was just happy. 

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A few long weeks passed. The Red Stars were beginning to crumble. We'd lost 2 of our last 3 games and the other was a tie. 

I was really, really struggling without Mal. Like having the hardest possible time. I got subbed at halftime of our last game because I was so frustrated with the way I was playing. 

Her birthday was April 29th, and it was her 21st. She didn't want to do anything at all, so I bought a cake and we ate it with her parents and her sister's family flew in. She said she'd wait for my 21st to go to the bar with me. 

By our 4th game without Mal, she was at the games without crutches but still wearing a tough brace. Her recovery was going well thankfully, though it wasn't easy at all. She was still in pain through PT, but she said she started to feel better overall. 

At this point, I was playing so poorly that Mal was the only thing keeping me going. I felt run down and completely exhausted all the time. 

I had less than a month until World Cup consideration, so I needed to step it up.

On the night of May 22nd, I got a text from John, Chloe's husband.

We'd just won 2-1 in an afternoon game in Portland, I put up both goals, the second one coming in the last 3 minutes of the game after we were tied 1-1. 

I played like my old self again. Mal was right there on the bench, and I felt more relaxed and less pressured. I just felt great that day, for the first time in a long time.