We acquired our own share of yellow cards throughout the second half, with Katie, Caitlin, and I being warned by the referee, which in our eyes was totally undeserved. Surely, my tackle hadn't entirely been clean, but I didn't think it was fair for the opposing team to be granted a free kick, especially with all of the fouls we weren't awarded for. In the end, the paper was shown to me for my continuous complaints, and both Leah and Kim had to drag me away from the referee before I could throw any more insults her way.
I was frustrated with the lack of chances, and so was Jonas, who soon took Viv and Beth off, wanting to bring some new power into our game. But his efforts did not grant us any more success, and the game finished with only one of our goals. It was enough, of course, to ensure three points and make us the tiniest bit of relieved, but we knew it hadn't been our best game.
"Good game", Leah hugged me once I'd made my way over to the bench, clapping my teammates' hands.
"You too", I smiled, despite the fact that Leah had been subbed off around the seventieth minute, along with Beth and Viv.
"How's the head?", Viv asked, knocking softly onto my forehead. I held back a wince in pain as I forced a laugh over my lips.
"Hard as steel", I smiled, hugging Viv shortly.
"You're gonna take my spot as top-scorer", Viv sighed as we walked towards the Arsenal fans that had travelled to Reading.
"Dat weet ik niet", I smiled, ruffling her bun. She dug away from me a second too late. I grinned at my success.
My headache reappeared when I made my way out of the changing room, my hair wet and my body wrapped in a large hoodie and winter coat. It was cold now, realistically not a lot colder than it had been half an hour ago when we'd still been on the pitch, but my muscles had cooled down and so had my temperature.
Leah didn't mind when I dropped my head onto her shoulder on the bus, drifting asleep quickly. My stomach turned now and then, the feeling of being sick soon waking me out of my trance-like sleep now and then but nothing ever came up, so I just dropped back onto Leah's shoulder, burying myself in the comforting fabric of her hoodie and the smell of her shampoo. She didn't say a single word, even in the short times that I was awake, busying myself with figuring out which pictures of the day to post to my Instagram. I settled on the typical group pictures, one of me, Leah and Viv rounding the stadium and one of me on the ground like a starfish, my hands covering my eyes. I found the picture funny. Leah didn't.
By the time the bus parked in front of our training centre, I was still overcome with tiredness, heaving myself out of the seat and carrying my bag exhaustedly. We were dismissed quickly, and made our way back home even quicker as my teammates seemed to mirror my state, the adrenaline long gone and replaced by the ache of muscles and heavy eyelids.
"Come on, I'm driving you home", Leah nudged my side after we'd said goodbye to Beth and Viv.
"Oh, no that's fine. I can drive", I waved her off, but Leah remained unbothered by my attempt.
"You're falling asleep standing, Ellie. Let me drive you", she repeated and I complied this time, not even having the energy to give her a nod.
"Your head hurts, doesn't it?", Leah asked as I got settled in the passenger's seat, leaning my head onto the headrest. I nodded. The ache had returned even heavier than it'd been during the game, constantly pounding against my forehead.
"You're probably concussed", Leah evaluated, and I didn't have the energy to disagree with her, instead humming quietly.
The drive was quick and silent, both of us not having the energy to say anything else, tired after today's events.
"See the team doctor tomorrow, okay?", Leah asked as she turned her engine off, silence engulfing us suddenly. I nodded.
She was right, I was definitely concussed. There was no other explanation for the pounding in my head, and with the impact I'd taken, it definitely wasn't surprising. With these kind of injuries, there was no sense in fighting. Even I realized that, which meant a lot. A visit to the doctor was the right thing. We still had time ahead of our Champions League against Lyon, and if I managed to get a lot of rest, I'd likely be able to use the few days left to recover and make my comeback to training just in time.
"I will. See you tomorrow. And thank you", I huffed towards Leah, gathering my bags from the backseat before waving a final goodbye to her and making my way over to the entrance of my building.
Magnus was still awake when I arrived, much to my surprise, and I quickly fed him dinner before I walked over to my bedroom.
"My head hurts", I whined towards the cat, who, of course, didn't answer, instead cozying into the spot he usually took in my bed. I pulled on a pair of shorts to sleep in, along with a hoodie, as I wanted to wear my Arsenal hoodie into training (or the medical visit) tomorrow.
Sighing contently at the comfort that my bed provided, I pulled the covers towards my waist and Magnus' stomach, careful not to suffocate my cat, although he more often than not left me during the night to sleep in his own bed or on top of the covers. Today, he quickly escaped the blanket and settled on top of it instead, looking up at me with large eyes.
I quickly snacked a picture of him, posting it on my Instagram story and sending it to Leah at the same time.
Oops! Această imagine nu respectă Ghidul de Conținut. Pentru a continua publicarea, te rugăm să înlături imaginea sau să încarci o altă imagine.
She didn't reply before I fell asleep, although that might've been due to the lack of time I gave her. I was really fucking tired.
vivien speaks!
i kind of hate this chapter but it's okay, we move
it's kind of a short one as well i hope you guys don't mind
what if i told you i'd finished writing the first act?
anywho there'll still be some chapters for the first act so dw!
as always, votes and comments are greatly appreciated
