"What do you mean my friend is lying?! Why would she be lying?" I looked at the doctor in total panic. Why would Ellie be lying? She knows she can tell me anything. She had never lied to me before. There were no secrets between us, at least that I knew of.
"Miss Williamson, please calm down."
"How can I calm down when you are telling me that my best friend, my sister is lying, not only to me but to you as well! How can I calm down?! How do you even know she's lying?"
"Look I know this isn't easy to hear but I need you to calm down so I can explain." She repeated herself in a soothing tone in hopes it would ease my mind.
I couldn't get a word out. I just nodded my head, indicating that I agreed.
"Besides an X-ray, I also ordered a CT scan. I wanted to make sure that she only had one broken rib and that there was no internal damage caused by that said fracture." The doctor calmly explained to me but to no avail.
"What? She's fine right?!" I panicked. What if she has internal damage? Isn't that what they die from in the movies?!
"She's fine, she has in fact only broken one rib and there's no signs of any internal bleeding. However, the thing with a CT scan is that not only can you see new fractures but you can also see the previous ones that are almost healed, but not completely."
"Okay, so what does that mean?" I asked her confused, having absolutely no clue where she was going with this.
"I mean that this isn't the first time that she has had a broken rib. There are signs that show us that this has happened before. More than once. I've even checked her previous records and over the last year she has been here multiple times for minor injuries, mostly small fractures or sprains but also small wounds or lacerations."
"Last year?" I asked her, confused.
"Yes, does that mean anything to you?" The doctor looked at me, waiting for a response.
"Do you think someone is physically abusing her?" I asked her in a whisper.
"I'm not saying that she is, because I don't know that with certainty. I'm only saying that you should keep an eye on her."
"I will." Was all I said.
"Here's my card, if anything happens give me a call." She handed me a cart with a number on it.
"Thank you, I really appreciate it."
"You're welcome, Anything for a fellow American." She smiled at me.
I was about the reply when suddenly Ellie walked through the door, yelling at me to hurry up. I thanked the doctor one last time and then made my way to my impatient best friend. She swung her arm around me and we exited the hospital.
During the car ride, I kept a close eye on Ellie, trying to figure her out. Could she really be lying? We grew up together, I can't help but think that I would know if she'd be lying or maybe that's my mind forcing me to not see the horrible truth. The truth, that she is in fact in an abusive relationship.
The things doctor Grey has told me are still resonating in my mind. I can't deny that I haven't had my suspicions about Jacob. I never liked the guy. After some time dating him, Ellie started to change. They were small changes, but nevertheless they were there. And that all started after she started dating Jacob so maybe, just maybe there was something true about her words.
She and Daan were both upfront and I was in the backseat. They were joking around and singing along to the radio until she received a text. Her whole demeanor suddenly changed. She went from being happy and outgoing to quiet and maybe a little sad even. It made me wonder who the text was from and what it said.
The moment we got home Beth immediately was by Eleanor's side, asking the brunette multiple questions. She was worried about the young girls and she wasn't the only one. Jordan and the other girls, who apparently had come home with Beth, were waiting for Ellie to arrive, to make sure the midfielder was okay.
Eleanor being Eleanor, her first idea was to go change and go for a run. She had missed a day of practice and she had to make sure she wasn't falling behind. Her words not mine. I swear that girl is a machine. Jordan however wasn't having it and forced her to settle on the couch. She told the young girl that if she were to get off that couch, she would tell Joe and he would bench her the next game she was able to play. That shut Ellie up without any problem.
The afternoon was going fine. The girls stayed over for dinner and were currently watching a movie. Until there was a knock on the door and Ellie completely froze.
In walked Jacob with an unamused look on his face. He instantly went to Eleanore and gave her a kiss on her head and told us that they were going upstairs. Ellie got up without a word and followed the boy upstairs. When they were out of earshot all the girls turned to me.
"Okay, now spill." Lisa looked at me.
"Spill what? What are you talking about?" I played dumb.
"O come on Leah, you stayed behind to talk to doctor Grey and ever since that, you've been watching Ellie like a hawk and you've been quiet. So what's going on? What did she say to you?" Daan asked.
"Nothing." I kept my ground. I didn't want to worry my teammates and more importantly, I know how closed off Ellie can be. I don't want to betray her trust by saying the wrong thing. Besides, what if I'm wrong. Those are serious accusations.
"Look, I get that she's like your sister, but she's our friend too. What did the doctor say that got you so freaked out?" Jordan pushed. I finally caved. If what doctor Grey is saying is true, I can't do this alone. Then I'm going to need my friends. She's going to need her friends.
"She's been lying to us about her injury."
"What do you mean?" Viv asked, confused.
"Daan, how did you find out about her ribs? What did she tell you?" I asked her.
"I walked in on her while she was changing. I saw the bruise. It was big and it looked bad but she insisted that she was fine. That she got it during our game of paintball."
"And you believe her?" I looked her right in the eye.
"Yeah. I mean, I don't know. Why wouldn't I believe her? Why would she lie about it?"
"But you are not completely convinced?" Lisa, who was catching on to what I was saying, asked her.
"No, I'm not. There was just something that's bugging me. A little voice inside, that's telling me somethings not right." The midfielder looked at us with a sad expression on her face.
"Leah, where are you going with this? What's going on?" Jordan asked.
"The doctor told me that the bruises were older than she said they were. She told me that they were already a couple days old and that there were signs that it wasn't the first time that she suffered small injuries like these."
Everyone went silent. No one knew what to say. What do you say when you find out that your best friend is lying to you about the possibility that she might be in an abusive relationship?
Viv was the first to break the silence. "Leah, is she in trouble?" Not daring to use the word that everyone dreaded to use.
I sighed and took a breath. I looked at my group of friends that all had the same goal on their minds, protecting Ellie. I noticed the sad and concerned look on their faces which I'm sure was matching my own.
"I don't know. I honestly don't know."
Ellie's pov
Jacob pushed me inside my bedroom and roughly closed the door. You didn't need to be a detective, to know that he was pissed.
"What the hell did you tell them?" I flinched, mentally preparing myself for the worst.
"Nothing, I swear. I told them that it happened during our paintball game." I pleaded with him. Desperate for him to believe me.
When he didn't immediately answer, I feared the worst. Suddenly he took a step closer so he was right in front of me, tugging a strand of hair behind my ear.
"I believe you. Now how about we watch a movie. Just you and me?" He took me in his arms and gently rocked us back and forth.
You see this is what I hated most about it all. It wasn't the beating or the name calling. I could take that. It was the way he made me feel. After everything he still had the ability to make me feel loved. I still had faith that it would all change and I hated it.
A little over a week had passed since breaking my ribs and they had healed up pretty nicely. Already after a couple of days of resting, believe me, I didn't have a choice thanks to the girls, I got the all clear to resume training again.
However I wasn't allowed to play in the game against Tottenham, which ended in a draw by the way. Tomorrow we're playing Chelsea. I was really looking forward to it. It's never easy playing Chelsea but at this point I just wanted to play.
Jacob had been quiet too. He had come over a couple of times and surprisingly he was very loving. It made me wonder that maybe we were going back to the way it all started.