-Emily-
Hearing a low hum of a machine, I tried to peel my eyes open. A beep filled my ears, and a bright light shined over my eyes. Slowly peeling my eyes open, a piercing light covered my vision. Groaning out, a harsh scratching noise came out of my mouth. Rolling my head over, I saw a white tile floor. Looking back up towards the ceiling, I saw someone appear in front of my vision.
"Em?" I recognized the voice of my girlfriend. I tried to speak, but another scratching noise came from my throat. "Shh, don't try to speak." She whispered to me. "You're okay, Em. You're okay." She told me, as I slowly sat up. "They've already done one surgery on your jaw, so that's why you can't talk. They had to wire it shut in order for the bone to heal." Kelley explained. "They've also done one on your nose, and stitched up all of your cuts. But they don't want you moving much, you have a minor concussion." She told me, and I laid my head back on the pillow. Hearing the doors open, I looked up to see Alex, Tobin, JJ, and Press. Waving at them, they all smiled back.
"Hey Em." Alex said. "How are you?" She asked me, as I waved my hand from side to side. She nodded. "So so, got it."
"You really scared us all, especially Kelley." JJ said, and I looked up at Kelley. She smiled at me, as I grabbed her hand.
"We wanna show you something." Tobin said, pulling out her phone. She placed it in front of me, as I took it. As I looked down on my arms and hands, I saw bruises set into my skin. Looking back at the phone, I watched as a video started to play. It was me down on the ground, after I had been pushed into the post. I saw the camera zoom out, and then Alex walked into frame. I looked up at her, to see her covering her face. Then a loud 'hey' came, and I saw Alex punch the defender that pushed me. I smiled, as she continued to hit her. Pulling out some paper, I wrote quick on it.
"You threw a tantrum for me. Aw." I wrote, showing it to Alex. She blushed, and covered her face. The video continued, showing a huge fight breaking out. I then saw Alex get punched, and looked up at her.
I then took a closer look at all of my friends. Alex had a busted lip and bruising eye. Tobin had a cut threw her eyebrow, and JJ had a bruised nose. Press had a bruise on her cheek, and Kelley had a black eye. I can't believe I didn't notice. Taking the paper, I wrote again.
"You all got hurt." I wrote.
"It was are own fault." Alex said. "It was really my fault. But I couldn't stand to see those people push you around Em, and after that one girl sent you straight into the goal post. I lost it." She told me, and I wrote again.
"Thank you. You guys are amazing." I wrote, and they smiled at me.
"We love you Emily, you're our family." JJ said. "We'll always protect you."
---
After all of my friends left, it was just me and Kelley. The rest of the team had stopped by to see me, and I had now grown tired. Currently me and Kelley were watching sports center, and I then hard my name.
"Emily Rush is a force to be reckoned with. Not only did she have the highest goal scoring percentage through out the cup, but she scored in the finale with a massive head injury. Rush took two sets of cleats to her head while in the box. The impact caused massive bleeding and several gashes. Even though Rush had broken her nose and jaw, she continued to play. After Emily scored the penalty, she continued the match. In the second half, Japan defender Aya Sameshima pushed Rush into a goal post. This resulted in a fight to break out between both teams, initially started by Alex Morgan. Emily then had to be treated to again after the injury, and was allowed to continue play. After the U.S was announced World Cup champions, Emily collapsed on the field."
Kelley changed the channel, only to have another news reporter talk about me. Well, me and Kelley.
"The U.S women's national team was recently announced World Cup champions. One of the star players of the match was Emily Rush, who ran to the side lines as soon as the game ended. She ran straight to Kelley O'Hara. We've noticed a wonderful friendship blossoming between these two, but we never expected this." A picture of me and Kelley kissing appeared. "Yah, crazy. We all wanted this to happen, and we all knew it would."
Kelley changed the channel again.
"Emily Rush and-"
She changed the channel yet again.
"U.S women's national-"
I took Kelley's hand in mine, and shut the tv off. Taking the remote from her hands, I placed it on my bedside table. Nuzzling my head into Kelley's side, I pulled her closer to me.
"I love you Em." She said, and I kissed her temple. Picking up a piece of paper I had wrote on earlier, I held it over my mouth.
"I love you too."
---
I was discharged a few days later after I had recovered from my other two surgeries. I now had a scar running across my jaw, one across the bridge of my nose, and one running through my left eyebrow. They would be permanent, but I didn't mind.
I've lived with emotional scars for years, a few physical ones weren't going to kill me.
My jaw was still wired shut, so I still couldn't speak. I could only manage some muffles and groans.
So when me and Kelley were called into a press conference, I wasn't really happy. I couldn't speak, so Kelley would have to do all the talking. We were currently sitting in a conference room, dozens of reporters in front of us. I held Kelley's hand under the table, giving her a sense of reassurance. Then the first reporter asked a question.
"Kelley, Emily, tell us. Are you two dating?" A reporter asked, and Kelley looked at me. I gave her a nod, and she then spoke.
"Yes." Was all she said. Murmurs and whispers spread through out the conference room, as pictures were being taken.
"For how long?" A different reporter asked.
"Three months." Kelley said, as everyone whispered again.
"Who made the first move?" A younger female reporter asked.
"I did." Kelley blushed.
"Emily, would you like to comment?" A reporter asked. I pointed to my jaw, and Kelley explained.
"Emily's jaw is wired shut from her surgery, she can't speak." Kelley explained, and everyone nodded. More reporters started to ask continuous questions, and no one could get a clear answer from Kelley. "I think we're done for today." Kelley said, taking my hand.
She pulled me off of the stage, as we escaped the conference room. The two of us fled the hotel with Jill and Dawn, as they lead us to a car. Me and Kelley got into the car, as I took the drivers seat. Starting the car up, Jill and Dawn motioned us to go. Driving off, I fallowed the directions Jill gave me. Looking at Kelley, I pointed to her, the. Made the three finger okay sing with my hand.
"Yah Em, I'm okay." She said, and I nodded. I held my hand over my chest, and then pointed to her. "Why are you thanking me Em?" She asked, and I shrugged my shoulders. Pointing to her, I then pointed to my head, and then back at her. I then made a forward motion win my hand, and then motioned behind us. "I-what?" She questioned, laughing a little. I pulled out my phone, and swiped up my keyboard. I quickly typed, keeping my eyes on the rode. I then showed it to Kelley.
"You thought your way through that, you did it all alone." I typed to her.
"We'll talk about it later, let's just get to the bus." Kel said, and I nodded. Driving us to where the bus was, I then saw it appear before us. Parking next to the bus, me and Kelley hopped out. We raced over to the bus, bumping each other's shoulders and lightly pushing each other. We stumbled onto the bus, getting weird glances from our teammates.
"You guys are children." Abby mumbled. Kelley and I stifled some laughs, as we made our way to our seats on the bus. I sat down on the inside seat, as Kel sat down next to me. I pulled out my phone, and sent her a text.
"Can we talk now?" I sent her.
"Yah." She sent me the text.
"I'm sorry you had to do that by yourself, I really am." I typed.
"Emily, your jaw is wired shut. You can't exactly do anything about it. It was fine anyway. I did it, it's over. People know, now we don't have to hide." She texted. I put my phone down, and made her look at me. Grabbing behind her neck, I pulled her in to kiss me. It was a gently, soft kiss, but it meant so much. It meant simple things like thank you, but it also meant big things like I love you. It meant that we would never leave each other, it meant that we would always love each other.
"Gross." Tobin yelled from the seats across from us. I pulled away from Kelley, and quickly glared at Tobin. Trying to let a small smile spread onto my lips, I kissed her again. Peppering her lips and cheeks with kisses, I gave a small smile.
"I love you." She whispered, as I nodded my head at her. "Yah I know. You love me too, I got it." She mumbled, as she kissed me again.
"Alright, we get it. You two are madly in love, now stop!" Abby yelled, as everyone laughed and smiled. Yah, we were madly in love, and I hoped it stayed that way forever.
---
It's been three weeks and we've had three victory tour games. I haven't spoken in three weeks. My jaws been wired shut, but today was finally the day I got it out. I was nervous, I really was. They said it might be hard for me to talk at first, so they suggested I still didn't talk as much.
I was sitting on my hospital bed, holding Kelley's hand. A nurse was drawing a dotted line around the area of my jaw that needed surgery. Once she was finished, the nurse gave me a small smile.
"Alright sweetie, the doctors will be in soon to take you to the OR." The nurse told me, and I nodded. Once the nurse left, Kelley pushed herself into the bed with me. She traced her fingers over the tattoos running up and down my tan legs, sending chills up my spine.
Grabbing her hand, I interlocked out fingers. She looked over at me, as I glared at her. I motioned at her hand and then my leg, and shook my head.
"But it's fun." She said, kissing my good jaw side. "Your tattoos are hot, and I love them." She said, kissing my ear lob. Pushing at her again, Kelley laughed. I rolled my eyes, and kicked her out of my bed. "I'm sorry, I am." She said, pouting her lip. A knock came on my door, as it opened. Here doctors appeared, and gave me reassuring smiles.
Ready Emily?" One asked, and I nodded. They pulled the brakes off of my bed, and before they wheeled me away I gave Kelley one last kiss.
She didn't need to say I love you, and neither did I. We kind of just had a look, and look we've been giving each other for a long time. The look that said, I'll see you soon. Or good luck, or everything will be alright. Or it said don't worry, or I'm here for you. We used it to says many things, but in the end it meant one important thing to us.
I love you, and that will never change.