[ Whoa! Two chapters in one day! Three in a week! Thank you all for the support! Also, add me on MarioKart - 601010638453 ]
Her throat was irritated when she woke from a deep slumber, and her eyelids still felt heavy. She did not remember very well what had happened or why she was in the hospital, but she knew it had to be because of her collision with Leon during their match against Canada. Someone was holding her hand, and she squeezed it to see who it was, and Alex's head jolted upward from the bed.
"Casey?" Alex asked, sitting up. "Hold on, I'll go get you a doctor." She said, patting the back of her hand. She watched as she left the room and started to look around. She was in a private room, so it was just her with beeping machines that were annoying.
"Welcome back, Ms. Radcliffe. My name is Dr. Chase. I'm going to take this tube out of your throat, I'm sorry this is going to be uncomfortable." The doctor said, and she nodded as her doctor and another nurse worked to get the breathing tube out of her throat. She started coughing, the nurse extending a cup of water out to her.
"Thank you." She said after she stopped coughing.
"So do you remember what happened?" Dr. Chase asked, sitting on the edge of her bed. It was unprofessional, but it made Casey more comfortable.
"Uh not really? Everything is kind of fuzzy after the game ended." She responded.
"Well you had a pneumothorax, or a collapsed lung from a broken rib you sustained from your collision. I watched the game, I watched it happen, nice save. But, you're all good now, we went in and fixed you up, but the recovery time is about one to two weeks and you're gonna have to get cleared by a doctor in Orlando. We're gonna keep you overnight to make sure there's no complications, but you should be good to go in the AM." He explained to her, and she nodded.
"Thank you." She said with a smile, shaking his hand.
"No need to thank me, just doing my job. I'll be by to check on you later." He informed as he got up from the bed and exited the room.
"He seems bubbly." Casey commented, and they both laughed, Casey hissing in pain.
"Take it easy, hot-shot. You just had surgery." Alex chuckled, but Casey could not help but smile.
"Why the hell does all this happen to me?" She asked, throwing her head back against the pillow.
"Because you're just a little badass that's why. The powers above are just testing you for their final battle." Alex joked, and Casey could not help but laugh again, even though it hurt.
"Stop it!" She urged, but Alex just shrugged.
"Alright, alright." She responded, leaning back in her chair. "The team wasn't able to delay their flights on such short notice, so it's just you and me back to Orlando tomorrow. They send well wishes, however."
"That's fine. I'd rather have them all not see me as a total wreck. Only you're allowed to see that." Casey responded with a smile at the end.
"You want something to eat? I was thinking about heading down to the cafeteria and grabbing something." Alex asked.
"I'm not really hungry, but go ahead. I should call my parents to make sure that they know I'm alright." She told her, and Alex squeezed her thigh before nodding and standing up, walking herself out of the room. Casey then reached in front of her to the table where her phone was laying. She had missed calls and dozens of text messages from her friends and family, but she needed to call her mom and hear her voice. She put the phone up to her ear as it rang, and almost instantly the other end of the call picked up.
"Casey? Are you there?" Her mom asked frantically.
"Hi mom, I'm alright." She reassured quickly.
"We saw on Facebook that you had been hospitalized for that collision and FOX Sports had pictures and film of you getting hauled into the back of an ambulance, and then you didn't pick up your phone." She continued to go on like this.
"Ma, you need to calm down. I'm alright, just a little banged up."
"So banged up you needed to be rushed to a hospital?"
"When that collision happened near the end of the game, I ended up breaking a rib and had a pneumothorax. They fixed me up, I'm alright, I'm just out for the next two weeks until I'm cleared." Casey quickly explained to her mother.
"Okay, okay. That's not that bad, but still! Someone could have informed us as to what was going on."
"I know, I'm sorry. I would have but you know, had some trouble breathing and stuff." Casey said sarcastically, and she could hear her mother sigh on the other end of the call.
"Sometimes I wonder what goes through your mind, because that's not funny." Her mother scoffed, and Casey just chuckled.
"I'll be off the next couple of weeks, how about I come visit. When are you off next week?"
"Your father and I are both off for Memorial Day Weekend for the annual block party. You should see if Alex and any of your other teammates would wanna come."
"Will do ma. Listen, I'm pretty tired. Can you talk to dad for me?"
"Sure thing sweety. Maybe your father and I will come visit you and Alex when you get back."
"Sounds good, ma. I'll talk to you later."
"I love you."
"Love you too. Bye." Casey said, and she hung up the phone as Alex walked back into the room with a salad.
"Your mom freaked?" Alex asked, sitting back down and propping her feet up on the bed.
"Yeah, I was hoping someone had called her and informed them about what was going on. They had to find out on the postgame show." She responded with a sigh.
"Yikes, that's the worst. I'm sure Jill meant to call but she's got a lot on her plate right now." She answered, and Casey nodded in agreement.
"You wanna go to a block party next weekend?"
--
Casey was released the following morning and they were on a flight back to Orlando the next day. It was a little rough, but they made it. After another day or two of rest, she felt better than she had been feeling. Alex had been going back and forth between training sessions and checking in on her, even though she kept reassuring her that she did not need to come home in between trainings to make sure she was alright.
She had been in contact with Alessio throughout the week, and he was finally going to be coming to town that evening. He had asked to see her, but he knew that she had been injured and did not want to risk her health. She had told him no strenuous activities, but she would like to seem him as well.
"How about we meet at any restaurant of your choosing and go from there?" He suggested over the phone as he walked through the airport. They had been messaging one another for the past two and a half weeks, practically non-stop, to the point where they had each other's phone numbers.
"How about Ocean Prime? I've never been there but I've always wanted to." She responded, and he sounded pleased.
"I think that's a fine idea. Is seven o'clock alright?" He questioned.
"Sounds perfect. I'll see you then." She answered, and they said their goodbyes. She had no clue what she was going to wear, but she knew it needed to be classy. They were meeting in two hours, and it would take her a half hour to get to the place. She quickly curled her hair, which took most of her time, then did her makeup. She went to her closet and decided on a light white sweater with a brown crushed velvet denim skirt that zipped up the side and a pair of brown heeled ankle boots. She looked at the time and found she had just enough time to get to the restaurant by seven. She went out to her Jeep and took a couple of deep breaths to make sure it would not hurt to be laughing all night, for she assumed that would happen. Her pain was minimal, and she was happy. She just might be able to be cleared in that one week parameter instead of two.
She arrived at Ocean Prime just after seven, and when she walked in, she was completely transported. It was a beautiful venue, more classy than she would have imagined. A host greeted her with a smile.
"Hi there, do you have a reservation?" He asked her.
"Actually I'm supposed to be meeting someone?" She responded.
"Would that someone happen to be Mr. Miller?" He questioned, and she nodded. "Follow me, Ms. Radcliffe." He informed, and she did so, following the host around the outskirts of the restaurant and to the more private area of the restaurant. There were still a lot of people, just not as much traffic. When Alessio saw her, he stood up and greeted her with the biggest smile. He was wearing his normal attire of a dress shirt that was unbuttoned at the top with the sleeves rolled up, dress pants, and dress shoes.
"Good evening, Casey." He greeted with a smile, taking her seat out for her and pushing it in.
"Why thank you." She said with a smile. They sat and greeted each other for a few moments until after their drink orders were taken.
"How are you feeling?" Alessio questioned after their waitress walked away.
"I'm doing alright. I hate being sidelined like this, but hey, if that's what it takes to keep playing, so be it." She explained to him, and he smirked. "What?"
"It's just so refreshing to have someone so optimistic to talk to." He answered truthfully.
"I like to try and see the best in things, unless there's no going back, I guess." She responded.
"How do you mean?" He questioned, but she was saved from answering when their waitress came back with their drinks. Casey continued looking at her menu with a look of frustration on her face.
"Everything's so expensive. I'd have to get two other jobs to afford this place." She chuckled as she looked through the menu. She felt his hand rest on top of hers, and she looked up, startled.
"Relax, get whatever you would like. This dinner's off the company's dime anyhow." He informed, and she felt her cheeks go red.
"Alessio, I can't-" She started.
"Sunshine, I've got millions in the bank. Even if we order the entire menu three times, there will barely be a dent in my account. Plus, it's cooporate's money we're spending tonight. Get whatever your cute heart desires." He explained to her, and she felt her shoulders droop back in defeat.
"Sorry, I'm just not used to buying a single meal for at the same amount of buying twenty bowls at Chipotle." She said, and that got him to laugh. Eventually their waitress came back and they both ordered, Casey still trying to be relatively cheap, but even the cheapest thing on the menu was still over fifteen dollars. She still felt awful about it, and Alessio could tell, for that reassuring hand was back over hers.
"So Casey, I know you're the best goalkeeper in the world, but what about outside of soccer? What is Casey Radcliffe really like?" He asked, and she felt her mouth hang a little.
"I actually don't know, uh soccer's been my whole life for the past few years to the point that I really don't have time to do a lot." She told him, and he nodded.
"Reasonable." Was all he responded with. There was something about this man that intrigued Casey. He was all charming on the outside, but she could tell there was something different about him, she just needed to stick around and find out what.
And she wanted to tear him apart.