Chapter Text
Tobin crosses the ball into the box, bending it right towards Abby. Abby brings it down easy, takes a touch and then sends it towards the far post. The Chinese keeper dives and is able to tip it up and out for a corner kick. Tobin jogs across the field, dribbling the ball to the flag. She sets the ball where she wants it and takes a step back, raising her hand. Tobin takes in where everyone is standing. Abby has two people around her but a space opens up just in front of Alex as a third Chinese player moves closer to Abby. ‘ She can get it. ’
Alex stands near the far post between two defenders, watching Tobin. She see’s the look in her eyes and knows just where the ball is going to be. She watches Tobin’s arm drop and the ball curves right towards her. She jumps up as two defenders come in towards her. She feels the ball hit right above her forehead, then she feels a hard blow to her cheek, and then she doesn’t feel anything. Everything is black. She hears a ringing, a buzzing. The blackness starts to fade, going from black to gray to white to nothing.
~~~
Tobin follows the ball with her eyes after kicking the ball. She watches Alex’s head connect with the ball, sending it towards the goal. The ball goes straight into the keeper’s hands and Tobin turns to head back down the field. She turns her head around looking for the ball and notices Julie and Morgan kneeling down right in front of the goal. The whistle is blown while the official and a few Chinese players motion towards the US trainers frantically. Tobin looks closer and sees a figure on the ground in front of them. Alex. She starts jogging over, looking straight to Morgan, locking eyes, hoping to get any type of information from her face as the trainers rush towards the goal. ‘ Is it her knee? ’ ‘ Did she come down funny? ’ Tobin quickly starts to head over while Morgan shakes her head. The younger midfielder turns back to Alex, not being able to look at Tobin. Tobin looks around Morgan and Julie and notices Alex isn’t moving. Tobin moves around Morgan and sees Abby leaning over Alex.
“ALEX. Come on, wake up,” Abby says authoritatively, snapping her fingers in front of the younger forward’s face. Abby looks up and sees Tobin. “Tobin you shouldn’t touch her, okay? But talk to her.” The trainers finally get there and push Abby and Tobin back. A stretcher comes up next to them seconds later. Tobin stands there in shock, watching the woman she cares for so much have a cervical collar put around her neck. Abby grips her shoulder tightly, “Talk to her Tobin. She’ll want to hear your voice.” Tobin looks between Abby and Alex, her mouth opens but no words come out.
Tobin feels another arm reach around her back and grip her waist. She looks over and sees Kelley nervously looking down at Alex.
Tobin refocuses on Alex who is about to be put on a backboard. Tobin takes a shaky step forward as Alex gets rolled onto her side. The backboard slides under her and she is then quickly strapped to it. Tobin’s knees buckle and almost drops except for Kelley’s arm that is around her waist, holding her up.
Abby steps in front of Tobin putting her hands on the side of her face, “TOBIN. She’s going to be okay. Go with her. She’ll want you there when she wakes up.” Tobin shakes herself out of the cloud she had entered, nodding, and then looking at Alex as she is transported onto the stretcher. Tobin sprints to catch up as it is wheeled away towards an ambulance that is waiting at the edge of the turf.
She jumps into the back just before the doors close. She sits down and looks up, starting at the blue cleats in front of her. Her eyes start to slowly work their way up the body that she has spent years memorizing. She places her hand on Alex’s shin before continuing to work her eyes up further. When she gets to her hips she sees the medic grabbing Alex’s blue jersey and start cutting up the middle, separating the 1 and 3 that have become synonymous with her name. Once her shirt is opened he peels off some circular stickers from a sheet and puts them on different parts of her torso followed by attaching different colored wires to each sticker.
Tobin opens her mouth, trying to find words. “Wha-What are you doing? Is she okay? What’s going on?”
The man turns to her for a split second before continuing to work. “I just finished hooking up cables that are attached to this monitor,” he says, patting a gray box next to him, “this will show me how her heart is doing and how much oxygen she is getting. We’re not going to know much about what’s going on with her head until we get to the hospital but right now her breathing is a little shallow. We have her on O2-” The machine behind him beeps and starts printing out a thin piece of paper. He stops and turns toward it, pulling it out and looking at it for a moment. “Hey, how long until we get there” he calls a little frantic towards the front of the rig.
“We’re pulling in now. They have a team meeting us at the door to take her in” a female voice calls back. Tobin feels the ambulance stop and then the doors are thrown open. A person in green scrubs leans in and soon Alex is floating out of the ambulance making Tobin’s hand retract. Tobin sees Alex’s face stop in front of her for a moment while the stretcher is released from the ambulance.
Tobin notices that the normally beautiful skin is drained of color. She stares towards her eyes, hoping to see the two blue orbs that she fell in love with staring back at her. Unfortunately, all she sees are closed eyelids. “Lex?” She reaches out her hand until a male hand reaches out and pulls her hand back. The stretcher is then moved away and towards the building.
“They need to help her. I can bring you to the front desk and they can either show you where her room will be or you’ll have to sit in the waiting room. It will depend on what she needs.” Tobin just nods and hops out. The medic walks up to the doors and enters a code that opens the sliding doors. Tobin’s cleats click against the tile as they walk up to the nurse’s station.
“Hey, we just brought an Alex Morgan in. I have one of her teammates and she is just wondering where she can go.”
“They just took her up to radiology but you can wait right over there” she says pointing to a glass enclosed room with chairs and a tv, “and I can let you know when something changes.”
“Thanks Ann,” the medic says before leading Tobin over to the waiting room and helping her into a chair. He pats her back quickly and adds, “Good luck,” before standing and heading back to the desk to finish the paperwork.
A while later, Ann walks over to Tobin who is still hunched over but has no tears left to cry. “You’re Tobin correct? You came in with Alex Morgan?”
Tobin stood up quickly, wiping her face with her jersey that she is still wearing. “Yes. That’s me. Can I see her yet?"
“No. I’m sorry they had to take her up to surgery. I have a few things I need you to sign though and then I am going to take you to a private room. The rest of your team will be here in an hour or two.”
Tobin nods then everything she’s just been told starts to register. “Wait surgery? What’s going on? Is she okay?”
“She had quite a bit of swelling and they need to reduce it. A doctor will come and let you know more when they can. I’m sorry I don’t know any more at this time. If you could come and sign the papers though so we can get everything squared away.”
Tobin nods again and follows the nurse back to the desk, her feet clicking with each step against the linoleum. She hands Tobin a clipboard. “I need you to confirm that all of this information is correct to your knowledge and then sign right there at the bottom.” She points to a blank line where Tobin would sign. Tobin quickly gazes over it, full name, birthday, allergies, address, height, insurance, the list continues on. Tobin signs the bottom handing it back to Ann who gives it to another nurse behind the desk.
“Okay, Tobin,” she says in a comforting voice. “We have set your team up in a conference room so you will have some privacy. The doctor will come for you there. If you could just follow me please?” The nurse starts walking down the hall, waving a key card over a scanner to open another set of doors. Tobin quickly falls into step behind her. “We also called Miss Morgan’s parents.” ‘ How did I forget about them? They should be here too. ’ “They are probably boarding soon. They were in the airport when we called. Someone from your team had already called them. They wanted me to tell you to stay strong and that everything would work out.” She opens up a wooden door revealing a large conference room. There were chairs lining the walls as well as chairs around a large wooden table.
Tobin nods to the nurse then goes into the corner of the room, pushing a chair out of the way and sinking to the floor. She brings her knees to her chest and wraps her arms around them, burying her head in between her knees.
She doesn’t know how much later it is but she hears the door open. She doesn’t look up but can hear many footsteps walking in. She hears the chair next to her move and feels someone sit next to her and put their arm around her.
“Tobs?” Lauren asks softly. “Can you tell me what’s going on?” Tobin launches herself into Lauren’s arms as tears start to fall again. Lauren puts her hand on Tobin’s back and rubs circles. “Don’t cry sweetie. I got you. Alex is strong.” Amy walks over with a box of tissues handing them to Lauren who uses them to dry Tobin’s face only for it to be rewet by the endless flow of tears.
After a long time, the tears have dried and there are just a few sniffles from Tobin now and then. Ashlyn walks over to them with Tobin’s bag. She kneels down “Hey Tobin. We brought your stuff.” She reaches into Tobin’s bag pulling out a ring. “I thought you might want this.” Tobin looks up from Lauren’s chest to see Ashlyn holding out her engagement ring.
She reaches her hand out for it. “Thanks Ash,” she says with a small smile pulling the ring on after pulling off the tape she had wrapped around her finger for the first time just a few hours ago. She stares at the ring on her hand for the next few minutes until the door opens and an Asian woman in scrubs steps in.
“Tobin Heath?”
Tobin quickly stands up finally seeing all of her teammates, coaches, and staff crowded into the room. All of them are still in their jerseys or sweats from the game. Tobin walks to the door and past the doctor who closes the door behind them.
“Hi Tobin. I’m Dr. Liu, Alex’s doctor.” They shake hands quickly. “We were able to reduce the swelling in her brain. We think we got to it in time so as not to cause any long term damage. We won’t know for sure though until she wakes up. We are going to keep her in an coma for a few days so that her brain has time to heal. She is in very good shape so I have high hopes of her pulling out of this quite well.”
“Can I see her?” Tobin asks hopefully only hearing parts of what the doctor says but grasping that Alex is still alive and out of surgery.
“Not yet they are just finishing up but I would say within 30 minutes to an hour I can let you go see her. I know your teammates will also want to see her but not all at once,” she says looking back at the conference room. “Even though she’s asleep I don’t want her overcrowded so no more than three people in her room at a time. She has been set up with a private room in the VIP section so you won’t have to deal with press or fans. I will have a nurse come and take you upstairs when she has been transported back to her room.”
“Thank you…for everything,” Tobin says, as some of the worry that had built up in the past few hours slips away.
“Of course Tobin. It’s my job to get people better and that is all I want to do for Alex.”
Tobin walks back into the room to 30 plus waiting faces, many with tears in their eyes. Lauren is by her side in a second. “You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.”
Tobin shook her head, staring at her ring. “She’s out of surgery. She had swelling in her brain but they fixed it. They’re going to keep her under so she can rest and heal.”
Christie walks up to Tobin and hugs her tight. “Have you been able to see her since she was brought in?”
Tobin shakes her head, holding in her tears. “Not since the ambulance. They said I can once they put her in a room. You guys can see her too. Just not all at once.”
“Are her parents coming?” Kelley asks from behind her.
Tobin nods. “They’re probably on the plane by now.”
“Did the doctor say how long until you could see her?” Lauren asks softly.
“Thirty minutes to an hour.”
Lauren nods, walking out of the room. Most of her teammates come and hug her, whispering words of encouragement. Jill comes over and says that US Soccer is willing to help both of them in any way it can. Lauren walks back in and goes over to Tobin’s bag grabbing some extra clothes and Tobin’s towel.
“Come on Tobs. You’re going to go shower.”
“What?” Tobin raises her voice slightly shocked at Lauren’s comment and shakes her head.
“You’re not going to want to do it once you can see her and you just played 40 minutes. Let’s go.” Tobin wants to argue but the tone of Lauren’s voice tells her it would be pointless. She hangs her head and follows her out the door. She is lead to a bathroom with a shower. “I’ll be right outside” Lauren says before placing the clothes down and walking out the door.
Tobin quickly undresses and hops in the shower. Within ten minutes she is out and drying off. She walks out to find Lauren sitting on the floor, texting, waiting for her.
They walk back towards the room, Tobin now in USA sweatpants and a Nike t-shirt, Alex’s Nike t-shirt. As they approach the door they see a nurse walking out of the room and turn towards them. “Tobin?” she asks when she sees them. Tobin nods. “I can take you to see Alex now if you would like.”
“Yes please” turning to Lauren“come with me?” Lauren puts her arm around Tobin’s shoulder as the nurse closes the door and leads the two to an elevator taking them up two floors. They walk through a series of doors and end up outside a closed wooden door.
“Here we are. The nurse’s station that we just passed can help you with anything if you need it.”
Tobin opens the door while Lauren thanks the nurse. Tobin walks into the room slowly, twirling the new ring on her finger nervously. Her head immediately turned towards the bed and within seconds she’s next to Alex.
There was a white bandage wrapped around part of her head and a few wires coming from various points on her body. Lauren brings a chair over to where Tobin is standing and pushes her down into it. “What can I do?”
“Just be here. Tell me everything will be okay.”
“Tobs,” Lauren says, putting her hand on the younger girl’s shoulder. “Alex is strong. She always bounces back from injury stronger than she was before. It’s just who she is. She’s competitive and if she gives herself a goal she reaches that goal. She loves you and for that reason alone will pull through this and everything will be okay.”
“Thanks Chen,” Tobin carefully grabs Alex’s hand. “Can I just have like five minutes alone then people can start coming in.”
“Of course honey. By the time I get back downstairs and bring some people up it will be more than five minutes. I’ll grab your stuff while I’m down there too.”
Tobin just nods her eyes glued to Alex’s face and her hands softly holding Alex’s right hand. Lauren quietly exits the room, walking over to the nurse’s station. She informed them of what is going to happen and they nod. “Just make sure they are quiet considering we have other patients sleeping.” Lauren heads back to the conference room telling the team that they can go see Alex.
They end up pairing off and coming in two at a time since no one wants to kick Tobin out of the room.
They all come in hugging Tobin and telling her they will be there for her, for both of them. They all tell her Alex is strong and will pull through. Abby and Christie are the last two in.
“I can stay Tobin if you need anything,” Abby says.
“No. Go. This was your final game then you were going to be with family and relax on the island. Alex would hate if she screwed up your retirement plans. We can’t forget you if you’re still here.” Tobin tries to joke but can’t even force a smile. “I’ll let you know if anything comes up.” Abby nods heading over to Alex, taking Christie’s place while she walks over to Tobin.
“Tobin, this entire team is behind you and Alex. We will all be here for you if you need anything. We each have our own strengths and weaknesses. Your family is bigger than just the ones that were on the field today. You have been playing for this team for 8 years plus. You have so many people who love you, who love Alex, and will do anything for both of you. Use those resources. Don’t shoulder this all on own. We want to help but we also want to let you breath and give you space. Remember that we can all give you different viewpoints and help you through this.”
Tobin thanks her as she receives another hug before the two older players leave. Lauren comes back in and kisses Tobin’s cheek. “Do you want me to stay up here or go back down?”
“I want to be alone Chen. Thanks. The team should go celebrate with Abby.”
Lauren nods, giving her a squeeze before walking back out the door.
The next morning most of the team comes through again before their flights, most heading home for the holidays. They all tell Tobin that they will be back if she asks them too. Tobin thoughtfully denies each request and just wishes them safe flights and happy holidays. Lauren visits Tobin every day, bringing her something to eat.
After the fifth day she sees a nurse eating some lasagna that she had made for Tobin. She could tell because it was the FCKC Tupperware she had put it in. All she gets from Tobin when she comes in red faced was “I’m not hungry Chen. I had a bite but I couldn’t finish it and Chris was hungry.” Lauren just sighs and shares a look with Alex’s parents who sit on the couch beyond Tobin.