You can't be my mum (a Lucy Bronze fanfic) - Book 1

Chapter 7 - call me if you need me

Rosie's POV:

It had been about an hour since I fainted. I was now sat on the small, creaky hospital-like bed in the nurses office. The nurse had given me some headache tablets but so far, they hadn't helped. My ribs were still in absolute agony but I couldn't ask for anything for them because then it would unravel a long line of hidden truths. The only thing distracting me was the nurse typing loudly on her keyboard ,with her overly long nails, filling out an accident form for me. Lucy was also in the room with me, she hadn't said anything. She just kept staring at me. Suddenly, the amount of bricks in the wall had become very interesting. I had counted up to 246 before she snapped me out of my thoughts, "Rosie?". I dragged my eyes away from the wall and focused on her, "I said how are you doing?". I felt guilty that she had to repeat herself because I wasn't paying attention. I managed to mutter out, "I'm fine". I knew that if I continued speaking, I would end up crying hysterically and I really didn't want to do that in front of my idol, the one and only Lucy Bronze. I could tell that she wasn't satisfied with her answer, but she wasn't going to push it.

The nurse swivelled her chair round and stood up, "I'm just going to collect your accident form from the printer" she stated before leaving the room dramatically. A single tear fell down my pale face and I quickly wiped it away with my hand, but I knew that it wouldn't stop at one. Sure enough, a tsunami of salty liquid streamed down my face. They were falling faster than I could catch them. I felt a shadow look over me. Not daring to look up, I just whispered "I'm sorry". The next thing I know, I'm being pulled into a warm embrace making me feel comfortable for the first time in years, maybe even forever. Lucy and I stayed like that for a while. No questions, no judgements, she just allowed me to be upset without having to explain myself. The nurse came back in and I sat down on the bed again, but this time was different. Lucy was sat next to me, one arm wrapped around my shoulder, squeezing it to let me know everything would be alright, and I actually believed it would be. If I could stay here forever.

Lucy Bronze's POV:
I was confused. I didn't understand why Rosie was so upset. It made me feel uneasy as I knew it was more than just fainting. I just knew that I had to be there for her. Not because I hadn't been there for the first 15 years of her life, but because she clearly needed someone to be there for her and I could be that someone.

Rosie's POV:
The nurse told me that because I had lost consciousness without a reasonable explanation, she would have to call my parents to come and pick me up so I could rest for the rest of the day. At the mention of their names, I expected to have a panic attack or at least cry but I just stood up and forced myself to energetically say, "no need, I'm fine". Both the nurse and Lucy were shocked at my sudden burst of energy, "come on Rosie, you need to rest" Lucy said sympathetically but I just laughed sarcastically and gave her a death stare which she unexpectedly returned. I realised they weren't going to give in, so I stood up and walked towards the door while saying, "I'll just walk home if you want me to go home that badly then". An arm gripped strongly onto me causing me to turn around and follow the arm to their face. It was Lucy, "No, I'll drive you".

After it was finally agreed that Lucy would take me home, the nurse made her sign a few things to say that she understood that I was in her care temporarily and she was responsible if anything happened to me.

Eventually, we made it out of the nurses office. We walked silently down towards the locker room to collect my bags. It wasn't awkward though, it was a comfortable silence. As we arrived, everyone was taking their boots off because it was lunch time. A few people checked how I was, including Amelia, but I didn't really want to go into details so I just said quickly, "I'm fine, Lucy's just taking me home to rest".

Walking out of school felt great, but walking out of school with a professional footballer was even better. I had only known her since Saturday, yet she was taking me home.

We both got into Steph's car as it was the car that they had all came in. Neither us had spoken a word until we were driving.

Lucy Bronze's POV:
"So are you going to tell me what actually happened?" I asked hoping to get some answers. I looked across to the passenger and saw Rosie sat with her elbow up against the window and her hand pressing up against her forehead. Fresh tears had begun to form and I immediately felt bad. Whatever was going on must be having quite a big effect on her. I decided to just stay silent for the rest of the journey, not wanting to overstep any boundaries. It pained me to know that my daughter was hurt physically and clearly mentally. I just wish she would let me in. During the silence, my brain drifted to the game on Saturday. More specifically, after the game when her dad arrived. I had so many questions. I tried to fill in the blanks myself but it was impossible to even guess what was going on. The only person that could help me with that was Rosie.

Rosie's POV:
I had put my house directions into the sat-nav when we got into the car because I was shit at giving directions and I didn't really want to talk.

When we arrived at my house, I saw my dad was home from work early. Something must have happened. Before I had the chance to get out the car, Lucy pressed a piece of paper into the palm of my hands, it was her phone number. "Thanks?" I replied confused.

"Call me if you need me"