Wild Thing

-106-

After spending a few days in Ottawa catching up with friends, acquaintances, completing all of her obligations and enjoying some bonding time with her daughter and Mother, Kasey finds it extremely difficult to stand by herself in the middle of Macdonald–Cartier International Airport and wait for her flight to be called. 

Not wanting to cause a scene inside the building and risk being caught with tears running down her face by any chance photographers, Kasey asked her Mom and Kylie to say their goodbyes at the curb and allow her to leave solo and now she's regretting her decision. 

New Message

Mom: Hey. I just want to check in. I'll message you when I arrive in Chicago. Be good for Grandma. I love you so much Ky and I can't wait for you to join me and Buddy in Raleigh. XOXO

Kasey sees the screen light up and hears her first flight of the day called to Toronto, from there she'll have two hours to kill at Pearson before catching her flight to O'Hare, where she's hopefully to be met by a Courage team official to escort her to the team's hotel. 

Kasey is handed a room key and directions to the meal room. She heads up to the 4th floor and drops her bags, taking a few minutes to freshen up after her flights before then heading in the direction where the majority of her team has gathered and are eating their evening meal together. 

"Look, who's back! How was the trip home, Wild?"

"Long enough, but, not, long enough if you get my gist." 

The girls all nod their heads in acceptance of her response as she makes her way over to grab to plate of food and drink. 

Katelyn moves over to sit beside her and she smiles, "Hey." 

"Hey, how'd everything go at home and how are the ribs?" 

"Exams went well, appearances were alright, got a fancy new plaque to hang on the wall from the City of Ottawa, a baby soon to enter this world named after me, didn't get to spend nearly enough time with Kylie and as for the ribs they're coming along. I'd really like to get back to doing some training or at the very least cardio." 

Katelyn laughs, "Wow, all that in one breath. We're having a light session in the morning, I'm sure Nathan and Coach will be checking in with you before then, though." 

Kasey nods, "I would imagine so." 

The next morning Kasey gets changed into her training gear and joins her teammates for their session, but, before she can even get her cleats on, she's stopped and called away for the dreaded check in conversation.  

"How are you feeling, Kasey, and be honest." 

"I feel better than I did, but, I know that I'm not 100% and it would be wrong of me to say that I am." 

"Okay, how about we get you started on a bit of cardio and see how you feel afterwards." 

One of the trainers monitors her while she does some light running and dribbling before she takes a seat on the bench and grabs some water. 

"I'm not playing on Saturday, am I?" 

The trainer shakes his head, "No. It's too soon and you haven't been able to complete a full training session yet, so, I'm going to inform Paul that you're strictly to be an observer at the game." 

"I understand."

She spends the remainder of the session watching and acting as a passer for one of the drills.