Becoming A Lioness

Hospitals

Rachel's POV

I've never liked hospitals. There's no specific reason behind it; no tragic backstory to go along with my dislike for the place. But following behind Kate as she's wheeled in and doctors rush to her side sticking needles and monitors onto her body, I can most definitely say, hospitals suck.

The game was stopped shortly after her seizure, we all heard the sirens going off in the distance and I looked over to our bench to see the worried faces of staff members and instantly knew something was wrong. I ran inside to see Kristie cradling Kate's head in her lap as the on-call paramedics were working around her.

I don't think I've ever seen my girlfriend so scared before, the look of pure terror and fear in her eyes stopped me dead in my tracks. Her eyes were bloodshot red, tears streaming down her face all the while Kate was still shaking in her arms. It's a sight I don't think I'm going to forget soon.

I glance through the glass door of Kate's hospital room to see Kristie still in her kit, clutching onto Kate's hand like if she lets go she'll lose her.

The pair of them have gotten incredibly close over the last month we've all been living together. The two of them bonded over their struggles with finding a place in the footballing profession and knowing how important it is to have someone to lean on.

"Miss Daly is it?" I suddenly hear from behind me, I whip my head around to see a doctor standing there an unreadable look on his face

"Yes sir," I say clearing my throat

"We've gotten Kate's test results back and it seems that the blow to her head in the game caused the seizure she experienced," He says as I try to follow along

"It's not unheard of for a serious concussion to lead to this but with the reports your team passed along we don't believe it was the sole reason behind the episode"

"Okay, then what is then? She's a 19-year-old girl who does regular exercise, eats healthy and doesn't do any drugs or drink much alcohol!" I say my voice going up in volume as I try to make sense of all this myself

"Please Sir, you've got to tell me what's wrong with her, we're all she's got right now" I whisper back tears forming in my eyes

"I'm very sorry Miss Daly, but all we can do is wait for Kate to wake up." He says placing a hand on my shoulder "In the meantime, we'll continue to run some tests but it's up to her now"

I glance back inside her hospital room, neither of them having moved an inch since I last looked. Kate, you really need to wake up love, we all need to right now.

— — —

At first, everything around me just sounds muffled. A bit like when you put your hand over a speaker, you can still hear the song and the beat but can't quite make out what the lyrics are.

I know there are people around me talking, someone's holding my hand and the light hum of a song is playing in the distance. I try to open my eyes to see what's going on but it's like someone's glued them shut, no matter how much energy I put in not a single muscle twitches.

Why can't I just wake up, my brains awake but my body hasn't caught up yet. I'm stuck in this weird limbo of consciousness and unconsciousness, both of them seemingly fighting each other to win because just as I'm trying again to open my eyes a wave of tiredness hits and I'm drifting back off to sleep again.

I don't know how much time has passed since I last woke, but this time things are a lot clearer. I can make out the words around me and the sound of machines beeping to my right. It takes me a few minutes but I finally open my eyes; the bright lights of the room causing me to squint a little but I can make out Kristie sitting next to me, hand still in mine. I give it a light squeeze causing her to whip her head up