From Barcelona To...

Chapter 25 - Concussion

I could hear the fans gasp and go silent. Time stopped as I landed on my front at the other side of the barrier, I didn't look up but I could see the feet and legs of the fans beside me, that was when I realised I had gone over. Eventually, I lean up on my arms and knees, crouching. Fuck. That hurts. The crowd let out a sigh of relief as I crouched up. I was struggling to breathe. I was winded. I couldn't seem to catch my breath. I managed to take a few big deep breaths and get my breathe back, other than that I couldn't feel anything. Adrenaline. And then almost instantly, I felt blood pour down my face, pooling on the floor as I was still looking down. I looked to the side of me, I could hear the gasps and see people putting their hands up to their faces. Why are they been so dramatic? I spot Leah. She's stood up, she looks stressed. Her hands either side of her face. I assume my face was covered in blood which caused the reaction from the fans. Mine and Leah's eyes haven't left each others though, it really was all happening in slow motion.

"Ellie? Ellie?" I break the gaze from Leah, I am surrounded by the medical staff.

"Can you move? Can you sit? What hurts?" I hear different people asking questions.

"I can sit" I position myself so I'm now sat on the floor.

The medical staff wipe my face with a towel, trying to see where the blood is coming from. I can see the white towel is now pretty much completely red. Fuck that's a lot of blood.

Next minute, someone plonks the towel straight onto my nose.

"Argh, fucking ell, steady now" I shout

"Sorry, the blood is coming from your nose"

"Is it still in one piece? Is it broken?" I ask

"It's still straight, I can't tell if its broken, you've already got bruising around your eyes though"

"Thank fuck its still straight, people would pay good money for my nose" I start laughing, I can hear a few laughs from the fans, as they are still pretty much silent so the ones stood around me can hear what's going on. I can also hear the odd shout of my name from the fans too.

"We need to do a quick head assessment before we let you stand up as it looks like you obviously hit your head as you went over"

"I didn't hit my head, I remember catching my nose with my arm as I landed" I say. I was lieing. I don't remember a fucking thing, but as soon as I heard head assessment I knew if they thought I'd banged my head they would have to take me off. I had to get back to the game with my team.

"What day is it?"

"Wednesday" I reply

"Where are you?"

"Meadow Park"

"What's your name?"

"You don't know my name...I came here on a record transfer deal you know" I can't help myself as I laugh. A few fans laughing again too.

"Ellie, this is serious"

"Thanks for reminding me, Ellie Jones" Again, I can't help myself.

They continue to ask me more questions.

"You've passed the initial assessment, but we still think you should come off"

"If I passed, does that usually mean I can continue?" I ask

"Well, technically, yes"

"Then i'm going back on, i'm fine, few cuts and bruises but I'm fine" I say. Adrenaline was still pumping through my body, so I couldn't feel much else anyway.

The medical staff start to help me up, my shirt was covered in blood so the staff got me a new one and I changed. With that I climbed back over the barrier, the crowd clapping and chanting my name. The girls were all waiting for me on the pitch side, giving me a few hugs and high fives, asking if I was alright. Beth was concerned, she wanted me to go off but there was no way I was going off, the game wasn't far off finishing anyway. A few of the Chelsea players also came over as I re-entered the pitch too, which was pretty nice to be fair, Millie been one of them, we were pretty close and spent a lot of time together at England camps. Ingle came over too and apologised, normally if someone pushed me like that I would definitely have received a yellow card for retaliating, but the time had passed for that. I was back focussed on winning this game.