Change (Camren) |On Hold|

Prologue

"Yes! Go, Cabello! Go!" The coach yelled from the sideline, egging the Latina on as she used a step-over to confuse a defender before chipping the ball right into the upper right corner. The smooth action paired with the small 'swoosh' of the back of the net was a welcome feeling and she was pushed around a little by her celebrating teammates, all chanting her name as she began to smile.

The coach blew her whistle to signal the end of the match. It'd been a good one, maybe one of the best friendlies that Camila had ever played, and possibly the last she ever would. She didn't know that at the time though, of course.

When she drove home that evening, she was still buzzing with the adrenaline of scoring goals. Some might have thought that that was the problem, but no. It had been the fault of the other driver.

Her light was green, and she even looked around to make sure she was safe before crossing the junction. She was always a careful driver.

The truck had been out of control, its brakes having suddenly given out. Even as he slammed his horn in an attempt to warn her, it was too late.

Her head snapped around to see what the noise was about only to witness the last second or so before the only thing she was aware of was an abrupt jolt of her body, a loud crash and screeching noise, followed by the sensation of spinning and coming to an abrupt stop. Then it all faded out entirely.

Everything came back briefly when she was being whisked through the hospital, her vision blurry as she lay on something, voices and faces surrounding her. She tried to move but her neck was braced and her limbs felt heavy. She felt a tightness on her upper left leg but swiftly fell back unconscious.

It didn't come back until the next morning, a good eleven hours after she'd been hit.

Her throat felt sore and dry as she groaned at the brightness of the lights above her, even through her closed eyelids.

"Camila?" She heard a familiar voice say and cracked her eyes open a little to see a blurry image of her mother sitting beside wherever she was laid.

"¡Mija! You're awake!" Sinu then exclaimed, prompting another groan to come from her daughter at the sudden loud noise, "I'll get a doctor!"

As soon as her mother was out of her view, Camila became painfully aware of everything else around her: the periodic beeping of a machine beside her, the brace around her neck, the tightness of her leg that remained, and the needle in her arm that she now understood why people would just want to rip out in the movies. It was extremely uncomfortable.

The doctor came rushing in and gave her a check over, asking her if she could remember who she was and what had happened. The more she woke up, the clearer the memories; the horn, the headlights, the crash, the screech, the spinning, she remembered all of it. The more she woke up, too, the more the doctor told her about what happened.

"Miss Cabello, I'm afraid you have lost your left leg." She heard and slipped away into the blissful emptiness once more.