Mal Pugh

Part 23

The next morning at 9:07, Kelly and Alex pulled into the driveway. They decided that since everything was packed, they would let Mal sleep till 10 am and they could leave then. At ten sharp they woke her up and gave her pain pills since she was in a lot of pain this morning. Once settled in the front seat, a pillow was placed under her sling. Ice was placed on her foot, collar bone, and ribs. Lastly, she was given sun glasses to offset the bright sun that was made worse by her concussion. The seat was slightly reclined so she should sleep on the 3 and a half hour drive to DC. After about 20 minutes into the trip Mal's pain pills settled in and she feel asleep. The next thing she knew, Carli was tapping her shoulder to wake up. Since when had Carli gotten here?? That's when she realized that they were parked in the hotel parking lot and the luggage cart was filled with everyone's bags. She saw her wheel chair behind Carli.

"Wake up sleepy head" Carli said again trying to wake Mal up. Mal groaned  and started to close her eyes again. After about 3 minutes, Carli had finally woken her up with the help of Kelly. Kelly was sitting in the front seat waiting to take the car up and Tobin, Alex, and Christen had gone to check in and take the bags up. Carli was in charge of getting Mal upstairs. Now the Mal was awake, Carli leaned in and gave the girl a hug.

"You really look like shit Mal" Carli said laughing. "Houston really did a number on you, didn't they" she said laughing a little bit more. Mal laughed with her than stopped because of the pain in her ribs. After a few minutes, Carli was successfully able to get Mal into the wheel chair.  She placed the pillow under her sling and began wheeling her into the building. Now that they were inside, Mal was able to take her sunglasses off and everyone could see the extent of her black eyes. Carli was successfully able to get the wheelchair into the elevator and upstairs to Mal's room. Upon arriving there, Kelly, Alex, Tobin, Christen were there. Their hotel was a three bedroom suite so they would all be in one room. All the bedrooms were connected by a living room, kitchen, and bathroom. This was by far one of the nicest hotels they had been in. They knew Jill most likely gave them this room for Mal so everyone could help out with her. Everybody else was in a standard 2 bed room with a small bathroom and kitchenette. Because their room at a huge living room and kitchen, they decided to invite everyone over for take out dinner and team bonding. Everyone would be coming in about 2 hours. That gave Mal the perfect amount of time to take a pain pill and nap. Alex and Kelly were in one room, Tobin and Carli in another, and Christen was with Mal in the last room so she could keep an eye on her. They would be in this hotel till tomorrow at 12 and then Las Vegas  for 3 nights and then Las Angelous for 3 nights.   Mal had taken her pain pill and was passed out in the center of the king sized bed. Christen made sure her arm was supported by a pillow underneath. She also made sure to pull a blanket over the girl. She knew that Mal was always freezing. Christen walked into the living room to see Tobin, Alex, Carli, and Kelly sitting on the couch.

"Alright what's the plan for dinner tonight?" Alex asked trying to get prepared.

"We're thinking Pizza, Salad, and a few appetizers. We saw a place just down the road and we checked the website and they said that they deliver" Tobin said.

"Sounds good to me. But, we should probably order Mal something easy on her stomach, like soup. Her pain pills have been really upsetting her stomach. I also can't imagine how exhausted she must feel after traveling for two days straight. It's just gonna get more hectic for her too. I can tell she's in a lot of pain but she's trying to seem brave" Christen sighed.

"Agreed, she looked horrible when I got her out of that car. I was watching the game live when it happened and that was an awful collision. I knew she had some serious injuries but I wasn't expecting the two black eyes and nose when I first saw her" Carli said.

"Oh my god the collision on the field was awful. The first thing Alex and I did was run to her. She had the wind knocked out of her so bad that she couldn't even cry. She had a horrible bloody nose which I'm sure did not help. God, I don't know how she didn't pass out. I almost passed out myself" Kelly said through a slight chuckle. For the next few minutes, everyone sat in silence until Christen got up to check on Mal. She was a worrier when it came to Mal, but she had every reason to be after the month and a half Mal has had. Kelly decided to text in the group telling them the plans. She invited everyone to come in about an hour. She also warned everyone to be quiet because Mal would be sleeping. As she did this, Alex ordered all the food.
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An hour later, people began to show up to the room. Half an hour later, everyone was there and a there was a knock on the door. The food was here. Tobin, Carli, and Julie carried all the food to the table and got it all set up. Everyone was sitting at the  kitchen table or counter, the couches, or on the floor. Jill was the only coach that had came. She was sitting on the couch next to Kelly. Once everyone had grabbed their food and was situated, Christen decided to go wake up Mal. After a few minutes, Mal sat up and was still extremely groggy and slightly grumpy. Christen helped her put a long sleeve t shirt on and slipped her sling onto her arm. She didn't miss the wince on Mallory's face when she moved her arm. Mal's post nap hair was pretty bad in Christen's opinion. She laughed to herself. She took Mallory's hair out of the ponytail and redid it with a messy bun on top of her head. Upon doing this, she felt a lot of heat coming from Mallory.

"Mal, are you hot right now?" Christen asked the girl.

"No, I'm freezing" Mal replied. Christen placed her hand on Mal's forehead. She had a fever.

"Mal stay here, I'll be back in a second" she said as she exited the room. She walked over to Alex.

"Hey Alex, can you help me with Mal? She has a fever and I don't know if I can get her out here and carry her stuff too by myself.

"Ya no problem. Did the doctor say anything about fevers after her surgery?" Alex asked.

"Yes, he said that they are uncommon but it is normal if they do happen. He said her body is just working overtime to heal and her immune system will be lowered. As long as it not extremely high we can deal with it." Christen replied. Christen and Alex walked into the room. Alex went over to sit by Mal. Christen grabbed Advil to help her pain and lower her fever. She didn't want to give Mal another pain pill till bed in a few hours. Since the surgery, Mal had been taking the pills pretty consecutively and had been sleeping constantly. Christen wanted her awake for a few hours so she could move around and eat. Christen helped her to a standing position. Alex grabbed Mal's arm pillow, her blanket, and her Gatorade sitting on the nightstand. Mal leaned on Christen and made her way out to the dimly lit living room. She smiled when she saw everyone. She saw everyone's trying to hide the looks of pity under their smiles. After all the greetings, Christen led her to the couch. Rapinoe and Ashlyn offered up their seats for Mal and Christen. Christen lowered her to the couch into a seated position. Alex tucked the pillow under her arm and then tucked the blanket around her. Alex sat down on the other side of her. Mal leaned her shoulder on Alex. Christen went and grabbed the tray with the bowl of potato soup on it. Next to it was a piece of bread. Christen hoped this wouldn't upset her already angry stomach. She placed the tray on her lap and Alex and Christen helped keep it steady. Mal slowly ate the soup with her bad hand. Of course her dominant arm had been the one she injured. The next two hours were spent with everyone laughing, talking, and hanging out. It felt good for Mal to be able to do this again. After two hours, they decided to watch a movie or two. Mal became extremely tired and her fever made her feel worse. Christen said she should take her to bed but Mal refused. She told Christen that she wanted to stay out here with everyone. Christen agreed, realizing that Mallory just didn't want to be alone. As the movie started, Christen helped Mal lay down. Mal put her head on Christen's lap and her legs spread across onto Alex's lap. Alex had her arms over Mal's legs and she helped pull the blanket over her. Christen played with Mal's hair until she fell asleep. Christen noticed that her fever might have gone up a little bit. She mentioned it out loud and was looking for help. Julie went to the sink and got cool wash cloth to put on her head. Mal laid fast asleep on the couch curled into Alex and Christen for the whole movie.