Why Don't We Sickficks

Zach - Soccer Injury

The boys were in England doing a charity soccer game or as they called it, a football match. Corbyn, Zach and Daniel were on one team sporting black and white jerseys while Zach and Jonah played against them in bright blue shirts. Zach's team was doing a lot better than blues but that didn't stop the other team from trying.

The defence line of the blue team had booted the ball up to the defence of Newcastle where Zach was. He gained control and started dribbling the ball down the field. He had gotten to the midway line when he could see one of the professional players sprinting to catch up with him. He knew he was in trouble and had to pass before he got tackled.

Before he knew it, Zach got bodied by the opposition team and went flying a good metre or two. He slid on the ground trying to keep his head tucked to his chest but the force was too much and his head flew back hitting the ground.

In shock, Zach laid on the ground processing what had happened and making sure he was alright. On the other hand, he was also embarrassed being on the floor so he scrambled to his feet just as people started making their way to him to make sure he was alright. The ref asked if he was alright and still in a daze he nodded and motioned for the game to go on. Zach began to jog towards the ball so he could keep playing but his lower back and his head were throbbing so he weakly walked back towards Corbyn who was the goalie for his team and collapsed near the goal.

"You good mate?" Corbyn asked.

"Yeah just hurts a little but I'll get up in a second," he replied.

The ball stayed on the other side for a while so Zach got the chance to rest. After a couple of minutes, he started to feel tired so he walked off the field towards the coach of his team.

"I'm just going back to the locker room to get a drink if that's alright?" Zach said

The coach however didn't buy Zach saying he was alright.

"Mate are you sure you're alright? You took a pretty bad fall back there." He asked in his strong Geordie accent.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just a little dizzy and sore." Zach replied

"That's not alright. let's take you back and get some ice."

Zach followed the coach into the area inside where all the officials were. They sat him down on a sofa with ice at the back of his head. Zach didn't bother telling anyone about his back.

They had a medic come back and check Zach over for a concussion. After an examination, the medic concluded that he did have a mild concussion.

"Any pain anywhere else?" The medic asked.

"Nope, all good, thank you!" Zach replied

And with that, he was left alone in the darkness. It felt nice being in an air-conditioned room with nothing to worry about. The slight pain in his back increased but he ignored it.

A week had passed since the game. Zach's head had finally recovered after days of dizziness and headaches but his back on the other hand was sore as ever. It hurt him to sit down, stand up, walk or anything for that matter. He had convinced himself and everyone around him that he was fine and could continue with the European tour but he knew there was something wrong. It was also hard to catch a break so he couldn't go and visit a doctor that easily but that day after exactly a week they were back at home before the next leg so he snuck out of his house and visited a doctor. The doctor was a local one so he just ordered an x-ray and sent him home saying he couldn't do sport for two months because they had to be precautious with back injuries but Zach didn't listen.

Being lazy Zach didn't bother till another week had passed. He finally went and got an x-ray but again he was too lazy to go and get his results.

It had now been four weeks since the fall and Zach finally went into a sports physician to see what was wrong. The physician didn't check the X-rays but did a physical examination in which he found out Zach fell so hard that the right side of his pelvis had shifted up causing his spine to shift with it. It sounds scary but Zach didn't let that hold him back. He continued going to the gym and participating in sport.

On the sixth week, Zach went into the doctors' office again with the pain still present. This time he went to see what the Xrays actually showed.

The doctor explained the fall had caused Zacch to develop scoliosis and there wasn't a cure. The scoliosis was mild so Zach didn't have to have surgery and didn't need a back brace but that did mean he would be in pain when he did sport.

With this new information, Zach decided it would finally be time to tell his bandmates.

"Do you think karma is real?" Zach asked while the boys were together.

"Yeah sometimes, why?" Corbyn answered

"I don't know, I've just always made fun of people with scoliosis because just straighten your back out you know but now I have it" Zach laughed.

Jack spit out the water he was drinking and stared at Zach with wide eyes as did the other three boys.

"YOU HAVE WHAT?" Jack asked surprised.

"Scoliosis. Remember the fall back in the UK where I had a concussion. I also hurt my back but never bothered telling anyone." Zach replied casually chuckling.

"ZACH WHAT? YOU CAN'T JUST NOT TELL US!" Jonah began lecturing. He went on and on about how dangerous Zach's "stunt" was.

Was kind of inspired by this picture of one direction training with Newcastle united which is the team Corbyn, Jack and Daniel are playing for in this story.

And this picture of Louis getting injured at an actual charity match when he was playing for Doncaster rovers.

But my main inspiration was myself because I got injured playing soccer at the beginner of the year and it was pre bad haha. The story was written lazily, yes I'm well aware of that and I apologise but my laziness just pulls through like that. Just like my laziness took me six weeks to find out what I had actually done to my back but I wasn't as lazy as Zach because I was visiting doctors almost every week. The story was meant to be a Corbyn fic but then I remembered Zach used to play soccer so I based it on him.

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