A young lioness

The relapse

Maeva's point of view:

I remember sobbing in Jamie's bathroom, I remember feeling like I was drowning but there was no water. I remember calling Leah in a panic, but I don't remember anything else. To me, it's all a blur.

Leah's point of view:

Luckily for me, I remember it all. I remember her call and me racing to get in the car. I remember alerting basically the whole team, who probably didn't need to know, but felt like their support would go the furthest here. I recall everyone piling into my room while I briefly gave them a run down on what's happened whilst shoving my socks on backwards. I remember making a plan of me going to get Maevs by myself, incase she was spooked and needed something a little less overwhelming than the whole team at Jamie's front door. This was all swirling round in my head on the drive there, I wondered how we have all somehow adopted Maeva and I wondered why she spoke not a word about her family or even why a girl as young as her seemed fiercely independent. These were questions I didn't have the answer to yet. But for right now, I needed to focus of bringing our girl back. I pulled up to Jamie's whilst she was frantically pacing around her porch. Once she noticed it was me, she sprinted down the steps.

"Leah, Leah, I swear I don't know what happened, I just woke up and went to see where maeva went and found the bathroom door locked so i picked the lock which took ages and I found her just lying there" she rambled out barely taking a breath. "She's  breathing but she's still out, I'm so sorry if I would have known I would have woken up sooner, I was about to ring an ambulance". The young girl seemed visibly shaken up and I'm not surprised, Maeva had a habit of throwing curve balls at most people. "Hey Jamie, it's alright okay?" I said gently, "no one is to blame here but do you mind showing me where she is?" Jamie nodded and led me through to a small bathroom on the downstairs floor. I saw Maeva led across the tiles, her cheeks flushed and tear stained, I got down on my knees and checked her over, I knew she had got herself so worked up that she must have fainted. She looked so frail and little, her hair stuck to parts of her face that was wet from her sobs. "Right Jamie" I said, "she's fine, she must have just fainted, she does it quite a lot" I explained, unaware of how much detail Maeva has gone into about her mental health. "I think the best thing would be if I was to take her back to the hotel, thank you for being so alert" I reassured her. I knew how much of a shock it must have been for her and judging by her face, she still needed a bit of time to process this. "No of course absolutely, will you tell her that I'll text her when she's feeling better?" She asked, I nodded, giving her a smile.

I scooped Maeva into my arms and carried her into the car. I led her across the back seat where she seem to regain consciousness, her eyes opened in a panic and looked drained of all energy. "Shush Maevs, it's alright, I'm bringing you back" I said, luckily bringing her enough comfort that she drifted off to sleep. I watched her the whole car ride back through the rear view mirror, her little body deep into some wild dream. I parked up and decided that it would be best to just carry her inside. I cradled her like a child, her head resting on my shoulder. I saw, as I walked into reception, the girls breathe sighs of relief when they saw her in my arms. "Is she okay?" Keira asked, "Yeah she will be, I think she's just drained and scared" I replied, looking down at Maeva who was still very much asleep. "Right I'm going to put her into bed and then I think we should all talk" I said to all the girls, they agreed and headed into the lounge area.

I came downstairs after tucking Maeva into bed, she didn't stir a wink whilst I took off her shoes and led her down on the pillow. I walked into the lounge and the little conversations amongst the girls died down. "I know I'm supposed to be the captain here girls, but I don't know what to do" I started off, "that girl up there is broken, and it feels like we are slowly having to piece her back together" I got some nods in response. "Her family are no where to be seen and she's still just a child" I finished with, exasperation evident within my voice. Lucy then decided to pipe up, "Surely there has to be a reason why her family don't seem involved?", swiftly followed by Ellen, "I mean her family didn't even see her get her first cap, that's sad". I agreed with everything they were saying, I just found it so bizarre how someone wouldn't adore her. "She's a good kid and she's wise beyond her years but she needs help" I said, "What if we started looking around for some therapists for her? You know someone who specialises in anxiety" Jill replied with. We all seemed in agreement throughout the room so I wrote it down on my notes page, remembering to tell Maeva about it once she awoke. "I don't mean to add more issues onto this" Georgia said, "but camp is coming to an end in about 2 days, where on earth is she going to go?". G said a good point, no one had actually talked to Maeva about her plans post-camp. I think we all presumed she was going home, but maybe that wasn't the case. "I think I'll talk to her in the morning and try and get some answers, thank you everyone for this" I said at last. I knew we all had each other's backs always but the girls always surprise me with how caring and loyal they all are.