Finally Breathing

~ Chapter 30 ~

Christen's POV

Today was the game against England. I had successfully managed to hide the cancer from Tobin and Sky, disguising the hospital calls as ones from family. Despite the gravity of the situation that I knew I was in, I just hadn't been ready to tell them yet because as it was I was struggling to talk to doctors without the reality hitting me like a brick wall. However, it had to be done before I became a useless piece of flesh, which is why I was going to tell them after this tournament. Just before I announced my diagnosis to the world.

"Hey Sky." I said as she walked into the room, golden brown hair swaying behind her. She was wearing her USWNT tracksuit, the silver promise bracelet that we bought for her swinging on her left hand, her brother's old one hanging next to it.

Sky glanced at me, wandering into the small bathroom at the back of our hotel room, searching behind the door for something.

"Morning mom, have you seen my air forces?"

Tobin nudged me, pointing to the open closet where her shoes were resting.

I laughed, pulling them out from the closet. I handed them to her, pointing out that if she wanted to know where her things were then maybe she should try putting them away in the right place.

She rolled her eyes, having heard the lecture several times before, muttering "Thanks." under her breath and running off to join Tierna and Mal for breakfast.

I got up off the bed, Tobin beside me throwing her short wavy hair into a high pony.

"Breakfast?" I enquired.

She nodded, taking my hand as we made our way down together. I picked out some scrambled eggs and fruit , catching Dawns look from across the room. I shrugged at her, making a point of adding protein to my plate. She laughed and smiled sadly, motioning towards the bottles of medication sat beside her.

That was another thing that I had to dismiss to Sky and Tobin. I had told them that the pills were for a stomach bug that had been going around the Italian team, and since I was the only one to come into contact with them I had to take the meds to make sure I didn't get it. It was only half a lie, I mean, the Italians did have a stomach bug, so it was a perfectly reasonable explanation in my eyes.

I sat down next to Dawn, downing the tablets with a swig of water.

"How do you feel this morning?" She asked me as I went to take a bite of my eggs.

"Same as always. Fine."

She looked at me worried, but before Dawn could reply Tobin and Sky joined me, Tierna, Mal, Kelley, Ash, and Ali not far behind them.

The chatter in the room rose as more joined, allowing me to fall into a comfortable silence in my own world.

~~

"You ready?" I asked Sky as we made our way down into the lobby to join the team.

"As I'll ever be. I mean its not like they beat us 4-0 last month in a game that was meant to be just friendly or anything."

"Stop worrying, almost half of the regular squad were injured then. We're stronger now." I reassured her, Kelley almost skipping over to us with Alex hot on her tail.

"Sup bitchessss!" She laughed, jumping onto my back with a quick spring.

I felt a jolt of pain course through my shoulder at this so I guided her down, laughing that she was going to injure me before the game even started, despite knowing that this was definitely not the reason.

"Hey squirrel, hey Al." Tobin replied, her smile huge she cuddled into me.

I felt guilty. Tobin had poured her heart out to me over the last few days, sharing her anxieties and worries that had led to her therapy sessions. I was happy that she did, mainly because I was proud of how she was handling everything that she was going through. While she had only had two sessions so far, she was much happier, and that warmed my heart. I just felt like I was about to disappoint her, that after I told her about my diagnosis it would send her into an uncontrollable spiral that I wouldn't be around to help her with.