Entering the second half the anxiety that Kristie felt for the past few days was long gone now but she wouldn't know what hit her next when they were awarded a corner kick as she marks her position and she sees Rose set up for the corner kick, she positions herself just outside the goal. As the ball approaches, she jumps in, hoping to aim it into the net. However, instead of feeling the ball on her head, she experiences something harder and way more painful, causing her to blackout.
Sam knelt down, finding Kristie unconscious on the ground. "What happened?" she asked Mackenzie, who was also kneeling down. "I accidentally hit her when she was going for the ball. I guess we both miscalculated," the goalkeeper explained, expressing guilt. Despite knowing it was an accident and she didn't mean to, the goalkeeper still felt bad.
"Hey, Kris, Kristen you've got to wake up, come on," she urged, gently shaking her shoulders, but the blonde remained lying unconscious, unresponsive to her efforts.
"Hey, we got this," one of the athletic trainers said, swiftly assessing the player's condition, Sam moving out of the way but staying close.
As the medic began assessing, Kristie stirred awake, groaning and squinting her eyes, covering them with her arms, probably due to the sun beating down on her face.
"What happened?" she asked, confused to see all the faces surrounding her. "Sorry, Kris My bad," Macca uttered, still carrying the weight of guilt, even though it was an accident and clearly the last thing she intended to happen. "What's going on?" she asked again, trying to stand up but finding it hard. Sam quickly noticed and hurried over to help Kristie sit up, supporting her back.
The trainer quickly shine a light through Kristie's eyes "Definitely a concussion" hearing that made Sam heart sunk. The trainer called for a stretcher. "Hey, do you want me to come with you?" she asked, worry etched on her face.
She couldn't care less about what her coach, the fans, or even her teammates might think at this point. Kristie was her number one priority, and if she needed her by her side, she would leave the game without a second thought. "No, go play i'll be fine" Kristie replied as they move her to the stretcher.
"Are you sure" She looks into her eyes which was unfocused making it sunk it that it was definitely a bad one . "Sam... i.. i'm fi..fine i pro..I promise" She slurred, She was anything but fine she wasn't really sure what was happening but all she knew something hurts and they were in middle of a game.
Sam stayed behind watching them lift Kristie up from the ground and carrying her to the tunnel. Sam feet like felt was stuck oh the patch of grass where her fiancée was just laying down a minute ago on, she felt her whole world was spinning. "Hey it's fine if you can't play you can sub off" Steph Catley one of her teammates approaches her concern.
"No, no, it's fine. We're out of subs anyway. It's just 20 minutes; it will be fine," she reassures her, finally feeling grounded again. The whole game was uneventful, to say the least, ending 1-1. Both teams weren't really playing that hard, considering it was almost the end of the match, and a player had already gone down. When the final whistle blew, she immediately ran to the tunnel and made her way to the medic room, not caring to thank or greet anyone, and the other players understood.
Upon entering the medic room, she saw her peacefully sleeping on the bed, looking as she usually does when she falls asleep. "She's alright now, although she got a mild concussion. She'll be out for about 2 weeks," one of the medic team explained, who she hadn't noticed in the room earlier.
"I'll leave you alone with her" The medic said before quietly closing the curtain and giving them some privacy. She sat next to the bed and grab Kristie hand and sigh in relief thanking that it was that bad but she still felt terrible that Kristie. Concussion are a serious thing and might even have along lasting effects she hoped that it wasn't the case.
