She's back ~ L. Hamilton

60. | Forgiveness

I'm in the medic room after the match, having my knee iced. My uncle is making notes and flipping through the channels to see if I'll play Jackson or Swift in the quarterfinal. Two people from Netflix were in the comer with a camera, attempting to go unnoticed.

But then Liam appears on the screen.

He's live in the press room, sitting slightly hunched over, a baseball cap over his barely dry hair. He has on a blue T-shirt.

The second I catch sight of him, I know he is in physical pain. I feel my face drop slightly at the sight.

"Can you walk us through what happened?" a male reporter asks.

"Out on the court today?" Liam asks

Liam leans into the microphone. "I tore the cartilage between my ribs during the second set. It was hurting this morning before the match even started, but I ignored it, and now here we are." He winces as he sits back.

"How does it feel to lose today, because of an injury, when you were doing so well?" a woman asks him "I mean you haven't been this good in years"

"Reporters are such idiots" I mumble,

"It feel really great, Shauna," Liam says. "Best day of my life."

My uncle laughs and I look at him, surprised.

"He's grown on me" he says, shrugging "He's funny."

"What if he's really hurt?" I say.

My uncle nods. "Maybe it's a small tear. With a little bit of time.... he can get back in fighting shape."

"For Wimbledon?"

"No" my uncle says. "But maybe by the US Open. If he's still willing to go for this thing"

"He won't give up," I say "This is Liam Black we're talking about, the biggest pain in my ass. He'd rather lose than give up."

My uncle looks at me and raises his eyebrows. "Yeah, he does have that sense of honor about him."

"So, will you be going home?" a reporter asks Liam "You are still currently scheduled to play Queen's Club next month. Will you pull out?"

"I'm pulling out of all my events next month. Focusing on recovery. But... I'm not going home. I'm going to stick around and watch Delaney Ricciardo" he says and I feel myself freeze, suddenly very aware that there's a camera on me "I think what she's doing here is remarkable. And I want to be able to say I saw it happen. I believe in her 100%"

*****

"It was absolutely unreal. The feeling of everyone doubting me and then showing them, showing them I could win" I say "I'll never forget that feeling. And yes and it was only the final 16. But every single news article I read, every reporter, everyone said I would loose that match, no one expect......four, maybe five people in my life thought I would win. So to prove everyone wrong, yeah it was definitely special"

I was sitting in a chair in my hotel room, with a camera facing me and two people sitting behind it as they ask me questions about today. I give them as honest of an answer as I can give, cause I know Tasha would be on my ass if I didn't.

I walk through the emotions and my feelings about today, speaking my thoughts to the camera.

"And what was your reaction to Liam saying what he said today? How do you feel?" One of them asked

"Well, me and Liam had a little fight a couple of days ago, and by a little I mean a big fight. We said a lot of horrible things to each other. So to hear him say that about me....it definitely meant a lot. And I hope I get to see him again before the quarterfinals" I say "he's a very good person, and I don't always treat him as well as I should. Me and him are just too alike you see, so it causes us to clash a lot. But because we're so alike it also means we get on so well"