Trauma of the Forest (Meadema)

~ Chapter 44: Going Home Again ~

Four weeks later

Finally the moment had arrived. Finally the doctor had come to them with the news that Viv could go home. 'Viv, I have some good news for you. You can go home'. These were the words the doctor had spoken. In consultation with the nurse and after some final checks it was unanimously decided that Viv was in such a good condition that she could go home.

And it really was. Viv was doing well. The old Viv seemed to be reappearing more and more. Two weeks ago she had already been taken off the fluids and tube feeding. The past two weeks have mainly been about exercises with the physiotherapist of the department to ensure that Viv's muscles were strengthened a little again. With the exercises and the supplementary feeding Viv gained a lot of strength, she gained a little weight and slowly regained her old shape.

And to the happiness of both, all the bruises and scratches seem to have disappeared for a week now. Yes, a few scratches did leave some scars, but with the ointment from the nurse, they are almost invisible. Beth was so happy to see that she slowly seemed to get her old Vivi back. Moreover, the stitches had completely dissolved a week ago, which meant that the catheter was also removed, although peeing was still not that fun with the burning sensation it caused.

The only thing she had left was the pain medication for her ribs and for her stomach, because of the rather drastic procedure on her uterus, which still made her really nauseous sometimes. In the past four weeks, Viv had to throw up sometimes, which is why a special bucket was placed next to her bed at some point. And the only bruise that was left, was the one on her neck. This was actually the darkest bruise she had, and since she was lying on it all the time here in the hospital, it took longer to heal.

But since the pain medication was the only thing she would still get and that was now also in the form of medicine instead of through a tube, the doctors thought it was high time to send Viv and Beth home to continue their recovery together. So much had happened in the past four weeks, so many beautiful moments, but also less beautiful moments. So many tears had been shed, but so many smiles had appeared on all the faces.

Beth had been dreading it so much, but they had to. They had to let their friends know that they couldn't go on the holiday they had planned. Beth found it so difficult to tell the outside world what had happened. Somehow it didn't feel safe or something, while she knew that these girls would absolutely not share their secret with anyone. It was so difficult to tell the rest of the family. It was so difficult to see the emotion in them, that this trauma had caused them. It was so difficult to tell that they wouldn't be present at the pre-season and that it was also not clear when they would even join Arsenal again, or whether Viv would even be able to play football again.

But there had also been so many beautiful moments here. All the moments when the nurses told her that Viv could have another tube removed, that there was an upward trend in her rehabilitation. They were so grateful for their family, who actually came by almost every day to support them. They were so grateful for their amazing teammates, who made sure that the time in the hospital was brightened up with nice videos and flowers that they brought with them when they came to visit. They were so grateful for the 28 memories that they had collected together thanks to the photos on their phones.

And now they were here, together in the room, a few minutes away from the moment they had been looking forward to for so long. Beth, who was packing up all the stuff, and Viv, who was watching quietly from her bed, because bending over wasn't an option yet because of her ribs. 

She carefully put on her shoes, her leg on her other leg to tie her laces. It surprised her a little secretly, her shoes that were still so white. Everything in that dirty forest shed seemed to be filthy, nothing was left of her clothes, but her shoes were still bright white, which she was secretly very happy with, because she had received these shoes from her grandmother. So when the police took her shoes from the forest shed and took them to the hospital, Viv couldn't believe her luck.