Women's Sports Imagines

Nika Muhl- Flight

Background: Kylie Erickson and Nika Muhl met their freshman year in their Abnormal Psychology course. Both being athletes (Nika playing basketball and Kylie doing track), they became fast friends, sharing notes whenever one missed class for away games/meets. They got close and started dating toward the end of sophomore year. They stayed together their entire college careers and beyond, Kylie following Nika to Seattle. 

After a rough WNBA season, Nika decides to spend her offseason in Turkey. Though supportive, Kylie was devastated she couldn't go with like they both wanted. She was planning to visit at some point, but Nika wasn't there very long before Kylie knew she had to go.

3rd POV

Kylie sits in their bed, smiling at the screen on her laptop, finally happy to watch Nika play after a summer of watching Noelle Quinn make poor decision after poor decision. Nika gets the ball and Kylie can see an awkward look on her girlfriend's face before she slowly falls to the ground. Kylie's confused until she hears her girlfriend screaming and crying.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck." Kylie panics.

She stands up and grabs her backpack and a duffle bag, throwing clothes and other random essentials in, hurriedly finding the soonest flight to Turkey. It's insanely expensive, over $4000, but that doesn't even remotely matter to her. She bribes her Uber with a 5-star review and extra tip to get her to the airport as soon as possible and the woman is more than happy to accept. Luckily, because she travels so much, she has CLEAR where she can log into the system and get through security rapidly. She hustles to her gate and walks onto the bridge as they announce the final boarding call. 

The flight to Istanbul is 12-13 hours but it's not too long of a drive to Nika's apartment. Nika is 10 hours ahead, so it'll be tomorrow by the time Kylie lands and gets to her. She pays for the in-flight wifi and tries to get ahold of Nika, but fails. She's probably still with the doctors and training staff. It's only been 2 hours since she went down. 

to: Nika ❤️
on a flight. see you tomorrow.
you're strong, Nik
i love you

Even though she's anxious for her girlfriend, she decides she needs to get some sleep. She's getting over a cold and has been drained of energy for the last week. She also stayed up all night FaceTiming Nika before her game, despite the Croatian constantly insisting she get some rest. She loved listening to Nika talk about playing again, actually playing. And now this. Kylie's had her own SEI before, she knows it's absolutely devastating. She would trade ACLs with her girlfriend if she could. She'd do anything if it meant she got to see a smiling, happy, passionate Nika back on the court. 

She puts in her earbuds, turning on some quiet music and her ringer, in case Nika does reach out soon, she'll be able to wake up. She closes her eyes and wakes up to her phone ringing and vibrating in her pocket. She whips it out and answers as soon as she sees the little red heart emoji. She heads to the little area by the bathrooms so she's not on her phone sitting next to everyone disturbing them. 

Incoming Call: Nika ❤️
"You're on a flight?" Is the first thing Nika says when Kylie answers. 

"Of course, I'm on a flight. I'm coming, baby."

"How long?" Nika asks. Kylie can hear the emotion in her voice. 

"Almost 7 hours. I'm sorry, Nik. I got on the soonest flight out. But I'm on my way."

"You don't have to be sorry, lijepa. I'm just... really happy you're coming." She sniffles.
(Lijepa = beautiful) 

"How are you? And don't say okay, because I know you're not."

"Not good, dijete. It hurts so bad." She cries.
(Dijete = Baby/Babe)

"I know, baby. I'm so sorry. I'd trade places with you in an instant if I could."