Breaking the Grid

Always leah

The staff member led me down a sterile, white corridor to a closed door where Kyra was being examined. He stopped and turned to me.

"They're just finishing up. You'll have to wait here for a few minutes," he said, his tone calm but firm.

I nodded, leaning against the wall. Those five minutes felt like an eternity. I kept glancing at the door, hoping for someone to open it and tell me she was okay. My foot tapped against the tiled floor as I tried to push away the worst-case scenarios racing through my mind.

Finally, the door opened, and one of the medical staff stepped out. "You can go in now," she said with a reassuring smile.

I stepped inside, and the sight of Kyra hit me like a punch to the gut. She was sitting on a medical bed, her ankle elevated and wrapped tightly with an ice pack. Her face was pale, a mix of exhaustion and pain evident in her expression.

"Kyra," I breathed, moving quickly to her side. Without thinking, I reached out and took her hand, needing to feel her, to reassure myself that she was okay.

But just as quickly, Kyra pulled her hand away, trying to be subtle about it, but the movement stung. My chest tightened as I looked at her, confused.

"Hey," I said softly, crouching slightly to meet her eyes. "Are you okay? What did they say?"

She avoided my gaze, focusing on the ice pack on her ankle instead. "It's just a sprain," she said, her voice low. "Nothing broken. They said I need to rest for a bit."

Relief flooded through me, but it didn't last long. Her distance felt like a wall between us, and I didn't know how to break through it.

"That's good," I said, forcing a small smile. "I was worried."

Kyra's lips pressed into a thin line, and she finally looked at me, her expression unreadable. "You didn't have to come all the way here," she said, her tone neutral but not unkind.

"Yes, I did," I said firmly, my voice quiet but certain. "I couldn't just sit there after seeing you like that."

She didn't reply, her eyes dropping back to her ankle. The silence between us was heavy, and I felt like I was standing on the edge of something I didn't know how to navigate.

The sound of football boots clicking against the tiled floor echoed from the hallway, growing louder as they approached. I straightened slightly, glancing at the door just as it swung open to reveal Leah and Alessia. Both were still in their kits, a sheen of sweat on their foreheads, but their concern for Kyra was evident.

"Kyra!" Alessia said, stepping inside quickly. Leah followed, her eyes darting between Kyra and me before settling on me with a soft smile.

"We heard what happened," Leah said, her voice warm but tinged with worry as she stepped closer to Kyra. "Are you alright?"

Kyra nodded, still not looking at me. "I'll be fine. Just a sprain," she said flatly, her fingers fidgeting with the edge of the ice pack on her ankle.

Alessia moved to the other side of the bed, placing a comforting hand on Kyra's shoulder. "That's a relief. We were worried when we saw you go down."

Leah, however, stayed near me, her presence calm yet somehow magnetic. She leaned slightly toward me, lowering her voice in a way that felt oddly intimate, given the situation. "Hey, Blair," she said, her smile widening just a touch. "I was thinking... maybe we could go to a restaurant tonight? Just the two of us. It's been a while since we've properly hung out."

Her tone was light and casual, but I couldn't ignore the shift in the room. I felt it immediately—the weight of Kyra's gaze on me, sharp and heavy. Slowly, I glanced at her. She was staring at me now, her eyes like stone, emotionless on the surface but brimming with something deeper.