It was a freezing cold day on the field for a friendly against England, and Abby looked over at her fellow forward and noticed she was bundled up. Even with long sleeves, High socks, ear things, and gloves, Alex Morgan was still shivering. Abby walked over to the younger forward, now 26 years old, and wrapped her arms around her, saying "You cold Al?" Alex nodded and replied "Freezing."
Soon the game began. The the US took control first, but as soon as Alex got the ball and was going to shoot, she sneezed and got the ball stolen away. Abby came over and said "Bless you, Alex." She said it quietly so Carli couldn't hear, since Abby knew the midfielder hated hearing that. The the U.S. came back with Morgan Brian getting the first goal on a corner kick.
1-0 USA
Soon 45 minutes were up and Alex Morgan was sneezing and coughing badly, so Abby rubbed her back.
2nd half begins
Alex was shivering as she stood there waiting, and finally the whistle blew and it started. She started running and warmed up a little bit, but it didn't help much. She sneezed a couple of more times. Then she scored the 2nd goal of the game and Becky did the 3rd goal.
3-0 USA
Final whistle after 45 minutes, no extra time
Abby walked over to Alex with two jackets and was able to get them on her to warm her up. She finally was able to get her to the locker room and told her to wait to shower until they got back, so she helped her get her sweats and sweatshirt plus her jackets and beanie on, so after Abby got showered, they both headed to the bus. Christie and Tobin were sitting together so Abby and Alex could sit together.
Abby looked in the row next to her, and saw Morgan Brian looking the same. She was curled up into Lauren Holiday's arms, sound asleep.
After everyone got onto the bus, they headed back to the hotel and as soon as they got back, everyone got off. Abby picked Alex, who was sound asleep, up into her arms and saw Lauren doing the same with Moe. They were able to get both girls inside and as they were headed in, Alex started shivering again and buried herself deeper into Abby's arms. Abby knew the young forward was sick, so she turned around and asked Lauren "Is Moe okay?" Lauren looked down at the 22- year old and replied "I hope so. She told me that she has been feeling pretty crappy since beginning of camp and her chest hurts so I think she might be sick." Abby nodded and replied "I guess we better get these two to bed then." As they were walking towards the elevator they saw a sign saying "All USWNT players please report to room 617 for examination." They sighed and went to the training room, where everyone was being checked for colds, flu, bronchitis, pneumonia and other things also. They didn't want to wake up the sleeping forward and midfielder, so they waited until they entered the room to do it. They tested Morgan and Lauren first.
Lauren- cold
Morgan- Bronchitis and pneumonia terrible combo heavily medicated to deal with it
After the two left, Abby and Alex got tested.
Abby- cold
Alex- just a really bad cold plus a sinus infection.
Abby and Lauren sighed and looked at the 2 girls in their arms. Alex fell back asleep instantly but Morgan whimpered and was shivering crazily with sweat on her forehead suddenly they heard "Lauren, bring Moe over here for some medications." Lauren did that, so Abby decided to bring Alex to bed.
Abby laid Alex down and gently as she could placed the covers over the 26 year old. Alex opened her eyes and said "Abby..." Abby smiled and replied "I'm here, sweetie. It's okay." "can you stay with me?" "of course." Abby crawled into bed, and Alex curled into her arms and fell back asleep. Abby fell asleep also.
Time skip: next morning.
Abby woke up to knocking on the door and looked down at Alex who didn't move so Abby gently got out of bed and went to the door to see a tired Dawn Scott, who said "Good morning Abby." Abby motioned to Alex and whispered "Alex is still asleep." Dawn nodded and replied "Come here. Let's talk in the hallway." Abby placed the doorstop in the door and gently closed it before saying "What's up, Dawn?" Dawn sighed "Everyone is sick. Even coaches." "Oh wow." "Yeah. The worst is Morgan Brian due to her already being sick, and the cold making it worse. She's really sick. Lauren said that they had a rough night." Abby sighed and replied "Alex wanted me to lay with her so she slept on me all night, never once moving." Dawn nodded. "How are you feeling?" Abby sighed before replying "Fine."
The team stayed sick for 2 weeks and, finally, they were all healthy again. The colds all got better fastest and Morgan Brian, Carli Lloyd, Ali Krieger and Whitney Engen got better last cause of how sick they all were.
Everyone was happy to not have anyone sick anymore on the team.
End of chapter
