I wasn't always sick like this, I used to be perfectly normal. No one is quite sure why it happened...I guess it happens to the most unfortunate. Bad, random things seem to happen to the best people. I guess I am one of these people.
My life used to be devoted to sports and ballet. Day in and day out, I would work hard to make my coaches and my ballet teacher happy. I was the top goalie, I even won the Goalie Award. I was the center-stage ballerina, the lead of the performances. Though I was the shortest and slowest on the basketball team, I seemed to be able to do the unthinkable, such as blocking someone almost a foot and a half taller than me.
I adored sports, I loved the throbbing feeling in my feet after a long practice. The pain in my body after diving for ball after ball in the goalie box. I remember how it happened just like yesterday.
It was an early morning game, the dew still fresh on the field. People carried coffee, and got pancakes and Pop-tarts from the food stands. Of course, I never ate before a game. I had to make myself work hard, and then reward myself after a long, hard game. The second half of the game, and we were all tied up. Both teams were mad at eachother, because we all had an equal amount of fouls against eachother. There was a mad fight for the ball center field. Our captain, Matt, fought with all he had to get the ball to the other side of the field.
Then, for no reason, a ringing echoed throughout my ears. I clamped my hands over my ears, thinking it was from a phone. It wasn't,it was my ears. I started feeling dizzy, but I thought it was just from the large amount of force I've been exerting for almost two hours now. Something definitely didn't feel right, but I wasn't going to call for a time-out. The other team's forward was coming straight for me, and I had to be ready.
My legs started to shake, as did my hands. The ringing got louder and louder. My head was throbbing with pressure, and I couldn't seem to think straight. I didn't know what was happening, but I did know I couldn't let this guy score. He shot, and I dove. As always, everything seemed in slow-motion. The crowd cheering and yelling, the teams fighting eachother and running all over, and my hands reaching for the ball.
Something touched the palms of my soccer gloves, and I let myself fall to the ground. I covered the ball with my body until the referee blew his whistle. I opened my eyes, my body till tucked around the ball. I caught it, I caught the ball. I had done this numerous times, but something about this one felt special. Before I could stand, I felt something hard and fast hit my face. It was the shoe of the other team's forward. There was yelling, and our captain, who never seemed to care about me, socked the other team's captain. I tore off my glove and touched the area around my nose and mouth. It was soaked in blood.
My ears were ringing, everything seemed to be spinning and blurry, I couldn't hear my coach calling out to me as he ran onto the field. Everything went black, and all the noises sounded as if they were filtered. I remember hearing someone call for an ambulance or for a first-aid pack, when I lost all bearings. This was my first step towards losing everything I loved.
