ғᴏᴏᴛsᴛᴇᴘs | ᴋᴍ ✔︎

Rose City

"Thinkin' Imma fall don't be so sure."
- J. COLE

It was late August. The weather in Portland was undeniably horrible. Dark clouds cover the possibility of any sunshine. The grass and concrete succuming to the rain from above. It was late morning and the adult in the Heath household was patiently waiting for the young Morgan to get herself ready.

Tobin had begun to drag Cody to training a few months ago. The younger woman wasn't able to fully participate in any of the activities - beside any upper body exercises. However that didn't matter to Heath, she was set in her ways, and Cody was going with her whether she wanted to or not. It was, after all, Alex's idea.

"You okay kid?" Tobin asks, watching as Cody limped lightly to the front door.

"Yep." Cody replies grabbing her crutch so as to not strain.

Her rehab had been going well. Both rehabs, so to speak. PT was difficult, but after months of dedication, Cody had noticed the difference beginning to show. She could walk just as well as before, only on wet and cold days did she need a little help. She wasn't at the point of training and pushing her body to its limits during contact sport, not because she couldn't, but because she couldn't believe that it would be possible.

The doctors told her she wouldn't play again, and she was having a hard time putting that out of her mind, she couldn't bring herself to say 'fuck it' and do it anyway. Her usual stubborn self was finding it hard to believe that the doctors could be wrong.

Her second form of rehab was harder. Kristie had helped Cody take the first step in getting clean once again, but both knew that Cody would have to do the hard work herself. While Kristie had reservations about Cody's commitment, the younger Morgan didn't. All she needed was someone to show her some love and support, someone to put her back on the straight and narrow. Blackmailing her and threatening to tell Alex sure helped, too.

Being sober was always going to be difficult, and Cody knew that. She knew from getting clean the first time that every single day is a struggle, but she also knew some tricks to keep her from relapsing.

One was confiding in Tobin when she got home from camp. It threw Heath off, Cody wasn't one to be so open, but she agreed to help the youngster anyway, which brings us to the second trick.

Tobin had complete control over Cody's pain meds. She had the same trepidations about the pills that Kristie had. Her first thoughts were to just throw them out and get them as far away as possible, but Cody was also healing. Tobin knew that with injuries and surgeries comes pain, and Cody would need some help coping with that.

The third trick was waning Cody off the pills. Quitting cold turkey is ugly and often backfires. So Cody and Tobin worked out a plan on how Cody can gradually get off pills. It wasn't the kind of plan that ended after a week, it did take a few weeks for Cody's dosage to be reduced to a degree that wouldn't increase the risk of relapse later on.

The most important trick Cody learned was to keep her mind busy. Doing anything and everything to ensure that thoughts about getting high were kept at a minimum, cravings and urges were kept under control. And so she threw herself into exercising, often pushing herself too far - she would be in pain for the next day or two after such extreme sessions but her recovery time was shortening. She would call her mom more, her aunts and grandparents too, she even started emailing Jo.

"C'mon," Tobin helped Cody put her Nike's on before leading the kid to the car. The ride to the stadium was silent, just like always. Only this time Tobin had questions. "So why are you-"

"I'll tell you later." Cody replied shortly. It wasn't that she didn't want to tell her other mother what she was planning, it was simply because she wasn't sure if it would work out the way she was hoping.

Soon enough the pair arrived, and once indoors, went their seperate ways. Tobin in the direction of the locker room while Cody ventured towards the coach's office. Mark was aware of the last minute meeting with one of his team's most promising players and so welcomed her into the office happily.

"What can I help you with, Cody?" He gestures for her to take a seat on the other side of his oak wood desk which is cluttered with papers. Most of them are not important but from her seat Cody can make out a few sheets with tactics on them.

"It's about my recovery." Cody begins, taking a deep intake of air in a bid to settle nerves. "I've been talking with my doctors and some of the PT team here."

It was mid-afternoon when Rachel and Jack got home from training. The two had moved in to their own place together a little over a month ago, it worked out well considering the sums they paid for gas and Uber's to and from each other's places, they were basically saving money living together under one roof.

Jack let Rachel shower first, and so when she was dressed and Jack was in the bathroom, Rachel finally answered the text that was unopened on her cell. She and Cody were taking steps to form some kind of friendship due to Rachel's relationship with Jack, so when Cody reached out for help, help which she couldn't ask Jack for due to the girl's loud mouth and inability to keep a secret, Rachel took the opportunity.