"Mr. Repreece, I think it would be fair to say that your relationship with the accused was one of depth, loyalty, and trust? How deep was that trust? Enough for him to trust you with -"
"Objection! Mr. Repreece is a witness, not the accused." I interrupted, looking to the judge for agreement.
"I will grant -"

Before he could finish his sentence, there was a member of the courtroom making their way towards him. He whispered something in his ear before the judge glanced around the room and cleared his throat.

"This sitting will be adjourned for now. Please await further instructions. Miss Kelly, can you please make your way through that door?" He pointed to a side entrance.

What the fuck?

I assured my client that I would be back as soon as I knew what was going on, gathering my things together as quickly as possible and practically running to the door. I knew from experience that there were two reasons a judge would make the decision to adjourn in the middle of a sentence: one being that they had found evidence to suggest the representatives had committed an offence such as bribery of a witness, and the other being that they had been informed of some kind of emergency. I hadn't committed bribery, so what was the emergency? Sorrow-filled eyes were watching me walk towards them, a comforting arm placed around my shoulder by a woman I hadn't set eyes on before, a gentle whisper in my ear making the noise around me stop.

"Miss Kelly, we have received a call from your fiancé's workplace."
"What? What's wrong? Where's Leah?" I stammered.
"She's on her way to the hospital, she's collapsed. They didn't give any update on her situation; we weren't sure whether to wait to tell you."
"Wait to tell me? Have you waited? How long ago was this call?"
"Around 15 minutes ago. My manager advised that it was best to see how serious it was first."
"Yeah, well, tell your manager that is my decision to make." I snapped as I rushed towards my car.
"Miss Kelly, we need to close court?" A man yelled after me.
"Close it then!" I shouted back, continuing my run.

I ran through the main street to the car park as quickly as I could, not caring how rude I seemed to passersby who were grunting at me as I pushed by them. Fumbling for my keys, I barely had the car door closed before I started it, my hands shaking on the steering wheel as I made my way to - fuck. I don't even know what hospital she's in. I asked my car to call Amanda, straight to voicemail. Thankfully, Kim picked up on the first ring.

"Sophie, I'm so sorry. We wanted to tell you ourselves, but Paula said you were in court." She began explaining.
"What happened? What hospital am I driving to? What happened to her?" I felt my tears beginning to flow.
"North Middlesex."
"That's a big one - is it that bad?"
"We don't know. She was peaky this morning but said she was okay. She felt unwell during training, so they told her to go home. She went to get changed, and when we finished our session, we went back in, and she was lying on the floor of the changing rooms." Kim sighed. I knew she would blame herself for not going with Leah.
"Was she talking?"
"No."
"Breathing?"
"Yes, she was breathing."
"Oh, thank god." I breathed out.
"Amanda got here before the ambulance left; she went with her. You need to be careful driving, Sophie. I know you want to get there quickly, but she needs you there in one piece." Always the mother, Kim.
"I will be. I'm not far away anyway. And Kim?"
"Yeah?"
"Even if one of you had offered to go with her, she would've said no anyway."
"Thanks, Sophie. We all feel awful."
"There is no need. I'll call you when I know more." I reassured her.

The cars surrounding me irritated me; they were all driving too slowly for my liking, but I knew Kim was right. The last thing Leah needed right now was for me to get into an accident. By the time I made it to the hospital, I ran through the doors to reception, seeing Jacob waiting for me.

"Sophie! Over here!" He smiled; that's a good sign, right?
"Where is she? What's going on?"
"She's fine. She's awake—they didn't go into much detail with me—women's things, you know?" He chuckled, beginning to lead the way.
"Do you usually stand at the reception of the hospital, or just today?" I joked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Strict instructions from Leah. Stand there and keep an eye out for her; don't let her get herself too stressed." He imitated his sister.
"She could've just called me." I chuckled.
"We all tried - you were engaged. Thought your phone was off, maybe."
"Fuck - I was on with Kim."

We reached the room that Leah was in, a little side ward off from the main one. I slowly opened the door to find her eyes fixated on me. The hopefulness in her face that it would be me turned to joy when she saw that it was.

"Oh, Le." I sighed as I saw her hooked up to a drip, ECG cables lining her body.
"Soph. I told you she would be here soon." She smiled at Amanda.
"We'll give you two some time together." Amanda smiled, running her hand across my shoulder.

Leah clenched her hands together, gesturing for me to sit beside her. I pulled the chair towards the bed, being met with a stern look from Leah and realising she wanted me to climb onto the bed. My hand found her hair, gently stroking it back from her face as she closed her eyes at the sensation.

"What happened, Le?" I asked softly.
"They think it's just been another flare-up. I should've known this morning, really; I was crampy. I thought maybe it was just nerves for the photoshoot."
"Do you remember collapsing?"
"I remember not feeling well; I couldn't really see where I was going. I thought I was going towards the door, but I couldn't reach it. Then I woke up here." She chuckled at the last part.
"I'm sorry." I sighed.
"What for, Soph?"
"Not being here. I was in bloody court."
"I knew you'd get here as soon as court was over; I knew you would." She smiled.
"Ha! More like during it."
"You didn't?" She gasped.
"You bet I did. You think I was going to stand in there not knowing what was going on with you?" I raised an eyebrow.
"I should've known better than that."
"You should. How are you feeling now anyway?"
"Sleepy, and sore—very sore. I just want to go home."
"Have they said when you can?"
"Not yet, but you're here now, so I don't mind so much." She pulled my head down to her shoulder.
"I love you." I whispered into her neck.
"I love you, Soph. More than anything."

The rest of the family returned soon after, and Amanda was clearly still shaken from the events of today. When the doctor arrived to see Leah, none of us realised just how bad things could get with this new diagnosis. He informed Leah that she would need surgery to remove tissue to prevent the flare-ups from becoming even worse. It was news that would be difficult for anyone, but for someone at the peak of her football career, I watched as Leah's world tumbled down around her.

"How long for recovery?" Leah asked, swallowing back tears.
"You will feel better within 1-2 weeks, but with your career, we would expect you to return after 8 weeks, avoiding fully returning for 12–16 weeks."
"Fully returning?" I questioned.
"Playing matches, we have to be mindful that Leah's career means she is subject to heavy contact."
"When will the surgery be?" Amanda asked.
"I don't want it. I'm fine - I'll just take it easy next time I feel so bad." Leah interrupted.
"That will be your next cycle."
"Sorry - doctor, are you saying that every cycle will be like this now?" I asked.
"Yes, that's a high possibility. When there is too much tissue buildup, that is the cause of the flare-up."
"Can it be medicated? Surely there's another way to break the tissue down?" Leah questioned, squeezing my hand.
"Unfortunately not."
"I'm fine though—look at me! I'm fine."
"You're not, though, Leah. You're in the hospital." I said sternly—maybe a little too sternly.
"Can you all leave, please? I want to be alone." Leah mumbled.
"Don't do that, Leah." Amanda sighed.
"I said leave! Go, please. I just want to be on my own." Leah pleaded.

We obeyed her wish, each of us trying to show her affection before we left but being brushed off. Amanda and I spoke of the prospect that Leah would miss out on more playing time as we walked to our cars.

"This is going to set her off again, Sophie. You know that, don't you?"
"Yeah." I sighed.
"Do you think you can do it?"

I knew Amanda was concerned that Leah and I wouldn't get through the impact that it would have on her mood; she had every right to be concerned. We ended last time.

"We'll get through it together." I smiled.
"You're brilliant, Sophie. You're a mother's dream for their child."
"I'll call you if I hear from her."
"Same for you. Get some rest. She's going to need us."

Get some rest... I agreed, obviously, but I waited for them to leave and headed back into the hospital. I bought myself a sandwich and a drink and found a seating area just down the corridor from Leah's room. When she's ready, I'll be here. Occupying myself with Google searches to learn more about the surgery, I couldn't help but be angry at the complete lack of support there was for women going through this. The statistics were crazy; such a large proportion of society was dealing with this understudied illness, and no one seemed to be standing up for what was right—women's rights to health investigations. Eventually realising that this wasn't helping me to settle my mind, I spent the rest of my time scrolling through social media, watching as the clock ticked on. 30 minutes, 1 hour, 1.5 hours, 2 hours, 2.5 hours. Buzz.

Leah
Soph

Sophie
Yeah, Le?

Leah
I'm sorry

Sophie
You have nothing to apologise for. I love you.

Leah
I love you. I'm just scared

Sophie
What can I do? I'll do anything to help you

Leah
Just hold me, please. I really need you to hold me

I jumped to my feet, making my way along the corridor and opening the door to Leah's room. Her head shot up, a confused look filling her face as she realised it was me. She didn't speak, and neither did I. She groaned as she moved to one side of the bed. I gently climbed into the bed with her, opening my arms to allow her to place her head on my chest. I felt her inhale my scent, hoping she found some safety in it.

"Have you been here the whole time?" She whispered.
"Yeah."
"Where?"
"Just down the corridor."
"Even though I told you to leave?"
"I didn't want to be too far away when you needed me again."
"I always need you, Soph. I need you now more than ever, though. I'm scared." She gripped me more tightly.
"Tell me what you're scared of, Le."
"My head doesn't cope very well when I can't do anything during the day. I just go into myself; I forget how to be a person. Two weeks, I can do that. Four months, though? How do I do four months?"
"Four months just you and me sounds pretty good to me, you know." I chuckled.
"You can't take me to work with you." She chuckled back.

I can't, she's right. What was that thing I promised her when we got back together, though? Work will never come first again.

"Good job I'm the boss then, isn't it?"

Leah lay silently for a few seconds, I think she knew what I was saying, but she was afraid to assume, just in case.

"What do you mean?" She mumbled.
"I mean that you are my priority. You promised to communicate, and you proved that you could. I promised to stop putting work first, and now it's time for me to prove that. Let's make four months of memories, Le; let's both take four months off."
"What about your clients?" Leah chuckled.
"You worry about making a list of things we can do; I'll worry about my clients. Deal?" I held my hand out to her.
"Deal." She smiled up at me, taking the opportunity to interlock our fingers rather than shake my hand.

We lay in silence for a few more minutes, and I began to think that Leah had fallen asleep.

"Soph?"
"Yeah, Le?"
"You make everything better."
"You make everything better for me too."