Chapter Text
They walked quickly down the halls of the hospital. They had just returned from a friendly and heard things weren’t going well, so they rushed there. When they go into the room, they can see that their friend has gotten worse. She looks like a ghost of a person, but the steady, labored beat of the machines tell them she’s still there.
“Hey Tobs.” Lauren finally goes to their friend’s side, taking the small hand in her own. “How are you feeling?"
“Hi friends.” her rasps were barely audible with the oxygen mask over her face. The other three women got closer to Tobin as Lauren moved some hair out of the midfielder’s face. “I missed you guys. I watched the game and you guys killed it."
“We killed it for you, pal.” Ashlyn said with enthusiasm and they all chuckled. Tobin began to cough and struggled to clear her throat. Heather pure a cup of water and handed it to Ashlyn. “Here we go, small sips.”
As she took the sips of water a nurse came in and maneuvered her bed so she was sitting up. This allowed them all to see how much color she had lost, how sick she really looked. “Molly these are my friends I told you about; Lauren, Ashlyn, Heather, and Whitney. Guys this is Molly, my awesome nurse.”
“Aww you’re just saying that cause I help you out in here.” the nurse responded. “It’s nice to meet all of you. Tobin had told me a lot about you. So how is my favorite patient feeling today?"
“Tired. Just weak and tired.” the midfielder responded, tying to sound strong. “But I’m doing okay today right? Maybe I can get out of here soon?"
“We’ll see Tobin, we’ll see.” Molly gave a concerned look to the other women. Tobin began coughing again and Molly helped her through it and put the mask back on to get her more oxygen. “Dr. Burke will be in any time now, okay."
Ten minutes later, a man walked in and introduced himself as Tobin’s doctor. “Dr. B tell my friends I am okay and I can go home soon."
“I wish I could Tobin, I really do.” just like that all the air seemed to leave the room. “Your heart is getting worse and it will only get harder to keep it from failing. Your status has been moved to critical on the transplant list. In the coming weeks your symptoms will slowly worsen until your heart fails, unless we find you a heart."
“How long?” she cut in. “How long do I have?"
“Symptoms will really start to show in the next few weeks.” he repeated. “The most we can give you is a month, maybe two. I know this is a lot and I am so sorry. We have to trust the system in getting you a heart and until then, I promise you I will do everything I possibly can to help you until a heart comes."
After the doctor left, the room was silent for a while. Eventually Lauren stepped out of the room for a moment, followed closely by Heather. They found Molly and wanted to ask her a question, “Excuse us, Molly, we were wondering if it was possible for Tobin to leave at all. Is it possible for us to take her out for a while? It’s just that Tobin is a free spirit and she would probably take some this better if she had some fresh air."
“Tobin has to go through a lot of testing today to get new baselines and stuff for the transplant list.” Molly told them. Just as their faces began to fall she added. “But i will speak with Dr. Burke and see if we can something out for her to get out tomorrow for a while."
When they went back to the room, Ashlyn and Whitney had gotten Tobin speaking some about soccer and the team. The friends talked for a while, avoiding the elephant in the room until Tobin had to go for testing. Once she was gone the women fought to not break down.
“She’s going to be okay.” Ashlyn stated. Though she sounded more like she was trying to convince herself. “She is going to be okay, right?"
“Tobin is strong.” Whitney rubbed Ashlyn’s back. “She’ll get through this. She has to."
“We have to have faith.” Lauren added. “We all know how strong Tobin is. She is a fighter and we have to help her get through this."
They wheeled Tobin back in a few hours later and she was curious why only Ash and Whit were in the room. “Cheney and HAO went to get some stuff and they’ll be back soon. Is there anything you want to do or just rest?"
“No I rested during all those tests so I’m okay now.” she looked out the window and saw that it was getting dark. She knew it was getting late and knew what was coming, and she didn’t want it to. She didn’t want to look weak. “Give me the dirt on the team until the nurses come back."
alright Ms. Heath you know what time it is.” they had been hanging out for a awhile and Tobin rolled her eyes when she heard the voice that meant discomfort. Nurse Jackie would come every night with her dinner and they would argue about how much she had to eat, then she would make Tobin walk down the hall to get a shower. She would say it was to keep her muscles strong and moving as much as she could. “Ready to eat?"
“I’m not hungry nurse Jackie.” she whined. “Please don’t make me do it today."
Whitney and Ashlyn wondered what this was all about, but it pained them to see Tobin react in this way. They watched as Tobin and the nurse went back and forth about eating. Finally Molly came in to set them straight. “Tobin, I know you being so sick doesn’t make you hungry but it is important for you to eat normally for as long as possible. You don’t need to eat a ton, but can you please try for us?"
She gave a dejected nod and Jackie lifted the lid off the tray revealing a plate of weird hospital food with corn, fruit, and pudding. Tobin picked at the food for a while, only really eating the corn and the fruit. “Come on Tobs you didn’t even touch the pudding. It’s pudding it can’t be that bad."
“You try it then Ash.” Tobin countered. She laughed when the keeper’s face gave a disgusted look. “Ha told you."
“Molly told me you had eaten enough for now. You ready to take a walk?” Nurse Jackie knew she’d get a fight and her patient didn’t fail her. “Ms. Heath you need to get up and move, and a shower wouldn’t hurt. Now you can just get up an dee can do this how we always do or you can continue to argue and I’ll make you get out of that bed."
With that, Tobin pushed the table away from her and struggled to sit up all the way. The nurse went to Tobin and unhooked her from the machines then put shoes on her feet. The soccer players watched as Tobin put her hands on the bed and hoisted herself into a standing position. “Can they come with me, please?"
“If that’s what you want, yes.” she knew Tobin’s friends would keep her calm and reasonable. “But we are going to get there without any help today okay."
Tobin grumbled her response and focused on getting down the hall without embarrassing herself. She was glad when she got to sit down when they got to the showers. Jackie turned the water on and helped Tobin out of her cloth gown and pants, then left her to do her business. In just her sports bra and Nike pros, Tobin stepped into the shower, avoiding the worried eyes of her friends.
“Where’d the drill master go?” Tobin asks when she got out, only seeing Whitney and Ashlyn. They helped her get dressed in clean clothes and lead her back to the room. “Ah peace and quiet."
Soon after, Jackie returned and hooked Tobin back up to the machines and put the oxygen mask back on over her face. Lauren and Heather returned with several bags in hand. “We figured since you could be here for a while, this room could use some dolling up. And we brought some food."
They spent the evening decorating the room and keeping Tobin distracted. Lauren brushed Tobin’s hair and saw her fighting to keep her eyes open. They put a movie in and Lauren pulled Tobin in close to her, trying to get her to sleep. “I love you guys."