It's over.

I'm done.

Everything I've worked so hard for is over.

"I'm so sorry Cairo." The doctor says right before the door burst open and all the girls, the team, and the coaching staff come into the hospital room and they start shouting questions.

"SHUT UP" I yell after having enough of the questions and the room gets silent and everyone looks at me stunned. "Just please...shut up." I whisper before bursting into tears.

"Mommy" I hear Isabella say and she makes grabby hands so Lindsey picks her up.

"Mama" Isabella says and reaches for me so I take her and set her on my lap.

"Hi Bella Boo." I say and try to smile through the tears.

Isabella puts her small hands on my face and looks it over

"You otay?" She asks.

"No sweetie I got hurt today."

I promised myself I would never lie to my daughter.

"You get a owie?"

"Yes baby I did."

"Where?"

"Right here." I say and point to my heart.

Isabella then leans in and kisses my heart which makes me cry even harder.

"All better." Isabella says and smiles at me.

"Thank you baby." I say and hug my little girl.

"Hey Bella." Lindsey's dad comes over now. "Why don't grandma and I take you to get some ice cream."

"ICE CREAM" Isabella shouts and jumps into her grandpa's arms.

I mouth a thank you to him and he nods then takes Isabella out of the room.

"What is going on?" Lindsey asks as she wipes my tears.

I just shake my head.

"Doctor what is going on?" Jill asks.

"Well as you know Cairo fainted and when we got her here we discovered that Cairo has Long QT Syndrome."

"Shit." Dawn says.

"Is it permanent?" Lindsey asks.

"Yes Ma'am." The doctor says and I hear a bunch of gasps.

"What does this mean for her career?" Jill asks.

"I'm done." I say and everybody looks at me now. "It's over."

"She can still play..." The doctor goes to say.

"But?" Christen asks.

"But if this happens again then Cairo could go into cardiac arrest." The doctor finishes then looks around the room. "I'll leave you ladies to talk and I'll be back with your discharge papers." He then leaves and Dawn and Jill follow him out of the room leaving the room silent.

When I've had enough of the silence I grab Lindsey's hand and pull her closer to me.

"I'm sorry." I say.

"What? Why?" She says and looks at me confused.

"I knew."

"You knew what?"

"You know the thing he said I have?"

"Yeah Long QT Syndrome."

"I've known since I was 15...I'm sorry. I should've told you...I'm so sorry." I say and start to cry.

"Shh it's okay baby." Lindsey says and brings my head into her chest.

"Cairo?" Alex asks and I remove my head from Lindsey's chest.

"Yeah"

"What is it?"

"It's a heart rhythm condition that can potentially cause fast, chaotic heartbeats which may trigger sudden fainting spells or seizures. In some cases, the heart can beat erratically for so long that it causes sudden death."

"How did you find out?" Christen asks.

"Somehow they found it when I was beaten by the dude who raped me."

Carli comes over and shows me her phone.

"Yeah I know Carli." I say when she shows me it can be hereditary.

"Does she have it?" Carli asks.

"No."

"Does who have what?" Lindsey asks.

"It can be hereditary."

"You mean..." Lindsey goes to say, but I cut her off.

"Isabella doesn't have it. The type I have was caused by medicine. I had Isabella checked when she was born just in case and she doesn't have it...god I'm an awful wife and mom......I'm so sorry." I say the start to cry again.

"Baby stop saying you're sorry. You did nothing wrong."

"I could've told Dawn or Jill or you or Carli or Christen or Alex or fucking anybody, but no I had to be stubborn little shit and not admit something was wrong with me...Even if I could've fucking died."

"Shh it's okay. I don't care about that. You're here now and that's all that matters." Lindsey says

"Maybe this is just a one time thing." Kling says.

"This is the third time." I say then I'm smacked on the arm by Lindsey which I fully deserve.

"The third?" Ali asks.

"The first was when I was 17 in Iceland while I was working out. The second time was when I passed out underwater in Portugal in 2018 and this was the third."

"They never told us that in Portugal." Ash says.

"Yes they did. I just didn't tell you when I translated. They also told me that I shouldn't play ever again."

"And why the fuck didn't you tell us?"

"I didn't have anything to look forward to at the time so frankly I didn't care."

"WELL WE WOULD"VE FUCKING CARED." Mal yells and everyone looks at her very surprised at her outburst. "You know how devastated I would've been, how devastated Lindsey would've been, how devastated everyone on this team would've been Cairo."

"I know Mal and I'm sorry, but you need to remember for 22 years of my life before that nobody gave a damn about me. I had nothing to live for."

"You had this team to live for. You had soccer to live for. You had Lindsey to live for."

"Mal I had no clue Lindsey liked me at the time. I only found out when I got back from the hospital. And I only started to love soccer after that Japan game in 2019. Before that soccer was just a way for me to get stable. I was going to stop playing after my contract in Italy ran out, but Jill called me up."

"Still stupid." Mal mumbles.

"Yes it was...would you like to slap me too?" I ask and she nods and comes over and slaps my arm. "Feel better?"

"Maybe." Mal says making everyone laugh a little.

"So what are you going to do now?" Alex asks.

"I'm done."

"What do you mean?" Christen asks.

"I'm retiring. It's not worth it. I have a wife and a daughter to live for."

"We can talk about that later." Lindsey says and I shake my head.

"Babygirl right before you got here he said if I didn't tell him about my condition when I did then you wouldn't have a wife right now." I say and everyone gasps.

"But...but...but we were going to get that sixth star." Emily says.

"Oh you're still going to get it. I'll just be rooting for you guys in the stands."

"Is that why you ran to the sideline?" Dawn asks altering everyone that she and Jill are back in the room.

"Yeah I knew what was about to happen so I tried to minimize the distance you had to get to me."

An uncomfortable silence proceeds to fall over the room and after I've had enough of it I decide to break the tension.

"So Emily I see Kelley proposed?"