34.

Semi-finals day, if it weren't tough enough last time round for Steve to get his head in the game then for this game his levels of anxiety have seriously moved up a notch. His best friend still is not around and there is added mystery as to if Mike is actually missing or as to if he is off his rocker to some degree.

Steve has had a heck of a ride. It is not all so long ago that he found out he had or has, maybe perhaps had after all, a half-sister and this half-sister so happens to go to the school that he goes to. In fact, she has been the leader of a cheer-leading squad that supports the football team which so happens to be captained by Steve himself.

A little unusual that football or soccer, as our American friends would refer to it, would have something which more commonly is an American tradition though this school and others have adopted it and others are catching on too. For many, the performance and comradery of it all is what draws them to it, that, and the fact that it does go down well is more than enough to see its continuance.

Between Steve and his half-sister, they had been keeping the information of their relationship to themselves until they could get to a point where they can feel more like family but also comfortable enough to share their good news. Only now Steve's half-sister is also missing, perhaps having suffered a worse fate and on top of that, she may have suffered at the hands of Mike, his best friend. Just what the hell is going on is not just something he wants to know but needs to get to the bottom of.

How does anyone take all this in let alone go on to play what is considered an important football match ... well. A football game is just that, a game, especially in light of all of what has been going on, still people depend on him and some difficult questions are to be asked. Can Steve play? Will he want to play? If he does play, then can he give the game one hundred percent of his attention?

There is no need to ask or to even think about Steve being side-lined in any way. He is up for this game. He needs the distraction; he needs something to focus on until such time he can get things together as well as he possibly can. Football games are short in length though the temporary distraction may go a lot further than he could ever hope it will.

Steve has focused on football in the past, if there is any way football could be in his future as in with a way of career then he so would want to follow that path. Perhaps focus is in his nature though with this game, he has never been so focused. The opposing school has a history in the sport to more than rival their opponents, on this day the game is a one-sided affair, more one sided than what anyone could have predicted.

The final goal of the game is scored by Steve himself, taking his team to a four goal to zero win and his now trademark celebration is still a little muted, running towards the stands, searching for Ellie up in those bleachers and pointing to her.

After the game, Ellie waits in the stands for Steve, she worries for him and about him. Judy keeps Ellie company. They are of course close, and the relationship Ellie has with Steve does not deter from the relationship Judy has with Ellie. The longer Judy is here the more she is coming round to Steve, besides the sticking together rule is still in effect, possibly even more so now than ever before.

Judy and Ellie are fairly quiet and perhaps even unusually quiet as they wait together. This is alright though as indeed a lot is going on, has gone on. If either of the two are looking into this quietness more than the other than that would be Ellie, Judy is considering where she is from more than he has done before. She misses mum more than ever, still she is in the place she is sure she belongs.

Yeah, Ellie is a little worried about Judy as she is indeed worried for Steve, though leaving Judy lost in her own thoughts at this time is a pleasant thing. No harm is being done once they are together, right? Soon Steve is ready to join them. Judy and Ellie are halfway up the main stand sitting together towards the end of an aisle.

Steve moves up the aisle slowly then sits in silence for a moment across the aisle from the girls. Despite his team going comfortably into the final, Steve is in no mood to celebrate. It feels more as if he has lost, and as if he is responsible for that, but this is not so. No matter what is so, he is allowed to have his moment or two in silence. Staring a hole into the ground, Steve feels he should try pick himself up a little. The girls have been giving him room and he is grateful for that.

When he looks up, he sees Judy before he sees Ellie as Judy is sitting closer to him. What he sees gives him cause for worry.

'Judy ...' he says. 'Your nose is bleeding.'

She touches it with her index finger and views the blood transfer right before it all really kicks off. Judy, without notice of any kind, goes into convulsions. Understandably panic sets in. Ellie screams though reacts quickly to grab her friend, preventing her from falling over. Steve reacts quickly too and together they aid in placing Judy in a lying position along the aisle where she continues to shake violently. Steve has basic first aid trading and nowhere enough to know what to doing this situation.

'Help her ...' Judy demands, unfortunately there is nothing either of they can do.

The seconds pass and the convulsion stops. Steve places his right cheek a little over Judy's mouth and cannot feel any breath hit his face, is she breathing? He places two fingers against her jugular and cannot feel a pulse. He waits a couple of seconds before looking at Ellie.

'She's dead ...'

Mum begins to panic in her seat next to Judy's bed as unconscious Judy also goes into convulsions. There is no way of course that mum could know that Judy is reacting like this somewhere else.

'Help ...' she calls out. 'Someone help my daughter ...'

She doesn't need to call out. Doctors and nurses are well aware something is wrong, and they have come rushing into the room long before Mum had a chance to exit in order to grab someone's attention.

'Help her ... please ...'

'Ma'am, please exit the room, we will do all we can' a nurse says while she attempts to usher her out of the room.

From a position just outside her daughter's room, mum hears the sound that no mum wants to hear within a hospital ... the sound that tells her Judy has flat lined ...