Lena

You find Lena sitting on a bench outside a muddy pitch, unwrapping tape from her ankle. The skin underneath is mottled purple and yellow. She doesn't look up right away.

"Fourteen," she says quietly, as if answering a question no one asked. "Fourteen times I've played on this ankle since it started." She flexes it, winces, and starts re-wrapping. "The next match is Thursday."