Jamie turned on his phone and searched for his name on the internet to see what people were saying about him.

It had been a constant stream ever since his trip to Barcelona. It made grisly reading.

Majorb So gutted to hear about Jamie. Really feel for him. #JamieJohnson

HawksFans Sad news. U can watch him try to train w/ Barça here: http://bit.ly/w26L@m At 6.21, he tries to head the ball and collapses. #JamieJohnson

StueyMawhers Cld be the end for him. He ain’t exactly the sharpest tool in the box. If he can’t play football, what do you reckon he’ll do? #JamieJohnson

LindyMargot Jamie is my son’s favourite footballer. He’s in tears now because he’s just heard that JJ’s career is probably over. How sad! #JamieJohnson

BarçaNews Godal asked about Johnson’s future at press conference. Said: “It does not look good, but it’s a decision for Jamie now.” #JamieJohnson

XabiDB I’ve met Jamie Johnson. Great guy and proud too. Being embarrassed like that will be tearing him up. Needs our support now. #JamieJohnson

Jamie put his phone down beside his bed and closed his eyes. It was just his luck that someone had filmed the practice game and put it on the internet.

Now his nightmare had been laid bare for everyone to see.

“Do you want a hug?” asked Jack.

Jamie had completely forgotten she was in the room. This was the first time she’d come to visit him in a week. Something had definitely been different between them since the injury but Jamie could not put his finger on what it was. There seemed to be a distance between them that had never existed before.

Jamie shook his head. He didn’t want a hug. Didn’t deserve a hug. He wished he could just close up his whole body and hibernate for the rest of his life.

“Jamie,” said Jack, her brown eyes misty with concern. “I need to tell you about some conversations we had in Barcelona. It’s important … it’s about us…”

But Jamie was back on his phone, torturing himself with the ten new messages about him that had appeared in the last two minutes.

“What did you say?” he just about mustered, without ever fully drawing his eyes away from the phone’s screen.

“Oh forget it,” said Jack, getting up to leave, before adding under her breath, “Just like everything else.”

She left before Jamie could see the tear in her eye.