I'll Never Forget

20

TW's:
-Mentions (child) abuse/divorce
-Mentions surgery
-Bad injury

George's POV

I got a call from Clay's mum, telling me that Clay was in hospital and had to get surgery immediately. Apparently his dad forced him to train again and he tore even more ligaments than before. He was currently having surgery and I went to the hospital to wait with his mum.

My mum brought me there and I sat down in the waiting room. We didn't know how long it was going to take, but it could take hours since his ankle was completely messed up. He wouldn't be able to walk for months.

When it was only an hour later, we suddenly saw a doctor walk in. 'Are you here for Clay?'

We both nodded heavily and the doctor looked sad. 'Clay's back in his room, we couldn't help him yet. We started the surgery, but he appears to also have broken his ankle really badly. We didn't count on that at all and he will have to have a new surgery for this. We tried fixing some of his ligaments, but his ankle is way worse than we expected beforehand. He's in a lot of pain and he just woke up.'

I immediately stood up to run to his room. He laid in his bed with his eyes wide open and tears rolling down his face as he looked at me. I looked at his wrist and I felt sad.

Clay looked down at his wrist too. 'Sorry.'

I didn't want to cry in front of him after he just had surgery so I just nodded. 'I understand.'

Clay was too tired to reply and he fell back asleep, waking up twenty minutes later. He was looking around him again and pouted a bit.

'So much pain.'

His mum nodded and grabbed his hand. 'You need another surgery, they couldn't do it all now. Your ankle is also broken and they didn't see that on the MRI.'

Clay looked really sad and he sat up a bit, looking at me.

'Why did you take your bracelet off?' I asked.

'Is that the first thing you ask when I just had surgery?'

I didn't know what to say, normally he wasn't this angry and I figured it was because of the failed surgery and everything that had happened.

'I was just wondering, it was our promise.'

'Just shut up.'

'I'm sorry.'

'You're so annoying, do you know that?'

'I didn't do much,' I whispered. 'I just asked about our promise and if you forgot about it.'

'It's stupid anyway, do you actually think that stupid bracelet will keep us together? You're annoying, I don't feel like being with you anyway. It was just a stupid kiss, it meant nothing.'

'W-what?'

'IT WAS JUST A KISS, I don't care about you.'

'Clay, can you act normal please? He came all this way to the hospital to be with you,' his mum said angrily.

'What have I done wrong?' I muttered, fighting against my tears.

'This wouldn't have happened if you weren't here. It's your fault.'

'I understand,' I whispered as I stood up, walking to the door. I closed it behind me and I sat down in the waiting room, crying my eyes out as a nurse passed me. She saw me crying and walked to me, sitting down next to me. 'Oh no, what's wrong?'

'The person I love just screamed at me that he doesn't care about me anymore.'

'I'm so sorry to hear that, for who are you here?'

'Clay. He just had surgery and it failed. I wanted to comfort him, but he screamed at me.'

'I think that's not your fault, I think he's just really stressed. His surgery failed and I've heard some things about him, his dad doesn't seem to be that nice of a guy.'

I nodded slowly.

'And a lot of people have bad mood swings after anaesthesia. Some cry a lot, others get really mad.'

'Should I go back to him?'

'I think you should. Just don't talk for a bit.'

I nodded. 'Thanks.'

I stood up and walked back to Clay's room, silently sitting down on a chair next to his bed. I stared at my hands, scratching my skin a little bit since I was nervous. Suddenly I saw Clay's hand coming closer and he grabbed my hand, rubbing his thumb over it. He lifted my hand up to his face and kissed the top of my hand a few times as he lifted his other hand, showing me his bracelet.

'My dad beat me up and ripped off my bracelet, George. I'm sorry for screaming at you, I'm just sick of everything. I didn't take the bracelet off, my mum made it again. It's not stupid at all to have this bracelet and I love you just as much as I did before.'

I smiled as I sniffed to hide my tears and Clay pulled me closer to him. 'Do you forgive me?'

'I do,' I smiled.

Clay smiled and wrapped his arms around me to pull me closer. He gave me a short and tender kiss on my lips. 'I will always love you, I've been in love with you since I was nine. I will love you forever. My mum and dad are going to divorce and I'm sure my mum will allow me to invite you over.'

His mum nodded. 'Of course.'

'I can't play football for the next months to years and I will never get back to the same level I'm at now. I'm supposed to be sad, but I'm so extremely relieved. I don't want to do football anymore, only for fun. Just once a week for fun, without any matches.'

I smiled and ran my hand through his hair. 'That sounds a lot better.'

Clay nodded and grabbed my hand again to kiss it. 'You look beautiful today, have you done anything special? You're so handsome.'

'I haven't done anything, I'm just the same as always.'

'Then you're always this beautiful.'

I smiled shyly and Clay kissed my hand again. 'I'll forever love you, I'll never forget.'

1021 words