30 Day Angst Challenge

Sixteen: Accidentally Injuring A Teammate

This is a continuation of the one shots where you are Hendo's cousin.

Today I was going to be joining my boyfriend Trent and my cousin Jordan at their Liverpool training session. It's been a while since I've been, and I'm excited to watch the lads train again. They had a big game against Manchester United coming up at the weekend, and this would be one of their last training sessions before the match.

"Ready to go?" Trent asked me, coming down the stairs dressed in his training gear.

I smiled and nodded in response. The two of us made our way out to the car and before long we were pulling into the AXA training centre. I made my way up to the seating area whilst Trent headed down to the training pitch. I enjoyed watching Trent train – I get to see how he performs so well on the pitch, and I love watching him practice free kicks.

The lads did some training drills for a while, before breaking into 5-a-side matches. Trent was on a team with Sadio Mane, Curtis Jones, Caoimhin Kelleher and Naby Keita, and his team was facing Hendo's team, consisting of Jordan, Andy Robertson, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Divok Origi and Alisson. Trent's team drew first blood, with a goal from Curtis. Trent got the assist. Hendo's team equalised though, with a well taken shot from Ox. Hendo's team made it 2-1 with a goal from Origi, and then Trent himself scored for his team to make it 2-2. Sadio scored next to put Trent's team ahead again; 3-2. Hendo's team was breaking, and Trent was defending Hendo one on one. He put in what looked to be a good tackle, but the next thing I knew Hendo was on the floor clutching his knee. He was hurt.

Trent's eyes were wide in shock – he'd obviously not meant to hurt his friend and teammate, but Jordan looked to be in pain as someone from the medical team made their way over to him. They seemed to do a couple of tests, before Jordan limped off the field. He stood on the side lines and had a brief conversation with Jürgen Klopp, the Liverpool manager, before hobbling inside with the medical staff. Trent seemed off for the rest of the game. His defending was sloppy, and his crosses never seemed to find their intended target. Eventually, his team lost 5-3. 

Soon enough, the team broke for lunch. Trent sluggishly made his way up to where I was sat.

"Hendo okay?" I asked in concern. Trent just shook his head and took the seat next to me, burying his head in his hands.

"What've I done?" He mumbled.

"What d'you mean?" I asked, rubbing Trent's back.

"I hurt him (Y/N). It's my fault he's injured." Trent sighed.

"You didn't mean to. Jordan knows that." I tried to reassure him.

"I feel terrible." Trent told me.

I pulled him into a hug, letting him bury his head in my shoulder.

"Can we go and find him?" I asked.

"Yeah, good idea. I can apologise to him for what happened." Trent agreed.

The two of us walked hand-in-hand to the medical room, where Hendo was laid on a bed having his left knee examined. Trent knocked on the door.

"Come on in." One of the medical staff called to us.

Hendo's face lit up when he saw Trent and I in the doorway.

"You alright guys?" He smiled.

"We should be asking you that." I pointed out.

"I'm fine, really. Just a minor sprain." Hendo shrugged. Trent breathed a small sigh of relief.

"I'm so, so sorry mate. I should've been more careful. I don't know how I could be so stupid." Trent apologised.

"You've apologised about a hundred times already, and I've already told you about a hundred times that it's not your fault. Your tackle didn't injure me in any way. In fact, it was great tackle, you won the ball really well. I hurt my knee as I went down." Hendo explained.

"But you wouldn't have gone down if I hadn't made the tackle." Trent argued.

"Trent, that's the risk we take as footballers. We can't just not tackle each other in case we get hurt. I understand you feeling guilty – I'd feel guilty if I was in your position too. But please, don't beat yourself up about this. I'll be back in a couple weeks." Hendo reassured Trent, who nodded slowly.

"Is there anything I can do?" Trent asked.

"Yeah – bugger off and get yourself something to eat before you pass out in the second half of training!" Hendo teased. Trent chuckled.

"Alright then. See you later." He said.

Hendo and Trent shared a quick handshake, and I gave my cousin a quick hug before following Trent to the dining room. We both grabbed some food.

"Trentski! I saved you a seat." Robbo smiled, pointing to a spare seat at the table he was sat on with Virgil Van Dijk and James Milner.

"Don't worry, there's a seat for (Y/N) too." Robbo winked. The two of us took a seat, with Trent next to Andy and me opposite Trent, next to Milly.

"He's nothing without his partner in crime." Virg teased Robbo, earning a laugh from me and the middle finger from Andy.

"Where've you been?" Milly asked.

"Seeing Hendo." Trent replied.

"Oh yeah, I thought I saw him going in injured." Virgil said. "He okay?"

"He's fine, thank god. He reckons he'll be out for a couple weeks though." Trent explained.

"What's he done?" Milly asked.

"It was his knee, wasn't it?" Andy asked. Trent nodded.

"Yeah. He's sprained it." Trent said, biting his nails. I leant across the table and gently pulled his hand from his mouth.

"Stop worrying Tino." I told him, giving a small, sympathetic smile.

"Oh no, don't worry mate. If he's only gone for two week's then he'll be fine." Milly tried to reassure Trent.

"I don't think that's what he's worried about Jimmy." Andy said, resting a hand on Trent's shoulder. "It's not your fault." He added.

"Why would it be your fault Trent?" Virg frowned.

"I tackled him. He fell to the ground and that's when he got hurt." Trent told him.

"That's just one of those things mate. It's not your fault at all." Milly said.

"Yeah, I saw the whole thing. It was a great tackle to be honest." Robbo added.

"That's what Hendo said." I reminded Trent, taking his hand in mine. "Plus, Hendo already told you to stop blaming yourself."

"I know, I can't help it. It just feels like it's all my fault." Trent sighed.

"It could've been anyone making that tackle – me, Virg, Robbo. It would've ended the same way no matter what." Milly said.

"Exactly bro. Don't blame yourself." Virg gave Trent a warm smile.

Trent gave a deep sigh and then nodded.

"I mean, I'll probably still blame myself, but knowing that you guys and Hendo don't blame me makes me feel a bit better." Trent told us.

"Good." I smiled. "Hey, maybe Hendo and I can go watch the United game together on Sunday."

"Yeah, good shout." Robbo agreed.

"Yeah, you guys should definitely come." Trent smiled.

"Okay, I'll suggest to Jordan and see if he's up for it." I dropped Jordan a text and he agreed to come with me, saying he'd sort us our places in the player's lounge.

Soon enough, the boys had to get back to their training session. Luckily, there were no more injuries, and the lads were looking good for Sunday's game at Anfield. A few days later, Liverpool beat Manchester United 2-0, with Hendo and I watching on from the crowd. Hendo's knee was healed two weeks later, and he was back to his best.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm really sorry for the lack of an update yesterday - I had work until late so I never got around to posting. But I'll be posting another one shot in a little bit to make up for it, so there'll be two today :)

El x