Alina woke up with pain in her neck this morning, but there wasn't anything she could do about it anyway. It was a bit unfortunate, though, because all of them are planning on going out today to explore Doha, and use the time to do something outside the cruise they were staying on.
She got ready for the day, putting on a simple outfit, and met the others outside. The weather was pretty hot, but they had cold water bottles from the freezers and hoped it would hydrate them for at least a couple of hours.
The pain in Alina's neck had caused some discomfort, but she had done her best to ignore it, not wanting to ruin the day or worry anyone.
They had decided to go to the city centre mall by cab. They had seen the mall from the outside as soon as the got out of the car, it looked beautiful, and the inside was huge, the inside was a bit chillier too so they were able to cool down.
There wasn't much to do other than walk around and look at the different stores, they weren't planning on didn't much anyway.
———
"I'm so tired still," Saka yawned as he took a seat on the chair next to Mason at the breakfast table.
"We all went to sleep pretty late, to be fair," Mason said as he rubbed his eyes, trying to wake himself up.
"The night was crazy," Declan said.
"Can you guys actually believe that we're through?" Saka asked
"It's crazy to think about it," Declan replied.
"France is going to be a tough one tho," Mason added, receiving a nod from both boys who agreed
Jack walked in, looking like he was about to pass out. "Why do you look so lost?" Declan laughed
"Still tired," Jack answered in a low tone, almost losing his balance from just standing.
"Someone didn't sleep well," Mason chuckled.
"We came back like 4 in the morning, bro, it's 11 now, why are they torturing us like this?" Jack complained.
"This isn't a vacation, Jack," Saka rolled his eyes at him. Jack shrugged in response, too tired to say more.
———
"Did you speak to Lauren and the fam?" Mason asked Declan before throwing the basketball into the net. They have been playing basketball most days when there's nothing else to do.
"Yeah" Declan said
"I should probably call my family too," Mason said as he bounced the ball and walked over to his best friend. Declan grabbed it from him, throwing the ball but missing the net.
"Yeah, go ahead and do that while I work with this," Declan chuckled
Mason laughed as he walked to more quieter place, he pulled his phone out of his pocket, trying to call his mom, but she didn't pick up, nor did his dad, which started to worry him because they always pick up. He tried calling Alina as well, but she didn't pick up either. He tried again by calling Woody, and luckily, he did pick up.
"Finally, did you guys die or something?" Mason asked, still feeling worried about no one answering his calls for the past 5 minutes.
"Huh?" Woody answered confused
"Why is no one else answering? What are you guys doing?"
"Ooh, we're out at the mall; there is no wifi...or there is but no one has really thought about connecting" Woody replied
"That makes sense, what are you guys doing at the mall then?" Mason asked
"Just walking around, really. I'm with Ali and Aaron at a second hand shop, and the rest of your family went to a grocery store to buy some stuff," Woody said.
"Ok, cool, can I speak to Ali?" Mason asked.
"Yes, you can, but be careful; she's acted like the devil today." Woody whispered
"What?" Mason asked confused.
"Her neck is like broken or something; she won't shut up about it," he explained.
"Her neck? Give her the phone, let me talk to her," Mason told him.
Woody walked up to Alina and handed her the phone. "It's Mase," he told her. She grabbed the phone and put it on her ear.
"Hey, babe," she smiled while watching the clothes in the store they were in.
"Hey gorgeous, are you alright?" Mason asked
"Yes, everything's good. How are you? Did you get any sleep?" She asked, knowing they came back pretty late to the hotel after yesterday's game.
"Yeah, I'm still a bit tired, but it should be fine. I heard about your neck, though; should I be worried?" He asked
"Don't worry, I must've slept in an awful position or something," she assured him.
"Are you sure?" Mason asked, not fully convinced.
"Yes, Mason, stop worrying," she chuckled.
"Ugh fine," he gave in
"Do you want anything from the store? They got caps and shoes?" she asked.
"Nah, that's fine. Thank you for asking though," he said.
"Hey babe, can you give the phone back to Woody? I need to talk to him again," Mason said.
"Alright,"
"I'll talk to you later, ok?" He asked her
"Ok sounds good, bye, Mase," she said before handing the phone to Woody, occupying herself with the clothes at the store again
"Yeah, bro," Woody put the phone back to his ear
"When you go back to the hotel, make sure Ali lays down okay; no moving or carrying stuff."
"Mase, you gotta chill, bro; she's fine," Woody chuckled.
"Listen, you little rat, when I tell you to look after my girlfriend, you will look after her," Mason said, obviously joking with his angry tone, but partially being very serious too.
"Fineeee," Woody rolled his eyes.
"Good, say hi to the others from me," Mason said before hanging up.
———
After a long day at the mall and exploring, Alina laid down in her bed at the hotel. The pain in her neck was still there, and it had gotten worse. She quickly got changed and went under the covers, letting herself relax.
She laid there for a couple of minutes before Debbie knocked on the door. All of their rooms were connected, so the cards worked on each other's doors.
"Come in!" Alina shouted loud enough for Debbie to hear. She walked in with a water bottle and what looked like pills.
"Hello," she said as she walked in and shut the door behind her.
"Hey, Debs," Alina said with a tired voice.
"I brought this, maybe it will help with the pain," she walked over to the bed and took a seat.
"Thank you," Alina sat herself up and took the pill out of her hand. She swallowed it with the water and went back to lying down.
"Has it gone worse from how it was this morning?" Debbie asked concerned.
"Yeah... it feels like the pain is spreading down my jaw too," Alina said, touching her throat.
"Just relax and take it easy; hopefully the pain goes away soon," Debbie said.
"Yeah, I hope so," Alina yawned, feeling tired after today.
"We'll be outside if you need anything; just call, ok?"
"Yeah, thanks," Alina smiled.
As soon as Debbie left, Alina tried to go to sleep. That was probably the only way for her to not think of the pain.
