Can't promise you the world, but... (A Rohit-Shreyas Fanfiction)

Chapter 7

2021

When India returned to ODIs after a long and successful Test season in winter, Shreyas' fortune misfired. He dove to save a four by Bairstow near the boundary and knew something was about to go wrong even before he'd registered the familiar white-hot pain bursting in his left shoulder.

The ball went for a four. Shreyas rose to his feet, clutching his shoulder, blinking back tears.

The stupid shoulder was always, always relapsing.

His team crowded around him as their physio ran onto the field to check.

"Dislocation, I'd say," Hardik said, squinting at the shoulder.

Shreyas was too stumped to shoot him a sarcastic 'Thank you doctor.' Rohit bhaiya gave Hardik a sharp look, which turned warm when he turned back to Shreyas with that steady everything-will-be-fine expression.

It always made Shreyas feel like everything would be fine.

That, it turned out, was a misplaced faith.

It was not the first time he had to be carried off in the midst of a match for an x-ray of his left shoulder, it was not the first time he heard the doctor saying 'the shoulder is subluxated', it was not the first time he was told he'd be out of cricket for a while.

"How long?" he asked Nitin sir resignedly.

"Not for this series, certainly. We can't go around the surgery this time. Let's see if you can return before the IPL..."

His tone didn't do much to encourage Shreyas.

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The match that day got over within 90 odd overs, and their team dropped by in batches to say hi to Shreyas.

Rohit bhaiya was very late, though. It had been an hour since Virat bhaiya, who'd been the first one, came, and Shreyas wasn't pleased. At one hour five minutes, he called Rohit.

"What are you doing?" he complained.

"I'm on my way," said Rohit, sounding harried. "Wait a few minutes--"

"But what were you doing?"

"Sammy was having a tantrum." Rohit sighed.

"You could have left Ritika bhabi to handle her tantrum!"

"Her tantrum was about her mother." Rohit sighed again. "A mediator was badly needed."

Shreyas couldn't logically sulk anymore, but he felt in too much of a contrary mood to say all right and hang up like a normal person.

"Rohit bhaiya, my cricket career is over," he said.

"Yeah? Why?"

Shreyas swiftly opened up Google on his phone and typed in 'dire shoulder injuries to sportspeople.'

"I've got rotator cuff tendinitis, that's why the same shoulder keeps getting dislocated. The doctor said if I continue playing, it will be damaged beyond repair within a year or two. So...well..." Shreyas trailed off.

Rohit was silent, then spoke in a strange voice. 

"Okay, wait, I'm coming, I'm almost there."

_________________

Shreyas, who'd fully been planning to tell Rohit bhaiya 'GOT YOU!' the moment he entered his chamber, underwent a rapid change of plans when Rohit bhaiya rushed in, looking far more active and affected that most people ever saw him.