Foolish one

Chapter 53

It took me three weeks before I was ready for surgery. Three intense weeks of rehab, tears, and anger. I had no idea how Alexia stayed with me through them. Nothing she did seemed good enough for me whenever she did them, and I felt awful after every time I snapped at her. She just tried to do everything as good as she could, and I was grateful for her, it was just hard to show that.

"Alexia, can you stay with me?" I asked with a weak voice. I was laying in a hospital bed with Alexia, in less than an hour I would be forced to have my surgery and I was a bit nervous. It would be my first time being put under some kind of anaesthetic and it made me very nervous, especially because football was my livelihood, and I needed to play to make any money. "I'll stay with you as long as I can, and I will make sure to be in the room when you wake up" she smiled at me, rubbing my hand at the same time. "I love you" I whispered to her. Falling into her comfortable embrace, all my worries seemed to grow smaller with her.

Way too soon I was wheeled into surgery. Alexia followed with until she had to stay in the waiting room close by. When she left, I suddenly felt way more nervous. I was on my own, without the support of my girlfriend. The support I had grown accustomed to over this past year and a half. After that I don't remember anything else.'

I woke up in a dark room. A head was resting on my shoulder, and it belonged to my fast asleep girlfriend. Her phone was for some reason in the bed, so I lifted it up and checked the time. It was past two AM in the morning, and I was not sleepy at all. However, Alexia looked way too peaceful to disturb, but I was bored and wanted something to do. I unlocked her phone, watched a lot of TikToks and made a few of them too.

Soon enough I was tired again. A few nurses had been checking in every once in a while, I asked them to speak quietly to not disturb Alexia. I fell asleep around four, but I was woken up every hour for them to check that I was okay and alive.

"See I was here when you woke up" Alexia said with a smile, waking me up from my slumber. "You were sound asleep when I woke up, and I have been checked on several times without you waking up" I responded, teasing her a bit. "And why didn't you wake me?" Alexia asked, almost disappointed in me. "You looked tired, so I let you sleep" I said with a smile.

This small interaction caused Alexia to hug me tighter, and it caused her to place a small kiss on my lips. Such a small gesture filled me with warmth, so much that it almost radiated of me.

We left the hospital soon after, with strict instructions on what I needed to do to make sure my knee healed correctly. The happy news was that the surgery looked like it had been successful, only time could tell if it really was.

Alexia helped me to the car while I was on the crutches. She held everything I had brought with me, and I loved that. "Race to the car?" I asked. A cheeky smile danced on my face. "Absolutely not. You are not supposed to do any of that yet" Alexia instructed. "You are no fun" I complained and tried to jump up on her back. It was hard to do with crutches, and Alexia just put me down with a stern look on her face. It was like having an overprotective parent.

Back home Nala followed me everywhere. She complained about not being carried around like she usually did. I felt like a bad person for not doing what she wanted.

I fell onto the couch. Alexia was at training. I had already done what I needed today, which was barely anything. Nala snuggled up against my side, and I felt the tears welling up in my eyes. Was life supposed to be this hard?

"It's okay" someone said from above, sitting down beside me, placing my head in their lap. "You are so strong Isa" she continued. It was Alexia, who else would be here with me. "I love you more than you could ever imagine" she whispered. Her fingers ran through my hair as I sobbed loudly. "Why do I feel so helpless Ale?" I asked desperately. "You are not helpless, even though it might feel like it" she said. Then she spent the next hour telling me about everything I could do.