A little while later, Mom showed up. She hugged me and kissed my cheek. Not long ago, I would've been allergic to that kind of affection, but now... it feels different.
"Matti, I brought you some food and hot tea. And... how's our little Eli doing?" she asked, worried.
When she saw Eli—pale, hooked up to tubes—she gasped and covered her mouth.
"Oh my God, Matti, what has this poor girl been through?"
A nurse walked in.
"Can I help you with something?"
"Yeah. What exactly happened to her? And... will she wake up?"
The nurse sighed.
"Elina suffered from complete physical collapse, likely due to prolonged stress, exhaustion, and malnutrition. She also has bruises—some fresh, some older—an infection, and a concussion."
My stomach dropped. He'd been hurting her for a while, and I didn't see it. I didn't stop it. I failed.
The nurse continued,
"We induced a medical coma to reduce strain on her body and give it time to recover. The good news is that her condition has stabilized. Now, we just wait for her to wake up. It's serious, but your girlfriend is a fighter. She'll pull through."
I barely had time to process everything she said before one word stuck in my head. Girlfriend? We're not even together...
Mom caught on instantly. As soon as the nurse left, she looked at me and asked,
"Matti, be honest... why do you spend so much time with Eli? What do you want from this?"
A simple question. And yet, so damn hard to answer. I looked at Eli and started talking.
"Eli is... she's just amazing. I can be myself around her. She never makes me feel dumb for saying something stupid. She listens, but she also knows exactly what to say to make me think. She calms me down when I get worked up. And when she looks at me with those big eyes and that shy little smile... it just gets me.
She's tiny and fragile, but tough as hell. Even when she can barely stand, she's still helping everyone else."
I swallowed hard.
"And I... I wanna be the one who helps her. Not just now, when she's in bad shape. Always. I wanna see her smile. I wanna see her happy. I just wanna have her around. Because when she's here... everything just feels better."
Mom gave me a soft smile.
"Well, that sounds pretty clear to me. You want to be with her. For good."
"MOM!" I snapped. But not because she was wrong. Because she was right.
I thought about it. I imagined...
Holding her hand as we go visit my parents.
Her trying to bake cookies with Mom, covered in flour.
Me handing her stuff from the top shelf because even on her tiptoes, she can't reach.
Her waiting for me to come home every day, greeting me with a kiss.
Us raising our kids together.
Shit... I'm getting ahead of myself. But I like that picture.
I swallowed hard.
"Mom, if I had to pick just one teammate for life... I'd pick Eli. No question. But I don't know how she feels. And right now, the only thing that matters is that she gets better."
Mom nodded.
"Well, when she's ready, you should talk to her about it."
I looked back at Eli.
When the time is right...
Insert: The Investigation – Fighting for Justice
Geissler let out a deep sigh and rubbed his temples. The more he learned about Elina, the more he wanted to help. Cases like hers were exactly why he became a cop—to protect the vulnerable, to fight against people who abuse their power. And this case... this was worse than he expected. The more they dug, the clearer it became—this wasn't just about last night's attack. Koller wasn't just violent. He was a conman, a manipulator, and maybe worse.
YOU ARE READING
The Twelth Player
Short StoryMattias Heiberg is haunted by one unpleasant event after another - nasty clients at work, a break-up with his girlfriend, a car accident. The former football superstar is not going to make it at least in the lower competitions. On top of that, an un...
