Someone Like You | Toni Kroos

Chapter 16 - Forgive

Toni's POV

"Gabi!" I put her on the ground gently. "Gabi, what's wrong? Please wake up."

I placed the back of my hand on her head – she was a little feverish. I swept her hair out of her face and planted my lips softly on her head. "Baby, I'm so sorry," I whispered. "I love you so much. Please be okay, Gabi. I love you."

Not knowing how to carry her to the car without the risk of dropping her, I fished out my phone and dialled for an ambulance before calling Amelie and telling her what happened. Seconds later, she barged in the front door and fell to the floor beside me.

"What happened?" she panted.

"She fainted," my voice quivered as I held Gabi close to me. "I don't know. She came back with the dogs and she fainted."

"Oh, Toni," she sighed. "At least she's home."

When the ambulance arrived, I got into it with Gabi, telling Amelie to wait at home for any news. Fortunately, it took almost no time at all to reach the hospital. I paced around outside the room nervously as the doctor did some checks on Gabi.

Finally, he re-emerged with a slightly relieved look on his face. I rushed up to him and grabbed him by the arm, surprising him. "How is she?"

"Are you family?" he asked.

"I'm her husband."

"Oh, she's fine. Just needs a little rest, that's all. We'll need her to stay for one night and she can leave tomorrow morning."

"Are the babies okay?" I asked.

He smiled warmly. "The babies are perfectly fine."

"Oh, my God," I sighed in relief. "Thank you so much."

"Gabriele is just tired," he continued. "She fainted because of fatigue. She's asleep now, but you can go in and see her. Please take care of her. Don't agitate her."

I thanked him again as he left. Stepping into the room, I was greeted by a familiar sight – Gabi lying on a hospital bed. Déjà vu rammed into me like a reckless defender. I ran across the room and to her bedside, sitting down and grabbing her hand.

"Gabi, baby," I called, the lump in my throat suddenly being released as tears. "I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. Please...please be okay. I love you so much. Please rest well...okay? You said you'd go to Brazil to watch me play. How can I let you go like this? I'm so sorry. We don't have to talk about Madrid, okay? It can wait. Everything can wait. I love you, Gabriele. I'm so sorry."

I put my lips to her hand in an attempt to stop my sobs as I remembered Dr. Gerber's exact words: "She looks like she might turn out to be high-risk for post-natal depression." And there I was, stressing her out and making her so furious. I couldn't possibly be more stupid.

After sitting for a few minutes, staring at her sleeping figure and silently praying that she would be fine, I stood up to give her a kiss on her head, wiping away my own tears and those that had fallen off onto her face in the process. Quietly, I let myself out of the room and called Amelie.

"Is she okay? Is anything wrong with her?" her shrill voice invaded my ears once she answered.

"She's fine," I informed her. "Just fatigue."

"Oh, that's good," she sighed in relief. "I think she didn't sleep the entire of yesterday night."

"Really?" I sat down on one of the chairs in the corridor. "How do you know?"

"I heard her talking to someone. I don't know who she was talking to."

"Probably one of her friends," I leaned back against the wall. "Thanks, Amelie. Sorry about this morning."