The Lozano family had been watching the game on television, since Club Pachuca had traveled up to the border town of Tijuana for the game against Xolos. The first fifteen minutes had gone by with Pachuca controlling the game and generating more opportunities. Things were going smoothly for them until something happened that made the Lozano family jump out of their seats.
A rough sweep from Orozco to Hirving Lozano which left him on the ground in pain. The referee stopped the match momentarily, to bring in the team's medics.
It only took two minutes and one look at the injury to know that he would be out for the rest of the match. The twenty one year old was in so much pain that they had to bring in a stretcher and it was decided that he would immediately be taken to a hospital for a proper evaluation.
The family waited for a phone call, and watched the rest of the match to keep themselves distracted. But none of them could concentrate on the game, which ended with Pachuca defeating the border team three goals to two. They finally got a phone call from the team's coach about an hour after the match ended. He sounded worried, and upset. Hirving was one of the youngest and most skilled players on the team. But he was also the most fouled player in the entire league.
He informed the family that it was a gruesome injury--Orozco's cleat had gone clean through Hirving's socks and deep into his skin, causing a deep gash in his ankle. But it was worse than it sounded. After bandaging him up, he would be allowed to return to Pachuca with the team. But once back home, he would have to get surgery and rehabilitation for his injury.
He would be out for two months at the least, and would have to miss the playoffs, if Pachuca made it that far in the tournament.
The team had even posted a picture of his injury on their social media twitter account.
tuzos: its a shame that our league's referees let things like this happen. chucky is the most fouled footballed in the mexican league. #fuerzachucky twitpic.com/23njbvdhalbe32
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As soon as the team arrived in Pachuca, Hirving was taken to the hospital and his family went to visit him. His parents, his daughter Daniela, his wife Ana, and his twin sister Herminia were there. His younger brother Bryan was unable to go, since he was living in Mexico city, training with Pumas UNAM's under twenty squad. He had promised that he would go see him as soon as he had a day off from football practice.
Their sister Herminia was a footballer as well. But she had been a part of Cruz Azul's female division up until a few weeks prior.
She played as a winger, the same position as her twin brother, but the team had been dissolved due to a lack of funding from Cruz Azul. Their reasoning was that they had no use for a women's team, since no one ever went to their matches or purchased their merchandise.
Herminia had nothing more but to return to Pachuca with her parents and her brother Hirving. She decided she would take a break from football, but she would continue training for a few months, and then she'd attend tryout procedures for all the big teams in Mexico. The only one she wanted to steer clear of was Pachuca. Her brother played there and she didn't want people to think she had only gotten in because of him.
His parents barged into the room, his mother with tears streaming down her face in worry. his wife Ana had their three year old daughter Daniela in her arms, and the only thing stopping her from bursting into tears was her daughter. She wanted to be strong for her.
But she had seen the pictures and replays of the play which caused his injury.
Hirving forced a smile onto his face, but he was exhausted from travelling, and he was goofy from the pain medications he'd been put on to control the pain.
His mother rushed to his side and threw her arms around him. "How are you feeling, Hirving?" She asked him through her tears.
He chuckled slightly at her reaction. She was acting like he was on his deathbed. But he really hadn't seen the pictures that were floating around online of his injury. He only felt the pain, but he didn't know how bad it really looked. He slowly drew her arms around her and rubbed her back softly. It was a strange sight to the rest of his family. He was the one injured in a hospital bed and there he was, consoling his mother. "I'm feeling so much better now. The doctors said I'll be back on the pitch in no time."
His mother pulled away and wiped her stray tears that had soaked Hirving's face while she hugged him.
Ana and Daniela greeted him next, and he tried extra hard to smile for the three year old girl that sat in his lap. Ana leaned in for a quick kiss on the lips. She could barely move around a lot because of her baby bump. She was due within the next month. Last were his father and his sister Herminia to greet him with a hug.
As his sister pulled away, he remembered a thought that came to his mind when he was told he might be out for the rest of the season, and the playoffs in case Pachuca were to make it that far. He had talked it over with his coach Diego Alonso, who thought the idea was crazy but pitched it to the owners of the club anyway. To their surprise, they were on board with it. Now the only thing left was to get Herminia on board as well.
"My coach and our club president are coming by later today." He informed her, taking her by surprise. She didn't know why he would be telling her that, of all people. She had nothing to do with Club Pachuca. He soon continued, "I was thinking--since I might be out for the rest of the season and playoffs--that maybe you could take my place."
Now she had really been taken by surprise. Not just Herminia, but his parents and his wife were equally shocked to hear those words.
"What?" She asked in disbelief, hoping she had heard wrong.
"I need you to be my replacement." He clarified.
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first chapter for this story, since i feel inspired to write football fics in the summer time. also i included a picture of chucky's injury. this actually happened back in march. and that bit about him being the most fouled player in the league is also true. every game the boy gets fouled a ton of times.
in march orozco fouled him super hard and he was taken off the field on a stretched. i added a pixelized pic of the injury bc it was super graphic. it was a deep injury.
anyway, i hope you all like the story. thank you loads for reading!
