The Proposal

Chapter Twenty-Four: Dreamless Sleep

Watching the Doctors work, Irina couldn’t help but blink back the tears, she couldn’t believe that it was her best friend laying in that hospital bed; she looked so pale, so fragile and she didn’t look like Sophia anymore.

Irina sighed and looked at Daniel who had called her after Sophia had been rushed into hospital; once she had arrived Daniel had broken down and told her everything from Anastasia’s plan to Cristiano breaking up with Sophia.

She felt sick as she listened to him explain, of course she had a few choice words for him once he had finished and had proceeded to hit and punch him because of all the pain that he had caused.

But the thing that worried Irina the most was that she couldn’t get a hold of anyone; she knew Cristiano would have told his family by now but Irina was sure that he’d change his mind once he learnt the truth but she couldn’t get a hold of him.

Sighing Irina sat down next to Daniel as they waited for news from Sophia’s doctor, who was still working on the blonde; they both looked up hopefully as he approached them, they knew that she had been injured but were hopeful that she would be okay.

“Are you both here for Ms. Sophia Collins?” he asked gravely as two nurses started to wheel Sophia away, Irina looked at her friend concerned while Daniel nodded; they needed to know what was going on, they were desperate for answers about what was happening.

“I’m Dr. Diaz… her doctor; unfortunately your friend has severe internal bleeding as well as a possible brain edema or brain swelling,” he said.

Irina nodded though she glanced down at her phone as if expecting it to ring; she knew that Cristiano would be hurt but surely he wasn’t going to ignore her like this for long.

“We’re prepping her for surgery now to treat the internal bleeding, have you tried to contact her family?” he asked.

Irina nodded though she couldn’t find her voice; she knew that her best friend’s life now hung in the balance and the one person that she needed most wasn’t here for her in any way.

***

Cristiano paced the living room as he thought about what had happened that afternoon, he still couldn’t believe that he had caught the blonde cheating on him; Katia had tried to talk to him about it but he had refused while Elma had helped him bag most of Sophia’s stuff.

“I can’t believe she’d do something like this,” Katia said for the fifth time this hour, she was looking at the bags that contained most of Sophia’s stuff that now littered the front garden; she had a feeling that they were all missing something and something didn’t add up.

Dolores glared at her daughter, she knew that this was a shock to them all but right now she wanted to focus on helping Cristiano; Hugo had already been tasked with looking after Junior who was asking for the blonde.

“If she cared at all she’d be here trying to save this relationship,” Dolores spat making Katia frown at her mother; she was so sure that there was something going on but no one else agreed with her.

Elma sighed and shook her head and while she agreed with her mother, Katia was right something wasn’t right; Sophia wasn’t the type of woman to cheat, she loved Cristiano more than anything.

Most of Cristiano’s team-mates had been informed about the break-up and were refusing to answer any calls from the blonde, who had hurt Cristiano; no one could believe what was going on and that Sophia had done this.

Collapsing into the closest chair, Cristiano ran a stressed hand through his hair as he thought about the kiss; he couldn’t take his mind of what had happened and it kept replaying in his mind as if trying to tell him something.

“Maybe I should have listened to her… maybe I just over reacted,” the footballer said thinking out loud, Dolores sighed and quickly shook her head, she didn’t want him doubting himself like this; the blonde had cheated on him and she didn’t deserve a second chance.

“No… she tricked us all, if she loved you at all she’d be here,” Dolores argued, Cristiano sighed she did have a point; if Sophia cared for him at all she’d be here fighting for their love, not spending time with Daniel while he suffered.

***

Gerard had dropped his phone when he heard the news about Sophia, he didn’t care he had training or a rehearsal dinner; what matter to him was that Sophia was lying in some hospital bed fighting for her life.

The six hour drive was worth it as he arrived late that evening to see Sophia, just being brought out of surgery; he ignored Irina who shot him a dirty look as he raced to her bedside and took her hand.

“Sophia?” he asked softly, not sure what to make of the pale blonde that had replaced the woman that he loved; he couldn’t believe that this was happening, this should have never happened to her and she deserved better. “

God, Soph, I’m so sorry,” he said tears filling his eyes as he sat next to her, turning he quickly looked at Irina as she entered the room behind him; he was surprised that the Portuguese forward wasn’t there especially since the blonde had been in a serious accident.

“Where’s Cristiano? Where’s her family?” he asked concern lacing his voice, Irina felt her heart go out to Gerard; even if he broke Sophia’s heart it was clear he still loved her but she still hoped that Cristiano would come around when he heard what had really happened.

“I can’t see to reach her family…” she said softly as she sat in the chair opposite Gerard and looked down at her friend; tears filling her eyes as she looked at the scratches and bruises that covered Sophia’s face knowing that so much could have been done to prevent this.

“What about Ronaldo… for goodness sake they’re engaged,” he said, Irina glanced out of the room at Daniel, who was sat in the corridor with his head in his hands as he thought about what had happened.

Carefully she slowly started to reveal the incident that had lead Sophia to run in front of the car, Gerard gritted his teeth in frustration; he couldn’t believe that this had all happened because the forward couldn’t keep it in his pants.

“He’s refusing to take my calls so are the rest of his team-mates,” Irina said finally, she watched the defender sensing that he was going to be trouble; she didn’t know what it was but the Russian knew that he was going to come between Cristiano and Sophia.

Gerard turned his attention back to Sophia, brushing some of her bloody hair from her face he sighed; he knew that he had made a big mistake when he had chosen Isabel over the blonde.

“I don’t know why I let you go,” Gerard said knowing that he would do anything to have her back; the blonde was everything to him and he knew that she wouldn’t forgive him when she woke up.  “

I am such an idiot,” he whispered making Irina looked at him concerned; if Cristiano didn’t see sense then she knew that Gerard would take his place.