Final matchday of the season. And it had been a long season. Especially once the team had nothing to play for and you could only think about what was happening once there were no more matches. It was football wedding season.
When you looked at the stands before making your way to the bench, you saw Rúben there. Last time he attended one of your matches as a fiancé. Next time, he'll be your husband.
"You're on", you heard your coach say when there were only 20 minutes to go. You really expected him to not play you but you'd never say no to any game time.
"Ok".
City had nothing to play for after a not-so-great season but your rivals were trying to avoid relegation, so the level of intensity was very unbalanced.
"Watch out!", you said to one of their defenders who tackled you. She was being unnecessarily aggressive.
"Sorry".
But her apology didn't mean much when, a couple of minutes later, she tackled you again, twisting your ankle. The pain you felt was so horrible, you fell to the floor and tried to grab your foot. But touching it sent more pain to your ankle and leg, so you let go of it.
The team's doctors were there quickly and ended up deciding to ask for the stretcher so you wouldn't have to force your ankle more by trying to walk.
By the time you made it to the infirmary, Rúben was already there.
"How is it? You seem to be in a lot of pain".
"Always so observant".
He let your sarcasm slide, listening to what the doctors were saying.
"We'll need to do an X-ray but don't have the machines here so off to the hospital we go. You coming, Dias?"
"Of course", he said, smiling at you but you didn't smile back.
An hour later, you were still waiting for the results but you had been in this situation before. You knew it was bad.
"It needs surgery".
The words no athlete wanted to hear. Rúben took your hand to squeeze it, showing he was there to support you.
"Will I need crutches after the surgery?"
"Yes, and a boot. For about...4 or 5 weeks I would say".
"And if I don't get the surgery now?"
"What?", Rúben didn't understand your question.
"With some rehab, you could move around without them but the longer we wait, the longer it'll take for you to go back to training".
"Can I think about it?", you asked, surprising the doctor and Rúben again.
"Of course. We can't force you to have surgery. It's not a life-threatening injury. I'll leave you alone so you can talk".
The doctor could read the room well and knew there was a conversation that needed to happen between the couple in front of him. And three was a crowd.
"What are you doing? You need surgery now".
"The wedding".
"It's in three weeks".
"Yes, do you want your bride to walk towards you waiting at the altar in crutches? To not be able to dance?"
"Is that really the problem? You're being ridiculous! Your career and your health come first!"
"Rúben! I've been dreaming about my wedding my entire life. And about our wedding since you proposed. I don't want anything to ruin it and we're not cancelling it and waiting another year to get married".
