state of grace ✦ leon goretzka

s i e b z e h n

september ninth

IT WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL MOMENT when there was a change in the beeping in the room and when his fingers began to twitch, followed by his hand and then his arm, and then his legs and by the time Grace called on some nurses, who in turn called for some doctors, and by the time she called her dad, Gale was blinking again.

The tears were relentless as she cried over his body, squeezing his fingers lightly and just being happy that her little brother was conscious again.

"What did I miss?" his voice was croaky and dry, causing Grace to erupt in more tears because at least he was talking.

"You've been out a week," she said, keeping her eyes on her brother despite the nurses fussing around them.

"A week? Not that long. You're being dramatic," he chimed with a microscopic smile, "Where's dad?"

"At work. I called him; he'll be here very soon," she replied.

"And Leon? Are you two speaking again?"

"He's not here, but yes we are," Grace squished his hand, watching the glint return to Gale's eyes as it always did whenever he spoke about Schalke.

"Are you dating him yet?" Gale teased, "I really want you to date him."

"No. Shut up," Grace hissed, though jokingly, "Save your energy."

"I've been out for a week; I have a lot of energy," he sassed.

Grace moved from Gale's side to allow Mona, one of his nurses, to check on his drip. His doctor had finally come and had began to ask Gale a series of questions. Grace stepped to the table away from the bed to check her phone for updates from her dad and also to text some people that Gale was awake.

There were no new messages from Elias, so she proceeded to tell the good news to Eleanor first. Eleanor had returned to Berlin the night of her brother's party, which Grace ultimately ended up attending. That was on the 6th of September. Eleanor replied almost immediately with a text that screamed joy and she promised to come back as soon as she could to see him. She then texted Leon just because she thought he would've liked to know since he adored Gale.

Around 10 minutes later, Elias came bounding in through the door, breathless and sweating as he hugged Gale as best he could. By this point, his doctor had collected blood and the nurses were patching him up.

"Dad, it was only a week," Gale chuckled weakly.

"Don't you ever do that to us again, you hear me?" Elias said sternly, though his words were rooted in good intentions.

"Never again, Dad," Gale lamented, "Did anyone come to visit while I was out? Must have been boring."

"Eleanor was here the other day," Grace piped up, "She was in town for Franz's 26th birthday. She says she'll come back to visit as soon as she can since I told her you're awake."

"I wish I was awake when she visited," sighed Gale, "How's Schalke doing? Have I missed any matches?"

"Dummkopf," she gently slapped his leg, "You just woke up from a coma and you're asking about Schalke? And no, you didn't. There's one tonight; Schalke against Bayern."

"Which your sister is seeing at the Veltins tonight," Elias grunted, "Lucky girl. First live football match is a big one."

"Hey, I don't have to go now that Gale is a-"

"Don't even finish that sentence, Gracie," Gale's voice raised in horror, "You are not passing up watching Schalke versus Bayern to hang out with your lame brother, where you'd probably be doing the same thing instead you'd be watching on a tiny monitor instead of in real life. I assume you're watching it with Leon? If you pass that up, you're a disgrace to this family."