Bleeding Love [Antoine Griezmann & Neymar]

Chapter XXXI

I got to the hospital just as he was in the X-rays room. I waited patiently, no, not really patiently, but anyway, I waited there until they opened the door and got Neymar out, who was in a hospital bed lying on his stomach, and a nurse was pushing the bed.

"Hey." He said, his words coming out almost as a whisper.

"Hey, do you feel any better?" I asked him, as I walked next to him.

"Yeah, they gave me something for the pain."

We got to his room and the nurse excused herself just after asking Neymar if he needed anything else. Neymar only shook his head at her.

"Thank you." He said softly.

"For what?" I asked confused.

"For being here with me."

"It's nothing." I said smiling at him.

"Come here." He said, offering me his big hand.

I smiled at him and walked closer to him, I took his hand and sat on the bed next to him just after he patted that side of the bed, indicating me to sit there.

Right then my phone started ringing but a doctor also walked in at the same time so I just rejected the call and put the phone on silence for now, James could wait a bit. The doctor, who was an old man in his late sixties, probably, had the x-rays in his hands.

I stood up from the bed but never let go of Neymar's hand. He actually squeezed mine and looked up at me for a second before looking back at the doctor.

"I have bad news, sir." The doctor said and I felt my heart dropping a bit. "You have a broken vertebra, you can see it here." The doctor said pointing to an area in the X-ray, of course we couldn't tell what and where exactly was the fracture, it all looked the same to us, but we nodded at him nevertheless.

"What does that mean, exactly?" Neymar asked him.

"Well, you can't play or do any physical activity for at least four or six weeks." The doctor said, I felt the grip on my hand tightening. "It could be more time but we will see how it progresses and then we will see if you will need to stay away from sports for longer or not."

"So I won't play the next match?" Neymar asked, his words getting caught in his throat. "I have to play it, it's the semi-final against Germany!"

"I'm sorry. That won't be possible." The doctor said. "But the fracture is not that bad, you won't need surgery."

"So, what now?" I asked, speaking for the first time, the doctor was kind enough to speak in English so I could understand.

"Well, the best is to wear a brace to maintain the alignment of your back and immobilize that part of your body while it heals, it will be a bit uncomfortable but it's the best option." He said. "I'll be back with a prescription and some pills if you feel pain and a nurse will be here with the brace."

The doctor excused himself and walked out of the room and as soon as he closed the door behind him, Neymar started crying like if there was no tomorrow. I was never good to deal with people crying, I was just awkward around them, so all I could do was to sit next to him again and rub his back to try to comfort him but of course it didn't work, he just cried even harder.

What could I say? That it will get better and that he will be back to play in no time? Those words don't make an athlete feel better, believe me, I have been there and they just make you cry harder.

I know it feels like it's the end of the world even when it's not. The pain of not being able to play it's stronger and worse than the pain of the actual injury. The worst pain is in your heart not around the place that is injured. I understand it, I do. And that's why it's better to not say anything, say nothing is better than say the wrong thing. Actually, there are no words for that kind of situations, everything is wrong and will make the person feel worse.