"You ready, kid? Big day." David points out as they load into the car.
"I guess so. I really just need to get home." Olivier sighed and they began their drive.
"Why would that be?" David asked.
"Well for one, my sister is dying of cancer. And because of that, I want to get better for her to see me play again. Also, I need to be in these Olympics if I want a chance of rejoining the national team. Plus, I need to get back to living alone. Willo acts like I'm such a baby." Olivier ranted. David just realized how bad this kid's life was.
"Don't worry, Olivier. I'm sure you can do it." More sympathy that Olivier just didn't need.
"Ok, I'm gonna stay with you for an hour and I'll come back tonight with the family to check up." David told Olivier who nodded.
"Sounds like a plan." Olivier nodded. David nodded and helped him to the room, the nurse helped more of course, but David was there for support.
"Dr. Rowe will be with you soon to explain everything." She said, Olivier snickered a bit at her accent and David slapped his arm. She didn't care though and left the room to go get the doctor.
"Hey, we're the ones with accents here. Don't question them." David instructed the kid who nodded. David was pretty good with kids after raising four.
"D'accord, d'accord!" Olivier defended and put his hands up. David laughed at the French boy. He had never met a French person, other than Thierry Henry. He adored Thierry Henry.
They kept talking for a few minutes in the room. The last time Olivier was in the hospital was when he was stabbed in the alleyway. It felt so long ago now, with all his trauma, it was hard to remember as well.
"Hi guys, I'm Dr. Rowe, but you can call me John." A man said, he walked in with the nurse. He seemed pretty young for a world class doctor and they were both impressed.
"Hello John, I'm David. This is my friend Olivier Milan, as you surely know. And I'm sure that you will take great care of him today so that he can return to play as soon as possible." David said and put a hand on Olivier's back. Olivier smiled goofily and John laughed.
"Of course, David. That's my job. And Olivier Milan, you probably know that I've worked on your friend before, right?" John asked and Olivier nodded.
"Well how's she doing? She was quite lovely." He said the last part in a British accent. Olivier laughed his French laugh. John clearly was trying to make him laugh before he had surgery, with the mocking of David.
"Hey, I don't talk like that." David defended.
"Why, of course you did. But he doesn't have a British accent anymore, you Americans have rubbed off on him." Olivier told his point of view and John shook his head.
"I disagree, he seems authentic to me." John argued and they both stared at David weirdly. David looked back and forth between the two in the room with him.
"So I'm too American to be British-?" He asked and Olivier nodded. Then he turned his head over to John.
"But I'm too British to be American-?" He asked his second question and John nodded.
"Man, I cannot win. I'll leave you two." David said and waved goodbye to John.
"Well, Mr. Saliba. Now that the wannabe is gone, we are free to chat." John took a seat on the chair beside Olivier's bed.
"And here comes the bad part." Olivier rolled his eyes and John shook his hands. He was laughing under his breath and Olivier could tell.
"Oh, no. I would argue it's pretty good. See her, on your scan you can see it's only a minor rupture in the ACL. Now typically, a player at your level would be out for seven months with a rupture like this." John began and handed the pictures over.
"But you're not a typical player, and I'm not a typical surgeon." He began to get cocky. Olivier couldn't help but smile a bit at his ego; anyone with that big of an ego had to be good. Speaking from experience of course.
"Because you have me, that should be reduced to about four months. But your club also has dealt with a lot of this injury, so I'm told. And they've got you a Russian PT crew on top of your club crew. With that, it could be reduced even more to about three months." John said, Olivier thought it couldn't get any better from there.
"But hold up a minute. You are THE best player in the world. And someone of that caliber is going to have a lot of motivation to recover, I assume-" he said and Olivier laughed dryly.
"You have no idea." He thought back to his goal of his sister seeing him play again.
"And, kids always recover faster than adults. And you are only fifteen so there's another bit of a head start that you found there." John loved giving Olivier all the good news.
"Really?" Olivier grew excited.
"See? Well yes, and with that, I think that you could set a world record recovery here." John smiled at the kid.
"How long are you talking?" Olivier asked. Now John looked like an evil genius.
"Me, I'd say between eight to twelve weeks." He said. That was less than three months, it was unheard of for an ACL to be recovered that shortly. But with this world class doctor telling him it was possible, for the first time since he fell, he believed.
"Thank you, sir." Olivier said and John loved how happy he was making the kid.
"Please, call me John." He said. They went over the final surgery details and the nurse came in to prep Olivier for surgery.
He was just going to be administered with about a million painkillers, that's why he had to stay in the hospital after. It wasn't a very long surgery. With the experienced doctor, it only took a bit over an hour.
"Alors, qu'est-ce que nous faisons maintenant?" [So, what do we do now?] Olivier asked while they were still working. There were three doctors and six nurses, most of them had begged to be in this room right now. All the medical staff knew that he was here and wanted to get in.
It was common for patients to revert back to their first language when they were under numerous painkillers. Olivier was no exception, despite his great memory. The doctors found it funny, and one of them figured out what that phrase meant.
"Same thing as earlier." A nurse told him and sat at his side for a minute. They just finished and were wrapping his leg back up.
"Olivier Milan! Hello, as you speak English, we know you can understand us, but we brought in Dr. Fontaine, who speaks French, so we can understand you." John explained and Olivier smiled while laughing.
"Bonjour Dr. Fontaine, Êtes-vous une fontaine?" [Are you a fountain?] He asked, and Dr. Fontaine chuckled.
"You did great in surgery, but we'll leave the charts in your room so you can check." John told him and took two of the twenty papers on his clipboard at his bedside desk.
"Merci, Tu ferais mieux d'avoir raison sur la date limite!" [Thank you, You better be right about the deadline!] Olivier told both John and Dr. Fontaine told him what he said.
"I hope I am." John responded. The doctors filed out of the room and Olivier was alone for a couple minutes. All he wanted to do was sleep though, so that's what he did.
When the teen woke, there was a nurse and his friend in the room. Olivier forgot where he was though until he abruptly sat up and looked around.
"Je suis à l'hôpital?"[I'm at the hospital?] He asked before realizing it was in French. Most of the painkillers had worn off by now.
"Mate, did you just have a stroke?" David chuckled and put a hand to his mouth. Olivier shook his head.
"I sure hope not." He looked around the room and remembered. Olivier pulled a blanket off his leg and saw the stitches on it. He sighed and put the blanket back on after having a staring contest with it.
"Don't worry, you seem to be stable and can probably leave by tomorrow morning." The nurse said and Olivier thanked her. She left the room with a clipboard that she was writing on and the two footballers were alone.
"So, how was the surgery?" David asked and Olivier slowly remembered.
"Bruv, there were so many painkillers I don't remember much. I started speaking French and they had to bring a translator- I don't know." Olivier laughed at the memory.
"Nice one." David laughed and patted his arm.
"Hey- they told me it happens all the time." Olivier crossed his arms and David smiled. Olivier didn't want to be in the hospital anymore, and David was doing all he could to make him feel better.
"I believe you." David said and crossed one leg over another. Olivier liked just looking at him, not in a creepy or a gay way, but he just liked it. David was a total pretty boy and his hair was perfect and fluffy. He also had tattoos almost as good as Olivier's.
"You ready to get out?" David asked, switching the subject.
"More than. I need to get out. He said 'eight to twelve weeks' and I need eight." Olivier said and pulled the blanket back off. He only had a couple of stitches, as it wasn't a big surgery.
"Really? I could've sworn they took nine months. Is this doctor some sort of superhero?" David asked. Olivier sighed, he wished.
"They do. But I got a lot of small things on my side." Olivier bragged a bit. David was just happy to see him happy post-surgery. That was the reason he was there, after all.
"Well, Vic made you some dinner to cheer you up. Eat, before you go back to sleep for another three hours." David rolled his eyes. Olivier wished he could, because otherwise it wouldn't guarantee him eating. But he had to stay on his schedule.
"No- I mean, I- well, I can't. I've just got this dumb thing. I promise I'll have it later though." Olivier said. David looked perplexed, but definitely not about to ask and make him feel worse.
"You can ask. I have a really bad OCD and a stupid schedule that I've got to follow." Olivier sighed and sat farther back in the hospital.
"I've got OCD too." David admitted and Olivier looked surprised.
"Really?" He asked hopefully. He knew other people had OCD, but never would've guessed David did. Even after seeing the documentary, Olivier just thought David liked things neat.
"Yeah. Not as bad as that, but I've still got it. If you take one look in my closet, you'll find out." David said and put a hand on his thigh. Olivier nodded, he realized that cleaning was his main thing. Just like how Olivier's main thing was his schedule.
"Well, I gotta go. Do you want me to pick you up early to watch the game? It's at six so I'd have to be here by like five fifteen." David said and stood up to approach Olivier's bed side. They had to put a bench at the bottom of the bed so that his feet had something to rest on. But he had one leg slightly bent.
"I wouldn't want to bother you." Olivier told him and waved him off. David chuckled at his politeness.
"It's no problem. I'll be back early to pick you up. We can watch it together." David said. Olivier appreciated how understanding David was.
"Thank you so much.I will be thankful to see you tomorrow, have a good night." Olivier waved goodbye to David.
With that, the retired footballer left. Olivier lay down on the bed and decided to flip through the channels on the tv while waiting for dinner. He still had about fifteen hours in the hospital and he was dreading his stay. Eventually, he drifted into a dreamless, terrible sleep, after his dinner and right on schedule.
A few minutes after Olivier woke up, he heard a soft knock on the door. Olivier told them to come in as he was folding his blanket. He was cleaning up before checkout.
"Olivier! Good morning, ready for Fulham?" David asked after Olivier looked up.
"Hell yeah, but I'm more ready to get out of this." Olivier put his hand up to look around the room.
"I get that." David said. The doctors had come in last night explaining that all Olivier had to do was checkout on his way out and wished him luck. So that's where David and him were headed next.
"Hello, I'd like to check out." Olivier said as he leaned against the counter and his crutches. David was on his phone next to him.
"And what's the name?" The receptionist asked nicely.
"Olivier Milan Saliba Junior." He said and the woman nodded. Olivier tapped his fingers along the desk.
"Oh, I'm sorry. But you're a minor so you have to have an adult check you out. It says here that David Beckham checked you in? Is he with you?" She asked, having to re-read David's name from shock.
"Oh, I'm David." David said and flipped around to look at her.
"It's very nice to meet you both. Could you just-" she started explaining to David how to check out and Olivier turned back around. He looked at the people in the waiting room.
They all probably had far sadder lives than him. It made him feel bad how hurting his knee was his injury while some of them could be dying; just like his sister was. He always felt bad when thinking of other people, that's why he preferred the presence of kids or footballers.
"Alright, we're all good to go." David said and helped Olivier out. There wasn't really much he could do to help, but he tried.
They drove through Los Angeles and Olivier looked out the window the whole time. David occasionally looked over to him and would snicker quietly. He remembered when he was just an academy footballer at the kid's age.
"So we've got the movie room downstairs or you can just watch in the living room." David offered. It was already 5:45 and the coverage was about to start. They were going to watch together and maybe so would Vic and Harper once they woke up.
"I'll just go to the living room. Not quite sure how fun stairs are at the moment." He said and looked over at the stitches. David nodded and they walked through their kitchen into the living room.
"Want any snacks?" David asked when the coverage began. Olivier thought for a second.
"I'm alright for now. Maybe I'll get something at halftime?" Olivier decided and David nodded. He sat down on the sofa next to his younger friend.
"Who are your favorites?" David asked and Olivier chuckled.
"I don't have any favorites." Olivier said and put a hand on his fist. David let out one loud laugh.
"Everyone has favorites." David replied. Olivier decided that it didn't really matter if he told him or not.
"Martin, Declan, Aaron, and B." Olivier said and David nodded. They looked at the screen and Martin was clearly delaying the kickoff for some reason.
"Classic Martin." Olivier shook his head. Martin and David Raya were incredibly good at time wasting.
"What's he wasting time for?" David asked. Olivier liked watching the game with someone who didn't really care for his team. It was fun explaining everything to him.
"Good question." Olivier laughed and David smiled. After a big surgery, he didn't expect the kid to be happy this quickly.
"So your brother is number two, right?" David asked. Olivier saw Willo on screen with the ball.
"Yeah, to be honest, I'm surprised he's starting today. Mikel usually puts us as a pair." Olivier admitted. He was glad that Willo was in, but slightly jealous. He shouldn't be of course, but he still was.
"He really doesn't look very much like you." David said. Olivier couldn't deny it; Willo looked just like their father and Willo looked just like their mother. Loui was somewhere in between.
"Martinelli..." Olivier whined when B tapped it in. He was proud of B for scoring, and Martinelli for assisting, but it was a funny goal. Martin had the shot, and B had a bad shot off the rebound which happened to go in. Funny sort of thing for them.
At half, it was drawn and Olivier wasn't too nervous. He surely saw a couple missed opportunities, but what can you do? Olivier got up to go make some quick snacks.
He made some honey baked walnuts. It was usually made with cheese, but obviously he didn't do that. After about ten minutes, he knew it was still half but he heard people moving about the house.
"What smells so great, David, are you cooking already?" Vic asked, David was sitting in a chair at the island and he laughed a bit.
"Nope, the French kid decided he's gonna wow us." David shrugged and Vic scoffed.
"Olivier, you shouldn't be cooking. You had surgery yesterday!" Vic went closer and got another smell of what he was making.
"What are those?" She asked. Olivier loved sharing his meals and recipes.
"Honey baked walnuts with cranberry salad. I made enough for four. And I apologize that I couldn't make something nicer, but I have to get back to watch the game in a second." He apologized. Olivier loved cooking and sharing his cooking.
"Thank you, but you really didn't have to. And David, you could've helped the poor boy!" Vic said and helped Olivier clean up a bit.
"Do not worry, Vic. I wouldn't have let him. The only two things I do right are football and cooking. If I can't do one, it is necessary that I be able to do the other." Olivier chuckled a bit and Vic smiled. Olivier finished the presentation on the little snacks, he made eight of them. And he brought one back to the tv with him just as the players were coming back onto the pitch.
"Come on you gooners!" He said in an anglicized accent and touched the floor. He went to sit on the couch with David and Vic next to him.
When they went 2-1 down, Olivier couldn't believe it. They still had time, but this was never in the plans. He wondered what had happened to them when he was gone.
Harper entered the living room when there were only five minutes left in the match. At that point, Olivier was praying for a draw. If they lost this, it would make them have one win in their last six matches. It wasn't the best record for title contenders. Which they were far from at this point.
"Hello." She said and sat down next to Vic. Vic smiled at her daughter and David waved.
"Good morning." Vic said and everyone quieted down as the match finished. Olivier didn't move, mostly out of shock.
"Olivier Milan plays for the one that lost, the blue one, right?" Harper asked. David and Vic were incredibly embarrassed and scolded her for saying that. Olivier didn't care though, as he still couldn't move.
"I'm really sorry." David sympathized. He was the only one in the room to understand the feeling you get when you first realize the title is out of your reach.
Eventually, the mood in the room lightened and Olivier dispersed back to his room. He had to pack anyway, as he had a flight in a few hours. He wanted to spend new years back in London with his brother. Even if he was full of disappointment.
He couldn't believe they just lost again. Something was clearly up with his team and it wasn't a good thing at all. They were going to be five points behind the first place for the first time. Now, all he could think about was getting back to play. Until Mikel called him. It was a strange occurrence, as he had only been called twice before by his manager.
"Mikel." Olivier said. He opened the sliding glass door to a porch he had. It overlooked the pond from a distance and it made him happy.
"Hello my friend, how are you enjoying America?" Mikel asked. Sometimes their little small talk was pretty entertaining.
"America itself is nice, the doctors were fine, and David is amazing." That's really all Olivier had done in America and all he was planning to do.
"I'm very glad. Mikel said. He was very clearly still upset but not saying anything about that.
"Thank you." Olivier just wanted him to get to the point. He didn't want Mikel to be upset for very long.
"I- just, well. I had a simple question." He wasn't trying to add drama, but was actually out of words. Olivier had never seen this from Mikel, and it made him nervous.
"Yeah, no, that's alright. Ask me anything." He tried to make Mikel feel better. After they coworkers, they were friends. And the friend's switch was kicking in now.
"When do you think you will be back? We need to sign a striker if you are out very long. But we just struck out on the loanee, and we cannot afford much." He could tell Mikel was stressed and he'd never heard Mikel like that.
"Listen, listen, it's okay. I'm sure you're just at the end of the year upsets. The doctor expects me to be back in early march." Olivier explained to Mikel who let out a sigh.
"Wait- an ACL, in two months?" Mikel took a step back to think about the timeframe.
"I'm not quite sure myself." Olivier looked out at the view and Mikel presumably nodded.
"Well that is pretty good news. Just focus on getting better, and trust me, we are all still recovering from what happened. Especially Willo." Mikel said. Olivier nodded and they said goodbye.
Not soon after Olivier went back into his room, he saw another phone call. He didn't want to talk though until he saw Declan's name. Maybe he'd give it a try and see what the idiot had to say.
"Olivier! Have you checked the premier league news?" Declan shouted. Good thing he was on speaker, so Olivier's ear didn't have to hear it so close up.
"Man, can you be any louder?" Olivier asked.
"Yes!" Declan shouted louder. Olivier rolled his eyes as Declan cackled.
"No I haven't, shit face." Olivier mumbled the last part.
"What was that?" Declan caught it.
"Nothing, carry on." Declan let it slide because he was excited for his friend.
"Well who cares, look at this, you got the goal of the month and save of the month!" Declan emphasized the and. Olivier was taken a bit back, he didn't know which of his goals was deemed worthy for goal of the month, or how he was able to get save of the month.
It was all so crazy to him as Declan showed him where to find the announcement. He had to agree, both the save and goal were awesome. Though he hung up on his British friend so he could catch his flight. Olivier knew he was going to miss America, but also was happy to go back to London, his home.