Chapter Text
3.
Minute 61.
Lamine’s ears rang with the horrible shrill of the referee’s whistle as he saw his best friend fall to the ground with a dull thud.
Helplessly.
He turned as the world stood still for what had felt like an eternity too long for just one second, then erupted in horrid screams and blurry motions. He watched as Pau tried valiantly to pull himself back up while covering his face with his right hand, only to fall back down with blood dripping down the pitch through the cracks of his fingers.
Powerlessly.
The younger was rooted to the spot as the paramedics and his teammates rushed to the scene, surrounding Pau in distant murmurs. He stared as his friend’s hand was gently pried open for them to assess the damage, revealing horrifying cuts deep into the side of his chin and nose, with liquid red marring his face and neck and-
Uselessly.
He squeezed his eyes shut.
“Pau Cubarsí has come down with a serious injury from the duel. The match has been paused for further-”
Lamine wanted to throw up.
His ever dependable childhood friend, the star center back of La Masia and the immovable wall of FC Barcelona, was just as fallible as any other human being.
“It seemed that the young defender would not be able to continue the match. He will be subbed off for-”
And Lamine had not done anything to help. He could have, but he didn’t.
He clenched his fists, wishing that the pain from his nails digging into the heels of his palms would wake him up from this terrifying nightmare.
“The referee blew the whistle, the match shall be continued-”
A hand was put on his shoulder, steady and firm.
“Come on, we’ve got a match to win.” Raphinha.
Lamine could only nod.
-
The match ended in a resounding victory of 5-2 for FC Barcelona.
Lamine could not find it in himself to enjoy it. The echoes of the 61st minute still lingered like a bitter, tangy taste in his mouth.
So, after a halfhearted celebration with his teammates and several concerned glances sent his way, Lamine excused himself to go for a shower.
He deliberately chose the last stall to the left, the one with the leaking water pipe and the showerhead tilted slightly to the right, the one that no one would pick unless it was the last one unoccupied. He just wanted to make sure no one would come to search for him.
He turned on the water, ice cold, wishing that it would clear his head and his conscience.
It didn’t.
He was being irrational, and simultaneously painfully aware of it.
Voices filled the other side of the shower stall as players filtered into the changing room. Their careless laughter sounded terribly mocking to his ears.
Broken bones, torn ligaments, spectacular careers cut short, Lamine had long made peace with the brutality of the sport. Or at least, he should have had. But peace, turned out, was easy to make when it wasn't your person lying on the ground.
Apparently, he had not yet come to terms with the fact that his best friend was not immune to the shortcomings of a mortal body either.
Gosh, what kind of friend was he?
His eyes stung, so he closed them.
He took a deep breath in, held it for four seconds, then exhaled. Simple breathing in and breathing out. Just like how his childhood best friend always said he would do when the situation got too overwhelming to handle.
Even now, Lamine couldn’t help but depend on Pau.
He turned the faucet off. The water was still leaking from somewhere above his head.
Raphinha was sitting alone in the changing room when he got outside, trying to look busy with the phone in his hands. His head immediately snapped up at the sound of Lamine’s footsteps, and a relieved smile bloomed on his face.
“Hiya starboy, I was worried you drowned in there.”
Lamine snorted.
“Raph, I was in a literal stand-up shower.”
“Never hurts to be careful”, Raphinha shrugged easily, “Let’s go kid, your friend is asking for you.”
Raphinha quickly stood up, then paused to look at Lamine expectantly. The younger nodded, and obediently followed him. He could not afford to worry the team any further.
Happy chatter could be faintly heard as they approached the infirmary. Raphinha gently nudged Lamine forward with an encouraging smile as he pushed open the door.
“Boy, look over here, the people are demanding real time updates on the state of your face, come!” Dani said excitedly, bouncing on his feet as if he was about to capture the second coming of Christ and not his teammate’s busted face.
Pau chuckled nervously, “Am I supposed to smile for the fans or…”
“Please don’t”, the medic intervened, exasperated, “You’ve just got like ten stitches, please stop straining your facial muscles.”
That didn’t seem to dampen Dani’s enthusiasm one bit as he shoved the phone onto the poor patient’s face, taking a picture of Pau making a peace sign with an awkward lopsided smile.
Pau looked over to the entrance at the sound of the door closing, and visibly brightened as he grinned at Lamine, much to the dismay of the medic.
“Hey Lamine, you are here. And Raphinha, too.” He added belatedly.
And god, seeing his friend’s face made the bile rise to Lamine’s throat. Why was there still so much blood on his face?
“Hi Cuba…”, Lamine murmured, then averted his eyes. Raphinha put a hand on his back, trying to comfort him.
“Shit!!” Fermín yelled. Everyone’s attention turned to the young midfielder as he tumbled to the ground, evidently having been pushed out of his chair.
He sent an accusatory look at Gavi, who not-so-subtly jerked his head at Lamine’s direction and gave him a pointed glare back. Fermín scrunched his brows for a brief moment, clearly pissed at his friend’s lack of tact, then sighed.
“Lamine, you can sit here.” He stood up and offered his seat, which is coincidentally the one next to the right side of Pau’s bed.
“Thank you Fer.” Lamine mumbled quickly, dragging his feet to go and sit down, mostly to appease his obviously concerned teammates.
Pau quietly placed a warm hand over his, urging the younger to look up at him.
“Hey, I’m OK.” He smiled softly.
“You don’t seem like it.” Lamine answered with a small voice. He felt sick just seeing the dry streaks of blood at the side of his friend’s head.
“Don’t worry little guy, you will be alright in no time.” Lewandowski suddenly placed a hand on the young defender, having come out of absolutely nowhere. “Let me tell you, all you need is a healthy diet and regular exercise, and you will come back big and strong!”
Szczęsny laughed. “No offense Lewy, but the kid scratched his face. Not sure if training helps with that.”
“Of course it does.” Lewandowski huffed. “What matters most is your mental resilience, especially in this field. Exercises help with that, staying positive is important too. That’s why you need to cheer up and give everyone a big proper smile.” He ended, demonstrating an exemplary beam of himself.
“No, please don’t do that.” The medic practically begged. “Unless you want the wound to tear and leak all over the place.”
“Thank you Lewa. I will try.” Pau said, gratefully. Lamine felt something curled uncomfortably inside his stomach.
“No problem! If you need any exercise recommendations, just let me know. Even some TikTok dances at times can be very entertaining and effective as well, for example-” Lewandowski started.
“Oh my god someone stop this unc before he actually does it inside a bloody hospital room-”
“That’s a good idea! Let me show you how to do this very Gen Z trendy dance!” He began to take out his phone and tap on it slowly like an old man he was.
“Oh for fu-”
“Oi, watch your language, there are children here.”
“Look, the picture got over 200 likes, and it has only been like 15 minutes! Come here Pau, give me another one!”
“Using the kid’s wrecked face for social media clout is a new low even for you Olmo.”
“Can everyone please let the patient rest?”
The tiny room broke into chaos, and Pau turned to Lamine, barely stifling his grin. The younger felt a laugh bubbling up in his stomach too, so he let it out freely as the weight inside his chest lightened by the slightest bit. Pau tightened his palm over Lamine’s hand, as warm and steady as ever.
Yet, it felt as though everything had changed between them.