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With his hand over Yosvani’s wound, Reinier desperately yelled for someone to call an ambulance. Yosvani already appeared to have lost consciousness, and his hand that had been previously covering the wound was now lying on the ground, motionless. His head was tilting forwards, and Reinier was feeling so much despair he couldn’t even ascertain whether the other man was still breathing or not.
“Give me your shirt, now!” Reinier shouted to one of his teammates, reaching out with his hand. As he felt the piece of clothing touch it, he immediately lifted his other hand, put it over Yosvani’s wound, and pressed it down to help stop the bleeding. For an instant, the wounded man’s body stiffened slightly, but then he soon became limp again. That was enough to calm Reinier just a little.
“An ambulance’s on the way. They said it might take around fifteen minutes” someone to his left said, and Reinier was just barely able to register it over the deafening sound of his own heartbeat on his ears. He reached out with his free hand, put it on the side of Yosvani’s head and raised it, so he could see his loved one’s face. His own hands were now trembling, the fear and despair almost overwhelming.
“Did you hear that? They are coming soon, man. You just have to… just have to hang on for a little. For me, ok?” He whispered yet knowing that Yosvani could no longer hear anything. The sight of his unconscious, unsmiling face, slowly losing colour even under the bright, hot sun, made his throat lump and his eyes tear up. Reinier was no longer aware of anything else around him – it was just him, Yosvani and the bleeding wound.
- - -
The corridor was full of people leaning against the wall, sitting on the chairs, and some even on the floor. Waiting, that’s what everyone was doing at that miserable place. The air, although not hot, felt quite stuffed, but maybe that was just him. Sitting on his chair, he felt numb, and not much was going through his head at that moment. He couldn’t even be bothered to check how long he had been waiting for. It felt like hours, like days, and under the numbness, he felt the despair, the worry, the urge to cry simmering just beneath the surface.
Nurses showed up from time to time. Sometimes they just walked past everyone without saying a single word, and sometimes they walked up to somebody, said a few words, and then they would both be off to see whoever it was. Reinier had lost count of how many times he had thought one of them was going to give him news about Yosvani, how many times he had hoped one of them would do so. He no longer paid them any attention; he did not have the energy to keep hoping.
He recalled many times the last time he had seen Yosvani at the field, just before he got stabbed. His visible distress, his filthy clothes. Even like that, he still looked beautiful. Every time Reinier thought about it, he had to focus on not crying, on not losing control of his feelings. Because in so little time, Yosvani would go from being alive and full of emotion, to motionless and unresponsive. It was heart-wrenching, and Reinier could not bear the thought of what would have happened if those men had been angrier, if the ambulance had taken longer to arrive.
Noticing that he was beginning to lose the tight control over his emotions, Reinier decided to focus on anything else but his distressing thoughts. To focus on the people leaning against the wall because there were no more seats available, on the people sitting beside him, talking in lowered voices, on the people on the floor, too tired to stay awake.
The air felt stuffed, he was tired, and he could see a nurse rounding the corner.
- - -
After walking through endless corridors, Reinier finally spotted the gurney against the wall. He would have rushed there if the place wasn’t so busy. His body was no longer numb, but overflowing with anxiety, and he could feel every beat of his heart in his throat.
As he approached, he could see Yosvani’s form lying down. Now only on his underwear, he had bandages around his abdomen, but no blood in sight. Reinier could see that he was breathing as normal, and that calmed him down significantly. Stopping near Yosvani’s head, Reinier’s attention was caught by the nurse that had brought him there.
“He’ll be unconscious for a few more hours. If you’re still here when he wakes up, make sure he doesn't move too much” she said, looking between him and Yosvani. “If any hospital bed becomes available, we’ll put him there, but for now this is all we have.”
“All right” said Reinier, his voice rough, and not taking his eyes off Yosvani. He could hear the sound of the nurse’s footsteps becoming lower as she walked away, before being completely drowned by the regular hospital noises.
Reinier kept staring at Yosvani’s ashen face. He wanted to touch him, to touch Yosvani’s arms, his hands. But not now, not there. He was alive, breathing. He would soon wake up and they could talk - or they could just not say anything, just take comfort on each other’s presence. Reinier couldn’t help but put his hand over the other man’s chest to feel his beating heart, reassuring himself that he was indeed alive. The intense fear and despair he had been feeling for hours finally began to subside with each beat of Yosvani’s heart. Yosvani’s skin felt hot, but maybe it was just his hand that was cold.
They were still here, in this miserable place that didn’t even have proper hospital clothing for a patient, but what really mattered was that he could finally be at ease, for the moment.
As his negative feelings faded, the relief he felt was the last straw. He lowered his head, gripped the edge of the gurney with both hands, and his eyes began to water.
- - -
Something woke him up.
His neck hurt, his back was killing him, and he was hungry. All was silent but for the faint hum of the room’s air-conditioning.
He opened his eyes to see the other hospital beds, all of them currently occupied. He adjusted his position on the chair, stretching his back and turning his head from side to side, hoping the movement would relieve the strain. He looked around the room, noticing that every patient and every accompanying person appeared to be asleep. The windows were dark, and it was cold.
A very low groan to his left made all traces of sleep disappear, and he turned towards the hospital bed by his side.
Yosvani’s face was scrunched up, and one of his hands was lying upon his bandaged wound. Reinier reached out and gently grabbed his forearm, pulling it away and towards him. As he glanced back at Yosvani’s face, he noticed his eyes had opened and he was looking at the ceiling.
“Yosvani?” Reinier said in a low voice. The man at first didn’t look like he had heard him, just kept staring at the ceiling. Reinier tightened his grip slightly, and that made Yosvani’s arm twitch. “Hey, man, can you hear me?”
Slowly, Yosvani’s eyes began to search around, and then they finally landed on him. “Rei?” he said, in a very faint voice, barely loud enough for Reinier to hear. But even that was enough to send a wave of relief through him, and he felt his entire body unstiffen. “Rei.”
“Hey,” he answered, and moved closer to Yosvani’s head so that the other man wasn’t twisting his neck awkwardly just to look at him. “How are you feeling?”
“I…” Yosvani paused to clear his throat, which seemed to cause him pain, for his face scrunched up once more. “Fuck,” he groaned as he tried to raise his head.
“No, don’t move,” Reinier warned, putting his hand over his chest. “The nurse said you shouldn’t move now.” Despite that, Yosvani kept trying to raise himself to look at his abdomen.
Reinier half stood up, leaning over the bed, one hand still on Yosvani’s forearm, and the other moving from his chest to his forehead. “Yosvani, please don’t move,” he begged, his own face now much closer to the other man’s. Yosvani’s eyes met his, and he finally gave up. His breathing was shallow, and he could see sweat on his forehead. The arm under his hand twitched, but Yosvani didn’t try to move it away from Reinier’s grip.
“Rei, where… where are we?” he asked.
“We’re in the hospital. We’ve been here for… a few hours, at the least.”
“Where… how…” Yosvani started, but gasped and let out a groan.
“Hey, should I call for a nur…” Reinier tried to say, but Yosvani immediately shook his head.
“No, I don’t need it, I’m good.”
Reinier leaned back and pursed his lips. “But you’re…”
“It’s ok, Rei. It’s not that bad,” he insisted. “If I just stay still, it’s all good.”
Reinier didn’t believe him. He took his hand away from Yosvani’s forehead, resting it on his own lap as he sat down once again. He didn’t take his eyes off Yosvani’s face.
They stayed in silence for a few minutes, until Yosvani appeared to have calmed down somewhat.
“Rei?”
“Yes?”
“Listen, I…” Yosvani faltered. “Where are my clothes?”
“They probably took it off you when they were treating your wound.”
“Where is it?” He said, now sounding more worried. “Do you know where it is?”
“No, I don’t know. Why?” Reinier was beginning to fear that Yosvani would try to get up all over again. “Look, I can just ask the nurse about it, it’s probably fine.”
“The money, Rei. The money.”
Reinier pursed his lips and looked away. He had been avoiding thinking about that. “I guess… it’s still probably fine. They wouldn’t just take it.”
“How do you even know that? This is Cuba, Rei. We don’t know who they really…”
“Yosvani,” Reinier interrupted him, moving his hand from his arm to Yosvani’s hand, “let’s not think about that, man. Not now, please.”
Yosvani stayed silent. After some time, he started to move his arm. Reinier thought he wanted to free himself from his grip, but when he tried to move away, Yosvani’s hand grabbed Reinier’s, brought it up to his chest and intertwined their fingers together.
“Rei?” Yosvani said in a small voice. Reinier looked at him and found Yosvani’s eyes already staring back at him. “Will you…?”
Reinier didn’t answer. He still didn’t know what he would do. He still had a family to take care of, still had his football training to focus on. But at the same time, he couldn’t just leave Yosvani like this. As far as he knew, he didn’t even have a place to sleep.
He needed time, but he didn’t have any left. He could feel his eyes watering up.
Without taking his eyes away from him, Yosvani raised their joined hands up to his face and kissed Reinier’s. Reinier tightened his grip.
Reinier didn’t let go of Yosvani’s hand, even when he had to call for a nurse.