When we finally made it to the small doctor's office located inside the Estadi Johan Cruyff, Mapi was placed on a metallic examination table.

"We need to head back to the pitch," one of the paramedics announced, gently putting his hand on the injured blonde's shoulder. "Head up, it's gonna be okay!"

"Gracias," Mapi sniffled as we watched the paramedics leave the room, an older grey-haired woman who had introduced herself as the emergency doctor stayed behind.

"I need to quickly ring my colleagues at the training center because I can't access your file from here," the doctor sighed, getting up from the computer she was sitting at. "Can you already free your knee for me? Don't bend it though, ask your friend to help you if necessary."

Mapi nodded, desperately trying to pull her socks down as soon as the doctor had left the room. The Zaragoza native whimpered in pain as she accidentally bent her knee a little.

"Don't be stubborn, Mapi. Listen to what the doctor said and let me help you" I grinned at the defender who was looking at me with a helpless expression.

"Fine," she grumbled as I slowly came closer, cautiously putting my hand on her leg to let her get used to someone else touching her injury. The blonde inhaled sharply at the added pressure, her sobbing growing louder when I started to carefully pull the sock down.

"How's Bagheera?" I asked her in an attempt to distract her from the pain as the sock had reached the middle of the shinguard that was underneath the blue sock.

"Good," Mapi exhaled loudly, watching me pull the sock fully down before reaching for the shinguard. "He misses you, though."

"I miss him too" I smiled sadly, opening the clasp of her Barcelona-themed shinguard and carefully removing it. "I hope that didn't hurt too much, I'm sorry."

Just when I wanted to take a few steps back to return to the place I had originally been standing, Mapi ponderously straightened herself up, slowly moving her hand to my fingers that were still resting on the examination table. The mere touch of her fingers made my skin tingle as the Spaniard timidly wrapped them around my hand. "There's no need to apologize, Emi. Instead, I need to thank you," Mapi tried to send me a smile, but was hindered by the tears welling up in her eyes once again. "I- I'm just so scared..."

Seeing the normally so tough Mapi like a picture of misery made my heart crumble and I stepped forward, uncertainly putting my arms around the tattoed blonde. It was the first time in a month that we were so close to each other and I could feel Mapi stiffen before she hesitantly reciprocated my hug. As I gently stroked her back, I felt the blonde burying her face in my neck, one of her tears falling on my skin.

"I'm scared" she repeated herself for the millionth time, her body trembling slightly. "What if I tore my ACL, Emi? I'd be out for so long... it would just ruin everything!"

"Shh, don't meet trouble halfway. It could just be a minor injury," I was trying to calm her down when the door opened and the doctor entered with an iPad in her hand, causing the both of us to quickly pull away from each other.

"I've got access to your file and I'm gonna have a look at your knee now and move it around slightly," the older woman explained, taking a seat on a small chair next to the examination table. "Can you talk me through what happened?"

Mapi nodded, reaching for my hand again as the moves and touches of the doctor seemed to aggravate her pain. "I was jumping high for a header and I must have landed funnily because I then fell backward. Afterward, I wanted to get up immediately because I was inside of the goal, but as soon as I put pressure on my leg, my knee started to hurt and I- ouch," the Spaniard suddenly interrupted her torrent of words, squeezing my hand even more firmly. "The place where you're touching me right now hurts the most."

"That's where your anterior cruciate ligament is located," the grey-haired woman sighed, getting up to walk to a small table with a computer on it. "Unfortunately, I have limited possibilities here to diagnose the extent of the injury but based on how swollen your knee already is, I suspect an injury to the anterior cruciate ligament, however, I doubt it's completely torn judging by the way your knee still functions. I'm gonna transfer you to the nearest hospital for an MRI and give you some painkillers for the way."

"O-okay," Mapi mumbled in shock, tears streaming down her face. The blonde couldn't grasp the fact that she had most likely injured her ACL, the biggest nightmare of every athlete. Not only would her recovery take months, but it would also seriously interfere with her planning, and if there was anything Mapi hated, it was last-minute deviations from plans.

"I'll take you to the hospital" I decided, my thumb supportively stroking over the crying Spaniard's hand.

"That's a great idea. Make sure she doesn't bend her knee," the doctor advised me, grabbing a pair of crutches that had been standing in the corner of the room. "I'm gonna provide you with these crutches for now so you don't put too much weight on your knee. Listen to what the doctor at the hospital advises you for the weekend and then on Monday our team is gonna work on an individual recovery plan with you."

Thankfully, I grabbed the crutches, trying to pull the injured defender up, but she wasn't moving an inch. "Mapi, come on. We need to leave," I coaxed her gently, but my words only made her cry harder.

"What if I tore my ACL and now my career is over?" Mapi sobbed, letting go of my hand to hide her face behind hers.

"Don't say that," the doctor and I said synchronically.

"There's almost nothing modern medicine can't fix and you're surrounded by specialists here" the older woman reassured the Spanish defender once again, before holding out her hand to say goodbye. "I need to get ready for some after-game treatment of the players. Are you gonna be okay?"

"Sí, adiós" Mapi nodded, finally sitting up and throwing me a confused look as the doctor left the room. "But how are we gonna get to the hospital?"

"By car" I murmured absentmindedly as I prepared the crutches for Mapi.

"Emi, you don't know how to drive" the defender chuckled, firmly grabbing my arm for better stability as she cautiously put the first foot down.

Oh.

"How could I have forgotten that?" I laughed, stabilizing Mapi by gently holding her back as she took her first steps. "We need to go to the changing room to collect our things anyway and by now the game should be over. I'm sure someone's gonna give us a ride."

"Let's do that" Mapi agreed, swallowing her last tears as we slowly made our way down to the changing rooms. Just like on the way to the doctor's office, the short distance took us almost 20 minutes as Mapi could only take a few steps per minute, meaning many of our teammates had already disappeared by the time we had made it to the changing room.

As Mapi was talking to Caro, Marta and Aitana, I quickly changed into my normal clothes and let my gaze wander over the remaining people in the room, unsure who to ask for a ride. Eventually, I just grabbed Mapi's long, blue Barca coat so she wouldn't freeze to death in her football gear and turned to our teammates. "Could anyone give us a ride to the hospital?" I wondered, handing Mapi her coat and sneakers.

"I wish I could, but Marta and I have to meet my family," Caro apologized. "They came all the way from Norway."

"I could give you a ride to the hospital, but I can't drive you home. I mean, I could try to cancel my plans, but I'm not sure..." Aitana offered apologetically, unsurely running her hand through her dark hair.

"No, you don't need to cancel your plans for me, Aita," Mapi intervened, biting her lower lip to distract herself from the pain as I was helping her to put her sneakers on.

"I'll do it," a shy voice suddenly sounded from the other side of the room.

Shocked, we all turned our heads to Ingrid who was sitting on the bench next to Laura, the two of them just having finished changing.

"Are you sure?" I asked the Norwegian international confusedly as she was the last one I had expected to offer Mapi a ride anywhere.

"Seh es als eine Art Wiedergutmachung für... du weisst schon was("Think of it as a way to make up for... you know what")" Ingrid shrugged with a small smile on her lips while the others were looking at us confusedly, obviously not understanding a word.

All, but one.

"Wiedergutmachung für was? ("Making up for what?") " a curious Caro wondered, her rusty German revealing a heavy Norwegian accent.

Why was Barcelona basically a refuge camp for former Wolfsburg players?

"Pass dine egne saker, Caro," Ingrid winked at her former national teammate, completing the language chaos.

"¡Basta, guiris! Español porfa!" Aitana interjected, saving Ingrid and me from having to provide the blonde Norwegian with an explanation.

"Vale, vamos," I clapped my hands, throwing Laura a questioning look. "Would you like to accompany us to the hospital?"

The German threw me a confused look before her eyes wandered over to the dark-haired girl sitting next to her. She seemed to come to the realization that I wasn't asking her for help with taking Mapi to the hospital, but instead providing her with an opportunity to spend more time with Ingrid, so she nodded shyly. "Yes, sure. Let me just quickly drive my car home and then you can pick me up on your way to the hospital, is that okay?"

"Of course" Ingrid smiled, seeming relieved to have her friend there as a support when she'd be driving us to the hospital.

While Laura hurried home, the three of us slowly made our way to Ingrid's car, an uncomfortable silence falling over us. Luckily, Mapi's painkillers seemed to be working, her speed accelerating accordingly, and we soon reached the small black car, leaving us with yet another mystery.

"You won't have enough space to stretch your leg in the passenger seat, but the car only has two doors, so to get in the back you'd have to climb over the seats in the front" Ingrid sighed, looking at her car puzzledly with her hands on the hips.

"Mierda" Mapi mumbled, unsure what to do.

"What if I try to pull you in from the back seats?" I offered, walking to the other side of the car to open the door to the passenger seat and let the seat down. As I climbed into the back, Mapi nodded unsurely. Ingrid rushed over to help Mapi lower herself onto the passenger seat and I gently reached under her arms.

"Okay, pull" Ingrid ordered from the front, cautiously trying to push the blonde to the back. When I pulled, Mapi landed on my lap, causing me to fall backward.

"Well, that was easier than I thought" Ingrid laughed at us, bringing the passenger seat up again and closing the door.

"How are we gonna do this?" I asked Mapi as I watched Ingrid walk to the driver's side of the car.

"I don't mind staying here" Mapi joked as she tried to move to the other side, contradicting her statement.

"Your knee definitely minds" I grinned, gently lifting Mapi and sliding to the other side of the car. As Ingrid entered the car, I placed the blonde Spaniard's injured leg on my lap so she would be able to easily stretch it throughout the whole ride.

*

Four hours and many medical examinations later, we were sitting in the waiting area, dreading for Mapi to be called up by her doctor as he was going to tell her the result of the MRI.

"You really don't have to wait with me any longer," Mapi told us for the millionth time as she was nervously playing with one of her blonde hair strands.

"I don't mind at all," Ingrid smiled friendly, earning an angry look from Laura. Sure, the blonde German wanted to be there for her teammate too, but was it really necessary for Ingrid to be this nice to her former situationship?

"María León, you can't even get into the car by yourself, how do you wanna get home alone?" I teased the Spaniard, gently nudging her in the arm.

Pretending to be shocked, Mapi let her jaw drop slightly. "Am I back to the María treatment while I'm almost laying on my death bed?"

"Stop being so dramatic," I laughed when an old, short man with a hump approached us.

"Señora León, I've got your results," he announced coldly, his face, which had a large wart on it, not indicating whether he had good or bad news. "Follow me."

"He scares me," Mapi whispered in my ear before she tried to get up. "Could you come with me?"

"Of course" I nodded, hastily standing up to aid the blonde with getting up as she still hasn't gotten used to the crutches. With the doctor silently walking a few steps in front of us, we slowly made our way to his small, dark office. Once we had arrived, I cautiously helped Mapi to sit down on a brown, uncomfortable-looking chair in front of the doctor's desk, before taking a seat next to her.

"I've got the results of your MRI here" the doctor announced repeatedly, holding up a bunch of papers.

"How bad is it?" Mapi nervously wanted to know, her fingers automatically searching for my hand as she was anxiously awaiting a response.

"Just like my colleague suspected, it's an injury to your anterior cruciate ligament," he confirmed every athlete's biggest nightmare.

Instinctively, I tightened my grip around the blonde's trembling hand as I watched the tears welling up in her eyes. I wiped a tear from her face with my free hand as the old doctor cleared his throat. "However, " he continued. "every injury to the anterior cruciate ligament can be classified in one out of three categories. You have what we call a grade 1 ACL tear or sprain, meaning there's only a microscopic tear in your anterior cruciate ligament. Other than that, you've overstretched your ACL, but it can still support your knee."

"Does- does that mean I won't be out for over 9 months?" Mapi stammered, unable to comprehend the news.

"No, definitely not," the doctor laughed sympathetically. "We're looking at a recovery time from about 4 weeks until you can return to physical activities. Your physicians at your football club will inform you what that means for you football-wise, but I suspect you'll be back on the pitch in about 8-10 weeks."

"Oh my god, that's great news!" I smiled, throwing my arms around Mapi's neck. "I'm so happy for you!"

"T-thank you, "the Spaniard stammered, still in disbelief, her left hand pressed firmly on my back.

"I'm gonna brace your knee and prescribe you some nonsteroidal anti-inflammatories for pain" the old man explained further, writing something down. "You should also follow the RICE principle: rest, ice, compression, and elevation for at least the next 10 days. Especially for the next couple of days, you shouldn't move more than necessary, but I'm sure your girlfriend is gonna be able to assist you."

Girlfriend?

Did he know something I didn't? I felt my heart tighten as I threw Mapi a confused look, the blonde clearing her throat. "She's uhm... not my girlfriend."

For the first time since we entered the room, the doctor lifted his head, letting his eyes wander from Mapi to me and back to Mapi again. "Lo siento," he apologized, the disgusting wart on his face twitching awkwardly. "Do you have anyone else to take care of you?"

At that moment, it hit me that he had been speaking about me. "I'll take care of you anyway," I quickly interjected, throwing the shocked blonde a gentle smile.

I wasn't going to let her suffer all alone.

"Perfect," the doctor grinned, handing Mapi a prescription. "The nurses are gonna bring you some medication in a minute and once you've run out, new supplies should be available at every pharmacy. Make sure to take one of each every 6 hours, even during the night. I will put a knee brace on you and then you're free to leave, okay?"

"Okay," Mapi grumbled, not looking forward to having to get up during each of the following nights, but at least she wasn't seriously injured. After all, the Spaniard knew that she had to thank her guardian angel because a torn ACL would have overthrown all of her plans.