The Only Exception

Part One - Chapter Four: The Injury

Lionel swallowed as the doctor checked over his thigh, he had known that it was bad when he had been carried off the pitch during the Paris Saint-Germain match; it had been a month since the search had started to find him a wife and nothing had happened yet.

“How is it looking?” Lionel asked as he swung his legs carefully off the bed that he was on and looked at the team doctor, who was checking his scans; the last thing that Lionel wanted right now was to be off injured so close to the end of the season even if it meant that he could head home to Argentina early.

The doctor sighed as he looked at the footballer, it wasn’t good news and everyone who knew Lionel, knew how much playing meant to him.

“It’s not good news I’m afraid…” the doctor said making Lionel stare at him, he’d had a bloodied left knee when he had been injured during the match and now he had a problem with his thigh; he sighed running a hand through his hair wondering how long he would be out of action.

“You won’t be able to play for six weeks,” the doctor said confirming Lionel’s fears, the footballer would be downcast by this verdict but it would be for the best so that he didn’t hurt himself even more; Lionel had done well this year and he deserved a break.

The Argentinian sighed as he nodded his head and looked down at his bandaged knee, six weeks meant that he would miss the end of the season and there was no point staying in Barcelona if he could head home and start his search for Lucia.

***

Lucia moved around the restaurant where she worked, she kept her head down as she worked as her ears listened to the news; the blonde had heard that Lionel had been injured during his last match and she hoped that he was okay.

Lucia glanced at the two people who were in suits, they had been to the restaurant nearly every day for the past month and it made her curiously why they were there; it was none of her business but they always had some paperwork with them.

“Is there anything that I can get you?” Lucia asked as she approached the two, she ached and wanted nothing more to go home; Hernan had been making her life hell since she had been unable to pay the money that he wanted, he was determined to make the blonde beg for something that he wanted and she didn’t.

“Coffee por favor,” Leslie said as she smiled at the waitress, she didn’t know how they were going to complete this task of tracking down Lucy Castro and it seemed near impossible; no one knew much about the blonde and they hadn’t been able to track her down.

Lucia nodded her head before she walked away, she sighed as her ribs ached as she glanced at the clock; when she went back to her apartment that Hernan would be waiting for her.

“So Lionel will be arriving in the next few days,” Leslie said as she looked at Guillermo, she had heard his discussion with the footballer and it made her curious how he would react to some of the women that they had chosen for him to speak with.

Guillermo nodded his head as he looked up at the lawyer, he wasn’t sure what the footballer would be expecting when he arrived but he knew that Lionel wanted to find Lucy again; it was something that was clearly important to him.

“He won’t be playing for the rest of the season… I just hope we’ve found the right woman for him by then,” Guillermo said knowing that Barcelona was hoping that Lionel would sign a new contract before the new season started; however if they hadn’t found the footballer the perfect wife then that wasn’t going to happen.

Leslie nodded her head, she sighed knowing that this was far from easy and even with some suggestions from Lionel’s family; they didn’t seem to be getting anywhere.

***

Lucia swallowed as she spotted Hernan waiting outside of her apartment for her, he wanted to sleep with her and she wasn’t about to allow that to happen; the blonde took a deep breath before she approached the landlord.

“Buenas tardes señor,” Lucia greeted softly as she unshouldered her black crochet flap backpack and pulled out a cheque, she smiled as the look on her landlord’s face fell; he wouldn’t be pleased if she paid off her rent now.

“Lo Siento it’s late,” Lucia said as she handed it to him, she was suddenly glad that she was wearing a pink texture T-shirt and low rise slim boyfriend jeans with rips paired with leather boots; the last thing that she wanted was for him to be checking her out.

Hernan pursed his lips as he stared down at the cheque, he was a little annoyed that she had managed to pull together the money; he had hoped that today would be the day that he’d have some fun with her.

“Is there anything else I can help you with?” Lucia said relieved that she wouldn’t have to deal with him again for a few weeks; he’d want the next lot of rent soon and she would need to start saving again so that she could pay him off.

Hernan frowned as he looked at Lucia as she moved past him, he quickly reached out and stopped her before he slammed her hard into the wall.

“Don’t think this is over Lucia…” Hernan threatened making Lucia whimpered in pain as she reached for the back of her head, he smirked at the sight of a little blood on her hand before he walked away.

Taking a couple of deep breathes as she blinked to clear her vision, Lucia carefully moved towards her door and with shaking hands pulled her keys form her pocket; she felt a little dizzy and knew that she couldn’t afford a trip to the hospital.

Lucia hurried into her apartment knowing it wouldn’t be a good idea to pass out in the hall with a creep like Hernan as her landlord; he was dying to take advantage of her.

Lucia set down her bag before she head straight for her bathroom to check on her injury, she gripped the bathroom sink as she looked at herself in the mirror; she could already see some of her blonde hair turning red.

“Come on Castro, you’ve done this before,” Lucia murmured as she tried to remain in control, there was no point crying over this when she knew that no one was going to help her; she had the building for four years and everyone kept to themselves.

Lucia sniffled as she started to collect what she would need to clean herself up, she lived in a rough area and it was better to keep her head down; the last thing she needed was angering someone and them coming to kill her.

Lucia set about cleaning her head as she wondered how she had ended up like this, she’d had such a promising future when she was in school but it had all disappeared so quickly when her father became ill.

Lucia didn’t want to blame her parents for what had happened to her life, she loved the dearly and she knew that they hadn’t wanted this for her; her father’s treatment was so expensive and if he didn’t get a new kidney soon then paying for his treatment was going to become the least of her and her mother’s problems.