The Only Exception

Part One - Chapter Twenty-Three: Stomach Bug

Lionel blinked groggily as a strange noise woke him up, he grumbled wondering what it could be as he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his brown eyes.

The footballer yawned tiredly as he looked at the clock and frowned as he realised it wasn’t even five o’clock in the morning.

Lionel frowned as he tried to figure out what was making that noise, he suddenly jumped out of bed as he realised that it was the sound of someone being sick; he hurried out of his bedroom dressed in only a white top and his boxers.

“Lia?” Lionel called as he headed for the main upstairs bathroom since her current bedroom didn’t have an en-suite.

Lionel listened for a moment outside of the bathroom, he frowned as he heard Lucia being sick again before he hurried inside; his heart beating rapidly in his chest as he looked at her concerned.

“Go away,” Lucia murmured as she rested her head against the cold tiled bathroom floor, she clung to the toilet as if it was a life-line; she really didn’t want to deal with Lionel right now.

Lucia whimpered as she closed her blue eyes, she had been to see Shakira the day before and Milan hadn’t been well and it was becoming clear that the little boy had given her something more than the cuddle that he had wanted.

Lionel looked at his wife wondering what he could do, he had never seen her like this before and he didn’t like it. It brought back memories of finding her battered and bruised in her old apartment, something that he didn’t want to remember.

“I’ll call your boss… you can’t go into work like this,” Lionel said with a shake of his head, he didn’t know what to do and he was going to use this chance to ask Shakira since he knew that Lucia spent a lot of time with her.

The footballer quickly hurried away not wanting to waste a moment of time, he would skip training that day so that he could look after Lucia.

***

“You don’t have to do that?” Lucia whispered as Lionel helped her back into bed, he tried to ignore the fact that she was wearing a grey jersey stripe lace trim teddy; he wanted to make sure that she was comfortable.

Lionel had just informed her that he had taken the day off from training, he was meant to be preparing for pre-season since he wanted to be well enough to play again.

“I did, you need me here,” Lionel said as he pulled the warm duvet around the blonde so that she was warm enough, he had set an empty bin by the bed if she needed to be sick again.

Poppy clambered up onto the bed and curled up close to Lucia as if sensing that the blonde was ill.

Lionel smiled at the sight of the puppy knowing that she would look after Lucia while he made his wife a light breakfast that he hoped wouldn’t upset her stomach.

“I’ve put some water by the side of the bed, will you be okay while I make us some breakfast?” Lionel asked as he brushed some hair from her face, his brown eyes watching her concerned.

The footballer really didn’t like it when Lucia wasn’t well, she had been find when she had gotten home last night and now this; his stomach ached at the thought that she could get worse if she didn’t rest.

Lucia nodded her head as she started to fall asleep, she felt exhausted and wanted nothing more than to nap for a while.

Lionel watched her for a moment before he trailed his fingers through Poppy’s fur, he wouldn’t forgive himself if something happened to Lucia while she was with him.

***

Lucia blinked confused for a moment as she woke up, she wrinkled her nose as she carefully shifted in bed; she sat up slightly as she tried to clear her throat.

Lucia reached over for the bottle of water and smiled softly at the sight of Lionel curled up in a chair next to the bed sleeping.

Lucia was a little surprised that he had stayed with her all day, she had spent most of it sleeping with the television playing softly in the back ground so there was some noise.

“You’re awake?” Lionel murmured as he stretched shifting in his chair as he looked at Lucia with a small smile, she looked a lot better now and he was glad; he didn’t like it when she wasn’t well.

Lucia nodded her head as she sipped on the water, she was glad that the nausea had eased off and she was feeling a lot better now than she had hours before.

“How do you feel?” Lionel asked curiously as he sat forward in his chair, he would take all the time in the world off if it meant that she got better.

Lionel hadn’t been able to pull himself completely from her side since he had phoned her boss about her being ill; he had even asked Cesc to do some shopping for him so that he wouldn’t have to leave Lucia alone.

“A little better… no nausea,” Lucia said softly as she looked at Lionel, she really didn’t understand why he had stayed with her like this.

Lucia had been sure that he’d stay downstairs since she was clearly contagious right now, she hadn’t thought he’d sleep beside her in a chair while she was ill.

“Do you think you could stomach some Carbonada Criolla?” Lionel asked cautiously knowing that he had been making her snack all day to try and fight off the illness; he had made her favourite in hopes of making it easier to eat for her.

Lucia nodded her head knowing that she had to try, she wasn’t going to allow this illness to take her down like this; it was only a twenty-four hour thing anyway.

Lionel sighed in relief, he smiled as he got to his feet while Poppy looked at him as he moved to leave and get her some dinner.

Lucia watched him go wondering what had gotten into him, she had never seen Lionel like this before and it sort of made her feel warm inside that he did care for her.

Poppy clambered up onto Lucia’s lap and cuddled into the blonde’s arms, she rubbed her head against her stomach as if knowing what was wrong with Lucia.

“Do you know what’s gotten into Leo?” Lucia asked as she brushed her fingers through the puppy’s fur, she wasn’t sure what had gotten into him especially since he had told her that he could never love her.

Lucia couldn’t help but wonder what had led to his change in behaviour especially that day, they hadn’t been close since his confession.

Poppy looked up at Lucia making the blonde smile down at her and cuddle her close as she rested back on her pillows, she eyed the door knowing that Lionel wouldn’t be gone long.

“Maybe he’s had a change of heart,” Lucia mused as she chewed on her lip, she didn’t want to get her hopes up but she knew that there was little chance that Lionel would fall in love with her.

Shakira had told her that it would pointless to wait around for Lionel to change his mind, it was the reason that the singer had pushed her to live her life while making Lionel see what he was missing; the footballer was bound to get jealous at some point.

Lucia moved to make herself a little more comfortable as she heard Lionel coming back up the stairs, she wasn’t going to hold her breath on him ever falling in love with her.

Lucia knew that there was something that she didn’t get about Antonella and the other woman was always going to be a threat to her if she ever came back.