After what seemed like an eternity to Leo, whose sighs were getting more and more rampant, the door finally opened again.
Footsteps immediately became the music in the corridor as the team doctor came out with his assistants and the other team staff into the stale air.
The doctor spotted Leo immediately and tilted his head toward him.
"Alright," he said. "Let’s get you up."
One of the assistants stepped forward with both crutches already in hand, but Leo shook his head before they reached him.
"I’m good."
He leaned forward, took the single crutch from the assistant’s grip, and pushed himself up from the chair.
The leg held, stiff, but it was obedient.
The doctor sighed, rubbed a hand across his jaw, then turned away.
"We need to move. The team’s ready to leave."
With that, they all turned towards the exits.
...
Outside St Mary’s, the night had settled properly.
Rain still hung in the air, lighter now, catching in the glow of the floodlights that were beginning to dim.
It had already been half an hour since the game ended, but you could still see the Saint fans walking around the premises like headless chickens.
On the side, the Wigan bus idled by the curb, engine humming while the windows fogged with breath and heat.
Even with the AC turned off, the players could still feel the cold wriggling on their skins from the earlier downpour.
Just outside the bus doors, Dawson stood with his hands in his coat pockets.
Beside him was Nolan, who was talking about nothing in particular but had decided to rumble on a bit to pass the time.
A sigh and a moment later, two taxis rolled up almost together, and that got the attention of the dup.
The first door opened, and one of the assistants stepped out, followed by the other, already turning back toward the second car, and that door opened more slowly.
Leo emerged with the doctor close behind him.
He set the crutch under his arm and started forward.
Instinctively, Dawson moved forward and Nolan with him.
"You alright?" Dawson asked as he craddled Leo’s shoulders with his arms, but Leo, for the umpteenth time that night, let out a breath through his mouth.
"Doc’ll tell you," he said.
"Everything you need."
With that, he kept walking.
Dawson and Nolan watched him pass, neither saying anything else, until the doctor reached them and stopped.
"It’s borderline," the doctor said. "Between a grade one and a grade two hamstring."
Dawson nodded, slowly moving into thought as the doctor continued speaking.
"If everything goes right," the doctor continued, "seven weeks. Eight, if we’re pushing."
"And the worst?" Dawson asked, to which the doctor didn’t hesitate.
"Three to four months."
Nolan looked away, shaking his head at that.
"That’s his season over," he said quietly. "Possibly ours."
Dawson’s face didn’t change.
"This was preliminary," he said. "Let’s get him home and let our Orthopaedics take over. Then we decide."
The doctor nodded.
"Then we should go."
They turned together but saw Leo still halfway up the bus steps, one hand gripping the rail, the other tight around the crutch.
The lift was awkward, and it almost looked like his leg might lag just enough to give him away.
Nolan moved first.
"Here."
He took Leo’s elbow and helped guide him up.
Inside, heads turned just as fast as Leo got one with Nolan’s push.
Someone asked if he was alright.
Someone else reached out and thought better of it.
Amidst all the concern, Leo just nodded and said he was fine.
Having all gone through something like this before, they let him be.
He shuffled down the aisle, tucked the crutch away, and dropped into the seat beside Ezra.
The latter glanced at him, opened his mouth, then closed it again before slipping his headphones on.
Meanwhile, Leo leaned back and stared ahead like he was trying to drill a hole into the seat in front of him.
From the aisle, Dawson looked down at him for a moment longer, then turned toward the front.
"We’re good," he said.
The driver nodded, and immediately, the doors folded shut before the bus pulled away, carrying them into the dark of the night.
The following day, Leo sat on the edge of the examination bed with his back slightly rounded.
In a chair some metres away, the clothes he had worn to come were folded and right beside it were the leg braces he had gotten.
The orthopaedic specialist stood a few steps away, arms crossed, eyes moving between Leo’s thigh and the scans clipped to the lightboard.
He pressed along the muscle, firm but careful, watching Leo’s face more than the leg itself.
Then he turned back to the images and studied them again, head tilted, lips pursed in thought.
"You’re lucky," he said eventually.
Leo glanced up.
"With proper rehab," the doctor continued, "I can see you recovering in two to three months."
The words landed all at once, but to Leo, it didn’t sound so good as he let himself fall onto the bed, exhaling hard, and staring up at the ceiling tiles with frustration tangled somewhere in his chest.
The doctor wasn’t done.
"You’re still growing," he said, matter-of-factly.
"Your body hasn’t finished yet. And that is what we can’t do with you, what we do with most of the other players. If you want to heal properly, we can’t take any shortcuts."
"But at the end of the day, the choice is with you. 6 weeks could get you back in training, but I personally do not recommend that!"
Nolan nodded beside the bed, already half expecting that answer, but a vibration buzzed against his palm, cutting off the doctor in the process.
He checked the screen and saw Dawson flashing across the screen.
"I’ll take this," Nolan said, stepping toward the door.
Outside, the corridor swallowed his voice, while in the room, the specialist turned back to Leo.
"You’ll be fine," he said, softer now.
"If you listen. If you’re patient. It takes time, but I am sure you will be back better than ever!"
He straightened, adjusted the chart at the foot of the bed, and headed for the door as well, leaving Leo alone with the hum of the lights and the faint echo of footsteps fading away.
Leo stayed there for a moment, eyes fixed on nothing.
Then he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.
"Right when I was starting to climb."