The Only Exception

Lionel ran a stressed hand through his hair as he sat in the hospital waiting room, his stomach rolled as he thought about the injuries that Lucia had; he couldn’t believe that the police hadn’t done anything about this before.

Lucia had been in a pretty bad shape when Lionel had arrived at her apartment, he had been appalled at the sight of the place that she lived in and he had understood straight away when he had parked outside why she hadn’t wanted him to ever come to her home.

“Señor Messi?” called one of the nurse’s, making Lionel’s head snap up and look at her hopefully; he had dragged Lucia straight to the hospital when he’d saw her battered and bruised, even though she had refused.

Lucia wouldn’t tell him who had done this to her and he had been even more furious to learn that this wasn’t the first time that this had happened and that no one had done anything about it.

Lionel got to his feet and moved towards the nurse, who seemed generally surprised that he was there; he snorted knowing that he didn’t care what she thought right now, his main concern was Lucia and if she was going to be okay.

“Señorita Castro can have visitors now,” the nurse said in awe as she stared at Lionel, she couldn’t believe that Lionel Messi was standing before her; she couldn’t wait to tell all of her friends that she had seen the footballer while she had been at work.

Lionel nodded his head relieved as he walked away from her, he knew where she was and he knew that he had to talk to her.

Lionel wanted this sorted out as soon as possible and now that she had spoken to the police, he knew it was time to talk to her about what she had kept from him.

***

Lucia shifted nervously as the police left her room, she was completely surprised they had even shown up since this wasn’t the first time that she had been to hospital because of Hernan; but it was the first time that they had shown up.

Lucia had a feeling that it had something to do with Lionel, she didn’t know what he had done to get them to come and see her but she knew there was no way she’d be able to return to her to apartment now.

Lucia wasn’t left alone in her thoughts for long before Lionel walked into her hospital room, she looked at him surprised that he had wanted around since it was the middle of the night.

“Leo?” Lucia whispered as he offered her a weak smile, his eyes locking on the hand print on her neck and she knew that he was still upset that she hadn’t told him about what was happening to her; Hernan certainly was in a lot of trouble now.

Lionel ran a hand through his hair as he moved to sit down next to her, he didn’t know how to explain what he wanted but he was determined that there was no way that he was going to allow anything to hurt her again.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” the footballer asked, he had already asked her this several times and Lucia had yet to give him a real reason on why she had kept the abuse that she was suffering from him; he hated that he hadn’t known that she was suffering.

Lucia took a shaky breath, she knew that he wasn’t going to let this go and she had a feeling that this wasn’t the only thing he’d want to talk about her.

“I’ve told people in the past and they’ve done nothing… hell, this is the first time the policía have even shown up,” Lucia explained softly as she looked down at her hands, she didn’t want to see the pity on his face.

“Marry me?” Lionel blurted out as he tried to wrap his tired mind around what was going on right now, he was exhausted and certainly hadn’t planned on asking her like that; he blinked as he realised what he had said.

Lucia stared at him shocked at the words that he had spoken, she didn’t know what had possessed him to say them but she wondered if Hernan had given her a concussion when he beaten her up.

“Siento… I didn’t mean to say it like that,” Lionel said as he wondered what on earth he was going to do now, he sighed as he tried to think of the best way to explain the situation to Lucia and what he wanted from her.

Lucia eyed him as she watched him, she still couldn’t quite believe that he’d asked her to marry him; she glanced at the medication that she’d been put on, if she didn’t have a concussion then it was definitely the strong pain killers making her imagine this.

“You remember what I said about coming back to Argentina to find a wife?” Lionel started wary, he had explained in part to Lucia why he had come home early and why his agent was interviewing all sorts of different women.

Lucia nodded her head, she recalled him telling her a few days ago and her heart had ached at the thought that he had given up on love; she had always had a bit of a crush on Lionel as a little girl and it seemed to have carried over into adulthood.

“I want you to be her Lia…” Lionel said as he took her hand, he knew that this was a shock for her but she was the perfect choice and he wished that he could have asked her in a better way; he just hoped that she would like what he was about to offer her.

Lucia stared at him, she opened her mouth and closed it in shock wondering what had possessed him to ask her; she had thought the models and actresses that he had been interviewing would have been a better suit for him than her.

“You want me to be your wife?” Lucia asked now knowing for sure that she had to be doped up on pain killers, there was no way that Lionel could have said that to her and she felt ill knowing that he didn’t feel for her like she did for him.

Lucia had grown used to ignoring her feelings for the footballer, the years in which he had been away it had become easier to hide them; even if they had begun to resurface in the last week that he had been back in her life.

“I do,” Lionel said as he watched Lucia, he could see the disbelief on her face and he knew that he would do anything to convince her that this would be a good idea; he wanted the wedding to go ahead before he returned to Barcelona and it would have to happen soon.

Lucia had no idea how he felt about the idea of her being his wife and Lionel was sure that she’d agree when he heard what he had to offer her as a sort of incentive.

“Por favor Lia… I’d pay for your padre’s treatment and you’ll never have any financial problems again,” Lionel said as he took her hand, he knew that he could help her in any way possible; he just hoped that she wouldn’t be upset with what he was offering, her family needed the money and he hated to use that against her but he was desperate.

Lucia felt her mouth drop open, she truly couldn’t believe that he was saying any of this; she wondered if he’d banged his head or something because this couldn’t be right.

“I know this is a shock but think about it por favor,” Lionel said as he squeezed Lucia’s hand, he offered her a small smile knowing that she needed to rest and he could wait a couple of days for her answer.

Lucia nodded her head as she swallowed the lump in her throat, she suddenly wished that there was so way to know what she was letting herself in for; either way someone was going to get hurt by Lionel’s offer.