[ zwei ]

They arrived at the hospital quickly, and Gabriella got out of the car the moment it was parked. Thomas helped Lolita out of the back seat and followed the little girl's mother who was weaving through the parking lot at full speed. The little girl in his arms sobbed into his chest while he tried to reassure her that everything would be okay.

Inside the hospital, Gabriella was at the reception desk, desperately asking the woman sitting there for information. The woman let Gabriella know which floor her husband was located and the three took the elevator to the fifth floor.

After frantically asking someone at the fifth floor reception desk, they were told that they needed to wait. Her husband had lost a lot of blood and was in critical condition. Gabriella, Thomas, and Lolita were led to a private waiting room to await news of Ernesto. None of them liked being there. It was an empty white room with some chairs and a television.

"Thomas..." Lolita spoke up, her voice weepy. "What happened to daddy?"

"We don't know yet." He told her.

They waited for what felt like hours until a nurse came to give them news. By that time, Thomas had been trying hard to disctract Lolita by getting her to watch a movie that was on the waiting room TV. The three looked towards the woman dressed in a nurse's uniform and she went to talk to Gabriella. The physical therapist of Bayern Munich grabbed her purse and was going to follow the nurse out the door when Thomas stopped them.

"Where are you going?" He wondered.

"I'm going to see Ernesto." Gabriella replied, matter-of-factly.

Lolita shot up from her spot in front of the television. "I want to see daddy too." She said, running up to hug her mother tightly.

Gabriella crouched down to meet her daughter's eyes. She knew Lolita was worried about Ernesto and wanted to take her. But she said to her daughter. "They don't allow children in the patient rooms." She began to explain to her as best she could, to get her to understand. "They don't want you to get sick or something."

"But mommy-" She whined, but was cut off.

"Stay here with Thomas and be a good girl." Gabriella asked of her and left the room with the nurse.

The little girl cried as she watched them go and it broke Thomas' heart to see her that way. He saw the little girl as something of a younger sibling. "Lolita..." He called, taking a few steps towards her. The girl remained there, sitting on the cold tile floor, crying for her father and the fact that she wouldn't get to see him. Thomas easily scooped her up in his arms and cradled her like a baby. Lolita cried into his chest, eventually soaking his training jacket. "You'll see, everything will be okay."

-

In her husband's hospital room, Gabriella tried to contain her sobs, but she was not able to. Seeing him there, unconscious and all beat up, made her heart hurt. According to the doctors, he had crashed his car when the steering wheel went stiff from a lack of oil. He wasn't able to steer correctly and ended up crashing into another car on the bundesautobahn.

By the time the ambulance arrived to aid him, he had fallen unconscious and had lost a lot of blood. The doctors were doing everything they could to save him, but they had let Gabriella know it was unlikely he would recover from his injuries and they doubted he would survive the night.

The twenty nine year old woman with ebony black hair and piercing green eyes knelt by her husband's bed and took his hand in hers. "Please Ernesto..." She begged through her sobs. "You need to wake up. Lolita and I need you." She brought her husband's hand to her tear soaked face and kissed it. She loved her husband and could not imagine being without him. They had only been married eleven years and Gabriella felt like it hadn't been enough time with the love of her life for him to be taken away from her so suddenly.

As though having heard her pleas, the Bayern Munich team manager opened his eyes just as the door to his room opened to reveal Thomas and Lolita. "Daddy!" The little girl cried and ran to embrace him carefully. Thomas remained by the doorway, watching them without saying a word. He wanted nothing more than to embrace Gabriella and offer his unconditional support to her. He was hopelessly in love with her and there was a part of him deep in his heart that hoped they could be together.

"My sweet Lolis..." Her father smiled weakly at her.

"You're going to be okay, right?" She asked him.

But no one in the room answered.

Gabriella pulled her daughter away from Ernesto and pushed her towards Thomas. She didn't want her daughter to be there. Seeing her father die was something Gabriella wanted to avoid for the girl.

"Take care of Lolita, Gabi." Ernesto told her. "And always remember that I love the two of you...very much..." And like that, his eyes closed forever and the heart beat on the monitor fell into a straight line.

"Ernesto!" Gabriella cried. "Ernesto please!"

"Daddy!" Lolita pulled away from Thomas' embrace and ran to her father's side.

The nineteen year old footballer rushed out of the room to find a doctor, but by the time he found one it was too late.

-

Though Lolita and Gabriella refused to leave the hospital, Thomas finally convinced them and assured he would take care of all the necessary preparations for the funeral. The rain had begun to pick up once more outside when he drove them home and as they walked into the house, everything appeared as loomy as they felt. He walked them to the front door and Lolita immediately ran upstairs to her bedroom.

Gabriella wanted to chase after her, but she wanted to thank Thomas for all his help as well. At the front door, she sighed, her voice still shakey and her face still wet from her tears. "Thank you so much for everything you're doing for us, Thomas. I know Ernesto truly appreciated you and the other boys as close family friends. You know, when we lived in Spain and he was managing Villareal, he always told me he would like to return to Munich. He always thought of this beautiful town as his second home. And it was because you all made him feel that way."

"The three of you are like family to me." He admitted to her. "And from now on, you and Lolita will be the most important people in my life. I vow that as long as I live, there is nothing I won't do for you, Gabi, I swear." He took her hands in his and gave them a light squeeze.

"That means a lot to me." The slightest, barely noticable hint of a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

Next would come the biggest challenge for Gabriella. She needed to be strong in front of her daughter. She needed to show Lolita that everything would be alright.

Thomas left her house to prepare everything for the funeral and to inform the rest of the players about the accident. But he told himself he would be returning later in the day to check on Lolita and Gabriella. Though they were upset, they seemed okay for the most part. He expected that after the shock of it all would come a greater sadness than the one they had expressed at the hospital.

The two were broken and he would be there to pick up the pieces.

-

update! we now have thomas stepping in like a gentleman. so lets seee where it all goes from here ^.^ 

omg guys! baby chicha scored twice today. i am so proud of him. i hope now real madrid appreciates my baby. he has so much to give and he can truly help rm become a greater team than they are now. they just need to give him the chance to prove himself. 

and another exciting thing! TODAY IS THE SUPER CLASICO. I AM SO NERVOUS FOR CHIVAS, I REALLY HOPE MY BOYS WIN BECAUSE THEY REALLY DESERVE IT. THEY HAVE HAD A PERFECT TOURNAMENT AT HOME SO FAR. I JUST WANT THEM TO BE UNDEFEATED AT HOME. AND I WANT THEM TO BE SUPER LIDER. AND I WANT THEM TO GET THAT TWELFTH STAR THEY DESERVE. so come on chivas, win this tonight! all of mexico is with you. 

-clary xx