Somewhere Only We Know

15: He Loves You

“How are you feeling?” Sergio prodded as he strode into Iker’s hospital room, a bag of clean clothes clutched in his hand. It had been a surprise, Iker had only gone to the hospital in order to his bone set, and Sergio was a little surprised to find that he had been admitted, even more so when he found out that his friend had been skipping meals and not sleeping. Iker mumbled something incoherent. He had been stuck in the hospital all night and he was decidedly irritated about it. All he wanted was a chance to talk to Ariana, but his doctor wouldn’t allow it. The keeper was on bed rest until he ate something and got a few hours’ sleep.

“That good eh?” Sergio teased, falling into the chair beside Iker’s bed and kicking his feet up. Iker glared a little, silently wishing the defender would just go away. Besides Ariana, he didn’t want to speak to anyone. “The guys all send their wishes. They would have come up, but Ancelotti threated to bench the lot of them. He only let me go because he wanted someone to check up on you” he explained.

Iker nodded his head before he let it roll back, something which made Sergio frown. “What is the matter with you Iker?” he pressed “Keylor said you were acting weird before you fell yesterday and coach is considering giving you personal time. Did something happen with Ari?” Sergio pressed.

Iker flinched slightly at the mention of her name, something which told Sergio he had hit the nail on the head. “Ariana” Sergio murmured “You didn’t get her pregnant did you?” he spluttered.

Iker scoffed at the mere notion. “I never slept with her Sergio, you lot just decided that was what was going on. You didn’t think for one moment that it could be anything other than sex” he muttered bitterly.

Sergio flinched. “Geez, what crawled up your ass and died?” he returned.

Iker huffed and flipped onto his side, facing his back to Sergio.

The defender rolled his eyes. “Just talk to me Iker” he muttered as he gripped the keeper’s shoulder, rolling him over once more. “I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me” he muttered.

Iker sighed softly. “We broke up” he muttered feebly.

Sergio’s face fell slack. “You and Ari? You guys were great together, what did she do?” he spluttered.

Iker shook his head. “She didn’t do anything. I met her parents and her older brother last week and I was planning on taking her back to mine. She went off to pack a bag and left me alone with her sister, Lucia. Lucia never liked the idea that I was with her sister and so she started asking me all of these questions about why I liked Ari. I answered them all, but then Lucia jumped at me, kissing me as Ari walked back into the room. She dumped me after that and, until yesterday, I hadn’t seen her again. She set my arm” he murmured, waving the red cast that was fixed around his arm.

Sergio ran a hand back through his hair. “Iker, I am sorry” he murmured.

The keeper shook his head. “I just want to talk to her, to explain that I never meant to hurt her, but she won’t even give me a second glance. She palmed me off onto some other doctor who refuses to let me get up” he muttered.

“Does she know that Lucia kissed you?” Sergio pressed.

Iker shook his head. “She didn’t give me a chance. She tossed both me and Lucia out and hasn’t spoken to me since expect yesterday when she plainly told me that we were done. I didn’t mean to hurt her Sergio, I just wish I could tell her that” he muttered.

“Is that why you weren’t eating right?” Sergio pressed.

Iker shrugged. “I felt lost without her, things like sleeping and eating fell to the back of my mind and I fixated on getting her to talk to me” he admitted gently.

Sergio shook his head. “That has to stop Iker, you’re not going to get Ari back if you can’t even stand up properly. Eat, sleep, and I will get her to talk to you, alright?” he posed.

Iker sighed. “She won’t talk to me, Sergio, she’s made that clear enough” he muttered.

Sergio offered him a smile. “I can be very persuasive” he quipped.

Iker groaned. “Sergio, for my sake, please tell me that you aren’t going to flirt with Ariana” he murmured.

Sergio chuckled. “Trust me Iker” he teased before he stepped out of the room, leaving Iker glaring after him.

~#~
“Dr Costa, there is a man out here waiting to see you” a nurse mused as she stepped into the staff room. She was jealous, Ariana already had Iker and now Sergio Ramos was sniffing around, but she didn’t want to let it show. Whether she liked it or not, Ariana was her superior and had the power to get her fired for disrespecting her.

Ariana, who had been reading a book, lifted her head. “Did he say what he wanted?” she murmured, hoping that it wasn’t Iker.

The nurse shrugged. “He didn’t say much, only that he was looking for Dr Ariana Costa” she quipped before she walked away.

Ariana rolled her eyes and pushed herself to her feet, making her way out of the room.

“Ari” Sergio grinned “You’re here” he added.

The brunette rolled her eyes. “What are you doing here Sergio?” she muttered. She was in no doubt, Iker had clearly sent him to talk to her on his behalf, and she didn’t really want to. The idea of being near Iker or any of his friends irked her.

Sergio smiled. “I just wanted to talk” he quipped with a little shrug.

Ariana rolled her eyes. “I am not going to speak to Iker Sergio” she muttered, her arms folding across her chest.

Sergio sighed. “Please Ari, he just wants to talk” he murmured.

“And I just wanted a boyfriend that didn’t have the hots for my sister. Turns out we can’t all get what we want in life” she muttered.

“Iker doesn’t have the hots for Lucia. She was jealous of you and so made you dump Iker, letting her get her way” Sergio returned.

Ariana sighed. “I would love to believe that Sergio, I would love to think that he doesn’t want her, but I can’t shake it. Look at me, why would he want me when he could just as easily have Lucia?” she murmured self-consciously.

“Iker loves you” Sergio replied nonchalantly.

Ariana’s throat dried slightly. “What?” she squeaked.

“Iker loves you. I know he does. He only gets worked up like this over girls that he loves and that is an exclusive club” he noted with a smile.

Ariana blinked, stuck on the notion that Iker could possibly love her. “H…He loves me?” she murmured.

Sergio nodded. “Truly, madly, deeply. Now, can I go back to his room and tell him that you are prepared to give him a chance to explain?” he quipped with another winning smile.

Ariana blinked. “Sergio, I don’t know” she whimpered.

The defender rolled his eyes. “I am not asking you to marry the guy Ari, just to give him a chance to get his point across to you. That’s all he wants” he mused.

Ariana shifted slightly. She didn’t want to go, she knew there was a high percentage chance that she would melt if she spent any time with Iker and his warm smile, but she couldn’t just leave him hanging. Iker had messed himself up over her enough and she wanted him to stop. “Alright” she muttered “I will talk to him, but don’t start expecting miracles” she murmured.

Sergio smiled. “That’s all I ask” he mused as he waved his hands a little “He really cares about you, you know” he added softly.

Ariana nodded. “I know. I will go up in a bit after I have finished my shift” she mused before turned to walk away.

Sergio watched after her and smiled, glad that he had made some sort of break through with her. Iker loved her, more so than any other girl, and Sergio wasn’t just going to let her slip through his fingers. He wanted Iker to be happy.