Alphabet Soup

Chapter Three: B is for Broken

Remember when you were a child, and you wanted to know what it was like the break your leg?

Only because you wanted to know what it was like to get all the attention, walk around campus with neon colored caste, and have your friends randomly scribble their names on it?

You didn't realize how much pain you had to endure, or how irritating it must be when that one area of your injured limb continued to itch, and you would squirm in agony because you could not touch it.

Lovina happened to be that lucky girl one fateful day.

"AUGH!" she yelped, mostly at the impact on the ground rather than the intense pain that should have followed. All she could hear before she landed by the cold prickly grass was the sickening crack that erupted by her ankle.

It all happened too fast, as one moment she was dribbling the ball across the court, physically preparing to make a dunk into the orange ring that hovered above the her head; then the next she's lying on the cold hard concrete, clutching her severely sprained ankle.

Lovina continued to lie on the ground, and amazingly none of the other players even paid her any mind until Gilbert happened to trip over her in the process of screening Elizaveta. "Hey, why are you still lying on the ground? You almost tripped me, and I was about to show butch, pan-face over here how awesome I am!"

If Lovina did not feel the intense throbbing that pounded on her foot, she may have made a snappy come-back about how delirious he sounded, but she couldn't and that startled Gilbert.

"Ehhh, you don't look so hot Shorty, did you break something?"

"Are you alright?"

"Where does it hurt?"

"Uh, guys, maybe we should giv-"

"Oh maybe she fainted from the heat? I'd love to give her some mouth-to-mouth~"

"Francis, it's 60 something degrees, it is not hot!"

"Oh you're just saying that because you're not used to this weather, silly boy~"

Lovina wanted to cry out in pain. The obnoxious dialogue spewing over her head, combined with the intense aches and horrendous swelling around her right foot made the experience unbearable. Fortunately, for once, Antonio noticed her anguish as he almost always appeared oblivious to his surroundings. He scrutinized her fetal position, the way she cupped her hands around her right ankle, and how she grunted in pain.

Could she have possibly broken her ankle?

"Ok, everyone listen up!" Antonio cleared his throat to draw all their attention on him. "Who has a cell phone- oh okay, Ludwig, I want you to call Lovi's grandpa, and ask him to pick Lovina up. Tell him that she broke her foot, alright?"

Ludwig swiftly dialed the number, knowing Feli's number by heart since he often visits the Vargas's. "He said that he's coming momentarily, but what should we do now?"

Antonio racked his brain for another thing to keep the group occupied. "I guess you guys can continue to practice, I'll look after Lovina by the gate."

Everyone seemed to agree upon this, as they had no other reason to object. Antonio seemed to grasp the situation more firmly than everyone else at the moment.

Gilbert hauled Elizaveta with him back to the other side of the court, in the process of slapping her behind which caused the Hungarian to chase him down to tackle him with such ferocity. Ludwig lingered near them, collecting their sports equipment while Francis busied himself by flirting with a group of older women, preparing to play a quick match of tennis. Antonio rolled his eyes, I have such amazing friends.

Antonio moved closer to Lovina, squatting down beside her to check on her. "B-bastard, what do you w-want?" she hissed, grunting as she tried to sit up. Her foot felt like a heavy slab of goo, flapping miserably whenever she moved. It was like her bones were dislocated, and crushed into tiny fragments underneath her skin, it couldn't actually be that bad, could it?

Lovina snapped out of her trance when a wave of sharp, staggering pain shot up her leg. Her breathe hitched, as she cried out in distress. "S-S-S-Stop!" she wailed. Antonio halted, raising his hands up in defense. All he did was lightly pinch her wound, but he had no idea how sensitive the area appeared. Now he managed to encourage Lovina to silently weep while he attempted to calm her down with no such luck.

"Lovi, please don't cry! I-I'm sorry, I d-d-didn't mean to make you cry!" Antonio pleaded as his eyes grew glassy. He hated it when people cried, especially when he became the primary cause of it. A shadow of guilt swept over his heart when Lovina continued to bawl her eyes out, obviously not caring whether she was in public for all eyes to witness her actions, or not. Antonio sat patiently next to her, wishing for some spurt of inspiration that could help him, to help her. But what did he know? He never had to tend as anyone's aid before so how would know how to calm down a rowdy, teenage girl? It's not like Lovina was a little girl that would believe him when he said that he could kiss her boo-boo all better… THAT'S IT! He'll kiss it all better!

Antonio glanced over to Lovina; she seemed to cease her heavy tears, and the way her plush, pink lips formed into an acute pout made the stare more worthwhile for him. Antonio would never say this out loud, but he adored the way Lovina would childishly pout. In fact, just staring at her tear stained face along with that lovely pout made his eyes want to rot away, and decompose into sugar. There were many things about this girl that he absolutely loved; however, voicing it seemed a bit too extreme, since they were still in the friend zone, which killed his self esteem.

To put it simply, Antonio grew a small…ok maybe not so small, but it his feelings for Lovina escalated each and every day spent with her. And he just formulated this insane idea to kiss her boo-boo away, like a nightmare!

What is he thinking? Lovina would most definitely tie him down, lock him up in a dusty casket, and toss him into the pit of despair before he even tries that foolishness.

His ponderings were cut short when a sudden weight pressed down on his right side. Antonio jerked his head around to view a head full of auburn hair lean limply on him. Did she fall asleep?

Indeed she did, Lovina nodded off into a deep slumber, the pain must have knocked her unconscious. Antonio took this as his opportunity to steal a chaste kiss without her knowing. As silently as he could, Antonio pressed his lips against the peak of her forehead. He felt the warmth radiating off her paled skin. Antonio brushed the hairs away from her eyes, and lightly caressed her smooth, medium thick brows. Her expression seemed to soften under his touch, and if he squinted hard enough, there was a small smile that uplifted the corners of her mouth.

Antonio continued to gaze at her longingly, until the arrival of her grandfather, along with Lovina's little brother which broke his trance.

"LOVINA!" Antonio silently cursed as Feliciano stirred Lovina awake. Her relatives hoisted her up as they led her into the car to take her to the hospital, as Antonio followed behind to see her off.

"I guess I won't be seeing you at school for awhile?" Lovina shrugged, "I don't know, but you better visit me bastard! You of all people should know that I don't like being kept indoors!"

Antonio smiled and waved, as shouted his parting words, "ok, adios Lovi, Stammi bene!*"

Lovina stared back confused as Feliciano smothered his giggling from the back seat, and the grandfather shook his head. "That boy needs some lessons. I think he means rimettiti presto*."

My goodness, I am terribly sorry this chapter took so long D8

You all probably thought I abandoned this little ABC Sesame story, huh? Well I'll let you know that I haven't. In fact, I've been working on a multitude of chapters since the last time I updated, problem is that my summer so far has been quite a handful-juggling reading 3 books for next year with assigned activities for each (like outlines and citations), an online class, and other things that may come my way (B-day parties, family/friend time, you know the deal xD) .

However, I'll try my best to update as much as possible!

-By the way, this chapter was based on my experience when I was in 7th grade, and I severely sprained my right ankle. Obviously I over exaggerated on Lovi's injury since I would imagine breaking a bone would be 10x's more painful than fracturing it, but the concept of how she got injured, and how no one noticed her lying there was the exact same thing. Only differences included the fact that she had someone to look after her, she was far away from home, and she was playing basketball. -

Lovely translations:

Stammi bene *- As I looked this phrase up, it's something in the nature of "I hope you in good health" or "Stay in Health", stuff that you would most likely put in cards or letters for relatives and friends. Which is why everyone was like: What did he say? Apparently, It's not appropriate to say that to an ill/injured person xD.

Rimettiti Presto*- Translates more accurately to say "Get well soon" or "Get better soon", in a non-formal way since Antonio is Lovina's friend in the story. This is what Antonio meant when he blurted out "Stammi bene" to Lovina.

With out further ado, please stay tuned for Chapter Four: F is for Finals! 8D (which is also based on my friends and I).