The Footballer's Girlfriend

Part One - Chapter Twenty-One: Now or Never

Cristiano grumbled as he rolled over in bed and reached for his phone, it was early in the morning and he knew that it was too early to be woken up; he peeked at Eliana who was sleeping soundly by his side. 

Cristiano smiled as he watched his girlfriend for a moment, he couldn't believe that they had been together for over a year now and he couldn't have been happier. 

"Olá," Cristiano murmured not wanting to wake Eliana when he answered the phone, he ran his fingers through his hair as he watched her sleep; she looked beautiful and he knew that he had never been this happy before and he knew he would never let her go. 

Cristiano felt his stomach drop as he heard his mother's distraught voice, he swallowed wondering what had happened and upon hearing his brother's name he cursed Hugo for not getting the help that he needed. 

Eliana blinked waking up as Cristiano moved out of bed, she watched him confused wondering what had happened; she sat up knowing that it had to be important. 

"I'll be there as soon as I can," Cristiano comforted his mother, he had only been able to get so much out of her and he could tell that it was bad; he ran his fingers stressfully through his hair and ended the call. 

Cristiano sat there for a moment before he climbed out of bed and started to get dressed, he needed to keep it together otherwise he was going to break down; he couldn't believe that this was happening. 

"Cris?" Eliana asked watching her boyfriend, his hands were shaking and she climbed out of bed knowing that she couldn't let him go alone; she didn't want him to feel like he couldn't talk to her when he was upset. 

Eliana took his hands and looked up at him, she could see tears and her heart ached at the thought that he was hurting; she had no idea what was going on but she knew if someone had called then it was serious. 

"Hugo's been in a car crash..." Cristiano whispered wanting it to be untrue, he knew that this was going to be bad but he wasn't going to give up; one way or another his brother was going to rehab.

***

"Lilian's not here?" Cristiano asked looking to Katia, he wasn't surprised that his sister-in-law wasn't hovering around the hospital while Hugo had surgery; she had Alicia to think about and the teenager didn't need to see how bad her father was. 

Katia shook her head, she knew that they were all worried about Hugo and that things needed to be done before he ended up like their father; no one wanted to put Hugo in an early grave and he needed help. 

"She's filing for divorce," Katia revealed softly, Lilian had finally had enough and couldn't take anymore of Hugo's alcohol problem; she was worried that it was only going to get worse and Alicia didn't need that in her life. 

Cristiano closed his eyes, Lilian had been through so much and it had only been about five months since Hugo had last been in hospital; he wished that there was something that he could do to save his brother's marriage. 

"How is he?" Cristiano asked moving to sit down in one of the chairs, his mother hadn't been able to tell him much and he only knew the basics; he feared that Hugo's luck might have finally run out. 

Katia sighed moving to sit down next to her younger brother, she wished that she had good news but she didn't; it was pretty bad and the doctors weren't sure just how much. 

"He's broken his collarbone... fractured his shoulder, punctured a lung," Katia murmured shaking her head, she closed her eyes wondering when enough would be enough; she couldn't watch her big brother die and he wasn't going to change his ways. 

Cristiano closed his eyes, he knew that Eliana had gone to get some coffee for them and he was glad that she was here with him; she had kept him sane on the flight over and he was thankful for that. 

***

Eliana chewed on her lip as she watched Hugo, she had been left with him after his operation while Cristiano spoke to the doctor about treatment and possibly rehab; she knew he wanted his brother to get better. 

Eliana flicked through her magazine, it had been a long day and she knew that everyone was exhausted; she just wished there was something that she could do to help. 

"What happened?" grumbled a voice making Eliana jump, she hadn't been expecting anyone to speak and her blue eyes snapped to look at Hugo as he pulled some tubing from his face. 

Hugo wrinkled his nose as he realised that he was back in hospital, he couldn't remember what he had done this time but he knew that it must have been bad. 

"You were in a car crash," Eliana explained softly, she wasn't sure what to do and she hoped that Cristiano would be back soon; she had heard quite a bit about how bad Hugo's temper had been recently. 

Lilian had popped in and dropped off the divorce papers with Cristiano, she was tired of all of this and if Hugo wasn't going to get help then she was done with him. 

"And they left you with me?" Hugo scoffed, he wasn't a child and he could look after himself; he could only imagine the earful that he was going to get over this. 

Hugo looked down at his body and frowned at the sight of the bandages, he felt horrible and he guessed that he'd been out of it for a good few hours. 

"They're talking with a doctor," Eliana replied shrugging her shoulders, she wasn't about to tell him that only Cristiano and her remained at the hospital while everyone else had long since gone home. 

Eliana didn't want to upset Hugo with the fact that his own mother had gone home instead of waiting for him to wake up; Dolores was in a state over what had happened. 

"How much longer do you think you can do this?" Eliana asked turning her full attention to Hugo, his family loved him and if this carried on he would lose them all. 

"You drunkenly crashed your car... you nearly died on the operating table... you're about to lose your family," Eliana ranted annoyed that he was refusing to get the help that he very clearly needed; she knew it wasn't her place but she wanted him to see that this couldn't continue. 

"You don't know anything," Hugo spat angry that she was talking to him as if he was a child, she didn't know anything about him or his life; she was just some whore that his brother had taken a fancy to. 

Hugo was sure that Eliana wasn't going to be here to stay, it wasn't Cristiano's style and he would soon tire of the model before much longer. 

"I know enough... you're ruining your life and for what?" Eliana snapped back, she wasn't going to let Hugo bully her into backing down; he did that with his family and they were slowly turning away from him. 

Eliana didn't want to have to watch Hugo drink himself into an early grave, the doctors were worried about his liver and it didn't look good. 

"Get out," Hugo shouted wanting Eliana gone, his hands shaking as he realised that she was right; he was losing everything and that was all down to drink. 

"It's now or never Hugo... take the help while you still have a chance," Eliana muttered before getting to her feet and walking out of the hospital room, she could only hope her words had sunk in a little bit.