Chapter 1 After Hanging Up

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yi said to Serkan, who was driving, "Could you please take me directly to Dortmund State Hospital, Mr. Serkan?"

"Of course." Serkan didn't say much. He had overheard Zhou Yi's conversation with his friend and knew what had happened.

Mark Wagner's sudden injury was big news today, and he had already heard from Schulze about Zhou Yi's relationship with Mark.

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Yi used his phone to search for news about Mark's injury.

It didn't take him long. As soon as he opened the official website of *Kicker*, he saw a photo of Mark being carried off on a stretcher.

He covered his face with his hands, unable to hide his pain and disappointment.

Zhou Yi was all too familiar with this scene. A player only showed such emotions in the event of a serious injury.

Zhou Yi felt increasingly uneasy.

He continued reading, and the text detailed how Mark had been injured.

"...In the sixty-second minute of the match, Wagner lost his balance and fell to the ground while challenging for a header in the penalty area. Subsequently, Azerbaijani defender Melnikov, who had also lost his balance, landed with his entire body weight on Wagner, with his right knee bearing the brunt... From the slow-motion replay of the match broadcast, we can see that because Mark Wagner's body posture had not yet adjusted, when Melnikov landed on Wagner's knee, it caused a noticeable twisting and deformation of his knee joint..."

"Subsequently, Wagner fell to the ground, unable to stand up. After the German team doctor came on to examine him, he was carried off the field on a stretcher and taken directly to an ambulance, which drove away from the stadium... After the match, German team coach Löw expressed concern about Wagner's injury, but there is no further injury report at present, so no one knows the extent of Mark Wagner's injury..."

Zhou Yi looked at his watch. It was 11:30 PM on September 7th.

The match between Germany and Azerbaijan had started at 8:45 PM, and the match had just ended not long ago. It was normal that the media did not have a further injury report.

But based on the media's description, Zhou Yi's mind was filled with bad omens.

With that thought, he reopened his phone browser and entered keywords like "knee injury" into the search engine...

※※※

When the car arrived at the state hospital, Zhou Yi jumped out and saw Schulze waiting for him at the entrance.

"How is the situation?" he asked as soon as he saw Schulze.

"Not good..." Schulze said in a low voice, looking exhausted. "The doctor said it's a torn cruciate ligament in the knee..."

Hearing these words, Zhou Yi's eyes widened. "How could this happen?"

But he didn't stop walking. The two walked inside while talking, forgetting to even take the suitcase in the trunk of the car.

Serkan shook his head as he watched the two people leave in a hurry. He didn't remind Zhou Yi. He knew that Zhou Yi was definitely preoccupied at the moment. He would keep the suitcase safe for now...

"Mark was really unlucky. His knee joint was obviously twisted and deformed when he was hit by the other guy..." Schulze sighed.

If he hadn't been hit, or if the point of impact had been elsewhere, it would have been a minor pain at most, nothing serious. He could have gotten up, dusted himself off, and continued the game.

But unfortunately, the part that bore the brunt of the impact from that big guy who was 1.9 meters tall and weighed over 85 kilograms was his knee...

"How is Mark now?" Zhou Yi asked again.

"In the ward. We've refused all requests from the media to visit, so we have to go this way..." As he spoke, Schulze led Zhou Yi around and toward another elevator.

It also happened that this match was being played at Westfalenstadion, Dortmund's home stadium, so Mark was sent to a local hospital in Dortmund after his injury.

Otherwise, Zhou Yi would have had to transfer to Berlin or Munich.

"How is Mark's mood?" This was what Zhou Yi was more concerned about right now.

"Not good..." Schulze said honestly.

Hearing these words, Zhou Yi didn't say anything. The elevator fell into silence, with no sound except for the low-frequency hum of the air conditioning.

※※※

When Zhou Yi and Schulze came out of the elevator, they immediately saw Cortana sitting outside the ward.

She was sitting there in a daze. It wasn't until Zhou Yi and Schulze walked up to her that she realized someone was in front of her. She looked up and was a little surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Am I not allowed to come?" Zhou Yi peeked into the ward, but he couldn't see anything because the blinds were closed.

He didn't push the door open rashly. Instead, he sat down next to Cortana, while Schulze wisely sat at the other end of the bench.

"Mark is my good friend."

"Aren't you with the national team..."

"It's over. I just got back... Oh, where's my suitcase?" It was at this moment that Zhou Yi realized he hadn't taken his suitcase at all.

He turned to look at Schulze.

Schulze spread his hands. "You must have forgotten it in Ottlacher's car. I'll call him and ask..."

As he spoke, he took out his phone and headed for the stairwell.

Only Zhou Yi and Cortana were left in the hallway.

"Did you come straight from the airport?" Cortana asked.

"Yeah." Zhou Yi nodded. He noticed that Cortana's mood wasn't very good, which was understandable. Who could be in high spirits when their younger brother had suffered a serious injury? His own mood wasn't good either.

"How is Mark doing?" Even though he had asked Schulze, Zhou Yi still wanted to ask Cortana.

"Torn right knee cruciate ligament."

"Torn?" Zhou Yi was startled to hear this. Schulze had told him it was a tear, but Cortana was telling him it was a tear. He still remembered the things Cortana had taught him when he had a muscle strain. A tear was more serious than a strain…

"They did a drawer test on him and confirmed that it was a ligament problem. There are four ligaments in the knee, and he tore one - the anterior cruciate ligament," Cortana said calmly, as if she were a professional doctor who was used to seeing life and death. But looking at her eyes, it was as if she was a soulless shell, her eyes empty and unfocused.

"Damn it..." Zhou Yi could only say this, of course he said it in German.

Even if one wasn't a professional player, any ordinary fan would know what a torn cruciate ligament meant. This was the most famous injury in professional football, because it had ruined so many superstars.

From Baggio to Piero, from Ronaldo to Van Nistelrooy.

And in Germany, the most famous example of a cruciate ligament injury was Deisler. This German football genius suffered the same injury as Mark today, a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He underwent six anterior cruciate ligament surgeries in six years, which ultimately led to his premature retirement.

So Zhou Yi knew how terrible this injury was for Mark.

"Surgery?" he asked.

"He should have surgery tomorrow," Cortana said.

Generally, if the cruciate ligament is torn, surgery must be performed immediately and there can be no delay. Because of the concern that the torn ligament will be absorbed by tissue fluid, a artificial ligament may have to be transplanted. This may not have any impact on ordinary people, but it has a huge impact on professional athletes.

"Mark, his spirit… How is he?"

"Go see for yourself..." Cortana was tired of this kind of question and answer, stood up and walked towards the stairwell.

Zhou Yi turned to look at her back and suddenly felt that her back looked very helpless in the empty hospital corridor.

"Cortana." Zhou Yi couldn't help but call out.

Cortana stopped, but didn't turn around.

"No matter what, don't lose hope. You're his sister," Zhou Yi said.

Cortana didn't respond to him, but continued walking forward.

Zhou Yi then knocked on the door of the ward.

"Come in." A low, hoarse voice sounded from inside. It was old Wagner.

Zhou Yi pushed the door open and saw Mark lying on the hospital bed, and the Wagner couple sitting in front of the window.

Old Wagner turned around and looked at Zhou Yi, very surprised - he thought the person knocking on the door was either Cortana, Mark's agent Schulze, or a doctor or nurse, but unexpectedly... it was Zhou Yi!

He stood up from his seat in surprise, staring at him with wide eyes, unable to make a sound.

Mrs. Wagner was sobbing with her head down because she was too sad, so she didn't see Zhou Yi.

Mark was lying in bed, keeping his head turned to look out the window, motionless, as if he were dead.

"Hey, Mark." Zhou Yi, who had walked to the bed, called out softly.

He clearly saw Mark's body shake slightly when he made a sound.

Mrs. Wagner, who was sobbing with her head down, also raised her head in surprise, with tears still hanging on her face.

"You look so miserable..." Zhou Yi looked at Mark and smiled.

"Zhou Yi..." Looking at his idol and friend, Mark finally couldn't help crying, "I... I'm done for..."