Chapter 13: The Quiet Before Goodbye
Chapter 13: The Quiet Before Goodbye
Monday, November 16, 2009
The morning broke with a strange, heavy quiet at Broadfield Stadium. The familiar rhythm of boots scuffing concrete, the sharp crack of balls in drills, echoed as always, but something felt off, like a song missing its beat. Niels stood in the office doorway, his breath catching, the air thick with an emptiness he couldn't name.
Milan wasn't there.
Standing in the doorway to the office, Niels looked around. Milan's desk was eerily neat, no frantic notes, no tactical diagrams or post-it reminders about training sessions or match prep. The room felt... empty. The buzz of the club, the spark that Milan always brought, was missing.
Niels glanced over at the chair. It was spinning gently on its own, almost like Milan had just left. A half-full cup of coffee sat by the window, cold and untouched. The silence stretched, pressing in on him.
He checked his phone again. Still nothing, There was no call or message.
The next day
The call came at dawn, the sky a dull gray, heavy with coming rain. Milan's voice was faint, a whisper thick with exhaustion, barely piercing the line. "I'm at the hospital, Niels. Tests came back, it's not good."
Niels sat up, his heart plunging, the world narrowing to that voice. The gray outside mirrored the cold dread pooling in his chest.
"How bad?" he asked, voice soft, trembling with unspoken fear.