Football singularity

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"Arg fuck that hurts," Rakim could be heard exclaiming as the club medical team unwrapped the ice boot. With the ice on, the pain had been reduced to a throbbing pain, but the moment they removed it, his brain seemed to remember the pain.

"It's all good, kid, we'll take good care of you," Dr. Muller said from the side as the rest of his medical team continued working with practised efficiency.

"No offence, doc, but I never wanted to see the inside of this room." Rakim hissed through clenched teeth, his jaw trembling as the chilled air touched the angry, ballooned flesh of his ankle. His sock had been shredded with medical scissors and now lay next to his burst boot.

Due to his complexion, the marks around his foot appeared dark purple, showing clearly where Wijnaldum's studs had made contact. The only saving grace was the fact that he hadn't hit his ankle head-on, mostly clipping the area above the ankle and his foot. Despite this fact, the swelling was creeping up fast around the joint like poison ivy.

One of the assistants applied an antiseptic spray. It fizzed and burned, causing Rakim's fists to curl in pain. Closing his eyes, he used one of his arms to cover his face as he leaned back on the medical table. His mind kept replaying the lead-up to the tackle, wondering whether he could have avoided the tackle.

He concluded that the moment he chose to shoot, it was impossible, even if he had clocked the tackle. Thinking back, he realised he had seen Wijnaldum approaching him in his peripheral vision, but it just didn't occur to him that he would come in from behind like that. In the end, he could only blame himself for letting his guard down, as he was now suffering the consequences.

[Ding: It is detected that the host is injured. Assessment in progress...]

'You just now realised that?' he sarcastically asked the system in his head, trying to vent some of the frustration he was feeling.

{Rakim's injuries are part of the game, you just need to learn from this experience and adapt so a similar situation won't occur,} Eva commented, her voice sounding soothing in his head, calming some of his anger. {I know it's no consolation, but you scored upping your UCL tally to 7 this season.}

'-_-'

{I guess not, however, this is simply another part of the journey, plus if you were going to get an injury, now is as good a time as any,} Eva commented, causing Rakim's face to scrunch up in confusion, barely feeling his now numbed foot.

'What are you talking about? I think you might need the doctor more than I,' he retorted after failing to realise what point she was trying to make, as no matter how he thought about it, nothing came to mind.

(hatchu,) Rakim's upper body shot up from the gurney so quickly that he almost felt the air resistance. What followed was a sense of vertigo, but he didn't care as he looked gazes with one of the medics who was wiping his nose with a handkerchief.

Both didn't move for a second as the latter seemed like a deer in headlights under his clear green eyes. "Gesundheit," Was all Rakim said as he lay back down, realising if he was going to be infected, it would have already happened when the man helped to treat him.

'How could I forget that the date of my death is coming up,' he thought to himself as memories that had long been suppressed or forgotten re-emerged like bad side-chick. Now that he remembered everything clearly, he had been deployed in Ethiopia under General Mosi, known as the blood warlord of the West.

'Hey Eva, how come I'm only remembering this now?' He asked her, his inner voice filled with fear and uncertainty as he continued to digest the memories.

{The memories were suppressed to give you a somewhat normal childhood, but it was only a band-aid, which you yourself removed.} She simply responded in a matter-of-fact tone.

'When did—Oh shit,' Rakim inwardly exclaimed only for the figure of his biological father to flash in his mind. 'Fuck so what do I do now?'

{Hmm, it's a moot point really, but it would be a good chance to make peace with your past, given the fact that your knowledge of the future also ends in August.} Eva commented, causing Rakim to realise another issue he had subconsciously been ignoring.

He had never really worried about the fact that he'd one day be just a regular person since he genuinely loved his current life. However, now with his current emotions in turmoil, he couldn't focus on any of his thoughts for too long. 'Let's just deal with this first.'

Dr. Muller's voice cut through the haze of spiralling thoughts. "Alright, Rakim, we're starting the full medical assessment now. I need you to stay with us, yeah?"

Rakim blinked a few times and gave a half-nod. "Yeah... yeah, I'm here."

"Good. Let's start with the basic evaluation before we move to imaging," Dr. Simon added, stepping forward with gloved hands and a small flashlight.

He began by checking Rakim's capillary refill, pressing on the toenails of the injured foot to gauge blood flow. "Colour returns fast. No signs of vascular disruption."

He then palpated key areas along the ankle—medial malleolus, lateral malleolus, and the base of the fifth metatarsal—carefully applying pressure.

"Let me know the moment it spikes beyond a seven," he warned.

Rakim gritted his teeth, fists clenched. "That last one—eight. Easily."

"Over the ATFL," Simon confirmed. "We'll move on to mobility testing. Doc?"

Dr Muller took over and began the anterior drawer test, anchoring Rakim's shin and gently tugging his heel forward. There was some laxity, but not excessive.

"Minimal movement," Muller muttered. "No full tear. Now the talar tilt."

He rotated the foot outward, slowly—Rakim winced and let out a strained breath. "That one's worse."

"Expected. That's ligament damage," Muller confirmed. "Now for the squeeze test—we'll check syndesmosis integrity."

Simon placed both hands around Rakim's lower calf and gently compressed. Rakim shook his head, face pale. "Tolerable. Five, maybe."

"Alright, doesn't appear to be high ankle. We're ruling out fractures now. Let's prep the ultrasound," Muller ordered.

The assistant rolled over the portable diagnostic scanner, applying a thick layer of gel to Rakim's ankle. The cold hit his skin like a slap, but he didn't flinch.

Simon moved the transducer slowly, eyes scanning the screen. "Slight Torn fibres on the anterior talofibular ligament. Minor fraying on the calcaneofibular ligament. No rupture. Bone surfaces are clean. Just swelling and some fluid around the joint."

[15 minutes later]

"Micro-tears. Grade 2 sprain, no high-ankle involvement, no bone fractures," Muller summarised. "Could've been worse."

"Kid, are you wearing any jewellery? We're gonna perform an MRI scan just to be sure," Dr. Muller said, breaking him out of his thoughts, to which he promptly shook his head. "Good because you don't want to know what happens if you do."

Moments later, both his boots and socks were removed, and he found himself wheeled to a room separated by a glass wall. In the centre of the room stood a white device resembling a miniature Death Star in technology. It was circular in appearance, like a doughnut with a retractable bed/platform pulled ready for him.

"Alright, Rakim," Dr. Simon said, adjusting the settings on the control panel from behind the glass. His voice crackled through the intercom. "We're going to scan from just above the knee to the bottom of your foot. It'll take about ten minutes. Try not to move at all. Even a twitch can blur the images."

The table hissed softly as it eased him into the magnetic core of the MRI machine. The lighting inside was sterile and tight—he could barely move his arms without brushing the walls. The noise started low: a hum, then a rhythmic pounding like distant construction. His heartbeat seemed to sync with it, and he quickly fell asleep as the dose of dopamine he had been riding left his system.

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[Ding Injury assessment complete]

Grade: 2 sprains around the ankle, Slight tear on inner ligaments, possibility of worsening 35%

Ding: Silver Ankle Brace's (Passive) has been Triggered.

- Lowers the likelihood of getting your ankle broken by 25% due to a harsh tackle and increases the likelihood of a full recovery by 5%

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Recommendation: Initiating Recovery Protocol

→ Mandatory:

Immobilisation for 72 hours: Avoid all weight-bearing activity. Crutches are to be used at all times.

Elevation and Cryo-Compression Therapy (3x per day): Each session lasting 15 minutes minimum using clinical-grade cryo sleeves.

Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES): Begin twice daily from Day 1 to reduce muscle atrophy and stimulate blood flow.

Laser Therapy: Apply low-level laser therapy once daily to accelerate cellular repair and reduce inflammation.

Anti-inflammatory Nutritional Regimen: Enforce omega-3-rich meals, turmeric extract, and vitamin D3 supplementation.

→ Conditional:

Hydrotherapy (from Day 4): If swelling subsides and mobility test scores improve, initiate hydrotherapy in an anti-gravity treadmill or aquatic resistance tank.

Physiotherapy Start Date: Earliest Day 5 — focus on passive range-of-motion drills and soft tissue massage.

Estimated Time to Jogging: 8–10 days.

Estimated Time to Full Return-to-Training: 14–17 days.

Estimated Time to peak physical prowess: 40 days.

Risk of Re-injury within 30 Days: 18% (Base), reduced to 13% with passive skill bonus active.

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'Well, that's new'

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To Be Continued...