Chapter 789: Higo’s Injury

First-time traumatic anterior shoulder dislocation.

Honestly, when Higo heard from the doctor in the hospital what was wrong with him, his mind went blank; he couldn’t even recognize shit about that other than the last two words coming out of the doctor’s mouth.

Shoulder dislocation.

Of course, the most devastating part was what the doctor said next, because after checking Higo’s condition, the man finally estimated how long he would have to be absent from the training ground.

"At least four weeks, and after that, we have to see the progress first." The man said. "He is lucky that he doesn’t need surgery, or the recovery time will be around ten to twelve weeks, or maybe even longer. Still, he is prohibited from daily training for the last couple of weeks, so please, supervise his daily life as well."

Higo was dumbfounded for a moment, a devastating feeling creeping inside his head. The boy himself didn’t even know when he had cared about football this much that the thought of him having a paid break like this would break his heart, as he would rather be on the pitch than sitting tightly like a good boy for that long.

"W—What do you mean four weeks, Sensei?" He asked, stuttering. "I thought shoulder dislocation is not a big deal? I mean, I saw at the traditional Chinese clinic nearby that you can fix it easily, right?"

He himself was shit when it came to medical knowledge, but yeah, close to Higo’s home in Hakodate, there was a clinic for traditional Chinese medicine, and ’fixing’ this kind of dislocation problem was a common problem there.

The doctor and Daniel Guzman both turned their heads at Higo simultaneously, looking at the boy as if he had just spouted the most bullshit genius idea they had ever heard. This was enough to make Higo nervous, wanting to rub the back of his head for a moment before he felt the sharp pain on his shoulder once again.

"What?! That’s a valid question, you know?!" He tried to defend himself.

"Indeed, you are right." The doctor nodded, acknowledging Higo’s question. "However, putting it back in place is easy compared with making it safe again. Reduction fixes the position of the joint, not the damage caused when it came out. We still have to check for fractures, nerve damage, and torn stabilizing tissue. And even if none of those require surgery, your shoulder needs weeks of rehabilitation before it can handle professional goalkeeping."

Once again, Higo felt like his head was spinning rapidly from the mumbo-jumbo explanation that left his head spinning straight away. Daniel Guzman just sighed when he saw this, rubbing his forehead in a headache.

"Honestly, you footballers are always the same. How could you not understand such an easy explanation?!" The man sighed in exasperation.

Higo’s face flushed for a moment, getting a little bit embarrassed. Even though the Filipino doctor didn’t say it out loud, Higo knew the implication behind that question. It was as if the man asked, ’Are you stupid?’ But with a little bit more politeness.

It was polite, yes, but the implication was clear.

Fortunately, it seemed that Guzman had experience facing people with a thick skull like him.

In the end, what the traditional Chinese clinic did was put the shoulder back in the right place, and it was the easiest part. For an ordinary person, this step was probably the most urgent part so that they could continue with their life, and while it might leave discomfort, it wouldn’t affect them that much.

However, for Higo, it was a different thing. He was a goalkeeper, and he had to dive, jump, land, absorb contact, and do so many acrobatic things between the posts. All of those required a strong and stable shoulder to tolerate the forces, so putting it back in place was not good enough. No, all the damage in his shoulder had to be recovered first so that he could come back stronger than ever.

So, the conclusion didn’t change here. Higo had to be sidelined for at least a month, and the time could even be prolonged depending on the situation in the future.

Higo shut his eyes tightly, starting to imagine how many games he had to miss until the boy was allowed to play again.

"Wait a second..." He widened his eyes in realization. "Does that mean I will have to miss the rest of the season?!" He asked, his tone high-pitched.

Yeah, even though there were still about 7 games left, with the schedule being tightened so that the next season could start on time, the team had to play at least two games in a week, which meant the season would be over in either three or four weeks from now.

This meant that even in the best scenario, where it would only take four weeks to recover, Higo would miss the rest of the season here.

"Don’t think too much about it, you dolt!" Daniel Guzman sent a karate chop to Higo’s head, enough to snap the goalkeeper from the storm inside his head. "Your health is your number one priority, so don’t rush things up! Also, didn’t you read the social media at all? People didn’t really care about this lockdown football at all! With no crowds and the whole world getting shut down, no one cares about it, and you shouldn’t be as well!"

In the end, Higo just twitched the corner of his lips speechlessly. He didn’t agree with that, of course, as there was no way he could shrug off football so easily like that. Hell, the boy got paid to play, so at least he still had to show up, right?

Of course, he wouldn’t dare to say it out loud. Even though Daniel Guzman was a goofy otaku who sometimes was lecherous and liked to watch an ecchi anime, when it came to the players’ health, he was always serious about it.

"Anyway, don’t think too much about anything else." The Filipino man sighed before finally getting up. "Let’s go. I will drop you back to your flat."