Chapter 793: Rehabilitation Plan Begins

Unfortunately, the rest of the day didn’t go easy for Higo.

No, even though it was basically a holiday for him, the boy still had some schedules to keep. The most important one was, of course, his rehabilitation part.

Even though he was staying at home with a sling holding his shoulder, that didn’t mean the boy could stop his training. No, if anything, the recovery plan started right after he left the hospital, and coincidentally enough, Daniel Guzman had already sent the plan to both Kumiko and Sakura so that they could supervise him.

So, here he was, fighting for his life in the room that he turned into a home gym, trying his best to force his wrist to flex.

"Yes... Come on, Ryukkun, don’t rush things up. Just take it slowly, but feel every muscle in it moving... Take a deep breath..." Sakura instructed gently.

On the sideline, Kumiko just bit her lip nervously. She loved more than anything else to help, but honestly, her knowledge about rehabilitation plans wasn’t as good as Sakura’s. While she was busy studying the tactical aspects of the game, her friend was majoring in sports medicine, and that included how to treat an injured player like this.

Even though Sakura was still a student like her, Kumiko had to admit that her friend was doing well right now. Every little move was done with scalpel-like precision and even extra caution, and whenever she had a doubt, even the slightest, the girl would never hesitate to call the Filipino doctor to ask for advice.

Still, the rehabilitation plan for the first day after injury wasn’t that much. This was the first one: flexing his wrist and trying to extend it to prevent any stiffness there.

Of course, even though it wasn’t that much, for Higo, who was currently struggling, doing a little flex was enough to take a part of his soul. The boy was sweating profusely right now, and the back of his shirt had already been drenched as he had just drowned in the nearest pool.

He gritted his teeth tightly, trying to make his wrist move once again. The simple movement that the boy usually took for granted was like torture right now, as the moment he moved his wrist, he always had to exert more force from the injured shoulder.

The numbness was there, and he could feel a heavy burden on his shoulder. Literally. It was as if the whole building was being put on the right side of his body, and honestly, the boy had half of his mind to give up right now, unable to bear the dull aching all over that injured part.

"How much..." Higo scowled as he tried his best to flex his wrist once again, his breath starting to get unsteady. "How much... Left... Before this is... Over?!"

"One more! Come on, Ryusuke! You can do this!" Sakura clapped, trying to encourage Higo.

In the end, after fighting for his life, the boy finally managed to complete this exercise, a full 15 repetitions without missing one. It would be a lie if the boy said that he wasn’t proud of this, as even though it was just him playing around with his wrist, the effort he put in was way higher than anything else that he had ever done in his life.

Kumiko also moved fast. The moment Sakura gave a nod, she stepped up quickly, offering Higo a glass of water while also wiping the sweat from his face. The girl was so heartbroken, seeming to cry after looking at the effort that Higo put into this rehabilitation plan.

"What? Why are you crying? It is you who asked me to treat it seriously, right? Did you regret it?" Higo grinned mischievously.

"...No, I don’t regret it." Kumiko bit her lip, her eyes so red right now. For all of her brilliance, the girl sure was a terrible liar. "I just never thought that you would be so much in pain even when trying to move your wrist..." Her tone was full of grievance.

Honestly, even though Kumiko was a head coach for Hakodate Nishi for three years, she had never experienced her players being injured in a way that needed longer than a week of recovery. This was the first time the girl witnessed how a player took his rehabilitation, and her heart tightened when she saw the love of her life in that position.

"Oh, don’t be dramatic like that, Kumiko-chan, this is just the beginning." Sakura grinned maliciously as if she were a sadistic doctor from a mental hospital or something like that. "The first week is bad, yeah, because the pain is still lingering there, but in the second and third week, the situation will be a little bit better. However, it is the fourth week that you have to worry about. All hell will descend in that period, and the headache will be ten times bigger than right now."

Well... Not just Kumiko, but even Higo himself gulped, feeling nervous sweat rolling dramatically from his forehead. He was so glad that the pain would subside next week, but the threat lacing the girl’s voice didn’t reassure him at all.

"What... What kind of pain should I expect?" He asked, trying to hide his trembling voice.

If anything, Sakura just grinned widely, showing off her bright, white teeth, as if she was ridiculing him.

"Oh, don’t worry... That would be a big surprise for you, okay? Just think of it when the time comes, but don’t say that I didn’t warn you. Ohoho!" The girl laughed like a fucking psychopath, ignoring both Higo and Kumiko, who were sweating like bullets.

"Um... Anyway, let’s move on from that for now. The rehabilitation plan for today is not over yet, right?" Kumiko asked, shifting the topic of the conversation.

Higo groaned immediately, especially when he saw Sakura’s eyes brighten up as if she was waiting for this. The boy just sighed one last time, somehow lamenting his fate right now.

’Damn! This is not a fucking break that I expected to have!’