#and then the medics come. and jamie stays just in case gary needs something else

[effervescentdragon]

is it too much for me to ask for a one word prompt...? bleed + carraville no pressure....you can ignore me :,)

my inbox is always open for you and you can always ask for anything ❤️ im sticking with the england nt theme today i guess?

It's only a second; a second in time, a single moment where he isn't paying attention, when he doesn't know exactly where the attacker is because he's trying to pinpoint Stevie in the midfield, but all it takes is a second, and a tackle, and an elbow in his nose in the tangle and then pain and hurt and blood, and then there's faces all around him and Carragher is apologizing and Eriksson is shouting "Carragher, help Neville!" because he's trying to get them to play well together and not kill each other, and Scholesy is shouting something and Becks and Frankie are both trying to calm him down and then he's being pulled up, a strong body half-carrying him towards the locker rooms.

He shoves Carragher away after the world stops spinning and he goes, keeping close enough but not touching him, and Gary is grateful for that because the fucker almost broke his nose, and he has to breathe through his mouth because his nose is full of blood and he can taste it in the back of his throat as he slumps down onto the bench and leans forward, the drops of blood dripping on the floor.

"You should probably lean back," Carragher says and Gary is furious and he can't even speak properly so he just flips Carragher off and waves his hand, and then there's paper towels being pushed in his hand and as he's trying to get the bleeding to stop, there's hands on his bare knees as Carragher kneels in front of him, face worried, and asks, "Did I break your nose?"

"How about you apologize," Gary tries to say, but it all comes out jumbled, and Carragher slaps his hand away and mutters "I'm sorry, I promise it wasn't on purpose," and Gary's head hurts too much to start a fucking fight when Carragher drags a towel over his face and neck, gentle and hesitant, wiping off the blood carefully.

Gary knots his hands into fists so Carragher wouldn't see them shaking; his hands are perfectly still as he wipes off the blood slowly, and when Gary looks away from Carragher's face because he doesn't want to see the look on it, doesn't fucking care what it is, there is a red smear on Carragher's white shirt, right above the crest, and when Carragher says, "I guess this is what they mean when they say you bleed for your country," Gary laughs too hard which starts the bleeding all over again, and then kicks the laughing dickhead in the shin hard enough to make him topple over.