For THENBHD26: Marcelo Vieira

They say that out there, for each and every one of us, there is the other part of our heart. Our one true love, the one that completes us, makes us a better person. For Marcelo Vieira, he was sure his wife Khushi was the other half of his heart. Even before Marcelo had met Khushi, he was always the same loveable goofball everyone knew him to be. Yet, when he met Khushi, something changed.

He wore that incurable smile twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, and three hundred sixty five days a year without fail. After a loss or an injury, Marcelo would always immediately light up again after Khushi walked into the room. After thousands and thousands of dates, Marcelo proposed and they were married shortly afterwards.

Then, little Enzo was born and life couldn't be better for the couple. Khushi later found out she was expecting their second child on Enzo's fourth birthday, this time a little baby girl would be entering the Vieira household. Eight months had passed and Khushi had grown large once more, the little baby almost ready to come out.

Khushi had gone to pick up Enzo from school to take him back home. Marcelo was at training, but would be home soon after Khushi and Enzo returned home. Khushi signed Enzo out of school, leading him by hand to the car. Buckling him into his car seat, Khushi waddled around to the other side of the car to hop into the driver's seat.

Pulling out of the school parking lot, Khushi asked Enzo how his day at school had gone. He had been in the middle of explaining how the teacher had kicked a kid out of class for dropping baking soda into vinegar before they had set up the experiment properly, when the screeching of tires, alerted Khushi to something wrong. Looking into her rearview mirror, Khushi could only gasp as a car swerved behind her, effectively not hitting the back of the car. The danger was not over yet. An oncoming vehicle caused the car to swerve and hit the front end of Khushi's car, sending them into a spin out. Khushi and Enzo screamed as their car spun off the road, stopping when the car hit at tree on the driver's side.

Marcelo, at practice, was unaware of the accident until he got a call from Khushi. On a water break, Marcelo answered the call, confused as to why she would be calling him now. "Hello?"

"Is this Mr. Marcelo Vieira?" said a male voice from the other side of the call. Raising an eyebrow, now greatly concerned, Marcelo answered.

"This is he. Why are you calling on my wife's phone?"

"My name is David Gonzales, I'm an ambulance driver. Your wife and son have been involved in an accident and a currently being rushed to the Ciudad de Madrid Hospital. You were the last person Khushi contacted."

"Are they okay? What happened?" Marcelo rushed, now greatly concerned and starting to shake, getting some weird looks from his teammates.

"I'm afraid I can't answer all your questions. Just go to the hospital." Marcelo didn't need to be told twice. Grabbing his keys, Marcelo sprinted out of the training ground. Cristiano ran up in front of him, stopping him in his tracks.

"Whoa, what's wrong?"

"Khushi and Enzo. Accident. Hospital," Marcelo stated in short spurts. His heart was beating a thousand miles per hour and he felt like he was going to throw up. Realizing the direness of the situation, Cristiano placed a hand on Marcelo's shoulder.

"I'll drive you. You're in no shape to operate a car," Cristiano said, running after Marcelo as the Brazilian sprinted to his car. Cristiano hopped into the driver's seat and drove to the hospital. Cristiano let Marcelo out at the entrance before pursuing a parking space. Running into the emergency room, Marcelo ran straight to the front desk.

"You're going to have to wait in line like everyone else, sir," the woman behind the desk sighed, not even glancing up at Marcelo.

"My family was in a car crash and no one has told me about their conditions yet!" Marcelo shouted, drawing attention. The woman was startled as a doctor entered the room.

"Mr. Vieira," he called. Marcelo raced over, a wild look in his eye. "I'm Dr. Garcia, your son's and wife's doctor currently."

"How are they?" Marcelo questioned as Cristiano came to stand beside him. The doctor led the way through the hospital, informing Marcelo on what was going on as he did so. "Your son Enzo is not hurt too bad. He was on the opposite side of the impact and was properly secured in his car seat. He has a few bruises and burns but his greatest injury is a broken arm. It was fractured and should heal relatively quickly," the doctor informed as he opened the door to Enzo's room.

Marcelo sighed in relief when he saw his son sleeping peacefully in his hospital bed, his orange cast poking out of the blanket. Marcelo walked over and placed a kiss on his son's head, relieved that Enzo was alright. "And my wife?" Marcelo turned to look at the doctor. Dr. Garcia didn't say a word but motioned for Marcelo and Cristiano to follow him.

Entering the room next door, Marcelo's knees started to wobble. There Khushi lay, her body covered in bandages, bruises, burns, scratches. Marcelo dropped to his knees at the sight. "I'm afraid your wife was not so lucky. We were able to save your unborn child by emergency C-section and she is doing well in the neonatal wing. Your wife took the brunt of the impact. Her neck is broken and her spine is disconnected. Her legs were crushed and she suffered immense brain damage. We have her hooked up to life support, but she will surely die within the week. I'm sorry for your loss, Mr. Vieira. We can leave her on life support for as long as you would like, but it is my personal belief to take her off it almost immediately so that she doesn't suffer much more. She was lucky to survive for as long as she did." The doctor took his leave. Marcelo almost didn't hear Cristiano telling him he'd be in Enzo's room.

Now left alone with Khushi, Marcelo stood up as stumbled to her bedside, tears leaking out of his eyes at an abnormally fast rate. Placing a hand on her bandages one, Marcelo stood straight. She felt so cold, like the life was slowly being drained out of her, second by second. A tear fell from Marcelo's eye and onto her wedding ring. Pressing one last kiss to Khushi's cold forehead, Marcelo gazed sorrowfully down at his wife, his life essentially. "I don't know if you can hear me Khushi, or if you're already so far gone that there's no going back, but I just want to tell you a few things that you can reflect over when you're up in the sky." Marcelo laughed painfully.

"I love you so much, Khushi. If it wasn't for Enzo or our daughter, I'd probably be joining you soon. You're more than I could have ever asked for in a partner. You were the true source of joy in my life, Khushi." With every word, another tear dropped from Marcelo's eye. "And I want you to know that I will never stop loving you. You were my first and only love and I'll forever be in your debt. It's okay to let go, Khushi. Don't be afraid." Looking away from her for a moment, Marcelo took a shaky breath.

"I don't know what we're going to do without you, Khushi. Enzo and our daughter need you. I need you, but I guess there was a change in plans. You were the most beautiful bride to ever walk down the aisle." Marcelo dreamily remembered their wedding, his misty eyes getting even mistier. "This isn't good bye. We'll see each other again, don't you worry. Until then, my best friend, my wife, the love of my life, my Khushi, I'll see you again."

Placing another kiss to her forehead, and one on her lips, Marcelo left to authorize the end of her life support. He couldn't bear to watch the heart monitor slowly fade to a flat line, and instead walked into Enzo's room. Cristiano excused himself, allowing the father and son to have a moment alone. Without any indication from Marcelo, Enzo looked up at his father, his cheeks tear stained. "Momma's gone, isn't she?" Marcelo could only nod. The two sobbed together, the sound of a flat line echoing in the hallway.

Marcelo buried Khushi later that week. He was excused from football for however long he needed. The games that they did play without him, each player on the field wore a black band for Khushi. Marcelo finally returned, after Enzo's and his newborn daughter's situations were situated without a mother around to care for them.

On his debut back, Marcelo scored a spectacular goal. Kissing his ring finger eight times, for the amount of years he and Khushi had been married before pointing up to the sky, dedicating his goal to Khushi as fans, both Real's and their opponent's showed their support for the heart broken Brazilian defender. Marcelo later dedicated every single one of his goals to Khushi, ensuring that everyone knew he never forgot about his beloved wife that was ripped from his arms far before her time.