The Harry Potter series follows the journey of a young wizard named Harry Potter as he discovers his magical heritage, attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and faces numerous challenges. Throughout the series, Harry learns about the dark wizard Lord Voldemort, who murdered his parents and seeks to gain power. Alongside his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, Harry unravels mysteries, battles dark forces, and ultimately confronts Voldemort in a climactic battle between good and evil. The series explores themes of friendship, love, courage, and the triumph of good over evil.
A/N: Sorry it took me almost 3 years to update this story, life got in the way and I wanted to make sure this next chapter was great because Ginny, Mike, and Livan deserved it! This chapter definitely had more MikexGinny interaction than Livan, but he had the game to get ready for! You can also read the new chapter on Ao3 here!! Enjoy!!!
Rating: T
Word Count: 979
Ginny sighed softly as she took her spot next to Mike on the bus to PNC Park, with Livan taking his now usual place in the row behind them, headphones around his neck so he could still listen to his partners talk.
“You know you don’t have to tell the trainers what happened last night, right?” Ginny whispered to Mike, noticing how the captain hadn’t put his headphones on to listen to his usual pre-game music. And Ginny knew from previous experience that it was because he was listening closely to her shitty lungs, anxiously awaiting another wheeze, cough, or hitch in her breathing.
“I’m sorry, what was that? I couldn’t hear you over the memory of you gasping for air last night, or wheezing this morning after merely putting your clothing on,” Mike hissed back, trying to contain the bitterness in his voice so as not to upset Ginny. “I’m just worried about you. Livan and I both are. So sue me if I want you to get checked over to make sure you’re not going to almost keel over again,” Mike sighed, his forehead creases softening as Ginny’s shoulders lost their tenseness and she leaned into his side, finally allowing herself a small moment of vulnerability.
“I’m sorry about that, you know? I really thought I had a handle on the attack, it just caught me off guard. I’m sorry I scared you guys,” Ginny whispered softly, settling her cheek against Mike’s shoulder for comfort the last five minutes of the ride.
“I’m not mad at you, rookie. I’m mad at myself. I’m not just your boyfriend, I’m also your captain and catcher. I should have known something was wrong. I should be able to anticipate your every move, your every breath,” Mike sighed, slipping an arm around Ginny’s waist slyly to pull her close, not only to provide her with comfort, but also to soothe himself in a way.
“It’s asthma. It’s going to be unpredictable at times, you can’t always know when something is going to happen,” Ginny explained as she pressed her face into Mike’s shoulder, letting the older man squeeze her close before she pulled back, seeing PNC Park come into view.
“Now that we’ve resolved that, let’s get you looked over, mami,” Livan smiled as he stood, stretching his arms to crack his back before he followed Ginny and Mike off the bus.
“Fine,” Ginny huffed as she let Mike lead her to the visiting locker room, grumpily following him into the training room where a portable nebulizer already appeared to be set up.
“I called ahead,” Mike smirked as he nudged Ginny forward, laughing slightly as she clearly held back the urge to stomp her foot and let the athletic trainer listen to her breathing before she took the mouthpiece of the nebulizer and slid it between her lips.
Leaning back in the spinny chair, Ginny let her shoulders slump as she breathed in the medication, trying to keep her gaze on the ground as she heard Salvamini and Blip enter the training room to get taped for warm-ups.
“What happened with Ginny?” Blip asked Mike in concern as he gently patted Ginny’s shoulder curiously, because he knew she wasn’t supposed to talk when taking her medication.
“Asthma attack last night. Livan and I had it under control though. She’s not playing today obviously, but she should be back warming up with us tomorrow,” Mike explained as he settled into the warm whirlpool, letting the heat soothe his achy back and knees.
“So are they marking her on the DL for today?” Salvamini asked curiously as he tilted his head, clearly trying to figure out how the nebulizer worked. “I think my little brother had to use something like this when we were younger,” he commented offhandedly before raising his fist to Ginny so she could bump it with her own.
“They shouldn’t be. She’s not scheduled to play today anyway, and I don’t think Baker wants the whole world knowing about her shitty lungs,” Mike teased, though he shot Ginny a stern look when she pulled the nebulizer mouthpiece out from her lips to stick her tongue out at Mike quickly before putting it back in place.
Less than ten minutes later, when Ginny was done with the medicine, and being stared at by almost all her teammates; she was back in the main locker room, changing into her uniform before Livan gently knocked on the curtain shielding her from the rest of the guys.
“Are you dressed mami?” Livan asked curiously, his jersey only half done up as he rocked back on his heels.
“Yeah papi, I’m dressed,” Ginny called back, smiling as he stepped behind the curtain to press a firm kiss to her forehead before dropping a second to her lips.
“I know you needed the medicine. But I feel like it took all of my self-control not to go over and hold you while you took that breathing treatment,” Livan whispered softly against Ginny’s hair as he finally pulled her into his chest for a hug, feeling her weight press against him as she settled into the hug.
“We have a few minutes before we need to be out on the field. Or before I need to be on the field and you get to warm the bench. Do you want me to just hold you for a while?” Livan asked, though he already could anticipate Ginny’s response, bracing himself for her to sag more of her body weight towards him.
Smiling, Livan let his own eyes drift shut for a brief second, cherishing this soft moment, knowing that the only thing that would make it better would be Mike hugging Ginny from her other side, but he was talking with Al, so that minute in time, his own presence would have to be enough.
