“… Let’s do five sets of passing exercises next. George, you’re in charge of passing the ball from here to the two sidelines, five passes each on the left and right sides. For one group…” Manager McAllister was explaining the specifics of the training on the training ground to the players, “When Freddy kicks the ball to you, you have to pass it directly. You can’t adjust. Got it?”

Wood nodded.

“As for the players on the two sidelines, cut inside to shoot after you receive the ball.”

The players on the two sidelines indicated that they understood.

“Very well, start practicing.” After he had given all the instructions, McAllister retreated from the training ground and handed it over to Coach Freddy Eastwood to handle it while he himself stood at a side and watched carefully.

The team’s recent record had been up-and-down. He was under a lot of pressure too. The league tournament was already in the month of October and the Forest team was still in tenth place. Such a placement was absolutely unsatisfactory to everyone. There were rumors outside that Evan Doughty wanted to fire him but could not find a better excuse because he had led the team to an immediate win when it looked like he was about to be fired and that eased the pressure a little.

But it was not a long-term solution. He had to find a way to stabilize the condition of the team. Unfortunately, he was not a master of psychological adjustment. He could only find a way from the skills and tactics. He strengthened Wood’s core position and developed all the tactics around him. It was the only way McAllister could think of. After all, Wood’s form was stable. Over the years, there was almost no issue with his form. With him as the core, and as long as his condition was stable, then the team’s condition would not be too much of a problem.

By contrast, the other Italian player was simply too unreliable… Balotelli always wanted to leave the club, which always caused a din for a spell before every season. It had made the fans tired of him. Miraculously, though, he always ended up not leaving. Now that McAllister considered fixing him in the right midfielder position, the Forest team at least did not have to rely too much on him to score goals.

In order to improve the team’s performance, McAllister decided to sacrifice Wood’s defensive ability and let him focus on the offense. Therefore, Wood had to carry out more offensive drills during training such as the previously mentioned straight passes, diagonal long passes or even plugging in with his own long shots … The intensity of these training programs had increased.

Since becoming the Forest manager, he had to admit that even though Twain was an annoying person, he had cultivated George Wood for England, much to his credit. And now he was benefiting from it too.

As McAllister stared at the training ground and mulled over how to maximize Wood’s role, someone had hurriedly walked behind him.

“Mr. McAllister.”

“Ah? What’s the matter?” McAllister’s thoughts were interrupted, and he was a little annoyed. He did not turn his head around and kept staring at the training ground. He was using this method to let the unexpected person know that he was hard at work. If there’s nothing urgent, you’d better not come and disturb me!

“It has to do with George Wood…”

That person whispered behind McAllister. As he listened, the expression on McAllister’s face immediately changed from puzzlement to shock as well as at a complete loss …

※※※

Wood was on the field for practicing the passing drill. This training subject was on long passes, mainly to practice the accuracy of his direct long passes without adjusting in the face of the opponent’s scramble. McAllister did not arrange for someone to make a scramble. He just instructed him not to adjust after receiving the ball. The actual effect was still somewhat different.

From the first three sets of training, Wood’s long passes were becoming more and more skilled, whether in terms of the speed of the ball and the accuracy of the final target of the passes. Both could be considered top notch.

Just as he was about to continue his fourth set of passes, he saw Manager McAllister, who had been standing on the sidelines, make a time-out signal to Eastwood. Then he walked over directly toward him.

Was there something wrong with training? Wood did not think so. The quality of the practice was high and he himself was satisfied with it. Wood always demanded high standards of himself. Even a tough manager like Twain thought he was sometimes too tough on himself. Experience had also shown that as long as he thought it was fine, the coach would basically not be able to find any fault.

He stood there, waiting for the manager. He did not know what the manager wanted from him by pausing the training at this time.

When McAllister walked up to Wood, he opened his mouth and could not make a sound because he did not really know how he should relay the news to the other party.

After a moment’s silence, the rest of the players on the training ground noticed the unusual situation happening here and turned their attention over one by one.

McAllister also clearly realized that standing here while saying nothing made it even worse. “Well, there’s something I need to tell you, George…” His voice was hoarse and low once he spoke, which startled McAllister – his usual voice did not sound like this.

Wood looked at the other man in bafflement. When had the manager spoke so carefully?

“Well…” McAllister hesitated for a while and decided not to just blurt out the matter directly, but to start with the process to mentally prepare Wood. “The club has received a call just now from the Royal Hospital of Nottingham University … Your mother is in a critical condition and has just been taken to the hospital…”

Wood stared blankly at the manager. His mind was completely blank.

※※※

In fact, in the last two years, Sophia’s health had increasingly worsened, so Wood had spent money to hire professional nursing staff to take care of his mother at home. He had to train and also traveled around to participate in tournaments. There was no way for him to stay next to his mother.

Professional nurses could handle any usual situations. But if she had to go to the hospital, it meant her problem was serious…

When Wood rushed to the hospital’s intensive care unit, his mother was still in a coma. Ms. Nancy, the private nurse in charge of caring for his mother, was sitting outside the ward, somewhat at a loss. Her job had been taken over by the hospital. If Sophia did not leave the hospital from now on, there was basically nothing left for her to do.

Wood tried to rush straight into the ward but was stopped by a young nurse wearing a face mask.

“What are you going to do, sir? You can’t enter the intensive care unit at will!”

“I want to see my mother!” Wood yelled at the other person.

“Please keep your voice down!” The female nurse, who stopped him at the door, frowned and said, “You are not allowed to enter the intensive care unit without permission.” She spoke in a low muffled voice because of the face mask she wore.

“I’m her son. Why can’t I go in?” Wood did not care too much about it. He just wanted to get in there. The nurse was also unwilling to back down. She came up and blocked in front of Wood with her chest out.

“The patient is still not out of danger yet. The doctor is keeping her under close observation. Please do not disturb our work!” She stared sternly at Wood.

“You…” Wood raised his fists, wanting to push aside the tactless nurse, but was stopped by Ms. Nancy, who saw what happened at the side.

“Calm down, Mr. Wood! This is the hospital…”

Even though Nancy was a lady, she was not a petite woman. She was sturdy, had broad shoulders and strong thighs – although it was not suitable to use these words to describe a lady, it was a true portrayal – Not weaker than men in terms of strength, she was able to hold Wood back with some difficulty.

“Are you the patient’s family?” The female nurse on the other side saw that Wood was being held back, so she pulled out a sheet and glanced through it.

“I’m her son. She’s my mother.” Wood had calmed down after being persuaded by Nancy. He replied in a low voice.

She did not expect the other party’s attitude to suddenly became so good. The female nurse lifted her head and gave him a strange look. How could it be that she did not recognize the man in front of her? As long as she was from Nottingham, even if she was not a fan, she should recognize the man in front of her at a glance. Because he was the legendary team captain of the Forest team, George Wood. No matter how bad the team’s performance was and how difficult his situation was, he never had the heart to leave the Forest team. He was respected by countless people because of it.

She just did not expect that the team captain who kept a low profile of his life off the field, would have such a fiery side to him. It was not the stadium here…

But even if she recognized him, it did not mean everything would be according to his wishes. It was the rule that the intensive care unit could not be entered at will. Even if the Queen were to be here, she would not let her in without permission.

Thinking of it, the nurse’s attitude eased a lot. She told Wood, “Your mother is not out of danger yet. We have just completed the resuscitation. She’s still in the observation stage. You can look at her through this glass panel.”

Needless to say, Wood had already leaned against the front of a thick glass panel, gazing fondly at his mother lying on the bed inside. Various types of tubes were stuck in her body and connected to many of the medical equipment which he could not name. A doctor in a sterilized suit was observing the equipment and taking notes inside the ward.

Looking the other person’s appearance, he also realized that if he had barged in just now, he would have screw things up.

With this in mind, Wood turned to the nurse still standing next to him and said, “What happened just now… I’m really sorry… I was too impulsive, I hope… you can forgive me…”

When the nurse looked at the man’s awkward appearance as he apologized, she could not help laughing. She guessed he was not in the habit apologize to anyone.

Thinking that he had clashed with her due to his anxiety about his mother’s wellbeing, the last trace of dissatisfaction in the female nurse’s heart also dissipated. She smiled and shook her head, “I’m fine.” Those eyes which looked straight at Wood just now, had transformed into two beautiful crescents of eye smile.

Generally, after the opening of this sentence, they should chat further and get acquainted with each other. But Wood was not in the mood to chat to the nurse. After he apologized to the other person, he turned his eyes back at his mother separated by the glass. Apart from his mother, he had no room for anyone else in his heart and eyes at this time.

Wood gazed at his mother in the ward, while the nurse outside the ward gazed at Wood.

※※※

Reporters soon discovered that something odd was afoot. During a routine filming the next morning, they did not see George Wood’s figure.

Ever since George Wood became a member of the Forest team, he had only been late once. That was because when AC Milan wanted to purchase him, he had a conflict with Twain and came in late as a protest. Of course, the media did not know the real reason behind it. Only that Wood wanted to leave but was eventually persuaded by Twain to stay.

Other than that, Wood had never been late for training.

This time, it was different. Wood was not only late, the reporters waiting outside did not see Wood’s figure even until the end of the training session in the morning. He was not late. He was absent from training…

It was a serious matter – indeed, if it had happened to the undisciplined players, it would not have been a big deal. But it had happened to George Wood, so it was a very serious matter – naturally it attracted a lot of media attention. They surrounded Manager McAllister after training. They wanted to ask him the reason behind Wood’s absence.

Before asking McAllister, the media were also speculating among themselves on whether that meant something was wrong within the Forest team. Was it a conflict between the manager and captain? That could be big news!

McAllister was surrounded by dozens of reporters. If he did not give a reason why, he might not be able to leave Wilford today.

“Everybody…”

He had just opened his mouth and was overwhelmed by a louder clamor of voices.

“Mr. McAllister, has Wood applied for a leave of absence from training through you?”

“Mr. McAllister, do you know why Wood is absent from training?”

“Mr. McAllister, the team’s not doing well recently, and now Wood is absent from training, are you going to penalize him?”

“Mr. McAllister…”

“…”

“All right!” McAllister shouted in frustration, “Just keep quiet!”

He waited till the reporters shut up one by one before he continued to say, “I regret to tell you that George’s mother is hospitalized and in a critical condition, so he took time off to take care of his mother in the hospital.”

As soon as the answer came out, the reporters present just looked at each other in dismay. They did not cotton on to what had happened for a while.

McAllister slipped away from the side while the reporters were still in a daze.

※※※

Vivian Miller was the nurse on duty in the ward. She had just finished her job here and was getting ready to leave. She wanted to give some space for Wood and his mother. But as soon as she closed the door, she heard a sudden rush of footsteps coming from the end of the corridor. Following the rush of footsteps, a large group of reporters holding cameras appeared in front of her eyes.

What are they doing here? It was her first thought. Her second thought was – George Wood! They must have rushed here for Mr. Wood and his mother!

Vivian then made the same move as when she stopped Wood a day earlier. She stood at the door to stop the uninvited mob from approaching.

“This is the hospital. May I know who you are looking for?” Vivian asked despite knowing the answer so as to buy some time.

“Miss Nurse, can you please tell us if George Wood’s mother is staying in this ward?” Someone came forward among the reporters and asked.

Miss Vivian Miller stared at the ill-intentioned group of reporters and did not answer.

The reporters took her silence as admittance and wanted to charge inside.

“This is the intensive care unit. You are not allowed to enter without permission!” For fear of disturbing the patient inside, the female nurse could not raise her voice, so she appeared a little powerless in front of such a large group of men. If that group of men really want to break in, she might have no way of stopping them as a girl…

“We’re all friends of George. We’re here out of concern for him. We know that he did not attend the training this morning…”

Some of the reporters were okay and knew to make excuses for themselves, even if they were lies. The others reached out directly to push aside Vivian Miller, the meddlesome nurse.

“I don’t know you, this so-called group of ‘friends.’”

Vivian felt that she could not hold on any longer. She scrambled at her feet and took a step back but did not hit the door. Instead, she knocked into a person’s chest.

George Wood had showed up at the door to help Vivian fend off the impact from the reporters.

Seeing the man in question show up, the thick-skinned reporters suddenly became spirited and took out the cameras to start taking pictures of him. Some people even reached out with the microphones and recording equipment, wanting to ask questions.

Wood did something that the reporters did not expect. He pulled the nurse behind him to protect her with one hand while his other hand grabbed the nearest camera lens.

“If you dare to shoot, I’ll crush it.”

The remark surprised the media. They did not expect to get such a response. “Hey, George… We just care about you…”

“Thank you, but I don’t need it.” Wood answered with a grim face. His voice was low, as if he were a beast growling from the depths of its throat. It was a precursor to an attack.

The two sides seemed to be in a stalemate. The atmosphere at the scene was tense. Miss Vivian Miller, hiding behind Wood, only felt her heartbeat accelerating, for fear that the two sides would break out in a fight over a clash of words…

“A patient needs rest and a quiet environment. If you continue to cause a scene here, I will make sure that all of you will receive a letter from my lawyer.” The man who said this was not George Wood. The voice came from behind the crowd of reporters.

Everyone turned around and it turned out to be Wood’s agent, Billy Woox, as well as a large group of hospital security guards behind him…

※※※

Relying on the security guards and threat of lawyer’s letters, they finally drove away the huddle of reporters at the door. Woox was talking to Wood in a room outside the ward.

“I rushed back the moment I got your call. How’s Sophia doing?”

“She just came out of the critical stage, but the doctors say we can’t be too optimistic…” Wood said in a soft voice, as if he was afraid of disturbing his mother who was in the room.

Woox looked at her listless face and did not know what to say for a moment. After all these years of working with Wood, he deeply understood Sophia’s place in Wood’s heart. It was not enough to say that she was Wood’s everything. Now it looked like Sophia was not going to hold on for much longer. What would happen to George when the time came?

Wood sat in front of Woox and pursed his lips tightly. There was a silence in the room, which was extremely uncomfortable. Just when Woox planned to say something to ease the tense atmosphere in the room, Wood was the first to break the silence.

“I’ve thought about it for a night. I have decided to retire.”