icing those hurt

Part 13

His coach isn't happy with him the next morning. And he makes it known- a lot.

"Are you forgetting why you're here?" He asks, making Tommy skate extra warm up laps. Tommy's too out of breath to answer. "You're here to win gold, Tommy. Let's run your short-skate routine from the top, no music. Don't stumble, or we're running it through from the beginning."

Tommy runs it through, once, twice, three times. He already knows it like the back of his hand, but now he's sure that he could perform it while sleeping and still get a record-breaking score. Wins and wins, that's what it's all about.

His coach works Tommy well into the afternoon, and then, when he thinks they're finished, he adds something new- something they've never talked about before. A routine with steps that Tommy is a bit too tired to understand.

He tries, and he doesn't think he fails- he went slow enough to make sure he got everything- but still-

"Oh come on, Tom. Even the junior skaters can pull this off. I mean, what are you even doing here? Just wasting my time? You want me to go find a skater to replace you?"

Tommy's head dips. "Sorry," he whispers.

"Yeah, I bet you are." He scoffs. "Fine. We're done for the day. If you knew what was good for you, you'd stay behind and work on that routine. Polish it up. I mean, if you cared at all about my time and wanted to- I don't know- try a little at some point."

And then he leaves Tommy standing there, debating internally with whether he has the energy to even make it to have something to eat. After a moment, Tommy turns away from the gate and does another circle around the rink- just one more time. So he doesn't disappoint anyone. Just one more.

By the time he lets himself off the ice, he doesn't even feel his body beyond the aches and pains of his skate- nothing else is really necessary.

(word count - 340)