Switched Up

12 IV: Tell me next time!

Once Oliver crossed the finish line in 1st place, Sam's body flopped back onto the track.

"Yes!" she gasped between her ragged breathing.

Members of the red team swarmed down from the stands and began to crowd around Oliver to congratulate him for the win. As Sam's breathing evened out, she attempted to sit up so she could join them, but with the slightest movement to her ankle, she fell back in pain.

Shit... this really hurts. I can't even move anymore. Well, someone will come for me eventually.

In the bleachers, Opal and Ricky had seen her fall down after the run. They weren't allowed to enter the track while the relays were going, so they were tortured by watching her when they knew how much pain she was in. The second they saw her struggle to get up, they knew something was wrong and ran onto the track.

Once they maneuvered around the sea of red team members, they began to head over to where she was lying.

"Sam! Are you okay?!"

Opal and Ricky stopped running and turned to see Oliver pushing his way through the crowd. He didn't even see the two of them as he zoomed by.

"Let's... let Oliver handle this," said Opal, linking her arm with Ricky's.

"Yeah, this might be good for them," he added.

They turned around and skipped arm-in-arm back to the crowd to meet with their friends, glancing back every now and then to check on what was happening.

When Oliver got to Sam, he saw that she covered in small scratches along with the gashes on her knee and elbow.

"Sam. What... What happened?!" he asked, dumbfounded.

"Uhh... well, I hurt something in my foot during the first race and I thought it would be okay if I rested it for a while during lunch... Buuuut it looks like it's worse than I thought. And then I ate shit after I gave you the baton."

His gaze pierced Sam straight in the eyes.

"I really didn't want to lose," she added with a small shrug, feeling immense pressure as he loomed over her.

Oliver didn't crack a smile.

"Can you get up?" he asked.

"No. I tried. It's a little too painful to bear anymore."

Oliver observed her body up and down, trying to figure out how to get her up without hurting her foot. He bent down and put his right arm under her knees and then his left arm behind her back.

"Wait, Oliver, what are you doi—"

Oliver swooped her up princess style in one fluent motion. He turned around and started to walk back towards the relay starting point where they could contact the nurse.

Once Opal and Ricky saw Oliver pick up Sam, they ran over to her side so they could see how she was feeling.

"Sam, are you okay?" asked Opal.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just had a little stumble."

Sam glanced up to see how Oliver was taking the situation. His face was like stone; she couldn't tell if he was mad at her or worried. He had never been so quiet before.

When Oliver reached the area with more people, he could hear everyone teasing him by yelling things like, "Look! It's Prince Oliver and his princess Sam," and "Awh, how cute you two!"

"You guys are losers!" she joked back.

The crowd laughed as a wave of relief swept over; they were glad to see that she was feeling good enough to joke back.