Three months after the Olympics and I was getting ready for another dance competition. I considered my sanity as I packed my suitcase, getting myself ready to board the plane to my competition. Michael had said that he was coming with, but I convinced him to stay and get some training in, hoping that he wouldn’t dodge out of more practices while I was gone. Pushing all thoughts about Michael out of my mind I dragged myself to the airport, meeting up with the rest of my team. Exchanging a few brief hellos with some of my teammates I caught up with my coach, Tabitha, so we could go over any last second changes to my routines.
Once we had safely landed in New York, where the competition was being held, I turned on my phone to see a missed call from Bob, Michael’s coach. I called him back immediately, concerned that he had hurt himself.
“Hey Valencia!” Bob’s voice chirped as soon as he answered, “Did Michael go with you to your competition? He didn’t tell me that he was going to be missing practice.”
“No, I convinced him to stay behind and practice. He should be there.” I said, trailing off in confusion.
“Never mind. He’s wandering in now.” Bob said, saying good bye and hanging up, no doubt to scold Michael. I sighed, wishing that Michael could see that he wasn’t through yet. Clearing my mind, I decided to focus on myself and forget Michael for the following competition.
I smiled happily as I boarded the plane, having taken first in all except one of my events and second in the other event. I had another dance competition in just three days and would be flying straight to where that one would be held.
“When are you going to retire?” Tabitha asked, settling next to me for the plane ride.
“I don’t know. My leg is preventing me from being able to compete comfortable anymore. It might be time to just swim soon.” I sighed, massaging the leg in question.
“At least you have something to fall back on, just keep that in mind. I might have another lead for what you could do also, I’ll run it by you when I get the call back.” Tabitha said, smiling at me. I smiled back, placing my headphones back on my head getting zoned in for my next competition.
A few days later I was making my way into my competition, when Michael popped up and surprised me with a hug. “What are you doing here!” I squealed, launching myself onto him, happy to see him.
“I had to come see my girl compete!” Michael said, kissing me before wishing me luck and letting me get back into my zone.
I was finishing my last routine, smiling even broader than normal because I could hear Michael in the stands cheering loudly for me. As I came down for a leap I landed roughly on my previously injured leg, feeling it crumble beneath me, and pain shoot throughout my body.
I pushed myself up and finished my performance, barely capable of standing at the end of it. I collapsed next to Tabitha, surrounded by medics who were all examining my leg. I held tightly to Michael’s hand, who had raced down to meet me and pushed his way through security. I gasped as someone moved my leg slightly.
“It doesn’t look good.” Tabitha whispered to me. I just closed my eyes, trying to block out everything except the feel of Michael’s hand in mine.
“It looks like several stress fractures and a hyperextended knee.” A Medic said, helping me into a wheel chair and into the ambulance that was taking me for more tests.
Michael refused to leave my side the entire time I was in the hospital. A week later, he and I flew back home. Michael settled me down in my apartment, promising to come back after he caught up on some of his training with Bob. I flipped through the channels on TV, slowly drifting off to sleep.
