Kelly Maxwell unpacked her gym bag and shoved the contents
into her locker. She was pumped. Adrenaline burned in her
veins. It had been nearly a month since she'd been able to
practice and she was eager to get on the track and cut
through the air. Running was her drug of choice. It got her
through the days and even some nights when she would sprint
through the dark streets of Atlanta when the city was
asleep and her only company was the moon and the stars and
the wind.
The sounds of approaching laughter and the easy banter
shared between friends interrupted her reverie. She shut
her locker, turned the key and shoved it into the pocket of
her shorts. She'd hoped to have some time alone. She
wanted
to get in and out before anyone saw her.
"Well, if it's not our little star sprinter," Stephanie
Daniels said sarcastically, the comment a sneer rather than
a compliment. Stephanie walked further into the locker room
and looked Kelly up and down. "Pretty soon we're going to
have to put STAR on your locker door if David has anything
to say about it."
"Stephanie, knock it off," said Maureen, another member
of
the track team. She flashed Kelly a look of sympathy
without letting Stephanie notice.
Stephanie opened her locker and pulled out her bag. "I
call
them like I see them. She gets the locker room to herself
and the track. What next, the coach?" She laughed.
Kelly snatched her towel from the bench and draped it
around her neck. "We're all on the same team,
Stephanie,"
she said walking up to her. "I'm where I am because it's
where I deserve to be." The corner of her mouth curved in
a
half smile. "And?so?are?you. Second!''
She walked out before Stephanie could respond, but she
clearly heard herself referred to as a dog of the female
persuasion.
When she stepped outside onto the lush field and imagined
the empty stadium seats filled to capacity and the crowd
roaring her name, Stephanie's ugly innuendos no longer
mattered. The only thing that mattered was getting on the
track and flying, making all her troubles, her fears, her
aloneness vanish under the beat of her feet. Reaching the
finish line first is what defined her, made her whole.
She jogged down the steps in David's direction, wincing
slightly. She'd have to adjust the wrapping when she got
down on the field.
"How's my star today?" David said, putting his arm
around
her shoulder.
"I wish you wouldn't say that around the other
teammates,"
she said.
He dropped his arm. "Why, because it might make them
really
step up their game?"
She turned to face him. "No, it makes it difficult for me,
David?to fit in when everyone thinks I get special
treatment."
He looked down into her eyes, and lifted her chin with the
tip of his index finger. "Maybe because you are special,
Kelly. Ever think of that? I know a winner when I see one.
And so does the sports world. I told you that from the
first day we met. You are a champion with the medals to
prove it. And there's nothing that any of them in the
peanut gallery back there can do about that."
She drew in a breath. There was no point in pursuing the
subject, David would never understand. They'd been down
this road before.
"Now, let's see what you got today." He pulled the towel
from around her neck and watched her walk out onto the
track. Moments later he followed.
"Need some help with that?" David knelt down beside her.
"I know what I'm doing," Kelly said a bit more harshly
than
necessary, as she tightened the Ace bandage around her
right ankle. She briefly shut her eyes to withstand the
pain that shot up her leg all the way to her hip. Slowly
she stood up, bouncing on the balls of her feet to test the
ankle.
David stood back, his expression tense and hard, marring
his usually approachable facade. Kelly Maxwell was his star
sprinter, his claim to fame. As much as his heart told him
to snatch her off the track and take her home, his drive
for the gold medal and all that came with it overrode any
pangs of emotion.
He held up his stopwatch. "Ready!"
Kelly assumed her starting position, snatched a glance at
him over her left shoulder and gave a short nod.
"Set. Go."
She was off the starting block like a bolt of unexpected
lightning, fast, smooth, dazzling to the eye. Kelly was
incredible to watch. She moved like a gazelle, the long,
lean lines of her body flowing in a rhythm that only came
from being a natural athlete. What she did could not be
taught. It was instinctive. Every breath she took propelled
her faster as if she were inhaling fuel. The power in her
legs and arms pulsed with energy as she rounded the turn
and came into the home stretch.
David checked the watch. His heart rate escalated. She was
on her way to a new record for the 100-meter sprint.
But instead of a cry of victory, a scream that vibrated
through his bones echoed in the still morning air. Kelly
went down hard on the track, writhing in agony.
David and the team doctor rushed to her side.
"Get a stretcher," David barked to an assistant as he
knelt
beside her. "It's gonna be okay, Kelly."
"My ankle," she sobbed. "My ankle." She writhed back
and
forth in pain.
"Take it easy."
Two assistants appeared and gently lifted Kelly off the
ground and onto the stretcher.
"Take her straight to Atlanta University Hospital," Dr.
Graham said. "I'll meet you there." He turned to David,
his
blue eyes cold and accusing. "I told you not to let her
run." He turned and hurried after his patient.
For several moments, David stood on the empty track as he
listened to the wail of the siren speed off. She was going
to be all right, he told himself over and again. She had to
be.
David paced the confines of the waiting room, every few
minutes checking the wall clock overhead. Time moved at a
mind-numbing pace. David knew that the rest of the team was
probably speculating on the outcomeβStephanie Daniels
in particular. If Kelly was out of the running, Stephanie
was the next golden girl in line. It was no secret that
Stephanie had no real love for Kelly although she feigned
it quite well for the media and anyone of importance who
would listen. The truth was, Stephanie believed that Kelly
was an overrated has-been whose time had passed and she was
merely given special treatment because of David. What
Stephanie failed to realize was that Kelly was everything
Stephanie only wished she could be.
David stopped short his pacing when Dr. Graham entered the
room. His expression was somber.
"David, can I speak with you?"
"How is she?"
"I hope you're satisfied."
"I don't need your sarcasm, Doc. How is Kelly?"
He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his
hand, then took off his surgical cap. "She won't be doing
any running for quite some time, if ever."
David's breath stopped short in his chest. His features
pinched as he stared at the doctor. "What are you saying?"
"Kelly has a hyperextended Achilles tendon and a stress
fracture of the ankle."
David shut his eyes and drew in a long, deep breath. "I
told you she wasn't ready to get back on the track."
"It was only a sprain. You said so yourself."
"A serious sprain. The second one in less than six months.
The ankle was weak and you knew that. But you let her go
out there anyway."
"It was her decision."
"You're her coach!" he said bitterly from between
clenched
teeth.
David briefly lowered his head then looked into the
doctor's eyes. "Does she know?"
"She's hasn't awakened from the anesthesia yet."
"I want to be the one who tells her."
"Why, so you can sugarcoat it and make her believe she's
going to be back out on the track in two weeks? I'm sure
the surgeon will tell you the same thing since you don't
believe anything I say."
David clenched his jaw. He and Dr. Graham had been at odds
about Kelly's rehabilitation for months. He didn't expect
it to get any better with this latest setback. He'd simply
find another doctor for Kelly, one who would give her the
encouragement she needed to return to the champion athlete
the world had known.
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