Page 4 of Side By Side
“Gee, thanks, sis. I’m figure skating royalty, too, you know?”
“Not how he is. He has a medal already. His mom, the former gold medalist, is on the committee. His older sister and older brother are both medalists. He’s a legacy, and he’s your ticket in.”
“I could find someone else if I had to,” she suggested.
“Not like Walker Wilcox. I’m not telling you this as your sister; I’m telling you this as your coach, Chandler. You better hope he’s okay, because if not, I just don’t see how you can find a new partner, train together long enough, and do something to wow the committee and get into the Games. You’d need a new partner and a prayer.”
“I could skate solo.”
“You switched to pairs for a reason.”
“Yes, but I started out not doing that.”
“And that didn’t really work for you, did it?”
“No, it didn’t.” Chandler looked down at the floor.
“Okay; I’ve got some bad news…”
Chandler looked back up to see the trainer standing in front of them.
“What is it? How bad?” Catalina asked.
“It’s probably a partial tear. We still need to get an MRI to confirm, so we’ll do that, but for right now, I can already tell you that he won’t be able to skate for the next several weeks, at minimum. I’ve got him on crutches back there now, and we’re likely looking at a partial Achilles tear. He’s able to walk on it, which means it’s not a total tear, but I don’t think he’s going to be doing much skating, conservatively, for at least six to eight weeks.”
“Shit,” Catalina said, stood, and ran her hand over the back of her neck.
“It could be worse. I don’t know. We need further tests.”
“PT?” Catalina asked.
“Not anytime soon. I don’t know if he needs surgery yet, but if he does, that means more recovery time. We need to get him to the hospital and have it fully checked out to know more, so we’re going to take him there now.”
“Can I see him first?” Chandler asked, standing up and grabbing her bag off the bench.
“Sure. But make it fast.”
“You stay here,” she said to her sister. “You’ll only make him feel bad about getting hurt.”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
“Not on purpose, maybe. Stay here. I’ll be right back. Then, we can go.”
Chandler followed the trainer into the medical room and saw Walker lying on a blue cushioned bed. His eyes were closed. He looked like he’d been crying, and she didn’t know if it was in pain or because it was likely that he wasn’t going to skate in the Olympics this cycle.
“Hey,” she greeted when she got to his bed and took his hand, giving it a little squeeze.
“I am so sorry,” he said.
“For what?”
“I dropped you. My hand slipped, and now, we’re done.” He looked down at his foot. “I can’t believe that. I haven’t dropped you in training with that move… ever. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. My butt’s a little sore, but I’m okay.” She gave him a little smile. “And it happens. I’m not mad at you. I want you to get better.”
“I can’t skate, Chandler. I can tell it’s bad.”
“We’ll figure something out. Let’s just get the tests you need to know what’s really going on in there, and we’ll see.”