“I don’t see why he does this to himself,” one of the moms sighed. She was wearing the same jacket Zane was wearing and her eyes were glued to Cade. He was standing on the sidelines, watching with a wide smile that didn’t reach his eyes, rolling his shoulders as if he were getting ready to tumble himself. 

“I don’t either,” another sighed. “Seems like he just wants to torture himself.”

“I mean, plenty of coaches don’t attend. A three-time Olympic title holder seems like he would have better things to do.”

“Cade,” I asked without meaning to, surprise dripping from my voice. The moms turned to look at me, sneers on their faces. I suddenly felt like I made a mistake eavesdropping but it was their fault for talking so damn loud. 

“And who might you be,” one of them asked as she looked me up and down. 

“Asher Sutton,” I answered with an easy smile that had her cheeks reddening. “I didn’t mean to be rude, it just took me by surprise.”

“How do you know him?”

“My son just started taking lessons from him. We’re here to watch how a normal competition goes.”

“You mean to say you sighed your kid up without looking into the coach’s background,” she asked, her eyebrows all but shooting into her hairline. 

“I checked the reviews online. Everyone said he was the best so that’s where we went.” She hummed and turned back to the mat. 

“Yes, Cade won three titles before he got himself hurt. Would have been four if he hadn’t gotten himself hurt.”

“How did it happen?”

“It was all over the news,” she scoffed. “I’m surprised you didn’t hear about it.”

“This whole gym thing is pretty new to me,” I admitted. 

“Well, he was mid-pass when he landed wrong and broke his ankle. It was a tragedy. He had to be carried off the mat.” I looked back at Cade, at the wrap around his ankle and the one around his knee. “He never did any interviews about what happened but his coach admitted that he worked himself too hard the night before. As far as I know, he hasn’t tried since.” 

I would hope not. He takes painkillers five at a time after standing for too long. I think gym is the last thing he needs. 

“That has to suck,” I said, not knowing what else to say as I stared at the coach. He was watching a kid tumble. 

The kid looked about 13 and a sinking feeling pooled in my gut as I looked at her knee. 

“He’s letting her compete like that?”

“She’s not one of us,” she scoffed. “Cade dropped her because her mother pushed her too hard and wouldn’t listen to him when he said she needed a break. He cares so much though. If her mother wasn’t a monster he would have given her a jacket to wear for the day. I can’t believe she took her to a pleasure gym.”

“Every other gym has likely dropped her,” the other one said with a sick smile. The first woman shook her head. 

“It’s a shame. She could have been great someday.” Their words lost all meaning to me as I watched her run down the mat. 

Round-off, rebound, backhand spring, back tuck, layout. She landed all of them perfectly and I noticed Cade clapped the loudest as she turned to ready herself for the next pass. 

Front Ariel, front tuck, front full. Her knee seemed to bend in an odd way but she had done great from what I could tell with my limited experience. Cade was watching her wearily as she began her last pass. 

Round-off, back tuck, layout, back full. She landed. Then went to the floor. 

My breath lodged in my throat as she lay there, completely still. No one in the gym uttered a word. For the first time since we had gotten here, the room was completely silent. 

Then Cade was running. 

The girl was curled in on herself, her knee tucked firmly into her chest like she was trying to cut off. Circulation in hopes the pain would stop. Tears ran down her face as Cade forced her to lay on her back. 

I couldn’t hear a word he was saying but she shook her head rapidly. Cade’s breath was exasperated as he placed one of her hands on his chest, letting her feel the way she should be breathing. It took a while for her sharp and shallow breathing to take on the deep and calming form Cade was showing her. 

Nurses filled the mat, touching and prodding the poor girl until Cade shoved them away. The worry on his face hit me in the gut as he wrapped his arms around her and picked her up carefully. She clung to him as she cried softly and Cade whispered into her ear when we locked eyes. 

“Do you have a car,” he asked the second he got close enough. 

“What?”

“Do you have a car,” he asked again, trying and failing to keep the irritation out of his voice. 

“Yes?”

“Good. We’re going to the hospital.” He stalked through the doors without making sure I was following his orders. I turned back to the bleachers, thankful that Ryan was already carrying Zane down. 

“Take him home,” I demanded as I followed Cade. 

“What’s happening?”

“Apparently I’m taking that kid to the hospital with Cade and I don’t think it will be a suitable place for kids so I need you to take Zane home. I’ll call you when I can to let you know what’s happening. 

Ryan didn’t bother arguing as he carried Zane to his car. 

“I want to go with Dad,” Zane whined as he reached a hand out to me. 

“I know buddy,” I sighed as I ran a hand through his hair. “But it would make me feel better knowing you were home with Ryan. Be good for him for me. I bet he’ll even stop to get you a hot chocolate if you ask nicely.” Zane went to whine again but stopped when he noticed Cade’s glare. 

“The hospital is going to be scary,” Cade said sternly. “It is not a place for children. Listen to your dad.” I kissed my son on the forehead before opening the back seat. 

Cade laid the girl in gently before getting in beside her. A woman ran through the door just as I was about to turn the key and drive off. 

“Where are you taking my daughter,” she demanded, her eyes trained on Cade. 

“The closest hospital is Blount Memorial,” Cade answered before looking at me. “You know how to get there?”

“No,” I scoffed. “I just moved here,” Cade swore under his breath and the child beside him cried softly. “Just tell me where I’m going and I’ll get us there.”

“You can’t just kidnap my child!”

“Then met us there,” Cade all but screamed as he pointed to the road. “Drive the fucking car.”

I drove the fucking car.

“Just breathe Lucy,” Cade soothed as he held her close to his side. “It’s going to be okay. Just keep breathing.”

“It hurts,” she sobbed and he held her closer. 

“I know,” he said softly. “I know but it will hurt worse if you don’t keep breathing. We’re almost there.”

“What’s going to happen,” she asked. I looked in the rearview mirror to see the pain and fear in her eyes. Cade’s eyes were soft in a way I had seen only a few times since knowing him. 

“A lot of things all at once,” he sighed. “I’m going to carry you in and you’re going to meet a lot of people real fast. I’ll make sure they get you something for the pain and they’ll take some x-rays to see what’s going on and we’ll go from there.”

“Do you think it’s broken?” 

Despite it only happening a few minutes ago, there was already deep bruising around her knee and though it made me want to throw up, the kneecap looked like it should be sitting a bit higher than it currently was. I was no doctor but I think anyone could tell that something in there was broken. 

I started shaking my head, ready to lie when Cade beat me to it. 

“Probably,” he sighed. “The doctors will tell us more after we get a better look at it but I think it’s safe to say something is broken.” She whined and wiped a hand down her face. 

“The season just started,” she pouted and it blew my mind that this was her biggest concern. 

“There will be other seasons,” he soothed. 

“Not for you,” she said, new tears rolling down her face. Cade frowned deeply. 

“You aren’t me,” he said just as we pulled into the parking lot. 

Cade had been right. The second we walked through the door carrying a sobbing child, we in fact met a lot of people. 

Cade never left her side, holding her hand tightly with every test they took, only letting go when she was wheeled away for the x-ray.

The girl’s mother had arrived only a little after us and filled out intake forms as we waited for the tests to come back. 

Thus the waiting game began.