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 outcome—Stephanie 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.
“I want this whole thing kept quiet,” David said. “The last thing she needs is the tabloids blowing this out of proportion. Kelly just needs to concentrate on getting well.”
Dr. Graham slowly shook his head in disgust. “Always looking at the bottom line, aren’t you, David?” He turned and walked away.
David stared at the doctor’s retreating back. He needed a plan, a plan to keep this under wraps, to get Kelly out of town as soon as possible, into rehab and with a doctor that saw things his way. In the meantime, he wanted to be the first face that Kelly saw when she woke up.
Chapter 2
Kelly slowly opened her eyes and tried to adjust her vision to the pale walls. She turned her head and tried to move. It was then that she realized her right leg was in a cast up to her hip and suspended from a series of pulleys that looked like something from a torture chamber.
The scent of antiseptic filled her nostrils. She swallowed and started to cough from the dryness in her throat.
The coughing stirred David out of his fitful sleep. He jumped up from the hard plastic chair and went to her bedside. He took her hand.
“K. It’s me, David.”
“I know who you are, David. I didn’t hit my head.”
He grinned. “Still have your sense of humor, I see.”
“I hate to bother you, but could I have some water?”
“Sure. Sure.” He rounded the bed to the nightstand and poured her a glass of water from the blue plastic carafe that matched the plastic cup and the plastic chair. The hospital room decor gave David the creeps.
He held the back of her head as she gulped from the cup.
“Thanks.” She sank back against the pillows. “So…how bad is it?”
He braced his forearms against the railing of the bed and leaned in close. “There’s plenty of time to talk about that. You need to rest.”
“Don’t play games with me, David. I’m a big girl.”
He worked his jaw for a moment. “It will be a while before you can
