that it needed to be at full strength.” He clenched his jaw. “David knew this. But he let you go out there anyway.”
“It was just as much my fault. I wanted to be on the track. I needed to be out there.”
Dr. Graham sighed with resignation. He patted her hand. “Get some rest.” He turned to leave.
“How long do I have to stay here?” she asked, sounding like a lost child.
“At least a week. They want to be sure that your ankle is setting properly before sending you home.”
“When can I start rehab?”
“At least a month. I wouldn’t recommend it any earlier than that.” He headed for the door, stopped and turned around. “Kelly I would like to run some tests on you.”
“Tests? What kind of tests?”
“Some bone density tests and some blood work. I think—”
“That won’t be necessary. I’ll get all that taken care of when I get to New York. I don’t want to have to stay here a minute longer than necessary.”
“Be sure that you do, for your own good. No matter what David says.” He looked at her for a long moment.
“I will.”
A month. She lay in the bed watching the activity of the hospital staff from her doorway. What would she do with herself for a whole month—incapacitated? Tests…there was no telling what the tests would show. Her secret was bound to get out.
She picked up the cup of water from the bedside table and hurled it across the room, barely missing David as he came through the door.
“Was that directed at me?” he asked stepping inside. He reached down and picked up the cup then came toward the bed.
Kelly folded her arms across her chest and looked away, not wanting David to see the tears of frustration that were burning her eyes.
Gently he touched her shoulder. “What is it, babe? Are you in pain?”
“I’m finished, David. Finished.” Her voice cracked. “Dr. Graham was just here. He told me everything. I may never run again, not even with rehab.” She banged her fist against the mattress. Tears seeped from her closed eyes and rolled down her cheeks. “Christ, what am I going to do?”
He leaned down and gathered her in his arms. His heart knocked in his chest. The soft scent of her rushed to his head, the feel of her body in his arms went straight to his groin. Kelly had no idea of the power she had over him. But in all the years they’d worked together, she’d never once indicated an interest in him beyond his coaching ability. He’d watched her move in and out of relationships, each time nothing sticking, and was secretly pleased. His greatest hope was that one day they would consummate their long-standing relationship. He ached to discover what it would feel like to be inside that kind of physical power. For now he would satisfy himself with fleeting moments like this.
“Listen,” he said, speaking softly against her hair. “Dr. Graham sees a dark cloud in every rainbow. We’re going to get you the best treatment available and you’ll be back on the track and you will be a champion. Have I ever let you down?”
She shook her head and sniffed hard.
“Exactly.” He smiled. He opened the nightstand and took a tissue from the hospital-issued box. “Here.”
She wiped her eyes and blew her nose. “Thanks,” she murmured. She looked at him. “I need you to be honest with me, David.”
“Of course.”
“If I can’t run again, what will I do?”
Her voice was so pained and the imploring expression in her eyes twisted David’s stomach.
“That’s not something you’re going to have to worry about for a very long time. I promise you.”
Chapter 4
David sat at his desk in the office he shared with the assistant coach, poring over the brochure he’d received that morning in the mail from New York. The rehabilitation center at New York University Hospital was one of the best in the country. It was expensive, but worth it. If Kelly were to have any chance of a full recovery he would do whatever was necessary.
A knock on his door took his attention from the information in front of him. He looked up. “Come in.” He slid the brochure into his desk drawer.
“Hey, Coach,” Stephanie Daniels said, stepping inside. “Mind if I close the door?”
He looked at her with skepticism. The last thing he needed was a harassment suit.
“You can leave it cracked.”
She didn’t look pleased but did as he asked. She crossed the room a bit too seductively for David’s taste and sat down in a chair on the opposite side of his desk. She crossed her long, bare legs, the micro shorts not leaving much to the imagination. They hugged the apex of her sex defining clearly what she held between her toned thighs. David looked away.
“What can I do for you?”
Stephanie leaned forward revealing a hint of cleavage from her V-cut tank top.
“I was just wondering how Kelly is doing.”
“She’s doing great. She should be released at the end of the week.”
“Really?” She toyed with the heart-shaped locket around her neck. “Seems a little soon. She must not be too bad…” She let her statement hang in the air.
David leaned back in his chair. “Kelly will be just fine and back before you know it.”
Stephanie twisted her lips and forced a smile. “That’s good to hear. Everyone will be glad to have her back.”
Everyone but you. “I’m sure.”
She stood slowly. “Well, I guess I’d better be going. I have practice in an hour.”
“Good.”
She hesitated. “Uh, David, not that I’m saying Kelly won’t be back…but what if she isn’t?”
He knew what she was hedging at. She wanted Kelly’s spot on the team and by all rights it should be hers. But if he admitted that now, he’d have to accept the fact that Kelly may not return. And that he was unwilling to do.
“She will. End of story.”
She puffed out her chest. “See you on the track.”
“Yeah.”
He watched her saunter out. Stephanie Daniels had skill; there was no question about that. But she didn’t have star power. Kelly was the whole package, skill and charisma. David had worked with Kelly for the past six years, seeing a champion in her. He’d created her from nothing—turning a shy, insecure girl into
