Page 64 of Spin Serve

“You barely finished the match,” Kendra said.

“I know. It’s swollen, and I don’t know why, so they’re going to take me to the hospital for some scans. I wanted you to know in case they show it.”

“Show what?”

“Aspen, wheelchair,” the trainers said, pointing to the wheelchair he’d brought over from the other side of the tent.

“You know Rome traffic, right? It’s really bad here, and they want me to get there before my ankle gets any bigger, so I’m going by ambulance.”

“Oh,” Kendra uttered.

“But I’m okay,” Aspen repeated. “It’s nothing serious. I’m just getting some pictures of my ankle taken.”

“You knew I’d be worried,” Kendra said in realization.

“I can’t say much because people are around, but I didn’t want you to see that, if they happen to show it on screen or something, and think…”

“I know. Thank you,” Kendra replied. “You said you were okay the other day.”

“I was. I promise you; I didn’t lie. I was fine. There was no swelling, and everything was okay until today.”

“Maybe you reaggravated it.”

“Maybe,” she agreed. “They’ve got a wheelchair for me here, so I have to go, but I’ll call you later to check in, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Are you still watching the stream?”

“Yes. They’re doing the podium ceremony without you two.”

“I’ll have DJ go out there for us. But, Kendra, don’t watch, okay? You know they’ll pan over to me trying to get out of here and make a bigger deal out of it than it is.”

“Okay. I won’t. I’ll turn it off now.”

“I’ll call you as soon as I can, okay?”

“Yeah, okay. Aspen?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you for calling. Hearing your voice helps.”

Aspen let out a small smile and said, “I’ll call you later.”

She hung up and looked at DJ.

“Get out there and accept our second-place medal and whatever else. If anyone asks, I’m just getting looked at as a precaution, but I’m okay.”

“I’ll meet you at the hospital,” DJ replied.

Aspen nodded, and she was helped up and into the chair. The trainer then lifted the left leg-holding contraption thing that Aspen had no idea what it was called. She put her leg in it to keep the ankle elevated, and off she was pushed. Minutes later, she was in the ambulance, being driven to the hospital. She really hoped that Kendra had listened to her and that she’d closed her laptop because Aspen didn’t want her going back to the times she’d been raced to the hospital in an ambulance herself. Of course, she didn’t think Kendra remembered anything from the rides themselves because she’d been unconscious, but the woman still didn’t need a reminder.

Aspen sat in the waiting room for a while, which, in retrospect, made the whole ambulance ride seem even more ridiculous, but eventually, she was taken back and examined fully. She had every angle of her ankle on some kind of camera now, and after both an MRI and a series of X-rays, she was laid out in an exam room, waiting for a doctor to tell her what was wrong with her damn foot. She had ice on it again, and they’d given her some of the strong meds to help with the inflammation. The pain had started to die down now that she’d been able to rest it for a bit, and she continued to hope for good news.

“Aspen?” the trainer spoke, walking in with an Italian doctor and someone else. “This is Dr. Mortello and your nurse, Beatrice. She speaks English.”

“Hello, Aspen,” the kind-looking woman said.

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