Page 74 of The Favorites
“Falls like this are always awful to witness,” Kirk says from the commentary booth. “But medical personnel are on their way, and—wait, who is that?”
The shot zooms out again. The medics rush toward the rink carrying a stretcher, but before they can get to Katarina, someone else vaults over the boards and runs onto the ice.
Garrett Lin:And then…there he was.
Chapter 40
The first thing I felt when I woke up was Heath’s hand in mine.
Then the IV stuck in my skin, the heart monitor clamped on my finger. The pain so urgent and diffuse I thought my whole body must be an open wound.
Heath’s head was bowed, like he was praying. His heel tapped nervously, the way it used to before we took the ice at novice competitions.
I laced my fingers through his. He went still, then lifted his head to look at me.
He looked at me like he’d been wandering in the dark for years, and I was the sunrise.
“What happened?” I asked.
“It’s okay,” he said. “You’re at Saint Louis University Hospital.”
He was still in his free dance costume. Red stains smeared the front of his tuxedo shirt.
My white dress was draped over a chair by the window. Even in the dim light, I could see it was ruined, the delicate fabric stiff with dried blood. My blood.
I remembered Heath telling me not to skate. I remembered taking the ice anyway. After that, only a blur. A stomach-lurching sensation, like dropping from a height.
“What happened at Nationals?” I asked.
“You fell. You hurt yourself.”
“No, I meant…” I tried to sit up. Heath was on his feet in an instant, ready to stop me—but I thought better of it on my own, sinkingback down into the pillows. “What happened after that? Did they announce the Olympic team?”
“I don’t know,” Heath said. “I don’t care.”
More fractured memories: glaring lights in my eyes. Satin against my cheek. Lifting off the ice—up, up, up, like I was floating into the rafters.
Bella’s voice, right beside me. Only it didn’t sound like Bella, because she was so weak and pleading. Desperate.
You can’t. Please, Heath, don’t do this, we have to—
“Heath,” I said. “What did you do?”
“It doesn’t matter.” He sat on the edge of the bed and squeezed my hand. “All that matters is you’re all right, Katarina.”
Ellis Dean:It all happened so fast.
Garrett Lin:It was like time stopped.
Katarina lies motionless on the ice. Heath kneels beside her.As Garrett struggles to his feet, looking dazed, Heath scoops Katarina up in his arms.
Garrett Lin:I’d never dropped my partner. Not since Bella and I were little kids, practicing off-ice on pads. And then I cried way harder than she did.
Heath carries Katarina off the ice. She’s barely lucid, her head lolling against his shoulder, but she clings to his jacket lapel.
Garrett Lin:I let her down. I had her, and then I didn’t.
Garrett watches helplessly as Heath and Katarina exit the rink. Bella runs over to Heath, grabbing at his sleeve. He shakes her off and keeps going.
