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“You need to find another partner,” he said.
“Walker, you heal pretty fast. You told me that once. Let’s see what the doctors say after they get a good look at everything.”
“No, you need to do it. Everyone good is going to be taken already if you don’t. I want you to find someone else. You shouldn’t lose your chance because of me.”
“Who would I even get? You’re the best.” She widened her smile for his benefit.
Chandler tried not to think about the countless hours upon hours of training and workouts they’d put in together to try to make the Olympic Team. She tried not to think about the sacrifices she’d made in her life to get here time and time again, only to not be able to go represent her country in her sport, which had always been her dream. She tried not to think about all the delicious, fatty, sweet food she didn’t eat, the love life she didn’t have, the friends she’d lost along the way, and everything else that it would seem she’d all done for nothing.
“I’m not the best. After I get all the tests and stuff, I can try to make some calls for you, if you want. There are a few guys that I know who could use partners. They might not be right for you, but they could be. You could maybe mold them or something.”
“Are they not right for me because they’re, like, seventeen years old?”
Walker laughed and replied, “A couple of them are eighteen, but they don’t look eighteen.”
Chandler sighed and said, “I know I’m basically a senior citizen here, but, Walker, you’re the only twenty-two-year-old guy in this cycle who looks older than he is, so we match well together on the ice. If I go out there with someone who still has teen acne on his face, it’ll look weird. I’ll be like a mom with her son out there when we’re supposed to look nothing like mother and son.”
“Chandler, we should get him to the hospital,” the trainer interjected.
She’d forgotten that he was even there.
“I’ll help you find someone, okay?”
“Walker, just worry about getting better. I have Cat to help me find another partner. We’ll be okay. I don’t want you to worry about me. You still have a chance at another Games, if you aren’t able to skate in this one.”
“I’ve already skated at one. Don’t get me wrong – I want to go back and repeat. But I want you to go, too.”
“I’ll be okay.” She squeezed his hand again. “Now, get checked out. Do you want me to come with you?”
“No, my mom is here. She’ll come with me.”
“Okay. Will you text me when you know more?”
“It’ll be late.”
“That’s okay. I’ll be up,” she said.
She left Walker in the care of the people who would take him to the hospital and walked back out, where she saw Catalina standing by the doors, staring down at her phone.
“How is he?” she asked without looking up.
“Not great. I think it’s safe to say he’s done for the season, at least. He told me to find a new partner.”
“Good. We need to get on that. And I’m glad that he told you it was okay so you’d feel better about it.”
“Cat, he’s really hurt right now, and he’s not going to skate in the Games. So, can we maybe wait until tomorrow morning to find a replacement?”
“No, I’m looking up names right now. It’s pretty bleak. There are only a handful of male skaters like Walker in the country, and all of them are partnered up. You’re going to have to go younger. Come on.” Catalina motioned for Chandler to follow her out the doors toward the car that would be waiting to take them to their hotel.
Their parents never really came to see Chandler skate. They contributed to her career financially more than in any other way, and her dad made sure they had a car service on hand at all times to get to and from wherever they needed to go. Chandler slid in after her sister, told the driver to take them to their hotel, and Catalina still hadn’t even looked up from her phone.
“Okay. There’s a sixteen-year-old. He looks at least nineteen, though. Strong. He’s in Milwaukee. We could go check him out in person before the next competition.”
Catalina was rambling now. Chandler recognized it, so she tuned her out, knowing that her sister wouldn’t stop for a while. She let her head hit the glass of the window and looked at the snow-covered road as they drove the short distance to the hotel.
“He’s twenty but looks like he’s still in his diapers,” Catalina said of another skater when the car pulled up to the lobby. “He’s only ever skated solo. Maybe we can get him into pairs. He’s in Salt Lake. We could call and see about a visit. Chandler?”
“What?” she asked as the door was opened by the driver.
