Page 34 of The Forever Vault

Overwhelmed with information, I pulled Shane towards me with my good arm, close enough to whisper, “Can you remember all of this? I can barely focus.”

“Of course. It’s a lot to process.”

I was fitted with a sling. At the very least, the injury was a strain, and I was to limit my movement as much as possible. I could get the sling wet since it was a new type of fabric that was quick drying, but he gave me an extra one just in case. With or without the pain meds, I could alternate a heating pad and ice if I wanted to. We were just about finished when there was another knock on the door.

The doctor said, “Come in.”

It was Cam and Erika. His eyes immediately diverted to the sling. “What happened? Did you break your arm? Why didn’t you tell me that?”

“You already know the answer to the first question. I fell. I didn’t break my arm. And I didn’t tell you because I just found out myself. Just got back from getting scanned and poked and prodded.”

“Ah, sorry. I might be wound a little tight right now.”

“A little?” Erika asked. “He was yelling at me the whole ride. ‘Faster! Faster!’ Sounded like he was starring in a porno.”

Cam balked at her comment, but came over to me to give me a chaste kiss. “How bad is it?”

After Shane, Woodward, and the doctor united to explain everything so far, the doctor said he’d call with the MRI results as soon as he had them, then said his goodbyes.

“Camden, I’d like to speak with you for a moment. Shane, Luke, I’ll see you outside in just a minute.”

Shane and I left the room with Erika, who said she’d give us a minute and walked a little ways down the hall. I turned to look at Shane, knowing what Woodward and Cam were discussing. “I’m probably out, right?”

“I’m afraid so, kiddo. It looks that way. I’m so sorry, Luke. I should’ve seen this coming.”

“What do you mean?!”

“Your chest has been bothering you, right?”

“Oh fuck! I hadn’t even thought of that. I just thought I was overtraining. I just- I…didn’t even think about it.”

Jesus Christ! I should’ve known better. Ty went through the same shit. I didn’t even see it happening to me.

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry, Shane. It really isn't your fault. You couldn’t have known. I didn’t know and it’s my body.”

A calm silence settled over us.

“I can’t believe that’s it then. Damn.”

Shane pulled me in for a hug and I couldn’t help but release the tears I had been struggling to hold back. I wasn’t a cryer. But I hadn’t told my tear ducts about that fact, apparently. I took a deep breath and tried to relax. I heard the door open behind me and before I could extricate myself from Shane’s arms, I felt a warm body press against my back, adding another member to our hug. Literally.

I could feel it against my ass.

“If that’s you, Coach, we need to talk about boundaries.”

I felt a slap on my butt. “You know it’s me.” The smell of his body wash reached my nostrils.

It was Cam. But I already knew that.

After saying our goodbyes to Erika, we shared a shuttle van to get back to the village. Shane had said Noah was on his way to meet us. Cam and I hadn’t had a chance to be alone yet, so we just held hands. We could’ve texted even though we were in the same car, like the old days, but it would be better to talk about it. Plus, I was kind of down a hand.

I knew why we were going to the village. And I knew why Noah was on his way. Cam was the Olympian now. I was tomorrow’s headline.

I was anxious for whatever the MRI revealed, especially with the possibility of surgery, but I always knew this was my last Olympics. Cam and I had already discussed that. It was our last blast together, and he was supportive of me.

Now, it was going to be the other way around. He didn’t need to be distracted by my torn pec muscle. I needed to stay strong so he could do his best. Considering he had no warning this was coming, he had to be in shock. I don’t think he’d trained the last few days either. It was going to be a lot of pressure on him.