Page 99 of The Forever Vault

“All three of you would have to do every event for you to have a chance at a medal,” Hudson answered.

“That’s impossible,” O said.

“All three of you are capable in every event,” I said.

“Not what I mean, Luke. We’re not good enough to score enough points to beat the other teams. They’ll have five guys to choose from.”

“Not Great Britain,” Cam pointed out.

“Japan, Brazil. They’re powerhouses. We need Ezra.” O started to pace.

“I’m sure they’ll find him. And if they don’t, you still do the best you can. Same as you would if Ezra were here.” I gave his shoulder a squeeze. He was tense, so it turned into a back rub. “You need to loosen up.”

A door opened and I almost gasped. But it was just an official letting us know warm-ups would start in five minutes.

I walked back over and sat next to Cam. “You really think we have a shot?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I answered. “There’s a shot.”

There was no shot. We were almost done with the warm-up, and no one else had shown up yet. The crowd could tell something was up. Obviously, something was up. There were only three American gymnasts on the podium!

When Woodward’s text came through, I didn’t know whether to breathe a sigh of relief that I wouldn’t be in charge anymore, or that they found Ezra.

“‘We’re on the way’ is what it says,” I told Hudson.

“Did you ask if they found Ezra?”

“No response. I checked Twitter too. Nothing there.”

“We should be panicking right about now, huh?” Hudson asked.

“We might feel that way, but I’d never let the guys know I feel that.”

“Oh, I know that. I was just commiserating. Getting it out of my system.”

“I get that.” I thought about what Cam must be feeling. What they all must be feeling. “They need to believe they can do it, especially for Miles.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Even though he only worked with him for a short time, Ty told me that confidence was Miles’ biggest problem.”

Hudson scoffed. “Still is. Shortstack doesn’t believe he’s good enough.”

“Shortstack?”

Hudson shrugged. “He is the shortest one on the team.”

“Uh huh.” I let Hudson’s nickname - clearly, a term of endearment - slide.

The noise in the arena changed. I looked around, trying to pinpoint the cause. It became obvious when I saw spectators pointing, and soon enough I was able to see as well.

“It’s Ezra!” I heard Cam yell from his spot on the podium.

Woodward was leading the way, with Ezra and Jack behind him.

And paramedics?

Great Britain and their coach noticed almost at the same time, and both teams converged off the podium in a massive pileup of people. There were so many questions being hurtled back-and-forth. I couldn’t hear a single word of what Ezra or Woodward were saying.