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The way Greg’s bike looked, it was obvious the impact was more severe than I thought, and he went through a more intense tumble than I saw in the brief moment I was able to watch him. In that moment, I honestly didn’t know how Greg could have walked away from it. Placing in the race didn’t mean anything. I didn’t care about the money I’d just won or the added tick on the list of my accomplishments that would likely earn me more sponsorships and commissions for the custom bikes. That didn’t matter to me at all. I could only think about Greg and the fact that he wasn’t there in the tent with the others.
Dropping my helmet on the top of the rolling toolbox in front of me, I grabbed Dad’s shoulder to get his attention. He turned to look at me, and I immediately noticed the concern in his eyes.
“Where is he? How is he?” I asked.
“He was awake when the medics got to him. Cussing up a storm. But he wasn’t in great shape. They checked him over when they got him back into the tent, but it was too much for them to take care of here. They transferred him to the local hospital. It’s just a few minutes down the road,” Dad told me.
“Why aren’t you with him?” I asked.
Greg didn’t have a family, and to be honest I’d never even heard him talk about any friends away from work. It was just us, and I hated to think he was completely alone while going through this.
“They told us they were going to have to bring him directly in to be checked out and get the full scope of his injuries. None of us are related to him, so we wouldn’t be allowed to go back with him. He told us to stay here and finish up with the race. As soon as we finish up here and get packed up, we’re going to head up there to check on him and make sure he’s all right. From what I saw, it looks like he’s going to be out for a while. Our team might be back down to one rider for the rest of the season.”
That made my stomach sink even deeper. Greg had just started racing with us. He was originally part of the team just helping out around the complex, doing whatever work was available and assisting the mechanics. Then I noticed him trying out one of the bikes he’d just fixed and was impressed by the way he controlled the bike around the practice track. I asked him about his experience and found out he used to do amateur racing, which essentially amounted to a bunch of boys racing their bikes through the woods or out on back roads and hoping not to get caught by the cops.
I asked him to help me practice by acting as a fake competitor and got out on the track with him. Over time he got more confident, and when Quentin saw how good he was, he was on board with training him to race alongside me. That day I saw Greg happier than I’d ever seen him, and I knew just how much being able to compete in these races meant to him. The thought of his entire season being snatched away from him like that was awful. It made me feel a little sick, and all I could think was that it shouldn’t have happened.
“I’m glad he was awake and they got him to the hospital, but I still want to know what happened,” I said.
Kelly gestured at the bike. “It looks like a small ignition. Sparks from his bike hit gas on the track.”
I nodded at the explanation. It made sense. That was one of the hazards of racing. Bikes often threw out gas, especially after a minor accident or if it wasn’t properly maintained. If there was enough gathered on the surface of the track, a small spark from one of the other bikes could create a flash that instantly derailed the bike and distracted the rider. It was extremely dangerous, and it looked like it got the best of Greg.
Dropping down on a fold-out chair, I let my shoulders droop, then hung my head. Rubbing my eyes with the heels of my hands, I drew in deep breaths to try to calm myself down. I’d been so worried from the moment I saw the impact, and now I needed to make sure this never happened again. We needed to be even more thorough about our examinations of the bikes and create any protective measures possible to stop another dangerous accident like this from happening.
Most importantly, I just wanted to go see Greg and find out what was going on with him.
