Leaving Tracks (26 page)

N
orth obviously wasn’t
overly worried if anyone from IFS saw us eating together. He was munching away on his fourth or fifth, I had lost count, empanada.

“Every country makes these I think.” He said after seeing my amusement at his food joy. “But only the Spanish know how to make ‘em irresistible.”

“If you say so.” I replied. “Just remember you have to skate tomorrow.”

“Right.” North sighed contentedly and sat back. “You’re right of course. I wonder if I could get these through customs.”

“Probably not.” I said to him. “But we are a week in Spain. If you eat them for a week, you may just get your fill in before we leave.”

“There is that.”

“Hadley? Hadley is that you?”

North and I both turned automatically to the voice that spoke. The trim brunette squealed and dashed over. Before I could protest
, she threw her arms around me and began speaking in French gibberish.

Thankfully, she was someone I knew and liked. Once
a upon, a time we had co-chaired a figure skating camp in France together. And another one in the US a few months after. She was a genuinely kind person.

“Roni.” I laughed and gently detached her. “North doesn’t speak French.”

“Oh,” she smiled at him. “I’m Veronica Smiter. Roni is fine.” She pulled up a chair and sat down. “You have to tell me what you’ve been up to. Why haven’t you called me back? I worried. I left messages with your father and he assured me he’d get them to you.”

I shook my head. “I had a falling out with my father. He’s not happy that I’ve stopped skating.”

“You have to live for you. He’ll either come around, or he’ll die lonely.” Roni shrugged. “I never did like the way he bossed you around. Like you were an employee not a child.”

I laughed. “You’re good for the soul. You are welcome to come visit me at home. I’m in Minnesota now. We have a private skating rink my mother built me.”

“Oh, I’d like that. I’ll give you my number and we can set it up.” Her eyes turned to North, “I saw you skate. You are good but Hadley doesn’t allow for average.”

“No,” North smiled. “She doesn’t.”

“There’s a party tonight, a pre-skate party if you will. I was about to go up to it.” Roni turned to North, “As a skater, you have an open invitation to it.”

“You should go,” I said to North. “If Roni’s going
, it’s bound to be fun. Just remember you have to skate tomorrow.”

“I’ll be cutting out early for that reason so you can trust I’ll grab you and drag you out.” Roni smiled and stood. “Come on.” She hugged me tightly once again. “I’ll take care of him.”

“I know you will,” I replied hugging her back. I gestured to North. “Go, meet some skaters, and get some air. Have fun.”

He looked like he was about to protest but Roni solved it herself when she shouted across the restaurant something in Spanish and then looked down at North expectantly.

“She paid the check.” He said to me as he reluctantly stood. “Finish eating, and box up the rest of my food, I’ll eat it for breakfast.”

Roni linked her arm through North’s. “Stay with me
, cutie, and we’ll get you integrated in no time.”

It hurt a little to watch him go but North needed this. He needed to get used to being social. As much as I loved his company being with me
twenty-four/seven wasn’t helping him any.

I made charade gestures to the waiter to get North’s food boxed up and pulled out my cell phone. I calculated the time difference then called Wesley. I wanted to check in on Jack anyway, I knew North would laugh, so it was good I had a quiet moment to check in.

When I got up in the morning, the same time I always do, I noticed the bed beside me was empty. It worried me a little, but if North had been in any kind of state, Roni would have insisted on crashing with her so she could watch him vomit. Kindness was just her thing.

I left a note on the desk and went to the arena without him. He didn’t really need to be there so early anyway. I didn’t require him to practice before events as long as he warmed up well.

North didn’t show until the start of the pre-skate exhibitions.

“Where have you been?” Then I stepped back and studied him. He looked a little green and not altogether well. “What’s wrong?”

He grimaced. “Nerves I think. Couldn’t stop vomiting this morning. Probably the nerves and about half a dozen empanadas too many.”

I didn’t like his shade and when I raised a hand to touch his face he was clammy. “North, I don’t think this is a good idea.” I said quietly. “You don’t feel good and who knows what skating will do to that.”

His face folded into stubborn creases. “I’ll be okay. I’m not a quitter.”

I studied him a moment longer then nodded. I reached out and squeezed his hands. “Say the word, and it’s done. You don’t have to do this if you’re sick.”

“I’ll survive.” He muttered.

I wasn’t so sure of that. Especially when North excused himself three times before his first skate. He had to be vomiting again and that worried me. He shouldn’t be so sick if it was nerves and too much food. There wouldn’t be anything left to vomit by now.

He looked even worse when he stepped out onto the ice to skate. I very nearly held him back. I should have held him back.

North made it through his first
Axel okay, and I relaxed. But when he fell on his Salchow I frowned. That was one of his strong skills and shouldn’t have been an issue. Two spins later and he was up for a triple-triple combination.

North fell and spun across the ice. He made no move to get up and before I could think twice about it I dashed out across the ice waving the paramedics in. I skidded down next to him.

“North, talk to me. North.”

He was curled up and breathing harder than he should have been with less than half of a routine completed. “Hurts.” He murmured. “Cramps. So much.”

I stepped back so the paramedics could get him on the stretcher and followed them out. I shot a hasty cut sign to the judges as we crossed their field of vision. He would not be skating anymore in Spain.

Waiting was the hardest part. I paced the hallway just outside the little room they had taken North to in the hospital. It had been hours since we arrived and all I got was “we’re running tests.” The doctor was in there now, which was why I was in the hall.

Roni had stopped by after her skate and brought North’s locker bag. She had convinced her coach to fetch it so she could bring it in. I had stowed North’s Aria skates in it when it arrived and now it sat on the chair I had been sitting in a few minutes ago in his room.

I hadn’t called home yet. I didn’t want to worry anyone without answers. I had told Wesley last night I would check in again today, and I couldn’t bring myself to do it yet. If I was lucky
, North’s routine would have been cut from the feed and it wouldn’t air on US TV. I was never that lucky, but I hoped for it.

“Senorita,” the doctor came out of the room. Before he could continue I held up a hand.

“Parle vous Frances?” I asked.

He smiled and nodded. Then continued in French. “He is resting well. We’ve given him the antidote to the poison we found in his blood stream. We’ll watch him overnight to make sure he’s in no more pain. But otherwise he can leave tomorrow.”

I nodded relieved until all the words sank in. “Poison?”

The doctor nodded grimly. “It’s mostly harmless but can be extremely painful with some serious side effects.” The doctor patted my arm. “I’ll be back in the morning.” He walked passed me and down the hall.

Poison. My brain couldn’t seem to process that single word. North had been poisoned. By who? Why? I dismissed it and took a few calming breaths before letting myself back into the room and sitting down next to him to hold his hand.

His lips curved but his eyes didn’t open. “Hadley.”

I squeezed his hand. “Doctor says you’re going to be fine.”

“I think I’ve had my fill of Spain. I want to go home.” He said without moving.

I didn’t blame him, but… “North, if you go home, and don’t skate a make-up, there is no Olympics. You needed to at least get second here and in December to even get the attention to qualify.”

He squeezed my hand. “I suddenly don’t need it as bad as I thought I did. Hadley, I want to go home.”

“Then, as soon as you’re cleared, we’ll go home.” I told him.

It was his decision and I held my disappointment and regret in check. If North wasn’t going to skate here
, there would be no point in continuing to skate. He would have no reason to continue to be with me. That was also something to file away for later.

I squeezed his hand again. “I promise.”

I
don’t know
how Hadley did it. All I knew was that she came through. When I was released from the hospital, I went from there to the airport and we flew home. In Minnesota, there was a car with a driver waiting to drive us the three and a half hours home.

At the rink
, she paid the driver to carry the bags in and up the stairs and let me lean against her as I slowly made the climb myself. Besides being mostly asleep from the drive, I felt old and creaky and it wasn’t a good feeling.

By the time we were settled, the driver gone, and I
was stretched out in bed it was a little after one in the morning. No one knew we were back six days early yet, and no one would until morning. I sighed and smiled when I smelled Hadley’s tea–or rather Avala’s tea–right before Hadley stepped into the room with the tea tray.

“It’s a soothing blend with a little something for achy tummy. I thought it would help.” Hadley said when she set the tea tray on the nightstand.

“It helps just being home.” I told her.

“We need to talk.”

I winced at the words every man hates to hear. “At a little after one in the morning? Can it wait until say a little after ten in the morning?”

She smiled and shrugged. “I guess.” She ceded and then handed me a
teacup. “Drink and then we’ll sleep. I’ve got to go get Jack in the morning. I miss him already.”

I laughed. “We can do that.”

Hadley allowed me to hold her hand as we stepped out of the rink and into the bright midmorning light. She automatically waved towards the window–even though I couldn’t see Avala in the kitchen–and then we turned towards Graton land.

“I was serious when I said we need to talk.” Hadley began.

“I know.” I rolled my shoulders uncomfortably. “So, talk away.”

“I need to know what your plans are since we just blew the Olympics.” Hadley stated and there was a cautious note in her tone. That wasn’t what she wanted to talk about but it was a decent opener.

I shrugged, “Same stuff I’m doing now. Focus more on school maybe. Create my art, skate with you, teach that dog to pee outside because let me tell you the first time he uses one of my boots…”

Hadley walked quietly for a moment, “
You know,” she began slowly; “you don’t have to feel obligated to keep me company. I’m sure there are other people you’d like to spend time with. Your brothers probably miss you.”

I counted to ten in my head just to be sure I wasn’t angry when I spoke, though the hurt cut deep. “I don’t feel obligated.”

At the tree stump where we first met, I pulled her down and sat with her. She didn’t resist, much, and sat stiffly.

“Hadley,” I turned to look her in the eyes. “Just because I’m not skating anymore doesn’t mean I don’t want to see you anymore. So I ruin our chances at the Olympics, fine. I’m okay with that.”

“You were poisoned. That doesn’t really count as your fault. And I insisted you go with Roni.” Her eyes watered a little but she didn’t cry.

“It’s not your fault any more than it’s Roni’s.” I told her.

“But.”

“Hush a minute.” To ensure she did so I placed three fingers over her lips. “I realized something back before my registration was unjustly suspended. It didn’t worry me as much as it should have because I didn’t really care as much as I thought I did. I kept skating for you. So I could see you every day. So I could hear you lau
gh. So I could watch you sleep.” I frowned. “That sounded a little creepy. Okay, the point is,” I rushed on, “skating wasn’t really my focus. You were.”

She wrapped her hand around my wrist and moved my fingers. “North, I’m a crippled skater with a blank future at the moment.”

“You’re a fluid and graceful skater, with a whole world of possibilities ahead of you. I hope, you’ll let me stay in your life.” My voice dropped and I realized that if she cut me out of her life she’d be cutting out my heart. “Hadley, I love you.”

Words I had only given my mother spilled from my lips. I had wanted to wait to give these to her. Wait until I had the ring in my hands and our family sitting around the fire pit with the moon and stars overhead. But this felt right.

This was where I had met Hadley. This was where she entered my life. And this was where I began to fall in love with her.

Her mouth formed a surprised “o”, and her hand lifted to fiddle with the Native American necklace she never took off. “North, we spend a lot of time together…”

Before she could continue, I leaned in and shut her up with my mouth. She would just try to reason out of it. Try to make little of what was so very huge for me.

I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her closer. Her hands pressed against my chest but she didn’t push me away.

“I may have ruined our professional relationship,” I murmured when I pulled back enough to let her breathe, “but this has nothing to do with that. I’m not letting you go Hadley. I can’t. I need you.”

Hadley sighed and buried her face against my neck. “What could you possibly need me for?”

“Well, we both know I can’t count for shit.” I joked and was rewarded with a shaky laugh.

“No, you definitely can’t.” She agreed.

“Without you, I don’t get up before sunrise.”

“You’re barely awake when I do get you up.” She protested.

“But I’m up.”

She sighed.

“Hadley, I love you. Please don’t leave me.” I whispered into her ear.

“No one has ever said it to me, besides my sisters.” She murmured. “I always thought that maybe there was just something wrong with me.”

I squeezed my arms around her tighter. “There is nothing wrong with you. You just hadn’t found me yet.”

She laughed again but sobered quickly. “North…”

“Just think about this.” I pulled away far enough she was forced to look up at me. “I love you.” And I kissed the tip of her nose. “Come on. Let’s go get Jack.”