I cringed, hearing the socket pop in my head.
We exited the locker room together. Anticipation filled me as we approached the gym. I wondered how Kova would react when he saw me, if he'd try to talk to me later. I was supposed to receive the cell phone Avery had ordered for me today, so maybe I could call him tonight.
As I stepped onto the blue carpeted spring floor, I felt an energy zip through my feet and realign my center. A sensation came over me and I breathed it in, hoping it would guide me in the right direction. It felt like stars were kissing my skin trying to coax life back into me. I prayed it would give me the strength I needed to get through this.
It felt good to be here.
"Madeline is waving everyone over," Holly said, and I nodded.
There was already a small group of gymnasts sitting crossed-legged in front of her. My gaze took in every corner and square inch of the vast room, searching for the pair of green eyes I loved so much. My excitement started to fade when I scanned over the people again and didn't see them.
Kova wasn't here. My anxiety spiked. If Dad had only pressed assault charges, then why wasn't Kova here? I’d assumed he'd be out of jail by now, unless there was something I didn't know.
My stomach tightened. I exhaled a heavy breath and looked ahead. My gaze stopped on Madeline who eyed us as we joined the group. She observed me closely through narrowed eyes and my breath hitched in my throat. I smiled at her, pretending like it was any other day of practice. I prayed she didn't know the truth.
I shook my fingers out and looked to her right. There was a man standing next to her I'd never seen before. He was stiff as a board. His arms were behind his back, his stance was that of a soldier. If I had to guess, I'd say he was a little older than Kova, and he was built a little rough around the edges. His hair was dark and his eyes were a striking black that led to a sharp, pointed nose. He looked of European descent. I wondered if he was from Russia too.
We sat down and waited while Madeline flipped through her yellow notepad. She had one foot propped on a folding mat and was swaying back and forth.
"We have a full week ahead of us and need to stay on track. Since the Trials are right around the corner, I'll be working with Adrianna closely to prepare her while the rest of the team works with Danilo to prepare for their scheduled meets. He's the new coach Coach Kova recently hired. I'll let him give a brief introduction before we get started."
My brows furrowed. Kova had hired a new coach? When had he done that, and why hadn't he told me?
"My name is Danilo Teglia." The new coach began his introduction, and I was caught off guard by his heavy, stiff accent. "Konstantin has been a friend of mine since we were teenagers, though we did not start out as friends. We were first competitors. Where he represented Russia, I represented Ukraine. I have competed in three Olympic Games and have almost as many gold medals as Konstantin." A smile curved his mouth like he was thinking about something. "We became a challenge to each other at meets, always trying to outplace the other. He was my biggest competitor. I currently own a gym back home that is strictly for elite, but also where the Olympic trainees prepare before the Games. I will be splitting my time between here and the Ukraine."
Holly leaned over and whispered, "What's with the lack of contractions?"
I shot her a fleeting look and tried not to laugh. I shrugged.
Reagan looked at us with a grin. She wiggled her brows. "New eye candy," she said, and turned away.
"I look forward to getting situated here. Konstantin has spoken highly of all his gymnasts. I am excited to see what you are all made of. We have similar training methods, so expect the same from me, if not more."
Madeline gave Danilo a friendly smile, then she looked at all of us. "If you need anything, Danilo and I are here to help. Now, let's get started." Her eyes darted to me. "Adrianna," she said, and waved at me to come to her.
"Where's Kova?" I leaned over, asking Holly. She shrugged her shoulders.
Frowning, I got up and walked to Madeline. Luckily the Motrin was keeping the cramps at bay and they weren't as severe. There was a steady warmth of bloating and pressure, but I could deal with it.
"Hi," I said.
Danilo stood to the side. His hands were propped on his hips and his closeness made my heart skip a beat. He was dressed in a plain white T-shirt and navy-blue basketball shorts.
"Nice to finally put a face to the name. Konstantin speaks very highly of you."
I offered him a nervous smile. I couldn't say the same.
"Kova had you scheduled for a blading session tonight. Dr. Hart will be here to take care of it," Madeline said. I turned to her and nodded. "We'll go over your schedule tonight for the next couple of days as well. How's your elbow?"
Slowly, I stretched my arm out to show her. "Honestly, it hurts. It's really sore, but once I start working out a bit more, I'm sure I won't even feel it."
"Can you move your fingers? Raise your arm above your head?"
I swallowed hard. "I need to stretch first and warm it up really good, then I think I should be okay."
She didn't look thrilled. "I'll have Ethan look at it tonight and see what he can do."
"How did you do that?" Danilo asked, nodding with his squared chin toward my arm.
"My dad was playing hero."
His brows drew in like he didn't believe me. "May I?" he asked, and I nodded.
Danilo got on the floor and instructed me to get down next to him. "Flatten your hand on the floor and spread your fingers out. Slowly apply weight as you try to straighten it."
That's what I'd done this morning and it hurt.
I clenched my eyes from the tightness. Danilo placed his hands on my upper arm and elbow and carefully pressed against it to straighten it out. I grunted under my breath, and he halted and looked at me with his midnight eyes.
"It's fine, keep going."
He dipped his chin once. It wasn't fine.
Danilo applied more pressure, counted to ten and then let up. The muscles and ligaments in my arm screamed in protest. I bit the inside of my lip. He relaxed and then did it again, this time the sharp pain radiated from my wrist to my shoulder. Once he did a few rounds of those, we moved onto another stretch.
"Lie on your stomach and prop up on your elbows. Turn your hands up," he said, and I did. "Take a deep breath, then release."
Placing two fingers on the inside of my wrist, Danilo carefully pressed down until the top of my wrist touched the floor. I tensed and clenched my eyes shut. My arm was straining as he held it for a few seconds before he let up and repeated his actions. Something as simple as this caused a series of hot flashes to tingle through my body.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes," I said through clenched teeth.
"How are you feeling, Adrianna?" Madeline asked.
Sitting on my knees, I moved my arm around in front of me. "It's a little better, still tight, but it should loosen up during practice."
"Let's hope it does because with the time you missed, you don't have a choice right now other than to push through it. Your schedule is pretty intense—there's no room for downtime. You need to block it out and work your hardest."
I nodded in agreement and licked my lips. I was going to have to grin and bear it, and pray to every god that I didn’t make it worse.