I sit down at the hamstring machine and start doing some light curls to warm up my legs before Mark comes in here and starts ordering me around. Dan leans his forearm on the machine and talks to me while I pump out a few reps.
“Tomorrow’s event is big, Jett. It’s going to be a top earner for points if we play this right,” he says, though I’m well aware of the stakes.
Each World Cup stop earns me points that will ultimately determine my ranking and whether or not I make it to the final. I don’t need to be reminded how it works, because I was eliminated during the last qualifier, when my knee buckled under me on my landing.
“We have a few advantages tomorrow. This one is on your home turf at Sunshine. You know the course, you’ve skied the hill many times before. And it’s a big jump, your specialty. If you can nail it…”
“I’ll nail it,” I finish the last rep, my knee already screaming, and hop off the machine. “I got this, Dan. Have I ever steered you wrong?”
“Many, many times,” Dan chides.
I flash him an overconfident smile and bite the inside of my cheek to keep myself from limping as I wander over to meet Mark, walking in through the front doors.
“Your gait is off,” Mark, ever the astute clinician, points out as I near him. “You haven’t been doing your exercises.”
“No, Mark. I’ve been a little busy getting married and generally trying to clear my name,” I say with an eye roll.
“This is important, Jett. You’re not invincible. And you’re not as young as you once were. ACL tears are a big deal for anyone. They take aminimumnine months to a year, maybe more to return to the level of sport you were doing when it happened.”
He can save me the lecture. I know what my odds are of re-injuring myself by returning to Big Air this early. I’ve barely hit the one-year mark since it initially happened. It’ll be a year in two weeks.
“So, tell me what we’re working on today.” I try to change the subject to focus less on my shortcomings over the last couple of weeks, and more on how we’re moving forward.
“Nothing crazy. No heavy lifting, a lot of easy range of motion and mobility exercises.”
I decide to keep my mouth shut about the hamstring curls I was just doing, and the squats I did to failure before Dan got here.
“With the event so close, I don’t want you to overdo it. We’ll finish off with some ultrasound therapy, and an ice bath. You’ll be rock solid for tomorrow,” Mark says.
Dan turns to leave as Mark pulls out a mat to start with our stretching routine, and I hobble as quickly as I can over to him to catch him.
“Any update on…” I lower my voice so the conversation stays between us.
“On sponsor-gate?” Dan asks. “No, there’s no update. I think the wedding and the headlines have started to appease Chase, but you’re not out of the woods yet. There are still afew weeks to go until the World Cup Final and they could pull out any time should you decide to fuck up again.”
My stomach drops. It was hard enough to even get the media to start reporting on my comings and goings in a positive way, to not spin my every action into a scandal.
Dan must notice how the blood has drained from my face because he places a firm hand on my shoulder.
“Just keep doing what you’re doing.”
My expression must still look bewildered, because he adds, “you have all of us behind you. Me, Brooke, Jason. Hell, even Mark over there is on your side, if you can believe it. We’re all here to help you get back on track. You may be out there on the slopes alone, winning those competitions on your own merit, but you’ve always got a team backing you. Got it?”
I nod and turn to meet Mark over by the mats to start my rehab, but I whirl around again when I hear Dan call my name.
“Keep your head in the game, okay? Eye on the prize. Don’t let this distract you.”
I nod again, my mouth forming a tight line.
Head in the game.
Easier said than done. But it’s not sponsor-gate that’s distracting me right now.
The only thought at the forefront of my mind is the way Poppy looked, curled up on my couch fast asleep.
CHAPTER 28
POPPY
