“I can’t imagine getting on a plane now. Besides, my friends are watching out for me. They’ve already planned out a meal schedule and everything. But thanks, Mom.”
When she called her brother, she got his voicemail. “Hey, Sean. Thanks for your message. I’m going home tomorrow. Everyone here is taking good care of me.”
She’d saved Maritza for last, probably because she was sad that she wouldn’t get to see Maritza or join her for sightseeing and climbing adventures. They always had such a great time together. It had never mattered to either of them that they competed against each other in the sports climbing world.
“Hey, Sasha. Are you getting excited?”
Sasha’s throat went tight at the sound of Maritza’s voice and her familiar German accent. “Sorry it took so long for me to get back to you. I had a bad bicycling accident yesterday, and I’m in the hospital. I won’t be coming to Slovakia. I had to withdraw from the competition.”
“What? Oh, no, Sasha! What happened?”
Sasha hated keeping the full truth from Maritza, but she didn’t want to divulge something she shouldn’t. She didn’t want to make Detective Silva’s job harder. “I lost control, went off the road, and broke my wrist and a couple of ribs. The doctors say I’m going to heal and climb again, but it’s going to take a couple of months.”
“Oh, Sasha, I’m so sorry. That’s awful.”
Sasha fought not to cry. “The worst part is that I won’t be able to join you on the sightseeing tour. I’m sure Daryna would love to take my ticket. I’d hate for your money to go to waste.”
“The money isn’t important. I was so excited to see you again.”
“Likewise.”
“How did it happen? Were you going too fast or…?”
Sasha had to make up details on the spot. “I just got too close to the shoulder. Mountain highways are sometimes in pretty rough shape. I must have hit a rock or something. I flew over my handlebars, hit a tree, and landed on the ground.”
“Oh, God! You could have been killed.”
“Yeah.” It could have been so much worse. “I was able to call for help. The Team came and got me to the hospital.”
Maritza gave a huff of disapproval. “At least you finally got something from them. I don’t know why you waste your time with that when you could be traveling and climbing anywhere in the world.”
They’d had this discussion too many times.
“I don’t like it when you talk about the Team like that. Climbing to save lives is more important to me than climbing just for myself.”
Maritza had never understood that. “I haven’t seen news about your accident anywhere. It’s not on climbing Twitter or Instagram. I noticed you hadn’t replied to any of my posts, but I thought you were off climbing somewhere.”
“I had surgery yesterday and was pretty out of it. I haven’t posted about it yet. Besides, a biking accident is hardly front-page news.”
“Of course, it’s news—at least in the climbing universe. You’re one of the most famous climbers in the world, and your world championship streak just ended.”
Those words hurt, but Sasha let them go. “That was bound to happen sooner or later, right? I’ll be cheering for you.”
“Thanks, Sasha. That means a lot to me. Is there anything we can do?”
“Thanks for asking, but my friends here are taking good care of me.”
The conversation drifted first to Maritza’s training program and then to the news about the Russian climbers who’d been caught doping. Maritza had just asked Sasha whether she thought the entire Russian team would be disqualified from the competition when Sasha had to cut her off.
“I’m sorry, but I need to go. I can barely keep my eyes open.”
“Oh. Right. Sorry. I really hope you feel better soon.”
“Thanks. Talk to you again.” Sasha ended the call.
She took a selfie, bruises and all, and posted it on Instagram with an explanation.
Yesterday, I had a bad bike accident and broke my wrist and two ribs. I’ve withdrawn from the IASC world championships. I will miss my friends, but I’ll cheer them on while I recover. #ClimbOn
