Page 58 of Chasing Gold, Catching Her

But when she finally found that door, she slowed down and did not hurry to knock.

What was she even supposed to tell Tora?

Like… give me a hug, I feel so fucked up? Damn. What a stupid thing to do.

She exhaled loudly and hissed to herself, holding her head with one hand and wincing at the pounding inside it.

And then the door opened on its own.

“Why are you hissing?”

Tora pulled Alisa inside.

The hallway was dark, only one lamp glowing somewhere in the distance near the bed. Alisa only managed to notice that Tora was wearing nothing but a white T-shirt, barefoot except for hotel slippers, and she smelled faintly of alcohol… or maybe that smell was coming from Alisa herself.

Tora led her farther into the room and sat her down on the bed.

“How much did you drink?” she asked seriously.

Alisa closed her eyes and shook her head.

“I don’t remember.”

Alisa felt Tora crouch down in front of her and begin untying her sneakers. When she finally pulled them off, Alisa exhaled at once, as though they had weighed a hundred kilos, as though everything in her body had become unbearably heavy.

And then Alisa started crying all over again, because she could not bear any of it anymore.

Tora sat down beside her and wrapped her arms around her.

“I’m here. It’s okay.”

“No… nothing is okay…” Alisa clung to Tora from behind, burying her face against her neck and crying hard.

“It’s over, Tora… I’m a loser.”

“A loser? Are you serious?”

“No, I’m not joking… Lev and I fucked everything up… we won’t be able to perform anymore.”

“Well, maybe the injury isn’t that serious. Maybe it’s only a tear…” Tora pressed her lips together and stroked Alisa’s back, trying to calm her rival from the ice.

“I don’t know. There hasn’t been any news yet. Pike hasn’t written anything about his condition, and Lev hasn’t either.”

Tora did not ask who Pike was. She guessed it was probably their coach, one of those strange nicknames athletes gave each other. The thought almost made her smile.

When Alisa finally let go of Tora, her hands slipped down onto the bed. She had cried out everything she could, and now there was only weakness left in her body.

“How do you feel?” Tora asked quietly.

Alisa only nodded tiredly.

“Thank you… I needed that.”

“We’ll talk about everything in the morning, okay? Now let’s take a shower and go to sleep.”

Tora guided Alisa into the shower and waited while she washed the heaviness of the day from her skin. Then she handed her a hotel robe and tucked her into bed, watching as Alisa fell asleep almost immediately in her arms, and after a while, Tora fell asleep too.

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