madeline // a Taylor Swift adoption

27 // its broken

"hey, sorry to bother you, but can i use the roller again, please?" i asked quietly in the doorway to the athletic training room.
sarah turned around and nodded her head, then watched as i grabbed it out of the basket, putting it on the floor.
she then looked back to her computer and typed a few things while i started to roll out my legs, biting my bottom lip when i did the left one.
it hurt.
and it wasn't a muscle pain, it was a bone pain.
after a few seconds, sarah turned around.
"you okay?" she asked after a minute.
"yeah, why?" i asked.
why would she be asking me if i'm okay?
"just asking.." she said, glancing at her laptop and then back at me.
just then, i noticed that on her laptop, was my name and picture.
it was my medical file.
why... why did she look me up?
she knows something.
"we'll talk after your race today," she said after she noticed me looking at her laptop. "meet me in here once the meet is over."
i nodded my head, then stood up, put the roller back, and headed out of there as fast as i could.
what does she want to talk about?
i'm not meeting her in the training room after the meet today... i'm just gonna get the hell out of here and deal with this at school on monday.
problem solved.

-

taylor's pov

"so, how do these work?" joe asked as we watched maddie and her team warm up behind the starting line.
i laughed, remembering how maddie had to explain how a cross country meet worked to me not too long ago.
then i explained it to joe.
after about 10 minutes, maddie came running over to me.
"good luck baby," i said, hugging her tiny body tightly.
"thank you, i love you," she said, giving me a tight squeeze, then she let go.
she then gave joe a high five, and he told her good luck as well.
then she ran back to the starting line.
after a few more minutes, the official fired the gun, signaling the start of the race.
"so, now we just chase her around?" joe asked, and i laughed.
"i guess so." i replied.
we chased her all along the course.
she was in first place throughout the entire race.
she was killing it.
this was easily one of the best races she ever ran.
i snapped a few pictures, and then started to take a video when she sat erred to approach the finish line at the schools track.
joe and i were standing right up against the fence at the last 300 meters of the race, and maddie was ahead of second place by about 1/4 of a mile.
"come on, mads!" i yelled, and so did the rest of the spectators.
just then, her facial expression changed from focused, to scared in just a couple of seconds, and she collapsed on the track, clutching her leg just 100 meters away from the finish line, causing everyone in the crowd to gasp.
"i think she just broke her leg.." i heard from a parent nearby.
there is no way that she just broke her leg.
maddie tried to get up, but she fell again, screaming in pain, causing sarah to run up next to her, but maddie put her hand up. she wouldn't let her touch her, that would get her disqualified.
then, girls began to pass her as she began to crawl.
that's when i decided to stop recording.
there's no way.

-

maddies pov

once i got to the last 400 meters of the race, i knew i was gonna win.
my leg hurt, but i didn't care.
i felt like i was on top of the world right now.
i looked up, and saw taylor and joe recording from behind the fence cheering me on.
then, out of nowhere, i felt a snap in my leg, causing me to collapse.
it didn't hurt at first, but the moment i tried to stand up, the pain was absolutely unbearable.
i let out a loud scream and noticed sarah running over to my side.
i quickly put my hand up.
"no, i wanna finish.." i said, and sarah nodded.
as girls began to pass me, i continued to crawl all the way to the finish line, going from 1st place to 40th in just a few minutes.
there's no way i just did what i think i did.
my leg isn't broken.
can that even happen in a race?
finally, after what felt like forever, i crossed the finish line, and sarah scooped me up and put me on the table that was set up at the end of the race.
then, she signaled to taylor and joe to come on over from where they were at on the fence.
"well maddie, it's definitely broken.." she said as soon as she looked at it.
i just stared at her in disbelief as she took out a splint and a bag of ice.
she splinted it and then wrapped an ace wrap around the ice bag so it's stay on, causing my to bite my lip so i wouldn't cry.
the pain i was in was definitely the worst pain i have ever been in.
im sure the car accident with my mom was worse, but i don't remember much of it.
sarah then picked me up and put me on the golf cart.
"she needs to go to the emergency room..if you guys want to go get the car and pull up to the side of the stadium, i'll meet you there. i just need to get her a pair of crutches and i'll get her things."
taylor and joe nodded there heads and then quickly ran to go find the car.
then sarah turned the cart on and drove through the people to get me to the training room.
as i sat down on the table while sarah grabbed my bag and a pair of crutches, she spoke up.
"well... i guess i'll talk to you on monday instead of today.." she said. "you'll be here, right? to support your team to the end of the season?"
i nodded my head and then started to cry.
my shot at states was gone, along with my shot at a national title.
"hey, it's ok." sarah said, placing her hand on my shoulder. "come on, let's go get you to the car." she said, then we walked out to meet taylor and joe.
"i'll see you monday." sarah told me as she shut the back door.
"thank you," taylor said to sarah after she handed her my bag.
"no problem." she said, then we drove off to the er.
wow.
what a day.