The Favorites: A Novel(105)
The ambulance drives off, leaving Katarina standing alone, snowflakes swirling around her.
Garrett Lin: Andre and I were watching the broadcast back in the Bay Area. As soon as we saw Bella, I started packing, and Andre got on the phone to book airline tickets.
Francesca Gaskell: I didn’t know what was going on until after Evan and I had already skated. That was probably for the best. Maybe that sounds heartless—but I know Bella, and she would have wanted me to focus on competing, not worrying about her.
Jane Currer: The Olympic team selection was scheduled to take place immediately following the competition. And once again, at the last possible second, Katarina Shaw and Heath Rocha threw everything into doubt.
Katarina emerges from the dressing room in casual clothes with her hair back in a messy knot, though she hasn’t washed off her free dance makeup. A horde of reporters waits for her.
“Katarina! What happened tonight?”
“Why did Heath leave with your coach?”
“Are you planning to petition for a spot on the team? Or is this it for Shaw and Rocha?”
Katarina ignores all the questions, trying to push past. She’s visibly struggling under the weight of both her bags and Heath’s, which slows her down. Another voice pipes up.
“Hey, Kat.”
It’s Ellis Dean. Katarina stops.
“Tell me,” Ellis says, “why do you and Heath deserve to go to the Games again?”
Chapter 72
“Why do you and Heath deserve to go to the Games again?”
Everyone fell silent, cameras at the ready to record my response to Ellis.
The question seemed like a blatant provocation—bait dangled to entice me into an arrogant, scorched-earth speech proclaiming that Shaw and Rocha were the best, that they’d be idiots to leave us off the team, that we were sure to wipe the floor with our competition in Sochi.
But Ellis wasn’t holding a microphone or a camera. He wasn’t trying to set me up to spark some easy clickbait. He was giving me a chance—to remind the world of our past accomplishments, to plead for understanding about our coach’s medical emergency, to make a sincere case in favor of sending us to Sochi despite everything.
The perfect opportunity to defend myself, and I couldn’t come up with a single point in my own favor. All I could think about was whether my best friend was all right.
“We don’t,” I said.
Ellis raised his eyebrows. “Excuse me?”
“Heath and I don’t deserve to go. No more than the other teams competing tonight.”
The space around us exploded with shutters, flashbulbs, more shouted questions. Ellis smirked. Then he stood aside with a sweep of his arm, making me a narrow path to the exit.
* * *
—
The staff at Massachusetts General couldn’t stop staring. I wasn’t sure whether they recognized me, or were simply taken aback by my heavy makeup, which no doubt looked even tackier after my mad dash from the arena to the hotel to the hospital.
Bella had a private room. She was sitting up, and she appeared brighter and more comfortable than before, even with all the wires and tubes attached to her.
“Hey,” I said. “How are you feeling?”
“I’ll live.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“I might have to kill you, though. Why the hell didn’t you skate?”
Yes, Bella was definitely feeling better. “Because Heath—”
“Heath would have stayed if you asked him to.”
I wasn’t so sure about that.
“Where is he?” I asked.
“He went to find something to eat that isn’t watermelon Jell-O.” She made a face. Then her expression turned serious. “Listen, I hate that you have to find out like this, but—”
“You’re pregnant.”
Bella took a breath in. “How did you know?”
“I didn’t, until tonight.”
“Then I guess you also know that Heath’s the father.”
I nodded, though my stomach sank. I hadn’t realized how much I’d wanted to be wrong.
“Are you mad?” she asked.
I was feeling many things—so many I couldn’t find clear threads to label anger or heartbreak or anything else.
“I don’t have any right to be mad,” I said. “Heath and I are just skating partners now.”
“Please. You two will never be just anything.”
“Is that why you decided not to tell me?”
“I’m not due until May. I thought I had plenty of time.” Bella laid her hand on the blanket-covered swell of her stomach. “Obviously, none of this was planned.”
I attempted some mental math about when she must have conceived, how long she’d been keeping this secret. During the Team USA skating camp we’d been required to attend last August, maybe? She and Heath had disappeared several nights that week, but I figured they were just avoiding all the icebreaker activities and other mandatory fun that crowded the schedule.
“So you’re keeping the baby?” I asked.
“I wasn’t sure at first,” Bella said. “I even made an appointment for an abortion, then canceled it at the last minute. And now…”