Sasha, Boris and Marty waited anxiously outside the locker room. It was always tense before a meet for the athletes, but it was even worse for the coaches. But there was a little less than hour an before the competition would begin and there was nothing they could do at this point except encourage and praise. Anything done or said out on the floor would be virtually meaningless. At this point it was up to the girls.
"Are you going to say anything to them?" Sasha asked his father, who pressed his lips together.
Boris nodded, "Yes. I will give them some time to gather themselves first. They must prepare mentally and then they will be ready to hear what I will say."
Sasha frowned, not really agreeing with his father's methods. In his experience athletes, female athletes especially, benefited more from not having time to think things through before a competition. The mental game was so fragile sometimes that it was better to simply listen to your coach and then go out and compete, especially before a meet as big as this one and especially when none of the girls had any Olympic experience to fall back upon. He kept silent however. His father was the head coach and he had done this before. Then again, so had he and he'd been perhaps even more successful than his father.
He looked to Marty. His expression was neutral, but one quick second of eye contact told Sasha they were of the same mind on the issue.
"I think they're probably ready, Dad," Sasha said, but Boris shook his head and raised a hand in rejection of the idea.
"A few more minutes," Boris insisted, his face turning a bright shade of red as he crossed his arms over his chest tightly.
Sasha leaned back up against the concrete wall of the arena and sighed. They waited, the seconds ticking by slowly. He the tiny muscles in his jaw began to twitch when finally Boris nodded to himself and knocked on the door, waiting for one of the girls to open it.
Payson stuck her head out and sighed in relief, "Thank God," she muttered, mostly to herself. "They're all bundles of nerves, the wrong kind of nerves," she added, opening the door to let them pass through.
Sasha frowned as his father stopped in the doorway, bracing himself on the frame.
"Boris?" Payson said, her voice soft as the older man bent over slightly, his entire body tensing for a moment. She looked over his shoulder and met Sasha's eyes quickly, her face etched in concern, "Sasha," she called just as Boris groaned a little and began to slip towards the floor.
Sasha raced forward as Payson put out her hands to try and steady the older man's much larger frame. Sasha caught his father under his arms and helped him lower slowly to the ground. He turned back to Marty. "Get help," he said, unable to keep the panic out of his voice and Marty nodded, quickly sprinting down the hallway towards.
Payson raced back into the locker room and came back seconds later with several towels.
"Dad," Sasha said, trying to communicate with his father whose breath was coming in harsh pants as he clutched at his left arm.
Payson propped his father's head off the wall and rested a folded towel behind it. Her hand rested against the older man's forehead in an attempt at comfort. "He's dripping with sweat," she said quietly.
Then realization hit Sasha as Boris took another short breath. "Payson, grab some aspirin, he's having a heart attack."
Payson leapt to her feet and raced back into the locker room pushing through her teammates who'd gathered just behind her. "Lauren, give Sasha your water bottle," she called behind her.
His father groaned again and mumbled, "Alexander…."
"Easy there, Dad, slow deep breaths, one at a time, in through the nose, out through the mouth," he encouraged. "Thanks," Sasha mumbled, taking the bottle of water from Lauren, as he unscrewed the cap and lifted it to his father's mouth, letting him take a sip. Payson was at his side a second later, offering him two aspirin. "Here we go, Dad," he said, placing one of the pills into his father's mouth and then offering him the water again. His father swallowed with difficulty and then he repeated the action.
Suddenly there was a pounding of footsteps behind them, "Sasha, I got some EMTs and a doctor," Marty's voice rang out as the footsteps drew closer.
"Sir, please step out of the way," the calm voice of the doctor asked from just over his shoulder and despite the natural instinct to stay right by his father's side he stood and moved away as the Doctor checked Boris's pulse quickly.
"He gripped his arm just after he collapsed," Sasha said. "We gave him some aspirin."
The doctor nodded, "Good," he said as he looked firmly into Boris's eyes. "Let's get him on a stretcher."
The EMT's stepped forward with a backboard and helped lay his father across it before they moved him onto a rolling stretcher.
"We'll rush him to the hospital. Who's going with him?" the doctor asked, looking around the large group gathered around.
"I am," Sasha said quickly, but then his situation came crashing down around him. "No, wait, I…." He couldn't leave. He had to coach the girls, but he couldn't coach the girls, he had to go with his father. His mind spun for a moment before Payson stepped into his line of sight.
"Sasha," she said quietly, taking his hands in hers. "You go. Marty can take care of us. You have to go be with your dad."
He nodded quickly, watching as they began to roll his father away. "I'll…call me when…I'll see you…"
Payson squeezed his hands tightly and he stopped stuttering. "Go," she insisted, releasing his hands.
"Right," he said as he leaned down and kissed Payson's forehead quickly. He stepped around her and ran after the stretcher they'd laid his father upon. He could hear an ambulance siren in the distance and he realized the EMTs must have called for one. He turned back one last time as he caught up with the stretcher and saw the girls gathered together in a small group staring after him, Marty just to the side, hand over his mouth in concern.
The trip to the hospital was a blur, a flurry of unintelligible gibberish being spouted between the EMTs and the doctor as they seemingly crawled through the city streets. He wished Payson was there to translate and as his thoughts to turned to her he realized that Then, suddenly they were there and Sasha was told to sit in the waiting room, the doctor assuring him that he'd return to update him as soon as he could.
Sasha threw himself into a waiting room chair and buried his hands in his hair in frustration. He'd never felt so helpless in his life. His phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket and he checked it quickly. It was a text message from Kim.
Rumors flying around the arena. Where are you?
He quickly dialed her number back and nearly sighed in relief when she answered immediately.
"Sasha?" she asked, concern easily apparent in her tone. "Where are you?"
"I'm at the hospital," he said, with a sigh. "My father, he collapsed just outside the locker room. I think he had a heart attack, but I'm not sure. He's in with the doctor now."
"Sasha, I'm…I'm so sorry. Is there anything we can do?" she asked immediately, though it was a silly question. Kim was sitting in the 02 Arena about to watch her daughter compete in the Olympic Games. Even if there was something she could do, he certainly wouldn't ask it of her.
"No, Kim, nothing," he said, noticing a television in the corner of the waiting area. "There's TV here and I'm going to try and watch some of the competition. My dad's going to be annoyed enough that I came with him, if I miss it and can't report back he's going to be furious." It was the truth. If his dad made it through this and suddenly he was more confident than ever that he would, he was going to be pissed as hell that Sasha left with him. "I might text you for some scores if they don't show it on the British coverage."
"Alright, honey, just keep us updated," Kim said and for a moment Sasha missed his mother more than he had in a very long time. He could practically feel Kim's motherly instincts through the phone and he swallowed roughly.
"Thanks, I will," he said, moving towards the television as Kim hung up. He switched on the coverage and saw his girls marching out of the tunnel.
"The United States of America!" the English announcer called, followed by another voice for the French translation, "États-Unis d'Amérique!"
"And here is the United States," Christine Still, the longtime voice of BBC gymnastics said, "the current team World Champions led by their captain, Payson Keeler, two time U.S. National and World Champion and the story of these Olympic Games."
"There's been some startling news," her co-anchor, Mitch Fenner said, "regarding the American team. Their head coach and Romanian gymnastics legend, Boris Beloff was rushed to the hospital just a half hour ago, sources telling us he collapsed in the tunnel just outside the locker room and I don't see England's very own prodigal son, Sasha Beloff with the Americans either, so we must assume he's with his father. Marty Walsh, the other assistant is obviously more than capable, but how will this affect our favorites going into today's preliminary round."
"I wouldn't think they'd have too many problems qualifying for the team competition, but remember, today is also qualification for the all-around and event finals and just one poor performance can destroy a gymnasts dream for an individual medal."
Sasha sighed as they continued. He could practically feel what was coming next and he closed his eyes as Fenner took up the commentary again.
"And as we all know now, Boris Beloff is Payson Keeler's future father-in-law, so I wonder how this is affecting her? It would be a tragedy for the sport if Keeler lost her focus and was unable to spend this week working towards her goal of a gold medal sweep, fending off the likes of Genghi Cho of China, Greta Dalca of Romania and many of her own teammates."
Sasha watched as the commentators moved on, explaining the rules of the competition as the athletes warmed up, the cameras primarily focusing on the British gymnasts at first since it was unlikely they'd advance to the team finals, this was the only time they'd be able to cover the "home team" so to speak. The Brits were on the floor and he could just make out the uneven bars set up behind them. He squinted at the screen. It looked like Izzy was warming up on bars. Then the feed switched to the Chinese team on vault where a tiny Chinese gymnast signaled to the judges and raced down towards the horse, throwing herself into a Yurchenko one and a half, landing with just a small hop.
"The Chinese start off with a nice, solid vault from Chuang Di-Fa, nothing too complicated. It seems they might be playing it safe here in qualifying," Christine Still said, obvious disapproval in her voice.
"Just a moment ago on bars, Isabella Ruggeri, the junior US national champion led them off on bars and it was a shaky start for the American team." Sasha's stomach dropped and his heart began to race as they moved to video of Izzy, spring-boarding over the low bar onto the high. She swung through most of her set well enough, but as she transitioned from the low bar back to the high suddenly her momentum seemed to stall and she had to power herself up, barely hanging onto the bar by her grips before she swung around three times, gaining speed each time before releasing into her double layout, which she landed, but took a large step forward to steady herself.
Sasha winced. There went Izzy's shot at the event finals, at least, he hoped so, because the only way she would qualify after a routine like that was if everyone behind her from the US bungled their routines as well. He watched as she moved back down onto the floor, Kaylie patting her gently on the shoulder as she moved past to chalk up for her routine. Izzy looked to be nearly in tears, but Payson stopped her, a light hand on her arm. He watched her say something in a low voice to the younger girl as the score flashed on the screen, a 15.75. Certainly not terrible, but not what was expected from her.
The feed cut away again, this time to the floor where the BBC was about to cover their best gymnast, Charlotte Robinson. While the team had little hope of medaling, the fifteen year old Robinson was their only hope in the all-around, though that was unlikely, and in the event finals where she was likely to qualify for floor and vault.
He waited desperately, trying not to think about what his father was going through at this moment and wishing that the BBC would suddenly morph into Universal Sports and stick to covering the Americans. He watched as Robinson completed her floor routine and a nice score of 15.85 was posted as a graphic on the screen.
Finally, the coverage moved back to the uneven bars, "And here's American Emily Kmekto. She is the current World bronze medalist on this event and won the silver two years ago in Rotterdam. Emily's story is wonderful, just a few years ago she was training in a local public gym, no coach and had never competed in a major meet and now just three years later, she's been a member of world championship teams, a two time individual world medalist and she'd looking to add to those titles here in London."
Just as Emily swung up onto the bars, a voice called from behind him, "Mr. Beloff?"
He stood and spun around quickly, coming face to face with a doctor, the same doctor from the arena.
"You're back," Sasha stated the obvious and then shook his head, "How's my father? Is he going to be alright?"
Payson looked up at the scoreboard and felt the knot that had formed in her stomach the minute Sasha had gone running down the hallway after his father's stretcher loosen. After Izzy's rather lackluster start on the bars, Kelly and Kaylie put together excellent routines, stabilizing what could have been an early free fall and now Emily was up and taking no prisoners. The voices of her teammates surrounded her, cheering Emily through the routine. She watched as her teammate flew back up to the high bar, swung around once, twice, three times and they all held their collective breath as she released into her triple twist dismount, landing perfectly upright, feet planted, arms up in the air.
"Yes!" Payson called out and moved to hug Emily as soon as she came back to the floor. They embraced quickly. "Way to rock it."
She didn't have time to wait for Emily's score, she was up next, the team's anchor on the event. She moved towards the chalk bowl as she watched Marty adjust the height of the bars for her, then moved in to check her grips against the smooth surface. She heard the crowd cheer, presumably for Emily's score as she moved back and waited for the judge's flag to go up. It did a moment later and she saluted quickly, took a deep breath and the noise of the crowd faded to a hum, the tinny music of a British floor routine just a small high-pitched squeak. She swung up onto the low bar, quickly casting up into a kip, flinging her body up onto the high bar for her release combinations. Her mind went blank as her body flew through the air, almost weightless as her hands gripped the bar firmly, allowing her to carry her momentum through the routine. She casted down into the Ray and then back up to the high bar for the Comaneci and then another giant before her Tkatchev, twisting her body over the bar, reversing her direction midair. The bar shook as she nailed the final release move, just a twist in the air to reverse her swing, then around and around building momentum before her dismount, a double layout with two and a half twists. The landing was blind and she felt her feet press into the mat firmly before she raised her arms over her head and sighed. She closed her eyes briefly for a moment and placed a hand over her heart, tapping it twice, once for Boris and once for Sasha.
They gathered their things and lined up for the next rotation and she couldn't help it, her eyes lifted to the scoreboard to see where everyone stood when suddenly a roar went up in the crowd and she saw her score flashing on the large screen:
Keeler, Payson [USA] 17.2 UB
She allowed herself a small grin as she felt Marty's hand grasp her shoulder quickly in congratulations, but they were moving towards their next event and it was beam, so she took a deep breath and as she unwrapped her wrists, she began to visualize her beam routine.
"Are you sure you want to retire?" Marty asked as their taxi sped through the city towards the hospital they'd taken Boris to earlier that day.
She made a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat.
"Because a 67 in any competition is amazing, but in the Olympics, Payson, that's just…"
"A new record," she muttered under her breath, looking out the window, wishing the traffic would disappear so they could just get there already.
"Exactly," Marty said, shaking his head.
She'd avoided his question and he seemed to forget he'd ever asked it, but she knew she would be retiring at the end of this week and for the first time she realized, it wasn't because of the training commitment or because her body wouldn't be able to handle another Olympic cycle, it was simply because she'd been at the Olympic Games, blowing away the competition, leading her team into the team finals to be held the day after next, qualifying first in the all-around and for each of the event finals and the only thought running through her mind whenever her focus momentarily slipped was that she wished she could be with Sasha as he waited for news on his father.
She'd received a text message from her mother just after the competition with news from Sasha that Boris was out of surgery and that he would meet them in the ER waiting room, but there'd been no new information since then.
They sprinted from the sidewalk into the hospital and she was eternally grateful that the hospital Boris was in hadn't yet been leaked to the press. As soon as she moved through the door her eyes were immediately drawn to Sasha, her instincts knowing where he was before actually seeing him.
In just a few quick strides she was in his arms. He held her close, burying his face in her neck. She ran a comforting hand through his hair and murmuring nothings into his ear. They pulled back only when they heard Marty clearing his throat uncomfortably.
"How is he?" she asked, taking Sasha's hand in hers, quickly entwining their fingers together.
"Come see for yourself," he said, shaking his head. "The doctor said he had a mild heart attack. They put in a stent and he's on bed rest for the next few days, but they think he's going to be fine," he added as they moved down a hallway.
She heard him before she saw him, yelling in his own personal dialect, which Payson was becoming much better at understanding. They stopped just outside the door and Sasha nodded, "You go. He'll want to see you. If I go in there it'll just remind him that I came here with him instead of staying at the arena."
Payson rolled her eyes affectionately and went inside the room, leaving Marty with Sasha.
"No!" he shouted, not catching sight of her at first, simply hearing her approach, "There will be no more medicaţie. Aceasta mă va ucide and you will be sorry." He finally looked at her, "Ah, noră," he said, his face brightening immediately and his tone lifting, "what are you doing here?"
She frowned, "To check on you, socru. You scared me and you terrified your son, so you'll be taking whatever medicine the doctors give you. It will not kill you and you're not going to concentrate on anything other than getting better."
Boris glared at her, but she could see there was more than a little affection in it. "You are worse than Sasha," he grumbled, "will you tell me at least how it went today. It is safe to assume we have qualified for the team final?"
Payson smiled and nodded, "We did," she said simply.
He narrowed his eyes at her, "You are cruel to a sick old man," he complained. "Come sit by me and tell me it all. They will not let me watch, it is too much for my heart, but they do not know that to not watch is worse for my heart."
She sighed and pulled up a chair, taking his hand, which was hooked up to an IV and several other beeping machines. "What do you want to hear about first?"
"The team, first, as it should be, tell me of the successes and your concerns for Wednesday," he asked.
So she spoke, in dulcet tones, as he lay against the pillows, eyes closed visualizing the routines as she described them. She told him of Emily's phenomenal uneven bar's set that scored her a new career high of 16.825 and qualified her for the event finals. She described in accurate detail Lauren's aerial series that drew oohs and ahhs from the crowd and a ticket to the beam finals. Then about Kelly's floor routine that practically had the entire arena on their feet dancing as she performed to the crowd and qualified for that event final, as expected.
"And Kaylie?" he asked, his eyes opening as she hesitated.
"A near perfect round off, half on, front straight salto with one and a half twists," she told him with a smile. Kaylie had joked over a year ago that if she was lucky, she'd have the difficult vault for the Olympics. It hadn't been a joke today when she landed straight up, no bend in her knees, one foot on each side of the landing lanes on the mat. "We weren't sure until the last rotation, when we were on vault, but they gave her a 16.4. She earned every tenth with that vault and she'll be competing in that event final and the all-around."
Boris smiled and for a moment, Payson saw so much of Sasha in him she nearly gasped. It was a knowing smile, as if it had all gone exactly as he planned it. She looked at him closely, but as soon as it appeared it was gone again. "And you, my noră, how did you do today?"
Just as the words escaped his lips, Sasha strode into the room, "A sixty-seven?" he exclaimed, pulling her up from the chair into his arms, embracing her tightly, making up for the celebrations he missed after her routines today. He set her down after a moment, "You never cease to amaze me, love."
They maintained eye contact for perhaps a second too long, because Boris coughed meaningfully and then, with the look of a man who knew he would be able to get almost anything he wanted in this moment, insisted that she describe each of her routines in detail until his thirst for the competition he missed no longer outweighed the fatigue of an extremely difficult day.
They left after Boris ate his dinner with promises to stop by tomorrow and Payson kissing him on the forehead lightly in goodbye. They returned to the Olympic Village where there was a party in full swing in the American wing of the building. The men's swim team won their 4x100 medley relay and that was easily excuse enough to crank the music up and dance in one of the larger common rooms as the party atmosphere that reigned in London during these two weeks only increased with every victory.
"Do you want to go in?" Payson asked as they hesitated at the door. She caught sight of Austin and Kelly carving out an entire section of the floor with wild moves and insane tricks. Lauren was flirting with someone Payson thought she recognized from the swim team, maybe one of the guys who'd won today. She wasn't surprised to see Kaylie standing off to the side with Nicky Russo. She'd caught them talking earlier today and whatever Nicky had said to her friend obviously worked. She hadn't seen Kaylie that focused since before the anorexia and it was an incredible sight. She saw Emily and Izzy standing together and it seemed Emily was doing a credible job of cheering Izzy up. Despite the average performance she'd given on the bars today, she'd been cleared to compete on floor during the team finals and they'd need her score if they wanted to beat China. Then she was rocked out of her thoughts by the pleasant feeling of Sasha's breath against the skin of her neck.
"One dance," he said, lowering his mouth to her ear, "and then I want you to myself."
A small smile formed on her face as she grabbed his hand and they moved into the room together. A fast track was playing, it was vaguely familiar, but it quickly became nothing more than a heavy bass beat echoing through her body as Sasha pressed up against her back, wrapping his arm around her waist, holding their lower bodies against each other as they moved to the music. She leaned back into him, wrapping her arm up around his neck, drawing his lips to where he knew she wanted them.
Her eyes flickered closed as his mouth pressed against that tiny spot he'd discovered almost three years ago as they'd fooled around in his trailer, not daring to do much more than kiss. He pulled away and exhaled a cool breath against that spot, making her entire body shudder. She turned in his arms, sliding her hands into his hair as she lifted onto her toes and pressed her lips against his. He made to deepen the kiss, but she moved away just slightly, "Let's get out of here," she whispered against his mouth.
A wicked grin appeared on his face as he grasped her hand in his firmly and led her out of the party, down the hallway to the elevator. They rode up to their floor, the ding of the lift's arrival startling them from a deep kiss. He stepped back, allowing her to slide down from where he'd lifted her against the wall. Though she'd thought it unnecessary at the time, KP had insisted that they come up with a signal that would let the other know if the room was occupied, so as she tied a scarf around the doorknob and grinned as Sasha pulled her into the room, Payson had never been so grateful to have Kelly Parker for a roommate.