Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Some of the explanations were taken off web-sites.
Doctor's
I woke up the next morning to a buzz in my ear. My eyes blinked open and realized my phone was lit up from a text message. Looking around I saw that Lolo was still asleep, but Abby was gone. Jeff let Lolo and I take the day off today because of how well we both did yesterday.
I took my phone off it's charger and saw that Jace messaged me, "Good morning beautiful! I hope you slept well. I love you!" Not two seconds after I read Jace's sweet text message, did my phone ring seeing that it was my mom. I limped into the bathroom, not wanting to wake up Lolo as I answered it. I noticed that every time I put a little bit of weight on my right leg, a popping sound occurred.
"Hello?" I asked, leaning most of my weight on my left foot and on the counter.
"Good morning, honey. Did I wake you?" Mom asked.
"Not really." I said, not wanting to explain.
"Okay, good." I could almost hear her sigh of relief, "Honey, your doctors appointment is at eleven." I looked at the clock in the bathroom and saw that it was nine-forty-five.
"How did you get an appointment so fast?"
"I told them who you were and they told us to come in as soon as possible, which for them is eleven."
"Mom, are you sure they didn't take away anyones appointment?" I asked, worried.
"I asked that and the nurse said I didn't. Anyway, I told them what happened to you, about your foot and hip, and they said they'd x-ray both."
"Okay." I nodded to myself. "Good thing because I can't really walk."
"Oh! Honey, I'm sorry! I'd come over there if I could, I'll send Jessica over to help you. Apparently she has something to tell you anyways."
"Okay, what time do I need to be at your hotel?"
"If your hurting that bad, we will just meet outside. I'll get us a cab or whatever they call them in England."
I laughed, "Sure, I'll meet you in about thirty minutes."
"Okay, bye, I love you."
"Bye." I hung up and started to get ready the best I could without making any noise to wake up my roommate. I managed the best I could; getting blue jeans, an Olympic polo, and my track team USA jacket. Well one of them, sense I had many.
I walked outside as someone knocked on the door. I opened it and there Jessica Taylor stood with a clipboard and several papers.
Jessica was my agent. She was reliable, trustworthy, respectful of my opinion,and very sweet. Jessica was a pretty woman she had about five inches on me, she had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. Even though she was about eight years older than me, we were good friends.
"Hey, Clary! Congratulations!" She hugged me.
"Thanks, Jess." I replied.
"Oh, how is your foot and hip?"
"They really hurt." I said, pulling up my shirt a little to show her the bruise. She gasped.
"Are you okay?"
"That depends on what the doctor says."
Jessica nodded seriously, "I have something I need to talk to you about, can we sit down for a minute?"
I looked at the clock, "For a minute, I guess."
She helped me over to the couch and we sat down. Jess started to bring out different papers and envelopes.
"Clary, my phone almost exploded from how many calls and messages I got yesterday-"
"I know how that feels." I interrupted, "Sorry."
"That's alright," Jessica held up the papers, "Clary, all these people want you to be in contract with them; McDonalds, Target, Coca-Cola, Nike, Oakley, and even Gatorade! Not to even mention all the people that want you for interviews and appearances!"
I gasped, grabbing the papers, "Are you serious?"
Jess nodded smiling widely, "Yes! I already checked and all of them won't get you into trouble with NBC and almost all of them are over a million dollars! Clary, from the money you are getting from winning four gold and one silver and what you will make from these deals and endorsements you are going to be making a whole lot of money!"
"Wow." I whispered taking all that in. We hugged as I was still in shock.
"Who do you want to contract with Clary?" I glanced at the clock, it was already ten-thirty.
"Maybe we should talk about this later, I have to go."
"Okay, I'll come by later, alright?"
"Oh, are you not going to the doctors?"
"No, I can't be away from my phone for that long." She hugged me again, "I wish you the best though."
"Thanks." I said and we rode down the elevator, talking about random things. We walked out of Olympic Village, I had to stop a few times to take pictures with people, and I saw my mom with Jace and Jeff beside a cab.
Jace's smile turned into a frown as he saw me limping towards them. He quickly ran over to me, wrapping an arm around my waist and helping me to the car.
"Hello." I said to him, blushing as his warm arm held me tightly. It would be a perfect moment, except all the camera's getting photos and my mom, coach, and agent being there.
"Hey." Jace replied. "I sent you a message this morning."
"I know, I read it and it was really sweet but my mom called me right after and I couldn't reply-"
"Clary," Jace laughed, "You don't have to explain yourself. It's okay. I'm not mad." He helped me into the car and slid in after me. Mom and Jeff came in after us and Jeff told the driver where to go.
I took the phone out of my pocket and said to my followers on twitter, "I'm on my way to the doctors. Hoping for the best! #FingersCrossed." I was already addicted and horribly obsessed with twitter, which was not good.
We arrived at the doctors fifteen minutes later and after a half an hour of waiting in the sitting room, we were called back to take my x-rays. And after that was finished, Jace, Mom, Jeff, and I sat in the room waiting for the doctor. The doctor walked in a few minutes later.
"Hello, Miss Fray. I'm and I'll be your doctor today."
"Okay. I'm Clary, nice to meet you." Dr. Green shook hands with my mom, Jace, and Jeff.
Dr. Green looked back at me, "Your test came back."
"And?" I asked, not liking the tone of his voice.
"It's not very good." He frowned, "You ankle is sprained and two toes are broken."
"Oh no." I looked sadly down at my foot.
My mother came over to me and started to rub my back, "What can we do about it?"
"I'll give you a boot today that should stabilize it. The ankle will take six weeks to heal and the toes should only take three."
"Is there more?" Jeff asked, noticing his tone change as well.
"Well, Miss Fray, when your mother called me I was more worried about your hip. Can I see it, please?" He asked. Dr. Green put up the x-ray scans on a light screen showing my hip which was in a weird place.
"What's wrong with it?"
"Let me explain: the hip muscles contract and relax with every stride while running or walking." Dr. Green started.
"So what's wrong with Clary's?" Mom asked.
"Tendinitis in the front of the hip is a common injury among runners, high jumpers, ballet dancers, and hurdlers. This condition, the condition you have, is named iliopsoas tendinitis, or iliopsoas syndrome." Dr. Green said.
"How is it cured?" I asked, worried. Mom rubbed my back.
"You can help iliopsoas tendinitis by adjusting your running program, stretching your hip flexor muscles and strengthening your hip, abdominal, gluteal and lower back also typically includes stretching and strengthening exercises that gradually increase your range of motion."
"If we did that, would it make my hip better by tomorrow?"
"Unfortunately, not."
"Well then I'll run in the pain."
"Miss Fray, I must insist that you do not do that." Dr. Green shook his head, "This injury can take months to fully heal, and if you hurt it again tomorrow it might be permanently damaged."
"Might." I whispered.
"Clary," Jace stepped in, "Maybe you should sit your last race out."
"I can't just do that, Jace. It isn't like this is just a regular meet, these are the Olympics, and three people are counting on me to race in the relay tomorrow."
"What exactly is an iliopsoas?" Jeff asked quietly, I knew that look; he was on the fence about letting me race.
"The iliopsoas is a hip flexor muscle that raises the thigh toward the abdomen when contracted. The iliopsoas muscle attaches to the front of the thigh, the front of the hip, and the vertebra in the lower back." Dr. Green explained, starting to look at my hip. "And you definitely have that syndrome." He shook his head frowning, "You poor girl, you must have hit the hurdle so hard."
"Yeah, I was running as fast as I could." I shrugged.
"Congratulations on your medals by the way. With this hip and your foot combined I don't know how you actually ran, much less won and jump over those hurdles." Dr. Green smiled, amazement in his brown eyes.
"She is definitely a trooper." Mom smiled, patting my shoulder.
"She is." Dr. Green nodded, "I'll send my nurse Lucy in here and she'll fit you in your boot and hip brace. It was nice meeting you all." He shook all our hands, smiling, before he left the room.
Nurse Lucy came in a few minutes later, she carried a few different braces of different sizes. She fit the boot on me on her first try. The hip, however, took awhile because the brace was ridiculous.
It had a circle velcro patting which I found out wrapped around the waist. Then there was a metal bar that attached to a patted plastic that velcro-ed to tighten it and hooked together in the back. I tried it on and it fit very well, and also moved well when I walked; I felt no pain wearing both of them. But attention I would get from it made me feel queasy.
The next one was way less transformer-ish. It was just a velcro strap that wrapped around my waist and attached to its five-inch thigh velcro attachment. It was a bit uncomfortable around my waist.
"Is that uncomfortable?" Lucy asked, Jace was beside me holding my hand as Mom and Jeff filled out papers outside the room.
"Very." I nodded.
"Okay, then you'll have to wear the other one because I can't tighten this without cutting off your blood circulation and I can't loosen it because then it will fall off."
I sighed, "Alright, thanks."
"What's wrong?" Jace asked from beside me, letting me lean on him as Lucy pulled off the uncomfortable brace.
"I just dread the attention and all the questions." I replied, leaning on Jace further as Lucy replaced the huge brace that fit just right. Then I was able to stand on my own, wearing the boot and hip brace and I felt no pain.
"Always so modest." Jace whispered, shaking his head in wonder.
"Clary, I think you are set to go." Lucy said before I could answer Jace, "Are you sure nothing feels uncomfortable?"
"I'm sure, thank you nurse, Lucy." I thanked and hugged her.
"Of course, it's my job." She let me go, "Congratulations, by the way."
I smiled, "Thank you."
On the way back to the hotel, I sent out another tweet, "Verdict: My ankle is sprained and two toes are broken. Also for my hip, I have iliopsoas syndrome; which just affects my hip joint and makes it hard to move. Right now, I'm still running for the relay tomorrow." I posted that along with a picture of my brace covered leg.
The four of us went out to eat for lunch and by that time it was almost noon. We got into a cab again and started riding back to our hotels.
"Clary," Mom asked getting my attention, "Do you want to go back to our hotel and rest?"
I shook my head, "No. I wanted to go down to the track and support Allyson Felix, remember her? Her race is in forty-five minutes."
"Are you going to do anything else?" Jace asked quickly.
"No." They eyed me, "I'm not going to train. Come on, do you even think I could with this?" I asked, pointing to my double braced right leg.
"I guess not," Jeff replied, "I don't have anything planned for today-"
"Or tomorrow, I hope." Mom glared at him.
"For today, Jocelyn." Jeff amended, "Clary jut might race tomorrow." I couldn't hide my smile at that. Before anyone could say anything else, my phone rang in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw that it was Jessica.
"Hello?" I spoke into the phone.
"WHERE ARE YOU?" She asked loudly, "You have an interview for NBC in less than ten minutes."
"I have an interview?" I asked, shocked, "When were you going to tell me this?"
"I thought Jeff did. Anyway, get to this address," She gave me one, "Right now!" Dial tone.
I hung up as well and gave the address to our driver and after he dropped my angry mother and satisfied coach off. We sped to the building, Jace helped me inside after we payed the driver and I just made it backstage where Jess was. She quickly looked me over and started to move hair out of my eyes. The makeup department didn't have time to put anything on me.
"Here is the sixteen year old shark-victim whose bravery and determination shines on us all," Ryan Seacrest announced, "Clary Fray."
Jessica stopped fooling with my hair and a stage director motioned me on. I walked, limping slightly because I could only bend my knee a little bit, onto the stage. Ryan stood up. He frowned at my injury, took my hand and helped me into a red seat opposite him after he kissed my cheek.
"Hello, Clary. Thanks for joining us." Ryan thanked me after we sat down.
"Thank you for having me." I replied smiling. I sat up straight and held my legs together, an unconscious habit that was lady-like.
"Of course," Ryan glanced at the braces again, "I have to ask and I'm a little scared too, what's wrong with your leg?"
"Well, I went to to the doctor this morning and he told me that I have a sprained ankle along with two broken toes. As for my hip," I sighed, "I have something called Iliopsoas Syndrome."
"What does that do?"
"It's a medical condition which makes a snapping sound when my hip is extended." I replied like a doctor.
"That sounds painful."
I shrugged, "It's alright."
"Okay, Clary, I would like to move onto a different topic." Ryan nodded thoughtfully. "How do you feel after winning the gold medal?"
"I can't describe it. After winning, it was defiantly the best feeling I have ever had."
"How long have you been training for the Olympics?"
"I started training seven years ago with my coach, Jeff Morgan. And then specifically for the Olympics," I thought for a moment, "sense last summer, I think."
"Clary, with your injury, are you going to compete tomorrow?"
"Right now, yes." I replied nodding, Ryan looked shocked, "I think what everyone doesn't understand is that I don't have a replacement. I qualified at trails, I've been working on this, and I have to run."
"If this was a race that you were running alone, would it be different?"
"Absolutely." I replied without skipping a beat, "That's another reason I have to run tomorrow, because I have three other people counting on me to help them, hopefully, win. I can't just say I'm not doing it."
"Clary, that takes a lot of courage. You know its going to hurt and probably just injure you more?"
"Oh, yes. I know that." I nodded, "I know its going to hurt very bad, for about twenty seconds, I know it is going to hurt but I have to push through it."
"Being sixteen, do you think that helps you or is your weakness running?"
"I think it's both actually. People think that just because I'm young, I'm going to do terrible especially including my height-"
"I'm glad you brought it up, Clary. You are only five-foot-two in a sport where you are supposed to be how tall?"
"At least five-seven."
"How did your coach even consider starting to train you?"
I shrugged again, "Coach Jeff took a chance on me and I'm glad he did."
"So are we, this is a story in history." Ryan thought again, "Now moving onto a more serious topic, can you tell us about your shark bite? Maybe give us your story."
Nodding I replied, "I was eleven, it was five years ago, I was swimming in the ocean with a few of my friends. My mom was on the beach, her best friend then, my step-father now, was swimming nearest me. I heard sirens, yelling, people started to swim towards shore saying there was a shark in the water. My step-father, Luke, grabbed my arm and started to pull me towards shore. I was suddenly pulled under water and that's when the shark bit me."
"Wow," Ryan muttered, "Were you conscious through the whole thing?"
"Yes, I was. I wish I wasn't sometimes, because I saw things eleven year old's should never see."
"What did you see?"
"I saw a lot of blood, I felt so much pain, and I remember a short shot of the shark bitting me."
"That's terrible. I'm sorry."
"Thank you." I replied, trying to smile, "After that I fell unconscious."
"When did you wake up?"
"After surgery, which was I think, three hours later."
"And you got that?" He asked pointing to my jean covered leg. I nodded, "Can we see it?"
"Sure," I replied pulling up my jean covered left leg to show the world my shark bite. Ryan gasped.
"That looks like it hurts."
I shook my head, "Not anymore."
"Clary, thank you for showing us that and telling us your story. I know it had to be hard for you. Those are memories that I now I would not like to remember."
"You're welcome." I said, not responding to his other statement.
Ryan smiled, "I have one last question. Let's end this interview a little lighter."
"Sure," I smiled back, "What's your question?"
He paused, looking at me closely, "Are you dating Michael Phelps?"
That shocked me; why would Ryan think that? I thought camera's were not allowed in Olympic Village, how did he know that Michael and I have been hanging out? My thoughts turned even more shocked and I almost gasped; did Michael tell them that?
"No." I said, "I'm not dating Michael Phelps."
"Are you lying to me, Clary?" Ryan asked, looking me in the eye.
"No, Ryan Seacrest, I'm not lying to you." I almost laughed, why would I lie to Ryan Seacrest? "I promise, I am not dating Michael."
"I'm not sure if I believe you."
"Michael and I are friends, we met a few days ago and I like him, but," I added quickly as Ryan's smile started, "We are not dating."
"Okay," He replied skeptically, "Whatever you say. Thanks again, Clary. We are honored here that you picked us to have your first live interview. And I hope you injury heals quickly."
"Thank you." I smiled, we stood up, kissed each others cheeks once again and I left the stage. Off stage, a few crew members pat me on the back with words of thanks, I limped over to Jace and Jessica who were both smiling.
"You did great!" Jessica hugged me, smiling brightly, "I had to take two phone calls while you were up there; more people want you to be there spokeswoman."
"Thank you," I replied embracing her, "Oh really?"
"Yes!" She pulled the clipboard out of her giant tote bag, "Look! Adidas, Doritos, Subway, Revlon, and Coca-cola again!"
"Wow, they must really want me." I replied, looking down at the clipboard.
"We'll do business later." Jessica said seriously, taking her clipboard back.
"Congratulations," Jace's voice whispered in my ear, immediately shivers went down my spine from his hot breath on my ear.
"Thank you." I turned around, hugging him quickly.
"Clary Fray?" A male's voice asked from behind me. It was the stage director, he was holding an envelope.
"Yes?" I asked.
"Here," He handed me the envelope, "Your paycheck for the interview."
I gasped looking at Jessica accusingly, "I didn't know I got paid."
Jessica shrugged looking shocked. "Of course you do," The stage director said, "Thank you for your business." He walked away.
"You're welcome." I replied, it sounded like a question.
"How much did you get?" Jace asked, looking over my shoulder.
"I don't think I should accept this-"
"Clary this is how this business works." Jessica said, "You are famous now and you are going to be paid for almost everything you do."
I shook my head, before slowly opening the envelope. I read it quickly, it basically just said thank you for showing up at our interview and that they hoped I would come back to interview with them soon. At the bottom was check for a large four digit number. I gasped.
"Clary!" Jessica said looking over my shoulder, "You are thousand-aire!" She whispered loudly. We turned and started to walk out of the building.
Thirty minutes later, I sat in my hotel room with Lolo cheering on Allyson Felix and Carmelita Jeter. I had decided not to go down to the track because my leg was already hurting. So here we were, sitting on the coach with snacks and soda waiting for their races to start.
Abby came through the front door then, "Has Allyson started yet?"
"Not yet!" I said, patting the seat beside me. "Take a seat and come cheer with us."
"I will, just let me put this stuff down." She replied, carrying her bag to our room. Abby came back a minute later, changed out of her training clothes and into jeans, she sat down beside me; grabbing for the popcorn that was in my lap.
"Who are we rooting for again?" Abby asked.
"Allyson and Carmelita Jeter." I replied. "Allyson for obvious reasons and Carmelita because she is actually nice to Lolo and I on the field."
"Unlike others." Lolo said, before sipping on her soda innocently.
"What others?" Abby asked protectively, "Do I need to come down there?"
I laughed, "No, it doesn't matter." Abby eyed me. "It's Dawn Harper, okay. She's the only one that is really mean."
"How mean?"
"She told Clary that Clary was a wanna-be Allyson Felix." Lolo said.
"And she called Lolo stupid for not having sex." I told her.
Abby gasped, "That is really cruel."
I shrugged, "We came, we saw, we conquered yesterday on the track. And she didn't."
The soccer player pat me on the back, "There's my roommate."
"Shh, you too," Lolo pointed at the television, "Felix and Jeter are about to race."
"What event is it?" Abby asked quietly.
"The 100 meter. This and the 200 meter are all they are both in, but Allyson also in the relay with us."
"That's only three girls."
"Yeah," I nodded, "Dawn's in the relay too."
"Oh."
"Shh," Lolo said and pointed at the television once again. Just then we heard the "take your mark," and then the gun shot and the races were off.
Turns out, Allyson was just as good as always, she won gold in both of her events and Carmelita got silver behind her. After the podium and interviews, Allyson came back to our hotel room to party and be congratulated.
A/N: Thanks for reading!