Page 12 of Ace My Heart

I nodded. I’d let him down, that much was obvious.

I didn’t even think that begging God for one more chance was going to help me today. That didn’t stop me from trying though.

Please God, just one more little win. I know that I was supposed to come and light a candle for the last one, but …I knew I had no excuse. God owed me no favours.

I spent the afternoon stretching and trying to meditate. I wished there was time for a nap; I was starting to feel my late and sleepless night.

The bell for my match went off, but it felt too early. I walked down the tunnel in a daze, and I didn’t register the noise of the crowd like I had before.

Norieva eyed me calculatingly across the net. My heart started up an unnerving rhythm that didn’t bode well. Norieva was ranked above me and was seeded far higher than me in this tournament. But I shouldn’t let that sort of attitude get in the way.

I took my place, ready to serve. My mind wasn’t in this game and that was a worry. There were too many non-tennis related thoughts zinging around in my brain.

I served to Norieva. She returned the ball with a high-pitched grunt. I wasn’t a fan of the grunt. It didn’t make the ball go anyfaster or any more in the direction you wanted it to. And silence often put off my opponents better anyway.

We rallied for a little while until she sent a ball right into my opposite corner. I couldn’t make it there in time. Love-fifteen. I shook my head, and up in the stands I could feel Steve’s disapproval like a laser beam in the back of my skull.

The first set was at five-love in Norieva’s favour when it happened. She smashed the ball across the net into the far corner. I spun on my right leg to try my hardest to get over there in time. That was when I felt a sensation in my ankle that was both excruciatingly painful and dreadfully familiar.

As I fell towards the Plexicushion, it was all I could do not to scream out a whole bunch of swear words. In fact, I think I probably did.

It was more than just twisted this time.

Shit!

A medical officer was with me within seconds. I dreaded imagining what Steve was thinking up in the stands. The medical officer’s mouth was a grim line in his otherwise business-like expression, as he helped me to hobble to the side of the court and assessed my ankle.

“I can’t treat this in a time-out, Mel,” he told me. “It’s a sprain. You’re going to have to forfeit – there’s no way you’ll be playing on with an injury like this.”

I sighed but nodded. The medical officer called the umpire over so I could officially ruin my Australian Open chances.

“Your mind wasn’t on the game, Mel. That’s why this happened,” Steve snarled darkly as he stormed into the change room.

“Not what I need to hear right now Steve!” I hissed back, wincing as Julie turned my ankle this way and that. I tried not to yelp with the pain – instead I almost bit through my lip. I’m a bit of a sook when it comes to pain.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

Oh God, I’m sorry! I should’ve come and lit a candle instead of screwing Pete Levine last night!

“We could have strapped it, given her some pain meds and she would’ve been fine!” Steve shouted suddenly, making me jump. My ankle burned.

“If you’d sent her back out there you may as well have just kissed goodbye to her career!” Julie snapped. “Go have your temper tantrum somewhere else!” She pulled a whole bunch of stuff out of her bag.

“Okay, this is called a Cryo-cuff. It’s going to compress the injury, and pump –”

“I know what a Cryo-cuff is, Julie. Just put it on and then please, will someone get me an anti-inflammatory?”

Steve returned, standing over me and glaring down.

“What the fuck were you doing out there, Mel? You shouldn’t have been in a situation where you could have missed that ball!”

I breathed deeply through my nose. It took more than ten seconds for me to be calm enough to open my mouth.

“Steve, it’s done now. There’s nothing either of us can do to change that.”

“I don’t fucking believe this!” he grated through his teeth as he stormed off again.

Julie packed my swollen ankle into the cuff and set it to the correct compression. “Just let him stew for a bit. He’ll calm down eventually.” She started hooking up the water. I watched in vague interest, hoping that she’d give me some painkillers as soon as she was done.

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