Page 85 of Hypothetical Heart
I hold onto what I can to make myself feel better. At least I couldn’t see my bone sticking out.
“Just lay down, honey,” Madame Bacri says, resting a comforting hand on my shoulder and guiding my back towards the floor.
I can’t help but concentrate on how sympathetic shesounds and how that must be a sign of how hurt she thinks I am.
Everyone in this room is thinking the same thing:She is never coming back from this.
Tears continue falling down my cheeks, their motion stopping once I’m laid completely flat on my back.
I close my eyes, trying to steady my uneven breathing, while I hear the quiet mumbles of all the other girls in the room.
“Can you call someone?” I ask through tears. I don’t care who, but I needsomeone.
“Of course, can somebody call Logan Callaghan?” Madame Bacri asks the group of girls before looking back down at me, “Do you know where he is, honey?”
Madame Bacri never calls me honey, and that fact forces a sob to rack through my body. I know that something must be really wrong.
“He’s at home,” I reply, wincing when I feel a hand touch my thigh.
I try to distract my mind, focusing on anything other than the horrible pain radiating through my entire lower body.
I wonder how Madame Bacri knew to call Logan, but deep down, I know it’s because she thinks he’s my boyfriend after we danced together for the gala.
My brain strays to the background noise happening around me; many of the girls are whispering, and from my slight vantage point of the mirrored wall, I can see many of them watching me.
They must be talking about how terrible it is that this is how my ballet career ends and how they got to be the ones to witness it.
Meanwhile, I can barely think about it.
I don’t want this to be the end. My first day back since graduation, right after being yelled at for having too bad of tan lines now that it’s summer, and that’s how my career ends? It can’t be.
It won’t be.
When I got the call that Winnie needed me at the ballet studio right away, I knew something was wrong.
I drove down the street and into town quickly, bursting through the doors of the studio. Someone told me to stop running through the halls as I sprinted up the stairs, but I didn’t give a shit.
Something happened to Winnie, and I needed to get there.
Madame Bacri is waiting for me in the hallway, and her face confirms everything I need to know.Winnie is hurt.
“It doesn’t look good,” she tells me as I approach. “She’s panicking, and we just need someone to keep her calm until the ambulance gets here.”
“With all due respect, Madame Bacri, I am about to kick down this door just so I can see her.”
“Be my guest,” she replies, stepping out of the way.
When I finally burst through the door of the ballet room, all I see is Winnie’s frame, sprawled out on the ground. Her knee is twisted outward. It doesn’t look good.
Girls are crowded around her, and when I’m able to push my way through them, Winnie’s eyes lock on mine instantly.
“Logan,” she sighs, sounding relieved.
I try to stay calm, so I don’t freak her out. “Hi, sweetheart.”
“Is it bad?” she asks.
I look down at her knee, pretending to assess what I already know.Yeah, probably. “I’m not sure. Not a doctor yet, remember?”
