Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
NAOMI
Icould tell on day one of my period what kind of chaos it was going to cause in my life. For most of this year, it’d been chill.
So naturally, this month, it decided it wanted to wreak havoc. I’d spent my day off in either the fetal position or flat on my back. If I didn’t have both a second round singles match and our first mixed doubles match, I would be spending today like that as well.
But the life of an athlete stopped for no one.
“Remind me again where you’re feeling it?” Wyatt asked as I walked at a steady incline on a treadmill because I felt the need to save running for the court.
“Lower back mainly. And I’m getting a headache,” I answered, stretching my arms overhead to see if that would release something in my back.
“Well, by the time you get to court, the painkillers should’ve kicked in. The key is to not change anything in your mechanics, so you don’t do any damage. Good core engagement and all that jazz.”
I huffed as I leaned forward and rested my hands on the treadmill before pressing my forehead against it. “Thanks for that.”
Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes.
“We can call it, Mimi. I can have you back in bed within the hour.”
My head lifted. “I’m not letting my period take me out. That’s too tragic. I just need to be dramatic about this first.”
“Okay, you keep being dramatic. I’m going to go over some last-minute game planning.”
Returning to a decent posture, I increased the pace on the treadmill a tad.
“Alright, go for it.”
I was playing this match at a quarter of my ability.
Maybe not even that.
The painkillers did their job and got rid of my headache and the cramps that had been teasing me, but my lower back discomfort was staying put. Every time I pulled my arms back to hit a ball, I became hyperaware of all the muscles in my back and wondered if I was going to pull one.
My serve power had basically evaporated, and the only reason I wasn’t getting hammered for that was because I knew how to hit my marks and utilise being left-handed. I was still getting knocked out of the singles today, though.
On match point, I returned the serve beautifully, and it came back as a drop shot that, on any other day, I would run to get because I could make it. But that wasn’t on the cards today, so I let it go and slowly walked up to the net to shake my opponent’s hand.