Chapter 14
ALEJANDRA
If You Ever Want To Be In Love - James Bay
Three days later
Season was over.
No more third USL title.
No more Olympic qualification.
No more Olympic games.
No more glory.
No more medals.
No more records.
Nothing.
The doctors at the Queen’s Medical Center in Oahu had declared that her fall had resulted in shoulder dislocation with suspected labral tear, deep tissue lacerations on left forearm, shoulder, feet, and palm from reef exposure.
No matter how many times she had tried to convince them that she was fine, that everything would be alright, she needed surgery in the shoulder, and time to heal the cut from the reef who—truthfully—hurt like a motherfucker.
The doctors told her she could wait until her return flight to Spain to fix her shoulder. In Seville, where her trusted medical team worked, she could have the operation and recover quietly from her house in Conil, right in front of the sea.
In almost twenty years of surfing, Alejandra had never dealt with an injury like this. Yes, she had breached her scalp, but the quantity of blood that she had lost with her arm, she hadn’t seen it ever before.
Her body ached, but worse was the confusion clouding her head.
Her brain refused to process the idea that—for the foreseeable future—she couldn’t surf.
Not train. Not compete. Not move the way her body had always known how to move.
She felt like her body had betrayed her, like the ocean had turned its shoulder to her.
She lay in bed in one of those sterile rooms in the downtown Oahu’s medical center, her arm immobilized in a sling, her feet and left arm still bandaged.
She barely registered the TV flickering above or the beautiful landscape of the ocean sparkling in the sun outside the window.
Carlos had gone back to the hotel to shower and change.
Ilias and Amira had returned to the competition in North Shore once she’d convinced them she wasn’t dying.
She had smiled, joked, told them she’d trained for wipeouts like this.
She tried to convince them she was fine.
But in reality, every night since the accident, she drowned all over again.
Every night she woke up choking on air, coughing, convinced she was still underwater.
The ocean had never betrayed her like this. She had been too cocky, too sure. And Mother Nature had punished her.
Thank you, Mother Nature. Lesson learned.
A knock pulled her from her spiral, which had been nonstop since she had woken up in that hospital.
Mostly, she worried about her family, who had always relied on her for the big chunk of money.
Carlos primarily, who had stopped competing professionally to train her.
He had sacrificed his career for her, and now, her season had ended right before starting, and the idea she won’t be able to surf again made panic swell even more in her chest.
“Miss López?” A nurse peeked in.
“Yes?” Alejandra blinked, forcing a smile.
“There’s a package for you.” The nurse walked in, carrying a sealed cardbox.
“Where’s it from?” Alejandra asked, trying to sit upright with her good arm, a groan escaping her lips.
“No idea. But it’s heavy.” She set it down gently on the table, and helped her up.
“Gracias,” Alejandra murmured. “Could you open it for me?”
The nurse nodded, smiling fondly as she dove a key into the cracks to unseal it. Her eyes scanned the label.
A UK stamp.
Probably Sofia, still stuck in nerdland.
Together they peeled it open and her head tilted, her frown deepened as she took in what was inside.
A hardcover copy of the latest Maia Solo’s romance. A special edition, nonetheless. The new Cleo Torrente romantasy she’d meant to buy. British chocolate and cookies and—
“Do you need anything more, Miss López?”
“No, it’s fine. I can handle it myself with the good hand.
” Alejandra smiled, returning to frown down to a book called The Mabinogion.
Looking back at the back cover, it resulted it was a modern translation of eleven medieval Welsh tales.
It was filled with shape-shifting royals, tragic wars, and supernatural curses.
It made her want to drop everything else and start reading it.
Everything was accompanied with a small, folded note.
“I know we said no contact, but you scared me. I really hope this helps you feel a little better before flying home. I’m glad you’re okay. – Callum.”
“What’s that?” Carlos’s voice made her jump. The note fluttered to the floor as the movement flared pain in her left shoulder. She needed to call back the nurse for more morphine.
“You scared the shit out of me.”
“You were smiling like an idiot. Who sent you that?”
Her mouth hung open for a split second because she hadn’t told him the full story.
Carlos just knew that she’d hooked up with one of the nerds at the wedding.
Nothing else. Certainly, she hadn’t mentioned that the sex had been life-altering or that she still dreamed of Callum’s voice in the back of her head.
“No idea.”
“Bullshit.” He grinned, leaning in to grab the note that had been lying on the ground since she couldn’t bend down anyways.
“Wait, give it to me. What about privacy?”
“There’s no privacy when you have siblings.” He smirked, eyes scanning the message. “Callum? Isn’t one of the nerd trio?” Carlos frowned. “Is he the one you hooked up with at Sofia’s wedding?”
Alejandra sighed.
“The nerd is smitten with you, huh? No contact? Really, Ale?” Carlos continued his inquiry.
She shrugged, which made pain shoot down her left side so hard she almost saw stars. Yeah, she needed that morphine ASAP.
Carlos looked at her extremely worried, which she didn’t like. She was the strong, powerful Alejandra. Not some fragile person. “While I call the nurse, could you tell me why you decided to go no contact with the Superman look-alike.”
“You noticed that too?” Her eyebrows shot to her hairline.
“Come on. That guy’s what, six-foot-whatever, black hair, blue eyes. The jawline. He could play Clark Kent without even trying.”
“Should I be worried you thought about that so much?”
“You know I’m a lost cause.” Carlos sighed, clearly referring to his undying love for Amira. “Do you want him to be more than a one-night stand?”
She exhaled slowly as he helped her back to bed.
“No. We decided on the one night stand policy together. We didn’t think it was a good idea for…you know…our lives are very different and my goal is—was—to win medals and focus on that,” she admitted. Then looking at her shoulder and her bandaged left arm, “Plus, now I’m not at my best.”
And not just physically. Mentally, she wasn’t ready. That underwater moment had cracked something—destroyed her confidence for sure. And she didn’t know if she’d be able to have it back.
Carlos put the note on the food tray next to her.
“I’m keeping the cookies,” he announced, tearing into one.
She shot him a glare but didn’t stop him. She wasn’t in the mood to eat. She wasn’t in the mood for anything actually.
Then she grabbed her phone, snapped a picture of the box, and sent it to Sofia.
Did you know Callum was going to send me this?
?? OMG I had no idea. Isn’t he so sweet?
We said no contact
You almost fucking died
Give me his number
Just to thank him
Then back to no contact
Yes! Here it is
She added the number on WhatsApp, heart pounding in her chest like she was about to compete in a final heat. Her thumb hovered, then typed quickly.
It’s Alejandra
No contact interrupted just to thank you for the box I just received
I loved the books and my brother is already eating all the cookies
You didn’t have to
Now back to no contact
The reply came ten minutes later. She was already reading the Mabinogion’s intro when her phone buzzed.
Breaking no contact
You’re welcome
I’m glad you’re alive. I hope you feel better and that you can go back surfing soon
Now back to no contact.
Alejandra sighed. Oh, how she wished she could go surfing soon,but the medical report had been horrible. Yet, she found herself smiling slightly. What an idiot. Why was she smiling so damn hard when her entire life had just turned to shit?