Chapter 6 The Injury He Approved #3
“I was honest before.”
“You were accurate.”
The distinction landed.
Simone returned to the wall and picked up her coat.
Nadia watched her.
“What happens now?”
Simone put one arm into the sleeve.
“I don’t know.”
“You are still coaching me.”
“No.”
The answer came without hesitation.
Nadia felt something physical shift beneath the ribs.
Anger arrived first because it was easier.
“You agreed to trials.”
“I agreed before I knew.”
“You knew enough.”
“No.”
Simone pulled on the other sleeve.
“I knew you claimed to be Graham. I knew you had his memories. I did not know whether you remembered choosing the exact words that put me on the track.”
“And now you do.”
“Yes.”
“What does that change?”
Simone looked at her.
“Everything that was still uncertain.”
Nadia stepped away from the table.
The leg tightened faintly.
She ignored it.
“You are punishing me.”
“No.”
“You are withdrawing support because of what Graham did.”
“I am choosing what I can participate in.”
“That is punishment by another name.”
“No.”
Simone’s voice remained controlled.
“Punishment would mean I am entitled to decide what happens to you. I am not.”
“You know what losing you costs.”
“Yes.”
“And you are doing it anyway.”
“Yes.”
Nadia laughed without humor.
“That sounds familiar.”
Simone absorbed the accusation.
“It should.”
The answer surprised her.
Simone continued.
“The fact that my choice has consequences for you does not make it coercion by itself.”
“How convenient.”
“No.”
Her hand tightened around the strap of her bag.
“It is not convenient. I know trials are in eighteen days. I know you trust me more than the other coaches even when you hate that you do. I know the body responds to my program. I know leaving may damage your chance.”
“Then stay.”
“I can’t answer the question before I understand what staying means.”
“You want me to apologize.”
“No.”
“Forgiveness?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Simone’s expression changed.
Exhaustion entered it.
“I want one decision involving you that does not begin with what you need from me.”
Nadia stopped.
The sentence entered slowly.
She had been treating Simone’s history as evidence.
Her coaching as access.
Her anger as interference.
Her continued presence as a resource the body required.
Even now, Nadia’s first response to Simone leaving had been the effect on trials.
Not what remaining would cost her.
Nadia looked down.
The floor tiles were gray.
One black scuff beneath the examination table.
Nothing in the room offered language.
“You should go,” she said.
Simone’s face remained guarded.
Nadia forced the next words.
“I don’t want you to stay because I made the cost of leaving feel cruel.”
Simone studied her.
“That does not repair anything.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“No.”
The answer felt like failure.
It was also true.
Simone opened the door.
Priya stood in the corridor several feet away, giving them privacy without leaving the building.
Simone looked back once.
“I will decide tomorrow whether I can speak to you again.”
“Coach me.”
“No.”
The correction was immediate.
“Speak to me.”
Nadia stood inside the examination room.
“Yes.”
Simone left.
Priya watched her walk toward the exit.
Then entered without closing the door.
Nadia sat on the examination table again.
The body’s strength remained.
Legs powerful.
Heart steady.
Muscles capable of another repetition if she had chosen to run it.
Nothing visible had changed.
Priya placed a printed care plan beside her.
“Forty-eight hours.”
Nadia looked at the page.
“Do you believe her?”
“About what?”
“Graham.”
Priya considered the question.
“I believe you remember making the decisions she described.”
“That is not the same as believing I was him.”
“No.”
“Does the distinction matter?”
“To you?”
Nadia did not answer.
Priya sat in the chair opposite her.
“For medical care, I need to know what you experience now. For accountability, other distinctions may matter.”
“Transformation does not erase responsibility.”
“No.”
“Remaining Nadia would not erase it.”
“No.”
“Returning to Graham would not repair Simone.”
“No.”
Every answer removed an argument Nadia had expected someone else to make.
She looked toward the open door.
Simone had gone.
“What am I supposed to do?”
Priya’s expression softened without becoming pity.
“I am not the person who decides that.”
“Everyone keeps saying that as though refusing authority is help.”
“Sometimes it is the only honest help available.”
Nadia picked up the care plan.
Rest.
Gentle mobility.
No running.
Monitor symptoms.
Independent reassessment before speed.
The instructions appeared simple.
Following them would not prove change.
Ignoring them would prove nothing either.
“Did Talia run today?” Nadia asked.
Priya’s face tightened.
“Modified work.”
“Who cleared it?”
“Bell.”
“Imaging?”
“Tomorrow.”
“After the session.”
“Yes.”
Nadia looked at her.
“Can you contact her?”
“Not through Northstar.”
“Privately?”
“If she asks.”
“What if she does not know she can?”
Priya did not answer immediately.
“That is the problem.”
Nadia looked again toward the door.
Simone’s choice.
Talia’s choice.
The cost surrounding both.
Graham had spent years asking women what they wanted after designing the available answers.
Nadia folded the care plan.
“I’ll speak to Talia.”
Priya’s gaze sharpened.
“To tell her what?”