Chapter 1

Osariya had always been a lover of track, maybe not so much field but definitely track, as a girl her dad had taken her out to meets every Saturday and ensured that she was enrolled in the local track club. She loved the feel of the track under her feet, the sensation of putting on a brand new running shoes. Though she had only continued till college, she remained in love with the sport studying physiotherapy and earning her master’s degree in sport science.At 25 she considered herself a relatively young woman. Her mom had been applying steady pressure, in order for her toofocus less on work and more on her personal life. “You’re a healthy young woman, you should be looking to find someone to settle down with” her mom would quip with a slight Indian tilt in her accent. To make matters worse her mother had recently recruited her dad into lending support to what her mom referred to as her man problem “you should have a fellow by now sari”; her father had said using the childhood nickname that everyone called her by as he ruffled her hair “and you know your mom won’t stop” wry smile on hisanglo Scottish faceface

The truth: she was spoiled.A romantic at heart she had never met someone who had stopped her breath, who could measure up to her domineering personality.There had been a few lovers over the years, but they never seemed to be as physically impressive or as manly as the track and field heroes she idolized, and who could blame them she mused when she felt more comfortable in sweat pants than in grown up clothes as her mom called them.

But all that was on the backburner for today, as she found herself at an international track meet with her young niece and nephew whom she’d both turned into fanatics like herself. At 8 and 11 both were enjoying themselves despite the chillyweather. There had been a lot of great races and she could sense her fellow spectatorsanticipation for the marquee event. The 100m dash.Though she had been a quarter miler back in the day when she had dreams of being a professional athlete, no event got her as excited as the 100m dash. From purely an academic point of view, it fascinated her how the human body could be so explosive. Most people saw a sprint, a short burst of cinema, but she always admired the process.Understood the margin of error that each individual had to account for.Analyzed the different phases of the race: the drive’; the extension; oh what the heck it helped that they were extremely toned and muscled and fast. She always wished for that type of speed but right now she would have settled for a for a man like the athletes coming out from the tunnels. “Sigh”

Nathan could sense it,that restless buzz in the air, the crowd thrumming in anticipation. Feel the almost psychic exchange of energy from the spectators to the competitors, He walked out onto the tracks alongside his fellow competitors all good friends, excited that another season was coming to an end. Catching the attendant signal, He wiped away some of the sweat from his brow and begun to remove his track suit.His coach had ensured that he had done his warm up routine twice because of the weather. He could hear his name from so many lips. His loyal fans, always the loudest never failed to let him know that they were there cheering him on. Oscillating his neck slightly he did some more light stretching while awaiting for the attendant call to take their mark. Customary butterflies fluttered in his stomach, however he was ready for those feelings, knew how to channel the nerves into adrenaline, and the confidence needed to perform at this high level. He began the process of getting in his zone. Letting out his trade mark roar, he started to block out everything, even while the crowds frenzy increased. He knew

that as many who supported him, there were those who wanted to see him fail, the beaten champion. He blocked that out too

walking over to the block he looked out into the crowd, looking for his coach, another part of his ritual.

He caught the movement of hair first, then her laughter.Strange he thought, not her laughter that was musical, bright with happiness and excitement. It was what he felt when he heard it. A soothing caress “hmmn” or maybe it was his imagination or his hyper sense of awareness. Still his gaze lingered at the exquisite beauty smiling at two kids who looked completely enamored with her.A bit young for kids that old he mused, before scolding himself he needed to focus

Osariya turned to see what or in this case who her nieces were pointing at, “he’s looking here, wave auntie, and wave with us”. Turning Shelooked straight into the eyes of Nathan king, or at least that’s what she told herself. It seemed he was staring right at her. She could feel her mouth hanging, and giggled some more, while he seemed to frown then get down to take his mark.“Shush guys” she said “the race is about to start”. It seemed that the entire stadium must have heard her as there was a deafening silence before the gun went off. with a smile still on her face she observed the race and saw like she had hoped that Nate, yes that’s what his friends called him, and though she wasn’t a friend she was a big fan.. Was already ahead. He looked so strong and powerful, yet graceful. A perfect human specimen she thought. Standing to her feet to cheer with the others andwith only twenty meters left Nate pulled up sharply falling to the ground in the process. He was holding his knee. A hush fell over the entire stadium.Even her nieces who were practically buzzing with excitement minutes earlier looked on nervously with quiet concern. She had seen many a sport injury and guessed it too be a torn ligament. The medical staff quickly rushed onto the tracks getting Nate unto the stretcher, she tried to get a look at his face but her view seemed blocked by the medics and his coach who had seemed to appear from thin air. The group was whisked away and with that they were gone.

It took a few minutes for the stadium to come back to life, and based on the conversation around her, most folk seemed particularly sad that their favorite event was decided through injury. “Will Nate be ok” her youngest nieceasked,“I’m sure he will hun” she replied patting the young child on her back to reassure her.

Unfortunately osariaya didn’t quite enjoy the rest of the show. She kept musing of the type of injury that Nate had suffered and wondering what treatment he would receive, what rehabilitation methods he would have to undergo. A few hours later, while leaving the stadium with her nieces osariyas phone rang “hey!” she answered warmly recognizing the number as her good buddy Adam ,Adam had been a childhood friend and was now a full blown MD, His family owned a private medical center in the city“hey riya” he answered “are you close , I need you to swing by the center I have a particular case I think that would pique your interest .

“well im just living the stadium” was about to head home with the girls”,

she looked back to see them deep in conversation in the back seat. “hmmn well you’re pretty close by” he continued “won’t be long , hurry” and he hung up

Strange, she thought;Adam was always straight forward but... “Ok girls” she said looking into the mirror ‘were making a quick pit stop, and we’ll get snacks on the way she quickly added when their face started to crumble,“sure”they said in unison and smiled back