Maximum

"Four forty-six! Four forty-seven! Four forty-eight! This is gonna be close folks! Four fifty! Four fifty-one! In the lead we have Haiden Franco and Gretchen Jennings..." a very animated voice trailed off in my head.

The crowd was cheering. Cheering for me. I could feel it. But I couldn't hear anything. And everything was moving in slow motion... including me. Or so it seemed. I saw my coach. Flashbacks of my very first race filled my empty thoughts. dig deep. dig deep. His words that had become too familiar to me. He was calling my name. I knew it. dig deep Haiden! dig deep! deeper Haiden! deeper! All those silent pushes... all those pep talks... all those tears shed were being remembered. I won't let you down Robles. I can't let you down... Shadow. Whose? Gretchen's. Wonderful...

"Ladies and gentlemen! It's neck-and-neck as they're into the last 200 of this race!"

I snapped back to reality. come on baby! focus Haiden! focus! you got this! Gretchen was right beside me. Oh joy... more like kill joy. I rounded the curve, my upper body rotated towards center field. Bad move. As soon as I straightened out, I felt it. Imagine being stabbed in the middle of your shin. Now imagine that times seven. I screamed in sheer agony as I felt blood streaming down my shin. Whatever it was, it dug deep alright. But I for one am not a quitter. suck it up Haiden. use the pain to go faster. you can do it. With every ounce of energy left in me, I ran. I was leaving it all on the track this time. Nothing was holding me back. I closed my eyes and ran.

Hands. Underneath me. Lifting me. Leg burning. Light. Bright in my eyes. Thud. Apparently table... or something. Below me. Faces. Familiar faces. Leg twitching. And voices. Shaky voices... but voices nonetheless. Loud voices. Leg... numbing? And more shadows...

"Haiden! Haiden! Wake up! Haiden!" So many people yelling... "Haiden!"
"Huuhhh..." I sounded as if I had been awaken at two a.m.
"Air guys! Give her some air!" Ahh... Ms. Bruce. I love that lady.
"Mmmm... What happened?" I was so confused. All I knew was that my leg was numb and I think I just ran a race against Gretchen Jennings... Did I win?
"Sweet pea... you kinda ran into the drinking fountain but you were going so fast that you may have... knocked yourself out..." Anberlyn, or Bee, was standing next to me with a concerned look on her face. wow. way to go Haiden. you knocked yourself out! woo! that's a new one!
"Uuuugggghhhh... Why does this stuff always happen to me?" I groaned.
"You're just lucky," she smiled. She turned to face the group the group of people that had gathered around the table. "C'mon guys. She's not goin' anywhere."
"I'll stay with her." Matty!
"Sure. Ok," Bee grinned at him. I craned my neck around and there stood my best friend on the face of this planet. Matty. I gave him a simple smile and faced Ms. Bruce, my trainer.
"Well girly... this may be it..." Bruce(Ms. Bruce) frowned at my shin.
"Son of a blind elephant! What. Happened. To. My. Leg." Red. My leg was red. My socks were red. My shoes were red. Everything below my left knee was red. But not just any red... bloodstained red. And blood was still oozing it's way out of my leg. A gigantic gash occupied my limb. It had to be at least 9 inches long and a good inch and a half deep. I could see little specks of pure white. Bone.

"Ready? I gotta do it." Bruce held out a bottle of clear liquid. oh great... peroxide...
"Uh-huh." I hate that stuff with a passion!
"Squeeze tight HD." Matty took my hand. He twitched slightly due to the fact that my hands were so cold. wow. his hands are so warm... HD. Matty's nickname for me.
Bruce poured the peroxide into my "battle wound". I winced a bit at the pain but after a few seconds the stinging sensation subsided and I couldn't feel my leg again.
"That wasn't so bad." I said confidently.
"No pain no gain baby." Bruce laughed. "But Haiden, I don't know about this one... The spike tore you-"
"Woah woah woah! WOAH! Spike!?!?" I was suddenly very very confused. i knew it wasn't the drinking fountain. but who?
"I thought you knew. Haiden her spikes. Gretchen spiked you during the race." Bruce's words seemed like a whisper heard during a concert. They were barely heard and the person they were directed to was hardly paying attention to them. she SPIKED me! this cannot be good! can I ever run again? oh man! Robles is gonna be really mad!

Bruce bandaged my shin as she spoke, "Look sweetie. I don't know what to tell you. The spike tore through your muscle..." She looked down as she spoke.
"C'mon Bruce! What is it? You're making me worried." I sputtered.
"Alright! You might not be able to run anymore. I'm sorry." A tear escaped Bruce's eye, slid down her cheek and dropped to the grass. And as quickly as that tear vanished, Bruce walked away from my table. I sat there. Speechless. Sightless. Clueless. Breathless... wait breathless!
"HD?" Oh Matty. I forgot about him. breathe Haiden... breathe.
Although my head moved so my eyes could see his face, I have no doubt that I was wearing the blankest stare ever.
"Don't worry Haiden. Your leg will heal and you'll be out there again in no time." Matty tried to reassure me. but will I?