Golden

Chapter 13

September 2017- Chile

Today had been too windy for training, so I was cooped up in my hotel room for most of the day. I had already run on the treadmill and gone through a workout in the hotel gym. Now, I was spread out on the couch in my suite watching Netflix. Well, thinking while Netflix was running in the background.

Just before I came out to Chile, the MacKinnon’s visited my house in Vail for a week. All four of them. For the most part, it was a lot of fun. We went hiking, Nate worked out with me, I shopped with the girls, and Kathy cooked us dinner most nights. However, there was one moment that I couldn’t get out of my head. While helping Kathy prepare dinner while the other three were out on the back patio, we had a pretty intense conversation.

Kathy had asked what my parents were like before I was in the foster system, and if I still had contact with any of my foster parents. And after telling her about my mother’s battle with drug addiction, my father leaving, and my mother completely losing touch with the world, Kathy cried. I somehow managed to keep my composure and tell her about my experience in the foster system. I knew I was a handful from 12 to 18. I talked back, drank, and struggled with authority figures. My attitude was my defense mechanism. As it is, a lot of older kids don’t find families. Add in my competitiveness on top of all of that, and most of the homes was in, I left because they asked I be placed in a different home. When my ski coach was tired of seeing me jump around and driving to pick me up in different cities, he finally took me in until I aged out. He and his wife were good to me and are the only ones I keep in touch with from all of the homes I stayed in.

When I had finished answering her question, Kathy was still crying. She hugged me and told me that she would gladly be there for me, step in as my mother figure, and support me with whatever I needed- regardless of where Nate’s and mines relationship stood. Nate walked back in to find the both of us hugging with tears in our eyes. The panicked look on his face made both Kathy and I laugh and continue preparing dinner.

Since that day, I got a few texts a week from Kathy checking in on me and a weekly phone call. The last time we talked, she asked quite a few questions about my training schedule and when I would be sure about the Olympics. When I questioned Nate on her curiosity later, he admitted that she was planning on attending some of my races to support me and had already told Nate that when I qualified for the Olympic team, she would be heading to Korea to support me. That took me offguard quite a bit and Nate could tell. I had never had someone come to a race just to watch me. While most skiers had family at big events, I only had the trainer, coach, and equipment guy I traveled with. Maybe my agent or manager if I was lucky. Lindsey’s family always invited me out to family dinners with them, but with Lindsey competing in the same events as I was, they weren’t exactly cheering for me to beat her.

A facetime call broke my thought. It was Nate. He had just gotten back to Denver today to get ready for the season. He and his German Shepard Duke were cuddled up on the couch when the picture came into focus.

We talked about the Broncos and my plan to go to a few games when I could. Nate brought me up to date on all of his teammate's news from the offseason. Gabe had proposed to Mel, there were a bunch of rookies (some only a year younger than Nate) that he really liked so far. Matt hadn’t come to optional team things but told Gabe he would be there for the required media day. And then he brought up the biggest news. Nate was told he would get the A for the season instead of splitting it with Matt. I was so proud of him. He had worked so hard this offseason and deserved every good thing that was coming for him during this new season.

I brought up the media request that Jackson had approached me about. NBC wanted to follow me around for a day in Colorado to hype up some of the Olympic coverage and World Cup races they had the rights to. I wasn’t necessarily against it. Anything that promoted me and my sport was good for my brand. The problem was that the day they wanted to do film, I would be going to Nate’s opening night game. The Avs PR and Nate’s manager would have to approve him being on screen at all and all of the cameras following me through the arena. Anyone that got screen time would need to approve being included. That would make things a bit complicated if I sat in the WAGS suite.

Nate was really excited about the prospect and promised to talk to some people tomorrow morning.

By the time we hung up, I was ready to go to bed so that I could be up early the next morning to ski. Something about this bed wasn’t right, though, and I couldn’t seem to fall asleep. I had never minded being on the road before since I didn’t have anyone to miss. But the last week in Chile I had really missed being in Colorado and being with Nate. He and I talked every day, but nothing was the same as falling asleep next to him in one of our beds. It almost made me uncomfortable how much I had begun to lean on him. We both talked to each other about goals for our upcoming seasons after rough a rough year last year. While Nate would never admit it to me, I could tell he blamed himself quite a bit for how last season went for the Avs. It made me glad that my sport was a solo competitor sport. If I lost, it was my fault, not up for debate.

The next morning, I was up at 5:40 and headed to the lobby where my coach, Josh, was holding a smoothie for me. I downed the acai raspberry drink before heading into a different hotel room where a therapist proceeded to work on my knee. After the woman had worked all of the muscles leading to my knee, she finished up with dry needling and cupping. It was a good thing that my knees were covered in my sport because I would have the circular hickey looking bruises for the next week or so all around my knee.

By 8 I was on the mountain and ready for some runs. Lindsey was with me to train today. Most of the time, the two of us training together was a good thing. Other times, our competitiveness led to a few arguments and pushed us to take more risks than we would if we were on our own. The company was good though. Lindsey kept me out of my own head. On the lift up, both of us talked about the course and what we thought of it as we rode over it. Today, we would be focusing on downhill training. The morning went really well. I had trimmed down my time some and fixed a few technical things that needed work.

Linds and I both headed in for lunch together. Of course, all she wanted to talk about was my relationship. Ever since Lindsey had started training with me when I was 18, I had only been in one serious relationship. She was probably the most excited of anyone about my relationship with Nate.

As soon as we were sitting down with our lunches, her leg was bouncing and the interrogation began. “So what’s new with you and Nate?”

“Nothing much Linds. He just got back to Denver for the start of his season. Although, the NBC cameras are following me for a day in October when I’m going to his home opener.”

“That’s a big move. Neither of you has been that public outside of his one post on Instagram.”

“Neither of us is trying to hide it but we don’t get much time together as it is so it’s nice to keep the attention off of us. This is certainly going to bring some attention and I’m not really sure what to think about it” I finally confessed.

“It’s a good thing, Myers. You guys are in a serious relationship and with both of your statuses, being public about it is the only way to get the media over it so it’s not such a novelty. I think doing it before the attention of the Olympics is really smart.”

“I guess so-” Lindsey glared at me before cutting me off. “What about it is actually bothering you. I know you better than that Myers.”

“Nate is a really good guy. And maybe people will wonder why he would want to be with me? Given the past I have and everything.”

Lindsey wasn’t having any of it. “But Nate knows about your past, both your family past and the partying. If it’s something he knows, then he is comfortable with it. You can’t let what anyone else thinks get in your head. Worry about what the people you care about think. Me, Nate, his family, and teammates. That’s all that matters.”

“Thanks, Linds. I needed that.”

She smirked and gave me the reply I should have known was coming. “If anyone knows high profile relationships, especially between two athletes, it’s me. And I love you, but Nate has nowhere near the fanfare that Tiger does.”

I couldn’t help but laugh and agree. Lindsey headed back to her hotel for some recovery time after lunch, but I needed to get at least one Super G run in before I headed back to the hotel and called it a day. The run seemed to be going fine when I caught a little bit too much air on a jump. That was my first mistake. Then, I tried to overcorrect and get back on course without missing a gate. That was my second mistake. When I completely lost control, I didn’t try to brace for impact. That was the third mistake. I bounced and collided hard with the fencing, feeling my helmet crack and my head hit one of the poles holding up the fencing. Sitting up and taking my helmet off I touched the back of my head, only to find my hands sticky as I pulled them away. And then everything went black.

Nate’s POV
*********

I was sitting with some of the guys laughing in the locker room after an optional skate. Suddenly my phone buzzed with an ESPN alert. I only had recently downloaded the ESPN app to receive alerts that I had set for one athlete in one sport. Myers.

“Alpine Skier Myers Peterson Crashes Hard in Chile on Training Run, Leaves in Medivac Chopper”

My heart stopped for a second and the noise of the locker room faded into the background. Gabe and Tyson both noticed right away that something wasn’t right. Gabe glanced at the phone that I held onto tightly and gently pulled it out of my hand before reading the screen.

“Nate, what does the article say?”

I had to compose myself before I could reply. “It’s just a video. The snow around her is red, Gabe. I. I.”

“Okay take a breath bud. Why don’t we call her agent? You have his number for the video thing you agreed to, right?”

All I could do was nod. I was ushered out into the lounge by Gabe and Tyson and handed a water. Gabe found the number and put the phone on speaker so that he could talk and I could listen. After what seemed like forever, the phone rang and Mark answered.

“Mark Williams speaking.”

“Hi Mark, this is Gabriel Landeskog. I’m with Nathan and he’s pretty worried about Myers after that ESPN alert came out.”

“Nathan, bud, from my understanding, the only reason that Myers was flown out was that they were worried about her head. It was bleeding pretty good since her helmet cracked before she hit the post. They just wanted to stop the bleeding and get her stitched up.”

I finally found my voice “but is she going to be okay? Is she conscious? Does she have a concussion? Brain swelling? How long will she be in the hospital for?”

Mark was probably laughing at my nervous rambling. “She is conscious and there’s no brain swelling. They are going to run her through some concussion tests to check, but everything seems fine other than the 26 stitches running across the back of her head. If she’s all clear, she will probably be back skiing tomorrow or the day after. She doesn’t have her phone, but I’ll have her call you when the doctors are done, Nate.”

Both Gabe and Tyson’s heads snapped up and their eyes widened. Gabe had an appalled look on his face as he questioned Mark “The doctors can’t seriously be letting her ski tomorrow after all of that?”

Mark hesitated before admitting “Well, if the doctor’s say she is okay for even light activity, Myers won’t hold back. She’s competitive like that and won’t want to miss out on a training day. She will take it relatively easy I’m sure but she will still get out there.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that. “That sounds like Myers.” Both Gabe and Tyson were looking at me like I was crazy.

Only a few minutes later, my phone was ringing with a facetime request from some strange number. It had to be Myers. When I answered it, I was nervous about what I would see. Black eyes and face stitches were common in hockey, but on Myers, I was pretty sure I would be upset. I was surprised that she looked pretty normal. A little pale, but otherwise she looked good. Both Tyson and Gabe were leaning over my shoulder and by now most of the locker room seemed to have been cued in on what had happened because Blake, Mikko, Z, and Sven were peering at my phone as well from behind the chair I was in. Other guys, like the rookies, were standing off to the side of the lounge but still clearly paying attention to my conversation.

Before I could get a word in, Myers started talking “Hi babe. I’m sorry ESPN scared you like that. I only passed out because I panicked a bit when I saw blood on my hands from the back of my head. They flew me to a hospital and I got 26 stitches and a blood transfusion to make up for the lost blood. I just passed all of the concussion tests and I’ll be released as soon as this IV is done.”

She finally glanced over my shoulder and saw the faces paying attention to our conversation. “Hi, guys! Want to see my stitches? I look like I belong in your sport.”

I laughed. Only Myers. She flipped her camera and showed us the back of her head. I grimaced thinking about the impact required to crack her helmet and still get her head that good. Her pretty blonde hair was red all around the back from the blood. You could tell one of the nurses had tried to clean up the area of the stitches, but it would take a few good washes for Myers to get rid of the color everywhere.

Sven, Mikko, and Z oohed and aahed at her battle wound. Z told her he found it respectable and then they wandered back into the locker room, content that she was alright. Blake, Tyson, and Gabe grimaced and told her she still looked gorgeous and to get well soon before they left, each of them herding the rookies out with them so that I could talk to Myers alone.

“You’re really okay?”

“I swear. I’m good Nate.”

“My Mom is going to be so worried when she finds out Myers. If you aren’t back here soon, she may fly out to Chile herself to check on you.”

Her eyes widened and I could tell she hadn’t even thought about my mom being worried about her. It was going to take Myers awhile to get used to having a group of people that cared about her like my family did.

“Oh my god. Nate! She is going to flip out if she sees the news before I talk to her.”

I laughed and nodded my head. That was true.

After leaving the rink, I got home where my parents were watching Duke play in the backyard. My mom was on the phone, and just by the concern written all over her face, I knew it was Myers. She’d be telling my mom it was a false alarm. Everything was going to be all right. And then she’d be back skiing tomorrow. Myers' competitive edge was going to be the death of me.