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"Yes! Just like that." Eret called out to the boy. Tommy skated around Olive, reaching out for her hand in despair. They were currently practicing emotion and applying acting to the ice. He watched as Olive reached for Tommy's hand, their fingertips barely meeting in the middle. They both swayed away from each other, weaving through each other's pathways and letting the ice guide them.
"That was perfect!" Eret skated to the two of them. In the corner of his eye, he saw Olive's eyes gleam.
"You both have amazing acting skills. The only nit-picking I would do," Eret paused, "When you go in for your final Euler jump, I want you to put more emphasis on when your arms go up." Eret turned to Tommy. The boy nodded and skated out.
Tommy skated around the rink and got ready to jump. He sped up towards Eret, twisted his body so he faced away from Eret. He pushed his arms above his head and flicked his wrists out. He heard clapping behind him.
"That's better! Do it one more time and this time start with your arms a little bit lower." Eret said. Tommy skated back to his original position and began again.
This time, he started with his arms straight beside him. He took a deep breath and skated forwards. He focused on his arms, his wrists, and his fingers. They all had to be in the perfect position or else he would redo it over and over until it was perfect.
He twisted his body and flicked his arms up elegantly, he cupped his fingers and raised them to the sky. However, he didn't land.
Tommy felt pain burst through his left foot, and travel up his calf. He had landed face first onto the hard, cold, floor. He skidded a few feet towards Eret and Olive, causing his skin to burn. He looked over at his foot. His skate was twisted so his foot was facing 90 degrees from where it was supposed to be. Eret called, and skated over.
"Are you okay Tommy?" Eret asked when his voice was in earshot. Olive followed close behind.
"I'm okay." He lied. The pain had traveled up to his thigh. He clenched his jaw and swiftly moved, ignoring the screams of agony as he moved his foot.
"Let's get you cleaned up." Eret hauled Tommy up from the ice and helped him to the bench. Tommy's vision was spotted for a few seconds while he was on his bad foot. He stared into the distance as Eret cleaned the scrapes on his face and arms. Tommy took off his skates and put on his converse. He felt his foot start to go numb.
They said their goodbyes and Tommy hobbled his way to his dorm room, praying his roommates were out. He slumped against the wall next to his door as he opened it with his key.
Inside, there was one pair of shoes, recognizable as Ranboo's. He peeked inside and saw the older one on the couch, passed out. He took off his shoes and snuck into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. He sat on the closed toilet seat and rolled up his pants to above his knee. He took off his socks and almost threw up at the sight. His ankle had swelled. He could see the faint bruising start to form.
He rolled down his pant legs and limped across the room to their shared closet. The closet was divided into three sections. Clothes that were mainly Tommy's, clothes that were Tubbo's and wouldn't have fit Tommy or Ranboo, and then Ranboo's clothes that were too big for both Tommy and Tubbo. Tommy snatched a pair of baggy sweatpants from Ranboo's side of the closet. He shuffled his way back to the bathroom and put on his baggy pants.
Tommy opened the cabinet drawers above the sink, scavenging for medical supplies. He knew they had some since Tubbo would often get hurt while snowboarding, so instead of rushing him down to the emergency room within the Lodge, they would help him with their own supplies if the accident wasn't too serious.
He pulled out a wad of gauze and some pain killers, setting the supplies on the counter. He wrapped his foot up tightly, clenching his fists around the silky texture, ignoring the pain that came after. He swallowed two pain killers and rested his head in his hands. He felt the throbbing feeling slowly dissipate in only a few minutes.
He closed the bathroom door and sat on his bed. Tommy pulled out his phone and saw a missing text message from Wilbur. The message read, 'Do you wanna come to practice with us at 4?'
Tommy quickly typed out a response, 'I'll be there.'
Wilbur sent a thumbs up emoji and Tommy fell asleep, curling his fists around the blanket, drifting into darkness.
...
Tommy woke to the sound of his phone buzzing next to his ear. He hazily rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and sat up. Immediately, he felt an agony shoot up his leg. Right. I forgot about that. He groaned. Ranboo seemed to have disappeared, having the room to himself.
He stuck his fingers into the make-shift gauze wrap and his lips trembled. He pushed the soft fabric out of view of his ankle. His skin has been painted in yellows, browns, and purples. The area was a little too warm to be comfortable. Tommy felt the tears spring into his eyes.
His phone continued to buzz.
He flipped it over, looking at the screen while his vision blurred. A teardrop fell straight onto his screen, blurring Wilbur's contact name.
Shit.
Tommy shot up and gathered his things. The pain was almost too unbearable but he pushed through. He put his skates in his bag along with a water bottle. His water bottle was clear, it had different stickers from all the competitions he had competed in. His favorite sticker was one with an orca on it. Wilbur had given it to him during one of their trips.
He raced down the stairs and through the hallways till he reached the ice rink for their selected practice time. As soon as the doors opened, Tommy ran to the bench where Phil was sitting, alone. He heard distant shouts from each team member. His run was off, the way his left foot dragged slowly behind, or the way his head bobbed up and down because of his limp.
"Toms! Running late?" Wilbur greeted him on the other side of the bench. Behind him, Techno waved.
"Mhm. Overslept." Tommy gritted out a few words. Damn it. Tommy cursed himself, he should have taken more pain killers. Sure, he would be a little bit dizzy, but it would've been more bearable than the pang in his foot.
"Aw, you could've slept in." Sapnap added from the side. Behind him, Tommy could see Quackity and George in a tackle hold with one another. He chuckled under his breath.
"You don't have to join in if you're feeling tired." Schlatt ruffled the hairs on Tommy's head. He leaned into the touch but Schlatt must not have noticed.
"I'm fine." Tommy spoke softly. The lights were too bright and everything was too loud.
"Alright guys. Start warming up." Phil spoke and they all skated away. Tommy rested his eyes in his palms, pushing his eyelids hard enough that his closed vision began to become spotted.
"-ommy? Can- hear me?" The voice felt distant. His head pounded. His ankle throbbed. Tommy huffed out a broken breath. He cleared his vision, the black spots slowly eroded.
"Tommy? Are you okay?" Phil repeated. Tommy nodded silently. He got up and put on his skates. He didn't care.
Tommy didn't get very far.
He fell to the ground, the cold ice surrounding him. He heard the sounds of skates coming towards him.
"-mmy?"
"Toms!"
"Hey- what-"
He went silent. He stared at the ice before him. He heard muffled talking but couldn't connect the voices.
Before he knew it, he was being scooped up underneath his armpits and his knees. Something set in his mind, and Tommy lashed out.
"Put me down- I'm fine- put me down!" He squirmed. The grip around him tightened. He thought back to only a few years ago when his old coach would pick him up in the exact same position, and would carry him to practice.
"Toms, you fell. Let us help you, okay?" Wilbur's voice bloomed but a sense of fear shut him out.
"I promise- I'm okay, I can work- It doesn't even hurt- I promise!" Tears sprung to his eyes and fell down his small frame.
"Where does it hurt?" Techno's voice bumped in. Tommy shook his head.
"No where! I promise, sir. I'm okay." He hiccuped between breaths.
"Toms, do you know where you are?" Wilbur asked. Tommy shook his head. He saw his old rink, the stairs that led up to the changing rooms. The thousand-seat bleachers that spread around the rink. The echoed room and blasted his coach's orders all around him so he would never forget.
"He's having a panic attack." Someone pointed out.
Before Tommy could argue, darkness took his vision and he passed out from exhaustion.
...
When he woke up for the third time that day, the lights were low but Tommy knew exactly where he was. The emergency room. He sat on the low-cushioned bed. Beside him, Wilbur sat in a chair, his head was tucked into his arms, resting on the bed beside Tommy. Techno sat beside Wil, head up, but asleep. Schlatt sat on the other side of Tommy, with Sapnap's head resting on his right shoulder, and Quackity's head resting on his left. George sat beside Sapnap, resting his head on his knees.
Tommy didn't feel any pain, which was confusing.
Ponk revealed themself from behind the curtain, giving Tommy a jump scare.
"Jesus man." Tommy put a hand on his heart.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Ponk laughed.
"What- what happened?" Tommy asked. He knew, but he needed to hear it from another person.
"I think you are well aware of what happened." Ponk wasn't mad but their voice made it seem so.
Two familiar faces rushed through the door, with two more faces following behind them. He really had a whole party for his awakening.
"You dumbass." Tubbo threw his arms around Tommy, climbing over George, Sapnap, and Schlatt to wrap his arms around the boy.
"Hi Tubs." Tommy smiled. Tubbo whacked Tommy's arm, not too hard, but hard enough to get the point across.
In front of him, Phil stood to the side with Eret and Ranboo.
"I'm sorry." Tommy swallowed.
"No. You don't need to apologize, Toms, I should have noticed the limp." Phil sighed.
"No, I- I should have said something but I didn't." Tommy didn't make eye contact.
"Why didn't you wake me up?" Ranboo asked. The older one had pulled up a chair next to Techno and rested his hand on Tommy's.
"I-" Tommy started. He thought about his words carefully, "I didn't want to burden you guys."
Ranboo tightened their grip on Tommy's hand, "You could never burden us, okay?"
"I'm still sorry." Tommy mumbled.
"Shh. How about we let you get some rest and we'll talk about this in the morning." Eret explained. Looking at the time, Tommy decided she was right.
He fell asleep once more, his two best friends by his side and his chosen family surrounding him on all sides.