Sarah clapped her hands together twice, signaling her teammate that she was open. Not so much open, but that she could make a move to get a shot. Ruth passed her the ball and Sarah received it before turning and pounding her way to the basket. Tall for a guard but short for a forward, Sarah was told even though she had the passion necessary to play basketball in the big time, she just didn’t have the body. She rolled her eyes and thought, if only they could see me now, at the Olympics.

            Sarah focused on the right-hand corner of the box that marked the back board, trying to figure out the best way to get the ball into the basket. She should stop and pull up a jumper or try to lay it in? Noticing that her defender did not have good balance and was in foul trouble just in the last minutes of the first half, Sarah decided on the first option. She stopped suddenly and jumped up, launching the basketball from her fingertips. Sarah never heard the satisfying swoosh that accompanied a perfectly aimed shot, however. Her eyes caught sight of a man she never thought she would see again. Sarah froze, unsure of how to react or what to do.

            She didn’t pay attention to her landing and didn’t notice she had rolled her ankle until she felt a shooting pain explode as she crumpled to the floor. Sarah rolled onto her back, clutching her right ankle, withering in agony. “Sarah! Are you ok?” the four of her teammates who were on the floor kneeled next to her, concerned about their good friend and star player.

            The team trainer rushed over and helped Sarah up. “Can you put any pressure on it?” He asked.

            Sarah nodded. “A little.” There was an applause that grew stronger with each step she took off the court and into the locker room.

            “And there goes Team USA’s chances of winning a gold medal.” One of the announcers said. “Sarah Cowan is Team USA’s star player, and even if she is able to return, she will not be 100%, which will be a big blow to Team USA’s game plan.”

            “I don’t even know if I would count on her returning if I were Coach Stevens.” The other announcer added. “Cowan’s ankles have always been weak, and that roll looked pretty bad. Let’s have another look.”

            “Yep, you can see right there; Cowan’s ankle looks like it practically folded in half!”

            “It looks like she lost focus after she shot her jump shot. What could have caused her to loose her focus? She’s normally known for her leadership and intensity.”

            JC sat down and fought the urge to be sick. He was the reason Sarah’s dream of winning a gold medal was slipping away.

            Tyler noticed how pale his older brother had become when Sarah fell, and sat down to comfort him. “You can’t blame this on yourself.”

            “Yes I can. She saw me, and she freaked.”

            “How do you know that’s what caused her to lose her focus?”

            JC smiled wryly. “If you were her, wouldn’t seeing me cause you to do the same thing?”

            Tyler went to respond, but couldn’t. JC was right. “It’s almost half time, so she’s not coming out until after, the earliest. During halftime, you should go buddy up to the announcers, to see what’s going on.”

            JC inhaled deeply before nodding. If he was nervous about his girlfriend—ex, former, friend—JC wasn’t sure what to call her anymore—he couldn’t imagine how Sarah was feeling.

            “Sarah, I need you to push against my hand.” The trainer rested the palm of his hand against the bottom of her foot while she was lying on the examining table. “Can you do that?”

            Sarah nodded, biting the bottom of her lip. She managed to apply a bit of pressure to his hand before she could no longer bear the pain. After a few more exercises, the trainer shook his head. “I think you’ve ruptured a tendon. We need to get you to the hospital for x-rays.”

            She was disagreeing before he had finished. “No. I’m playing.”

            “What? Are you crazy? You’ll be in so much pain you won’t be able to walk, let along play!”

            “Then give me a shot, or something! I’m going out there, and I’m playing.”

            “Sarah, I know you’re upset, but you shouldn’t…”

            “Upset? No, I’m fucking pissed. I haven’t been playing this game for 20 years just to whimp out when I get hurt in the Olympics. Hell no. I’m playing. So wrap my ankle and give me pain killers, and send me on my way.”

            Coach Stevens ran into the locker room. “How’s she doing?” She asked the trainer.

            “I think it’s a ruptured tendon.”

            There was a sinking feeling in the bottom of her stomach. “Oh boy.”

            “No.” Sarah stood up and hopped on one foot. “Listen to me…I’m playing! No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Wrap up this baby and let’s go!”

            JC couldn’t stop thinking about her during half time. He was pretty sure all Americans in the arena were thinking about Sarah Cowan too, but not quite in the way that he was.

            He had met Sarah several times before they became friends. She was a good friend of his brother, as they both attended an annual summer basketball camp and UMD. She lived in Virginia, however, which made the time she and Tyler spent together small.

            JC remembered getting a call from his brother one day right after he graduated college. Sarah had been drafted by the WNBA and was moving to Orlando. She would be the starting shooting guard for the Orlando Miracle. “Take her out, show her around town, and introduce her to some people.” Those had been Tyler’s instructions; not “take her out, sleep with her, date her, fall in love with her, and then break her heart”. JC must have misunderstood.

            Tyler had been pissed when Sarah and JC had first told him of their budding relationship. He then realized he should have seen it all along, as they both understood each other well. Both were intense and focused, sometimes so much it was a fault. Everyone else had gotten used to them being a couple; JC regularly attended Sarah’s games when he could, and she got used to being in the public eye.

            Then came that fateful night two months ago. JC had gone to Sarah’s house for dinner when everything had gone terribly wrong. “Jayce, I have great news!” She squealed as she greeted him at the door.

            “What?” JC asked, finding her excitement contagious.

            “I made Team USA for the Olympics!”

            JC had smiled and celebrated with his girlfriend on the outside, but was torn on the inside. This meant Sarah would be gone for the next two months, training in Europe with her new teammates. He would be rehearsing for the new tour, unable to go visit her.

            By the end of the night, Sarah had sense something was wrong. “Jayce, talk to me. Tell me what’s going on in your head.”

            JC sighed. “Fine…I’m not as excited as I should be about you going to Europe.”

            Sarah’s jaw dropped. “Why not? This is the best thing to ever happen to me! This has been my dream!”

            “I know!” JC got up to pace. “I know! And I should be happy for you, but I’m not.”

            Sarah knew immediately which part of her basketball dream was bothering him. “I’m sorry that you’re not, but life is about sacrifices. Not seeing each other for two months…I guess that’s just one of them.”

            “You don’t know the first thing about sacrifices!” JC yelled. “I don’t have a personal life! It’s hard for me to trust people because I have to worry about their intentions! I’m rich but can’t go shopping by myself! I’ve been threatened! Stalked! I’m not human anymore! All of that is for my fans. What have you sacrificed?” JC asked, loathing.

            Sarah screamed. “My health and sanity for my team and teammates. I play hurt, I play sick, I play when I don’t feel like playing. I gave up everything for basketball. I didn’t do anything else other than school for this sport. Because I love it. And before you say they’re not similar…I gave up my private personal life…for you.”

            JC was silent.

            “I’m asking you to support me on this. Be my partner…tell me to go. Don’t hold me back. Sacrifice these next two months for the rest of our lives.”

            JC clenched his jaw. The thought of not seeing this beautiful woman for the next two months made him sick. “I can’t do that.” He grabbed his coat and paused at the door. “Good luck Sarah.”

            JC walked out on Sarah that night, unable to give her what she needed the most: support. JC had taken her dream and belittled it. He wouldn’t be surprised if she never talked to him again.

            Their love had never been in question, neither had their trust. It had been their ability to communicate, and what one was willing to sacrifice for the other. In the end, Sarah had sacrificed her privacy, while JC hadn’t managed to give up two months. The silence spiraled out of control until they both were avoiding restaurants they had gone to together, and were furious at the other for not bridging the gap between them.

            Tyler had gently reminded his older brother that when Sarah and he had first met, JC promised to watch her in the Olympics. “What better way to get her back than by making some grand gesture?”

            “I dunno, Ty. Do you think it’ll work?”

            “Of course it will! She’s a woman after all!”

At this point, JC was willing to try anything. He didn’t know if it would work, but he did know one thing; he wanted Sarah back.

            These past two months had been the worst of his life, and it was all his fault.

            Sarah limping onto the court to start the second half was an inspiration. “Would you look at that?” An announcer asked. “Here comes Sarah Cowan dressed and ready to start the second!”

            “I didn’t think we’d see her on the bench let alone starting!” The other one commented.

            “This may be the lift her team needs. They finished the last two minutes of the first half on an 0-7 field goal attempts.”

            “How effective do you think she can be?” One asked.

            “I don’t think that matters. The fact that she’s willing to put her career on the line to help support this team has got to say something to her teammates. She’s out here to win, and everyone knows that, including the French.”

            JC sighed in relief when Sarah took her position around the middle circle to start the second half. He had been worried. He still was worried. But basketball had always helped her in the past, and he knew it would continue to keep her going now.

Her teammates took it upon themselves to do as much as possible to help their ailing star. She had lifted them up so many times when they needed it; it was now time for them to return the favor.

The pain killers wore off with 4 minutes left, but Sarah was not going to come out of the game. She must have looked ridiculous, galloping up and down the court, favoring her left foot. Regardless of the pain and damage, she continued to run plays and push the ball down court. When she wasn’t in possession of the ball, she was preparing to post up, pivot, or was defending the other team’s best player.

Team USA had the ball with 5 seconds left and they were up by 1. Lisa passed the ball to Sarah who pivoted, pushing off with her good ankle towards the basket. She felt a hand grab her wrist as she was shooting. A whistle blew somewhere in the distance but the player didn’t let go of Sarah’s wrist. She felt herself being thrown to the ground. She sat there, disoriented. Her teammates were shouting for another call. Sarah felt the pain get worse, if that was possible. It was then she noticed that she had fallen and put all of her weight onto her right foot. No intentional foul call. Sarah could hear shouts of dismay from her teammates, coach, and Team USA fans, but they went in one ear and out the other.

As she sat on the ground, her eyes searched the stand for a pair of blue eyes that she knew so well. Sarah found them, and unsurprisingly, they were looking at her.

Sarah bounced the ball twice and held it, taking a deep breath. This was it…what her whole career was coming down to. One shot. How had 20 years of playing one game with a passion and love that most couldn’t come close to come down to one shot?

            She bounced the ball again, trying to ignore the throbbing pain shooting from her right ankle. She could blame it on him. That seeing him in the stands had taken away her concentration and caused her to loose her balance and roll her ankle. That would seem logical, as basketball had provided her a release from the drama of life, served as a distraction from her problems. In this case, it had been the cause of her problems.

            Sarah bounced the ball for a fourth time, hoping her coach would call a time out. She knew Coach Stevens had a tremendous amount of faith in the Team USA squad, which was always an incredible feeling, but sometimes it hurt the team. In pool play, Coach Stevens hadn’t called a time out after Hungary had come within a basket of taking the lead. Sue had fumbled the inbound pass, allowing one of the Hungarian players to get a hand on it. Luckily, Sarah was able to steal it back and dribble it in for a lay-up.

            Finally, Coach Stevens arranged her hands in a ‘t’ shape, signally to the referee she wanted a time out. All 10 women gathered around their coach, hoping for words of inspiration and strategy.

            “You’ve all played hard, and I’m proud of you.” Coach Stevens began. “But we’ve come to far, beat too many teams, and we’re too good to loose now, in the gold medal match.” She was met with 10 nods. “We’re at the Olympics!” Throwing her papers up in a fury, she continued. “We’re in the Olympics! A free throw and a rebound away from winning the gold! Listen to your fans! They’re here to watch you accomplish what you’ve all dreamed about since you were little!” Sarah looked up to scan the crowd. She had never seen so many people turn out to watch a women’s basketball game, not even in high school when her team won the state championship five years in a row.

            “Cowan,” Sarah directed her attention back to her coach. “How’s that ankle holding up?”

            Sarah glanced down towards her ankle thickly wrapped in tape. How was her ankle? It hurt unlike anything Sarah had ever experienced before. The doctors said she had probably ruptured a tendon, but there was no way in hell she was going to sit out the second half of a gold medal Olympic game. “It hurts like hell, but what do you need me to do?” They needed not only to make this shot, but prevent France from getting a shot opportunity.

            Coach Stevens wasted a moment staring at Sarah in awe. She noticed Sarah’s face had gotten progressively paler since she injured her ankle, and her breathing more labored. But nothing would stop this girl from being the best.

            “Everyone understand? Ok, on three, Team USA. Hands in. One, two three…”

“TEAM USA!”

Sarah walked out to the foul shot line and waited with her hands on her hips, breathing heavily while everyone else got situated. She glanced up into the stands and saw her long-time best friend and her ex-boyfriend, whom she was still in love with. She didn’t want to be, but she was.

The referee gave her the ball and stepped aside. Sarah rolled it in her hands, getting a good grip before bouncing it once. She looked at the basket and bent her knees, preparing to take the shot that could change her life. She cleared her thoughts of anything other than the swoosh she wanted to hear in a second. She launched the ball and closed her eyes, not worried about rebounding since it was very obvious she’d have trouble jumping. Then she heard it, the most beautiful sound of her life: swoosh.

“France has no time outs left so they’re forced to inbound the ball and hope for the best.”

Sarah turned and hobbled down the court to cover France’s forward. She tried to keep up, but she just couldn’t anymore. The pain and exhaustion was finally catching up to her.

The ball was inbounded to the person she was supposed to be guarding. Lisa came over to help out, but this French forward was able to split the double team. Two seconds left, and she was setting up to hit a 3-point shot. If she made this, Sarah’s dream would end, and her pain would have been for nothing. Mustering every bit of energy and strength she had, Sarah ran towards the forward and watched as the ball was released into a beautiful arc.

Sarah planted her feet and screamed in pain as she jumped up and swiped at the ball. She knocked it off its path with her fingers; it hit the back board and bounced harmlessly off as the buzzer sounded.  

She couldn’t believe it. Sarah sunk to the floor and began to cry. Her dream had been realized, winning gold at the Olympic games; her ankle felt like it was about to fall off; and he had come, despite the two months of silence between them, he had kept his promise and flown half way around the world to see her dream come true.

“SARAH!!” Her teammates crowded around her and helped her up. “WE WON!!” Two teammates lifter her up so she was sitting on their shoulders.

The next half an hour seemed to be a blur. The trainer collected Sarah from her celebrating teammates and iced her ankle before the awards ceremony. Then she had been stuffed into her warm-up suit and carried by two of her teammates to the podium. Her gold medal had been presented to her, as well as her bouquet of flowers. She cried when she heard “The Star Spangled Banner” being played. A roar erupted when the song was over. Then, as a team, all 10 women raised their left hands with flowers towards the sky and waved at the supporting crowd with their right hands.

“Sarah! Can we have a word?” An NBC news reporter asked.

She nodded and steadied herself as she listened to the reporter introduce her. “You just saw one of the most amazing performances in basketball history. After rupturing a tendon in her ankle, Sarah Cowan returned after half time to lead Team USA Women’s basketball to the gold medal. And she’s right here to talk with us. Tell me Sarah, how does it feel to be a gold medal winner?”

Sarah smiled. “It feels great…incredible. I can’t really describe this feeling...this win really was a team effort, and I’m so excited that we were able to represent our country well.”

“You ladies certainly made one country proud.”

“Thank you.” Sarah replied.

“What were you thinking when you went down in the end of the first half?”

Sarah blew a piece of hair out of her face. “I was devastated. I knew I was going to come back out and play because I hadn’t flown 2,000 miles to loose sitting down, but I didn’t know how effective I would be.”

The news reporter nodded. “It was quite an inspiration to everyone to see you limping out of the locker room and get ready to start the second half. How did you manage to play through the pain?”

“This is the type of games I live for. I don’t really know…I managed to push it aside and focus on the game. I really can’t explain it.”

“You’re known for your intensity and professionalism. It looked like you were distracted, which allowed you to fall and roll your ankle. What distracted you?”

Sarah was hoping they wouldn’t ask that question. Who was she kidding? She knew they would. “I saw someone in the crowd who distracted me. That’s all. It was my fault for looking away from the ball and court.”

“What’s the prognosis on your ankle? Will you be able to play in the WNBA again?”

Sarah shrugged. “I really don’t know. After I’m done here, I’m going t head to the hospital, and hopefully things will become clearer after that.”

“Thank you again Sarah, and good luck with your ankle. Sarah Cowan everyone. If there was an MVP of the Olympics, she would surely be it.”

“Thank you.”

Sarah used her crutches to maneuver down the hall towards the waiting room. The team trainer and hospital doctor wanted to compare notes. It looked like she would need surgery, and then her returning to the WNBA would depend on how well her rehab went.

She stopped suddenly when she heard his familiar voice. “I know she’s here. You don’t have to tell me where she is, just is she coming back down here? I need to talk to her.”

“I’m sorry sir, I cannot tell you anything.” The nurse replied.

As hurt as she still was, Sarah knew she needed to talk to him. After all, he had flown half way across the world and followed her to a hospital. She had to give credit where it was due.

“Hi.” She approached JC shyly.

“Sarah!” JC jumped up from his seat. He pulled her into a bone crushing hug. “Thank goodness you’re ok. I was so worried about you.”

She nodded, not able to swallow the lump in her throat. “Where’s Ty?”

JC’s heart sank. Maybe he was wrong in thinking she’d be willing to talk. He had said some pretty nasty things the last time they were together. “He’s back at the hotel. He said you should call him.”

Sarah nodded and sat down. “What are you doing here JC?”

The moment of truth. JC looked at the amazing woman in front of him and began to dig himself out of a two-month old hole. “I promised you that I would come to the Olympics to watch you play. So here I am.”

She stared at him. He didn’t expect things to be that simple…did he? “So you’re here. Now what?”

JC played with his hands. “I wanted to tell you how sorry I am. I didn’t mean anything I said. I was jealous…of basketball. And I know it’s stupid to be jealous of an inanimate object, but I was.”

“Thank you.” Sarah said quietly.

“And sacrifice…I don’t know what that is. You do. You sacrificed the rest of your career for your team and your country. I…I sacrifice the private lives of the ones I love the most for my fans.”

She took his hand tentatively. “They’re both different types. I realize that now.” She smiled a little. “And my career probably isn’t gone…after a year of rehab I should be fine.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Sarah nodded. “And I’m sorry too. I did nothing but egg on the situation.”

JC laughed at the thought. “I know we still have a lot to work out, but can we just enjoy the next week? Then when we get home, I’m going to take care of you.”

“No.”

JC’s eyes widened. “No?” He had thought for sure they would be able to work everything out. Maybe he had been wrong.

Sarah took a deep breath. This was her one shot to start the type of relationship she wanted with the man she could spend the rest of her life with. Don’t blow this. “I don’t want to fix things JC. I need to start over with you. I need to take things slow and really do this relationship the right way. We can’t think of things as sacrifices…a relationship involves compromise, but being completely unhappy? No. And we need to tell each other what we’re really thinking. I don’t want to go back to what we had. It didn’t work for either of us—our relationship. It’s too important to just put a band-aide over it.”

JC nodded, his smile coming back. “I think I can handle that.” He leaned closer, closing the distance between him and Sarah. “Congratulations on winning. I’m so proud of you.”

“Thank you. And thank you for coming.” She wet her lips.

“I love you Sarah. We’re going to make this work.”

“I love you too.”

JC pressed his lips against hers gently, in a sweet kiss that held all of the promise of their future. Swoosh.