The second day of competition began over an hour ago. Val and Rosaura had only just arrived from their hotel room. Now, the two of them were stretching and dressing into their costumes for the most important program of their lives.

Rosaura turned towards the hallways to see Laura running towards her, phone in hand.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Laura pressed the phone to Rosaura's ear. "It's your mom."

Rosaura frowned. She spoke to her mom last night and everything had been fine. Her mom knew better than to call her minutes before her performance. If she wanted to wish her luck, she would usually do it through a text or call early in the morning.

"Hello?"

"It's about damn time you picked up the phone." Her sister, Haya's voice flooded through the other side.

"Why are you calling me, I'm going out on the ice in literally half and hour."

Haya snorted. "Once again, it's always about figure skating."

Rosaura remained silence, but she could see that her sister was itching for a fight as usually. "I have to go."

Before she could cut the phone, Haya blurted out "Mom's in the hospital."

Rosaura froze. "What do you mean she's in the hospital?"

"It's just like you to not notice a single thing even though you were under her roof for over two weeks!"

"Cut the bullshit and tell me." Rosaura said in a cold voice she had never used in her life before. She could see Laura and Val staring at her, so she walked out of their vicinity to a small area that didn't have anyone else.

"Stage four carcinoma. The cancer has spread to her lungs. The doctors are saying that she only has a couple of days to live." Haya explained.

Rosaura felt as though her lungs were filling with water. It was hard to breath—to swallow. She gripped the phone tightly, to the point in which her knuckles became white.

Rosaura's voice broke, "Can I talk to her?"

"She's in the ICU." Haya replied but then her voice turned uncharacteristically soft. "She woke up a few minutes ago, I'll see if she's able to talk."

Rosaura nodded, not realizing that Haya couldn't see her movements. She slid against the wall and waited impatiently for Haya to reach her mother's hospital room. She couldn't believe that she was so blind not to notice the sickness. Her mom didn't prepare food on the first day of her trip and she had kept to herself most of the time. Rosaura was too self-absorbed to see the state of others—Haya had been right about that.

The phone line crinkled before Rosaura heard a croak, "Hello?"

So weak. She sounded so weak. Tears sprung to Rosaura's eyes. "Mom, why didn't you say anything?"

Her mother sighed on the other line. "I didn't want you to worry. You are so close to achieving your dreams, right in the middle of competitions, you didn't need any distractions."

The tears were pouring down Rosaura's face, but she didn't care anymore. "I'm going to come right now, I'll take a taxi to the hospital."

"No," her mother said sternly. "Finish your competition, you can visit me after."

Rosaura didn't reply but her mother pressed on. "Promise me you'll finish your program before coming. You are going to affect Valentin's futures as we, don't do this." Her mother begged.

Rosaura closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "Okay, I'm going to come right away after. But you need to fight." she said softly.

"I will," her mother replied.

Rosaura heard her name over the intercom and she knew it was time for her to hit the ice. "I love you," she whispered, "I have to go now."

"I love you to baby girl. Win the competition for me."

And that's when the phone line clicked dead. Val and both her coaches came running in.

"Is everything all right?" Val asked.

Rosaura shook her head and burst into tears. Val pulled into a tight hug and Rosaura explained to them what was going on.

"We don't have to compete," Val said quickly.

Rosaura shook her head and dried her tears with the tissue Marceau had gotten for her. "She made me promise that we would compete. I'll be fine."

Val didn't look like he believed her, but Rosaura stood up and brushed her face. "It's time to compete."

She quickly fixed up her makeup before joining Val on the ice. Now she was not only performing for herself, but her mother as well. When the music began, Rosaura tried blocking out the thoughts of her mother in the hospital, but it was difficult. In between the music, she saw Val mouthing its okay, but it didn't feel fine. Her timing felt off, and she didn't feel one with the music. Everything she was doing felt stiff, robotic. It was only her muscle memory that kept her going.

When the performance ended, Rosaura nearly burst into tears with relief. She knew that she hadn't performed at the level she expected of herself, but a part of her didn't care. She tried putting up a brave smile for the audience members but found herself faltering.

Val noticing her feelings, guided her off the ice and into a group hug with her coaches.

"I'm so proud of you," Laura said while kissing both the cheeks.

Rosaura nodded but didn't say anything. Like yesterday, they sat together waiting for the scores.

116.23

She sighed a breath of relief when realizing they were currently in second place. With two skaters left to go, they were guaranteed fourth place which meant it was still possible for them to make it to the Olympics.

Feeling much better than she had been before the start of her skate, Rosaura smiled at the crowd and spoke to the media. Everyone wanted a piece of her and Val. It felt nice to be so special. Once the media circus died down, Val and her were lead back to the dressing room. The results were going to be announced soon and someone would come and tell them if they qualified for the Olympics.

They were only sitting for a few seconds when Val suddenly got up and declared that he needed to use the bathroom. Rosaura fixed him a suspicious look but motioned for him to go. That left only her alone in the dressing room. Thinking about sharing all the event details with her mom, Rosaura went to retrieve her phone. She frowned to see ten missed calls.

She called her sister back and she picked up on the first ring. "What's wrong?"

Haya didn't reply immediately, and Rosaura's blood went cold. "Tell me she's fine."

"She's gone Rose," Haya said softly.

"What?" Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Val returning but with Xavier in tow.

Right now, she didn't want to see Xavier's face. Her heart was already hurting with the news of her mother. Xavier mistaking her answer on the phone for him, walked towards her and she backed away.

"What are you doing here!" she said in a cold voice.

Xavier moved back alarmed. Haya was asking if she was okay on the other line. The answer was, she wasn't. Anger poured into her body and took over the sadness.

"You have some nerve showing up here."

Xavier fumbled with his fingers, "I came here to apologize."

"For what?" she asked blandly.

"About the photos and lying about my location that night." He stepped closer. "I was drunk that night and didn't know what happened for most of it."

Rosaura didn't want to hear the excuses. Her mother died, she didn't care that Xavier probably missed a game to come see her. She was heartbroken the last few days, but her mother's death overpowered whatever feelings she had for Xavier.

"Hello," said a voice from the door of the room.

Everyone's heads swiveled to see a tall official wearing a suit. Rosaura shot up to her feet and stood straighter. He was probably here to tell them if they qualified for the Olympics.  

He gave them their scoresheets from the competition before speaking, "I'm Jonathan from Skate Canada and I'm here to tell you that you unfortunately you didn't qualify for the Olympics."

This day couldn't possibly get worse for Rosaura. Her dreams of attending the Olympics and performing for everyone were dead. They weren't going to the Olympics...

"Bullshit," Val said.

Jonathan's smile froze. "There was a lot of talent but ultimately, we found your short dance lacking compared to the other couples. There are some areas you can improve on if you work on them with your coaches." He gave a nod towards Laura and Marceau who stood right behind them.

Laura looked annoyed by his suggestion, but Marceau took the reigns. "Thank you for informing us, we will contact you for more information afterwards."

The official left and big fat tears began dropping out of Rosaura's eyes. She wasn't embarrassed to be crying in front of everyone. Xavier tried pulling her into a hug, but she stepped away. "No, I can't do this. I've got to much on my plate right now. My mother just died, I'm not going to the Olympics, and the last thing I need to be worrying about is my boyfriend hanging out with a bunch of puck bunnies."

Xavier looked hurt and shocked. That's when Val stepped in. "Maybe it's best if you leave right now man."

It didn't look like he wanted to leave but he addressed Rosaura one last time. "I know you're going through a lot right now, but I'll call you later once you've had time to sort out your thoughts."

With a sad smile, he exited the room. Somehow, it became easier for Rosaura to breathe. Val tried getting close to her, but she pushed him away as well. "I need space," she chocked out.

She could see Val, Laura, and Marceau exchanging glancing, but they did what she asked. Rosaura curled up into a ball and continued sobbing. It was only a few months, but everything went wrong so fast. She felt confined in the dressing room and so she started to run. With no destination in mind, she tried running away from the demons that continued to plague her. Maybe one day, she would outrun them, but it didn't seem like it would be today.