Coach kept his eyes on the road as he listened to Kevin’s response. Based on what Kevin said, it was clear that the two friends had bonded over an inadequate home life. It was a bad situation for both of them but he was glad that Kevin and Ellie had at least find happiness together to offset the lack of their parent’s involvement in their lives. Still, he didn’t really get that sibling vibe from them that Kevin mentioned. Perhaps the boy was too young to notice, or perhaps he was an old man used to reading into things too far, but it seemed like there could be more feelings between them than the young man might admit to himself. He thought about mentioning it but Kevin changed the subject so he decided not to pry.

Coach sighed and fiddled with the heat settings. Warmth was starting to fill the car and offset his missing jacket. ”Ellise always pushes herself,” James said, trying to soothe Kevin’s fear. ”She chose a difficult routine for herself, more difficult than most high school students would attempt. She and I both talked about the risks but she was adamant.” Coach sighed again, ”If anyone is to blame here it’s me,” he admitted, finally allowing the hard sentiment to sink in, ”As her coach I shouldn’t have let her chose such a difficult routine for her age.” Moving his hand he activated his turn signal and turned onto another road. Wetness shown at the corner of his eye but the older man swiped it away impatiently. He couldn’t dwell on what was done, the only thing now was to move forward and he would need to be strong to support Ellie through the physical and emotional repercussions of her injury.