“Mental prep.”

One evening, I opened the study door without knocking.

Mike stood directly in front of Lily, his hands on her upper arms.

They both turned quickly when I walked in. Both went silent.

Mike stepped back immediately.

“Everything okay?” I asked, looking between them.

“Yeah,” Lily said, avoiding my eyes.

“Of course.” Mike shrugged.

But I couldn’t shake the feeling I had interrupted something they didn’t want me to see.

That’s when fear really settled in.

A few days later, her coach pulled me aside at the rink.

He wasn’t dramatic, which made his words land even harder.

“Lily looks run down,” he said. “I know she’s been training hard, but I’m concerned. She’s getting dizzy between runs. Her recovery is slower. She seems weak.”

I looked through the glass at the ice. Lily stood near the boards, tugging at her sleeves, pale under the bright lights.

“Has she been sick?” he asked.

I thought of her saying she felt dizzy. “I… don’t know.”

That night, I told Mike we were taking her to the doctor.

He shut it down immediately.

“Let’s not turn this into a whole thing,” he said. “She’s under pressure. This is the biggest competition season of her career.”

“So we help her.”

“We are helping her.”

The way he said it made me stop. “What does that mean?”

He shrugged. “It means we support her goals.”

A chill ran through me. “What aren’t you telling me?”

He laughed once, sharp and dismissive. “You hear yourself right now?”

I wanted to push further. I should have.

But Lily was upstairs, and I didn’t want another argument where she could hear everything.

Then came the night that shattered whatever denial I had left.

I woke sometime after midnight to a sound from Lily’s room.

I walked down the hall and opened her door.

She was curled on her bed, knees pulled to her chest, breathing in short, shallow pulls. Her face looked gray.

“Lily?” I rushed to her. “What’s wrong?”

She looked at me with glassy eyes. “Mom. I can’t keep hiding this from you anymore.”

Every nerve in my body went tight. “Hiding what?”

“Mark and I…” She looked away. “Tomorrow… I’ll tell you everything tomorrow.”

“No. Tell me now.”

She shook her head weakly.

I sat with her for nearly an hour, rubbing her back as she drifted in and out of sleep, terrified and furious.

Every worst-case scenario ran through my mind. I hated myself for every moment I’d doubted my instincts.

At first light, I made the decision.

“Get your jacket,” I told her. “We’re going to see a doctor.”

I didn’t tell Mike.

At the hospital, they took Lily back for tests and monitoring.

I sat in the waiting area, twisting a tissue to pieces while replaying the past month—her saying she felt weird, Mike telling me not to worry, the closed-door talks.

It all pointed to something I wasn’t sure I could face.

When the doctor finally came in, his expression was careful.

He sat across from us. Lily trembled beside me. “Mrs. R., we need to talk. The test results showed some… unexpected findings.”

“What do you mean?”

“Mom, this is what I wanted to tell you last night…” Lily said. “Please… don’t be mad at me.”

The doctor handed me a folder.

The moment I read the first line, I covered my mouth.

“Severe dehydration?” I said. “A significant electrolyte imbalance?”

The doctor nodded slightly. “We also found evidence she’s been taking a strong supplement often marketed for weight control.”

For a moment, I didn’t understand.

“What supplements?” I asked.

Lily stared at her hands. “It’s just a herbal thing. He said they were safe.”

“He? Lily, where did you get them?”

She lowered her head. “Mike gave them to me.”

I stared at her. “What?”

“He knew I wanted to get in shape for the season. He said they’d help.”

I looked at the doctor. He gave a slow nod.

“These products can be dangerous,” he said. “Especially with intense training. That likely caused the dizziness and dehydration.”

I turned back to Lily. “How long?”

“A few weeks. He told me not to tell you… that you’d overreact because you don’t understand how important the season is.”

Something inside me hardened.

When we got home, Mike was waiting.

“Where have you been?” he asked.

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