| Real Gold |
| By �isl�ng |
| "And the gold medal winner in the 200m breastroke is....Aisling O'Hagan". The crowd cheered, Aisling raised her arms in triumph and stepped up on to the podium. If only it wasn't a dream. Aisling had qualified for the National Championships in Dublin in the 200 metre breastroke and couldn't stop thinking, dreaming about winning the gold medal. She had competed in the championships before, but narrowly missed the win by a mere 100th of a second. "This year is my year" she thought to herself "I've trained hard, I'm totally focused, it's mine". It was 5:30 in the morning when a knock came on her door. It was her coach making sure she was up and ready to do a good warm-up before the big race at 9:00am. "You ready to go" Paraic asked. Aisling didn't need to say anything - Paraic could see the determination in her eyes. She didn't want anything other than the gold, that's what she was here for. After the warm-up and a light breakfast, Aisling made her way to the main pool for the race. At 8:59am, they called the swimmers to the blocks. The field was Aisling's toughest competition - Niamh O'Connor from New Ross, Vivienne Egan from Sligo, Elaine Dunne from Athlone were her three biggest rivals, but funny enough, also three of her closest mates. But for the four girls on this day, friendship was the last thing on their mind. They were all out to win. Aisling knew that she'd beaten them before - she saw no reason she couldn't' do it today. "On your marks..." Aisling took a deep breath. The gun went off and they were gone. The crowd was cheering, screaming on their swimmers at each breath "Go, Go" rang out through the building. The last 50 metres, Aisling could see Vivienne Egan out of the corner of her eye. She was slightly ahead, but Aisling knew she had it within her to pass Vivienne. The chanting of the crowd pushed her harder. She took the last stroke in to the wall and quickly turned. Had she done it? The clock on the wall listed off the times and the fastest 3 lanes. 3rd place - Lane 3, Niamh O'Connor; 2nd place - Lane 5, Vivienne Egan. Aisling was scared to look, but she had to. "Please say Lane 4, please say Lane 4" she wished to herself. 1st place... Lane 4, Aisling O'Hagan. She turned to Vivienne with a huge smile and they hugged each other. "Great race, mate" they congratulated. "Well done, Ash" Niamh yelled from the other lane. She had done it - Aisling had achieved her ultimate goal. She was the national champion for the 200-metre breastroke. Her life was complete! That afternoon, Vivienne asked Aisling if she wanted to come out with her to watch Sligo and Mayo play in football. "That'd be grand" Aisling told Vivienne "Maybe we can have another Mayo win over Sligo" she joked. "I doubt it" Vivienne replied "My brother is playing for Sligo and he's pretty good". Aisling and Vivienne knew each other from swimming so they had only ever met each other's parents, not the rest of the family. So naturally Vivienne had to point out her brother to Aisling during the match. "He's #3, his name's Kian" Vivienne explained. "Ah right. He's cute" Aisling replied knowing that it would bug her friend to know that her mate thought her brother was cute. Aisling wasn't lying though - she couldn't take her eyes off this lad. There was just something about him that locked Aisling's eyes on him, that drew her in. The game ended with Sligo beating Mayo by one goal. "Ah well" Aisling said poking Vivienne in the arm "guess we had to give you one win, eh". Vivienne laughed "Hey Ki. over here" she shouted to her brother. Kian approached the two girls and gave his sister a hug. "Thanks for coming out Viv" he smiled. "No prob. Kian, this is my friend Aisling from the Mayo swim team" Vivienne explained "She's the one that kicked my butt in the race this morning". Aisling could feel her self feeling a little embarrassed. "Nice to meet you" she managed to speak. "And you" Kian replied "Well, Viv at least it was a good looking one that beat ya this time". Aisling tried not to get unnerved by what Kian had just said. "He thinks I'm good looking" she thought to herself, elated "ALRIGHT!!". "Listen, I'm going out for a drink with some of the lads. Do ya want to come?" Kian asked, looking directly at Aisling, but making sure the invite was for his sister as well. "Fine with me. Ash?" Vivienne asked. "Sounds good actually" Aisling replied. "Grand. Let me go change and I'll meet ya back here in 10" and with that Kian raced off with his team-mates. "Before you ask, NO he doesn't have a girlfriend" Vivienne said abruptly. Aisling was shocked. "I wasn't going to ask that" she replied "I was going to ask if his girlfriend was here". The girls both laughed. "Ash, I have to confess" Vivienne told her "You're my mate and I wanted you to come to the match with me for company. But I had other reasons too". Aisling began to look a bit worried. Vivienne explained "My brother has always had a hard time meeting the right sort of girl. You know, ones that will stick around long enough for him to get back from his next football trip. I know you understand the pressures and the time commitment that being involved in sport entails and that's why I think you're perfect for him". Aisling was flattered. "Well, I can't say I don't understand. I have that problem too with meeting lads. None of them can handle me being away so much. It sucks". Vivienne went on to say that she noticed how Kian looked at Aisling when they were first introduced. She couldn't help but see that Kian couldn't take his eyes off her, he was so taken in by her smile, her laugh, everything about her. "Well Viv, I have to say that I couldn't stop looking at him either. It's weird, I've just met him but I feel like I've known him forever". As she finished her sentence, Kian appeared from behind and grabbed Aisling around the waist. "Ready, you lot?" he asked. "You bet" Vivienne replied and they began their walk to the local pub down the street. Aisling turned to Vivienne, a bit shocked by Kian grabbing her waist "Well, he's not shy is he" she whispered, but with a huge smile!! That night at the club, Vivienne felt quite happy with her match-making skills. Aisling and Kian were getting on great, dancing, having drinks, laughing. She figured it was her time to exit the scene when it seemed the pair were not even conversing with her anymore. She wasn't offended - she couldn't have been happier for her little brother. "Uh, where's Viv?" asked Aisling as she turned to give her friend a wave. "Don't know" Kian replied, trying to yell over the music "Maybe she got tired and went back to the hotel". "Guess you're gonna have to drive me home then" Aisling winked "Do you think you can handle it?". Kian grabbed Aisling's hand, pulled her onto the dance floor, saying in her ear "I can handle anything YOU throw at me". A few months had passed and the two sports stars were practically inseparable - at least when they had time to be together. With both of them being active in different sports and training in different places, Aisling and Kian usually got one weekend out of every month together if they were lucky. But they certainly made the best of those two days. They would make sure their coaches were aware that this was their time and nothing was to interfere. Aisling would throw her bag in the boot of the car and drive up to Sligo to meet Kian late Friday night. Kian lived with his best mate Shane, but on the weekends that Aisling was in town, they would book a room at a quiet little bed & breakfast just outside of town. It was their getaway. No-one existed but the two of them. In the summer months, they would have picnic lunches by the lake; In the winter they would have snowball fights, often ending in Kian knocking Aisling down and kissing the life out of her. She never objected to that!! But this time, it all went wrong. Kian was chasing Aisling around in the snow when her foot caught on a slippery patch beneath and she fell hard onto the ground. She landed on her right shoulder, causing her to scream with intense pain. Kian ran to help her but soon realized he needed to get her inside and call for an ambulance immediately. Within 20 minutes, Aisling was at the hospital in Sligo, with Kian right there by her side. "Well Aisling I have some good news and some bad news" the doctor told her. Kian grasped her hand tight as they both prepared for whatever was to come. "Good news first please" Aisling smiled. "You're shoulder is going to heal properly over time and you will have full rotation again" he explained. "And the bad news?" Kian questioned. The doctor took a deep breath before giving the bad news - he knew it would be hard for Aisling to hear. "Because of the type of injury your shoulder has sustained, I'm afraid you will not be able to swim competitively again". Aisling couldn't speak, she couldn't move, she was in complete shock. "Not swim again" she thought back to herself. How could she not compete again - that was her life, her whole life? "You can work on strengthening your shoulder to the point where you can swim occasionally on a recreational basis" the doctor continued "but you would not be able to withstand the intensity required to maintain your status in competition. I'm very sorry". Aisling's hand dropped out of Kian's and met her other hand to cover her face. "This can't be happening" she screamed "I have to swim. I have nothing else". Kian tried to calm her "Ash, it's ok" he said calmingly "We'll get through this". "We'll get through this? WE'LL get through this?" she blasted "Get out. GET OUT" she cried and turned her back on Kian. Kian couldn't believe she was reacting this way. Was she blaming him? Was it his fault she'd fallen? He had to believe it wasn't - it's just what happened. He left the hospital, left Aisling's side for the first time in their relationship without telling her he loved her, without her telling him the same. Aisling was released from the hospital a few days later. Her brother Ronan had driven up from Castlebar to take her home. Aisling looked around the hospital as she made her way out to see if she could spot Kian. He was nowhere in sight. "You can't expect him to be here" Ronan told her "You told him not to come back ever, that you didn't want to see him again". "And I don't" Aisling snapped back. She really did want to see him, but she couldn't admit that after the way she'd treated him. Weeks passed and Aisling's physiotherapy was going great. Her shoulder was getting stronger and stronger every day and she was now back in the pool, doing 10 minutes of strength exercises a few times a week. Aisling tried not to think of Kian but it was hard. Everywhere she'd turn she'd see a football match on TV or on the local pitch - even if he wasn't physically there, he was always with her, in her heart. She missed him, but couldn't bear to face him. She had done nothing but blame him for her injury since it happened. "He's moved on by now I'm sure" she convinced herself "I gave him no reason to stick around". One afternoon, while Aisling was working out on light weights in her yard, she heard a voice calling "Ash, you there?". She peered around the corner and there was Vivienne looking quite lost. "Viv" Aisling screamed. "Ash" Vivienne screamed back. The girls hugged for about 5 minutes - it had been months since they'd seen each other. Aisling had pretty much cut herself off from all things Kian when she left the hospital that day. "So how are you doing" Vivienne asked "I see you're pumping iron". "Ya, gonna be Irelands first WWF woman wrestler" Aisling laughed. "Uh, how is...are you?" Aisling asked. "He's fine" Vivienne answered knowing full well what Aisling really wanted to know "He misses you". Tears began to fall down Aisling's face. "I miss him too Viv" she cried "So much". "Why are you doing this to him?" Vivienne had to ask. Aisling replied, still fighting away the tears "Do you remember during the football match the day you introduced me to Kian and we talked about how it was so hard to meet someone who understood the commitment it took to be a swimmer or a footballer? Well, as soon as I realized that I wasn't going to be able to make that commitment anymore, I shut Kian out. I didn't want to resent him for being away so much because of his matches and I didn't want him feeling guilty because he had to be away. I love him so much, but I couldn't bare to watch us fall apart because we didn't share that desire, that drive for the win anymore". Vivienne wiped Aisling's tears away. "But Ash, that's just it" she told her "You do share that desire, that drive. It's just not about the competition anymore. You share that desire, that drive in the love you have for each other. Kian loves you more than anything and wants nothing more than to have you in his life. That's why he wanted me to give you this". Vivienne pulled out a football and placed it in Aisling's hands. "What the...?" Aisling said completely baffled. As she looked at the football, turning it in her hand, a piece of the ball fell on the ground, leaving a hole. "Check it out" Vivienne encouraged Aisling, gesturing for her to look inside the ball. Aisling placed her hand inside the ball, feeling really weird about doing so. She felt something, grabbed hold of it and pulled it out. It was a little black box. Aisling, completely terrified of opening the box, looked at Vivienne for some answers. "Just open it" Vivienne smiled. Slowly, Aisling squeaked the box open to find staring back at her a 1 carat diamond ring. Tied around the platinum band was a little note that read: Forever my champion, my love. Aisling, will you marry me? Kian xxx By now Aisling was drowning in her own tears. Vivienne couldn't contain herself any longer "Well, WELL???" she squealed. As Aisling went to answer, another voice was heard from behind her "Ya, I'd like to know as well". Aisling turned instantly at the sound of his voice - it was Kian. "Yes. Oh my God, YES" Aisling shouted as she leaped up to wrap her arms around him. After she'd dried her eyes and finally managed to let go of Kian to let him put the ring on her finger, she asked him the dreaded question: why? "Why do you still want to marry me after what I did to you?". "Because" Kian answered instantly "I wasn't about to give up a lifetime of happiness with you because of a few days away for a football match". Looking deep into his eyes, Aisling asked him "Me for the rest of your life? Do ya think you can handle it?". He replied instantly "Don't you remember? I can handle anything you throw at me". 3 months later, on the one year anniversary of the accident, Aisling and Kian were married in Sligo and honeymooned at their little hideaway Bed & Breakfast. It was their drive and desire to be the best that brought them together. And it was that same drive and desire that made them realize that they were the best - Together!!! |