The Favorites
by Layne Fargo
Contents
Chapter 26
Overview
After Heath vanishes in Japan, Katarina returns to Los Angeles heartbroken, falls seriously ill, and relives a childhood memory that explains how deeply Heath shaped both her skating and her sense of self. Once she recovers, a late-night encounter with Garrett reveals that he wanted Bella to ask her about partnering, and Katarina finally lets herself imagine a future without Heath. The chapter marks a major emotional turning point, shifting Katarina from abandonment and grief toward reinvention and ambition.
Summary
After Heath disappears in Japan, Katarina searches for him in freezing rain until she is soaked and exhausted. She returns to the hotel without finding him, spends a sleepless night waiting in case he comes back, and travels home alone while still convincing herself he might reappear at the station, the airport, or in California. On the flight, Bella quietly comforts her, but by the time Katarina reaches Los Angeles, grief and stress have turned into a high fever.
Back at the dorm, Katarina isolates herself for days while Bella brings food, medicine, and wellness remedies. As she lies sick in bed, Katarina remembers a February in 1994, during the first year of her friendship with Heath. On a snow day in Illinois, the two of them skate together on a frozen lake for the first time, moving with joy and freedom until the ice cracks and Katarina falls through.
In the memory, Heath panics but manages to pull Katarina out of the freezing water. The rescue leaves them both shaken and soaked, and they spend the following days recovering side by side at her house, watching old skating tapes. The incident becomes a formative moment for Katarina: it ties skating, danger, trust, and her growing feelings for Heath into one powerful emotional memory.
Eight days after returning from Japan, Katarina's fever finally breaks, but Heath still has not contacted her. Restless and desperate to move again, she goes to the Academy rink near midnight and finds Garrett practicing alone under show lights. Watching him, Katarina sees him differently: not just as Bella's steady partner, but as a gifted artist who has been dimming himself for someone else.
Garrett tells Katarina that Bella approached her in Japan because he asked her to. He says he did not mean to destroy things with Heath, but he had noticed Katarina and Heath struggling and felt an unusual connection with Katarina during their photo shoot. Katarina admits the feeling was mutual, not as simple attraction but as a sense of compatibility. When Garrett invites her onto the ice, Katarina hesitates because skating with anyone but Heath feels like a betrayal, yet she also realizes Garrett offers something Heath never did: the chance to reinvent herself and chase Olympic gold without being bound to her past.
Who Appears
- Katarina ShawHeartbroken by Heath's disappearance, she falls ill, revisits their origin memory, and considers skating with Garrett.
- Garrett LinPractices alone at night and reveals he asked Bella to approach Katarina about becoming his partner.
- Heath RochaAbsent after leaving in Japan; remembered through the childhood lake accident that cemented his bond with Katarina.
- Bella LinComforts Katarina after Japan, brings her food and medicine, and had relayed Garrett's interest in partnering.