Dirk waited an extra minute just to be sure, then he separated the planks. He tentatively touched the singlet, he half expected a torrent of berating comments from Chad. He smiled silence. It worked.
As he stepped into his singlet, Dirk commented, "No more Chatty Chaddy." He smirked as he put on his wrestling headgear and headed out barely in time for his next match. He won it handily.
Dirk went into the exercise room to burn off a little steam. He was too tense, he expected more competition from his last opponent. Chad was inert, so he didn't care. He hopped on the treadmill, and started jogging. Maybe thirty minutes today, he thought. He recalled Chad was an exercise fanatic and would spend 3 hours or more in the gym each day. As he jogged in place, his feet started moving faster. Dirk wasn't really concerned, he was sort of on autopilot, and was lost in thought plotting next weeks matches against two undefeated wrestlers. He seemed to be entering a dream state, maybe a runner's high?
Chad had blacked out, he was struggling to wake up from a bad dream. It was too real. He was in the gym. He was on the treadmill. He always started his workout on the treadmill, only 15 minutes elapsed so far. He must've begun his workout. He didn't recall getting up or dressed this morning. He was wearing a wrestling singlet. Damn, what did he drink last night. He remembered Dirk and Bruno, or was that in the dream. He shook the sleep from his head, and Dirk plunged into a deeper trance state.
Chad was upset, his workout wasn't going as planned. He seemed to tire more readily than usual, and had trouble lifting his normal weights. So he decided to put in a couple extra hours today. As his workout was nearing its end, Coach Sinclair popped in to check on the weight room. Chad was on one of the Icarian leg machines.
"Hey, you been working out for over four hours. Keep this up, and I'll have a couple of Chads," laughed the coach turning to exit.
Chad looked up confused, "A couple of Chads?" he asked.
"No offense, it's just Chad does 3-5 hour workouts, and none of my other athletes have this much discipline, Dirk!"
Dirk?
Chad felt dizzy, sleepy, and he was sinking into the darkness. Dirk's consciousness was swimming and flailing to regain control of his sore sweaty body.