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  The rest became a blur of sight and sound.

  Aedan saw Stone in the ring already, rolling his shoulders, shadow boxing for the crowd. Then he was in the cage and the referee was shouting out his height and weight, his record and Stone’s. He could see Frank on the floor outside the cage, already pacing.

  And then he noticed the empty chair in the front row end. He remembered asking Frank, weeks before, to purchase a chair for Rosa. Apparently Frank had remembered. But she wasn’t there. Had she changed her mind? Or had something happened? What if she’s hurt?

  “Fighters in the ring!” The referee motioned to Aedan and Stone. They moved to the center of the ring, standing almost toe-to-toe while the referee spoke. “Fighters, you know the rules. I want a good clean fight and I won’t tolerate anything less. Touch gloves, and let’s get ready to rock and roll!”

  Aedan touched gloves with Stone and then stepped back to the cage. He bounced on his toes, staying loose.

  “Fighters ready?” Aedan watched Stone nod. The referee turned to him. “Fighters ready?”

  Aedan nodded.

  The bell for the first round dinged.

  Stone was on him immediately. Aedan, worry for Rosa still lingering at the back of his mind, struggled to find his rhythm. Stone was quick. Blow after blow landed on his body. He was backpedaling and he could hear Frank yelling.

  Aedan saw an opening and stepped into it, taking a swing that connected with Stone’s mid-section. It felt solid and he knew it was a good hit. He feinted. Set up for another hit. The combination surprised Stone, and he got in a second punch and then a third.

  He was pushing Stone back, his confidence building. Then movement at the corner of his eye caught his attention, a girl with blonde hair. He glanced after her, but she was already gone.

  Stone’s punch connected while his head was turned, sending him off-balance. He stumbled, going down. In the next instant Stone was on him. Gloved fists pounded against his body, his ribs. Before he could gather himself, Stone grabbing him in a hold, not letting go.

  Aedan jerked against the pressure of his arm. Twisted. He shoved hard, and broke the hold, scrambling away. Stone followed, pummeling him. Panic rose in Aedan’s throat.

  Shit. Get back in the match, stupid idiot. Fight!

  He bounced back to his feet, dodging a punch aimed at his face. Ducking, he came up with a hard swing at Stone, but his reach was off. It missed, and Stone pressed forward.

  Aedan’s hand impacted with Stone’s ribs harder than Aedan anticipated. He felt the wet snap of a bone, the pain hot and intense. Stone heard it too, a smirk crossing his face.

  He smells blood.

  Aedan danced out of Stone’s reach, looking for a chance to land a solid kick. Stone swung. Aedan dodged, lashed out with his left leg. The kick landed a solid foot to Stone’s mid-section. Before he could follow up, the bell for the first round sounded. He made his way to his corner, Frank wiping his face. The towel came away covered in blood.

  “Good kick,” Frank said. “Keep those up. He’s cut you under the eye. It’s swelling so you’re going to have to watch that side if it swells shut.”

  Aedan rinsed his mouth, spitting the water out.

  “And get your head out of your ass, boy.” His trainer’s eyes narrowed. “He’s had you against the cage more times than I care to see. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s not about this match.”

  Aedan jammed his mouth guard back between his teeth, nodding his head. He’s right. Whatever’s happened, you can’t bail on the fight. She’s fine.

  Still, he glanced toward the seat where she should have been. It was still empty.

  If she went back on her word, you don’t need her.

  The bell sounded for the second three minutes. Stone was aggressive, coming across the cage after Aedan.

  But Aedan was ready for him. He charged, and they met in the middle of the ring, in a tight clinch, raining blows on each other. Aedan felt his punches landing solidly, slowly working away at Stone.

  Then Stone managed to throw a knee to Aedan’s ribs. They fell apart. Aedan stumbled, his balance off. A blow to the head sent him reeling back, collapsing down to the mat.

  He looked up as Stone kicked out, his foot making direct contact with Aedan’s ribs. The breath went out of him. Bone snapped. He struggled to his feet as Stone took another swing.

  The blow connected with his temple.

  He struggled to raise his arms. To defend himself. To punch back. Nothing seemed to be working.

  I’m not done yet. Not yet.

  The roar of the crowded seemed to ebb and flow around him. He felt the mat beneath his face, strangely hard and soft at the same time. There were voices calling his name, Frank’s bellow closest, and someone else, higher pitched.

  Get up. Fight, damn it! Get up!

  But his body refused to cooperate and then he closed his eyes. He could hear the bell sounding, shatteringly loud and then there was total silence.

  I can smell her perfume...

  Chapter 18

  Morning sunlight was streaming through the windows, a patch cutting across Aedan’s blanket-covered legs. Rosa had watched the sun come up, the light growing stronger, the swath of sunlight moving across the bed. She thought about calling her father, and decided to wait until he was at work. Until someone had come to see Aedan, tell her how he was.

  A noise in the hall made her turn. A tall man was talking to a nurse, who hurried off down the hall. The man stopped in the doorway, looking at Rosa.

  “Good morning, I’m Doctor Mulvaney.” He picked up a clipboard hanging from the end of Aedan’s bed and glanced down at it, flipping through the pages.

  “Can you tell me how he is, please?” Rosa rose from her chair.

  “Are you family?” The doctor moved toward Aedan, flashing a small light in his eyes, checking various machines.

  “He doesn’t have any family. I’m his girlfriend. Rosa Thomas.” Rosa was standing awkwardly in the corner of the room, trying to stay out of the doctor’s way and avoid the complicated-looking machines that beeped and hummed along the bed, all of the connected in some way to Aedan.

  “I see.” He flipped a few pages on the clipboard. “Oh, you’re listed as family. Also someone named Frank Delaney.” He gave Rosa a questioning glance.

  “His trainer. He’s somewhere in the building. Do you want me to find him?”

  “No. I can tell you how he is. If Mr. Delaney has any questions, the nurses can page me and I’ll come back.” He set the clipboard aside and met her eyes. “As far as Aedan here, we’ve done some tests. He’s responding to voice commands. He’ll open his eyes, and he responds to us if we ask him questions, but he’s not making any sense.”

  “Is he in a coma?” Rosa chewed on her thumbnail, her eyes moving between Aedan and the doctor.

  “No, not a coma. We believe he maybe have a traumatic brain injury. It’s too soon to say how severe, but right now, I’d say he’s stable. At the moment there’s no swelling in the brain, which is good. We’ll monitor him for that though. Otherwise, we’re just waiting for him to regain consciousness.”

  Rosa took a seat in the chair next to Aedan’s bed, aching to touch him but not sure where. There seemed to be no part of him that wasn’t covered in bandages or with some tube attached.

  “And we’re treating his other injuries as well—the cuts and bruises. He’s also got some fractured ribs and a broken hand. We’ve got that in a splint at the moment and later an orthopedic surgeon will take a look; he might need surgery to pin the broken bones.”

  The doctor patted Rosa on the shoulder. “You can hold the hand that isn’t splinted. The tube in his arm is an IV for fluids. You won’t hurt that without getting pretty rough.”

  Rosa curled her fingers gently over Aedan’s. “Thank you, Doctor. I appreciate what you’re doing for him.”

  “Talk to him. He can hear you.” He smiled at her. “Just don’t be upset if you don’t get a response quite yet.” />
  The doctor left the room and Rosa was alone with Aedan and the beeping machines. She stroked his hand, felt the warmth of his skin. His face was pale except for the bruise that swelled one eye shut and the violent darkening at his temple from the blow that had knocked him to the mat.

  Rosa could still hear the sound of Stone’s fist against Aedan’s head. The sound of Aedan falling. She shook her head. It was a memory she wished she could forget.

  She leaned forward, resting her head against Aedan’s hip, the white blanket vaguely scratchy beneath her cheek. The room was quiet except for the beeping of the machines and the sounds from the hall: indistinct voices, a sudden sharp cry, a cart with a squeaky wheel. Rosa drifted off, the exhaustion in her body finally winning out over the turmoil in her mind.

  The hand on her shoulder made her jump. She turned, her heart racing, to find Frank standing behind her.

  “Sorry.” His voice didn’t carry its usually gruff note. “Didn’t mean to startle you. Here.” He held out a cup of what she thought was soup; it had a spoon stuck in it and didn’t smell like coffee. The aroma made her realize she was hungry.

  “Thanks.” She sat back in the chair, taking a tentative sip. It was over salted, but it was hot, and she was too hungry to care.

  “How’s he doing?” Frank motioned with his chin toward Aedan.

  “The same. The doctor was here, said he’s not in a coma; he’s stable but unconscious. Something about a brain injury. It’s traumatic. We just have to wait for him to wake up.” She took another spoonful of soup.

  “Did he say if he could fight again?” Frank, realizing now wasn’t the time, pulled a chair up to the other side of Aedan’s bed. His eyes moved over Aedan before settling on her face. “How’re you doing, Rosa? You look exhausted.”

  “Tired. But wired at the same time.” She sighed. “My mind’s racing but my body just wants to fall over.”

  Frank was silent for a moment, looking down at Aedan. “You know, he was looking for you.” There was no recrimination in his voice.

  Rosa looked up from her soup. “I know.” Her eyes stung, and she blinked back the tears before they could form. “I got held up.”

  “You didn’t want to be there. He said you’d told him you couldn’t stand by and watch him get hurt.”

  Rosa put down the soup. She reached out, smoothing the blanket over Aedan’s legs. “No. I told him I would be. The night before.” She raised her gaze to meet his eyes. She took Aedan’s hand, slowly tracing a spiral on his palm. “I had a talk with my father and I realized that it wasn’t fair, what I was doing. I couldn’t claim to support him and then refuse to be there when he needed me most.” Her voice was low, almost a whisper. “But you can’t say I was wrong to fear watching him hurt. Not when... And as far as he knows, I broke my promise.”

  Frank shook his head. “I didn’t know you’d made one. He went into the fight thinking you’d stood him up. Abandoned him. But he kept waiting for you to show up.”

  “It’s because of me he’s like this?” Rosa turned her tear-stained face to Frank.

  Frank rubbed the side of his nose. “His head wasn’t in the fight.”

  Rosa nodded. “Then this is my fault.”

  He reached across the bed and took her hand in his own. “You can’t think like that. Aedan should’ve been acting like a professional. He should’ve been able to focus, regardless of what’s going on in his head. That’s his job. You can’t take the fall for him having his head up his ass.” He sighed. “That’s why I didn’t want him to fight yet. I didn’t think he was ready.”

  Rosa shook her head in disagreement. “I feel responsible.” She turned back to Aedan. “All I had to do was be there, such a simple thing. And I let him down.”

  “I feel responsible too.” Frank squeezed her hand. “You tried, Rosa. That’s all anyone can do.”

  Someone knocked lightly on the door frame, and Rosa turned away from Frank, her eyes widening when she found her father there, watching them. “Dad...” her voice caught.

  “I’ll be off for a bit, then,” Frank said, releasing her hand and rising from the chair. “Chin up, kid.” He patted her on the shoulder as he walked past, nodding to her father.

  When he was gone, her father pulled the chair he’d sat in around to her side. “How’s he doing?” he asked quietly.

  “Traumatic brain injury,” Rosa said, forcing the words out past a sudden tight ache in her throat. “He responds to pain.” She looked away. Back up again. “Dad, they pinch his fingernails.”

  “I’m sure they know what they’re doing, angel.” Her father took her free hand in both of his. “And he’s responding. That’s a good sign.”

  Rosa sighed. “Yeah. He moves his head sometimes if they talk loudly at him. They said the tests came back showing that there’s no swelling in his brain. We just need to wait for him to wake up.”

  He nodded. “You look exhausted. Have you been eating? Sleeping?”

  “Frank brought me something to eat. Some soup. There’s vending machines down the hall, and coffee, but I’m not hungry. I fell asleep for a while earlier.”

  Her father frowned at her. “You need to rest.”

  “Yeah, I know. Frank says the same thing. But I can’t be anywhere but here right now. It’s my fault that he’s here, like this.” Tears slid down her cheeks.

  “No, Rosa. It’s not. He’s an adult and he made a choice to get involved in something dangerous.”

  “But it is. I let him down. He was looking for me and I wasn’t there.” Rosa broke into tears, sobs shaking her body. Her father pulled her against him, her head on his shoulder.

  “You’re exhausted. You need to eat and sleep, at least for a little while, away from here. Come home with me now. You can come back after you’ve rested. You’re only going to make yourself sick, and that won’t do either of you any good.”

  Rosa, supported by the solid warmth of her father’s shoulder, closed her eyes, exhaustion washing over her. “All right. Just for a little while. A couple hours. Let me tell the nurses, in case he wakes up. They can call my cell phone.”

  The car was waiting for them at the hospital entrance. Her father held the door and Rosa climbed wearily into the back seat. He slid in beside her and gave the driver the order to head home.

  “Why are you here, Dad?” She finally thought to ask. “You didn’t need to come see Aedan. I was going to call you later.”

  “It occurred to me there was something I could do here to help,” he said, drawing her against his side. “I assumed, correctly, that Aedan doesn’t have insurance. I’ve made arrangements to pay his hospital bill and for any therapy he may need after he’s released.”

  Rosa stared at her father. “Why would you do that? You don’t even like him.”

  Her father smiled. “I never said I didn’t like Aedan. I said I wasn’t sure he’s the right person for you. I’m still not sure. But he’s important to you. And knowing his situation, I wanted to help. There would be no way he could afford to pay for his treatment. I didn’t feel that was fair.”

  Rosa threw her arms around her father. “I love you so much, Dad.” A sob escaped her. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” He hugged her in return, and Rosa breathed in the familiar smell of expensive cologne and freshly washed clothes, finally feeling like she could let go, just for a little bit. She yawned widely, eyes sliding shut.

  “I’m not so sure Aedan will feel the same, but we’ll have to cross that bridge when we come to it.”

  Someone was shaking her, pulling her from the car. She stumbled up the steps, falling onto the bed. She opened her eyes as someone pulled a blanket over her shoulders. Her father was standing next to the bed.

  “Just let me sleep for an hour or so, okay?” Rosa struggled to keep her eyes open long enough to speak. “I want to be back in case he wakes up.”

  She was asleep again before he had a chance to answer.

  Chapter 19

  He c
ould smell her perfume on his pillow and he rolled over, reaching for her. Except everything hurt. There was pain in his hand, his arm. And his head. Fuck, his head was killing him. Must’ve had too much to drink.

  “Rosa?” He tried, and heard his voice, a hoarse croak. What the hell? He tried to sit up but everything in his head went swirling and black and he sank back to the bed. Darkness pulled him under once more.

  Much later, Aedan opened his eyes. Or tried to. One was swollen painfully shut. He managed to peer out of the other, trying to see where he was. Pain shot through his head as he tried to move it on the pillow so he lay still, looking at what was in front of him.

  This was a hospital room, not his apartment. That made sense, probably explained why everything hurt. It was daylight. Probably the day after the match.

  Blurry images swam to the surface, but had a hard time pinning any of them down.

  Think, damn it. What the hell happened?

  The fight... He’d been distracted. Rosa wasn’t there, the chair Frank had reserved for her mocking him, as it remained empty. Bitter tears welled under his eyelids, trickling down over his cheek, stinging as they ran into the cut below his left eye.

  He remembered throwing some good punches, driving Stone back. Reflexively he clenched his fist, gasping at the sudden pain and immobility. Bringing his right hand up he saw it was splinted. Broken.

  I remember throwing that punch.

  Now end of the match came back: up against the cage, the hard feel of it against his back. Panic, no control, all of it slipping away. Stone throwing a knee, catching him in the ribs, the breath knocked out of him in a whooping exhalation.

  Aedan took a tentative breath, felt the stabbing pain in his side, the tight constriction of the bandages that must be wrapped around his chest. Broken. Knew that when he hit me. Heard the snap.

  Then covering up as blows rained down on his body, his face. And then...not much else. One of Stone’s blows must’ve done its job, taken him out completely.