***
I took a cab over to the other side of town and even the cabbie was worried about me. “You sure this is the right address, miss?”
I nodded slowly, looking down at the address I’d written on a notepad as soon as I got home from the gym the other night. “Yes, this is it.” I looked out the window at an old, almost abandoned warehouse. Most of the windows were boarded up, but there was life inside the building. Cars lined the streets, mostly old beaters but a few nicer vehicles as well. I knew I was in the right place.
I passed my cash up to the front when the cabbie asked, “You don’t want me to keep the meter running?”
I had lied to Naomi. If Dillon was determined to fight, I’d stay and watch him. “No. I’m fine, thanks.”
I got out of the cab and zipped up my jacket. It was chilly for a spring night. Almost like the atmosphere was trying to tell me how dark and dangerous this place was. That I should have just stayed in the cab. But as it sped off, I still felt like this was what I had to do. I walked past the bouncer at the front door and he just let me glide through, something I had already learned about the fighting world. Pretty girls meant free of charge. I found a spot along the back wall and stood with my arms crossed as I watched two men inside the cage go at it. They were both bloodied and battered, with one guy grabbing the side of his body like he had broken ribs. When he removed his hand to block a punch, I saw the bruise that was quickly spreading. He definitely had broken a few. I knew that this could happen at any fight, but this guy wasn’t conceding. When the other guy hit them hard enough that he was knocked to the ground, I heard him screaming in agony, but there was no referee to stop it here. They would fight until he was out cold. Luckily for him that was only a minute later. Two big guys in black came into the ring, and pulled him up by his arms, and carried him out while the victor had his arms above his head. He had a busted eyebrow and a shoulder that looked slightly out of place, but he was happy with his win.
I scanned the crowd for Dillon, shockingly seeing his bald head near the cage just a moment later. I tried to make my way to him through the throng of people, but I didn’t get there in time. They announced his name just as I called it myself.
“Dillon!” He didn’t turn to look at me, clearly not hearing me over the roar of the crowd.
“Dillon, it’s Berkley!” This time I caught his attention. He turned to look at me with his mouth in an ‘o’ shape. He was shocked to see me there, clearly having thought I had given up after he told me to leave. I wasn’t that easy.
He walked back down the stairs and met me at the bottom. “What the hell are you doing here? Couldn’t my saving your ass once be enough?”
I shook my head, “This time it is about me saving you. You can’t do this. They could kill you!”
He puffed out his chest, “Honey, I’m Dillon Jackson. I’m unbeatable.”
A man tapped Dillon on the shoulder pointed up into the cage. He turned away and began walking back. He looked over his shoulder one more time at me before ascending the stairs. People cheered unanimously, waving their cash in the air as bookies grabbed it and asked them who they were betting on. And that’s when I heard it: “Dillon Jackson or Montegro Ramirez and Lucas Boyo?”
I grabbed a bookie by the shoulder and turned him around, “I’m sorry, what did you just say? How many guys is Dillon going against?”
The bookie smiled up at me, missing a few teeth. “Two, of course. No one man could beat him, so we’re going to find out if the double team can.”
Fuck.
I watched with terrified eyes as Dillon and two other guys entered the cage. I saw the shock written all over Dillon’s face. Clearly he didn’t know what was going on either. They descended on him like wolves. He tried to fight his way through, blocking one guy’s punches while he was on the offense of the other. But they double teamed him every chance they got, one kicking him in the back while the other assaulted his face. He finally got a good swift kick at the one in front of him which landed with his back against the metal of the cage and turned to face the other. But that just pissed off the first guy. He ran back at Jackson and hopped on his back pulling him down onto the ground with him. Jackson flailed like a bug on its back. He tried to protect his face, but the guy underneath them had him in a headlock and the one that was still standing kicked Dillon in the stomach repeatedly. The crowd went wild. I saw Dillon’s face start to go blue as the guy who had him in a headlock was squeezing too tight.
I started screaming at them, “He can’t breathe! He can’t breathe!”
But no one was listening. I did the only thing that I thought would help. I tried to climb over the ropes to get to the stairs. I would have to help him myself. Just as I was about to swing my leg over the rope, a man not much older than Dillon himself in a crisp looking suit stopped me.
“What do you think you’re doing honey? Nobody but fighters over the rope.”
I pointed at Dillon, “Those guys are going to kill him!”
He smiled at me. “Well that’s kind of the point isn’t it? Somebody has to take out the best fighter, so why not me?”
I looked at him in amazement. This had all been the plan. They didn’t just want to beat Dillon, they wanted to kill him. Just then I heard a woman’s scream from the crowd. “He ain’t moving! You killed him!”
More shouts from the crowd and I noticed as a group of people started stampeding their way to the exit. The other two fighters were nursing their wounds and walking out of the cage while Dillon lay lifelessly on the floor. The man who had been talking to me smiled and patted his guys on the back before saying, “We should get out of here. One of these people is going to call the cops.”
They moved out of my way and I sprinted up the stairs and into the cage. Dillon was a mess, blood rushing out of his nose, and it looked like his eye socket might’ve been broken. I watched helplessly for the rise and fall of his chest. He had to be alive, he just had to be.
TWELVE
BERKLEY
I cradled the phone in my hands, holding onto it like a lifeline. “It was awful! The police and the ambulance were en route for like five minutes. I did CPR the whole time, but I’m not sure I did it right. By the time they got him in here they said he been deprived of oxygen and then his heart had stopped beating. I don’t even know if he’s going to make it!”
I heard Naomi sigh on the other end of the line, “I’m sorry I told you not to go. He’s so damn lucky you were there. But I don’t get it. Why would they want to kill him?”
That was something that had plagued my mind ever since the man in the suit had escaped. I described him to the police officers, but they didn’t seem to have any leads. The place on a business card wasn’t even a real gym; it was just the address for the warehouse that they were using for that fight. Apparently lots of illegal gambling had been going on there. There was evidence of dogfights in the back as well. It made me sick. The whole place had been shut down for investigation and the actual owner of the warehouse had been called. But it wasn’t like he rented the place or anything—they had just seen it empty, and used it as an opportunity to make money and hurt Dillon. “I guess they just thought that he was someone to be afraid of. His career was really taking off, and I just think that they didn’t want their guys to get beat anymore. And Dillon was really the only one who could beat them. He was losing this guy money, and money makes people do crazy things.” Like go into an underground fighting ring and almost get yourself killed.
“Do you want me to come get you? I mean I’m surprised that they even let you ride with him.”
I shook my head, still pacing back and forth under the fluorescent waiting room lights. “That took some convincing. I was a blubbering mess though, so I think that the EMT just thought I was in shock. I think they took me more for observation than because I wanted to go. But once I got to the hospital, it was like playing a million questions with the cops. I haven’t even been able to see him yet.”
“
Well, hopefully they’ll let you in to see him soon. I mean you saved his goddamn life. That should earn you a little bit of visiting time.”
I heard a woman that sounded agitated at the other end of the hall and I walked around the corner to get a better view. There was a small dark haired woman banging on the desk asking for assistance. “I’m looking for Dillon Jackson! He was brought in an ambulance from a fight. He’s my son!” She had her hand on her heart and I thought she might faint if someone didn’t help her soon.
“Naomi, I have to go. I think Dillon’s mom is here. I have to tell her what happened.”
“Well that’s one way to meet the parents. Good luck, and call me when you want me to come get you. I’ll have my phone on me all night.”
I took a deep breath and ended the call before walking dutifully down the hallway to the frazzled woman. “Excuse me, ma’am? Are you looking for Dillon?”
She turned and looked up at me, almost a half a foot shorter than I was. Tears filled her eyes and worry lines were etched around them. The same sparkling blue that Dillon’s eyes contained were looking up at me, but her pain dulled them. She was terrified that she was going to lose her child, and I couldn’t blame her. “My name is Berkley. I was with him when it happened. I came to the hospital with him from the fight.”
She didn’t speak, just stared up at me blankly like I was talking in a different language. A nurse walked up behind the counter with a chart. “Corina Jackson? You’re the mother?”
The small woman just turned and nodded silently. “Dillon is in critical condition. His airway collapsed during the fight, and he has a partially collapsed lung. His left eye socket is ruined and he’ll need reconstructive surgery once they fix his airway. The doctor’s main concern at this point is that he was deprived of oxygen, and there may be damage.”
I knew it wasn’t my place to ask but I couldn’t help myself, “What type of damage?”
The nurse scowled at me. “And who are you?”
“I… I came in with him. I was the one who was at the fight, I saw it all happen.”
The nurse frowned at me. “I’m sorry, but unless you’re family I can’t share any of this information with you.”
Suddenly Dillon’s mother grabbed my hand and squeezed it tightly. “This girl might have saved his life. You can tell her anything that you can tell me.”
The nurse shrugged and scanned through the document once more. “There could be significant brain damage, but we won’t know how much until he wakes up after surgery. A doctor will be out to update you once they finish.”
She gave us a sad smile as she closed the chart and walked away. I felt Corina’s grip lessen and she started to lean into me.
“Would you like a cup of coffee, ma’am? The coffeehouse here is pretty good.” I remembered that from when my father had been here for surgeries. We’d literally spent weeks in this hospital, one of the best in the state.
She nodded and held my hand as we walked down the hallway together. Once we were in the waiting area, I sat her down in a plastic chair and was about to leave her but she wouldn’t let go. So instead I sat down next to her and we waited. We waited for hours without saying a single word to each other. Until finally the doctor came out pulling a mask off of his face.
“Ms. Jackson?”
Dillon’s mother rose from her seat and shuffled slowly over to him. I knew we were both praying for good news, but if it was bad? We would both fall apart on the linoleum floor.
“Dillon is in stable condition. His brain doesn’t seem to have swelled quite as much as we had anticipated. He’s still going to be unconscious for several hours, but it looks as though he’ll make it out of this. Your son is a very lucky man.”
I felt the relief flood my system as the waves of tension began to leave my body. Dillon was going to make it. And that was all that I needed to hear.
THIRTEEN
DILLON
I took a deep breath and winced. It felt like my insides were on fire. A machine buzzed next to me and Leo’s angry whispers came from what may have been the right side of my bed. I was in the hospital, I just knew it. I hated places like this, where people always try to make you feel better even though you might never be fixed. I remembered feeling like this when I broke my shoulder. Completely helpless, at the doctor’s mercy. I took another breath and again my lungs shuddered under the pain. Whatever those assholes had done to me, I would get them back for this. I had to.
Apparently I was asleep for almost three days. When I finally came to, they were able to remove the tube that was going down my throat so I could finally talk again. My mother was there, gripping my hands tightly between her own frail fingers. She was going to be really angry when she got a chance to get over the fact that I hadn’t died. I wasn’t looking forward to that conversation. I’d lied to everyone. The only person that actually knew that I was going to match was Berkley.
Berkley. I had seen her in my dreams a hundred times over the past few days. But now that my eyes were finally open and I was taking in the landscape around me, there she was, asleep in a hospital chair in the corner. She hadn’t been a dream. She was real. She’d been at the fight and had seen everything go down. She had been with me at my absolute worst. But she’d stayed, just like I wanted her to, even though I pushed her away. Jesus, I was lucky.
Leo was the first to notice that my eyes were open. “Berkley, wake up! He’s awake. How do you feel, son?”
“Like pickles,” I barely croaked out. My throat felt like there were needles all through it. I would consider that before I talked again.
My mom looked at me with sad eyes. She looked a lot older than she had last week. That was my fault. “I’m just glad you’re okay, honey. It’s going to take a while, but you’re going to be okay.” I realized I could only see out of my one eye, and I lifted my hand carefully to touch the other side of my face but was met with gauze instead. “They had to do surgery on your face, but they said it should heal in a few weeks. You’re alive, that’s all that matters.” I could hear the restraint in her voice, chasing away the tears. She was trying to be strong for me, and that meant that things were a lot worse than she was letting me know.
Somehow deep in my belly I knew that I’d almost died. Or maybe I did, maybe they brought me back to life. And that was also my fault. I always was my own worst enemy.
Leo gave me a loving look which I knew was going to be followed by serious talking to. He always took care of me, so it was his duty to be the one to let me have it. “What the hell were you thinking? Going off by yourself like that! To an underground fight! You knew what those chumps wanted to do to you. You had a death wish going there. And now you had your mother and Berkley and me worried. That’s on you.”
The pain in my throat was too severe to speak again so I simply nodded and cast my eyes down, trying to relieve myself of some of his shame. He was completely right. All of this was on me.
He put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”
I knew that he meant it too. “Corina, why don’t you and I take a little walk? Give him and Berkley a minute alone.”
My mother kissed me on the forehead before she followed him out the door, looking over her shoulder at me as the tears welled up in her eyes. I’d hurt her so badly.
Berkley sat down on the side of my bed with bags under her eyes from lack of sleep. I couldn’t believe she’d stayed after how I had treated her. She deserved so much better than this.
“You scared the hell out of me. I came to that fight to stop you. Those guys wanted to kill you, to knock you out of the competition permanently. Did you know that?”
I slowly shook my head, the room spinning as I did so.
“Don’t ever do something so stupid again. I just don’t think my heart could take it.”
She chewed on her lower lip, and even in the hospital bed it still turned me on. Berkley was everything I wanted, but nothing I deserved. Once I had my strength back,
I would explain that to her and let her make her choice. I wouldn’t make it for her, not this time.
FOURTEEN
BERKLEY
“Wake up!”
“Why? I asked groggily.
“Girl, you made me promise not to let you sleep all day. You’re going to miss your two PM class. How much longer are you going to keep this up? Dillon’s going to be in the hospital another three or four days. And you’ve been dragging your ass for a week. I don’t know how you’re keeping up with your class schedule and spending most of your nights at the hospital.”
I rubbed my eyes, trying to control the burn from lack of sleep. Naomi was right. I hadn’t been sleeping much. Dillon’s mother was at the hospital anytime she could be, but when she was working her shifts as a waitress, I spent as much time there as I could. He had finally started to talk again and his face was healing up well. The doctors were impressed with his progress, and they felt that they would send them home by the end of the week. I knew it was killing him to just lie in a hospital bed, but I was hoping that every second he had to lie there made him think about making poor choices again. But there was something blossoming between us at the hospital, the way his fingers intertwined with mine and how he seemed so peaceful when I was there. Somehow I knew that deep down he was thankful I’d been there that night, and he knew that we were even now. A debt for debt.
“I know I said that, but I need to sleep sometime.”
She shook her head, “Yes, but you need to sleep at night so you don’t miss your classes. I know you’re like totally hung up on him, but you barely know him. He’s obviously dangerous, doing some illegal fight. You have to watch yourself, before you get too involved.”
I was already involved. That was a big part of my problem.
“I promise that I will take care of myself. I just have to take care of him for a little bit longer too. He gets out this week. Then things will go back to normal.” I was excited to see his apartment. I had a feeling it would be was ridiculously clean and probably didn’t have a lot in it, since he spent so much time at the gym. But I was hoping I would find a couple small pieces of him there, something that would give me more information than he did. Dillon was still mostly a mystery to me, regardless of how much time I spent up a hospital talking to him.
February Burning: A Firefighter Secret Baby Romance Page 39
