Broken by the Man I Loved

The Rosewood underground fight club had one unwritten rule. Your last bout before you walked away was a life-or-death match. Whoever lost, left their life behind. Almost everyone was certain I'd walk out safe. For six months straight, after all, I'd held the top spot on the fighter roster without a slip. What I never expected was to see Ned James across the ring. Every technique I knew, he had taught me. Against him, I would lose. There was no question. The whistle blew, and the blows came one after another, close and vicious, landing all over my body. With one crisp crack of a rib, I went down hard. The instant the referee called the result, I heard Ned sigh. "Sorry. It was Zoey Swanson's birthday yesterday. She wished she could watch me beat you in the ring." "Her health is bad. The doctors say she might not see another birthday." "This last wish, I had to make it come true for her." Down below, Zoey sat in her wheelchair, color in her cheeks, a faint smile at the corner of her mouth. I lay on the floor, my chest barely rising and falling, every breath a struggle. Whether Zoey would live to see next year, I didn't know. But me — I would never see the sun three days from now. 1. The roar of the crowd cut off all at once. The referee laid a hand lightly on my shoulder. "Can you still get up?" I lay there feeling like the broken rib had shifted and stabbed straight into my lung. The words came out almost too faint to hear. "Abner Marsh, just leave it." Losing to Ned, I could accept that. After all, everything that had kept me alive this long in a place that chewed people up and spat out nothing but bones came from the moves he'd drilled into me. Last night, too wound up to sleep, I'd climbed to the highest rooftop above the gym. Above me stretched a sky full of stars. In my earbuds was the steady sound of his breathing. My heart was pounding like a drum, and I chose my words carefully. "Tomorrow's my last match. Will you come watch?" That final win, I wanted Ned to see it with his own eyes. A soft laugh came through the line. "Of course." He kept his word. He really came. Swapped out my opponent himself. Stood in the ring himself. Threw away my life himself. Ned peeled off his gloves. His face carried a few marks from the fight too. He held out a hand, the knuckles standing out sharp against the light. "Don't be dramatic. Get up. The ring isn't the place to play weak." "Cough, cough, cough." A second before my hand reached his, Zoey's coughing carried clear through the crowd to me. Her head was bowed, her hand over her mouth, her body trembling like a leaf in the wind. Ned's brow creased at once. He vaulted the railing cleanly and went to her side, drawing her shawl closer around her. "There's too much blood in the air here. Your body can't take the smell of it. I'll get you out." His tone sounded like scolding, but listen closely and it was all soft, indulgent helplessness. "You had to come see it in person. If you wanted the result, I could've just told you." "When have I ever failed to do something I promised you?" He kept Zoey held securely against him, and at the doorway he turned back to look at me. "Stop lying there playing dead. I know exactly how hard I hit." "I know you're angry I broke your winning streak." "I'll come pick you up tomorrow, take you to that place on the South Side to eat." The way he always did it, smoothing over whatever came between us with a meal. I closed my eyes. But this time, it was different. After they left, Abner helped me down from the ring, his voice bitter as he begged me to see a doctor. I opened my clothes. My body was already covered in wounds. Bruises layered on bruises, awful to look at. Today Ned's fists had come down with real force. I splashed medicated oil over the injuries and bound a support wrap around my chest. Only when that was done did I have the strength to speak. "I don't have many days left anyway, so don't waste the money." "What's left, I still have to save it for Grandma's treatment." I dropped my eyes and forced out a small smile. In my head I was already counting the balance left on the card, how many rounds of treatment it could still cover for Grandma. My phone lit up with a news alert. The photo on the front was Ned carrying Zoey out of the fight club in his arms. The headline was large, and eye-catching enough. 【Romance Heating Up — Wedding Bells May Soon Ring for the James and Swanson Families!】 Whether she meant to or not, Zoey had liked the post, then quickly unliked it. Abner stood beside me, so upset his voice cracked. "These paparazzi run fake stories all day long. Young Master James's girlfriend is you, plain and simple. She—" I reached out and turned the phone face-down on the table, my voice bitter. "Matched families, a handsome man and a lovely woman. They do suit each other."