I fall back in my chair, landing with a thud. The audience is amped after that display, the close call on Dom, but not me. I can barely breathe.
The stands shift, everyone angling for a better view in expectation of an angsty second round. I, too, head down the steps and stand at the railing. My fingers twist around the rusty metal pole, my eyes glued on Dom in the corner.
He’s bleeding from a cut above his left eye. The older man has a giant cotton swab held to it as he yells in Dom’s face. Dom turns my way and I see the panic on his face.
He reaches for Nate and they exchange a few words. I realize—they can’t see me. I’m not where I’m supposed to be.
Hurrying back to my seat, I trip and fall onto a woman in the aisle on the left.
Her drink, a cheap beer, soaks my shirt. It’s the loss of her drink, not the impact, that has her screaming in my face.
I look over my shoulder to the ring just as she plants her hands on my chest and shoves me backwards.
Dominic
“WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE?” I shout, panic sitting right in the middle of my throat. “Where is she, Nate?”
I hear Percy tell me to get my head straight, that the bell’s gonna ring, but I have to find her.
“Fuck . . .”
The way Nate utters that one little word has my gut sinking, my instincts switching gears from self-preservation to protecting Camilla. I follow his gaze to just above the walkway on the second floor. Her purple shirt is all I can see as she goes toppling over two seats.
Nate is gone and I only catch a glimpse of him as he turns a corner at the base of the tunnel to hit the stairs to get to her.
“Cam!” I scream, watching as a black-haired woman stands over her. “Camilla!”
“Fighter, are you ready?”
Ignoring the ref, I look at Percy. “Stall the fight.”
“I can’t stall the fight. What the hell are you talking about, Hughes?”
The bell goes off behind me as I grab the top rope and begin to climb out of the ring. There’s a woman standing over Cam and it’s enough to send my adrenaline on an all-time high. I hear the gasps from the crowd, the murmurings, the shouts from the ref to protect myself as I start over the barrier.
Then I feel it. A blast, unchallenged to the side of my face. For a second, I can feel every inch of my face move—my jaw, my nose, my skin. My knees buckle as I’m knocked sideways by the force, my feet slipping, only barely catching me as I take a step to the side to get my balance.
“Come on, Dominic!” Percy shouts.
I look up for Cam, but can’t really see. Everything is still blurry from the punch. My head rings, but I’m cognizant enough to know that I’m in trouble.
“Umph,” I groan, the wind knocked out of me as a kick, a punch—I’m not sure—rips through my side. My ribs crunch like an accordion, the cartilage separating them smashing.
The pain is blinding. My mouth opens to help my lungs get enough oxygen so I don’t pass out. Despite it all, I’m looking up in the stands, trying to focus on Cam.
Getting to my feet, adrenaline tearing through my veins and buffering the intensity of the agony long enough for me to focus, I see Nate with his finger in some guy’s face and Cam standing beside him. Watching me.
Movement catches in my peripheral vision and I see my opponent charging in my direction. Knowing I have one good, solid move left in me, I turn my body.
His right arm is pulled back, ready to fire, as he lunges forward. Like a coiled spring, I unleash a left uppercut.
He doesn’t see it coming. Doesn’t expect it. It gives me a bigger opening and I put every bit of power I can muster into the punch. It hits its target—right under his chin—and he falls backwards, his eyes rolling as he hits the mat.
The bell rings and the ref covers him, waving his arms indicating the fight is over.
Cheers from the crowd filter back into my ears as I look up again, trying to find Cam. Tears stream down her cheeks, Nate at her side. My brother gives me a thumbs-up and I fall to my knees, gripping my side, as the pain becomes unbearable.
My body feels like it’s splitting in two, like something inside is definitely wrong. I sway, searching desperately for something to hold on to so I don’t pass out.