Ground & Pound (17 page)

Kane

The referee grabs my hand, pulling it above my head. The crowd goes wild as he leads me to my corner before saying, “Give me a second.”

He walks to Nico, and I turn to look at Ozzy. “We did it, brother.”

“Fuck that,” he shouts, pulling me into a bear hug. “You did it, man. You did it!”

My coach is hauling me to him a minute later, giving me a hug of his own. “I knew you could do it, boy.”

A second later, he is handing me a t-shirt and a hat from my sponsor and pushing me to the center of the octagon. Then, the ref has my arm in one hand and Nico’s in the other. Behind us, the announcer starts to talk. 

“The referee, Michael Stevens, has called a stop to this contest at one minute and thirty-six seconds of round number three, declaring the winner by TKO and new Heavyweight Champion, Kane “Knock Out” Travis.”

The ref lifts my hand once again, and the fans start to shout my name. A smile spreads across my face as I look into the audience and meet the eyes of my woman. Bringing my fist to my heart, I tap my heart then point at her. “Love you, babe.”

She is looking at me with pride in her eyes, and it makes me feel good. I know the fight had her scared, and now that it’s done, we can both relax and things can calm down. Maybe, we can even get started on planning our future.

Reaching across the ref, I pull Nico in for a hug and whisper in his ear, “Thank you, man. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to fight against an athlete as amazing as yourself.” Nico taught me everything I know, so the fact that I’ve beat him now is unbelievable and gives me a huge sense of pride.

He pounds on my back before stepping back. “Thank you, brother, for giving me the chance to train you. You’ve come a long way from the little shit you were the day you walked into my gym.”

Before Nico goes back to his corner, the commentator is at my side. “Kane Travis, that was amazing. It was absolutely spectacular. You proved you could play Nico’s game and win. Give us your thoughts on the fight.”

Even though I want to tell the world how proud I am to have fought against Nico, a cocky smile covers my face, and I give the fans the answer they want to hear. “I told you all I was gonna beat his old ass, and I did. Did you doubt me?”

Again, the crowd starts to shout. A strangled laugh comes from the commentator before he asks, “Right before I got to you, I heard you say ‘I love you’ to someone. I’m assuming it wasn’t meant for me, so is your girl out in the audience tonight?” 

I can’t help the smile that breaks out when he mentions her. When I look over, her eyes are wide, and I know she hates when I put the attention on her, but I don’t give a damn right now. Pointing to Emmy, I shout, “My woman is right there, right by the ring, the same spot she will be every time I fight. Love you, babe.”

Her mouth drops open a bit at my proclamation. I can’t hold in my laugh as she starts to jump up and down and grabs her brother in a hug. So much for my woman not wanting to be on TV.

“Well, what’s up next for the great Kane Travis?” he asks, pressing the microphone in my face. 

I think about his question for a minute. It’s one I knew he would ask, win or lose, and I had an answer prepared. I was gonna tell him who I hoped to fight next, and about what my training schedule was gonna look like. Now, though, that answer just doesn’t seem right. 

Instead, I tell him what’s on my mind. “I plan on carrying my woman out of here, celebrating in our suite. Then, I’m gonna do my best to convince her to marry me.”

With those words, I rush to the edge of the octagon and climb the cage. Within seconds, Emmy is in my arms, and I am walking us to the locker room. Carrying her through the crowd, I ignore them and whisper in her ear, “You gonna be my wife, Sunshine?”

A huge smile covers her face as her eyes lock on mine. She stretches her body, placing a kiss on my lips. “Yes.”

I stop in my tracks and deepen the kiss. “I love you. I really do.”

She opens her mouth to respond, but before she can, her face distorts in fear and she screams, “No!”

Suddenly, I feel something hit my back, and I have to struggle to stay on my legs. I tighten my grip on Emmy, not wanting to drop her. Pain shoots down my spine, so extreme it nearly makes me double over.
What the fuck just happened?

Before I know what’s going on, Ozzy is pulling Emmy out of my arms, while Coach is holding me up. She looks back at me, and her face is a ghostly white. Tears are streaming down her cheeks, and she is yelling something that I can’t quite make out. In fact, everyone is yelling, but it all seems so muffled. Coach slowly lowers me to the floor as security guards push the crowd back into their seats.

Emmy’s face is hovering above mine. I can see her lips moving, but I still can’t make out what she is saying. Everyone else is standing over me, too, their faces looking as if they have been punched in the gut. I want to ask what’s wrong, but I can’t get my mouth to work. 

Emmy rests her head on my chest, and her mouth is close to my ear. “Hold on, please. I can’t lose you, too.”

My eyes start to flutter closed; I just don’t have the strength to hold them open. It’s as if I’m sinking, and no matter how hard I try, I just can’t kick my way to the surface.
When the darkness comes, I pray that it isn’t permanent. I pray that I get to see my girl again.

Emmy

Beep.

Please wake up.

Beep.

You can’t leave me here.

Beep.

I love you.

Kane’s mom, Mona, puts a hand on my shoulder, drawing my attention away from him. “You need to go home and get a little rest. There’s no way you’re getting any sleep in the place.”

I shake my head. “I can’t leave him.”

I haven’t moved from Kane’s bedside since he came out of surgery two days ago. When Jason stabbed him, the knife punctured his lung, causing him to bleed internally. He nearly died before arriving at the hospital, and did die once while in the operating room, but he ended up making it out. The doctor says he has a fifty-fifty chance of living through this. I refuse to even think of those odds. 

“When he wakes up and realizes you haven’t been taking care of yourself, he’s going to be angry,” she says, pushing a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “He’ll be mad at me for not taking care of his girl.”

“He wouldn’t leave me, and I’m not leaving him.” Instead, I just sit here reliving what happened. I still can’t believe Jason did this. He made it clear that he was furious with Kane and me, but no one would have guessed he would have done something this drastic. I knew he was a cruel man, but never thought he was a murderer. Just thinking about what happened sends a chill down my spine.

Mona looks at me with concern. “If you’re sure you’re staying then I’m gonna run home and take a shower. Do you want me to bring you back some clothes or something to eat?”

“I’m okay, but thank you,” I mumble before going back to my thoughts.

She places a kiss on the top of my head before saying, “Call me if there is any change.”

I nod in agreement, staring down at Kane’s still form. “I promise.”

I grab Kane’s hand, unable to stand not touching him. It’s like a horror movie that replays in my mind over and over again. Jason’s cruel smile as he emerged from the crowd will be a constant sight in my nightmares for years to come.

My phone ringing brings me out of my thoughts. I pull it out and look, seeing my brother’s name flash across the screen. “Hey, Trey.”   

Trey went crazy when Jason went after Kane. From what I’ve heard, he jumped on top of him and didn’t stop hitting him until security pulled him off. The cops arrested him that night for assault. He was released earlier, with no charges filed against him. I’m not sure why, because his lawyer said with the severity of Jason’s injuries, Trey could possibly be arraigned for attempted murder. Ozzy said some of the higher ups in the MMA community talked with the Chief of Police. Maybe they swayed him in Trey’s favor.  

“Any news?” he asks, sounding just as worried as I am. 

“He’s breathing on his own, so that’s good,” I say, trying to grasp at any good news. “He hasn’t woken up yet, but he was moving his hand a bit earlier.”

“The officer that arrested Jason called earlier,” Trey says before taking a deep breath.

“What did he say?” I ask, worried he will get off on some technicality. He needs to pay for what he tried to do to us.

“He said Jason was in the hospital for two days before they were able to question him. He claimed to have been in the arena just to watch the fight. Seeing Kane win flipped some sort of switch in his head, and he just couldn’t stop himself from going after him.” I can hear the anger in his voice. I need to get my brother some help.

“That’s not true,” I shout into the phone. “Jason’s never missed fight night at the club. It was one of our biggest money makers.”

“The cops agree with you. They think he came to the fight, hoping to have a chance to hurt Kane. The fact that he was carrying a knife showed that.”

Blowing out a relived breath, I say, “Thank goodness. Hopefully, he will spend the rest of his life in prison.” Trey goes silent for a second, sending a wave of weirdness through me. “What’s wrong?”

Finally, he answers. “He’s dead, Em.”

“What? How?” I ask, not knowing whether I should feel sadness at the loss of life or happiness that he will never be able to hurt any of us again.

“After he was released from the hospital, they took him right to the precinct. He took the coward’s way out. The officers found him hanging in the jail cell.”

“Oh my God,” I whisper. I’m just about to ask another question, when I see Kane’s hand wiggle. Needing to be at his side, I say, “I’ve gotta go. Love you.”

As soon as my phone is back in my pocket, I grab Kane’s hand and run my free hand through his dark hair. “Wake up, baby.”

Of course, he doesn’t respond. He keeps sleeping, as if I never said a word. Not able to handle it any longer, I sit on the edge of his bed and lay my head down next to his as a tear slips down my cheek. I squeeze his hand. “You have to wake up, you know. I can’t marry you while you’re in this bed.”

“Then get me out of it,” a strangled voice whispers.

I freeze, hoping to hear the words again. Everything is silent, and I start to think it was just my imagination. Then, one of his hands comes up to grab mine. When I look up, his blue eyes are open and he is staring down at me. I reach over, pressing the call button for the nurse, before standing up and brushing my mouth over his, careful not to hurt him.

“God, you have no idea how much I missed you.” I rest my forehead on his and let the tears fall. “I was so scared, baby.”

We stay there quietly until his nurse comes in smiling. When she sees he is awake, she takes his vitals, noting all his stats, and lets us know that she will tell the doctor he is awake.  

When she leaves, Kane is staring at me with a questioning look on his face. “What the hell happened to me?”

A tear slips down my cheek as I think back to that night, a night that we should have all spent celebrating. I grab his hand and place a gentle kiss on it. “It was Jason. When you were carrying me, I saw him coming with a knife. It all happened so fast.” I shiver as it plays in my head again. His cruel smile will be a constant sight in my nightmares for years to come. He had this pure look of joy on his face when he realized that no one could stop him.

“I wish I had seen him sooner. Even a second might have given you enough time to move. But, by the time I saw him, it was too late to do anything but scream.” I close my eyes and dip my head. I have been carrying so much guilt for not being able to stop him in time. For being the one to bring Jason into our lives in the first place.

I can still see Kane’s face contorted in pain, while the knife sank into his back. I can feel the way he held me securely, making sure I wasn’t hurt, even as his body was filled with agony. The sight is etched into my memory, along with the look of shock and complete confusion that filled his eyes seconds later.  

“When Ozzy grabbed me from your arms, I went insane. I was kicking and thrashing trying to get back to you. For some reason, I thought I could fix you. I thought, if I could have touched you, it would be okay. When I saw the blood pooling under your body, those thoughts flew away, and I started to scream in pure agony.” My shoulders shake as the tears stream faster down my cheeks. The pain that’s been a constant presence in my chest aches harder. I lay my head on Kane’s chest. The beat of his heart is so comforting when, for a while, I thought I’d never hear it again.  

“I stayed by your side until the paramedics came over. Considering the frantic crowd, it took them forever to even get to you. It took them a while to get you stabilized, before they finally loaded you on the gurney and rushed to the ambulance. I was so focused on what was going on with you that I hadn’t even noticed that Trey went after Jason until the paramedics started rolling you away.”

His eyes grow wide. He knows how bad Trey’s temper can be. “Did he kill him?”

“Jason was hurt but not dead. I looked up just in time to see security pulling Trey away in cuffs. Apparently, they didn’t stop it right away, but had to pull him off once Jason hit the floor and was unconscious. By the time he was done, Jason couldn’t stand. He was pouring blood, and his head was flopping to the side.”

I tell him about what Trey just told me. It’s such a relief knowing that neither of us needs to worry about Jason ever again. He is out of our lives for good.

“How is your brother?” I can see the worry on his face.

Of course, my man is worried about my brother when he’s lying in the hospital himself. “He’s fine. Somehow, no charges were filled. He’ll probably be here this afternoon.”

“Good,” he mumbles through a pain-filled moan. 

Leaning down, I place a kiss on the edge of his lips and whisper, “Everything is going to be perfect.”