Sucker Punch (TKO #4) (17 page)

Chapter 34

Austin

“You look like death.” Lance grins as he looks at me.

“I got no sleep last night,” I point out to him.

“Oh yeah, what were you doing?” He raises his eyebrow.

“Sure you want to know?”

“You dirty boy.” He laughs as he puts on his gloves. I grab mine out of my locker and put it on.

“You know she was singing along to Taylor Swift?” I scrunch my nose.

“Now she’s a keeper.”

“You’re weird.” I laugh as we walk to the mat.

I figure I better get my ass on the mat now before exhaustion really hits me and I can’t function. When I walked into the apartment earlier, I slowly made my way to my room and I did lie on my bed but like I told Paige, I wasn’t able to fall asleep.

Even in my exhaustion, I’m managing to focus on what I need to be doing. With the fight coming up, I can’t afford not to be focused. Lance and I begin sparring. He swings and I slide out of his way. He’s quick but surprisingly, so am I. I think I hear Garrett’s voice in the background but I don’t let him distract me. I throw a hit and knock Lance backwards. He stumbles, nearly losing his balance, but he keeps it steady. We continue round and round until Howard calls us over.

I grab the bottle of water out of my locker and take a sip before walking towards his office. I’m thinking he has something important to tell us, but instead he just wants to talk about what’s going on in all of our lives right now. Garrett and Lance all talk about their new families and how things are going well with all of them. Howard talks about Wendy’s new pregnancy and he still swears the hormones are insane. They all turn to me and I simply smile and tell them I’m in love. I’m prepared for them to laugh at me. I mean, what grown man will openly admit to his guy friends he’s in love? They don’t laugh, though. They tell me how happy they are to see me moving on with my life and being happy.

I think about Paige and hope she’s having a good day. I know she’s tired and her job is a lot more important than mine. People’s lives are actually in her hands. I can’t wait to talk to her again later, I miss her.

We all talk a little longer before Howard tells us to get back to work. This time, Lance decides to go lift weights and Garrett follows him. That leaves me and Howard to practice. We spar for a while and my exhaustion is finally starting to kick in. When I glance at the clock, it’s a little after lunch time. Howard orders some burgers from a place up the road for everyone and goes to pick them up. We all eat and bullshit a little more before we decide to work again. I can’t lie, I go and sit on the mat and I could literally just pass out. I don’t care how much sweat falls onto here daily. Howard and I spar some more. I manage to sweep his feet from under him twice and I’m damn proud of myself. He’s proud too. His eyes light up each time he hits the mat.

“Let’s go ahead and call it a day,” he tells me. “We’ll pick back up tomorrow. You’re doing great. I can’t wait to see you in your match.”

“I’m ready, man. It’s going to be great.” I walk towards my locker and see a text from Paige. I open it up smiling; what a fucking dork I’ve become. But my smiles quickly fades.

Paige: Brendan is dead.

Austin: What are you talking about? Are you okay?

Paige: He had heart surgery today. He didn’t make it. That’s why he started coming around. He knew he was in trouble. What am I supposed to tell Darla?

Austin: Oh fuck. I’m so sorry. I don’t know. Do you want me to be with you?

Paige: I think I need to do this on my own first. I love you.

Austin: I love you too.

Fuck. I toss my phone back inside and slam the door to my locker. For a moment, I forgot where I was. I turn and all eyes are on me.

“What’s wrong?” Garrett asks cautiously.

“Paige just texted me. Her daughter’s dad died during heart surgery today. She has no clue how she’s supposed to tell her.”

“Oh fuck,” he whispers. Before I know it, all of them are hugging me. I feel so helpless knowing there’s nothing I can do for Paige or Darla right now.

“He just started coming around after four years and the little girl practically worshiped him,” I tell them.

“I hate to hear that,” Howard tells me.

“She told me she wants to tell her daughter alone. I completely understand. I’m just going to go home and I’ll check on her later.”

“If you need someone to talk to, give one of us a call,” Garrett tells me.

I nod as I open the locker back up and grab my things. I can’t even wrap my head around what is happening right now. No child that young should lose a parent, not one they just met. I’m just at a complete loss and so I drive home. I’m hoping Ruston isn’t there because all I want to do is lock myself inside my room and wait to hear from Paige. I’m relieved when he’s not home and I do just what I said I’d do. I lock the door. I sit. And I wait.

Chapter 35

Paige

I sit in my car and stare at my phone. I hate to call my mom and tell her what I have to, but I need her to know before I pop up and break the news to Darla.

As she answers the phone, I take in a deep breath. “Mom?”

“Is everything okay, Paige?” Her intuition is kicking in. She senses something is wrong before I can even tell her.

“N-no,” I whisper. I take in another deep breath. “Mom, Brendan died in the hospital today. H-he had to have heart surgery and he didn’t m-make it.”

“Oh no, I’m so sorry. What do you need me to do?” she immediately asks.

I’m trying hard not to keep crying. My head is already pounding from the tears that have fallen.

“I have no clue, but I know I’m going to need you, Mom. I don’t understand this and I need to be able to lean on you when I talk to her. This isn’t how this was supposed to be. She just met him and now he’s gone.” My lip quivers as I fight back the tears.

“Are you on your way?” she asks.

“Yeah, I’ll see you in a few.” I end the call and hit the steering wheel. This is not fair at all. I never wanted Darla to have to know any pain like this at such a young age, but we have no choice. I start the car and slowly start driving away from the hospital. I glance back in my mirror and stare at the place where Brendan’s life abruptly ended. I know for years I thought he was the biggest piece of shit on the earth for not being around his daughter, but recently he turned everything around and there’s no doubt he truly loved her. I just hope when she gets older she’ll remember this short-lived love and carry it with her.

As I pull into my parent’s driveway, the tears begin to form again. Reality is a bitch and it’s creeping up on me. I’m not ready to do this. I make myself get out of the car and I notice my dad is standing in the doorway. I sigh as I walk closer to him and he gently wraps his arms around me.

“I’m so sorry, Paige,” he tells me.

There’s no words for me. It’s bad enough I’m struggling with finding the right way to tell my four year old daughter. “It’s not fair, Dad,” I manage to whisper.

“I know it isn’t,” he says as he kisses the top of my head. “Your mom and Darla are in the living room.”

I don’t want to go in there. I want to just go get in my car, go back to work and have a do-over of this day. In my do-over, Brendan won’t have died and everything will be peachy fucking keen. I take in a deep breath and try to control my tears, but the moment I look at Darla, I can’t hold them in. The tears trickle slowly down my cheek as I go and sit beside her. Mom is on the other side of her with eyes as red and puffy as mine.

“Hey baby girl, Mommy needs to talk to you about something very important,” I slowly tell her.

Darla’s eyes are portraying such innocence right now I hate to even think about taking that away. “What, Mommy?”

“Your daddy had a sick heart,” I begin. “The doctors tried to fix it for him but they couldn’t and he, uh, he went to live in heaven today.”

Darla looks at me a little confused. “He went away? Why?”

“Because of his heart, baby. He was sick but he’s not sick anymore.”

“Can I see him again?” Oh, my heart continues to break. This is not going to end well.

“No baby, he’s not here anymore.”

“But I love my daddy.” She begins to whimper. I don’t even have to look at my mom to know she’s crying again. I can hear her sobs and the tears in my eyes thicken.

“I k-know, and he loved you too,” I stammer out.

Darla begins to cry and between my mom and I, we wrap our arms around her holding her tightly. I never want her to know this kind of pain ever again.

***

It’s a little after eleven at night when I finally get Darla to sleep. Being only four years old, I wasn’t sure how she would take the sudden and unexpected news. She’s had so many questions. I figured she would. I mean, how on earth is she supposed to understand this kind of stuff? Death isn’t something we’ve exactly discussed. We’ve had no reason to, and I surely wasn’t expected to get hit with it like today.

I’m utterly exhausted. I didn’t know I could be this tired and I really should get some sleep, but I can’t. A thousand different things keep running through my head. Everything from the moment I met Brendan for the first time to the relationship we had before I got pregnant. Then of course there was the turmoil I got caught up in when he left me, four years later him finally coming around, only to be taken away again but this time for good. I just want the memories to stop for now because I can’t close my eyes without seeing him everywhere.

I grab my phone for the first time since I texted Austin earlier. He’s texted a few times, simply saying things like,
‘Are we okay?’
and
‘I’m here if you need me.’
He has no idea how much I appreciate those few little words. I don’t know if he’s awake but I decide to text him just in case. I feel terrible for not having replied, but he understands we need some space and I can’t thank him enough for that.

Paige: This has been the longest, worst day ever.

Austin: I’m so sorry, babe. How are you two doing?

I’m actually relieved he answered. I really need someone more than a four year old to talk to right now.

Paige: I’m okay I guess. I’m still in shock this even happened. Darla, well, I think she’s going to need a lot of time with this. It was so hard to tell her.

Austin: I wish I could have been there for you.

Paige: I know and I appreciate that more than anything. Thank you really for being so understanding today.

Austin: Why wouldn’t I be? It broke my heart to read that text you sent. No one should have to go through that.

Paige: You’re amazing, I hope you know that.

Austin: And I love you. As much as I want to talk to you, you should get some rest. I know you have to be tired.

Paige: You have no idea.

Austin: Get some rest, babe.

Paige: I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

He gives a quick reply and I set the phone down. I think I’m tired, but I’m going to be even more exhausted in the morning because I’m usually in bed by now. Oh well, that’s what coffee is for. Just as I’m about to close my eyes, Darla pops up on the side of my bed, nearly scaring the crap out of me.

“Darla, what’s wrong?” I ask her.

“Hold me, Mommy,” she softly cries. Her eyes are wet. She’s been crying again.

I grab her and lift her up onto the bed. I wrap my arms around her and hold her close. My mom has and will always be my rock; now it’s time for me to be Darla’s.

Chapter 36

Austin

I slept like crap last night knowing the pain Paige and Darla are going through. I tossed and turned, wondering how they were doing. I know they were most likely asleep but I couldn’t help but think about them. I want to be there for them in every way I can. Ruston isn’t home this morning. I’m wondering why until I look at the clock on the wall and realize I’m late at the gym. No wonder he isn’t here. Shit. I run to my room and grab my phone. There’s a missed call from Howard and a text from Lance. I decide I ought to call Howard instead of replying to Lance.

The phone only rings once before he answers. “Hello?”

“Howard, I just saw you called.”

“Yeah man, we’re worried about you. You’re never late. Everything okay?”

I seriously was waiting for him to rip into me for not being there on time. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I overslept. I talked to Paige a little late last night checking on her,” I tell him honestly.

“How is she doing?”

“Still very shocked. I know her little girl is having a hard time with it all. I’m on my way out of the door, though. I’ll be there shortly,” I tell him.

“Be careful. We’ll see you when you get here,” he tells me.

I’m always careful, well, ever since my accident I’ve been very careful. I know all too well how quickly things can change.

I grab my keys and wallet after putting my tennis shoes on and I run out of the door. I don’t even bother messing with the radio as I drive straight to Lou’s. My stomach is growling and I know I should probably stop and get something to eat, but I don’t. I don’t stop the car until I’m parked in my usual parking spot. Food will just have to wait for right now.

I wanted to text Paige this morning but in all my lateness, I didn’t have a chance. Before I get out of the car and walk inside, I send her a quick good morning text letting her know I’m thinking about her this morning.

“Sleeping Beauty has arrived!” Lance proclaims with his hands in the air. He and Garrett are standing on the mats in sparring position. Well, they were standing, but then Garrett just swept Lance off of his feet, and not in the fairytale way. I can’t help but laugh, and boy did I need that laugh.

“Yeah, I’m here. Sorry guys,” I apologize. I don’t like being late for anything.

“It’s okay, shit happens. We all understand,” Howard chimes in. “Let’s get to work. You have a fight coming up.”

I notice the grin on his face and get an extra boost of confidence. Fight night is coming. If that doesn’t get me pumped, I don’t know what will. “I’m a little tired, but that should keep me on my toes. Let’s get started,” I tell him as I put my glove on.

Garrett offers to spar with me and I take him up on it. I like the challenge he brings. Hell, I like the challenge they all bring. As I warm up, my stomach continues to growl. Lance just happens to walk by and bursts out laughing. “Dude, was that your stomach or did you fart?”

“Shut the fuck up, man.” I glare back at him. “That was my stomach.”

“I have a bag of chips in my locker if you want them,” he offers.

“No thanks.”

“Just saying.” He walks over to the punching bag.

I roll my eyes and turn back to face Garrett. “If Paige or her daughter need anything, let me know. Raegan can cook them a meal or something,” he offers.

“I’d say I’d ask her, but she’ll say they are fine. If Raegan wants to fix something that would probably help. She’ll appreciate it, man, thanks.”

“That’s what friends are for.” He grins as he puts his hands up.

Time to get to work. We spar endlessly until Howard interrupts to give us a speech on what he notices we need work on. I take all of his advice to heart. The last thing I want to do is get into the ring and realize I never paid any attention. I’m not going to fight only to be wiped all over the ring. I’m fighting to win.