Taking Chances (41 page)

“I'll be there,
where is it?”

Scarecrow gave
him an address and Brandon cursed, “I can't I have Harper with me, we're
already ten minutes away, I wouldn't be able to get back in time if I took her
home.”

“Come on man,
don't do this to me. The bets are only going to be this high if you're the
opponent. I need you.”

Brandon looked
at me and took a deep breath in and out of his nose, “Fine. But you keep an eye
on her, if anything happens to her, my next fight will be against you. Got it?”

“HELL YEAH! I
knew my boy wouldn’t let me down. See you in a bit.” He hung up before Brandon
could say anything else.

“I'm sorry
sweetheart, but I have to take you. If you don't want me to go tonight, just
tell me and I'll call him back.”

“Well I don't,
I never want you to go. But I know this means a lot to you.”

He brushed his
knuckles along my jaw, “Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you
too. Call your guys, I'll call Konrad and Jeremy.”

By the time I
was up on the platform with Crow; Breanna, Konrad, Jeremy and one of his
friends were arriving and making their way towards us. They were surprised to
see me at such a big fight, but after explaining our date and how he wouldn't
have made it back they understood and the boys made a loose circle around Bree
and I. I had accidentally been elbowed in the stomach pretty hard not too long
ago, and that had been the last big fight Brandon took me to, ever since then I
get boxed in whenever I'm allowed to come.

Scarecrow was
jumping up and down and couldn't stop laughing and smiling. He finally leaned
in and told me if Brandon won, he would be bringing home at least forty-five
hundred. I blanched, that could only mean the guy he was fighting was really
good. The most Brandon had ever made was three thousand. He introduced them,
and the fight began along with my uncontrollable shaking. Bree held my hand,
she knew how much I hated this. The fight seemed to go on forever, both
fighters equally getting in good punches and kicks. Brandon finally got him on
the ground and almost choked him out before the other guy, who went by the name
“Demon”, tapped out.

I breathed a
huge sigh of relief, and Bree and I laughed shakily and hugged. Scarecrow
hugged us hard and started out to the ring. I looked back at my fiancé who was
riling up the crowd on the opposite side of the basement we were in. I saw
Demon push someone away that had been yelling at him and charge toward Brandon,
just as Brandon turned back around, Demon punched him so hard Brandon's body
went stiff and fell to the ground. Demon sat on top of him and began punching
him again and again until Scarecrow and some other guys pulled him off.
Scarecrow rushed back over to Brandon but he wasn't getting up and he wasn't
moving. I was screaming and trying to run to him, but there were multiple pairs
of hands holding me where I stood. I kept getting flashes of Chase's limp body
on the stretcher, his lifeless hand in mine. Bree's hand was gripping my arm so
hard, I had no doubt she was seeing the same thing. A few guys helped Scarecrow
pick up his body to carry him out of the room, and I broke away from whoever
was holding me to get to Brandon. He was breathing, but he wasn't opening his
eyes or responding to anything.

It probably
wasn't the brightest idea, but there was a hospital less than a mile away so
the guys carried him up the stairs and put him in the back of his Jeep. Jeremy
jumped in with me so he could drive after tossing his keys to his friend.
Konrad said he'd follow us there. Jeremy jumped out and ran into the E.R., when
he came out he was followed closely by nurses with a stretcher. They took
Brandon back to an exam room but made us stay in the waiting room. I collapsed
into Jeremy's side and bawled my eyes out. I'd seen Brandon knock guys
unconscious, but after a minute or smelling salts, they always woke up. Brandon
didn't. There was no way this was happening.

Bree, Konrad
and Jeremy's friend rushed in together, Bree was crying just as hard as me.
Konrad's face was ashen and blank. This was too much for what we'd seen just
over three months ago.

Jeremy's
friend, Kevin, stood next to Jeremy and half whispered, “I get he was knocked
out and all, but these people need to calm the eff down.”

Konrad lunged
at him but Jeremy jumped in between them. “I got this.” He said calmly to
Konrad and turned on his friend to push him toward the door, “Not cool man.” I
heard him say before they got outside.

Konrad sat on
the couch and pulled Breanna onto his lap, she curled into him and soaked his
shirt with her tears, his other arm went around me. None of us could say
anything, the only sound was our sobs. My eyes seemed to not be able to leave
his left arm that was holding Bree to his body. The thick pink scars from
trying to get to Chase seemed to stand out even more now. Taunting me with
alternating flashes of Chase dead on the ground and Brandon laying
unresponsive. A few minutes later, Jeremy pulled me from Konrad and wrapped his
arms around me, he was still in High School, but he was just as tall as his
brother, though slightly lankier, and was able to hold me just as easily as
Brandon.

“It's okay sis,
it'll be okay.” He softly crooned. “He's going to be fine.”

An
administrative nurse came up to us with a clipboard and paperwork to fill out
for Brandon, and with the help of Jeremy, we got it completely filled out. When
I sat back down on the couch, Kevin walked up, he'd been sitting in some chairs
against another wall, and looked at us sheepishly.

“I'm really
sorry. I didn't know about…” He looked around for a second, biting his lip.

“It's fine.” I
said hoarsely.

Scarecrow came
running in and came right over to us, “Is he okay? Did he wake up?”

Bree and I
started crying again at those questions.
He’s not waking up!
I
remembered Konrad's hysterical screaming from that night and my pleas for Chase
to wake up when the EMT pulled me away from him.

Jeremy talked
to him for a minute, and went back to trying to calm me down. Konrad wasn't
having much more luck with Bree, but then again he looked like he was in shock.
Scarecrow held a wad of cash in front of me and I looked up with disgust. I
sucked in a deep breath to let him know what I thought about him and his money
but Jeremy hugged me close, grabbed the money and shoved it in my purse while
telling Scarecrow he needed to leave. He was a good brother for stopping me
from saying something stupid.

“Sis, look at
me.” he ordered and I reluctantly looked up, “He's going to be fine. I know
what this means for all of you, but he will be fine.”

“Mr. Taylor?”

Jeremy and I
jumped off the couch and rushed over to the Doctor.

“Are you family
of Mr. Taylor?”

“I'm his
brother, this is his fiancée.” Jeremy answered, keeping a tight grip on my
upper arm in case I fainted, which I definitely felt like I was about to do.

“He's awake,
and you can see him. Only one person at a time, but I have some questions
before you go back there. Can you tell me how this happened?”

Jeremy replayed
what happened after the fight had ended for the Doctor who nodded and looked at
his watch.

“We should have
the X-ray back in a few minutes, if there's anything suspicious I'll be running
more tests, but you may go in and see him now if you'd like.”

After making
sure I was going to stay vertical, Jeremy let go and walked back to the group.

“Miss? Do you
need a wheelchair?” The Doctor asked looking at my swollen stomach and pale
face.

“I'm fine, just
please take me to see him.”

We walked down
two halls and into a room. Brandon sighed in relief and reached an arm toward
me. “Come here sweetheart.”

I grabbed his
hand with both of mine, no longer caring about the tears still falling down my
cheeks. “Are you okay?”

“I'm fine, just
feel like I got my ass beat.” He huffed a laugh.

“This isn't
funny. You weren't waking up Brandon!”

“I know.” He
pulled my arm closer to his body, “Come here.” He kissed me twice and held my
face in his hands. “I'm sorry, he was dirty, I wasn't expecting that. I'll make
sure it doesn't happen again though. That's the first time I've had someone do
that.”

I pulled away
abruptly, “Again? No! Brandon, you can't fight again. Do you know what it was
like seeing you like that? Unresponsive on the ground? I can't lose you too.” I
sobbed and fell into the chair next to the bed.

Brandon tried
to get off the bed, but the IV was keeping him there. “You won't lose me
sweetheart, I promise. I'll be more careful.”

My entire body
was shaking hard, I was trying to take calming breaths but it wasn't an easy
thing to do. I thought watching Chase die on the ground was the worst thing I
would ever experience in my life. I was wrong. Seeing Brandon like that, and
thinking I was going to lose him too, that was the worst moment of my life by
far.

There was a
knock on the door, “Mr. Taylor?”

I looked up to
see the Doctor walking in. I wish he had more emotion, his face looked like he
could easily be delivering good news or bad news.

“It looks like
you're going to be okay, you have a major concussion and we're going to have to
keep you for a while to make sure nothing happens. But there isn't too much
swelling, so that's a good thing. I do need to stress something though. You
fight often, is that correct?”

Brandon nodded.

“I can't tell
you what to do, but it would be wise for you to consider retiring from your
fighting. Hits like the one you received tonight, can easily cause much more
severe damage. Permanent damage. You were extremely lucky tonight, but since
you suffered from a hit like the one tonight, even a minor one can cause damage
if received the wrong way.” He looked over a couple papers, and stayed looking
at them as he spoke again, “We'll monitor you for the next four hours, and if
you seem to be recovering fine, you can go home. Any questions?”

Brandon looked
at me, and spoke softly. “No. Thank you Doctor.” After he shut the door Brandon
continued to watch me silently cry and hold my stomach for a few minutes,
“Harper –”

I shook my head
and moved farther from his reaching hand.

“Hey guys,”
Jeremy said as he walked in, “sis, you mind if I talk to him for a bit?”

I didn't say
anything, I just stood up and walked out. Brandon called my name twice but I
kept walking. When I got back to Konrad, Breanna and Kevin, I relayed what the
Doctor said, and how Brandon planned to keep fighting. Konrad went to the
bathroom and Bree held me while we waited for Jeremy to come back. Thankfully
guys don't talk long, and he was walking back into the room in no time.

“He wants to
talk to you.”

I nodded and
walked back down the halls, the door was cracked and I heard Brandon's rich
voice filling the room.

“I’m sure it looked
bad, but I really am fine.”

“You don't get
it man. You weren't there that night with Chase.” I realized it was Konrad and
stepped closer.

“I know that,
but this is the first time something like this has happened, and it wasn't even
during the fight. I make really good money, more than enough to support her and
our family. I can't just stop because of one hit.”

“You won't be
supporting them if you take another hit like that and it paralyzes you.”

“I won't.”
Brandon groaned.

“Look you can
do whatever you want. Despite what Harper says tonight, she loves you enough
that she would never actually stop you from doing something you wanted to do.
But your girl wasn't the only one who thought you were gone. It was like a
complete flash back of that night for all of us. People normally wake up from
smelling salts, you didn't. You didn't even move.”

“I didn't know
they used them.”

“Well they did,
three different times. She has every right to be terrified that she's going to
lose you like she lost Chase. Only this time, I don't know if she would be able
to move on. I understand that you didn't see her side of things after you broke
up, but we did. Everyone knew she was still madly in love with you, even Chase
knew it but he never brought it up. We all knew he would never hold her heart
the way you did. But you
did
see her the morning before he died, and you
saw what that, and his death did to her.”

“It was like
she wasn't even there anymore.” Brandon whispered.

“Exactly.
I
had
to watch two police officers hold her down and she still escaped them to get to
Chase. I watched her scream for him to wake up even though she knew he
wouldn't. But tonight? Random guys standing near us even helped in trying to
keep her away from the ring. She got away from four grown men tonight. Four!
And
she's about to have a baby. The fear in her eyes and voice, was like nothing
I've ever seen before. It was as if her reason for existing was lying
motionless on the floor. Losing you would kill her, I have no doubt about that.
So do what you want, but consider her and your baby before you go out there
again.”

“I do consider
them, I'm doing this to support them!”

“You can find
another way to support them. Do you want her to always be worried that you
won't come home one night from this?”

“No.” Brandon
took a few deep breaths in and out, “Seeing her like that tonight, I felt like
someone stabbed me and kept turning the knife. I hate that I put her through
that.”

“Yet you still
told her you weren't going to stop fighting?” Konrad challenged, “If you love
her like you say you do, you'll take care of yourself so you can take care of
them.”

“I love her
more than my own life.” Brandon growled.

Konrad sighed,
“I know you do man, I shouldn’t have said that. You both mean a lot to me, I
love you like family. I don't want to see either of you hurt.” He took a couple
steps toward the door and stopped. “Listen, she messed up with you once, and
she's paying for it. She'll pay for it every day for the rest of her life. But
she would never do anything again to hurt you. Think about that.” Konrad
stepped through the door and shut it behind him, he jerked back when he saw me.
“Hey Kid.”