Chapter 45 #2
When Sophie asked me what I knew about my upcoming opponent before she knew about Jay, I told her I didn’t follow his fights, that I left it up to my team to give me information on him.
But that wasn’t entirely true. I’d watched a handful of his bouts, taking notes on his weaknesses, of which there were a few.
His biggest one was that he focused too much on his opponent’s footwork, missing the swings that came afterward.
After the bell, we retreated to opposite sides of the ring. My left eye started to swell, and my muscles ached.
“Shut him down, Jax,” Trevor shouted next to me. “Stop fucking around.”
I didn’t want to admit I wasn’t fucking around, that Jay was giving as good as he got, but I nodded all the same.
Between rounds, the fighters got a full minute’s rest. Trevor and I discussed some moves for me to utilize, and while I absorbed that information, I couldn’t help but wonder how Sophie was doing.
I peered over his shoulder to search for her and saw that her shoulders were hunched and that her beautiful face was contorted in a grimace.
I’d warned her how brutal these fights could be, but she had no idea just how bad they could get.
Elton followed my eyeline before turning back to me.
“Don’t worry about her. She’ll be fine. Focus,” he said, smacking my cheek and pointing at me. “Focus,” he repeated when I glared at him.
The bell rang once more, and I moved toward Jay, bouncing on my feet, ready to end this fight once and for all. He managed a successful kick to my ribs, and I knocked him back with a harsh uppercut, the padding of my glove compressing my knuckles with the force.
I danced around him, planning my next move, when out of my periphery, I saw Sophie leave her seat and walk up the aisle.
Lance and Abby hadn’t moved to follow her.
I’d warned her to stay put, fearing her ex would find any occasion to come at her again, and what better opportunity than at a crowded fight.
I took my eyes off Jay for less than a second, but it was enough for him to gain the upper hand.
I was flat on my back before I could register what happened.
The weight of his body pinned me to the mat, and as I enacted the move to get away from him, a move that had always worked to my advantage in the past, he snatched my left arm and twisted.
My eyes widened in disbelief right before he dislocated my shoulder.
The immense pain blacked out my vision momentarily, and I was immobile.
From my shoulder, numbness traveled down my arm and to my hand.
Jay hopped to his feet and the ref pushed him back.
He saw I couldn’t continue the fight and declared Jay the winner.
Trevor and Elton rushed into the ring, the commotion of the crowd and the shouts of my team morphing together. I couldn’t make out what anyone said, too wrapped up in the pain holding me captive.
Time seemed to stand still while simultaneously speeding up as I was ushered toward the back room where a doctor waited to tend to my injury. Sophie’s back was to the door, but once she heard us, she turned around, the confusion on her face prevalent.
“What happened?” she shouted, moving toward me.
I yanked out my mouth guard and tossed it to the floor. “You fucking left your seat,” I yelled back. I growled through the pain. “I told you to stay put.” My anger loomed over everyone present. “You said you’d be fine.”
“I’m sorry, I… I just…. It wasn’t anything like the video. It… it was too much.”
Lance rushed into the room, glancing from me to Sophie and back again. His expression was a mix of anger, surprise, and regret. If my arm wasn’t hanging right now, I’d punch him in the face for not following simple orders. He had one job to do for me and he failed.
Every time the doctor touched me, I hollered, not looking forward to this next part. Popping the shoulder back in place hurt worse than having it dislocated. My lungs stuttered with the pain, and my entire body heated in preparation for the sharp pain awaiting me.
“Ready?” The doctor looked like a sweet old man with his soft white hair and kind eyes, but the thoughts running through my head while looking at him were anything but sweet. I wanted to punish him for touching me, an irrational reaction, I realized, as he was only trying to help me.
“Just do it,” I gritted, my teeth mashing together.
I clenched my eyes, but the second my shoulder popped back into the socket, they shot open again, my lungs finally releasing a solid breath. A throbbing pain replaced the sharpness of the initial injury, and as soon as the doctor wrapped my arm in a sling, I could think clearly.
I didn’t know what to do with the barrage of emotions that bubbled up inside me.
Defeat.
Blinding anger.
Disappointment.
I struggled to contain any sense of composure, so I kept my eyes averted from everyone, including Sophie. If she had just stayed in her goddamn seat like I asked her to, I’d be celebrating a win instead of nursing my re-injured shoulder.
Did all the blame lie with her, though? Shouldn’t I be accountable for being distracted in the first place?
Instead of dissecting my rampant thoughts, I remained silent. I wanted to be alone but didn’t express the need out loud. Luckily for me, my team knew me well.
“Why don’t we give Jackson a minute?” Elton said, pointing toward the door.
The doctor was the first to leave but only after giving me a script for pain medication as well as instructions on care.
I didn’t bother to tell him I’d been through this more times than I wanted to admit.
Trevor and Abby left next, followed by Elton. Sophie didn’t budge from the doorway.
“Leave,” I said.
“Jackson, I’m so sor—”
I angled my gaze onto her. “Leave,” I shouted, ignoring the rippling agony in my shoulder.
“Come on,” Lance said, touching her arm. “Give him some time.”
She stared at me, her eyes shrouded with unshed tears, but I didn’t have the emotional strength to comfort her before she started crying.
When she finally disappeared with Lance, I was left alone to contemplate my future.
With this sport.
With my team.
With Sophie.