Chapter 21
RAFE
Ijerked awake in the depths of icy water, kicked weak and useless limbs, and eventually broke the surface.
Gasping, I pulled myself onto land with jittery arms and spewed water from my lungs, coughing until I puked.
I rolled to my back, and the throb in my head made itself known.
So did the fire in my left shoulder. The sky spun like a damn acid trip.
Wet and itchy grass cradled my body, and I groaned as I ran my fingers along a nasty gash in my skull.
I pulled my hand away and winced at the blood covering it. Too much blood.
Shaking uncontrollably, my heart rate doubled as I tried to sit up, but I couldn’t get myself off the ground.
The stars seemed to distance themselves, as if they knew I’d suck the light out of them.
I thought I heard someone scream, and something about that hysterical plea fisted my insides.
What the fuck had happened to me? I recognized my dad’s island, but why I was sprawled on it, hurt and bleeding, I didn’t know.
Another scream cut through the air, abruptly cut short as it carried in the night.
Someone was in trouble, needed my help, yet I couldn’t move… couldn’t stay…awake.
Someone lifted me, followed by the unmistakable sway of a boat ride. A voice kept talking to me, telling me to hold on.
Almost there, buddy.
Almost where?
A horn blared, tires screeched, and frantic voices exchanged meaningless words because everything was meaningless. None of it made sense. Where was I?
Didn’t someone need help?
A sharp pain stabbed my chest at the thought.
I was unworthy, a sadistic ass who’d done horrible things…
who had I done this to? And why would I do something so…
what had I done? Why was trying to remember making my head throb like a fucking drum, pounded on by brutal drumsticks that inflicted the most horrid pain?
I felt those strikes clear though my eyeballs to my teeth.
Hands grabbed my body and lifted, sliding me onto something cold and hard and bumpy. An engine rumbled to life. I groaned as I rolled, though an arm steadied me, as did the leg stretched out at my side.
A bright light woke me, searing my eyes and intensifying the throb at my temples, which kept time to the rhythmic beep that irritated my ears. I rubbed the blurriness from my vision and took in the small room. What the hell? Had I lost a fight, beaten so badly I’d needed hospitalization?
Why couldn’t I remember?
Someone shifted on my left, and I found a guy slumped in a chair, his dark blond hair a mess on his head. His drawn face displayed signs of fatigue.
“Thought I’d lost you, man.”
I blinked. Something wasn’t right. He must have been in the wrong room, or confused.
I closed my eyes, but when I opened them, he was still staring at me, waiting for an answer. “Why are you here?”
“Seriously? We get into one fight and this is how you’re gonna play it?” He brushed the hair from his brown eyes. “That’s cold. If I hadn’t come back, you would’ve bled to death. Lucky for you, you sonofabitch, it was a clean shot, so no permanent damage.”
I blinked again, feeling as if I were missing several cards from the deck. “I don’t remember. How long have I been here?”
Some of the anger left his shoulders. “You’ve been laid up three days. It was touch and go for a while. You lost a lot of blood, and they didn’t know how long you’d gone without oxygen.”
What the hell? No one choked me out. It just wasn’t done. I choked my opponents.
“Must have been some fight.”
He raised a brow. “That’s a mild way of putting it. No one can piece together what happened.” He gave me a heavy look, then lowered his voice. “Which is a good thing since you-know-who vanished, though I’d like to get my hands on whoever did this.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, I’m guessing you let her go? There’s been no sign of her since. I said I found you on the side of the highway, so the island is secure. No cops crawling it.” He sighed. “So what do you remember? Because fuck, Rafe, I don’t have a clue what happened out there.”
I studied this tattooed stranger through squinted eyes, still having no idea who he was or what he was talking about, yet he acted as if he knew me. “Um, I remember seeing Nikki the other night.” Hell, that girl could fuck a guy raw. My dick twitched as I remembered how she’d ridden me.
“How bad did you bump your head? Nikki showed up a few mornings ago. Close call too.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I knew the risks when I signed on for this, but I gotta say it—these past few days have been a bitch.”
“What?” Was he purposefully speaking in riddles?
I’d fucked Nikki the night Zach and I had gone head-to-head.
I was still on a high from winning that title, knowing my dream of fighting in the UFC was a real possibility now.
As for the rest of what this guy at my bedside said, it made about as much sense as his presence.
I glanced around the room and tried to figure out what I was missing.
Plain white walls, standard hospital machinery, and that fucking beeping that increased the throbbing in my head.
Most notably, someone was absent. “Where’s my dad?
” I wasn’t surprised my brother hadn’t shown up.
He was always too busy to differentiate his asshole from his mouth, and he’d never approved of my career anyway, but Dad would be the first one here.
The guy narrowed his eyes. “Something’s not right…” He jumped to his feet and hit the call button.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting help, ‘cause you’re not acting like yourself.”
“Dude,” I said, “How would you know? I don’t even know who the hell you are. No offense.”
He collapsed back into the chair, eyes wide, and his panic penetrated my tough veneer. His reaction scared me, and I didn’t know why.
“That is not funny,” he said. “Cut the crap.”
I shook my head. “Seriously, who are you?”
He pushed his hands through his hair. Three times now, he’d done that. Must be a nervous tick. “This isn’t happening.” His gaze bored into me. “Who’s the President?”
“Of the UFC?”
“No! Of the fucking United States.”
I furrowed my brows. “Bush, why?”
“Shit,” he said, then dropped his head into his hands. A few seconds later, he looked up, his face taut with stress. “What year is it?”
“2006. What the hell is going on?”
“You’ve lost eight years of your life, man. That’s what’s going on.”