He was requesting access to a secure parking station only VIPs could access. No general public. He finally got through all the rigmarole just as they reached the entrance. He lowered the window, then his glasses, to show the guard at the gate who he was. The guard talked into his shoulder radio and was obviously given permission to let them in, which he did.
There were plenty of spaces, and they parked right in front of the one available elevator.
“Who are we going to see?” she finally asked as the elevator shot up to the top floor.
“The closest thing I’ll ever have to a sister,” Owen said, looking straight ahead. “After my mum and my dad split, I lived with my mum most of the time. My dad still kept fighting for a year or so on the road, but I got to see him on weekends unless he was travelling to fight. He was living with one of his old flames and her daughter. After he retired, he eventually got his own place, but I stayed in touch with Olivia and her mum. Her mum passed away a few years ago, but Olivia and I never lost our connection.”
“What’s she doing in here?”
Owen sighed as the elevator slowed. “Months ago, she won a huge contract at her design firm as part of a duo team. When she found out her male colleague was getting most of the credit and incentive bonus, she naturally freaked out. It wasn’t long before she was fired and blacklisted from other jobs as she was seen as a trouble maker. She spent all her savings taking them to court but got nowhere. She hit rock bottom hard. Drinking. Pills and whatnot. I never knew how bad things were until I found out some of the people she had been getting her gear off had beaten her and left her for dead. That was a month ago. It’s the only time I’ve ever broken my training camp to fly over here. No one knew. No media. I've been paying for her recovery and psych evaluation.”
“Evaluation? Is she a suicide risk?”
“No. They thought her delusions would stop when she detoxed. But she maintains a woman in armour found her in the park and brought her to the hospital.”
“Well, I suppose that’s a bit weird. But, in her state, she could just be getting confused. The woman might have been wearing a sparkly dress?”
Owen smiled. “No, she meant armour. She ‘flew’ Olivia in her arms to the hospital ambulance dock and left her there when nurses saw her.”
“And I suppose the nurses didn’t see anyone?”
“Nope. No one but Olivia. They rushed to her and stabilised her. She’s been here ever since.”
Tegan followed Owen through the hall, four doors down to the right. It was a private room, not unlike any other you would find. Olivia lay dozing in her bed, her face still adorned with various injuries and degrees of dark bruises. Owen took the nearest seat to the bed and gently brushed her hand with his fingers.
Olivia woke rather quickly, and her eyes found him. “Hey, Gaz...”
“How you feeling?”
“Like two million dollars,” she replied, coughing a touch. The voice was sleepy and calm, yet after a few seconds she perked up. “They wouldn’t let me see your fight, even on TV. I had to wait for them to tell me. Congrats... oh, I’m sorry. Who’s your friend?”
“No. I’m sorry. I should’ve introduced you. Liv, this is Tegan.”
The smile and small wave Tegan got seemed really warm and genuine and the tiny “Hi” reinforced that. She seemed like a really nice woman.
“So... ” Olivia said. “Who do you think you’ll fight for the title?”
“We don’t have to worry about that now. I have to win my next match first.”
Olivia dismissed him with a wave of her hand. “You know you’ll win. Hell, everyone does. They might as well just skip it and go straight to the title fight.”
“There’s a fine line between overconfidence and cockiness.”
“I can tell you now; you’ll be fighting Diaz for the belt. Absolutely LFC.”
“Sorry, what’s LFC?” Tegan asked.
“Living Fucking Certainty.” Olivia smiled. Tegan nodded with a smirk. “So, why do you think Owen will face that guy?”
“Ricky Chozen is a good champion but Diaz will slaughter him. The guy is an animal. If it wasn’t for the court case, I don’t think anyone would’ve beaten him. He’d still have the belt now.”
“Wait a sec, Diaz...” it came back to Tegan. What Fiona had told her in the crowd at Owen’s fight. “He killed someone, right?”
“Yes, he did.” Olivia replied fiercely.
“It was an accident,” Owen interjected.
“Bullshit,” Olivia replied. “You’ve said that before but you’ll never make me believe it. He knew exactly what he was doing,” she turned to Tegan as she explained. “It was almost the end of the second round. Andrew Craigie was the opponent. Craigie was out on his feet; he could not have gone on. The ref should’ve stopped it, but it was one of those split-second things. Diaz cracked him across the head with a kick and Craigie hit the wall of the Cage hard. On his way down, Diaz kneed him straight to the head. More than once. When he was down, Diaz was on top of him pummelling him with straights to the temple, even as the ref was pushing him off. Diaz won, and Craigie never woke up. Died in hospital two hours later, surrounded by his wife and his little boy.”