“Where’s that Aussie charm you use on your pussy patrol fans? You got nothing to say coz ya can’t knock me up? Or you realising you’ll struggle to land a punch seeing as though I’m not a woman?”
“Don’t...” Robert said as Owen slowed his pace down.
He heard Diaz scoff behind him. Saying into the microphone, “And they call me a monster? At least I don’t kill my kids.”
Robert tried to keep a hold of Owen’s arm but failed. “OWEN, NO!”
* * *
“Oh, you fucking cunt...” Fiona said to the screen. “Are you OK, babe? Babe?”
Tegan tried to answer, blinking several times rapidly as the pain in her chest grew and grew. “I can’t breathe...”
* * *
Owen mowed down several people in front of him and leapt into Diaz. He snapped a jab across Diaz’ face and his sunglasses split in two. The championship fell to the mat as both men traded punches. Owen ran on pure fury, tasting blood from biting his lips so hard. Fighting in anger gave an adrenaline boost yet made one sloppy. Both men were pulled away from each other by the people in the ring as the crowd went off their faces. They knew this wasn’t staged. It was real.
As his arms were held back, Owen saw Diaz jump over those trying to hold him right before his fist crunched into Owen’s face. The force made his legs give way and if it wasn’t for Robert, he would’ve crumbled.
Owen felt hot blood flow from his forehead, dripping down in front of his eyes but through it he saw Diaz hold the title aloft, over those holding him back.
“It’s right here. Come on. Don’t ya want it? You ain’t nothin’, boy! You’re a phony, man. A fake. You don’t deserve this. You’re a joke!”
Robert helped Owen out of the Cage and past the journalists, arena personnel, and even the commentators towards the back as Owen lost consciousness.
* * *
“Teegs, babe! Hold on!” Fiona yelled, watching the nurses crowd around Tegan, whose limbs were jerking as well as her body. She was trying to scream but no air escaped her. The machines connected to her were now beeping their alerts. “Help her!”
“Please, you have to give us room...” the nearest nurse said, pressing Fiona out into the hallway.
Fiona covered her mouth as the double doors closed and the curtains were drawn around the bed just as an oxygen mask was snapped around Tegan’s mouth. Not seeing was worse than seeing. Fiona’s mind raced, yet she couldn’t hold a coherent thought together. Waiting was always the worst part. The brain always played out the worst possible scenario. Fiona’s was playing out why the curtains wouldn’t open. Imagining they would stay closed forever, always shielding her from Tegan.
Fiona sat down just inside the doorway, as close as she could get to Tegan’s bed, next to a heap of her personal items. Toiletries, her kindle and the like. And her purse which had had a letter drop out, lying just beside it. Fiona, in an attempt to do something useful, picked up the paper and had every intent of putting it back, yet the letterhead caught her eye. A real estate agent’s banner. She flicked open the folds and read. Dear Ms Holland... final notice... we understand due to your recent medical circumstances... however... leniency has already been extended... repeated warnings... rent severely overdue... debt collectors have been issued.
Tegan had been kicked out of her apartment. Must have only been yesterday or the day before. Fiona looked down again at the items. This was all she had now. This hospital room was her home. She had no private health insurance for cancer treatments. Everything done to her was coming out of her pocket. And she had missed so much work.
“Oh, Teegs...”
Finally, they were drawn back. Fiona held a breath, studying the body language of the nurses as they each left the room. Tegan was still, yet with the mask on. But was she breathing? Were the machines still beeping? She couldn’t tell either from here.
“She’s stable,” one of them said. “But we got lucky, another few seconds...”
“What happened?”
“Not entirely sure. Near as I can figure, it was a panic attack. She’s just too weak to handle too much stress. Her heart can’t take it. I’ll have the doctor come and see her as soon as possible, but you have to promise me. No more fighting. Right?”
Fiona nodded quickly, terror inching through her that Tegan’s sudden drop was somehow her fault for pushing her to watch the fight. “Of course. No problem.”
* * *
Owen woke with his father bent over him, holding a compress to his head.
“Stay. Still.” Robert seethed, barely moving his lips. “Now, you and me are going to have a chat. Right here and now. No bullshit. No games. I want to know what the fuck is going on. You haven’t been yourself ever since you came back from Sydney. That was the sloppiest I’ve ever seen you fight, and it matches the garbage you served up during training. And then you let that absolute fuckwit provoke you. Congratulations. Any mental advantage you might have had over him is gone. You don’t intimidate him. Now, he knows he owns you. He was baiting you and you fell right into it. Now, I’m going to ask again. What is going on with you?”
Owen held the compress and Robert let go, standing straight before sitting down next to the gurney Owen laid on. Owen proceeded to tell Robert everything. Since his last fight he had been seeing the woman Robert met at the meet and greet. She had found out she was pregnant and also sick. She had recently undergone surgery to help her but had the pregnancy terminated per medical advice. She had ended things between them on that day. He hadn’t spoken to her since. That’s why he lashed out at the reporter and Diaz. He knew he shouldn’t, but he couldn’t help it.
Robert was silent for the longest time, running his finger along his chin.