“You keep saying the same thing, but there’s obviously more. What is it?”
“I know about the press in the carpark. It’s not a coincidence, son. You’ve been seen at the hospital. People are talking. It was only a matter of time before those cunts found out. He wants the media to hound you and Tegan. He wants you as weak and vulnerable as possible for the fight. And you’re heading straight into it, Owen. Right into his hands. Him. His manager. They’ve got you right where they want you,” Robert said, removing his gloves. “You might not care, but I do. I can stand to see you lose. If you give me your best and fail, I’ll still be proud. This isn’t your best. You’re nowhere near the right headspace for a fight three months out. Let alone two weeks. Especially, not against him. You’re emotional, irrational, and you’re going to get seriously hurt. I can’t stand for this, Owen, I’m sorry.”
Owen watched as Robert walked away. Fiona gave Owen a disappointed glance before following him out.
17
Through dry and cringing eyes,Tegan saw the time. Past two in the morning. That was why Owen wasn’t there. She had cried into the night, and besides the cleaners that came in to clear her sheets and mop the floor, she was alone. Rain pelted against the window, picking up speed as it sounded like a bigger storm approaching.
Though the tears eventually stopped, the sorrow didn't. She had tried to be strong. She had tried to will herself to keep going, but she couldn't take any more. She wanted to survive but maybe her body didn't. Maybe it was her time. No one knew how long they had on this earth. Going through it all again would just prolong her pain. She didn't want to have her insides hacked again just so she could get out of this hospital incomplete. Butchered. That's what it felt like.
She was roused as the chair beside her bed gave a slight groan from being pulled out. She gave her neck a crane to see her guest: Olivia.
“Wha—”
Olivia held up a finger to her lips. “I’m still here for observation a couple of times a month. They want to make sure I’m not suicidal anymore, I guess.” She shrugged. “I dunno. But you and I aren’t on the same floor,” she whispered. “I’ll get into trouble if they catch me.”
“I don’t feel like chatting.”
“Good. I’ll do all the talking. I’m here to help you.”
“There’s nothing you can do, Liv. Can you please let me get some sleep?”
“Sure, after I say what I’ve gotta say,” she replied, reaching into her pocket. She pulled out a chain and kept it in her fist as thunder rolled overhead loudly yet not drowning out the downpour. “You have to get better.”
“What the hell do you think I’ve been trying to do?”
“I know you’ve been trying, hun. You’ve just been enlisting the wrong help. I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner, but Owen didn’t think I should.”
“Why were you talking about me?”
“Duh. We chat all the time about you.”
“Why?”
Olivia shrugged, frowning as if the answer was obvious. “You’re his everything. You get your results tomorrow, so now is the perfect time.”
Tegan had no response to that, no matter how wonderful it felt to hear. Instead, she said the harsh truth that remained in her heart. Her biggest fear. “I’m dying.”
Olivia made a noise like Tegan had uttered an interesting tid-bit about ancient history that she already knew. “Well, if you think about it, we all are. Just depends on how long it takes for us all to get there. Unless we meet saviours along the way.”
A thunder clap made it hard for Tegan to hear that last part, but she got the gist of it. Though it still made zero sense. “What are you talking about?” But then Tegan remembered Owen telling her the story. On the night she was attacked, Olivia, in her drunken or drug addled state, swore she was saved by a woman in armour. “Liv...” Tegan stopped short of telling her how stupid the idea was. “Saviours are in short supply. I don’t believe in that stuff.”
“Only people that haven’t been saved don’t believe. Luckily, for you, I have been. There are those that watch over us.”
Olivia held up the chain in her hand and let it drop a few inches. Tegan had to admit the gleaming red V was beautiful as a flash of lightning lit up the room briefly. She thought so the first time she saw it. When she and Owen had first made love. It held a certain grace and charm she had never seen before in an item of jewellery.
“Liv... it’s beautiful, but...”
“It’s more than that. It’s hope. You just have to believe,” she said, holding it out.
Her words cut through Tegan. “Believe? Believe in what?” she stammered as more tears came. Born of frustration and fear. “I’ve been through hell! And nothing is getting better. I’m so sick of feeling this way. I’m just so tired. I’m fed up with everything. I try to be positive, but there’s only so much someone can take. What the hell am I supposed to do with that?”
“Tegan,” she replied gently. “Please, just touch it. It doesn’t matter if you believe what I do. Ask it for something that you want. Visualise something that makes you happy. It can be anything. What have you got to lose?”
Tegan slowly wiped at her face. The truth was in her answer. “Nothing. Not anymore.”
Tegan held out her hand and gripped the pendant as the rain appeared to settle even though thunder and lightning still cracked the sky. Who was she even saying this to, a mystical force? The results were known; she just hadn’t heard them. Tegan knew there was no way the results would change, no matter how adamant Olivia was that this was important, but Tegan still said the only wish she held in her heart. “Please, let me be OK. I don’t wanna die.”