"You're a good candidate for this fight, especially with that attitude." he yelled. I narrowed my eyes. "Then why don't we try fighting." I yelled back. He lashed out to punch me but I ducked. "Is that all you got?" I said just loud enough for him to hear. "No, you're about to see what I got." he growled. Then he grabbed me and forced me on the ground to pin me, which is usually an automatic win. I landed hard on my back, but refused to put my head on the ground. "I'm not...letting...you win..." I ground out angrily. Ice glared at me, his face inches from mine. "Either you let me win or I'll break you." he said quietly. I looked over at James who was on the sidelines with Dakota. I will never forget the look on his face...
He was staring right at me, a pained look on his face. Dakota was holding him back, obviously because he was straining to help me. Staring at his face made me realize that this wasn't my fight...it was his...and I couldn't lose it for him.
So that's about the time I stopped trying and started doing what I should've done a minute before.
I brought my fist up hard and slammed him as hard as I could in the middle of his face, sending a straight spray of blood down his nose. He fell back only a little, but I brought my legs up underneath him and threw him off of me. I stood up and walked over to him, where he was laying face up on the ground. "Are you done?" I asked. He looked up at me, a surprised look on his face. "Yeah. Let's call it quits." he said. Then he stood up and grabbed my hand. "Let's start this over again. My name's Ice." he said. I stared at him, then sighed. "Maytrix. And I guess I'll see you around." I said. Then I turned and walked from the ring, more than a little sore.
No sooner did I get to the other side of the foul line then James literally tackled me. "YOU WON! YOU WON! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ACTUALLY WON!" he yelled. I buckled a little under his weight, but managed to stay on my feet, up until Dakota jumped on my back. "Maytrix you're awesome!" Dakota screamed in my ear. I winced a little and looked down at my stomach. I was wearing a red shirt, tighter than most, and what I saw when I looked down made me sick. "James..." I said, feeling dizzy. James looked down into my face. "What's wrong baby?" he asked. Dakota came around to the front of me as I looked down again. Right above my stomach on the left side I could see the outline of bone poking out where it shouldn't have been. James looked down and his eyes widened. "Oh my god...you're rib..." he said. Dakota looked around at the emptying arena. "It looks like all the medics went home for the night...Albany Med usually has a room reserved for us, so we're going to have to take you there." he said in a low voice. I stared at him blankly. "Can you walk?" he asked. I shook my head. "I don't think I can stay awake..." I said quietly, and then everything went black.
About an hour later I woke up with a dull pain in my side and in a soft bed. I opened my eyes and looked up at the ceiling, which was illuminated by a long row of track lights. I looked to my side to see James laying next to me, his eyes closed. I shook him gently. "James?" I said softly. His eyes opened and he smiled a little. "How are you feeling?" he asked. I smiled. "I'm okay. It doesn't really hurt that much." I said. He moved over next to me and put an arm around me to pull me closer to him. "We've still got about 2 hours left until I have to bring you home. So why don't you just lay with me for a little while?" he asked. I sighed and relaxed, for once feeling secure. "Fine with me."


To be continued...