Page 94 of The Fighter
Laura held little Aubrey in her arms, as she wouldn’t stop crying. The rest of us were as miserable as her and sat with long faces and teary eyes.
“But if Dad is alive, isn’t that good news?” Magni’s son, Mason, asked. The twin brother of Aubrey was ten and already the size of a grown man, but at that moment, he looked like a confused young boy.
Solo pulled the large boy into a sideways hug. “Yeah, it’s good news, Mason. Magni is alive and right now that’s all that matters.”
I remembered what Leo had said about Magni preferring to die rather than waking up as a crippled man. If only Magni could see this room full of us, his family and closest friends praying to speak to him again, to share a smile, a hug, handshake, or a laugh. We didn’t care if he would never be able to walk or fight again, but something told me that Leo was right. Magni would care.
CHAPTER 22
Recovery
Leo
Despite my friends visiting me in the hospital, the days I spent there were long. Not being allowed to put pressure on my left leg made it difficult to move around and even though I insisted I would do just fine at home alone, the doctors kept saying that they preferred for me to stay another day.
On my sixth day stuck in a bed, I was losing my patience. Raven had visited every night and it was always the highlight of my day when she crawled into bed with me and talked about work at the station, life at the Manor, and everyday things outside of the hospital.
“You missed out on major drama today at the Manor.” Raven had brought a bag of candy and was eating some as she was talking. “When I got home, Mila was almost crying because Khan was shouting at her.”
“Why?”
Unwrapping a caramel, Raven chuckled. “Because Holger had left a turd on the antique rug in the entryway.”
“Which one of Mila’s dogs is Holger?”
Raven’s chuckle grew to a full-on laugh. “The Great Dane. We’re talking this big a pile, and Khan wasn’t having it.” She illustrated with her hands. “But in Khan’s defense it was disgusting and it smelled like death. Not sure what the dog ate to get that kind of food poisoning, but Khan threatened to ban Mila’s dogs from the Manor and she responded that he would have to ban her as well before she gave up her dogs.”
“Yeah, that does sound dramatic. I feel bad for Mila, though. She has enough on her plate with her dad being here and all.”
Raven grew serious and nodded. “You’re right, and I think that’s why Khan took back his words later. Everyone at the Manor is thin-skinned and on edge these days. We all want Magni to wake up.
“Yeah, me too.”
Raven sighed and popped the caramel into her mouth. “Anyway, people are missing you at work.”
“Cameron came yesterday.”
“Oh yeah?”
“He told me he was sparring with you on Monday.”
Chewing, Raven nodded.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I did tell you. We talked about how I jammed my finger, remember?”
“Ah, was that with Cameron? I thought that was when you fought Monroe.”
Raven rolled her eyes in a playful manner. “Honestly, you’re too doped to remember anything. I wonder why I bother talking to you at all.”
Tickling her until she begged for mercy had me out of breath, but it was fun. Raven was so unbelievably gorgeous with her soft skin, large expressive eyes, and those full lips that I wanted to kiss all the time.
“Stop it, stop it.” She squealed and pushed at me, but I was so much stronger and longing to be physical with her.
“Leo, don’t tickle me.” In an attempt to roll into a protective ball, Raven raised her knees up, and one of them hit my bad thigh right where I’d been operated on.
The pain that shot through me had me want to scream out loud, but I swallowed my cry and closed my eyes and placed a hand on my thigh.
