Worth the fight

damn it, Get up!”  My screams are torn from my lungs, each word burning as it bleeds from me. I don’t know if he hears me yelling, but somehow I doubt it since Preach is closer and can’t seem to get his attention.  But then something happens. Nico lifts his head from the mat, his arm still pinned behind his back, and I could swear, for just a split second, he looks right at me. 
    There’s less than a minute left in the match, but we both know that so much can change in a single minute.  The course of an entire life can be redirected, a man can cho ose to live, a man can die unexpectedly.  Nothing is over until you call it quits or you take your last breath. 
    I have no idea how Nico gets himself out of the hold that Trevor had him in without breaking his own arm, but less than two seconds have ticked from the clock and Nico is back on his feet and there’s a fire in his eyes.  Trevor gets back up and readies himself, expecting to continue the fight, but it’s no longer a continuation, it’s suddenly a whole new fight.  Nico lands a blow to the ribs and his opponent staggers back three steps.  There’s no time for Trevor to recover, to regain his footing, before Nico lunges, taking him down to the mat.  And then Nico’s on top, landing blow after blow, each more heartbreaking than the next, even though it’s Nico I want to come out unscathed. 
    There’s less than ten seconds on the clock when Nico backs off slightly, but his stubborn opponent lifts his head, trying desperately to get back on his weary feet.  And then Nico winds up and strikes.  Hard.  The man’s head wobbles, seemingly unhinged from side to side, his eyes rolling back into his head before they both close.  I watch in slow motion as his head bounces up and down twice more before finally coming to rest lifelessly on the mat.
    The arena goes silent.  There are twenty thousand people in one room, yet I can hear the paramedic who rushed into the cage bark out orders and the ref instructs the men in suits watching from the sidelines that he’s calling the fight.  KO. 
    They wave something under the unconscious fighter’s nose and I see his head shake from side to side.  He’s awake and alive and there’s a collective sigh heard around the arena.  After a few minutes, Trevor gets up with assistance from his trainer and walks out of the cage.  But Nico is still standing there, staring at the place where Trevor once laid, even as the ref raises his arm in victory.  The crowd goes wild, but I see it in Nico’s face, there’s no cause for celebration. 
    ***
    The whole way down to find Nico, I fret he may chase me away when I arrive at the locker room. I’m surprised to find a dozen people waiting in line outside his door.  Even more surprised to find as many already inside.  Photographers vie for photos of the new champion, but I can see he’s in no mood.  Two of the bikini bimbo’s from the entrance parade are trying to snuggle up on either side of him as pictures are snapped excitedly.  I know it’s all part of marketing, but my nerves are shot and I have no patience left.
    “Don’t touch him.”  I warn as one of them goes to lift her leg and wrap it around Nico’s side.  She stops and looks me up and down, smirking at my t-shirt, she probably thinks I’m some lonesome groupie, hoping to get lucky tonight.  That I’m no match for her open invitation to a sure thing. But I have no time or patience to pretend I care what she thinks.  Nico watches me closely as I take the few steps to close the distance between us.
    “Let’s get out of here.”  I’m relieved at Nico’s words.  If he hadn’t suggested leaving, I probably would have demanded it. 
    There are too many people to count yelling at Nico that he can’t leave when we walk out the door.  But neither one of us cares.

Chapter 48
    Elle
    It’s been almost two days now.  Nico hasn’t pushed me away like last time, but he may as well have, because he’s closed me out all the same…along with everyone else.  I’ve tried everything…just holding him, quietly talking, even cuddling up to him bare ass, still I get no response.  I’m starting to think Preach is right, he needs a doctor. 
    It broke my heart the first night when he stared blankly at the ceiling.  He didn’t say it, but I knew why he couldn’t close his eyes.  I went through the same thing for years.  Instead of seeing black and calm, allowing yourself to drift into