The girl on the bus

Chapter 5: Win or lose

Zed
We both got ready, in a speedy time record of ten minutes. Grabbing all of our things, we make our way trough the hallway, towards the gym. As we enter the guy on the entrance scans our check in lists and he lets us trough. I look around, and to the left of the rink, on the bench I spot our coach. It seems that Luke noticed him too, since he is moving towards him. We sit down besides him and he smirks.
"You made it just in time, go warm up a bit" he points to the empty side of the gym.
"Okay" I say, pulling Luke with me.
The warm up had to be quick but effective, we had like half an hour before the match starts so there is not a lot of time, and it's better to not over do it. I stretch my arms and legs, and take some time preparing my shoulder for the hits I'm about to get. We both do some strength exercises and go for a quick shadow boxing match, before coach yells at us to stop.

Now sitting on the bench,, I'm starting to feel nervous. Coach is wrapping my hand, preparing me for the fight. There are only a few people before me, so the pressure is high.
"You are all done" coach slaps my arm playfully, trying to get me out of my thoughts "you are going to make it, don't worry so much" he sighs when he sees me
"Okay so, Zed, you are fighting first and right after that Luke is fighting this Kai guy" .
I know, the rules are fairly simple. I fight, and if I win I qualify for the next round to fight with others who won, and if I win the next round too, I'm in The finals round ups. And if I win that, I go to the championship, the thing I have been training for the whole year.
"Zed are you even listening?" Coach taps my back lightly
"Yes sorry" I mutter staring at the guy who is fighting in the rink. That is going to be me in like ten minutes.

"Armani and Valas" I hear the reporter yell out trough the microphone. The place is packed with them. They are recording our every move. I step inside the rink and size up my opponent. Coach is standing right by me, as I put in my mouthguard and get to the centre of the rink. The guy I'm fighting looks at me while gritting his eyebrows together. By now the judge is standing in between us repeating the rules.
"You start when you hear a beep, there are three rounds. Winner is the one who achieves knockout,or the one who collects more points for the clean technique of punches"
We both nod at the judge in a yes motion and he moves away, waiting for the beep.
My heart pounds with adrenaline, I hate waiting for the match to start. I try to focus, and narrow my eyes directly to the guy in front of me. The bell then echoes trough my ears, signaling me for the fight to start. I don't wait, setting up a strong stance I deliver the first punch. He pounces right back though, missing my face.

I need to get him down, I'm leading for now and I can tell he is getting tired. His movement is getting a bit slow and lacking. I can hear my coach yelling at me. Just as the guy tries to punch me I kick him in the stomach making him fall back. He stands back up though, and kicks me right back on the floor with him. He gets on top, trying to hit my head. I feel a metallic taste in my mouth, as his fist hits my lip. I'm moving around, wrapping my legs around him, trying to get him off. I got him tired, I know I did, his punches are slow and predictable. So I pick a moment and strike back. I extend my arm towards his neck and pull myself up. He falls to the floor and I climb on top of him. I need to give it my all now, so I deliver a jab after jab until the judge beeps the horn. I won.

I help him stand up, as the coaches come running to us. None of us are seriously hurt, but I Still apologize to the guy and we shake hands. He returns me a warm smile as we both get out of the rink.
"Good luck" I yell out to Luke as he climbs up the stairs of the rink, he winks my way.

I spit my mouthguard out and wipe my face now sitting on the fence by coach who is focused on Luke in the rink. Luke is already fighting and it's going well. He won the first round, and the ringing sound that marks the beginning of a second round, announces that it already started. Getting my water bottle from my bag I look down for a second, as I can't find it, but a loud thud makes me forget all about it. By the time I look back up the medical team is all around the rink and coach stands up abruptly.
"What happened?" I ask, nervous about the answer
"Shit, that was Luke" coach yells
"What, how what happened." Panic runs trough me as I see a person lying on the floor. That can't be Luke, I don't want it to be.
"That was illegal" coach angrily says before running towards the rink.
"What?" I mutter more to me then anyone else, there is no one around to even tell me what happened. The reporters that were recording from the side, now run towards the rink.
" Luke Zander, is now down, unconscious, due to his opponent Kai Russo, who used an illegal move durning the match, the referee is now deciding on his penalty or disqualification" they continue and my stomach twists. I run towards the rink, pushing trough a big crowd of people forming around it. The medics have him strapped to the stretcher, as he moves his head a bit. Relieved that he is counscious I move towards the exit where I know they will pass trough. I can see the medical team approaching, as people move to make space for them, coach is walking by it talking to someone. Luke is like a brother to me, and the thought of something bad happening to him leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
"Hey" I say as they stop by me,
"What happened?" I ask glancing at the doctor.
"He got elbowed in the head, that is why he lost consciousness, and the guy said he didn't notice and twisted his arm so it broke" I hear the doctor exlpaining while Luke just lays there groaning in pain. His whole face is bloodied up, he has a nasty cut down his eyebrow, and the pain in his arm is probably killing him too.
" Luke" I gently shake him trying to get his attention.
"Shit bro that hurts so bad " Luke groans out,
"I know, they said it was broken" I point to his arm.
"I heard it too, I was knocked out duening it so I don't remember, coach said he used an illegal move on me though" Luke sighs rolling his eyes in pain.
"Yeah, the ref is sorting that out, I doubt he'll get to continue" I try to ease up the mood.
"Do you think it was an accident?" Luke asks. His heart is too kind, so I don't want to tell him the truth.
"It wasn't" coach butts in angry "that little shit better not qualify or else I'm going to take this in my hands" he is mad, he hates when we get hurt, and he is mad that they are even considering about taking Kai back in the match, while Luke is injured this bad.
"Calm down, I'm going to be okay" Luke says trying to pull an awkward smile,
" hey we really need to leave" one of the medics says turning around to face me,
"Yes, wait where are you taking him" I ask so I know where to find him.
" the city centre hospital" the medic replies already rolling Luke away. That is where Theo works. Not even thinking about the match I head to the changing room collecting all of my stuff. I need to leave, Luke hates being alone in a hospital, he won't ever admit it but I know.
"Where are you going?" I hear coach following me from behind
"To Luke, all of his things are still here, he is alone too" I rummage trough his bag trying to find his phone
"Zed you aren't going anywhere" he says sharply making me holt in my stance
"What, no I'm leaving, he left when I got my shoulder surgery too" I grit back annoyed this is even being discussed
"Zed you qualified for the second round, you need to fight" he replies tone sharp as his eyes shot daggers at me "you can leave after this match, it's in half an hour" he looks down checking his phone.
"But he needs me there there is no one to pick him up, his sister is on vacation" I sigh trying to think of anything else to do
"He also needs you to keep your head and compete, this match is important" he says and I know he is tight.
"Okay" I reply flatly.
Coach looks at me once again "Kai got disqualified, he won't be able to compete he got some penalties too"
At least there is that, I think to myself, he got what he deserves.
"I didn't even see it happen" I think of the moment it happened,
"It was quick, he just hit him and as he collapsed he tried to do the arm twist, but since there was no resistance from Luke he broke his arm" so that was all there was to it.

I won. I finished another match fighting with some guy who also goes to Force academy. It was tiring, especially since I had my mind on other things. I managed to pull trough though, the guy was lacking technique and was slow.

Now getting redy to leave coach brings me my certification, that gets me to the finals. I pack that in my bag and collect Luke's things from the floor. I called Theo too, he told me that Luke was fine, he got stitched up and has a cast on his right arm, besides that he is good to go home.

So I hop in Luke's car turning on the engine. The drive there is quite short, only ten minutes away. I follow the hospital sigh and find a parking spot. I parked really close so he doesn't need to walk far after his injuries. I get in the reception and step towards the woman behind the counter
"Hi, how can I help you today" she smiles
"Hi, I came to pick up Luke Zander" I reply as she types something in her computer
"Oh the boxer, right" she looks back up to face me " he is in the room number 37, up the stairs to the left"she points to the staircase.
"Okay, thank you" i smile before I jog up the stairs.

"It's okay, stop apologising" I hear Luke's voice behind the door. Who is he talking to?
I knock on the door before entering. There by his bed I can see Kai, sitting on the chair looking down at Luke.
"Hey" I look at Luke and glance at Kai who is staring right at me.
"Hey" Luke smiles sitting up while Kai awkwardly moves in his seat.
"Okay, well if this all forgiven then maybe I should leave" he forces a smile before standing up,
"Bye" he says as he turns the doorknob, Luke returns him a wave before the door closes.
"What was he doing here?" I sit down on the chair
"He came to apologise" Luke sighs,
"Well do you believe him?" I ask with a questioning tone.
"No, but whatever, it's settled now. I don't want to think about it anymore" he groans trying to stretch up a bit,
"Slow down," I warm him "does it hurt a lot?"
"A bit, it's broken" he sighs "looks like there won't be any nationals for me this year"
"I know the feeling" I remember how it feels, to train so hard and everything falls apart in a split of a second
"But maybe it is for the best, maybe I just need some time off" he surprises me by saying that
"What do you mean?" I squint my eyebrows in confusion
"I don't know I just feel like I maybe need a bit of a rest from everything" he replies
At loss of words I don't really find an appropriate answer for him.
"I'll be here for you" I settle as Luke flashes his warm smile.

"Turn left" Luke instructs. I'm taking him to his grandma. He can't be home alone right now, and his sister is away, so he asked his grandma if he could crash for a few nights.
We are driving on this lonely road outside of the city.
"Meadowbrooks" I read the sign on the road
"This is it" I ask surprised. I have never really been here before. I'm driving trough a small town full of tiny shops and bakeries.
"Yes this is it, on the next turn you need to go right" he points to the road, leading out of the town centre. Now driving on the rocky road I see a small house behind all the trees.
"We are here" Luke says "you can park right here" he points to the empty driveway.

I helped Luke carry all of his things inside before saying goodbye. He let me borrow his car, he won't need it for a while, not with his broken hand anyway. It was dark in the night when I finally got back home. I couldn't wait to just collapse on my bed and go to sleep. Just as I was about to lay down my phone dings.
"UNKNOWN" it says at the top of the message, meaning that the number is not saved in my phone.
"Hello" it reads.