Media Demons

Arcus Protection Squad

Kassie sighed deeply, not happy with the news the nurse brought. She felt herself tearing up again. She wasn't leaving this bedside until she was positive Arcus was alive. No one was telling her otherwise.

She continued to lie beside him, intertwining their fingers together. She softly hummed, knowing he was listening. She remembered reading something about people in comas. They could hear, but they just couldn't speak or so. Maybe it was true. Maybe it wasn't, but she wasn't taking any chances.

She looked over at Crystal, who was crying and sobbing. Kassie felt guilt eat at her. If she hadn't been so mean to him, his sister wouldn't be here in tears. She sighed. "Hey Crysta-"

"Ugh!" Crystal shrieked. She punched the wall out of anger. They both looked at the wall, finding a huge dent in it. Crystal gave the slightest smile, wiping her face. "I feel better." she stated.

"Seems like punching shit is a family fucking trait." a brown haired woman said from the door. She held a Starbucks coffee cup in her hand, and an expensive looking purse on her arm. She put the coffee down and dipped into her purse, pulling out an Evian water bottle for Crystal, handing it to her. She placed one on the table beside her for Kassie.

The new woman turns her attention fully to Kassie. "I'm Sophie, his bestfriend/sister. The guards told me you were in here, and Crystal let you stay. So who the hell are you exactly? His girlfriend?"

Kassie had opened her mouth to explain, but Sophie continued to talk.

"He hasn't had a girlfriend in YEARS!" Sophie stated. She sighs as she looks at Arcus, tears threatening to make an appearance and mess up her makeup. Sophie stares at Arcus. "Hey fuckface wake the hell up! You're scaring your family shitless. I've seen you get beaten down by a man three times your size and still get up to win the damn match! What in gods name fucking did this to you?!" Sophie said as she teared up, a single tear falling down her cheek.

Kassie couldn't help but to tear up. She cleared her throat, fiddling with her phone. "I'm Kassie. I guess you could consider me his girlfriend. I'm so sorry..." she said. Tears began falling down her cheeks again. "Last night, he took me out on a really nice date. And right at the end, I got really pissed and I treated him like shit. He took me back to my dorm, and the next thing I know he's in a fucking coma." Kassie said. She hadn't realized her voice was cracking. She cleared her throat and wiped her tears, grabbing the Evian bottle, taking a few sips from it.

The two women raised an eyebrow at Kassie at the same time. They looked at each other with an expression that said 'seriously?'. Crystal threw her head back and groaned. "God fucking dammit!"

Sophie messed with her long, brown hair and groaned as well. "Ugh. Arcus and his stupid heart." Sophie glared at Arcus. "Look at his hands." She said to Kassie.

Kassie glanced down at them and cringed. Arcus' hands were heavily bandaged, one was even in a cast.

"He did this to himself." Sophie said grimly.

"Yeah..." Kassie said miserably. She looked at her reflection in her phone screen. She knew she looked awful. She ran a hand through her hair and wiped her face with her shirt, just so she looked half sane.

Crystal spoke up. "Hanno appena incontrato ieri. Eppure lei rimane al suo fianco. Essere bello." She got up to stretch, still sipping on the water.

(Translation: They just met yesterday. Yet she remains by his side. She's beautiful.)

"Oh. You just met him a day ago? Huh. Well I'm sorry that you have to find out all this... this way. This guy has a big heart. A big, stupid heart. And we knew that when the day inevitably came that he got his heart broken he'd do this thing where he blames it on himself and a whole shitstorm of things come up. He copes the only way he knows how, by taking it out in a workout." Sophie explained, sitting down in the chair Crystal was sitting in.

Kassie nodded, sniffling. "Yeah. It's cool. It's just that I have so many questions. But he's a good guy. A really, really good guy." she said softly.

Crystal saw Sophie in her seat and shrugged. She just walked over and sat on Sophie's lap. Sophie got up and grumbled. "I'll be back. I'm going to go get another chair. Then I'll explain." She stuck her tongue out at Crystal as she left. Crystal blinked as she realized something. They hadn't eaten. She took out her phone and ordered a pizza.

Kassie nodded as she watched Sophie leave. She let Crystal order pizza, then asked, "So first things first. He's a UFC fighter? How? Why?" she asked.

Crystal sighed and nibbles on a madeleine, handing one to Kassie.

Kassie took the small French treat, prepared to listen.

"When he was 12 he would walk to and from school alone. One day some older guys from the high school decided to push him around after school. He got his ass kicked trying to get them to leave him alone." Crystal started.

She pauses to look at her phone for the text from the pizza delivery guy. Then she continued.

"A few days later he's walking home with Sophie. These guys come around again looking at Arc as an easy target." She laughs. "This time THEY got their asses kicked. And pretty badly too."

Kassie grabbed Arcus' hand, squeezing it a bit. She ran her thumb on his palm, then laughs softly. 'He's so nice. I can't believe it...'

"I got a bunch of calls from those idiots angry parents talking about how much pain their child was in and how long they had to be in the hospital. So I tell them, 'Stop letting your kids be jackasses'. After that, he started training. Once he turned 14 we moved back to Italy so he could start fighting professionally." Crystal said.

Kassie nodded, understanding. 'So that explains why he was at the gym. And why he's so muscular.'

Sophie walked back in with a comfy looking office chair. "Oh dear god is she telling you the 6th grade bully story? Yawn. Long story short, Arcus' protective instincts are off the charts. Once his trainer told him to fight as if he was protecting Crystal and I, he didn't get knocked out in his whole professional career. And on his last fight, this guy kept making comments about us in the ring and Arcus went at him a little harder and he ended up..." Sophie's jaw clenched as she almost says 'it'.

Kassie knew what she was about to say. Dead. Sophie had shouted it out earlier, so it doesn't take much work to figure it out. Before she knew it, Kassie had finished the madeleine, and had wanted more.

"We moved out here a couple of years later..." Sophie concluded.

Crystal sighs and jumps up. "I'm going to go get the pizza. Sophie, come with me?" She asks nicely then adds, "Now." in a serious tone.

"Hurry up with the pizza..." Kassie sighed and lied back down with Arcus.

Sophie sighs and follows Crystal to the lobby to pick up the pizza. They were talking in hushed tones even before they were out the door.

After the sisters leave, Kassie softly sighs. She whispers, "I don't know if you're listening, but I'm gonna say it anyway. I love you so much..."

She teared up at the thought that she might not get to hear the same words from him ever. She quickly wiped them away and gave him a kiss on the cheek. 'Dear God Arcus, don't die...'