Bounty (27 page)

J
oel looked
like he was angry when he got into the ring, which surprised Amber as he had seemed relatively calm when he had left a few minutes ago. By the time his opponent was in front of him, though, he seemed to have more of a handle on himself.

His opponent was a big man, surely out of Joel's weight class. The announcer had said he was 295 pounds and looked like he was at least 6'11. It hardly seemed like a fair fight, but she knew that the tournament was open to anyone. Even his nickname was imposing. He called himself the Steamroller.

"Nervous?" the man beside her asked.

It wasn't until he said this that she realized she was chewing on her thumbnail. She dropped her hands to her lap and gripped them tightly. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall, right?" she said.

"Something like that," he replied.

The bell rang and the men started to circle.

They started off trading blows, each man landing a few punches and kicks against the other. Within a few minutes, Joel was limping from a series of blows to the thigh that the bigger man had delivered, and Steamroller had a cut under his eye that was dripping blood down past his mouth.

Just then, Joel leapt forward with a flying punch but he was deflected as Steamroller turned away and pushed him with one big hand. As Joel landed behind him, his opponent turned and slammed his fist into the back of his head.

Joel spun around and his knees buckled. Amber jumped to her feet with a cry of anguish. That punch had looked like it was directed purposefully at his injury. "Oh my god, can he do that?" she cried out.

Her neighbor answered her. "Do what? Hit Joel in his weak spot? Of course. That's smart fighting."

That might be true, but it still seemed pretty dirty to her. Joel rolled onto his back as the big man came closer, lifting his legs to fend him off from getting on top of him.

"Your boyfriend ought to stand up if he can," the man observed. "I've seen steamroller fight before. They don't call him that just because of his standing game. He can roll over his opponents on the ground pretty good as well."

Joel was spinning on his back, keeping his legs between himself and his opponent, but each time he moved along the mat he would leave a fresh smear of blood in his wake. Finally, the ref stood him up again due to not enough action. Amber could see by the way he was swaying that he was having trouble standing, just like he'd been the other night when he'd first been hit.

She quickly glanced at the clock. He only had to last another minute before the round ended. She held her breath as she waited out the clock. Steamroller threw a series of punches, most of which were blocked by Joel but she saw at least a couple of them connect. The big man moved forward with another onslaught, catching Joel on the side of his head and dropping him to his knees again. Joel's hands fell, and Amber's heart started to pound. 
Raise your hands
, she screamed in her head. 
Protect yourself!

It didn't look like Joel had anything left, but just as Steamroller was advancing, the bell ended the round and the ref jumped between them. Amber ran over to the side of the ring as Joel slowly stood up and made his way over. His feet were still unsteady and he was blinking rapidly.

"I think you need to stop," she said when he got to her. "You're hurt!"

"I'm not giving up," he replied simply.

She picked up a towel and grabbed him by the shoulder, spinning him around and then pressed it against him again. He winced without trying to hide it at all this time, so she knew it was bad.

"Look, I know this whole thing is important, but it's not worth your health. You need to get this checked out, you might have a concussion."

"I will," he said. "I will. After I'm done tonight. I'll go in the morning. You can come, if you want." He paused for a moment and before she could say anything, he added "I mean, please come. I'd like it if you were there with me."

Amber blinked a couple of times, her eyes stinging. "Of course," she said softly.

The referee gave Joel the signal that they were about to restart and she removed the towel. The red stain was much larger than it had been last round. She was about to try one last time to stop him from continuing but the bell sounded again and he started to move away.

Fearing for what was to come, she ran back to her seat to watch the rest of the action.

"Your boyfriend should probably forfeit," the stranger said. "That wound looks pretty bad."

Amber just nodded, not wanting to take her eyes off Joel in case he needed her.

He looked steadier on his feet as he approached the center of the ring. His larger opponent wore a sneer that seemed to indicate he knew he was in the lead and expected to finish things off quickly. He started with a feint and Joel staggered to react, his earlier steadiness beginning to waver. As he moved, Steamroller followed up with a real punch that caught him in the temple, sending him reeling backward. Amber gasped as she watched him hit the ropes and use them to steady himself.

Steamroller moved forward, this time throwing a low kick that caught Joel in the shin and causing his knee to buckle slightly but he recovered and moved aside to avoid being hit by a follow up.

"Joel needs a miracle, unfortunately," the man next to her said. "Even if he makes it to the end, the decision won't even be close. If I were his trainer, I'd throw in the towel to avoid further injury. I don't think this fight is winnable."

Amber continued to ignore him. She wasn't his trainer, or manager, or anything, really. Joel would never forgive her if she made a move to try to stop the fight. But would his pride ever allow him to do it himself?

Joel was standing tall again, but limping as he circled. There was less than two minutes left on the clock and then it would be over. Amber couldn't wait for the bell to ring. She just wanted to run up there and pull him away.

Suddenly, Steamroller threw a quick jab and follow up but as Joel ducked his injured leg gave way, causing him to drop his knee to the mat. This put him underneath the guard of Steamroller, and he used that to his advantage by throwing two solid punches into his opponent's midsection.

The blows caught Steamroller by surprise and the big man doubled over in pain. Joel reached up and grabbed a hold of his head, using his neck as leverage to pull himself up and around, landing on the big man's back as he attempted to go for a choke.

Steamroller was not interested in being knocked out, though, and he stood up to his full height, lifting Joel right off the ground. He struggled to unlock the grip of the man on his back, but when he was unsuccessful Amber watched as he staggered to the middle of the ring. He bent at the knees and then threw himself backward.

She watched in horror as the two men crashed to the ground, Joel's head bouncing against the mat and then having Steamroller's head smash into his face on the rebound. Blood sprayed from Joel's nose, but somehow his arms remained fixed under the chin of the man on top of him. If anything, the movements only served to dig him in deeper.

Steamroller continued to pry at his arms, but his strength was waning and finally the man started to slap repeatedly against his own shoulders.

The ref was on top of the men immediately, pulling on Joel until he let go. Steamroller rolled off onto his stomach, breathing heavily, but Joel just lay on the mat without moving. Amber leapt to her feet and ran to the ring, moving through the blur of tear filled eyes.

H
e wasn't
sure what had happened exactly, but it seemed to Joel as if he had woken up suddenly amidst a group of people all looking down on him with concern. He was confused at first, especially with all of the shouting and cheering going on in the background, but when his eyes finally focused he saw Amber staring down at him. As soon as she saw him open his eyes, her face split into a huge smile even as tears were rolling down her face. Joel tried to smile back, but his head felt like it had been split in two and it hurt to even move.

He closed his eyes against the pain, and was surprised again when he opened them to see different surroundings. He was lying on a gurney now, and black curtains surrounded him. Amber still stood by him, but it was quieter. There were still cheers and yelling, but they seemed more muffled and less frantic.

"What happened," he asked. His head was still aching, but it wasn't as intense as it had been.

"Thank god you're awake," she said. Tears were still filling her green eyes, but she was smiling again. He felt her hand gripping his and he squeezed it.

"The club doctor had a look at you," she continued. "He thinks you definitely have a minor concussion now, if you didn't have one before."

"I mean with the fight," he asked.

Amber rolled her eyes. "Of course. You won, you idiot."

"Really?" Joel laughed but then stopped as his head began to feel like it was going to split open from the back.

"So... the final match... I don't suppose they want to postpone it?" The look on Amber's face told him that wasn't in the cards.

She shook her head sadly. "The doctor declared you unfit to fight on, so they already declared Carlos the winner by default. I'm so sorry Joel. I know how disappointing this is."

He closed his eyes. It was the right decision of course. There was no chance he could fight on, and in the real world they didn't put fights on hold for injuries. It was just part of the job. But it burned him just the same. He felt stupid for getting his hopes up at all. A guy like him didn't get any breaks in life.

"Sure," he just said. "It's fine." The decision made sense, but he may have felt less bad about it if the winner had been anyone but Carlos. 
I really wanted to get in the ring with that fuck
.

He was quiet for a little while, just holding Amber's hand and dealing with his anger and disappointment silently, like he always did. Suddenly he decided he didn't want to do that anymore. "Actually, it's not fine," he finally said, letting out a long shaky breath. "It fucking sucks." Amber was still looking down at him, and her hand tightened against his in response.

"I know," she said. Her other hand touched his forehead as she lay her palm against it. The calmness he had felt from her touch earlier returned.

"Do you think maybe... I mean, it's okay if it's not cool, but do you think I could spend the night at your place tonight? I don't really want to be alone."

The smile got even wider on her face and she ran her hand through his hair softly. "Of course," she said. "I'm so happy you want to."

"Are we free to go, then?"

"Well, I actually have to go and tell the doctor you woke up again. If you didn't, we were going to have to go to the hospital. But first, there's someone who wants to talk to you."

He raised his eyebrow at her, but she just smiled mysteriously and gave his hand another squeeze. Who the hell even knew he was here?

Amber pulled her hand away and exited the curtain. Within moments, a man walked through and up to Joel. He looked vaguely familiar, but he wasn't sure from where.

"Hi Joel," the man said. "You're one hell of a fighter," he said.

Joel shrugged. "I didn't win."

"You didn't really lose, either," the man replied. "And given the injury you started with, that's worth even more in my books."

"Who the hell are you?"

"Sorry," the man said. "My name is Shawn Rock. I run the Rock House training camp. I had the benefit of sitting next to you and your girlfriend during the tournament this evening."

That's why he looked familiar, he was the one that Amber had been talking to all night. And the name was familiar as well.

"I have to say, I was impressed by your breakdown of the other fighters from simply watching them fight, and even more impressed by how you handled yourself in the ring - especially given that you have no formal training or experience."

He would need to talk to Amber about how much she spoke about him to strangers. Where was this going, anyway?

"Thanks," he said, warily, waiting for the catch or qualifier to what he was saying.

"I recognize that you are already a member of Golden Dragon Dojo as that was a requirement of participating tonight, but I was wondering if you'd be interesting in coming to train with us instead?"

"Seriously?" Joel said, raising his eyebrows in surprise and trying to ignore that just that simple movement hurt his head even more.

"Absolutely," Shawn said. "We can't offer you $1000 in prize money, like you would have won in this tournament, but we'll happily waive all fees for joining our club and training camp. And we have an excellent doctor on staff who will take care of that head of yours."

Joel couldn't believe what he was hearing. His head was spinning, and he was pretty sure it wasn't all due to the concussion. His eyes drifted over to the curtains and he saw Amber standing by them, grinning brightly at him.

"Anyway, if you want to think about it some, that's fine. I can leave you my card-"

"Yes," Joel said. "I mean, I'll take your card as well but yes, I would definitely love to come and train with you guys."

"Excellent," Shawn said. He pulled a card from his wallet and Amber stepped forward. "Maybe I should hang on to that for now," she said.

"Please give me a call tomorrow and we'll set everything up." Shawn shook both of their hands and left the two of them alone again.

Amber walked forward towards Joel as he reached his hand out towards her. She gripped him firmly as soon as she was within reach and they both smiled at each other, no more words were necessary. He was happier than he could ever remember being, and it felt like there was a chance that maybe his life wasn't a complete waste of time after all.

He suspected this was yet another thing he would need to add to the list to thank Amber for. His level of debt to her was growing, and it seemed like it was going to take him a long time to make it up to her. Time that he'd have to spend in her company if he was ever going to even things out. But for some reason, that particular notion made him even happier. This was one debt he was actually looking forward to servicing.

Amber squeezed his hand one more time and looked down on him with her wide and beautiful smile. Her green eyes seemed to continue to sparkle even though the light in the back was dim, being absorbed by the thick black curtains surrounding them. "The doctor will be here in a minute. Once he's done, we can get out of here and head home."

Home
. Joel knew that she just meant her home, not their home, but it still had a nice ring to it. He hadn't called a place home in years. "I'd like that," he replied, managing another smile of his own. He actually had a lot to smile about today, despite his injuries.

Amber bent forward until their noses touched lightly. Her breath filled his nostrils with sweetness until her lips met his gently. Their kiss was light and soft, and when she pulled away it left him wanting more.

"I'd like it very much," he said again. An unfamiliar feeling filled his chest as he looked up at this girl who had pushed her way into his life. Hope. For the first time in as long as he could remember, Joel had a feeling that the days ahead of him might actually be better than the days he'd left behind. Especially if Amber was a part of them.