Page 98 of Reckless

Liam and I met in college. He went to boxing lessons twice a week and I was done with football. It just didn’t interest me anymore. I wanted something else. So I decided to try boxing. I enjoyed it so much, it became the only workout I did for months. He was better than me and that irritated me, so I put in some extra efforts.

“Bullshit,” Liam grinned. “I always come on top when we fight.”

Chloe finally smiled, so I took it as a sign to continue what I was doing.

“There is a first time for everything.”

“You're not even in my league, Hartley. I could take you down in a heartbeat.”

“Wanna bet? I've been practicing my footwork. I've got a few new moves that'll leave you in the dust.”

“You’re on,” Liam raised his chin. “Let’s go outside. Right now.”

I didn’t need another invitation.

We stumbled out of the party, both swaying from the alcohol. Chloe followed us mumbling under her breath about us two being idiots. We just laughed.

I let Liam throw the first punch. Then I landed a blow. We shouted insults. It felt like one of the training sessions we had at the gym. Chloe seemed worried and tried to make us stop. We ignored her pleas. Liam was too drunk though and missed more than he managed to hit me. Chloe must have seen that too, because she addressed me.

“Tyler, please, stop. He can barely stand up straight.”

Liam’s face turned red. He didn’t say anything, but I saw the shift in his mood. The jealousy. He was done playing games. I dropped my hands down and opened my mouth to tell him I didn’t want to fight anymore, but he used that moment to punch me. Hard.

My head zinged. Chloe let out a frantic scream, but he ignored her and continued his attack.

I felt a surge of adrenaline and fought back. We exchanged blows. Neither of us was playing around anymore.

In a fit of rage, Liam hit me so hard, I stumbled backwards and fell down on my ass. I forgot he was my friend in that second. That all of this was supposed to be a joke. I stood up and lunged myself at him.

We both hit the ground with me on top of Liam. All I heard was a sickening crack. Liam went still. Chloe ran over to us, tears streaming down her face.

“Liam! Are you okay?” She sobbed. “Liam! Get up!”

But he didn’t move. It took me a few seconds to realize what was happening, then I started yelling for someone to call an ambulance. When I looked around, I understood we had probably had an audience for quite some time. The paramedics finally arrived and pushed Chloe aside. Seconds later she collapsed on the ground with a scream, her hands on her belly.

Three hours later I was sitting in a hospital waiting room. My hands were covered in blood. Some of it was my own. My knuckles were cracked from the fighting. Some of it was Liam’s. From his brow. His mouth.

People that passed me by looked at me with disgust. I looked like a lowlife. A nurse even came up to me and offered to help me get to a bathroom to get cleaned up a bit. I refused. I deserved the looks I got. I welcomed people’s contempt and loathing. It made the guilt manageable.

A doctor approached me at some point. She was the one that went into the delivery room with Chloe. I shot up from my chair.

“She asks for you,” she said.

“Is she okay?” I asked. The doctor nodded. “The baby?”

“He will stay in the NICU for a while. I’m concerned about his lungs. It will be a struggle.”

“But he will live, right?” I understood that the situation was bad, but I needed reassurance.

“We are doing everything that can be done. I am optimistic, but I can’t give you any guarantee. He was born prematurely and it was a difficult birth. He will need a lot of care. And the mother will need a lot of support. He might have health issues in the future.”

I slumped back into the chair. A few hours ago, the three of them were perfectly healthy. I had a few scratches here and there, but they were all in a hospital room. Because of me. I came up with that stupid idea to compete with Liam. I broke his spine. Chloe delivered her baby two months earlier because she witnessed me almost killing Liam.

Almost. The next few days would determine if that word would remain in the sentence.

“Where is she?” I stood up, knowing I was the last person on earth to deserve any consolation in that moment. I couldn’t help Liam and the baby, but I could respect Chloe’s wish to see me.

I found her lying in a hospital bed. Her whole face was red and puffy. Her eyes were bloodshot. We stared at each other for a few beats, no one daring to speak. I expected her to scream. To insult me. To kick me out. To tell me never to show my face again.

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