Page 21 of Revive Me

The commentator’s voice is excited, at first. I can see the crowd on their feet in the background, the coaches screaming outside of the cage, and if I squint at my screen to look a little closer, I can even see the triumph on Roman’s face as he tightens his legs around his opponent’s head.

And then it’s no longer exciting. In the blink of an eye, it’s the opposite.

My focus stays on Roman as the ref stops the fight, a dozen people come streaming into the cage, and pandemonium erupts everywhere. His expression shifts from victory, to doubt, to confusion, to…nothing. By the time the doctor is waving the paramedics in with the stretcher, Roman’s face is completely blank.

I didn’t think it was possible for me to feel even more for him, but watching the injury that put him in my care does it.

For the next few minutes, I go through the articles that covered the accident, hoping one of them has a quote from Roman or the people around him. Anything to let me know where his head went after the fight. But there’s nothing, and once he was transferred to outpatient care, the coverage pretty much died off.

So then I pivot my research, and instead of looking at theafter, I look at thebefore.

I watch every fight of Roman’s fights. All thirteen of them. Then I start watching the pre-fight interviews he gave for the marketing, and the post-fight interviews he gave directly after. And my understanding of Roman grows.

“Who isthat?”

I startle at the sound of Tina’s voice, my jump scaring Garfield off my lap with a grumpy meow.

“Sorry, bud,” I call after him.

“You an MMA fan now?” Tina asks from her position draped over the couch, her gaze glued to my computer screen where Roman is currently shirtless and sweaty after one of his first fights.

I huff a forced laugh. “Not exactly. He’s a new patient.”

Tina straightens with an appreciative whistle. “Damn. That’s a big change from your usual sixty-year-old patient.”

“You can say that again,” I murmur.

But then her brow furrows with a frown. “Wait…why does he look familiar?”

Twirling my coffee mug, I debate giving her the whole story, but it only takes her five seconds to put the puzzle pieces together.

Her eyes widen. “Oh myGod.” When her eyes lock on me, her mouth drops open in shock. “That’s the guy who hit on you at the bar! The famous one who had you all gaga!”

Now it’s myjaw that drops. I throw a pillow at her and exclaim, “I was notgagaover him!”

She tosses the pillow right back at my face. “Girl, I haveneverseen so many random smiles on your face as I did that week. Trust me: you were gaga.”

I can feel my cheeks heat as I give away the truth. “He was hot and famous— I had no say in the matter.”

“And a good kisser, if I remember correctly.” Before I can toss the pillow again—harder this time—she’s looking at me more seriously. “Wait,he’syour patient? Isn’t that an ethical violation?”

My head falls back against the couch with a heavy sigh. “It’s a gray area. Technically, it’s a judgment call. I was going to tell Fran, but it’s been two years and Roman doesn’t even remember me. And it’s not like anything really happened, so…”

Tina snorts. “Maybe on his end.”

I glare at my best friend. “Rude.”

She blows me a kiss. “So, you’re really just going to sweep everything under the rug and treat him anyway?”

I turn back to my computer screen, lips pursed in thought. “Yeah. He’s been through a lot and…I think I can help him.”

Tina sobers, sensing just how much I mean that. She’s known me long enough to know if there’s anything I take seriously, it’s my job.

“Have you started with him yet?” she asks, and I nod. “How’s it going?”

I nearly wince. “Let’s just say, it’s been a rocky start.”

She nods in understanding. While Tina doesn’t experience patients in the way that I do, as a nurse, she still understands the struggle of a difficult patient.

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