Page 121 of You Had Me At Thirteen

The crowd boos Michael, as other fighters come in to wrestle him down. Wren still lays unmoving on the floor.

‘Jordan…’ I search Jordan’s face, hoping that what I just witnessed is all some sort of stunt. Wren’s just playing, right?

Right?!

Jordan swallows hard, his eyes frantic as he grabs my hand. ‘Let’s go,’ he says while dragging me towards the stairs to the change rooms.

Wren hasn’t been brought back in yet, so we head out into the cage to find the medic kneeling next to him, checking his airways. A couple of other fighters assist by rolling Wren onto his back, keeping his spine and neck as straight as possible.

As soon as I see Wren’s face drained of colour, I attempt to push through the bodies surrounding him, but Jordan grabs me around the waist and yanks me to his chest.

‘Til, let them do their job.’

‘No, please. I need to get to him. He needs me, Jordan. He needs…’ My voice cracks and I fight Jordan by slapping his chest, each attempt at freeing myself only leading him to hold me tighter. ‘This is all your fucking fault. You let him come back. I fucking hate you. I hate you.’

Jordan holds me while I fist his shirt, my legs unable to hold me upright any longer. He allows me to fall apart when I can’t form coherent sentences over the sobs ripping from my throat.

A stretcher is wheeled out, and Wren is lifted onto it. He still hasn’t regained consciousness and as he passes me, I see his beautiful face is covered in his own blood.

I pull Jordan with me and we follow Wren and the others outside to where the ambulance is waiting.

The stretcher is hauled into the back, so I race over. ‘I need to go with him,’ I say, breathless, my entire body heavy with all the emotions weighing down on me.

Someone asks who I am, but Jordan answers for me. ‘She’s his girlfriend.’

‘Okay. Get in,’ the dark-haired paramedic says.

‘Thank you.’ I kiss Jordan’s cheek before climbing into the back of the ambulance. His face is pale as he watches the doors close. He looks just as broken as I am.

I sit to the side of the ambulance, watching as the paramedics connect tubes to a vein in Wren’s arm, and an oxygen mask over his face.

The tears fall, soaking into my shirt, and all I want is to reach out and hold him. ‘Is he going to be okay?’ I say, trying to keep my voice steady.

Dark-hair glances my way. ‘He’s stable for now. We’ll know more when we get him to the hospital.’

That’s good news, right? He’s stable. I hold on to that hope, because the alternative can’t happen. I can’t lose him. After everything we’ve gone through the last few weeks, what’s the point if I lose him now?

We arrive at the hospital and Wren is ushered in for an emergency scan on his brain and body. I’m left in the waiting room alone, before Jordan comes in not long after.

‘Til, where is he?’ He wraps his arms around my shoulders, pulling me against his chest.

‘They’ve taken him for scans. Listen, I’m sorry about what I said earlier. I didn’t—’

‘Babe, don’t apologise. I get it.’ Jordan blows out a breath. ‘I called Koby. He’s bringing Audrey. They’ll be here soon, but I need to call Carla. Will you be okay here on your own for a minute?’

I nod. ‘I’ll be fine.’

Jordan kisses my forehead, then stalks out of the room with his phone pressed to his ear. Audrey and Koby arrive a few minutes later, followed by Clive and then Carla.

She rushes over and wraps me in her arms. ‘I’m so sorry, babe.’ She holds my head as my tears fall again. ‘He’s going to be okay. If I know my baby cousin, he’ll be fighting hard.’

‘I can’t lose him, Carls. I just can’t. What if…’ I’m cut off by a violent sob.

‘You won’t lose him. This is Wren. When does he let anything beat him? He’s stubborn as hell, nearly as stubborn as you.’ Her smile is small, but it helps.

Nothing is promised in this life, and you never know when the person you love most in the world will be ripped away from you.

Look at Wren’s mum. One moment she’s fine, the next she’s dying of cancer and leaving her eighteen-year-old son without a mother. But he fought through that, and I have to hope that he’ll fight through this too.

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