The Fighter

by Elin Peer

  “Do you want me to go with you?”

  “You can’t. They asked for immediate family only, but would you wait outside, please?”

  “Yes, of course.” Raven’s face mirrored Mila’s sadness and they hugged.

  “It’s going to be fine, Mila,” Raven’s words were meant to cheer Mila up, but it was a guarantee no one could offer at this point.

  Mila dried away some of her tears and then she looked at me in the hover chair. “Oh, Leo, I’m sorry. Were you going outside for fresh air?”

  “Something like that, but don’t worry about it.”

  Mila began walking and we moved along with her. “You don’t mind then?” she asked me.

  “Mila, no. I would be honored to wait with Raven. Your father is the bravest man I know. He saved my life.”

  She gave me a sad smile and held Raven’s hand as we made our way up to the intensive care unit. Raven and I went with Mila all the way to the door of Magni’s room until we couldn’t go any further.

  “It’s going to be all right,” Raven repeated with her eyes full of unshed tears. “We’ll be waiting right here for you.”

  Swallowing a few times, Mila heaved in air before squaring her shoulders and placing a hand on the door. “I’ll let you know when he wakes up.”

  CHAPTER 23

  Unexpected

  Raven

  Leo and I waited in the hallway outside Magni’s room, where a few chairs were placed along the wall. After five minutes Khan rushed past us with a short hello. Two of his personal guards walked over to talk to their colleagues, who were here protecting Magni.

  We watched two assistants come and go before a doctor entered the room. He didn’t close the door all the way and my eyes zoomed in through the narrow opening to see what was going on.

  If only Khan weren’t blocking my view.

  “Have you seen any signs of movement yet?” the doctor asked and I recognized Finn’s voice when he answered, “There was movement under his eyelids just a moment ago.” It made sense that Finn was with them because even though he wasn’t family, he and Magni were childhood friends, and Finn had been Khan’s and Magni’s personal doctor before he married Athena and moved to the Motherlands.

  “Good. We’ll just give him a few moments to come around.”

  “Dad, can you hear me? Dad, if you can hear me squeeze my hand or open your eyes.” Mila was the only one of Magni’s children in the room.

  “I felt something.” Laura’s voice was brittle. “He squeezed my hand. I’m sure of it.”

  “Do it again, Dad. Come on. You can do it.”

  Small outbursts of excitement were followed by Laura, who was now crying with joy, saying, “That’s it! Yes, honey, open your eyes.”

  I had a hand in front of my mouth and didn’t breathe. Magni was waking up but I couldn’t see anything what with Khan’s back in the way. And then by some small miracle, Khan moved out of my way giving me a narrow view of Finn standing at the head of Magni’s bed.

  “Welcome back, brother. Quite a nap you took there, huh?” Khan’s shaky voice revealed how emotional he was.

  The sound that came from Magni was hoarse and followed by a cough.

  “Let’s have him sit up.” Finn raised the bed up and it gave me my first glimpse of Magni’s face. His beard was gone and his right side was covered with a protective layer of some kind.

  “Here, do you want some water?” Magni’s right eye was covered but his left was looking down at Mila, who was placing a small ball of water by his lips. Slowly he opened his mouth and she pushed the ball inside.

  “Oh, that’s okay, babe.” Laura got up and dried away the water that ran down his chin.

  Another hoarse sound came from Magni and it made me grab Leo’s hand and whisper to him. “He’s trying to speak.”

  Leo squeezed my hand and leaned in so he could see a bit through the door opening as well.

  “Magni, do you know who we are?” Khan asked.

  Magni didn’t answer but turned his head and then a long, pained sound cut into my heart.

  “Yes, you lost some of your arm. You were in an accident. A drone crash. Do you remember?” Finn’s voice was soft and sympathetic.

  Magni made a low and throaty sound. It was clear he was trying to speak but I didn’t understand.

  Finn continued, “I’m sorry, friend. There was no way to save your left arm and for a while the doctors here doubted you would survive, but we told them how strong you are and you proved us right.”

  Magni’s left eye was darting around the room. “Do you remember us?” Khan repeated.

  “What’s my name?” I could see Mila’s sleeve as she leaned in and caressed Magni’s face.

  Another low guttural sound came from Magni, but it was close enough to, “Mila” that I sighed with relief.

  “And me, do you remember me?” Laura’s voice was breaking.

  “Laura.”

  Mila and Laura were sobbing with joy.

  “We were so scared you wouldn’t be able to recognize us.” Erika kissed his forehead.

  “My eye.” His right hand lifted to the part of his face that was wrapped up. “I can’t see…?”

  The doctor leaned in and pulled Magni’s hand down. “It’s better if you don’t touch it. The left side of your face was injured during the crash and it needs to heal. The operation went well, and we’re hopeful that we saved enough of your nerves that you’ll regain at least some vision in your right eye. For now, it needs to remain covered though.”

  Magni groaned.

  “It was a bad crash, brother. As Finn said, it’s a miracle that you’re waking up at all. It’s going to be a long road to recovery, but you’ll get there and we’ll help you.”

  Magni’s good eye darted around. “Leo,” he muttered.

  “That’s right. Leo was with you in the drone. Do you remember now?” Finn asked.

  “Is he okay?”

  Leo squeezed my hand when we heard Magni asking about him.

  “Yes, Dad. Leo was injured too, but he’s right outside the door. He told me you saved his life.”

  Magni gave a hoarse cough and sunk back in his bed with a sigh.

  Finn placed a hand on his left shoulder. “We know you’re tired and we’ll let you sleep in a minute. Just know that it’s a good sign that you remember the crash and that you recognize us.”

  “That’s right,” the doctor agreed. “When you feel better, we would like to do some tests, and later we can talk about robotic limbs for your arm and legs.”

  “My legs?” Magni looked up at the doctor.

  “Yes, there’s no good way to tell you this, but I’m afraid both your legs were amputated in the crash. Normally, we can reattach limbs, but unfortunately, yours were too crushed to work.

  “Nooo!”

  Everyone was quiet in the room, listening to Magni’s sounds of despair. Out in the hallway, Leo, the guards, and I all had our heads down as we suffered with Magni at that moment.

  “It’s a shock, we know.” Erika’s voice was soft. “You’ve been in a coma for six days. We’ve been praying night and day that you’d make it through.”

  “We love you, Dad. You don’t know how happy we are that you’re still here. You just need to rest and focus on getting healthy again.” Mila’s words were swallowed in her crying.

  Magni turned his head and closed his eye.

  “It’s okay, brother, you can go back to sleep. One of us will stay by your side and be here when you wake up. From now on things will get better.”

  A few minutes later, Khan exited the room with the doctor. “How long do you think he’ll sleep?”

  “I can’t say, Lord. He’ll drift in and out of sleep over the next days but he didn’t seem in pain, so the medication is working.”

  “That’s good. Thank you.”

  The two men exchanged a firm handshake before the doctor walked away and Khan faced us. “Leo, Magni was asking about you. I think he remembered that you
were in the drone.”

  “That’s good right? That means he still has his memories.”

  “It’s too early to say if he has all of them, but he remembered the crash.” Signaling to his guards that it was time to go, Khan gave us a nod. “I’ll see you later.”

  Mila came out and talked to us about her father’s few minutes awake. “I’m going to stay here in case he wakes up again. My mom and grandma need a break. They’ve been here more or less non-stop for the past six days.

  “Whatever you need, Mila. Just give me a call and I’ll bring it to you. Company, a book, music, food… anything.”

  “Thank you, Raven. You’re the best friend anyone can ask for. I love you so much.”

  “I love you too, sweetie.” After hugging me and saying goodbye to Leo, she went back in and closed the door.

  For a moment, Leo and I sat in silence before I sucked in a deep inhalation. “At least he’s awake now.”

  “I know.”

  “Do you wanna leave?”

  “Yeah.”

  This time we didn’t run or laugh as we left the hospital. We were quiet as we flew back to Leo’s place, and when we got there, he held on to my shoulder and jumped on one foot to get from the drone, inside his house, and onto his couch.

  “Are you comfortable?”

  Leo was sitting with his back against the armrest and his feet stretched out in front of him. “Do you have to go?”

  We had just witnessed something both miraculous and incredibly sad at the hospital. Normally, I would have been eager to see my parents and talk to them about it, but my feet felt like they were glued to the floor. I wanted to stay here with Leo.

  “I can stay a while.” Sitting down on the other end of the couch, I curled my legs up and called my mom. “I know I promised, Mom, but I can’t make it tonight. Magni woke up.”

  “I know. Your dad has been speaking to Khan for twenty minutes now, I’m dying for him to finish and update me.”

  “Leo and I were outside the room but we heard most of what happened. The sounds Magni made when he found out about his legs were soul-wrenching, Mom. I’ve never heard anything like it.”

  “Oh, honey, I’m so sorry.” My mom’s voice was like a warm embrace of empathy. “He’ll be in shock for a while but at least his expressing sorrow means that he understands. Remember how afraid we were that he would be brain damaged?”

  “Yes, I get that, but it’s Magni; his whole identity is to be the strongest warrior and now he’s literally been cut down.”

  Leo reached his hands out, signaling for me to stretch my legs out. I was careful not to touch his injured thigh. He rubbed my ankle, his strong fingers massaging the arch of my foot.

  “Magni will get through it. He has so much to live for and a family who needs him. All we can do is give our support. Why don’t you come over and get some big hugs? Sounds like you could use it.”

  “Thanks, Mom, I’d love to, but I made a promise to Mila. I’ll come by soon, okay?”

  “All right, darling. We miss you.”

  “I know, and I miss you too. Say hi to Dad and give the little ones a kiss from me.”

  “Will do, honey.”

  When I ended the call, I gave a long sigh. “They’re complaining that they don’t see me enough.”

  Leo frowned. “I shouldn’t keep you from your family.”

  I gave him a small smile and winked. “Are you kidding? They don’t give me foot rubs like this.”

  CHAPTER 24

  A Pair of Mittens

  Three weeks later

  Leo

  End of October, I was at the Gray Manor helping Raven pack her things to move them to my place. I was tired of keeping our relationship a secret while waiting for Raven to make it public, but this morning she had finally agreed that since she slept at my house every night anyway, she might as well move in with me. I had played it cool when she told me, but when she went to take a shower, I’d done a victory dance and raised my hands above my head.

  The plan was that we would move her things to my place and tell her family about us being a couple this weekend.

  Mila had offered to help pack. She was sitting on the windowsill sorting through some books with a sadness that forced me to ask, “How is Magni doing?”

  “Not so good.” Mila lowered her hands and let the books rest in her lap.

  “Isn’t he happy to be back home? Raven told me he was transferred from the hospital yesterday.”

  “Yes, a month in the hospital would be hard on anyone. My mom and Khan wanted him to come home.” Mila’s shoulders hung low and she sat with her back hunched over. It appeared to me that her hair looked unwashed and that her skin was grayish.

  Raven walked over and gave her friend a sideways hug. “At least he’s awake and getting stronger with every day now. Remember how we were all scared he’d never wake up?”

  Mila didn’t smile. “He’s awake but just about unrecognizable. Either he stares at the ceiling for hours and refuses to talk, or he talks but all that comes from him is aggressive verbal abuse of whoever is in the room.”

  “It’s probably the medication and because he’s in so much pain.”

  “Maybe, but this is Magni Aurelius that we’re talking about. He has withstood more physical pain than most people, and not even my mom or Khan know this bitter side of him. He won’t allow any visitors.” Mila sighed. “Maybe he’s afraid they’ll stare at all his scars.”

  Raven frowned. “You mean the ones on his face? But why? Magni isn’t a vain man, is he?”

  “He’s proud! It’s a lot to take in. I mean, he was already partially deaf on one ear and now he has lost some of his sight on his right eye along with both his legs and left arm.” Mila teared up. “All he talks about is wanting to kill himself.”

  I rubbed my forehead. “Fuck, that’s bad, Mila. I feared that might happen.”

  Mila’s voice broke a little. “He’s been under suicide watch since he woke up.”

  Raven sat down on the edge of her bed and wrapped her arms around her waist. “I feel awful that I did this to him.”

  “Stop saying that. It wasn’t your fault.” Mila pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and sniffled. “Things will get better. They have to.”

  I was quick to agree, “Yes. Once he’s no longer in pain, he’ll feel better.”

  Mila nodded. “Jonah is coming in a few days. He offered to talk to my dad.”

  I frowned. “Do you think that will help?”

  Mila gave another small shrug. “I hope so. I always feel better after talking to Jonah. We’ll see.”

  “And your tournament? Will it be postponed?”

  “I don’t know. Obviously, I want my dad to be there but when I asked him about it this morning, he…” Mila’s eyes teared up again. “He began shouting and he threw whatever he could get his hands on against the wall. The doctor’s assistant had to give him an injection to calm him down.”

  “Damn, I’m sorry to hear that.” I gave her a sympathetic glance.

  Mila dried away a tear. “Jonah says to look at it positively. At least my dad can still see, hear and talk. He also seems to have all his memories and his right hand works well enough to throw things.”

  “Right…” I nodded. “Yeah, I guess, that’s a good way to look at it, but I think any warrior waking up to realize he’s missing an arm and two legs would be angry with the world. I don’t blame him for being grumpy.”

  Mila pushed off from the windowsill and stood for a second. “My dad’s behavior isn’t grumpy, Leo. It’s hostile like we’re his prison guards and he resents us for not letting him kill himself.”

  Without words, Raven got up and gave Mila a long warm hug. “Give it time.”

  Mila nodded and walked to the door before turning to us. “I’m happy for you two. I truly am, but I’m going to miss having you around, Raven.”

  “I’ll come by often, I promise.”

  Mila gave a small smile that dripped with sadness.
“I’d like that.”

  When the door closed behind her, Raven walked into my arms. “I feel so bad for her.”

  “Me too.”

  “If I had a magic wand, I would turn back time and then I would have never gone out that day.”

  “Don’t beat yourself up about it, Raven. It wasn’t your fault.” I kissed her forehead and hugged her tight. “Come on, let’s just get the last things packed.”

  We worked in silence for a few minutes until a call came in on Raven’s wristband.

  “It’s Michael.”

  “Michael who?”

  Raven didn’t answer me because she had already accepted the call and moved to the window. “Hi, Michael, how are you?”

  “I’m fine. Listen, I’m sorry to disturb you but I just wanted to ask if you got closer to any answers about Dina and Henry?”

  Raven looked back at me over her shoulder and mouthed, “Dina’s neighbor.”

  I gave a nod of understanding as she answered him, “I wish, but with Magni being injured it’s no longer a priority of mine. You heard of the crash, didn’t you?”

  “Yes, of course. It’s all they talk about on the news.”

  “The thing is, Michael, it was my investigation that caused Magni and Leo to crash, so I’m done.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  Raven scratched her shoulder. “I’m sorry that I don’t have any answers for you.”

  “Yes, I was hoping you would, but I guess now we’ll never know.” The disappointment in his voice was thick, and then he sighed. “Oh well, it was worth a try anyway.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Bye then.”

  “Bye.”

  Raven ended the call and we went back to packing but a minute later, Michael called her again.

  “I know this is going to sound silly, and it’s probably nothing of significance but I kept something that belonged to Dina and I feel a little bad about it.”