Undefeated

by Melissa Cutler

  ***

  The lights of Destiny Falls passed in a blur of color outside the car window as Olivia’s car raced through the city streets toward the hospital.

  She’d kept quiet, giving Liam the time and space to process what had happened and replay his medical response to Marlena’s injuries over and over. Had he done enough to stop her bleeding? Had he called 9-1-1 in time? Her shoulder had been dislocated and her leg a bloody mess. Had the clotting agent worked as it was supposed to?

  When they were nearly there, Olivia sniffled, breaking into his trance. “Marlena’s going to be all right,” she said. “She has to. I don’t know what I’d do without her. She’s my person.”

  He turned his head and took a long look at her—his one and only living blood relative that he knew of. For some reason, until Olivia had spoken just now, he hadn’t put it together that that the two of them shared a new, yet fundamental, connection. He’d thought they had nothing in common except their DNA, but that wasn’t true at all.

  “Marlena is my person, too,” he said. He picked at a drop of blood on his hockey shorts. “When she and I first got together, you thought I was going to hurt her, but . . .” Thick, intense emotion overcame him, tightening his ribs and throat, threatening him with tears.

  She was hurt, and he was partially to blame because his instinct had told him something was wrong that night, but he’d ignored it, over and over throughout the game. He gritted his teeth and rode out the wave of anguish.

  Olivia’s hand found his knee. “You didn’t hurt her. This isn’t your fault.”

  He swabbed a hand over his face. “It happened on my watch.”

  “You’re not her keeper; you’re her partner. There’s a difference.”

  All he could do was nod. She was right. He and Marlena were partners in every sense of the word—stronger and better and happier together than they were separately. He never wanted to live without her again.

  “I love her,” he said. It felt grounding to voice what he’d known in his bones for a while, even if his only witness was his sister, not the woman he wanted to tell.

  “She loves you, too.”

  “I know.” Marlena had known before he did what they had together. She had such spiritual clarity that, for all he knew, she might have known all along. “I’m going to marry her.”

  The moment the words left his mouth, he knew without a doubt that was his life’s new purpose, the only thing that mattered—marrying Marlena and being her partner in all things for the rest of their lives.

  Tears streamed over Olivia’s cheeks. “I’ve been really jealous of what you two have. I’m trying not to be, but it’s hard.” She shook her head. “I know it might not mean much to you, but for what it’s worth, you have my blessing. There isn’t another person in the world that I’d rather have as my sister-in-law.”

  He could see how his and Marlena’s closeness would make Olivia jealous, given the seemingly insurmountable distance between himself and Olivia. “That means a lot, actually. Thank you.”

  He wasn’t blowing smoke up her ass, saying that, even though it was a bitter pill to swallow that it took saving Gabe’s life and fixing the trebuchet for her to look at Liam with fresh eyes and see that he was a good man, worthy of Olivia’s best friend. But the way he saw it, he could keep resenting her for every little grievance and misstep, or he could let it all go.

  Tonight, he was choosing the latter. Not only because he didn’t want Marlena to have to tiptoe on eggshells around him about anything or anyone that was important to her, but because it was time to admit that the reason Olivia angered him so much was precisely because her opinion did matter to him.

  She was the only blood relative he had, and while he loved their parents and would forever be grateful and humbled that they’d adopted Liam and Olivia and loved them wholeheartedly, Olivia would always hold a singular place in Liam’s life. Her judgment had always mattered to him, which was why her rejection of his post-war self had stung so egregiously. From the day he’d been medically discharged, when she’d looked at him, she was searching for what she wanted to see, not who he was, which meant she’d only seen the shattered pieces of the boy he’d been, not the man he’d become.

  He hadn’t been able to pinpoint what it was about Olivia that offended him until Marlena had become the center of his world. When Marlena looked at him, she saw all his shattered pieces, too, but unlike Olivia, she also saw the man he wanted to be, his best self. She was proud of him the same way he was proud of himself, because he worked really damn hard, every single day, to heal and figure out his new reality, so he wouldn’t be another lost, suicidal PTSD statistic.

  “I’d like you and me to have a truce,” he said. “I’d like us to start over.”

  Nodding, her eyes crowded with tears. He hated that she had to get so emotional all the time, but maybe, after a while, when things settled down between them, she’d start to relax, too.

  “Thank you,” she croaked. “I’d like that.”

  The team was waiting for him at the hospital entrance, much like they had been the night of Gabe’s accident. He afforded them a nod of greeting, which they returned, wordlessly sharing their strength and brotherhood. This time, there was no pause at the threshold. They marched through the emergency room lobby with a singular purpose. He was grateful for their presence, but he wouldn’t have needed their help coping with being in the hospital. Marlena was inside and he needed to get to her. Period.

  He expected to see Marlena’s parents standing vigil at Marlena’s bedside with her, but neither of them was. Perhaps they’d gone to be with Michael instead. That pissed him off, but he supposed Michael probably needed them more because he didn’t have anyone else. Liam and Olivia would take care of Marlena just fine on their own.

  Marlena’s eyes were closed, though he couldn’t tell if she was unconscious or merely asleep. Her arm was in a temporary sling and her pants were cut away from her leg. Two nurses prepped the knife slice for stitches.

  Seeing her there, hurt and pale, a fresh howl of rage and fear ripped through him. His arms started to shake. He clenched his jaw. He hated this. He hated the world of men and violence for damaging her.

  Olivia touched his arm. She held out a cup of water for him. “Here. You’re in shock, too. Drink some water.”

  “Are you her family?” one of the nurses said to him.

  Liam wrenched his gaze from Marlena and focused on the nurses. “Yes, we are.”

  “We have her on some pretty strong pain medication, so you might have trouble rousing her. I’ll call the doctor in to speak to you.”

  “Thank you.”

  When the doctor arrived, Liam took a deep breath and extended his hand in greeting. “Doc, tell me what’s going on. I was an army medic, so you can give it to me straight up.”

  “She has a concussion, a dislocated shoulder, a nasty laceration on her leg, and probably a broken bone in her arm, judging by the swelling. As you can see, we’re about to stitch up her leg, but it won’t require surgery because the wound didn’t penetrate too deeply into the muscle. She should make a full recovery. Once she’s stabilized, we’ll x-ray her arm. My hunch is that it’s broken.”

  “Is she going to be okay? I mean, a full recovery and all that?” He couldn’t believe how weak he sounded, how worried.

  The doctor nodded. “She is. This could have been a lot worse if someone hadn’t administered a clotting agent to her leg. That clotting agent might have saved her life.”

  Liam’s heart dropped. Any time a doctor told him that, it meant someone had come way too close to dying. That this was Marlena they were talking about made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Thank God he’d found that clotting agent in the medical kit. He swung his attention to the bed, drinking her in, keeping one eye on the monitor readout of her pulse.

  He didn’t want to contemplate the shell of a person he would have become if he’d lost her. Shaking away the nightmarish thoughts, he walked to
the bed and stroked her hair, then pressed a kiss to her temple.

  She opened her eyes, but barely. “Liam?” she croaked.

  He dropped into a chair and held her hand. “I’m here. And I love you.”

  A hum resonated from behind her faintly smiling lips.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  He kissed the back of her hand. “What are you worried about me for? I’m here with you, aren’t I? Of course I’m okay.”

  “I was worried. Your triggers . . .”

  Unbelievable. She was the one in the hospital bed, her body broken, but she was worried about him. “I did okay, and you know what kept me doing okay? Knowing I needed to get to you. And here we are, right?”

  The faint smile returned to her lips. “I love you, too,” she said.

  He looked to the end of the bed where Olivia stood, hugging herself.

  “There’s someone else here who wants to see you,” he said.

  He couldn’t find it in himself to let go of her hand, but, still, he stood and shifted to make room so Olivia could have a turn with Marlena. Because she was both of their people. For the rest of their lives, they’d be three parts of a triangle, stronger together than they ever would have been alone.

  ***

  Marlena flipped the end of her pink feather boa over her shoulder, then adjusted her tiara. Yes, the ugly blue-and-beige sling her arm rested in detracted from her diva look, but having a hot guy at her side acting as a bodyguard made up for that and then some.

  Liam and Marlena stopped at the edge of the grass and surveyed the scene before them. Beneath a cloudless blue sky, a crowd of hundreds gathered at a park along the Erie Canal. Banners waved, shade covers of every color dotted the grass like squares of a patchwork quilt, and the scent of charcoal and grilling meat filled the warm, early-June air.

  Beside her, Liam cringed. “I think we just walked into one of my nightmares.”

  Liam had evolved a lot over the past few months, but nothing was going to turn him into a lover of civilians or crowds—or high school science competitions.

  Marlena rubbed her hand over his black button-down short-sleeve shirt, one of her favorites on him. “You don’t have to stay. I told you I’d record Olivia in action and send it to you.” Though she really hoped he would stay, because she had a surprise for Olivia that he’d enjoy, too.

  He pulled her close. “Like I’d let you navigate these crowds yourself. Your stitches are still fresh and your arm is broken.”

  Over the tops of people’s heads, she spotted it. “Here comes my surprise for Olivia. Check them out.”

  Through the crowd burst sixteen Bomb Squad players, including Gabe, all clad in bright pink Ms. Mac is the Queen Geek shirts. Some of them even wore matching boas. Laughing, she gave them a thumbs-up. “Olivia’s going to love this. Thanks for playing along, guys.”

  “Are you kidding?” Brandon said. “It’s the least we could do. She’s always been there for Bomb Squad, rooting for us no matter how often we sucked wind.”

  “Hey, Will. Where’s your tiara? I think you’d make a pretty princess,” Liam joked.

  Will gave him the bird. “Man, screw you. Just because you’re a party pooper, don’t bring the rest of us down.”

  Liam gave Will a sly grin, though Marlena had no idea why. She hadn’t even suggested he wear pink like the rest of them; she was just glad he’d braved the crowds for her and, even if he wouldn’t admit it, for Olivia.

  “Is your brother doing okay?” Will asked Marlena.

  “He will be. Thank you for asking. He was accepted into a long-term mental health facility upstate.” The facility was nothing fancy, but the doctors were top-rate and he was safe, which was the answer to Marlena’s prayers. “I think my parents are relieved that his care was taken out of their hands. I know I am. We’re all in counselling now. Separately, together. Therapy feels like a second job sometimes.”

  “Tell me about it,” a half dozen Bomb Squad guys said in unison.

  “You’re in good company,” Brandon said. “We’ve all been through that. Counselling, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and the list goes on.”

  “Prolonged exposure therapy,” Liam added. “Brandon’s right. You name the therapy, someone on the team’s done it.”

  “If I never have to flip through another copy of Psychology Today in a counsellor’s waiting room, I’ll consider it a life well lived,” Will said.

  Gabe cringed. “Those waiting rooms are the worst,” he rasped. Every day, his voice got stronger and he seemed more healed. Already, he was planning to get back on the ice as soon as his doctor cleared him.

  “Come on, guys. Let’s go show our favorite geek some support,” Marlena said. Flanked by Bomb Squad players, who created a cushion of space for her and Gabe to walk without getting jostled, they worked their way toward the canal. Theo had stopped canal boat traffic with two houseboats from his and Allison’s rental company, anchored on either side of a long strip of canal on which the teachers were already lining up in preparation for the challenge. Theo stood on deck of the nearest boat, his pink shirt shining in support of Olivia against the cream-painted boat.

  The various contraptions of all shapes and sizes were a great testament to the limitlessness of human ingenuity, but all eyes were on the main event in the center of the line: Jesse Church vs. Olivia McAllister.

  Church stood on his step stool, wearing a crown and blue velvet cape and surrounded by baskets of eggs like he was King of the Chickens. Olivia stood next to her new-and-improved tribute thingy, which was twice the size and girth of her original. She had her tiara and boa in place and a serene look on her face, ready to accept second place in the competition with the grace of a queen.

  Though she and Liam had spent the last week perfecting her design, it was still no match for Church’s bow-and-arrow basket system. At least Church had stopped talking trash about her. Maybe he had a shred of decency in him after all.

  Liam, Marlena, and the rest of Bomb Squad joined Harper, Presley, Allison and Katie, and Olivia and Liam’s mom, grouping behind Olivia’s catapult like a swarm of pink cotton candy. When Olivia saw Bomb Squad, she laughed, looking positively effervescent. “Thank you, guys. You look amazing!”

  Brandon scoffed. “Yeah, everyone except this knucklehead.” He hooked his thumb at Liam. “I guess he thought pink wasn’t his color.”

  Olivia offered Liam a timid smile. “Thank you for coming.”

  “I don’t want to brag or anything, but, uh . . .” He swaggered forward, took hold of his shirt collar in both hands, and ripped it open, revealing a bright pink Ms. Mac is the Queen Geek shirt. “I look better in this than all of you guys put together.”

  Marlena’s mouth fell open.

  Harper clutched Marlena’s good arm. “Is he really wearing that?”

  Marlena blinked at him, awed that he’d offered Olivia such a gesture. “I had no idea he had that on.”

  “Oh, wow.” Tears sprang to Olivia’s eyes. She waved her hands in front of her face. “I’m walking away now.”

  Liam’s smile morphed into a cringe. “She was crying again, wasn’t she?”

  Marlena kissed his cheek. “Little bit. In all fairness, you really are a sight to behold dressed in pink.”

  At the principal’s whistle, the crowd counted down to one and the one-minute clock started. The whole park lit up with a roar of cheers. Olivia’s all-pink entourage of Bomb Squad players, girlfriends, students, and family bounced and hooted and hollered encouragement as Olivia pulled the rope to launch an inflatable raft designed to catch her eggs on the far side of the canal. The wad of plastic sailed through the air neck-and-neck with Church’s arrow.

  Then, bang.

  A carton of eggs launched by another teacher hit the raft and it burst open, inflating instantly in midair and catching Church’s arrow. In a breathless, shocking moment, the raft exploded. Bits of yellow plastic rained into the canal, Church’s arrow lodged in one of the bigger pieces
.

  Marlena gripped Liam’s arm as a collective “Oh, balls,” rippled through Olivia’s entourage. But there was no time to waste processing the disaster—Church was already loading another arrow into his bow.

  “Come on, Olivia! You’ve got this,” Liam shouted. “Faster!”

  She shoved her one and only backup raft into the catapult’s slingshot pouch and launched it. Church’s arrow beat the raft to the other side, but luckily the raft landed as it was supposed to, inflating on impact.

  With focused concentration, she reloaded the catapult with her first egg shipment—two dozen eggs suspended, frozen, in a huge block of ice, which had been Liam’s idea. She pulled the rope release. The catapult’s weighted end, comprised of a weight-lifting plate from Liam’s home gym, swung around and launched the ice block over the canal. Marlena watched it with bated breath.

  Next to them, Church snapped his first pulley onto the rope, then a basket loaded with eggs.

  “Here we go,” Harper muttered.

  Olivia glanced at it, but she kept her focus on her ice block, which landed in the raft, bounced once, then came to a stop, just as she’d planned it to. The Bomb Squad players roared with cheers until the crack of splintering wood caught their attention.

  Church yelped as a leg of his step stool ripped off and rocketed over the ledge and into the canal. Church flapped his arms as he sailed through the air. His butt hit hard on the sidewalk, the mangled bits of his step stool next to him.

  “What the hell . . .” Liam said.

  They ran to the canal and peered into the water. The step stool leg was being dragged through the current attached to a rope. Marlena followed the rope to the original arrow, still stuck in Olivia’s punctured raft.

  An air horn sounded. Time was up.

  As judges on the far bank tallied each contestant’s eggs, Olivia walked to Church and offered him a hand up. He accepted the gesture and stood, then shook off his cape and adjusted his crown. They turned their attention to the principal, who stood with a megaphone next to a teacher holding an air cannon.