Challenge: A Contemporary MMA Romance: Oni Fighters Book 3

by Natalie Gayle

  I waved my hand at him trying to play down his conclusion.

  “Oh, shut up. We are not. If it was a relationship, then we’d have told you all,” I argued, not one hundred percent sure I even believed the words I was saying. Wanting and knowing were two different things. I might want a relationship that didn’t mean I had one.

  “Doesn’t matter. I’m not sure if you know this or not, Soph, but Seth doesn’t usually go back for seconds. If he does, it’s rare and I’ve never known it to be for more than a week. You guys are over three months. That’s a relationship for Seth. What do you think, Xan?”

  Okay…that kind of walloped me between the eyes. That was Dane. He was the honest, direct type. I hadn’t known that about Seth’s past conquests. I knew Seth was a player and the party type, we just hadn’t spent a lot of time comparing sexual or relationship histories. It wasn’t the sort of thing you did with a guy like Seth. He liked to keep things very much in the here and now.

  I hazarded a glance over at Xander and immediately wished I hadn’t. He was nodding with a stupid grin on his face. “Yep, Soph. He might not have told you or even admitted it to himself but you’re his woman. Knew it months ago when he first came home. The way he looked at you in that bar told me all I needed to know.”

  Grrrrr!!! They just didn’t get it. These two were so infuriating. It seemed that since they were now either married or engaged they had suddenly risen to the status of relationship experts. Well, at least in their own minds, and apparently they thought nothing of giving out advice or branding mine!

  I let out a long sigh and buried my head in my hands. As much as Xander and Dane were trying to thrust me into the role of girlfriend or woman or whatever, it didn’t seem to fit right.

  What were they all expecting of me?

  I wanted to be there for Seth—absolutely. It was just well, weird! Seth had spent a lot of time avoiding the topic and I knew better than to keep on about it or I sensed I’d lose him.

  “I don’t know what you want from me?”

  Eden nudged me gently in the shoulder to get my attention. “I guess what Xander and Dane are getting at, Soph, is that someone needs to step up and take the lead, sort out his medical stuff. That sort of thing. It doesn’t look like his parents are that keen and, from what Xander has told me, I doubt Seth would want them here. You seem to be the obvious person.”

  Far out, this was serious stuff!

  “What about you guys?” I asked, slightly freaking out. Actually, no—seriously freaking out.

  “We’ll be here and we’ll support both of you through this,” Xander assured me.

  “But you’re his best friends,” I argued.

  “We are. But you’ve been…” Xander cleared his throat uncomfortably. “Intimate…with him for a while now. That trumps male friends.” Xander looked to Dane as if for agreement and Dane nodded his support to this line of thinking.

  I swallowed the lump in my throat. Shit!

  “Nice hospital pass guys, pardon the pun.” I glared at them both.

  “Look at it this way. Seth’s your friend as well right?” Eden asked me.

  I nodded.

  “Well, then if it was any other friend you’d step up. So what’s the problem?”

  Just the minor matter of me having no idea where our relationship really stood. They were all looking at me expectantly.

  “Think about it, Sophia, we’ve got around the little next of kin issue. So, we need to keep rolling with this,” Xander pushed.

  How convenient…but that wasn’t even what I was warring with in my head. I had no problem helping Seth. In fact, I was very happy to do it. I was just worried about our status.

  “But what if his mum turns up and starts…I don’t know?” I threw my hands in the air. “Making demands or something.”

  “All the more reason for you to take the lead now. Seth’s relationship with his folks is very rough. I doubt she’ll turn up and, if she does, I’m not sure he’d see her. It stems from way back. His mother sided with her new husband and Seth was all but left in the cold when he was a kid. It hurt him bad. Really, we’re the only family he’s got and the only ones he’d trust. It would make it simpler all round if you just stepped into the role but if you won’t, then I’ll have to get the legal stuff sorted, I guess so I can do it. If you’re still not convinced, then ask yourself this…you’d do anything in your power to make sure Seth made a full recovery, right?”

  I nodded again in answer to Xander—helping Seth was a given. However, my curiosity was running rampant about Seth’s relationship with his parents.

  “So, all you do is listen to the advice of the doctors and ask questions. We’ll be there every step of the way.”

  I thought for a moment. Xander was right and what he said was all logical.

  Right now, I felt like I was about to jump in the deep end. I was no stranger to hospitals with what my family had gone through with Eden but my parents had organized all of that. It had to be done and it looked like I was the one that had to do it. “Okay, what do I need to do?”

  Xander and Dane both seemed to let out a sigh of relief. “Probably not much right now, just be the person that the doctor talks to and feedbacks information to. He’s got full private health insurance so cost won’t be an issue. I have all the details on file at the dojo but I’m sure the hospital already has everything they need. Anything you’re not sure about, just talk to us and we’ll figure it out.”

  Okay, I could do that. This wouldn’t be so tough, would it? Other than the obvious fact that the man I care for very much was in Intensive Care with a head injury of unknown severity.

  And for the hundredth time in the space of the last couple of hours, I asked myself the question of why he’d taken off? Why hadn’t he stayed? Why did I get so trashed?

  Stupid Sophia, stupid.

  Time ticked by. There was really nothing worse than waiting in hospitals. Slowly, my body was starting to feel more normal. Nothing a few litres of water and Xander’s miracle recovery blend couldn’t fix, it seemed.

  I don’t know what was in that smoothie Eden made but it sure did the trick. My stomach actually felt like it would welcome regular food soon. That had to be a bonus.

  Dane and Arianne left for a little while. They needed to do a couple of things. They promised to return soon with some decent food for everyone. The hospital cafeteria was really not going to cut it. As a group, we were all very health conscious—Xander and Dane in particular.

  Although, there was no denying I was very partial to anything sweet. Chocolate and cakes were my friend! Fortunately, my training at Onigashima meant I worked off any excess calories and then some.

  “Are these chairs uncomfortable or is it just me?” I stood and stretched, trying to loosen the muscles that were not used to being still for so long. Now that my hangover was passing, the need to be active was starting to return with vengeance. I hated sitting around.

  “Yeah, they’re uncomfortable,” Eden agreed. “You look like you’re feeling better.”

  “I’m almost feeling human again. I could use a little exercise, actually. I had been planning on going in and hitting some bags today and I was hoping to convince Seth into doing a grappling session with me.” Seth was known in MMA circles as having one hell of a ground game. Both Dane and Xander used Seth specifically for this in their fight preps.

  Xander looked over at me and raised his eyebrows. “Is that code for something else? I’m never going to be sure now. I hope you two haven’t been tearing up the floor in my dojo.”

  Guilt ripped through me and I hoped I didn’t look too transparent. We’d almost let things get out of hand a few times but peoples’ schedules at Onigashima were too unpredictable and we’d been all about keeping our relationship covert. I noticed Eden’s cheeks had gone red though.

  “Of course not, but judging by the colour of my sister’s cheeks I don’t think the same applies to you two.”

  “My dojo, I can do whatev
er I want.”

  “Well, that’s just nasty.” I made a squirmy face at him.

  Eden just shook her head. “He’s just winding you up, Soph. We might be newlyweds but there’s no way he’d do anything to potentially risk losing respect in his dojo. You know that. Besides, we have our own private dojo at home.”

  I couldn’t take it anymore. I was in the twilight zone.

  “You two are just, ahhh…”

  Out of the corner of my eye I saw a nurse come through the big heavy doors with a clipboard in hand.

  The large waiting room had gained another couple of visitor parties since we took up our vigil.

  “Family of Seth Harris?” The nurse looked between the three groups.

  I stood and moved towards her, Xander and Eden hot on my heels.

  “Hi, I’m Michelle, one of the ICU nurses, I can take you through now. I just need to go through a few things with…” She trailed off, nodded at the clipboard, and gave me a warm smile.

  “I’m Sophia, Seth’s um…partner.” God how did I describe myself?

  Michelle’s eyes narrowed a fraction, but she didn’t say anything. Then, her eyes scanned my sister and brother-in-law.

  “I’m Eden and this is my husband, Xander Todd. Sophia is my sister and Seth’s fiancée.”

  Fiancée!!! What the…?

  I thought partner was a good non-descriptive term. Saying I was Seth’s woman would have just seemed a bit weird to me. Then, Eden went and trumped it all!

  I was surprised at just how smooth my sister was. I’d never known her to be so confident or…well…deceptive.

  Michelle blushed a little and I realized she’d figured out who Xander was. “You’re that Xander Todd—Pretty Boy. The MMA fighter. I followed your Vegas campaign. Congratulations on your win and marriage.”

  “Thanks, appreciate the support. How’s Seth?” Xander quickly moved the conversation from him back to where our focus should be. Although he was a celebrity of sorts, Xander always chose to play down his celebrity status.

  “We’ve got him settled in ICU now. Why don’t you follow me through and I can fill you in on everything.” She moved off towards the doors and we followed.

  “Why didn’t you just say we were married and be done with it?” I leant over to Eden and whispered in her ear sarcastically.

  “It crossed my mind, then I figured you might struggle with a marriage certificate if push came to shove,” she whispered back.

  Jesus H Christ on a raft!

  I couldn’t top that so I wisely chose to keep my mouth firmly shut.

  The nurse led us into a small lounge area with a kitchenette, television, a couple of comfy sofas, and a small table and chairs.

  “This is the visitor’s lounge. Feel free to use it whenever you need to. The bathrooms are just through there.” She pointed to a door off the room. “Okay, before I take you through to see Seth, let me run you through a few things and procedures for the ICU. This is not a normal hospital ward and different rules apply for everyone’s benefit.”

  Suddenly, things seemed even more real. Or was it unreal? I felt like I was being swept out to sea in a rip-tide and there wasn’t a damned thing I could do about it, except wait until it spat me out.

  4

  Sophia

  Doctor Wilkinson and the nurse had both warned us about the shock of seeing Seth. Finally, they let us through to the glass-sided ICU room Seth was in. It was one of several glass-enclosed rooms that faced a large reception desk. The desk seemed to be the nerve centre of the ward. A team of nurses busily watched remote monitors and were filling-in patient files.

  Understanding what I would see, and actually seeing him, were two very different things.

  It was such a shock.

  Seth, who was always so full of energy and, life, was so still, it was eerie. He was naked from the waist up—his beautifully muscled arms, shoulders, and torso on display for the ward and everyone to see.

  IV drips ran in both of his arms, and the thick tubing of the ventilator disappeared through those oh-so-sensual lips of his. Other than the surgical taping to secure the tube in his mouth, the only other blemish to his ruggedly sexy face was a small bandage on the left of his forehead, which I guess protected a cut of some sort.

  There were numerous other tubes and drains coming out from under the edge of where the waffle-textured blanket was draped across his waist and I assumed they were a result of the surgery he’d had to his pelvis.

  Every thing was so measured—from the regular bleeps of the monitors to the swoosh of the air moving through the ventilator. Perfect, precise, controlled and measured…so unlike Seth.

  The only place I’d seen a level of control like that around Seth, was when he was fighting. The ring took the edgy power he always had and focused it into a formidable competitive force.

  Elsewhere, he was an enigma of energy and someone that lived life to the fullest—on the edge. Unpredictable and a little erratic.

  Never slowing. Never looking back.

  Always chasing the next thrill, looking for a way to suck the most out of life.

  Even the white colour palate of the room, medical equipment, and fixtures was in stark contrast to his tanned skin. It was as if I were looking at the exact opposite of everything that I knew about Seth. It really had me thrown off balance.

  We stood at the end of the bed and I’m sure Eden and Xander were just as affected by what we saw, as I was. Nurse Michelle moved up beside the bed and checked the monitors before she turned to us. The reassurance of her smile told me she’d done this many times before and had looked at similar expressions on the faces of family and friends with many other patients.

  “Do you have any questions at this stage?” She asked.

  I had so many questions, it wasn’t funny—questions about everything from his medical care and injuries to how had the accident happened that landed him in this room. My voice was silent, my mind still trying to process what I was seeing.

  “What should we, ah, do?” I’d never heard Xander sound so unsure of anything. His voice was no more than a whisper and, for a guy who was always so sure and confident, he sounded like a lost little boy.

  Michelle nodded knowingly again. “First off, stop whispering. Yes, it’s a hospital, but you need to act normally. Just sit here. Talk amongst yourselves, hold his hands, give his feet, legs, arms a gentle massage. That sort of thing. Just be careful not to bump any of the sensors or tubes.”

  Xander gave me a pointed look. “Hands on stuff is your domain, Soph.”

  It was clear from the look on Nurse Michelle’s face that Xan’s comment was typical of many she heard in here. She grinned at him before going on.

  “Essentially, let him know you’re here. It will be a shock for him as he starts to come around. His consciousness will probably return in waves. He likely won’t understand what’s going on or why. We’ll be monitoring him but nothing is more reassuring for a patient than having familiar faces, voices, and touches around them when they do start to regain consciousness.”

  The thought of talking around Seth felt weird and I could tell Eden and Xander felt similarly.

  “I can see the skepticism on your faces. Every coma is different. Many people that have been through one claim they could hear their family and friends and can actually recount what was spoken about around them. So, please, don’t disregard the medical power of the simple touch and voice.”

  “There’s a couple of chairs against the wall you can use. I’ll get another. We don’t normally like three people in the room at a time but we’ll make an exception in this case.”

  And we all knew that was because of Xander and his celebrity status. Michelle gave him the look that said “I’d love an autograph or ten but I’m too professional to ask.”

  Xander read it perfectly, “if you or any of the staff want autographs, I’m happy to oblige. I’m sure Dane will as well.”

  “That would be awesome.” The professional smile morp
hed into fangirl and I watched Eden unconsciously move closer to her husband.

  “Just let me know what you want.”

  She nodded and moved from the room, returning a few seconds later with another chair. The only sound was the regular rhythm of the machines. The three of us sat and kind of looked at each other. No one really knew what to do or where to start. I felt so self-conscious, almost scared to touch him and certainly not in front of Eden and Xander, that would be weird.

  Xander pulled his phone from his pocket.

  “Dane is going to be here in about thirty minutes with some food.”

  “Okay, I’m getting hungry.”

  “Well, I guess that’s one bonus. We won’t have to fight the big fella for food today. Man, he can eat.” Xander chuckled and I giggled a little too loud to cover my nervousness.

  “You’re so right. We went to a steak and rib restaurant a couple of weeks ago. I swear, he ate through a rump steak the size of the plate and three full racks of ribs. I thought I could eat. He seriously put me to shame.”

  Eden’s eyes sparkled with humour. “You can eat. Let me guess, you got through a rib fillet and a rack of ribs.”

  “You know me too well, sis.” We all chuckled again. It felt good to laugh a little, even if it was forced. “I might of topped it off with a slice of Mississippi mud cake as well.”

  Eden shook her head, laughing. “I may have moved out but nothing changes with your sweet tooth. I bet you and Tori are worse than ever with your pig-outs in front of the TV.”

  “Um, I haven’t actually been home that much at night lately,” I confessed, my cheeks suddenly feeling a little warm.

  Xander looked directly at Eden. “No relationship happening there what so ever.”

  “Nope, none. Can’t understand what we were all thinking.”

  “Okay, okay you two. We have something, we just haven’t labelled it. We’ve just been going with the flow.”

  “Progress, Gem.” Xander gave Eden his cheeky, little-boy grin.