The Fighting Series Boxset

by Ash, Nikki

  And with those words, I draw the conclusion my daughter could be a professional hostage negotiator, and to be honest at this point, I probably would buy her, her own dolphin just to get her out of bed but I am definitely not going to tell her that. Parenting rule number one: You don’t give in to the battle. You give in once and it’s all downhill. At this rate, by next week I will have to buy her a car to get her out of bed!

  “Bella Faith Browning.” I am trying hard to keep my composure because you can’t let the enemy know you are sweating. “No, I will not buy you a dolphin and I am not negotiating with you. They belong in the ocean! Get up now.”

  She starts giggling. Yup, actual full-on giggling. I have no clue what she thinks is funny but in a second I am going to send her butt to the ocean to play with the dolphins!

  “Bella what is so funny? Please get out of bed.”

  “Mom,” she says between giggles. “I don’t want to buy a real dolphin! I want to buy a cute squishy one at the toy store. One that is grey and smooth just like Winter the dolphin. Duh! Where would we even put a real dolphin? Wait a second, can it fit in the bathtub? How big is a real dolphin?”

  Once again, Kayla, my savior comes to the rescue.

  “How about you go to your interview and I will take Bella to school? I have the morning off. They are cutting back hours at the sports center.” She is sporting a sad smile, which tells me her loss of hours is really upsetting her even though she doesn’t want me to worry.

  God, I am such a crappy friend. Kayla works so hard and she is stressing out since she is the sole provider in this house. I really need to get this job. She has done so much for us over the years. I need to pull my weight around here as well.

  “Ok, thank you,” I say as I glare at my darling daughter who is back to snuggling under the sheets. I will deal with her later, hopefully after I am gainfully employed.

  “Wish me luck.” I kiss Bella on the forehead and give Kayla a one-armed hug before I rush out the door hoping I will come home employed.

  I am at the interview and it is not going well. First of all, my phone keeps vibrating in my purse, which keeps distracting me. On top of that, the gentleman, Ryan, who is running the interview is speaking in a monotone voice and looks like he is bored out of his mind to be here. I know. I know. Do I really expect a job that involves crunching numbers to be fun? I guess not but I would think he should at least look somewhat happy to be here. If this is how I am going to look if I get a job here... No, thank you.

  My phone vibrates in my purse again and he looks at me with an eyebrow raised, daring me to answer it. What the hell, I’m not going to take this job anyway. What if it’s an emergency?

  I excuse myself for a moment to take the call. “Liz, thank God you answered.” I look back at the phone and it doesn’t have a name on the caller id.

  “Umm, yes, it’s me. May I ask who’s calling?”

  “Liz, it’s Bentley. Listen, there has been an accident. Kayla and Bella are both in the hospital. I was here getting my hand checked out and saw them come in the ambulance. You need to get here right away.”

  I don’t even bother explaining anything to Ryan. I grab my purse and with the phone still to my ear, I run out the door with a million horrible thoughts going through my head. “Ok, I am on my way. Bentley, are they ok? What happened?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not family so they won’t tell me anything. Apparently, you are Kayla and Bella’s only emergency contact and they have been trying to reach you. I would just get down here now.”

  I tell him I am on my way and hang up. Driving down the highway I feel like I am having a panic attack. Not having any idea what’s wrong causes me to consider every worst-case scenario possible and as a mom those scenarios are really freaking scary!

  After going at least twenty over the, and running every light and stop sign on the way, I make it to the hospital and run up to the ER’s front desk in a panic.

  “Hi, I need to find out what’s happened to Kayla Peterson and Bella, I mean Isabella Browning. I was told they were brought in by ambulance. Do you know where I can find them?”

  The nurse gives me a small smile and types on her computer. “Isabella Browning is the children’s wing room 245C and… Kayla Peterson is in the patient recovery wing around the corner room 156R. It says here they were brought in for smoke inhalation.”

  My heart starts beating even faster, my lungs feeling like they are having trouble working. It’s suddenly hard to breathe. Oh God, my poor baby and Kayla! “Smoke inhalation? What happened? Are they ok?”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am. Unfortunately, I can’t answer either of those questions. It does say both are stable. If you want to head to the children’s wing the nurse l can fill you in.”

  I thank her and head to the children’s wing first. I hate that I can’t go to both of them but I know Kayla would understand the need to get to my precious baby first.

  I get up to the second floor and hear a child crying, my skin prickling with goose bumps. Every mother knows her child’s cries. Not only is it the sound of child’s cry but it’s a cry of pain. I pick up my pace and rush into her room and what I see breaks my heart. There are what looks like two nurses and a doctor standing over Bella while trying to hold a mask over her face. She has an IV in her arm and she is thrashing around crying. The nurse is trying to soothe her but isn’t having any luck.

  I make my way to her bed and I lock eyes with my little angel. Her eyes are red and blotchy and are filled with tears. Her cheeks are stained, telling me she has been crying for a while. The doctor and nurses try to speak to me but the only thing I can focus on is getting to my baby and hugging her. I wrap her into my arms, holding her closer, and attempt to inhale her shampoo but it doesn’t smell right. I can’t think at the moment what it smells like, though. She’s ok and that’s all that matters right now. I can feel her pulse and her heart beating, and that means she is ok.

  She sobs into my arms and I can feel her hot tears spilling onto my skin. I pull my face back a little trying to kiss away those tears as I rock her back and forth the best I can from next to her bed, murmuring softly into her ear. “It’s ok, baby. It’s ok. Mommy is here.”

  She finally calms down and the doctor begins to explain what’s going on. “I can’t give you the specifics of what happened since the police and firemen haven’t come in yet but according to the EMT’s that brought your daughter in, she was in a fire.”

  I gasp at that and look back at Bella to reassess her. She looks ok. I do a mental inventory of her body parts, looking for any indication she was in a fire. Her arms look ok and her face is perfect aside from the tearstains. I pull the bedding down to check her legs and everything looks ok. When I get closer and really look at her, though, I see she has soot all over her hair. I sniff her again, recognizing what I smelt is smoke, like what you smell when you sit around a campfire too long.

  I bring my attention back to the doctor and he continues. “When she came in she was coughing very badly. We hooked her up with a saline drip to make sure she is hydrated and when you walked in, we were trying to get her to put an oxygen mask on to help the oxygen flow. We did a scan and her lungs are clear. She is very lucky, ma’am. The man who saved her covered her face with a wet wash cloth which kept the smoke from entering into her lungs.”

  I feel like I am in a dream. I have no idea where Kayla and Bella were or why they were with a man who needed to save Bella. “Thank you, doctor…”

  “Dr. Maven. Please let me know if you have any questions. I would like for your daughter to breathe into the oxygen mask as much as possible and we are going to keep her overnight to monitor her to be on the safe side.”

  He gives me a smile and I shake his hand. I sit down next to Bella and thank God, she is ok. That is when I remember Kayla!

  “Um, nurse...” I look at her nametag. “Nurse Holly. Is there any way you can stay with my daughter for a few minutes? My best friend was brought in with my daughter at th
e same time and I have no idea how she is doing.”

  “Absolutely. I will be happy to keep Bella company while you go check on your friend.” She turns to Bella and bribes her with an iPad to play with if she can put on her oxygen mask for a few minutes. Bella gives in, of course. Because, really, what child would turn down the chance to play electronic games? I give Bella a kiss on her cheek and tell her I will be back soon.

  I head down the hall to the adult recovery wing and press the button on the elevator to go down. I need to call Bentley to thank him for getting ahold of me and to let him know where Kayla’s room is. It dings that is has arrived and as I get on, while looking down at my phone, I run into a wall and see it’s not actually a wall, just a wall of a beautifully fit man, and that man is Cooper standing in front of me. My breath catches and he looks just as confused to see me.

  “Did you come here to see Bella?”

  “Um no, I came here to see my dad, well, not see him… Wait, Bella is here in the hospital? Is she ok?”

  He visibly begins to panic and I grab a hold of his hand to calm him down. “Yes, she’s here but she is ok. I don’t really know what happened. I was actually just heading to see Kayla. This is all so crazy. Both of them were brought in by ambulance. Bella inhaled smoke but the doctor said she is ok; however, they are keeping her overnight to be on the safe side. I haven’t had a chance to see Kayla yet so I don’t know how she is doing or what the heck happened. I guess some guy was there and saved Bella. I really need to find out who he is and thank him. The doctor said he saved her life.”

  I stop rambling and look at Cooper. He looks extremely pale, like he’s sick. “Cooper… are you ok?”

  Twelve

  Cooper

  I can feel my heart shatter. I mean, I can actually feel the pieces falling apart as Liz tells me our daughter was brought to the hospital. I don’t even know this little girl but I can feel it in my heart and in my bones when she tells me about what happened. To think I could have lost her before I even got to know her. What was I thinking taking time to consider whether I should be in her life? I am her father. It’s not her damn fault I was raised in a shitty situation. That little girl deserves the world and she deserves for her father to be in her life. I have so much to make up for.

  “…I guess some guy was there and saved Bella. I really need to find out who he is and thank him. The doctor said he saved her life.”

  I suddenly feel sick when I hear Liz speak these words. What are the odds that my dad’s cause of death is the same reason my daughter was brought into the hospital? Something is definitely off. It’s all way too much of a coincidence.

  She stops talking and looks at me closely then asks if I am ok. I clear my throat. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m ok. If you are going to see Kayla, who is with Bella?”

  Liz straightens up and it hits me, I just asked that too harshly. She probably thinks I am judging her. I quickly back track before she flips out. “I am just asking because I can go stay with her if you want. I mean, if it’s ok… you know, while you go make sure Kayla is ok.”

  Her body relaxes and she gives me a small smile but it isn’t her usual happy one. It’s got a sad tilt to it.

  “I would like that Cooper but…” She stops for a second to consider what she’s going to say next and then sighs loudly. I can tell she’s exhausted so I don’t give her a chance to explain. I get it. I might be Bella’s dad but she doesn’t even know me.

  “You don’t have to finish your sentence. I completely get it. She doesn’t know me and seeing me would only confuse her. It’s ok. I’m am really glad she is ok. I was actually meaning to call you. I have thought about everything the last few days and I would really like to be a part of your and Bella’s life, if it’s still on the table that is.”

  She gives me a soft smile and then her body is pressed up against mine. She hugs me tightly with her arms wrapped around my waist and I can feel her quietly sobbing against my chest. I can’t even begin to imagine how emotional she must be and I have no words to comfort her so I put my arms around her back and rub circles to try to soothe her just letting her cry it out.

  After a few minutes, I feel her calm down. Then she backs up and gives me a shy smile. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me. I am glad you want to be a part of our life. That makes me very happy. I better go check on Kayla.”

  Her phone rings from her back pocket and after looking to see who it is, she answers the call. “Hey Hayley! I am so glad you called… Yes, we are at the hospital now but Bella and Kayla are in different wards… Great, thank you so much… Ok, bye.”

  She turns to me and looks a little calmer. “That was Hayley. Bentley called her and told her we are here. She is going to come and stay with Kayla tonight so I can be with Bella.”

  “That’s good. I have only known Hayley for a few months from the gym but she seems really nice. She’s a good asset to the gym.”

  “I can’t believe she’s been working with you the last few months and I had no idea you are the Cooper that goes with Cooper Fight Team.” She chuckles softly. “I guess, after five years I tucked it away.”

  “Yeah, it’s crazy. Do you mind if I join you in visiting Kayla? I think Bentley is in there with her.”

  I need to get to the bottom of all this and since Kayla was there, I am hoping she will help me get some answers. Luckily, Liz agrees to me joining.

  We get to Kayla’s room and I see Bentley sitting by the side of her bed holding her hand. Kayla’s eyes are closed and I can’t help but think the worst. She must hear us approach because she opens her eyes and starts crying, and although she looks devastated, at least she is alive and ok enough to cry. Liz runs over to Kayla and gives her a hug. They both cry for a few minutes and then calm down.

  “Oh God, Liz. I am so sorry. I don’t even know what happened. After you left, Bella asked for ten minutes more in bed so of course I gave in because I’m a softy. I went back to my room to browse the online classifieds to see if there is anybody looking to hire a physical therapist.

  “I must have dozed off because the next thing I know the fire alarm was going off. I immediately ran to Bella’s room to check on her and to see what was going on but when I stepped into the hallway the whole apartment was filled with smoke. I ran to Bella’s room but it was empty. I started freaking out. I checked her closet, under her bed. I screamed her name several times.

  “That was when I started to choke on the smoke but I swear to you, I kept looking. I went to the bathroom to see if she was in there and I couldn’t find her anywhere. By then I heard the fire sirens so I knew they would be there soon but I kept looking. I started to panic and ran to the kitchen. The smoke was just too much and I blacked out. She could have died and it would have been my fault. I will completely understand if you hate me. I hate myself. I just don’t know what happened. Nothing was on. It doesn’t make any sense. Anyway, the next thing I knew I was in the ambulance and they were giving me oxygen. I told them there was a little girl in there and they said she was already out. I thought maybe she got herself out but the EMT said some guy got her out. I don’t know whom, though, maybe a neighbor. I am just so thankful she got out.”

  “It’s ok, Kayla. I could never be mad at you. Yes, things could have ended badly but thankfully they didn’t. I know you would give your life for Bella. I am just so glad you are both ok.”

  As they are talking there’s a knock on the door and in walks a police officer with two firemen. Hopefully we will get some answers from them because right now I have some crazy thoughts going on in my head and to be honest I don’t even want to say what I am thinking.

  “Hello, ma’am. I am officer Jim Kelley and these two gentlemen are the ones who showed up to your home to put out the fire. This gentleman, here—” He points to the guy on the right. “Pulled you from the fire.” They both give a small nod and smile. “I am glad to see you are ok. Is it ok to speak to you in front of everyone?”

  Kayla says yes and informs the o
fficer that Liz is Bella’s mom and they all live together.

  “Unfortunately, everything in the home was destroyed from the fire. After assessing the situation, we have determined that the cause of the fire was intentionally started from arsine. We were able to pull up the footage of the security cameras and we have a shot of a guy entering your apartment and leaving, and then entering again. The first time he enters he is carrying a small can of gasoline. What’s weird though is that he is also the man who saved your daughter.”

  As he says this, he glances over at Liz hoping she can help him figure out the confusion. He hands her a grainy looking picture and she gasps loudly dropping to her knees. She looks up at me with such confusion in her eyes and I already know who she is looking at in that photo. I can feel it in my bones.

  She puts her hand out and I take the photo looking at it closely, and I can tell right away it’s my father. There’s no reason for him to be anywhere near where Liz lives.

  “The man in this photo is Marc Cooper. This is my father.”

  The police officer must know what Liz, Kayla, and Bentley don’t know yet, that my dad is dead, because he looks at me with a look of sympathy and simply nods his head.

  Liz stands up and I can see the fire in her eyes. Mama bear is pulling out her claws. The problem is the man she plans to go after for answers is in the morgue.

  “Cooper,” she spits out. “Where is your dad at? I want to know what the hell happened. Why was he at my apartment? Why did he torch it and then save my daughter? I don’t even know what to think right now. I need to find him.”

  She takes a deep breath before she continues. “If you don’t want to tell me, fine! You want to save the man who could have killed Kayla and our daughter? Fine! I will find him my damn self.”

  As she goes to leave, I grab her arm and spin her around to face me.

  “He’s dead, Liz. My dad is dead.”

  * * *

  Liz