Kevin

 

 

A week has gone by, and I just finished up training in the gym I used to train at while I lived in Los Angeles. As I was walking to my car, I saw Luke. He noticed me too, but neither one of us said a word to each other. When I reached my car out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luke pull on the door to go inside, but then he fell to the ground. I rushed over to him, and he was passed out cold. I tried to wake him but got no response from him. I called nine-one-one, and they rushed him to the emergency room. Now I’ve been sitting here waiting to get word on him for the last two hours.

“Mr. Steed, we moved Mr. Douglas to a room. You are welcome to go up to the fifth floor to visit him. We are also wondering if you can tell us how to contact any of his family members.”

“No, Ma'am I do not, but I can try to find out from the gym.” 

“That would be great if you could.”

“Can you tell me what is going on?”

“We are sorry, but we cannot share that kind of information with you. You would have to be a family member or have written consent.”

“Will he recover from this?”

“We believe he will. As of right now, we are keeping him to make sure everything goes as planned. It is important we find his family members in case something were to go wrong.”

“Can you tell me if this was caused from fighting?”

“I’m not sure, but it’s probably what caused it.”

“I'm going to go check on him and then I'll go to the gym to see if I can help find his family.”

“Thank you.”

I round the corner, and I can overhear the nurses talking. I pull my phone out to act as if I’m making a call. I listen as they talk about Luke’s condition. He has a bleed in his brain and they believe the medications are working so far. One nurse told the other, I didn’t know his family contact and the other says she hopes I find it in case he needs surgery.

I walk into his room, and he's resting. At least I think he's asleep; they didn't mention if he is in a coma or not. I take a seat and look around the room. It's quiet in here besides the sounds of the machines beeping. It reminds me of sitting with Coach and watching him die. For weeks, I sat around his hospital room with the same sounds as now. It makes you think all kinds of crazy things. You ask yourself are you living your own life to the fullest and are you happy. Then you look back at everything you've done, and you start to wonder if you did everything right. Did you treat your parents with love, respect, and appreciation? Did you try your hardest in school? Are you a good person; a responsible adult? Then you ask yourself, if this was you lying in a bed dying did you live a happy life? Were you with someone you loved, and did you get to settle down to have a family? I would get upset and pissed off at myself every time. I know if it were me dying, I'd be an unfulfilled man. My life wasn't complete without Eve and our baby in it. I would have died a miserable person. I spent hours and hours thinking of Eve and all the things I was missing out on. I often thought about the future and how I needed her back in my life.

When death is present and staring you in the eye, everything and anything goes through your mind, but once the situation is gone and you can go back to your everyday life, you go back to the way things were before. You may talk about the future, you might make a few changes, but with all the crazy thoughts did it do you any good in the end? I mean yeah, I went after my girl and got her back. I can't say as anything else has changed. Right now, looking at Luke, all I can think about is to quit fighting. Eve and my baby girl need me. What if this was me lying here? How would this affect them? Is it time for me to leave the cage? Can I prevent this from being me in a hospital bed? I want to be here on earth a long time. I have a future with two people I love deeply.

“Lightning? What the hell happened?”

“You passed out going into the gym. I brought you here. They wouldn’t say what happened to you because I am not family.”

“Passed out, from what?”

“I'm not sure. I'm going to let the nurses know you are awake.”

“Damn; my head hurts like hell.”

I call the nurses and when they reach the room, I step out. Luke and I aren't really friends. All we care about is kicking each other’s asses. I walk down to the waiting area to call Eve. She doesn't answer, but I get a text from her that she'll call me when she's off the phone with a client.

I wait long enough to find out how Luke is doing. I hope he is alert enough for the nurses to get his family information from him. After I see him one more time, I leave the hospital and go back to the gym. I pack up my gym stuff and head back to my apartment to pack my clothes. All I care about right now is getting home to my girls and telling Eve that I am giving up fighting.