I was proud of Madison when we walked into the police station lobby.  Her parents were angry, and I guess it isn’t easy to convince them that the guy you’re leaving with didn’t kidnap, torture, and do horrible things to you after the police had just told them he did.  I shook her father’s hand, kissed her mother’s like Tommy would have done, and did my best to convince them that I wasn’t the evil incarnation of everything they had been told.  I was more impressed that they managed to put themselves together and show up at the police station to do anything as a united front considering what Madison had told me about them.  In the end, I held her hand tight while she stood up for herself and we left together.

“I want to swing by the hospital and check on Tommy.”  I was still holding her hand when we walked out of the police station.

“Yeah, of course.”  She nodded.  “Do you have your phone on you?”

“I do.”  I reached into my pocket and pulled it out.

“Awesome, get us an Uber.”  She stopped near the curb.

“How do you do that?”  I raised my eyebrows and stared at my screen.

“Here, I’ll download the app.”  She smiled and took the phone from me.

***

“HE’S STABLE.”  THE doctor held my brother’s chart in his hand as he spoke.  “I wish I could say he’s out of the woods, but it was a fairly serious injury.”

“Is he able to talk?”  I felt Madison squeeze my hand for support.

“Yeah, he’s okay as long as he doesn’t get out of bed.”  The doctor nodded.  “Honestly, if he wasn’t so hopped up on cocaine, the shock would have probably killed him.  I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it probably saved his life because he didn’t really feel near as much pain as he should have.”

“That figures...”  I chuckled and shook my head.

“Anyway, he’s down the hall if you want to see him.”  The doctor pointed and we started walking in the direction of Tommy’s room.

***

“RUCK, BRO.”  TOMMY’S lips formed the best version of a smile he could muster when I walked into the room.  “And—you brought the girl.”

“You remember Madison.”  I motioned to her.

“I’ve seen enough that I’ll never forget her, but I’ll never mention it again.”  He turned towards Madison and grimaced.  “I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay.”  Madison sighed.  “I’m just trying to figure out how to move past it.”

“Move past it?”  Tommy coughed and shook his head.  “Don’t move past shit, you hold onto this guy with every bit of strength you have.  He was ready to die for you.”

“What?”  Madison’s eyes opened wide and she turned to look at me.

“I’ll explain later.”  I grunted and squeezed her hand.

“I’m going to have to deal with Miguel.”  I walked closer to Tommy. 

“Yeah.”  Tommy nodded and coughed again.  “I was delirious during most of it, but I still heard everything that happened.”

“On the plus side, you’ll finally get to book a fight to the death.”  I tried to smile.

“Wait, what?”  Madison pushed on my arm.  “You told me you didn’t do that.”

“Like I said—I’ll explain later.”  I sighed and shook my head.  “It’s not something I want to talk about here.”

***

I TOLD MADISON EVERYTHING when we got back to the Ussery.  I told her about Carmella, Miguel, and everything that happened in the room with Carlos.  The armbar made her smile, but it was a sad conversation that neither of us really wanted to embrace.  She had some of the pieces already, after talking with the police.  She filled me in on her epic escape after she was dumped in a closet following the attempted kidnapping.  By the end of the conversation, we had pieced both sides of it together and just kind of sat across the table from each other in shock.

“I didn’t have a choice.”  I finally broke the silence.  “There was no way I could get to Carlos before Miguel fired if I didn’t sacrifice Carmella.”

“I’m not upset, Ruckus.  I promise, I’m not.  I’m just trying to process everything.”  She sighed and blinked away a tear.  “If I never auctioned myself off, she would still be alive right now.  I mean, I didn’t even know here.  It just seems like such a waste of life.”

“You can’t focus on that.”  I reached across the table and took her hand.  “A million things could have changed the outcome of what happened this weekend.”

“That’s profound coming from someone who has taken so many shots to the head.”  She smiled slightly.

“The important thing is that Carlos is in jail and I guess there won’t be anymore Sin City Auctions.”  She blinked and her eyes widened.  “Shit, I might not even get paid.”

“I thought about that, and I’m not going to let that happen.  I’ve still got some money.  I’ll make sure you get every penny that you’re owed.”  I squeezed her hand again.  “You will go to college.”

“That’s very nice of you, but I’m not going to take your money.  If I don’t get paid, then I’ll find another way.”  Her face was troubled, even as she tried to be brave.

“Look at it like this, if this fight with Miguel doesn’t end up in my favor, I won’t need it.  You might as well get an opportunity to go to college.”  I leaned back in my chair.

“Please don’t fight him.”  She blinked away tears again.  “I know you told him you would, but you don’t have to actually go through with it.  Come with me to Florida.  We can start over.”

“Madison, you don’t even know me.”  I shook my head back and forth.  “God, I’m not going to lie and say that it doesn’t sound awesome, but we can’t just run away together because we had a fun weekend together.  Besides, I gave Miguel my word.  That means something to me.”

“Oh, yeah.”  She nodded.  “I guess it was just fun.”

“Don’t say it like that.”  I instantly regretted my words.

“I’m going to bed.  I’m exhausted.”  She stood and walked towards the bedroom, but she paused when she got to the entrance.  “You still have me until tomorrow.  I’d hate to go to bed alone.”

“You’re not going to bed alone.”  I pushed the chair back and quickly caught up with her.

For a few moments that only belonged to us, we forgot about everything that happened as we were tangled up in a lover’s embrace.  It was different than the other times we went to bed together.  There was heat, passion, and something in the air that hung on both of our lips.  We understood that it was crazy.  We understood that we had only just met, but we needed each other.  She fell asleep in my arms and despite all of the turmoil, I felt peace.  There was a chance I wouldn’t see it again.  There was a chance I wouldn’t live past my next fight.  Miguel might have been scared to fight me, but he was fighting with purpose.  He was fighting with vengeance.  That was dangerous, no matter who the opponent was.

***

MADISON LEFT THE NEXT day and I could tell that whatever magic we had was shattered in the aftermath of tragedy.  Her kiss said it all.  Her hug felt like goodbye.  There was a time when I would have never let her go and done everything in my power to keep her by my side, but I realized our fate wasn’t meant to go down that path.  After she was gone, I felt like a piece of me was missing, but I couldn’t reach out to her.  I couldn’t draw her back in with the fight still looming over my head.  That just wasn’t fair.  The longing only got stronger in the months that followed.  I was certain she had forgotten me, but I never forgot her.  I couldn’t forget the sweet virgin that I fell in love with.  Perhaps I was a ugly old oaf after all.

***

“YOU UNDERSTAND HOW this has to go.”  I leaned against the cage and spoke to Tommy.

“Yeah.”  Tommy’s face was solemn.  “I get it, bro.”

“The money goes to Madison.  I don’t care what you have to do, but you make sure she gets it.”  I tapped my fist against the chain link fence.  “I’m going to do one good thing in this fucking world before I’m gone.”

“It was a promise.”  Tommy’s face clenched tight and he patted my hand through the cage.  “I won’t break it.”

The stage had been set.  It had been six months since the event that changed everything.  Tommy tried to talk Miguel out of the fight, but his vengeance was too strong.  He waited patiently for the fight.  He knew would get his shot and he wasn’t going to come after me until he had a chance to put me out of my misery in our arena.  I had come to terms with what I had to do.  Even if Carmella was the one that lured me to Carlos’ suite.  Even if Miguel had watched my brother bleed out on the floor with no regard for his life.  They still deserved better than what they got.  I had to make it right.  It was the only sacrifice I could make.

“Ruckus!”  Miguel pointed at me from across the cage and yelled.  “Only one of us is walking out of this cage alive!”

Yeah, I know.

I walked to the center of the ring we were fighting in and waited for the referee to start it.  I had never fought anyone to the death before, but Tommy filled me in on the rules.  The referee would leave when the match started.  There would be nobody to separate us if we got tangled up in the cage.  There would be no second chances or referee decisions.  It truly was survival of the fittest.  We were fighting in an abandoned warehouse and the crowd was larger than normal.  The bets were enormous.  There were people present for what was surely a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle for them.  We were their entertainment.  What they didn’t know was that I had decided the outcome long before I ever stepped inside the cage.

“I used to respect you, Ruckus.”  Miguel glared at me as he spoke.  “Now, I’m going to be the one that finishes you.”

“Then you better not miss.”  I growled and as snarled.

The fight started and we circled each other.  Miguel charged with a flurry of punches.  It was the way he started all of his fights.  In a normal fight, I could have ended it right there if I managed to catch one of his punches.  He was fighting with emotion instead of skill.  He didn’t keep his guard up because he was too consumed by his attack.  I shrugged off his punches the best I could with my forearms, but a few still caught me in the side of my head.  He might have been a sloppy fighter, but he was strong as fuck.

“More where that came from, you son of a bitch.”  Miguel danced and started hammering his fists into me again.

Miguel won most of his fights by being faster than his opponents.  He could throw five or six punches before they threw one and if a single punch landed, it was staggering.  I loved facing fighters like him normally.  I could take the punches, and when they finally started to slow down, it was lights out or they were tapping.  I dodged the punches I could, threw a few parries, and managed to drill him in the nose once.  It had to feel real to him.  If he thought I was just letting him win, his thirst would never be truly satisfied.  He finally caught me with a legitimate punch that sent me spinning into the cage.  I tasted blood.  My eyes were blurry.  Tommy was shaking with anger, to the point that he had to turn around and stop watching the fight.

“It’s over, Ruckus!  I’m the new king of Sin City.”  Miguel landed on my back and started driving his fists into my skull, bouncing it off the cage with every punch.

That was it for me.  My life was going to come to and end.  Losing it in the cage was the right way for me to go out.  Giving Miguel the satisfaction that his vengeance needed would end everything.  I would pay for what I did with my final breath.  The continued punches left my arms weak and the blood loss was taking a toll.  Miguel could feel it.  He grabbed me by the hair, slammed my face into the cage and let me bounce back into the ring.  He circled me, looking down with every bit of rage he had bottled up prepared to be unleashed for the finishing blow.

“Ruckus!”  An angelic voice brought me back from the brink of unconsciousness.  “Ruckus, don’t you fucking die in there.  Don’t you fucking die on me.”

I turned my head towards the voice and I saw the face I never thought I would see again.  It was Madison.  She pushed through the crowd that was filled with a lust for blood and hopped up on the cage.  She grabbed the metal chain link fence and used it for support as our eyes locked together.  I smiled.  Even that felt like it took more effort than I had left.  I was glad I got to see her one last time before I went to hell where I belonged.  I saw tears in her eyes and her words got lost in the crowd, but her lips mouthed one last word—armbar.

Fuck.  I can’t even die in peace.

I turned my head and saw Miguel’s fist coming for my skull.  It was a killing blow.  I had taken too much damage for even my busted up brain to survive another one of his punches.  I threw all of my weight forward and I caught his arm with what little strength I had left.  He was weak from the punches he had thrown.  My skull had worn him the fuck down like so many other fighters.  I rolled him, leaned back on his arm, and locked in the submission hold that nobody had ever escaped.  Blood dripped onto the mat.  My strength was fading.

“I love you, Ruckus!  End this fight!”  Madison’s words were like some sort of second wind, breathing something into my body that transcended strength.

I snapped his arm.  I rolled against the bone, I pulled with all of my might, and left splinters underneath the skin.  He wasn’t dead, but there was no way he could finish me without that arm.  He crawled away, using his good arm to turn towards me.  I sat on the ground, feeling unconsciousness trying to take me.  Miguel made it to where I was sitting and put his hand on my leg.  He lifted up and stared me in the face.

“Finish it.”  He was shaking with a mixture of shock and pain.  “Fucking kill me.”

“I already did.”  I pushed his hand away.  “This cage is your life.  Now you’ll never fight again.”

Miguel collapsed and I forced myself to my feet.  I wasn’t going to deliver the finishing blow to him.  The crowd would have to deal with their once-in-a-lifetime experience not ending in actual death.  No fighter could come back from the injury Miguel sustained.  His days in the cage were over.  I pushed the door open and Madison practically tackled me as she wrapped her arms around my neck.  Tommy rushed over and provided support to make sure I didn’t end up face down on the concrete.

“I’m sorry, bro.  I had to call her.”  Tommy put his arm around my waist and let me rest my weight on his shoulder.  “I knew if you wouldn’t fight for yourself, you would fight for her.”