Page 43 of Only You

Detroit

The streets of Detroit were busy under the gloomy sky that had hidden the sun for hours.

The bustling crowd of people was on their way home, to the store, or their second job, with cars in the street honking as they raced from one point to another.

There was so much activity, you could get lost in it as people hurried away from the slim possibility of rain. It was Demir’s favourite kind of day.

Well, except for one thing.

‘Why are we here again? The last thing I wanna do is walk around.’ Demir held back a sigh as Selene whined.

‘Because I can’t sit in the house and listen to the radio all day. I need to move around to stay healthy. Shouldn’t you know that, doc?’

Selene rolled her eyes. ‘Of course, I know that. I just prefer to ignore it.’

‘God forbid I take your big head out your books.’ Demir picked up his pace little by little until Selene was lagging behind.

She scowled at him, speeding up. ‘Those books are why I can patch you up, so watch it,’ she snipped. ‘And my head is not big!’

Demir looked her up and down with a sceptical expression. ‘Hmmm…’

Selene hit his arm and an easy smile formed on his face. ‘Don’t even try it!’ She reached out to push him and he grabbed her hand. She snatched her hand away and huffed, making him laugh.

It had been a month since Demir had started fighting at Mackie’s club and not much had changed for him. He still spent the week with Selene and weekends with Nora. His days were filled with odd jobs, practice and fighting, sometimes drinking with Jack afterwards. There was only one new thing.

He enjoyed getting under Selene’s skin now.

The banter between them was refreshing although her constant questions made him think more than he wanted to.

To distract her from how few he answered he teased her about everything he could think of.

No matter how obvious he made it, Selene always got offended before nagging him about something mundane and safe.

He talked to her more than anyone he’d ever talked to in his life.

‘Oh, let’s go in there,’ she suggested, pointing to a corner store across the street. She started to cross, but he grabbed her arm.

‘Nope.’ He steered her back onto the sidewalk. ‘We’re just walking.’

‘Just walking ?’

‘Just walking,’ he repeated. She groaned before stuffing her hands in her coat pocket. ‘This is my warm-up before the gym, so no distractions. Just walking.’

‘Okay, fine,’ she conceded, crossing her arms. ‘It’s just a shame that on a day like this we can’t do something interesting.’

‘Walking doesn’t have to be interesting.’

‘But it should be. I mean, why do something if it’s not?’

‘To get to one place or the other. Or are you too used to sitting pretty in Jack’s car?’ ‘I’m used to doing something , which I guess isn’t your forte.’

‘My what?’

‘Your specialty,’ she clarified. ‘If you have no one around you, no one’s there to force you to do anything outside the ordinary.’

‘If that’s the case, shouldn’t you feel at home?’ He motioned to the people around them. ‘You’re in a crowd with no one to stop you. You can make your own entertainment.’

‘Oh, please, you should know better than anyone else that this isn’t a crowd,’ she said.

‘These are strangers. If anything, it’s the best way to not feel alone, even if you are.

’ She stopped suddenly, and Demir turned back to see what had happened.

She was staring across the street; he followed her gaze to a couple kissing goodbye in an apartment doorway, not caring who saw.

‘Until you see something like that.’ Demir raised his brow at her reaction. ‘But you have that.’

‘Not exactly.’ She turned to Demir; her face was wistful. ‘Have you ever seen something simple and common, but its everything you wanted? And you knew you couldn’t have it?’

Demir’s first instinct was to say ‘No,’ but the word got stuck in his throat. His mind raced as he tried to figure out why that was the wrong answer while the hope died in her eyes at his silence.

‘Maybe not,’ she said. ‘I guess you already have most of what you want, right? You’re lucky.

’ She started walking again. ‘Come on, let’s finish this distracting but not distracting walk.

It’s just so much fun ,’ she drawled. ‘You know, there has to be one interesting thing about this, I’m sure of it… ’

Demir ignored the tightness in his chest as he joined her. ‘There is,’ he said, interrupting her rambling.

‘And that would be…?’

‘Well, for one, it’s definitely a good way to find out what’s going on in the neighbourhood.’ She gasped before smirking. The look put Demir at ease; she was back to normal.

‘So, you’re nosy,’ she accused.

‘I’m aware,’ he corrected.

‘Oh no, D, you may be good at fooling others, but not me,’ she said smugly.

‘Doubt that,’ he replied. Selene slowed, but he kept walking figuring she would catch up. He almost faltered when he heard her say, ‘You shouldn’t.’

The punch only clipped his chin, but it was enough to send Demir staggering back against the ropes. Selene winced as, left eye swollen shut, he struggled to dodge his opponent’s blows, the hits reverberating through his body until the bell rang. He was panting by the time he sat in his corner.

Johnny ‘Havoc’ Lawson was, unfortunately, living up to his name. ‘D, you gotta listen to me out there,’ Jack screamed over the crowd.

Who they were cheering for, Selene couldn’t tell. She focused on pouring water down Demir’s throat only for him to spit it out seconds later, staining the floor with blood. Grabbing his face, she took a better look. His eye was almost completely swollen shut. He wouldn’t last much longer.

‘He’s favouring his right,’ Jack continued. ‘Aim for the ribs. Make him use his left side. The swings are gonna be slower. Stop fucking around and get in there!’

Demir nodded weakly, and Selene waved a hand in front of his face. ‘How many?’

Demir tried to focus on her hand, but his gaze was sluggish. ‘Four,’ he guessed. She put two fingers down.

‘How many?’

‘Three.’

‘Two,’ she sighed, turning to Jack. ‘We might have to tap out.’

‘He can make it.’

‘He’s punch-drunk and can’t see straight,’ she insisted.

‘We’re too close to give in now,’ Jack stressed.

‘If something happens to him—’

‘Nothing’s going to happen to him, we’re good. Come on, Sel,’ Jack snapped. Selene scowled and turned towards the boxer.

‘Hey.’ She tapped his knee to bring Demir’s attention back to her, frowning at the effort it took for Demir to meet her gaze.

She frowned but forced herself to focus on the outcome she knew Jack wanted.

‘You have about two more rounds in you before you fall out. Do you think you can knock him out before that?’

Breathing harshly, Demir looked around, not answering. Uncertainty settled in his eyes, and it unnerved her; she had never seen him look like that.

‘Demir…’ Before she could suggest quitting, he gave her a jerky nod.

‘Yeah,’ he answered. ‘Let’s get this over with.’

She ignored the twist in her gut at his answer. ‘Okay,’ she relented. ‘Just listen to Jack’s instructions and bring him down quick. Otherwise, I’m throwing in the towel. Got it?’

‘Yeah, yeah,’ he said dismissively.

She grabbed his face, forcing him to make eye contact. ‘Demir,’ she said, her eyes boring into him. ‘Can you do this?’ His jaw tightened at her touch; her expression defiant. He wasn’t going to give up and she knew nothing she could say would make him.

‘You know I can,’ he answered. Selene bit her lip nervously but nodded, stepping out of the ring.

Legs stiff, Demir made his way back to the middle. The bell rang and he swung out. The hit landed but Johnny was quick to follow. They traded blows with Demir taking more than he was giving.

The crowd sounded like a roaring monster, the fight in front of her a raging bull. Selene wanted to look away, didn’t want to watch as he got sloppier with each second. At one point, she couldn’t help but yell, ‘Demir, duck!’

Luckily, his body moved at her command, weaving under Johnny’s fist to punch him in the jaw. The fighter dropped his hands and that was Demir’s cue. He threw two quick jabs to the boxer’s right side and an uppercut before the fighter hugged him.

The referee pulled them apart, forcing them to take their stances again.

At his signal, Demir’s fist shot out and hit the man’s nose, dropping Lawson to the floor.

The crowd cheered wildly as the referee counted.

Selene rarely prayed, but all she could do was thank God when the referee’s countdown finished.

A half hour later, Demir winced as Selene bandaged his ribs so tightly she worried that he might have difficulty breathing, but she wasn’t taking any chances. The cuts and swelling on his face were bad enough.

‘That was close,’ Jack muttered from where he paced in the middle of the room.

‘There’s no way you can fight that guy again any time soon. Though he might be good for an end of the year rematch… I need to talk to Mackie and see who he’s thinking of next. We need to get you ready.’ Jack sped out the door, and Selene groaned.

‘Always thinking of the next thing while everyone else is trying to get through tonight,’ she grumbled, grabbing the notebook by her thigh and quickly scribbling across the page.

‘What are you writing?’

‘Notes on your condition,’ she told him. ‘I’m making a medical history for you so I can keep track of any damage.’

‘Sounds like a lot.’

‘Nothing compared to what I’ll do when I’m a doctor.’ She finished her sentence and closed the notebook. Eyeing the knot over his left eye, she dug into her bag for her switchblade. She sterilised it with rubbing alcohol before touching the knife to the bulge. ‘Hold still.’

‘Shit,’ Demir hissed as she cut into him.