I settled for meeting his eyes. “Are you okay?”
My gaze drifted from the cut on his forehead to the red splotch bruising his shoulder to his bloody knuckles.
He tucked his hands behind him. “Yeah, still standing.” He nodded toward Theo. “More than I can say for him.”
I took his cue and went over to the unconscious man. I dropped to my knees beside him and opened each eyelid, doing a quick assessment. His pupils were sluggish. He might have some head trauma. There was nothing I could do for him there, though.
I checked his larynx because Knight had landed a damaging blow there. There was some swelling, but he was breathing.
He stirred with a groan.
“Fight’s over,” I said. “You lost.”
Knight chuckled behind me. “Nice bedside manner you’ve got there.”
Theo blinked hazy eyes. “What…”
“I’m a doctor. I recommend you go to the ER. You’ve got some swelling from that throat punch. If it worsens, you may experience trouble breathing.”
He pushed upright with a grimace. “I’m fine.”
“You’ve got signs of head trauma.” His eyes widened with fear. “Go get a scan. You don’t want to fuck around with swelling on the brain.”
“Uh, okay.” He looked bewildered. “Thanks?”
Knight lowered a hand to me and I took it and stood, shouldering my med bag.
Hector smirked at us. “Maybe you should bring him to all the matches. We can bandage guys up and send them in for another round.”
Knight bared his teeth. “He’s never coming back here. Neither am I. We’re done.”
“You fought like a champ tonight. You could make me a lot more money.”
Knight approached Hector, towering over him, the force of his anger like a physical blow.
Hector’s smug grin slid away. “Touch me and the Serpents will end you.”
“Try to stop us from leaving, and I’ll killyou,” Knight growled. “I don’t really care what happens after that.”
Hector’s eyes flashed, but then he laughed, looking a little unhinged. “I wish some of the new guys had your fire, Knight. But hell, a deal’s a deal. You made me my 50k. Go. Live your mundane life. Look me up when you get bored.”
Knight led me out of the cage, crashing into the arms of the other guys, all waiting to congratulate him.
He winced as Flynn squeezed him in a hug and I pushed in. “Okay, enough. Let me treat him.”
“Let’s get out of here first. Can we do it in the car?”
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
We got outside, the fresh air cool on our skin, before I realized Knight was still bare-chested.
“You left your shirt.”
“Forget it.” He hauled me against him and kissed me with enough passion to power a small city.
“Oh, shit, there’s that adrenaline,” Tex said with a laugh. “Maybe you better let me drive them home, Flynn.”
Flynn coughed. “Uh, yeah. Good idea.”
