Fighter {Completed}

Bonus: I Lost {Ellie}

Bonus: I Lost {Ellie}

Three and a Half Years Free from Keenan

For the very first time, the fear of Cole actually losing a fight is flickering through my body.

Carl Wineford is a big man, and he has the reach advantage over Cole. There aren't many fighters in this weight class that are taller than him, not many that can absolutely rock Cole's shit like Wineford just did.

Cole staggers back away from the large man. His dark hair is dripping with sweat, and even as he shakes the hit off, Cole's eyebrow pours blood down the right side of his face. Sebastian yells next to me, screaming at Cole to get his fucking hands up.

I glance backward to Scarlet, who sits up in the third row of the stands, a worried look on her face. Asher's jaw works harshly, his arms folded across his chest. It's easy to see he's worried about Cole, too, and the fact that even Asher is worried makes me all the more nervous.

Cole sends a hard right hook toward Wineford, but I can see the pain written across his face as he does so.

I told him not to fight tonight.

I told him his shoulder wasn't ready.

Fuck.

It's only been eight weeks since Cole fucked up his shoulder during training, and the athletic trainers told him he had to take approximately four months to try and heal it. He had trouble even lifting Wyatt up out of his crib, and the six-month-old doesn't really weight that much. Yet he accepted this fight, and went back way too early to begin training again. It's easy to see how much it hurts him as he dodges a swing from Wineford.

Cole changes his stance, moving to a Southpaw position.

He has power in his left hand, but it's not his dominant hand, and if Wineford gets ahold of his right arm, Cole might not have a chance left in this fight.

My foot taps anxiously on the ground as I watch them trade hits for nearly another minute, both men pouring blood from some point on their faces and Wineford favoring his left leg. They've fucked each other up during this fight.

Suddenly, Wineford takes Cole to the ground and my heart nearly stops in my chest.

Cole can't grapple.

Hell, it's not a strong suit for him when he's not injured...

With an injured shoulder, he's already at only half his strength.

He'll be fine.

He's gonna be perfectly fine, Ellie.

Cole and Wineford try to fight for position for a few moments, and then Wineford finally spots Cole's weakness. Tugging his right arm into an armbar position, Cole lets out a pained yell, trying to keep his fingers locked so that Wineford can't lock the position in.

His fingers slip.

And I watch as Wineford locks in the armbar on Cole's injured arm, looking only seconds away from fucking up his elbow and shoulder even worse.

For the very first time, Cole taps out.

My heart sinks, and I watch as Wineford's corner go crazy, jumping into the cage to celebrate.

Cole lies on the mat still, cradling his injured arm against his chest as he breathes deeply, shuddering. Sebastian is the first one to him, leaning over him and saying something I can't quite make out. Cole just shakes his head, closing his eyes.

He lost.

Cole just lost a fight for the first time ever.

Sebastian looks up at me, yelling so that I can hear him over the loud crowd. "Meet us in the locker room!" I nod, heading toward the private rooms to wait for Cole and the others to come to me. It takes nearly fifteen minutes, but the very second they enter the room, I feel the cold, dark aura of Cole floating around us. It's easy to see he's in pain, and disappointment is plastered across his face like a flashing sign.