I cracked an ice pack, putting it in his hand. He hissed in pain, making me worry about a broken rib.

“You ok?” Nathan came up to us.

“Fine,” he said through clenched teeth. “I just need to catch my breath and I’ll be alright.”

“Let’s sit you down, we can give you water, and I can look at your face.” Nathan and I helped Callum up, and each step caused him to tense up. I was about seventy percent sure he had a broken rib.

“Fucking bullshit,” Aiden growled, coming back to us. “You ok, Cal?”

“Peachy,” he said, drinking some water.

“Does it hurt when you breathe?” I asked.

He shook his head no, but I knew he was lying.

“This is going to limit your range of motion. I think you just got to go in guns blazing, and push through the pain, Cal.” Aiden squared in front of him. “It’s going to hurt like a bitch. If you drag this out, it’s going to be worse, and you definitely won’t win.”

“Got it, suffer through the pain, and knock him out quick.” Cal nodded, glaring at his opponent.

“Don’t lose control, that’s what he wants. If you lose control, Cal, you won’t win. Time your punches and make sure you aren’t near him when that bell rings again, got it?”

“Got it.” Callum muttered, standing up, stretching side to side. He winced slightly on his right side, but the bell rang and I had to hope he was going to be ok. His opponent started right away, making Callum go on the defense. He was doing nothing but blocking until he could get a few hits in.

“That’s it, Cal!” Aiden yelled, when he landed a great hit. Callum was finally on the offense until his opponent hit him so hard that Cal went down.

“Come on baby, get up,” I shouted.

“Get up,” Nathan yelled.

“Cal, get the fuck up!” Aiden shouted.

Fuck. He laid there for what felt like minutes before he finally stood up, a little shaky. The ref checked his eyes, said a few words to him, and Callum nodded. The ref started the fight again, his opponent went in for the kill, hammering Callum with combo after combo. I thought this was it and Callum was going to lose, when finally he was able to get away and launch into his own combos. Callum was fast and I’m sure he was usually faster than this since he was hurt. It was almost like he was taunting him, and he kept at it.

“Do it,” Aiden yelled.