All Chapters of Fighting Back (Fighting For Love 5): Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

55 Chapters

Chapter Twenty-one

So as it turned out, this conversation was a long time in coming, and he braced himself to have it now. If only he knew how it began. Katie took care of that problem, though. “I’m sorry,” she said for about the eight-thousandth time, and for the eight-thousandth time, Adam’s heart ached for her. “I’m sorry that I probably can’t give you what you want.”“I want you,” Adam said, emotion making him speak more roughly than he intended. “Just you.”“No.” She shook her head slowly, slid closer to the wall. “No, Adam. You want to be a father. Don’t pretend otherwise now just to make me feel better.”“I want to be a father with you, baby,” he said. “And we can figure out what that means for us.”“No.” She shifted farther away, taking his heart with her as she went. “I know you’re talking about adoption here, Adam, but you won’t be happy with anything but your own baby. I know that you wanted the whole experience… pregnancy, birth, watching me breastfeed, speculating whose nose and chin our b

Chapter Twenty-two

Two days laterThe nurse watched closely as Nick bound the end of his stump in bandages. The trick – as he’d learned through trial and error, and most definitely the hard way– was the tightness of the wrapping. Too loose and the still-sensitive stitches weren’t protected from the bed sheets or his jeans; too tight and it hurt pretty badly.“Good, Nick,” Cheryl Walker said approvingly. She’d been happily surprised to see that he was able to both clean and dress his own amputation with confidence… many, many of her patients couldn’t bring themselves to so much as touch their own wounds. “How’s it feel?”He shrugged a bit. “Better.”“Well, you have no infection at all, and the healing’s going well.” Cheryl consulted the notes. “Doctor Bishop says that you can get your first prosthetic fitting next week.”“Yeah.” Nick took a deep breath, straightened in the chair. “He told me this morning.”“You ready for that?”“I am.” Nick stared down at his stump. “Anything to quit hopping, I swear.”C

Chapter Twenty-three

Cheryl, however, looked both pleased and impressed. “How’d you know to do that, Mia?”“I read about phantom pain and phantom limb after Doctor Bishop mentioned it last week,” Mia said, still stroking the empty space where Nick’s foot used to be. “All the research said to scratch the empty spot where it’s itchy, and to make sure that the person watches.”“Why?” Nick asked, his eyes now fixed on Mia’s fingers.“Because your body’s nerve endings are confused.” Mia slid her hand up and down now, as if she were massaging his non-existent calf. “They don’t understand yet that the leg and foot are no longer there, and they’re sending messages to your brain that are inaccurate. I know it feels real to you, babe, but this is a breakdown in your body’s communication with itself. For now, let your eyes tell your brain that I’m scratching the itch, alright?”“OK,” Nick said, willing to try anything to make this bizarre sensation and experience end. “Move lower, angel.”Mia did, her fingers making

Chapter Twenty-four

Mitch clutched Reena’s hand and glared at the guy in the front seat of the SUV. “Why the fuck are we stopping here?”The man – he’d said his name was Dallas, but he hadn’t offered anything more than that – met Mitch’s look in the driver’s mirror. His hard blue eyes held the glare, and clearly showed that he was totally unfazed by either Mitch’s size or demeanor. Then again, the guy was just as big as Mitch was, and his badass vibe was just as strong. Quite probably stronger. A guy like this wasn’t going to be put out by harsh looks or harsh words. Hell, Dallas could undoubtedly dish both out – and in ample amounts.“Mitch,” Reena reproved.“What, babe?” he gritted out. “We’re in the middle of some nowhere neighborhood and he’s stopped the SUV. I want to know what the fuck.”Dallas shrugged. “Me and Reena walk to the safe house from here.”“From here?” Mitch looked around again. “How far is it?”“Not far.” Dallas opened his door, nodded at Reena to follow suit. She opened the back doo

Chapter Twenty-five

Dallas led Reena up the front path of the house, and she took a good long look at it. She turned to Dallas.“How many security cameras?”“Six.” Dallas punched in a code, and the door buzzed and unlocked. “Plus cameras in every room inside.”“Really?” She followed him in, glanced around. “They need so many?”“Hell, yeah,” Dallas said darkly and she took in his expression, saw real rage on that handsome face. “The assholes that these women and kids are running and hiding from are the dregs and scum of my gender, Reena. I swear to God, I refuse to even call them ‘men’, ‘cause a real man doesn’t do what these monsters have done. He doesn’t even think about it.”“Oh,” Reena said in a small voice. “I see.”Reena tried to get her head around what Dallas had told her before meeting the women. She’d experienced violence by a man, of course, but it was once, and although she’d been hurt and badly frightened, she’d healed. The thought that she was about to meet women who’d gone through what she

Chapter Twenty-six

“So… you’re giving the rest of the money to the ‘ex-celebrity-who-shall-forever-remain-nameless’ safe house?” Mia asked Reena five hours later. “That’s your final decision?”Reena nodded. “I already informed the judge and the D.A.”“What decided you?” Katie asked her through a mouthful of cheese-and-cracker. “Was it the ex-celebrity?”“Well, yes and no.” Reena nibbled on some nacho chips with guacamole. “I mean, she was totally impressive as a person and she’s totally dedicated to making life better for so many people, and so those were huge factors. I love what she’s accomplished, and the fact that she’s done about ninety percent of it with her own money is amazing. But what really made it a done deal in my head was what she wants to do in terms of expansion. She was applying for grants and looking for funding, since what she wants to do is pretty expensive.”“And what’s that?” Mia said, sitting back down. “What are the expansion plans?”“Well, the property that she currently owns is

Chapter Twenty-seven

“Right?” Mia shook her head. “That’s all his clothes and shoes. All of this –” She waved her hand at the boxes in the corner of the living room. “– is his books and work stuff and dishes.”“Huh.” Maggie contemplated the boxes. “Nick has way more stuff than I did when I moved into Joe’s place last week. I feel much better about that now, actually.”“Speaking of which…” Mia said. “How goes the living together thing?”“Great,” Maggie said wryly as she helped herself to a raw carrot. “Except for the small matter of my rapidly-expanding ass.”“Um.” Katie’s brow furrowed as she took in her friend’s half-frown. “Say what about your ass?”“I’m gaining weight at an exponential rate,” Maggie announced. “I have done ever since me and Joe got back together, really, but since I’ve moved in, I’ve put on six pounds.” She glared down at her thighs. “I blame the croissants.”Mia choked down a laugh. “Chocolate? Homemade?”“Mmmm-hmmm to both.” Maggie grabbed a celery stick, contemplated the blue cheese

Chapter Twenty-eight

“My first thought when I couldn’t get pregnant was to blame myself for failing,” Katie said, her voice almost toneless. “And when Doctor Reed told me about the scarring on my uterus, and how that would make things difficult, if not impossible, my go-to reaction was to tell Adam that I was broken. That I was damaged and faulty, and that he should leave me and find a real woman who could make him happy, because I wasn’t ever going to be able to do that. That I’m too damaged and dirty to do that, and I don’t deserve him.” She’d hesitated, then choked out the next words. “On some level, I believe that I don’t deserve happiness. Or love.”Mia had been horrified. “Katie… oh, my God.”“I know.” Katie had tried to smile, but both her hands and her lips had been shaky. “It’s my default setting, you know? And Adam says that he can love me fully – but he can’t help me the way that I need to be helped. So he insisted that no matter what we decide to do about having a family, I need to get some he

Chapter Twenty-nine

One week laterNick had never felt so weak, so vulnerable. Not ever, in the whole of his almost-thirty-five years on earth.Oh, sure, since losing his leg he’d been weak and vulnerable, and he’d been so more times than he could count, or that he cared to think about. But what was going on here and now was a whole new level of weakness and vulnerability – and he fucking hated it. Hated it hard and deep and with everything that he had.He stared down at his prosthetic, trying desperately to get a feel for it, trying to will it to feel natural on his body. Maisie had told him that he’d have to learn to see it as an extension of himself – but right now, all he saw was an alien object, something that didn’t fit, and which sure as hell didn’t belong anywhere near his large, muscular body.Fuck, he missed his leg right now. Loss rolled over him, crashed over him, threatened to take him down. He blinked back tears, determined to not lose his focus or his hope.God, it was hard, though. Right

Chapter Thirty

Nick hesitated, then told the truth. “Falling, full-stop. I don’t want you to see me like this.”“Why not?”Nick decided to just lay all the cards on the table. What was the point of being bashful now? “Because I feel like a pathetic weakling,” Nick confessed. “I hate needing anything from you – I hate feeling like less than an equal.”Adam regarded him. “Is that why you never told me about what was happening when you were visiting doctors?”“I – what?” Nick stared in confusion at the change in topic. “What?”“I love you like a brother, man, and you didn’t trust me with what you were going through back then.” Adam spoke softly, but Nick heard real anger and steel under the softness. “You didn’t trust me then, and nothing can be done to change any of that. I get that. But you can trust me now, Nick. I swear it. You can trust me to catch you when you fall, and you can trust me to not laugh or make a joke when it happens. Most of all, though, you can trust me with your weakness. I won’t

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