She’s unconscious
“If that’s what you’re worried about, then relax. I’m not like you.” Daniel’s voice was cool, but it struck a nerve. Austin blinked, stunned. Not like me? Worried about my relationship? What the hell is he talking about? He took a cautious step back, not wanting a fight, not when his head was already spinning from the hospital visit.
“I think you hit your head saving that woman,” he said, trying to brush it off.
“Pussy,” Daniel muttered under his breath.
Austin froze mid-step. He turned sharply.
“What the hell is your problem with me? You know what? Let’s talk like men instead of throwing cheap shots like some bitter old woman,” he snapped, shoving Daniel.
Daniel didn’t move back. His eyes darkened. “Oh, so now you want to fight? You think I’ll laugh it off like before?” His voice was sharp and bitter.
“Excuse me?!” a voice cut through their tension.
They both turned. A plump nurse in her late forties stood with her hands on her hips, glaring.
“Respect where you are. This is a hospital!”
“Sorry,” Austin said quickly. He turned away, embarrassed, but then heard a name that stopped him cold.
“Who’s with Ms. Sienna Addison?”
He and Daniel both spun around, their tension forgotten.
“What happened to her?” they asked at the same time, their voices overlapping.
Then came the glare, the same one they gave each other before. “How do you know her?” they asked in unison again.
The nurse sighed loudly. “If you two are done bickering like schoolboys, we have a patient fighting for her life.”
Austin’s voice softened. “How is she?”
“She’s unconscious. The doctor’s treating her now. Are you her family?”
“No. I’m her friend. Her family lives in another city. You can consider me as family,” Austin replied.
Daniel’s eyes narrowed, watching him.
“She hit her head badly. There’s internal bleeding. If needed, we’ll arrange a blood transfusion.” With that, the nurse walked briskly into the emergency room.
“How do you know her?” Daniel asked again.
Austin ignored him, pulling out his phone to call Douglas.
“Oh, don’t tell me, you left Paulina too?” Daniel’s tone was mocking.
Austin snapped his head toward him. “What did you just say? Are you seriously out of your mind?”
He kept his voice down, aware of the people walking past, but his fists were clenched.
Daniel didn’t flinch. “Don’t act shocked. I know about you and Paulina.”
Before Daniel could finish, Austin’s fist connected with his jaw, sending him stumbling back.
“What the fuck?!” Daniel growled, clutching his face.
“One more word, and I’ll break every tooth in your mouth.”
Austin’s chest heaved with rage. His face was burning, not just from anger, but from betrayal.
“You sneak around with your best friend’s wife, and I can’t even say it out loud?” Daniel snapped, his voice rising.
The years of unspoken resentment finally boiled over. Daniel had kept his mouth shut for so long, but now that the wounds were ripped open again, he couldn't stop himself.
“I pity Dora,” he said. “She was planning to surprise you. But it turned out she was the one who got surprised, didn’t she?”
Austin’s grip tightened. “So that’s why you were meeting my wife in secret? To turn her against me?”
His voice cracked, the image of the video flashing in his mind, Dora, running out of Daniel’s house in tears.
Even if Dora was innocent, what the hell was Daniel doing with her that day?
Why was she crying?
And why was Daniel always there, waiting for a moment to strike?
The silence between them was no longer filled with hatred. It was filled with questions neither of them wanted to ask out loud.
“Security!”
The nurse’s voice went through the tension, halting the chaos for just a second. But it was too late. Two men were already past the point of no return. Within minutes, Austin and Daniel were escorted out of the hospital, shoved into the open, but the real fight hadn’t even begun.
“You know what?” Daniel snapped, voice shaking with fury. “You’re a hypocrite. You smothered your wife with jealousy but had no problem sleeping with your best friend’s wife.”
Austin froze. Then something inside him snapped. His fist flew without warning, crashing into Daniel’s jaw.
“What the fuck did you just say?”
Another punch.
“I saw you with Dora. I heard you whispering about how long you’ve been meeting in secret. I saw her run out of your house crying. What were you doing with her when Paulina and I weren’t around?! And you have the guts to call me possessive?”
Daniel stumbled back but caught Austin’s next blow, gripping his fist tight. “Are you insane? She was planning a surprise for you. She asked me for help. That’s all.”
“Then why was she crying, huh? Why did you say you wouldn’t tell me?” Austin’s voice was wild now. He grabbed Daniel by the shirt and headbutted him.
Daniel shoved him hard. “Because she fell into me while we were talking! She panicked. She was afraid you’d overreact, like you’re doing now!”
Austin didn’t care. Rage was all he could feel. He tackled Daniel to the ground and punched him again, right across the cheek.
“You dare touch her hand at that restaurant too? You think I didn’t see that?”
They rolled, fists flying, years of anger pouring out in every strike.
“You act like you own her,” Daniel growled, flipping Austin off him. “You were her nightmare, Austin. You left her to marry Paulina. Why? For what?”
“We were never together!” Austin roared, blocking a hit with his forearm. “Paulina and I were nothing! But your twisted mind wouldn’t believe that.”
“You’re lying,” Daniel spat, his fist crashing into Austin’s face. “You’ve been lying for years. You betrayed me, you betrayed her!”
Austin kneed Daniel in the side, knocking him off balance, then swung his leg out, sweeping Daniel off his feet. He climbed onto his back and wrapped his arm around his neck.
“And now you accuse me of cheating? You think I left Dora because I was jealous of you?” Austin hissed.
“You did!” Daniel gasped, elbowing Austin hard in the ribs. “You never deserved her!”
Austin collapsed onto the road, coughing, but Daniel didn’t stop.
“If you were interested in her, why didn’t you say something before? I was your best friend! She was my best friend too!” Daniel shouted, his voice raw with emotion.
Austin kicked out, hitting the back of Daniel’s knee and forcing him to fall. He pinned him down again.
“She was mine,” Austin whispered, breathless. “And you took her from me.”
“I didn’t!” Daniel screamed, face contorted with pain. “She left me… for you! You asshole!”
That stopped everything.
“What?”
Silence. The street, the air, everything stood still as the words echoed.
“She divorced me… because she loved you,” Daniel said, voice barely a whisper now.
The two of them lay there, bruised and broken, chests rising and falling with labored breaths. Austin rolled off, dragging himself to the side of a nearby car, resting against the wheel.
Daniel lay flat on the ground, eyes staring up at the grey sky. Neither spoke. Neither moved.
They were two men who had lost everything, and only now realized it wasn’t each other they were fighting. It was themselves.
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