If only I could love you

Chapter 10

Phil’s eyelids fluttered, and then opened. He was lying on the stretcher, which had been placed on one of the changing room benches. Dan was sitting over him, holding a cold compress to Phil’s cheek. They were alone in the room. Dan noticed that he was awake and smiled down at him, “Hey, You.”

He tried to sit up but fell back down again with a grimace. “How long have I been out?”

“No longer than an hour.” Still holding the compress to Phil’s cheek, Dan reached with his other hand to gently touch Phil’s left eye, which was slightly closed by the swelling. Phil winced as he did so.

“So I’m guessing I lost then?” Phil hoisted himself up and leant against the lockers behind the bench, opposite Dan. He took the compress from Dan and held it up to his swollen eye.

“Actually,” Phil looked up and Dan smiled, “You won! The other guy got disqualified because he held onto your shoulder.” Phil looked relieved. He sat up, gasping from the pain, and took his vest off. There was a large red bruise on his stomach. “Shit,” Dan shook his head, “How are you feeling?”

“I’ve felt better, actually,” Phil replied sarcastically. He tried to smile, but the stitches in his lip prevented him.

“Well, the doctor said you should rest, so why don’t you lie down again, huh?” Phil obliged and, gasping from the pain, managed to return to his original position, lying on the stretcher. Dan leaned forward, resting one hand on his chest, and brushed stray hairs out of his eyes with the other. His fingers lingered on Phil’s forehead. Suddenly the door swung open and a rough hand landed on Dan’s shoulder and pulled him away.

“What the fuck?! You gay or something? Get the fuck off him!” Dan turned to face the same man who had been at the ring side talking to Phil. He looked at Dan with fury in his eyes.

“I…uh…No…” Dan stuttered. This man was huge, at least 6’4, with a bald head, and deep frown lines etched across his forehead and between his eyebrows. His eyes, however, were a very familiar blue…

“Dad!” Dan turned back, of course, it was Phil’s father! Phil was cowering on the bench, eyes wide.

His dad turned to face him, “What?! I’ll deal with you later…”

He began to turn back to Dan when Phil whispered, “But I won, Dad. You said-”

His father interrupted him, yelling, “Only by default! You didn’t win! You lost.” He turned back to Dan, “Can you leave, please? I need to deal with this.” He pointed at Phil, who flinched.

Dan turned to face Phil, who looked positively terrified. Dan had never seen Phil like this before; he had never imagined that anything would scare him. He was wrong. Phil shakily nodded, “Go.”

Dan hesitated, but the pleading look in Phil’s eyes told him it was time to leave. He backed away slowly, and then spun around and ran out of the room. He didn’t stop until he had left the building and reached the park. He sat down on a wall and took out a cigarette. His hand was shaking as he tried to light it. Once he was successful, he took a huge drag, trying to calm down. Was Phil’s dad like this all the time? Or was he just angry about the match? Part of Dan wanted to go back and see if everything was alright. But, on the other hand, Phil had told him to go, and so he had. He got up, and slowly began to walk down the path, away from the boxing club.