Mason:Inked Reapers MC(80)

"Your knee has suffered substantial damage," the doctor said as he  gestured at the images. "You've got a hairline fracture and muscle  damage. If you don't stop fighting, you'll need an entire knee  replacement which would end your career. I suggest you take at least six  months off to rest and let your knee repair."



Jasper tensed in his chair. In six months, he'd be completely forgotten by the industry, a has-been. He couldn't wait that long.



"How much for the knee replacement?"



The doctor didn't seem impressed by the question.



"Usually around five thousand," he replied factually. "But Mr. Duboix, I  urge you to consider resting as surgery can have complications, and  it's invasive-"



"Thank you, doctor," Jasper was extending his hand which the doctor cordially shook.



Jasper was leaving the building on Harley Street when his cell phone  vibrated in his pocket. Reaching for it, he saw Kait was calling. He was  already smiling when he answered.



"Hey, beautiful."



"Hey yourself," her soft voice replied through the device. "What are you up to?"



Jasper glanced at the street lined with cars and multimillion dollar  houses around him. Luckily, there were no cars driving past at that  moment, so it was relatively quiet.



"I'm just at the gym."



"Will you be home soon?" Kait purred the words making her intentions for  their evening later clear. Jasper checked his watch. His train was in  an hour or so.



"Yeah, I'll be back around seven."



"Perfect. Want me to cook dinner?"



"Yeah, that'd be great," Jasper was nodding as he walked down the street, his phone pressed tightly against his ear.



"So how was your day at the gym?" Kait enquired brightly.



"Illuminating."



"Oh?"



A double decker bus rounded a distant corner and began to come up the street.                       
       
           



       



"Sorry, babe, I need to go. My trainer is riding me so hard at the moment."



"Okay. Love you."



"Love you too," Jasper ended the call and shoved his phone back into his pocket.

With some difficulty, he walked towards the tube station that he needed.  All the while his knee continued to throb and the warning from the  doctor echoed in his mind. He knew he couldn't wait six months. He  needed to be a champion now. Kait had fallen for a champion; she  wouldn't surely want some guy who was about to fall in to obscurity?



Jasper rubbed his hand against his leg as he edged further down the  street. Thankfully no one recognized him. He wished he'd thought to call  a cab, but he couldn't afford it. Thanks to his mounting medical bills,  there was little he could afford. Money was starting to grow tight  because sponsors didn't want a fighter who dropped at the end of his  fight. They wanted someone who could be left standing, proudly  addressing the crowd. And Jasper was determined to win them back, to  prove to Kait that she'd made the right choice in sticking by him. He  was going to remain on top; he was going to be the best no matter what,  but as he walked his knee burned in pain as his body clearly had other  ideas.





Chapter 71



Jasper fell down against the mat. He spluttered out a shower of warm  blood as his entire body throbbed unbearably. His jaw ached from the  punch that had just floored him. His mind was screaming at him to get  up, to find his feet and throw his own crucial hit, but he remained  lifeless on the mat, suddenly unable to co-ordinate his own limbs. He  felt like he'd been drugged. How hard had his opponent hit him?



He could hear the distant chants of jeers from the crowd, but they felt  far away, like he was hearing them from underwater. Powerless, Jasper  remained on the mat. The referee counted to ten excruciatingly slowly.  It was over.



"That's your third loss in as many weeks!" Carl was shouting at him as  Jasper was helped from the ring. Despite the pain medication he was  overly dosed up on, his body burned with agony.



"Seriously, Jasper, what's going on?" Carl was by his side as they  marched as quickly as they could back towards the dressing room. Cameras  flashed like fireworks, capturing Jasper's humiliation.



"I don't … I don't know," Jasper winced and tried to shield his eyes from the glare of the flashes.



"You don't know," Carl replied sarcastically. "Well that's just great, isn't it?"



Once in the dressing room, the sounds of the baying crowd almost faded  away completely. With a sigh, Jasper dropped down on to the sofa. All he  wanted to do was sleep. He was too exhausted to even be upset about  this latest loss.



"What was that out there?" Carl demanded, pointing towards the closed door. "You totally bombed out there, Jasper!"



Jasper could only groan in response.



"This isn't like you!" Carl continued. "Haven't you been hitting the gym as hard? What gives?"



Jasper let his head fall in to his hands. He'd been training harder than  ever. Despite his bad knee, he was at the gym seven days a week pushing  himself almost to the breaking point. Even his trainer feared that  Jasper was over doing it. But still he pushed. The first loss had  spurred Jasper into action. He couldn't risk another. But then two  losses later, he was beginning to fear that he had nothing left to give.



"Is it the girl, is she the problem?" Carl asked with a sour look.



"No!" Jasper instantly snapped, looking up. "Of course not."



Kait currently felt like the only good thing in his life. Each night  when he curled up by her side, it made the pain of his earlier loss  easier to bare. She was fast becoming his rock. Without her, he feared  he'd succumb too easily to his own misery.



"Because we need some wins," Carl told him flatly. "And we need them bad."



"Don't you think I know that?" Jasper winced as he spoke. It hurt to be  angry. It hurt to even breathe. Every muscle in his body burned in  protest with every movement he made. Perhaps it was time to step away  from the ring, to think about what he should do next with his life.



"You've got commitments!" Carl enthused, as if sensing Jasper's line of  thought. "You've got fans and sponsors relying on you, Jasper. Don't you  go forgetting that."



"I won't," Jasper felt his shoulders slump from the weight of it all.



"Good," Carl smoothed down his tie and glanced nervously towards the door to the dressing room.                       
       
           



       



"She'll be here in a minute," Jasper told him. He knew who Carl was waiting on. When Kait arrived, it was his cue to leave.



"She'd better not be the problem," Carl threatened.



"She's not the problem," Jasper sighed, "she's the solution."





Chapter 72



Kait checked herself in the mirror to ensure that she didn't look too  upset. The anguished tears she'd shed when she'd watched Jasper fall to  the mat like a toppled tree had been carefully wiped away, her makeup  reapplied. The crowd around her had held their breath as Jasper suffered  another devastating loss. He looked so battered and broken as he fell  at the feet of his opponent. It was killing Kait to see him go through  it, to see him suffer like he was.



Satisfied with her appearance, she left the toilets and walked in the  direction of the dressing rooms. The burly security men let her by with a  smile and a stiff nod.



"He's had it tough tonight," they commented kindly.



"Yeah," Kait agreed. "But he'll turn it around. He always does."



She felt the part of the loving, supportive girlfriend. People knew who  she was and why she was backstage. She was no longer Jasper's secret;  he'd finally shared her with the world.



Raising a hand, she knocked briskly on the dressing room door. When it  opened, Carl was staring at her, looking angry. He always looked angry;  she was convinced he just didn't like her.



"How is he?" Kait inquired politely.



"How do you think?" Carl retorted as he stepped past her to leave the room. "He's defeated."



Pursing her lips with concern, Kait walked over to Jasper who was sat on the sofa, still wearing his blood stained shorts.



"Hey," Kait carefully sat down beside him and placed a hand on his knee.



"Hey," Jasper greeted her in his deep, velvety voice.



"You took a real beating out there tonight."



"Yeah," Jasper sighed and turned to look at her, revealing a deep gash above his right eye which would surely need stitches.



"I think we need to get you to a hospital," Kait said anxiously as she peered closer to assess the wound.