“Snap the fuck out of it, Ayala, or you’re gonna lose this shit!” Noah barked from the sidelines as Abel got back on his feet. “You’re better than this. Damn it!”
Staring at McKinley, Abel shook his head, desperately trying to clear it, and worked on his footwork until he got his rhythm back. Focus, God damn it! Being dropped for the first time in his career really snapped Abel out of it, and he was almost grateful because he hadn’t been thinking straight at all. He was close to losing the fight of his life against this guy—the guy he wanted nothing more than to bury. But he had to be smart because Noah was right: McKinley didn’t have a thing on him.
With steady, well-thought-out jabs, he finally landed a couple of good ones. For the first time since he’d left Nellie’s side, he actually smirked. The fear he saw in McKinley’s eyes suddenly was all it took. No wonder they’d gone to such lengths to get in his head. It was all they could count on.
“Do it again!” McKinley’s brother was yelling from the sidelines, sounding a bit too frantic now. “Finish him!”
Nellie had gone out with Sam weeks ago, and they waited to release the photos until the day of the fight? It all made sense now. Their dirty work had almost paid off, but McKinley finishing Abel? Not happening.
Slowly and steadily, Abel worked in a few more jabs, rattling McKinley and his stupid brother, who for once had gone quiet. The bell rang, and they each went back to their corners.
“All right,” Noah said, pulling out Abel’s mouth piece and spraying some water in his mouth. “So that’s what it took to knock some sense into you? Fine, I’ll take it. Just don’t let it happen again, and keep up what you’re doing now. It’s just a matter of time, Abel.”
“Any word on Nellie?”
Noah frowned, shaking his head. “Maybe, I don’t know. I haven’t had a chance to ask anyone, and I haven’t seen Andy.”
Abel looked over at McKinley’s corner. His brother wasn’t smiling so smugly anymore. The guy had witnessed the power behind Abel’s punch firsthand. Yeah. Be worried, you little pussy, because it’s coming.
The bell rang and both fighters were on their feet again. Slow and steady. Just like he’d always fought and won. This time it was McKinley who was swinging and missing the sloppy jabs. Abel easily dodged them, landing a few in between.
McKinley was slowing down—getting tired. Abel was biding his time. Patiently, he waited as McKinley began to wear himself out. Then Abel let him have it with a couple of combinations back to back. The crowd went wild, adding to the adrenaline already pumping through Abel, and then he saw his moment. Abel wailed on him like he’d wanted to all night, landing punch after punch until the perfect one knocked McKinley’s lights out. He fell back, both gloves in the air. His eyes rolled back and it was over.
The place got so loud that he couldn’t even hear the ref counting down, but McKinley was out. There was no doubt about it. Within seconds, Abel was surrounded by the guys, and two of his bigger security guys picked him up. The entire place was going crazy as Abel was handed the belt. He lifted it over his head, overwhelmed with emotion.
It was a bittersweet moment for Abel. As much as he wanted to revel in it, thoughts of Nellie inundated him. Luckily, with Felix doing the ringside commentary on the fight for HBO and doing the in-ring after-fight interview, Abel had made sure to tell him to keep it short.
Halfway through the interview, Abel noticed that Andy was back, so the moment he was done with the interview, he went straight to him. “Did you find her?”
“Yeah, but I got there just in time to see her jump in a cab,” Andy shook his head. “I tried calling her, but it went straight to her voicemail. My guess is she’s probably hiding out somewhere from the paparazzi. If they got a hold of her number, and you know how easy that can be, she probably turned it off.”
Abel frowned. His only consolation now for the shit McKinley was putting Nellie through was the image of him going down the way he did. For a minute there it looked as if he may have had to be taken out of the ring on a stretcher.
The first thing he checked was his phone when he got back to the locker room, and his heart flipped when he saw a text from her. He clicked on it, instantly hoping she’d tell him where she was and that she wasn’t too upset.
I love you, and I’m so sorry about all of this. You have to believe me when I say I had no idea. I really didn’t. Call me as soon as you can!
Checking the time on the text, he knew that she’d sent it just before the fight started. He hit speed dial immediately, feeling even more irritated with fucking McKinley. Of course, he hadn’t questioned it even for a second. But Andy had been right about one thing. His call had gone directly to voicemail, which meant her phone was either dead or she’d turned it off. His money was on the latter, so he left a message, hoping she was checking them periodically.
“Baby, don’t worry about all that shit they’re saying. You don’t need to hide if that’s what you’re doing, not from me anyway. I don’t care about any of it, and I promise you that I didn’t believe it. Not even for a moment when I saw the story did I think you knew who he was. Call me as soon as possible. I’ll come get you wherever you are.”
The celebration in the locker room went on a bit longer than Abel wanted it to. He was itching to get back to the suite to look for any clues. Maybe she’d left a note or something that might hint to where she’d be.
He got a moment alone with Roni and Noah to ask Roni about something that was really beginning to worry him. “How often does Nellie have asthma attacks?”
Roni’s forehead pinched. “She hasn’t had one in a while, not that I know of anyway. Wait. The day she got back from that brunch she did wheeze a little and asked me to bring her inhaler into the bathroom. But it was nothing compared to some of the attacks she’s had in the past. Why?” she began digging in her purse, looking a little worried herself now. “You still haven’t heard from her?”
“Just a text she sent before the fight, saying she was sorry.”
He kept the I-love-you part to himself because like Nellie that was all his, but he waited anxiously for Roni to go through her phone. “I hope you and Noah are not upset with me.” Roni covered her mouth after reading the text out loud. “She really thinks we’re all mad at her about this. Anxiety triggers her attacks. The last attack she had that was so bad she ended up in the hospital was when she freaked out about something. I was with her. It was awful.”
Feeling the icy fear race through his veins, Abel remembered her attack that morning. “She had one this morning in my suite. It scared the hell outta me.”
Roni’s eyes went wide. “Was it because of the scandal?”
Abel began to shake his head then stopped, remembering something. “It was right after she’d read a text from her assistant, Emily.”
“Did she say what it was about?” Roni asked, her fingers already tapping on her phone.
“No. I forgot all about it once she started hyperventilating, and she didn’t say why, just said her asthma had been acting up.”
“You have Emily’s number?” Noah asked Roni.
Roni nodded, the phone already at her ear. “Emily, hi, this is Roni, Nellie’s friend.”
Andy came over just then and began to ask Abel something. Abel slammed a hard hand against Andy’s chest to shut him up as he continued to listen to Roni.”
“No, no, honey. No one is upset with you. We don’t even know if was your text that triggered the attack. She’s sort of missing right now. No one’s heard from her, and she missed Abel’s fight, so we’re trying to figure out what’s going on. Can you forward me the message you sent her.” Roni closed her eyes, pressing her lips together. “I see.” She nodded then looked up at Abel with an expression that said she had bad news. “Well, forward it to me anyway, please.”
She hung up, frowning. “Emily did message her this morning to let her know that she was watching the coverage of her and Sam and to let her know she could call her if she needed to vent.”
Feeling the blow to his bottomed-out stomach, Abel remembered something else that gave him hope that she might not be too upset about this—upset enough to end up in the hospital. “But she was fine after,” Abel said, trying to make sense of it all. “Later in the day she was even laughing.”
Roni stared at him, looking as lost as he felt. He checked his phone for the millionth time, but there was nothing.
“She was, uh,” Andy cleared his throat, “wheezing pretty badly when I talked to her earlier.
Abel narrowed his eyes on Andy, feeling his insides heat. “I thought you said you didn’t get a chance to talk to her.”
“Shit,” Roni said, reading something on her phone, then showed Abel.
He read the text that Emily had forwarded to Roni, and he knew why Roni would be even more worried now. The text didn’t make it clear what the story was about, only that it was about her and Sam and all over the news. If that had been enough to trigger such an attack, Abel could only imagine what happened when she saw the real story—when she found out Sam was McKinley’s brother.
Grabbing Andy by the shirt, Abel glared at him. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me you talked to her?”
“Because I hardly got to,” Andy’s eyes bulged wildly as his hand tried hopelessly to undo Abel’s tightening grasp on his shirt. “She just said she had to go, but didn’t say where. I didn’t want to upset you before the fight!”
“You should’ve said something, Andy!” Roni yelled at him now. “Especially if she didn’t look well. Her asthma can get really bad.”
“I didn’t know!” Andy’s voice went high-pitched as Abel’s grasp on him moved up closer to his throat. “I figured there was nothing Abel could do at that point, so I didn’t want to upset him.”
With his other hand, Abel squeezed Andy’s throat. “I swear to God, you worthless piece of shit—”
“Abel, calm down!” Noah tugged at Abel’s hand, but he only squeezed harder, and then Hector was his other side.
“Dude, you’re gonna fucking kill him!” Hector pulled at his hand now, and Abel finally let go, leaving Andy gasping and coughing.
“Where is she!” Abel demanded.
“I don—” Andy coughed, shaking his head. “I don’t know. She didn’t say. All she said was that she had to go.”
Abel pointed to one of his security guys. “Get him the fuck out of here before I do kill him. Call the hospitals,” he said to Roni who was already on her phone, looking as frantic as he felt.
“I’m going back to the suite,” he said, rushing past everyone.
“I’ll go with you,” Hector said.
“Take security with you,” he heard Noah urge.
Visions of Nellie lying unconscious somewhere assaulted him, and he practically sprinted. His mom’s words came to him as he ran down the corridor toward the opening that went out into the casino. With his heart nearly punching at his chest, he cursed his mother’s words now. When all of this started happening for him: taking over the gym; winning fight after fight; then ultimately his ultimate dream come true, a chance at the title, she’d sat him down and told him to always remember that the most important things in life couldn’t be bought. She told him that while she didn’t believe as some people did that money was the root of all evil, she knew it couldn’t fix everything either. There were some things that even money couldn’t fix.
Did she always have to be right? Feeling the knot at his throat and his eyes begin to blur, he hated that Hector was right behind him. If got bad news about Nellie, he already knew he was going to fucking lose it. She’d nearly gone white that morning. He should’ve never left her. Damn it! He should’ve gone with his gut and forced her to leave with him earlier when he’d wanted to.
Kicking the door open, he pushed through the crowd even as some of them called out his name or stared at him, stunned. Within seconds, he was surrounded by his entourage, which he barked at to move faster. He broke out into a sprint again when they got to the private corridor that led to his elevator.
“Wait up,” Hector called out, and Abel could hear his brother running behind him.
The damn elevator didn’t move fast enough. He explained briefly to Hector what was going on and how he was hoping to find a clue to where she’d gone in his suite. Then he ran out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened. Rushing through every room in his suite, he began to feel like maybe he, too, was going to start hyperventilating any minute now.
“Calm down, dude.” Hector said as they both ran into the front room again. “Doesn’t look like there’s anything here that’s gonna help us. She’s probably somewhere, hiding out from the press.” Abel must’ve looked as terrified as he felt because Hector stared at him, looking very concerned. “Just relax. Shit.” He looked around toward the bar. “Have a shot, Abel. You’re freaking out on me.”
Normally Abel would say “hell no” to the shot. But the way he felt now, he needed it badly. “Pour me one,” he said before double checking the rooms again.
Feeling completely helpless now because he had no idea what to do next, he called Noah. “What happened with the hospitals?”
“She’s not been admitted to anything local. Roni’s expanding her calls to further hospitals.”
Abel took the shot that Hector handed him as he reached the bar area. “Well, she’s not here.” Both knots in his stomach and throat were growing with every moment that passed. “I don’t know what else to do, Noah.”
“Maybe she is just hiding out, man. Just give it a couple of hours.”
Hours? Was he nuts? He took the shot, wincing as it went down his throat. “Damn,” his face soured instantly. “What was that?”
“I don’t know,” Hector laughed. “It was in one of the fancier bottles at the bar.”
Abel told Noah to call him back, and the pacing began. He dared not turn on the television and watch all the stuff that would remind him of what could’ve triggered another one of Nellie’s attacks.
“You want another shot?” Hector offered.
Shaking his head, Abel pulled out his phone to check it again. He felt guilty that he had yet another call from his mom that he’d ignored. He figured this was as good a time as any to call her back. It might take his mind off things, and it would certainly kill some time because she’d for sure keep him on the phone for a while. But mostly, he needed his mom right now. He was so fucking scared that he hoped hearing her voice would somehow soothe the ache in his heart. There was no explaining it, but as much as Noah and Hector seemed certain she was okay, something in his heart feared the worst.
Deep inside, he knew there was something wrong—really wrong. He didn’t know what it was, but if he didn’t get a grip, he might start slamming his fists into walls in a desperate need to calm himself.
Hector spent his time on the phone with Charlee while Abel talked to their mom. The call was somewhat calming, except for having to explain about the scandal. He hated talking about it, but when he’d told his mom about not knowing where she was and about her asthma attack that morning, he had to leave the room because he thought he might break down, and he didn’t want to do it in front of Hector.
“I just have this really bad feeling, Ma . . .” He couldn’t go on because he was so choked up.
“Okay, Mijo, let’s pray,” she said, immediately with conviction. “Why not? I’ve done more praying today than I have my whole life. God and I have a direct line now.”
Abel smiled weakly and listened as his mother prayed for Nellie, her future daughter-in-law, to be fine. She assured Abel that everything would be okay and made him promise that he would think positively. “Always positive, Abel. The way I did today, even after you were knocked down. Okay,” she admitted, “so I turned off the TV, and for one moment of weakness, I screamed, jumping up and down, clutching my heart, so close to crying, but then I remembered. Positive. And I prayed some more and look how everything worked out.”
He’d just gotten off the phone with his mom and had splashed some water on his face when he turned off the faucet and heard Noah’s voice in the front room. He rushed out, his heart once again beating against his chest. Any ounce of hope that he had good news was gone the moment both Hector and Noah turned to look at him grimly. “She’s in a hospital in Henderson. It took this long to track her down because she was under another name. Somehow Roni thought to check under her married name. It suddenly came to her that Nellie might not want to check in under her name because of the scandal.”
That gave Abel some hope. “So she checked herself in.” Already grabbing his keys and wallet, he turned back to Noah. “She wasn’t rushed there? How is she?”
Noah shook his head. “Nah, she was rushed. They didn’t want to give us a whole lot over the phone. But they did say she was rushed there by ambulance and she’s not conscious.”
Feeling his heart and stomach sink all at once, he blinked hard, willing the same tears from earlier—tears he hadn’t felt since his dad died—to go away. Hector clapped a hand on Abel’s shoulder. “Let’s go, brother. There’s a car downstairs, waiting to take us to the hospital.”
It had been a long time ago since the day his mom told him his dad had died, but Abel couldn’t remember feeling this agonized in his life, not even then. He was the last one to slide into the limo, but as soon as he got in next to Roni, she hugged him, crying against his shoulder, and he would be eternally grateful for that moment. While his tears were silent compared to hers, he could at least let them out as he hid his face in her hair. “I’m so scared,” he whispered in her ear.
“So am I,” she whispered back. “She’s never been out this long.”
He pulled away from her, feeling even more frantic now. “How long has she been out?”
Roni wiped her tears, and he wiped his own with the back of his hand. “She was unconscious when they arrived, and she still was when I called. She’s been there for over two hours now.”
Abel sat up, throwing his head back against the seat, glad that it was so dark in the car. The tears ran freely down the side of his face, and he was certain of one thing. Never—not in all the fights he’d been in or even the ones Hector had ever been in, which made him more nervous than his own—had he been so terrified in his life.
***
Being told that Nellie was in the ICU was an even bigger blow, but Abel held it together. Somewhere on the drive from Vegas to Henderson, he’d gone numb. Nellie had not only listed Roni as one of her emergency contacts but family according to her insurance, so she was the only one allowed to go in to see her. But Roni fought tooth and nail to get Abel in there with her. Abel wasn’t sure if he should be grateful for it now because he thought he might be sick as they walked through the ICU ward.
Roni brought her hands to her scrunched face and began to fall apart as soon as they got to the door of Nellie’s room and saw her hooked up to all those tubes. The nurse in there, checking her monitors, motioned to let them know they could come in. Once again, he was ever so grateful to have Roni there with him, because he felt ready to fall apart. She took his hand as they walked up to the side of Nellie’s bed.
Instantly, everything inside him went from agonized to on fire. “Why does she have a black eye?” he asked the nurse in an all-too-demanding voice, but he didn’t give a shit.
The entire side of her cheek was swollen, and in all his years of boxing, he knew a shiner when he saw one. If someone in McKinley’s camp had done anything to her, Abel would be in jail for sure before the night was over, because someone would be paying dearly.
The nurse pressed her lips together then looked at Nellie’s chart and nodded. “She was checking in at the hotel when she passed out.” Wincing, she looked up at Abel. “Her face hit the counter on the way down.”
“Oh my God!” Roni gasped.
“But nothing is broken in her face.” The nurse assured them as if that would make them feel better. “It’s just badly bruised, and there is some swelling.”
“She’s never been out this long,” Roni said to the nurse. “Do they know what’s wrong?”
Abel stared at Nellie, feeling numb again. His beautiful girl looked so helpless now, all bruised swollen and full of tubes. He hated that he hadn’t been there for her. It almost hurt that she hadn’t had enough faith that he’d believe she had nothing to do with the obviously staged scandal that she’d been dragged into.
The nurse told them that the doctor would be in to explain exactly what they were doing and to give them an early prognosis. Just like when he’d gotten that vibe from the guys before the fight that they weren’t telling him something, he got the distinct feeling from the nervous way she looked at him that she knew more than she was saying.
“In the commotion at the hotel, no one noticed a few things fell out of Nellie’s purse. Among them was her phone. They had someone bring it in about a half hour ago.” The nurse opened the drawer next to Nellie’s bed and pulled it out. “Since you’d already been contacted, we turned it off. It kept ringing.”
The nurse handed it to Roni as Abel sat back. “I’ve notified her parents already,” Roni whispered. Abel glanced at the phone when he heard it start up. Roni hit the screen a few times. “All our calls when we were looking for her, and . . . Hmm . . .” Abel noticed an odd change in Roni’s tone as she sat up, but he didn’t look up at her. He was staring at Nellie again. “Sam’s been calling too.”
That didn’t just get his attention. Abel was immediately glaring at the phone, his insides warming instantly. “When did he call last?”
“A couple of hours ago.”
That asshole still had the nerve to be calling her? Did he want to taunt her now? Or were they trying to keep the bullshit story going for the media?
As if she’d read his mind, Roni clicked on the side of Nellie’s phone, making the screen go black. She reached over and squeezed his leg, shaking her head. She obviously didn’t want him getting worked up over this now, but it was too late. After everything Sam and his fucking brothers had caused, he thought calling her was still going to fly? The very thought had him on his feet because he couldn’t sit anymore. He walked out into the hallway and paced. His emotions were being pulled in every direction. Part of him felt like a wild caged animal just waiting for someone to come close enough so he could tear a limb off. Yet another part of him felt so tormented that he’d just as soon curl up in a corner and cry like a child.
He paced until he saw Roni walk out of the room. Turning to her, afraid of what she might be coming to tell him, he held his breath. She shook her head. “I’m just going to go update everyone out in the waiting room that nothing’s changed.”
Abel nodded, a bit relieved, but at the same time let down that it wasn’t good news. Not wanting Nellie to be alone for even a few minutes, he walked back in her room and stood at the side of her bed. His entire chest ached to see her like this. He closed his eyes, trying desperately to keep it together. As soon as he opened his eyes, a blinking light near where he’d been sitting earlier, got his attention. The screen on Nellie’s phone lit up, and with it once again, so did his insides.
Walking toward it, he could see that Roni must’ve left the phone on silent, because it wasn’t even buzzing. But there was no doubt a call was coming in, and as he got closer, his suspicion about who it might be was confirmed. The three letters flashed on the screen just below the green incoming call indicator: Sam.
Without the slightest hesitation, he picked up the phone and answered. For the sake of not blowing up in Nellie’s hospital room, he did his best to remain calm. “What do you want, Sam?”
He walked out of the room and was glad to see Roni on her way back to Nellie’s room. She saw him on the phone, but didn’t seem to realize that it was Nellie’s phone he was on. She didn’t comment. She just smiled faintly before walking past him and into Nellie’s room.
The silence on the other end went on a bit long until he finally heard Sam’s voice. “Is this Ayala?”
“It is. What do you want?” Abel’s hands were already fisting, but he wouldn’t give this guy the satisfaction of hearing him lose it, so he did his best to remain calm.
“I want to apologize to Nellie,” Sam said, clearing his throat. “I won’t lie. My intentions going into this were every bit as despicable as I’m sure you both are thinking. It was all about getting to you with no regard for her feelings. But halfway through it, as I got to know her, I had a change of heart. Nellie . . . She’s different. I connected with her in a way I never expected.”
Abel gripped the phone, breathing deeply. Unbelievably, what Sam was saying now, as unexpected as it was, was worse than what he had expected.
“She’s one of the sweetest and sincerest women I’ve ever met, and she’s—”
“Mine,” Abel informed him very firmly, his calm beginning to unravel as he walked further away from Nellie’s room in case Sam said anything that might make him lose it. “She’s mine, Sam. So you listen very closely because you only get this warning once. I have not and will not waste even an ounce of energy entertaining the bullshit stories you and your brothers are trying to—”
“But that’s just it. I didn’t—”
“I don’t give a shit about your change of heart, asshole!”
Abel pushed the door into the waiting room before he got kicked out of the ICU, because he was done staying calm. If this conversation were taking place in person, Sam would already be on the ground. His friends all looked up at him as he stormed through the waiting room and out the exit.
“And I don’t give a fuck what kind of connection you think you had with her. She’s with me now. You hear that? You blew whatever chance you might’ve had with her, and now it’s me you’re gonna have to go through if you want to so have so much as a conversation with her. It’s not happening.”
“I know I blew it,” Sam said, exhaling loudly as if Abel could even for a second feel any sympathy for the guy. “I just want to apologize to her because—”
“Did you hear what I just said,” Abel demanded loudly. Then through his teeth he reiterated,” It’s. Not. Happening.”
“Okay.” To Abel’s surprise that was Sam’s only defeated response. But even more surprising was what followed. “Then let me apologize to you. It was a shitty thing to do, and at first, I genuinely agreed with my brother and his publicist that this all came with the territory and was part of the game. I was all for it. In hindsight and after the way things went down, I won’t ever be a part of anything like that again. I truly am sorry.”
Abel took a breath and brought his hand to his forehead. He didn’t want to hate Sam, and he knew all about overzealous publicists with only one thing in mind. But knowing Sam and his brothers may very well be responsible for Nellie being in the ICU right now, it was all he felt for him—he loathed them all. But he didn’t want to be a total dick about it since the guy was apologizing and did sound sincere. Now that he’d made only thing that mattered clear to this guy, he just wanted to get off the phone and get back to Nellie.
“As long as neither of us ever hears from you again, we’re straight.”
Sam agreed without further argument, and Abel cut the call there. He rushed back to Nellie’s room only to find everything exactly as it was. The waiting was torture. Roni had already walked out once to update everyone again that they still knew nothing.
Finally, an older balding doctor walked in and gave them the grim prognosis. “The good news is she wasn’t alone when she went into respiratory arrest. The attendant at the hotel she was checking in at called the paramedics immediately. There’s a tiny window of five to six minutes in which the brain can be without oxygen before damage begins. The medics arrived in less than four and started administrating rescue procedures.”
Looking down at his chart, the doctor paused for a moment before continuing. Abel was already choked up just from hearing the words respiratory arrest and brain damage. Roni was sniffing and wiping tears away again.
“Are you the father?” the doctor glanced up from his chart.
Abel stared at him, confused. “Whose father?”
The doctor pressed his lips together, frowning since both Roni and Abel were staring at him, dumbfounded. “Perhaps she hadn’t told anyone yet. She’s a few weeks along in her pregnancy.”
Exchanging glances, both Abel and Roni shook their heads. “No,” Roni brought her hand to her mouth and glanced back at Nellie’s lifeless body. “We didn’t know, but, yes, he would be the father.”
Speechless, Abel was utterly speechless. He knew he should be happy, but this only terrified him more.
“The bad news is that she had to be put into a medically induced coma to force air into the lungs. How long her body will require the tubes to flow oxygen into her lungs is not something we can predict, and they won’t be removed until she comes out of it—if she comes out.”
The doctor looked up at them, and Abel had to sit down before he passed out. Those last four words had made him dizzy.
“Now I say if only because I have to make you aware that there is that possibility. She could come out of this in a few hours, a few days, or weeks maybe, but there is that small possibility that she may not ever. If she does, it won’t be until she’s further along that we can do tests to see if the baby suffered any damage from this or not.”
Leaning over his legs with his elbows on his knees, Abel dropped his face into his hands, unable to hold it in anymore and cried. Instantly, Roni was at his side, rubbing his back. “She’s gonna be okay, Abel,” Roni cried. “She has to be.”
That bad feeling he’d felt was back again, and for as much as he tried to stay positive like his mom had urged, he felt completely broken now. Something else his mom had been known to say on more than one occasion came to him. “You can’t have it all.”
His mother had insisted that no one had it all. You might have a lot more of something in your life than others, but there is always something you have a lot less of. God never gives everyone everything. He knew it was too much to ask for. He was being greedy, but Abel now felt the overwhelming need to have both Nellie and his baby make it. Already, he was bargaining with God. He’d gladly trade all his fame and money—his title—everything if Nellie would just get better and they’d both come out of this unharmed. Then that other saying his mother also said often slammed into him once again. The most important things in life can’t be bought.
The only choice he had now was to pray, so he did, harder than he’d ever prayed in his life.