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“Let's go, Girly.” Ian and Joshua grab my brother and hold him down too. Duncan is yelling and threatening Derek.
“Yeah I might be a girl but I have more balls than you do, asshole.”
She runs at him as he launches himself at her. The clash of their bodies hitting is bone chilling. I cringe in worry, but I know enough not to stop them. Tears roll down my face as two people I care about continue to beat on each other. The hits are muffled from the gloves but still sound painful.
Maya rears back and nails him in the solar plexus as he wraps around her, trying to take her to the ground. She brings her knee up several times into his ribs. He squeezes around her, and I worry about her ribs. He's trying to sweep her legs and finally gets lucky between her knee kicks and punches. She falls back onto the gravel. He drops and tries to wrap her in an arm-bar, she twists her body and ends up on top of him. Duncan is yelling louder and louder. She punches Derek in the face, slams her hands into his chest and stands up.
“Come on, mother fucker, who’s the girly now!” she taunts him again.
He rises, rushes her, and she steps to the side, nailing him with a straight arm. Derek falls to the ground, and she squats down, blood runs from cuts on both their bodies.
“Give yet?” she mumbles.
“Nope.”
Derek sweeps her legs, and she falls as he rolls on top of her. He's trying to grab her arms and pin them above her. Maya arches her back and wraps her legs around his upper body as he falls. They're both winded, and I know my brother isn't going to let this go on much longer. I look over and see him stand up and start throwing men off him. Raul joins the melee and takes him down again. Maya twists her body around and pulls Derek’s arm. She’s shown me how to do this, but I haven't perfected the technique of an arm-bar like she has. He gives as soon as she pulls. It must be their signal that they’re done. She rolls and stands, reaching down to help him up.
“Thanks, brother. I needed that,” she says as my brother barrels down onto them. I watch in awe as she swings Derek behind her and prepares to take on her husband, who skids to a stop. He's huffing, and I can see the veins popping on his neck, he's going to kill Derek. The music stops as Dr. Mason joins them.
“Duncan, you need to back down, this is partially your fault. If you would let her practice and spar with the guys, she'd get the energy out instead of wanting to run or practically kill her best friend. This is her, you married her, and you need to accept this part of her.”
Just like that, Duncan calms, and he takes her into his arms and hugs her. When she steps out of the embrace, I see the blood from her face on his shirt. Derek steps up to them, and Duncan hits him bare knuckled.
“Goddammit, Duncan, why did you hit him?” she yells.
“He hit my wife.” He shrugs and leans down to help Derek up. “Next time, you two spar in a padded ring.”
“Thank God! Do you know what she could teach us?” Joshua says on a laugh. I turn to see the blood on his face where my brother hit him to get him off. I rush to his side, but he takes me in his arms and says he’s fine.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Ana
Everyone returns to the office, and I'm upset. I know Maya and Derek needed to work out, but what they did was try to kill each other. How could they hurt each other that way? I walk over to Dr. Mason. “How could you allow that? What kind of doctor allows people to beat each other like that?”
“Would you rather her run away? That was what she was getting ready to do, run. This way she let off the steam she's bottled up, and she was able to process her feelings. You draw, she fights, he does what he does, and everyone here has their release.” He stands there looking so conceited and self-righteous.
“So it's okay for two people to beat the pulp out of each other?” I get up in his face. “They could've hurt my brother, or Maya for that matter.”
“What do you think Maya did before your brother entered her life? She and Derek fought. They can help each other. In today's case Maya needed to get the pent up energy out, and Derek needed to feel alive.”
“I don't know if I agree with you. I don't see any reason for two people to do that to each other.”
“Of course, Ana, you wouldn't understand. Fighting and fists mean pain to you. To them, it's exercise and release.”
“I don't understand. Hitting hurts, you don't hit people you care about. How can the violence they just exhibited be therapeutic? Is this therapeutic?” I turn and lift the back of my shirt, showing the gauze pad covering the newest scar. “Or this?” I turn back and point at my face. I notice everyone watching us, and Maya steps to us and wraps her arms around me.
“Ana, what happened to you wasn’t therapeutic. That was a sadist using you. Derek and I know how far to push the other. We know what moves to do so the other knows when we are done. We’re highly trained professionals. If I don't spar regularly, this is how I get. As for Duncan, I knew the others wouldn't hurt him. I couldn't guarantee he wouldn't hurt them though. Now he knows I need to spar once in a while to prevent this from happening in the future. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Derek needed the fight too, he's been walking around here like a zombie for months.”
I still don't completely understand, but I know how I would feel if I couldn’t sketch. I then remember the night of her wedding and my drawing and the music. I step back and look at her, Derek, and Dr. Mason.
“I'm sorry. You’re right. I had my vent session recently, and the drawing was cathartic. I'm sorry, Dr. Mason.”
“Ana, it's okay. When I first became a psychiatrist I didn't believe in this kind of therapy, but after I lost my wife and I realized I needed an outlet for my pain, I studied this. Derek and Maya are the perfect examples of two people who lost greatly and are recovering. They have their moments, but they’ve learned to get on with life. You'll learn when you need to release it too.”
“I'm sorry if I upset you, Ana, I just needed to process,” Maya says.
“I'm sorry too, Ana. You being pregnant and in danger brought all my pain back, and since I can't go get another tattoo, I did this,” Derek says as he joins us.
