Tessa

I felt the snap before I heard his voice scream, "Tessa!"

My body was twisted in an impossible position and Nate, one of the guys we train with, was lying on top of me after he slammed me straight on my back onto the mat. I felt like I couldn't breath and my chest felt like it was caving in. The adrenaline kicked in and I was able to focus on Will rushing over to me and pulling Nate off of me. My vision focused and I could see my dad, Jace and Will standing over me.

Will looked like he wanted to kill someone, Dad looked like he was going to throw up and Jace was the only one who wanted to know what was wrong. This is what they had feared since they let me start training. I had gotten hurt before, but every time I did, it was like the world had ended and I had to convince my parents to let me train again.

"Everybody, back up and give her some room," Jace instructed as Max guided everyone away from me.

"Tessa, honey," Dad said sweetly. "Can you tell me what's wrong?"

I shook my head, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. The last thing I wanted to do was cry in front of all the guys I train with.

All of the sudden, Will wasn't in my vision anymore and I could hear him yelling at Nate.

"What did you do," he shouted before Jace grabbed him by the shoulder, yanking him back. "He hurt her, Dad!"

"Are you kidding me," Jace shouted back as he placed both of his hands on Will's shoulders and trying to talk some sense into him. I wished I could form words and assure him that I was okay. I had never seen Will freak out like that before when I got hurt and it made my heart hurt. "It was an accident, Will. You need to calm down so we can find out what's wrong and take care of it."

Will appeared back at my side, kneeling down and cradling my head in his hand. I was slowly beginning to catch my breath and when I looked Will in the eyes, I saw worry and I wanted to fix it.

"Tessa, can you sit up," Dad asked, still trying to figure out what was wrong with me. I shook my head and tried to take a deep breath before I realized that was too painful. Dad turned to Jace and said, "Okay, I think we just need to take her to the hospital. Jace, call the hospital and let them know we're coming. Will, see if you can get her to stand and get her to the car. I'm going to pull the car around and let the girls know what's going on."

The men in my life sprung into action, running around the gym and trying to get me to the hospital. Will gave me a reassuring smile before leaning down and pressing his lips against my forehead.

"Tess, can you speak, yet," he asked and I nodded hesitantly. "Can you tell me where you're hurt? I want to help you to the car, but I don't want to hurt you."

"Yeah, I think I broke a rib," I said with pain in my voice. "My head hurts, too. I don't know if I can walk out to the car."

Without another word, Will carefully hooked his arms under my body and lifted me into his arms, careful not to jar my body. I held back a grimace as he stood with me in his arms. Even though I was in so much pain, I couldn't help but feel safe as Will held me and carried me to the front door of the gym. I rested my head on Will's shoulder and finally let one lone tear fall from my eye and onto his shoulder.

Will set me in the back seat of my dad's car and I could see my parents walking out of the studio with my mother covering her mouth with her hand and tears in her eyes as she sat in the passenger seat. I clutched my side, taking deep breaths to ease the pain as I tried to buckle my seatbelt. With my eyes closed, I felt Will take the belt from my hand and heard it click as he sat down next to me. He intertwined our fingers and brought my hand to his lips as I opened my eyes and Dad sped out of the parking lot.

I knew we would be in the hospital in less than ten minutes and that Jace, Clary and James were probably right behind us and that my parents were in the front seats, but I was so incredibly thankful to have Will by my side at the moment, calming my fears and taking the pain away, if only for a moment.

Dad skidded to a stop in front of the hospital before mumbling something about getting a wheelchair. Will came around to my side of the car and helped me out before placing me in the wheelchair my dad had gotten and pushed me through the Emergency Room door. Mom had her hand on my shoulder and Dad was running in front of us to try and get me checked out as soon as possible.

I vaguely heard Jace yelling at Dad to use one of his contacts at the hospital to make things go faster. Will wheeled me over to the waiting room and kneeled in front of me, taking my hands in his.

"How are you feeling, Tess," he asked running his hand over my face and I leaned into his palm.

"Like I just got hit by a truck," I replied and he chuckled, most likely relieved that I still had a sense of humor. With that, Will sat in the chair next to me as I took deep breaths and waited to be taken back and examined.

Three hours later, I was being wheeled back out of the hospital with my middle wrapped because that's all you can do for a broken rib, and instructions from the doctor to rest for the next few days.

I understood that I was hurt and it was scary for everyone around me, but I was seriously getting annoyed with my parents and Will. He wouldn't even let me get in the car by myself, instead lifting me out of the wheelchair and placing me in the backseat of my dad's car and even buckling my seatbelt.

"Do you want me to come home with you," Will asked, still standing next to the car, talking through the window. As much as I loved him, I needed some time to myself to deal with the fact that I probably wouldn't be training for a while.

"No, go back to the gym with your dad," I said, giving him a small smile. His face fell momentarily and I felt bad for disappointing him. "You need to help Max get ready for the fight. It's in a month and you know he's freaking out about it. I'll be fine, Will."

"Okay." He leaned through the window, glancing toward the front seat briefly, making sure my dad wasn't watching us and kissed me quickly before turning and getting in Jace's car.

I leaned my head against the closed window and closed my eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep. When I felt the door open and my dad lift me out of the car, my eyes opened sleepily, but I gave in to the exhaustion and rested my head on his shoulder as he carried me up the stairs and to my bedroom. Just like he did when I was little, my dad tucked me into bed, covering me with a blanket and kissing me on the forehead before backing out of my room and closing the door, leaving me in the darkness.

When I felt something press against my forehead, I opened my eyes to look into those green eyes that I knew so well. Will was kneeling in front of me as he brushed my hair back from my face and gave me a reassuring smile.

"What are you doing here," I asked, my voice full of sleep.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay," Will whispered, combing his fingers through my hair, making me relax. "I brought you some Chinese food if you're hungry."

"You know me so well, but I really just want to rest right now." Taking his hand and tugging it slightly, I silently told him that I wanted him to join me on the bed. Careful not to jostle me too much, Will settled in beside me, taking my laptop from my nightstand so we could watch some Netflix.

As we settled in to watch a marathon of some show Will was insistent I watch, he wrapped his arm around me and I curled into his side, careful not to put too much pressure on my ribs.

"Did you go back to the gym after you left the hospital," I asked Will as I felt his lips press into my hair.

"Yeah," he mumbled. "I really didn't want to, but I figured it would be better for me to be training than sitting here feeling useless while you slept. Nate wasn't even there when I got back, the little bastard."

"Hey," I said, pushing up slightly on Will's chest. "You can't blame Nate for what happened, Will. It could have happened to anyone and it was really just an accident. I'm okay and it could have been a lot worse. Sure, I'll be out of the gym for a while, but it's going to be okay."

"You have no idea what it felt today, watching you get slammed and not get up." His chest rose and fell as he took a deep breath and I cupped his cheek. "I don't ever want to see you get hurt, Tess."

"Will, our sport is dangerous and there's always going to be the chance that we're going to get hurt." I intertwined our fingers and stared into his eyes that were filled with worry. "Do you think it isn't hard for me to watch you spar even though I know you know what you are doing? I never understood why my mom hated watching my dad fight until I had to watch you. It is nearly impossible to sit there and watch you get hit, but we do it anyway because we know that you love what you're doing. You're going to have to learn how to be the spectator and block out the fact that I could get hurt."

"I know, baby." He pulled me closer to his side and wrapped his arms around me. "Does it hurt?"

"Not so much anymore." Instead of saying anything else, Will just nodded and kissed my temple. We sank down into the pillows on the bed and watched the show playing on my computer screen.

I hadn't let the fact that I wouldn't be able to train for a while fully sink in. As I laid in bed with Will, I realized that I didn't know what to do with myself without being able to train every day. I would have to go to school during the day, which sucked since Will was getting his GED, but then I would probably just go home since I couldn't train. It sounded terrible.

I couldn't wait until I could get back in the gym and throw some dudes around the mats again.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please let me know what you think and leave a review! :)

P.S. It's my birthday, so this is my birthday present to all of you! :)