The Greatest Fight Ever?

That was the greatest fight ever...

My eyes flickered open...well I say flickered, it was more that one flickered and the other eyelid stayed shut, bruised and swollen with the socket feeling like it had sand lining it. I could feel beads of sweat on my forehead and trickling down the back of my neck. The air was oppressive and there was a sickly smell in the air.

Gently I turned my head to look at the clock. A throb like a drum thudded through my neck and up the base of my skull. The red illuminated numbers read 4.10. I'd only been in bed for about 2 hours and my head thudding told me that my short slumber had been a fretful one.
I turned my head to look towards the window. My blind was still open and the indigo blue of the sky with it's orange horizon told me that sun would be rising soon.

That was the greatest fight ever...

I swallowed. My throat felt like I was swallowing broken glass and it made me wince. I gave the roof of my mouth a gentle sweep with my tongue and it felt like sandpaper. Another swallow gave me an urge for some cold water...I still hadn't dared to move so I didn't know what pain the rest of my body had in store for me.

I parted my lips and a needle of pain shot through the corner of my mouth. It felt crusted, and a lick with my tongue suggested it was dried blood. I slowly closed my eye that was willing to respond and felt my body gently sigh and deflate into my bed.

I raised my hand to my face to investigate. As my fingertips touched my closed eye I could feel the heat and swelling and most of all I could feel sticky wetness. I pull my fingers away and looked at their tips. Blood. It wasn't too hard to work out that it was cut and probably needed attention.

That was the greatest fight ever...

My right leg was tucked under my left leg and as I tried to slide it out pain shot through my whole body. It was then I realised I still had my boots on, albeit the laces untied. I lifted my head again and looked down to see I was still dressed. I let out a loud scream that was unrecognisable as I tried to slide my leg out again. Okay, so this was going to be harder than I hoped. A lot harder. I took a deep breath, but as I did so, pain that cancelled out all of the other pain I was feeling, seared through the right side of my chest. I shot my arm to my side and gripped my ribcage.

As I lay there my mind replayed last nights events.

Those cocky football fans had everything that was coming to them.
No-one messes with me and mine.

Well, they looked at me with a sneer on their faces.
No-one looks at me like that.

Then they said what they said.
No-one talks to me like that.

Then he squared up to me.
No-one squares up to me like that.

That was the greatest fight ever...

I figured the only way I was going to get up was to roll onto my side and allow the pain to fuel my determination. Easier said than done. One movement? I wish I could. I attempted a deep breath again, held it and used all the energy I could muster up to sit forward. I heard a loud scream pierce my ears, and the pure horror of it shocked me. My mind flickered back to when I was cosied up in my parents home when I was a kid. I'd lay at night curled up in my duvet with my curtains parted and the moonlight streaming through, a cool spring breeze blowing across my face. I'd hear the new fox cubs calling out to their parent in the fields behind the house...

That was the greatest fight ever...

It was 2 hours later that I came to. I was shivering and I could feel the morning sun shining on my cheek. The heat felt good. The surface felt cold and hard under my side. It was then that I realised I was on the floor. I must have passed out. Well this might be a blessing, I thought to myself. I don't know how I managed it, but I rolled onto all fours and managed to get to a sitting position on the bed. I gripped my ribs that seemed to be giving me the most pain. I looked down at my boots. I could see dirt on them. Annoying! I rubbed the heal of my left boot on my right and the crust sprinkled onto the floor. Red. Red sprinkles. Blood.

I looked down at my shirt, ripped on the chest and arm. That was my best shirt! He really deserved what he got.

That was the greatest fight ever...

After what seemed like hours of deliberation I pushed myself up from the bed. My head spun and a large thud reverberated around my skull. I shuffled my way to the kitchen. I turned on the radio.

"....police say they are still looking for a group of men after the death of a man following a street fight in the town last night. Police are searching through CCTV. They are looking for 3 men aged 25-30 believed to be local, following the football match yesterday. The man who died was brutally attacked and was from the visiting side. They are urging anyone to come forward that may have been witness to this fatal attack."

I made a derisory snort. I searched through the cupboards and found some tablets. I popped two out... I shuffled over to the sink and poured a glass of cold water all the while feeling like knives were being thrown at me from all sides. I threw the tablets into my mouth and they felt like rocks as they hit the back of my throat. I lifted the glass to my swollen lips and poured in the water. The cold swirled through my mouth and down my throat taking the tablets with it.

That was the greatest fight ever...

Suddenly I felt bile shoot past my raw throat into my mouth and I bent over the sink as my tablets and water returned. The pain that seared once again through my body was immense. As I looked down I saw drops of blood bounce into the sink and merge with the water. I put my hand to my eye. The cut must have reopened.

"...police say arrests are imminent."

Suddenly I heard a loud banging at the door and my name being shouted. Everything seemed to slow down from that moment. I saw chips of wood, presumably from my door, flying through the air and there, stood in front of me, were 4 police officers.

Suddenly, I no longer felt the pain.

I felt numb.

Was it the greatest fight.....ever?