Fighting Solitude
Prologue
 âMia!â I shouted.
It was worthless. Sheâd been deaf since the day I met her.
Sheâd never once heard my voice.
Sheâd never heard the deep rumble of my laugh when she was excited, signing so fast I could barely keep up.
Sheâd never heard my content sigh when she barged into the locker room after a fightâjust her presence soothed the lingering madness brewing within me.
Sheâd never heard me whispering my deepest fears into her ear as she fell asleep on top of me.
Sheâd never heard the reverence in which I cried her name each and every time I took her body.
And sheâd never once heard the ease in which the words I love you tumbled from my lips as I stared into her deep, jade green eyes.
But as I screamed her name while watching her petite body seizing in the passenger seat beside me, Iâd never needed her to hear me more.
âMia. Oh God. Iâve got you, baby.â
She was still thrashing violently as I made my way around to her door, yanking it open while pleading with whatever god was willing to help.
When she stilled, a whole new level of silence filled the air around us. It wasnât the absence of sound.
It was the absence of life.
âMia, breathe!â I roared as her chest remained agonizingly still. âHelp me!â I screamed at the closed emergency room doors, but no medical savior rushed out with the miracle I so desperately needed.
My hands shook wildly as I released her lifeless body from the seatbelt.
âIâve got you, just hang on. Please just hang on, Mia,â I whispered lifting her into my arms and sprinting through the sliding doors. âI need a doctor! Sheâs not breathing!â
Nurses rushed towards me in slow motion as the seconds without air in her lungs passed at a terrifying speed.
Breathe.
A doctor appeared with a gurney and quickly took her from my arms.
The immediate loss was staggering.
Hope became my only solace.
She needed help that I wasnât capable of giving her, but that didnât stop me from following close behind as they rolled her away. I was on the verge of self-destructing; letting her out of my sight wasnât an option.
I stood motionless in the doorway while doctors and nurses swarmed around her. Their mouths moved frantically, but without my hearing aids I was worthless to make out the words their faint voices carried.
I never wore my hearing aids when I was with Mia. There was no point. She rarely spoke with her voice.
Weâd spent four years building a relationship with our hands.
Those hands had told me animated stories that made me laugh until my face hurt from smiling.
Theyâd fought with me relentlessly, but always ended the night raking down my back in silent ecstasy.
Her fingers had fluidly signed I love you more times than I could ever countâor forget.
But as I felt the nurse attempting to physically remove me from the room, my eyes became fixated on her limp hand dangling off the side of the bed. It was the only sight more frightening than watching her flail mid-seizure.
It ripped the heart straight from my chest.
That hand was supposed to be full of life.
It was the very essence of Mia.
Pale.
White.
Still.
Oh God.
Sucking in a deep breath, I held it until the room began to spin.
It provided me no relief even as it forced me to my knees.
There would be no distraction from this.
I was going to lose her.
Yet another woman I couldnât save. [/scroll-box]
I didnât think it possible to love two characters from this series more than I loved Till and Eliza from âFighting Silenceâ. Nor did I ever think it possible for Aly Martinez to top that book. I was wrong! âFighting Solitudeâ was so much better than I could have anticipated. I floved this. What is beyond good? That is what âFighting Solitudeâ is!
I feel lost as to how to describe how and why I loved this story so much. It was beautifully written, the characters were thoroughly developed and dynamic, and the plot was solid, suspenseful, and emotional. I loved this friends-lovers story⌠I loved the slow-burn development of the relationship between Liv and Quarry. Martinez again stayed with her style of strong-willed and sassy females. I loved Livâs strength and calmness and her unwavering support for Quarry. She was his backbone, his ally, his rock. I loved Quarryâs devotion to the oneâs he loved. His protective nature was not only awe-inspiring, it was incredibly sexy.  This makes for some incredibly funny and sexy banter. OMG and those texts, I LOVED them!
When I finished âFighting Shadowsâ, I was a freaking mess. I was bawling like a baby who lost her pacifier. I was so frightened to read this book. (As I believe the majority of readers were/are.) As it turned out, I was right to be afraid. My fear was warranted. I cried so many times while reading Quarry and Livâs story that I am lucky my family was not home for most of it. I fear they might have wanted to medicate me. I cried sad tears â like devastating tears, but I also cried happy ones. I laughed â a lot â for those parts, my family was home and my son said I as âweirdâ. Eh, what can I say, I get so sucked in to Martinezâs writing that I experience a variety of emotions right along with her characters.
At the end of âFighting Shadowsâ, we see Quarryâs life being torn apart. It was gut-wrenching. The good news, or bad â whichever way your heart looks at it, Fighting Solitude picks up right where âFighting Shadowsâ left off. And my gosh, did that hurt. The devastation that both Quarry and Liv felt was palpable.
Despite their guilt, heart ache, they must learn how to go on with life, manage the daily activities that we take for granted. What they have going for them, is a life-long friendship based on mutual trust (mostly) and a kind of love that only life-long friends share. They know each other better than anyone. Quarry knows Livâs deepest, darkest fears and works to protect her at all costs. Liv can sense when Quarry is about to lose his mind, when life just gets to be too much, and only she can bring him a sense of calm.
âEvery. Single. Day.â
Fabulously written, I cannot think of any other way this could have been written, nor any additions or subtractions to Quarryâs story. It was perfect! This is why Martinez is a go-to author for me, and one of my author crushes!!!!
  Fighting Silence (Book One) On the Ropes
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1UKZbWJ
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1Lhhn62
B&N: http://bit.ly/FightingSilenceBN
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1A2cSnr
iBooks: http://bit.ly/1zbJT0u
 Fighting Shadows (Book Two) On The Ropes
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1HE3kt8
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1faAHHy
B&N: http://bit.ly/1CaD9rN
Kobo: http://bit.ly/1LKEurE
iBooks: http://apple.co/1TcpHIa
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Fighting Solitude ~ The Best In The series! by Aly Martinez Fighting Solitude Prologue âMia!â I shouted. It was worthless. Sheâd been deaf since the day I met her.
