Ivy Braddock sat quietly in her room in Millie's Boarding house. She was still trying to absorb what Cal had told her. The fax he brought was laying on the bed. Picking it up she read the headline again 'Heavyweight Champ James J. Braddock to Enter the Ring Again' .

When Sid had first mentioned it to her she had an overwhelming sense of panic. She had been struggling to supress it since then. As time progressed she had a harder time of it.

She was startled when she heard the knock on the door. She answered the door cautiously not sure who to expect. A flood of emotions ran through her as she recognized Cal. What had he learned? What was he going to tell her?

She still didn't remember much from Cal's visit. She remembered the knock at the door. A tired half smile when she opened the door. The unfolding of a fax. Then nothing.

It wasn't that she had passed out. No, nothing so serious as that. She had a feeling of numbness start in the pit of her stomach and radiate outwards through her limbs and head. Forcing herself to nod and thank Cal for his help before he left, she remembered that too.

The numbness had caused time to slow as she sat and simply waited. Several hours had passed. She knew Toni would be upset with her, she had promised to stop by. When was that? Yesterday? The day before? She couldn't remember. Still no word from Jim. She had no idea why he hadn't told her of the bout. She wondered why. What purpose did it serve?

Protection. She knew he wanted to protect her. He was overprotective at times. She thought back to how he had taken care of her on the plane and smiled. Glancing to the photograph of her and Jim sitting on the night table she thought of something that Sid had said. "I've heard he's training in New Jersey quite intensely these days. Rumor has it he's going to get his block knocked off."

If Sid was right and Jim got hurt... How could she continue just waiting like this? She dialed the number for home only to have the answering machine pick up after several rings. Hanging up she cursed the fact she left her address book back in New Jersey. Trying to remember the name of the gym where Jimmy worked out at she did remember something. Joe Gould. Joe was Jim's manager he should know where he was.

After being transferred several times she finally had what she needed. Dialing a cell phone number she prayed the secretary at Madison Square Garden had given her good information. She detected a note of scepticism when she had identified herself as Mrs. James J. Braddock.

The phone rang several times before being answered. The noise was nearly deafening. Just where was he and what was going on? "That's it Jimmy give him the left!"

She thought she was going to go deaf....that was yelled right into her ear.

"Hello. Gould here."

"Joe? Joe Gould?"

"Yeah , yeah who is this?" Joe looked at the caller ID and then put the phone back to his ear as he walked to a quieter part of the gym.

"I'm sorry you don't know me. I need to speak to my husband. I thought you might know where he is."

"I'm not the missing persons bureau." he said abruptly.

"No your not. But you are Joe Gould right?"

"Who is this?" he asked again impatiently. Thinking to himself he should just hang up.

"Do you manage James J. Braddock?"

"Look lady I don't know what your up to....maybe your some reporter or a fan or something but he's getting ready for a fight. No women allowed."

"You don't understand me Mr. Gould. He's my husband. I'm Ivy Braddock."

Joe had been pacing throughout the conversation. After hearing her last statement he stopped.

"Hey that's not funny. How did you get my number anyway?"

"I got it from Madison Square Garden. Look Mr. Gould I need to speak to my husband James. J. Braddock. Either you will help me or you won't but I still need to talk to him."

"Ok, so you tell me your his wife. Where does he live?"

"That is your test? Not which side of the bed does he sleep on or is he ticklish? You want our address?"

"Yeah."

"Ok. We live at 7712 Park Ave, North Bergen, NJ. Sorry I don't know the zip code. I just moved there about a month ago. "

"Hmmm. Ok...he's sparring now. I'll have him call when he's done. Will that be good enough?"

"Thank you Mr. Gould. I do appreciate your assistance."

Hanging up Ivy felt closer to Jim than she had since he left. She hoped Joe Gould was trustworthy and would keep his promise. Settling on the bed to wait Ivy had hope. Soon she would hear from Jimmy.