"There." Anna handed Bryan an ice pack. "Ice only. I don't want you putting any heat on that, okay?" Bryan Danielson had a particularly rough match earlier in the night with Randy Orton leaving him needing a little care.
Bryan nodded. "So, is this the last ice pack you're ever going to hand out? Am I the last WWE Superstar that you will ever treat backstage? The last that will ever receive your TLC?" He decided to really ham it up with her last day with the company. Anna had taken exceptional care of Bryan, and all the superstars, over the past few years.
She rubbed her belly. "Hopefully. With this little guy being so active tonight I'd love to just sit down put my feet up. My ankles are like softballs." She stepped from foot to foot to alleviate the pressure.
"When are you due?" He looked her over. Anna didn't seem to be all that big.
"Not until late September, but I'm entering my third trimester so I can't fly anymore. That's, like, 75% of this job." Sensing his next question, she jumped to answer. "And, no, we haven't picked out a name yet."
"May I suggest 'Bryan'?" he laughed.
Anna smiled. "You can suggest anything you want. Doesn't mean Jake and I have to use it." She took Bryan's hand and went to place it on her stomach. "He's still kicking. Maybe I will name him Bryan."
"We're really going to miss you around here," he said. "I still can't believe you're not coming back this time." Anna had only taken a few months off after the birth of her first son, but she was feeling more maternal this time around and, feeling like she missed so much from her first son's few years, really wanted to watch her children grow up together.
"I'm going to miss you guys. You better have a big ass cake for me tonight. And then another one for everyone else."
Bryan hopped up off the table. "What about your replacement?"
As if on a cue, a frazzled Liz Whitaker stumbled through the door sputtering an apology. "Sorry, I'm late. My flight was delayed and then we circled the airport for what felt like forever. And then the cab driver took like all these turns. I've never been here before, but I'm pretty sure..."
"...Liz? Liz, it's okay," Anna laughed. She had remembered Liz emphasizing her punctuality during their interview. When asked of her weakness, she said she had an ability to ramble when she was nervous. The girl knows herself too well, Anna thought during Liz's rapid explanation. "We've all been the victim of travel shenanigans at one point or another. Liz, I'd like you to meet Bryan Danielson. He's one of the guys on the roster."
Bryan cleared his throat. "I believe you mean 'WWE Superstar.'" He and Anna erupted in laughter while Liz stared between them trying to muster up an appropriate reaction.
"Sorry, call all these guys 'Superstars.' They need the pats on the back constantly." She rolled her eyes.
"We're a modest group," Bryan explained as he made his way for the door.. "I'll see you out there."
"The good thing is you made it just in time for my going away celebration. It's time for cake," she laughed giddily.
Liz removed her jacket and pushed her suitcase into the corner of the room. "That's a pretty great start to my first day.."
"You also look a little weary after all that traveling. You could use the sugar rush."
Dr. Richard Sampson poked his head through the open doorway. "Anna? Can I get your help with this? I need you to do these sutures for Ambrose," he ordered. " I have to run back out to ringside."
Liz looked to Anna. "I can do it. You go and enjoy your party."
Bryan poked his head back in. "Anna? Everyone's waiting for you."
"Go," Liz urged. "I can do this." Liz reached for the box of latex gloves located on the counter. Hearing disheveled footsteps behind her, she turned to speak "Hi, I'm..."
"...I already told him I don't want any fucking stitches. It's a small cut." Liz ignored his comment and reached for his hand to check the wound herself. "Did you hear what I said?" he asked through the greasy hair covering his face. A combination of frustration and pain was passing through him. It was then he took note of her. Her light brown hair was braided over her shoulder in an unfamiliar way. Her lips were slightly pink from gloss, but the mascara had rubbed off under her eyes. He cursed the loose grey v-neck shirt that revealed nothing to him. He was even slightly disgusted by the khaki pants she wore. Wincing slightly when her thumb brushed over the open wound, he seemed to calm down.
"Sorry," she replied sheepishly. "I just wanted to get a look at it myself. You need stitches...um..Ande..."
"Ambrose. Dean Ambrose. I sound like fucking James Bond," he said sighing heavily. "Are you the new Anna?" To say she was intimidated was an understatement. This man clearly couldn't care less about who she was or what she was there to do.
Thankfully he couldn't see her roll her eyes. "I'm the new nurse, yes. I'm Liz. And you, Dean Ambrose, need stitches." She picked up his non injured hand to illustrate her point. "This part of your hand is never really dormant. It's just going to keep splitting open if I don't close it up now. Six quick stitches, one large band aid and then you can leave." He pursed his lips in frustration. "Look," she picked up her water bottle. "See how this moves when I pick up a water bottle? You're going to end up with a bloody beer bottle later on. Okay?"
He ran his tongue along his back teeth. "Don't you just have some of that liquid skin glue shit you can put on it?" She shook her head. "And a lollipop?"
Liz walked over to her purse and searched through it's contents. "I have an old crushed candy cane and a half eaten bag of carrots." She lifted the tasty prizes up for his viewing and balanced them back and forth.
He gestured towards her left hand. "I'll take the candy cane."
"Good, I still want the carrots." She tossed them back in her bag.
Ambrose fiddled with the thick cellophane of the wrapper. "Could you?" She turned to see him smiling, devilishly. He knew he was getting under her skin. After a few moments of struggling, she dumped the pieces in his good hand. "Thanks." The smile remained. She began cleaning the area with an alcohol prep pad. "So, when did you start?"
She didn't look up to meet his gaze. "About fifteen minutes ago."
He tried to lock eyes with her, but she refused to look up. Instead, she was fixated on getting him stitched up and out of her sight as soon as possible. "Well, do you like it so far?"
"It's a blast." He loved that he was getting under her skin. The sound of the Candy Cane swirling in his mouth and clacking against his teeth was going to drive her insane. "Tell me how this happened."
He bit down hard on a larger piece of candy. "Exposed turnbuckle. I put my hand up to prevent my head from smashing into it and I caught it on the small latch."
"Sounds nasty," she winced.
His eyes widened. "Yeah, apparently, I need stitches," he joked.
"Be nice to me," she said as she began stitching up his cut. Normally, she could do this with her eyes closed, but his incessant complaining heightened her nerves. She took a deep breath as she tied off the thread. Hearing her request, he kept the talking and chewing to a minimum. He stared down to admire her work when she went back to the counter to grab a band aid. "Don't take this off for 24 hours," she said placing the bandage over the stitched up area. "And make sure not to get this area wet. Come back on Monday and I'll take a look at it and put a clean bandage on it." She handed him an additional bandage should the current one need to be replaced.
"Thanks," he said as he scratched the back of his head. "Sorry I gave you so much shit earlier."
Turning to clean up the area of her equipment, she shrugged. "It's fine. Was that some kind of test?"
"No, that's just me being an asshole," he winked at her. "Goodnight, nurse."
Something a little different, but also a little the same :) I'm curious to know what you guys thought of the first chapter. Hope you enjoyed! Also, I'm hoping to wrap up or update my other stories soon!