'This is fucked up!' 23 year old Amanda thought as her head was throbbing.
Her whole body ached as she along with Seth, Roman and Dean were driving to the arena, the leader of The Shield keeping his arm around the youngest so she can lean on him.
"Shh… it's okay, kiddo. We're almost there." Dean whispers.
"Roman, I'm not sure that the Advil helped much." Seth says, reaching behind him and lightly rubbing Amanda's left knee. "Baby girl, you okay?" He asks, Amanda nodding from underneath her Shield hoodie.
"Some colds hit faster than others." Amanda says, her voice partly muffled by Dean's shoulder.
The leather sofa in the locker room provided better comfort than the seats in the rental car as Amanda was lying on her side, Dean putting a blanket over her and Amanda looking up at him.
"I'm okay, Deano." Amanda said quietly.
"No, you're not Mandy. You need to rest up. I think we should call this off and take you back to the hotel." Dean says as Seth and Roman walked in, Seth setting the Styrofoam cup down and catching Amanda after she stood up too fast and her knees buckled.
"They'll understand, kiddo." Seth said in a gentle tone, handing the peppermint tea to Amanda and helping her drink it before lying her back down on the couch and covering her with the blanket.
But they all knew that look that their Shield sister had… she rarely missed a show.
WWE SmackDown taping, 3/5/14, scheduled to air 3/7/14…
"Throw it in the middle or throw it at me but throw it." Amanda said like she was scripted to, her and Seth's fists touching… Roman put his next to Seth's, Dean's to Roman's and all four looked at the camera.
But in the backstage area, Amanda let the facade drop and leaned against a crate, Seth rubbing his hands up and down her back and shoulders to try to take the aches away before sitting down and pulling her into his lap as Stephanie and Hunter stopped nearby.
Exchanging concerned glances, they walked over and Stephanie rested her hand on Amanda's forehead.
"Hunter, go find the Motrin we keep with us." Stephanie says, Hunter kissing Amanda on her forehead before leaving.
"She's been feeling sluggish and sore all day, Steph… we're worried." Seth says, Amanda resting her head on Seth's shoulder.
"Okay, we're gonna improvise things then. When Randy leaves the ring, Mandy, you smack him and cause a DQ, okay?" Stephanie says before Hunter returned to them, Amanda nodding.
Hunter checked Amanda's temperature, a reading of 100.1° appearing before she took the Motrin.
The match was up and Amanda did as Stephanie instructed, the ref calling for the bell… but Amanda fell to a knee and Seth picked her up into his arms.
"Michael, something ain't right. Mandy ain't like her usual self." Bradshaw says.
"You're right, I hope whatever it is that she'll be okay." Michael says.
Marriott Hotel, Seth's perspective…
"Fever's gone, that's a good thing." I say as I help Mandy into the bed and pull the covers over her once she had gotten ready for sleep, the faint scent of Ivory soap on her skin… but she's still so damn tired.
"Yeah…" Mandy says quietly, nuzzling her head into my right shoulder as I pulled her into my arms.
It isn't long before she falls into peaceful sleep… and after a while, so do I.
But it's around four in the morning that I notice that Mandy's not next to me and see the bathroom light on.
"Mandy, are you alright?" I ask after standing up and reaching the area… and immediately drop to her, turning her onto her side to try to stop the violent seizing.
Amanda's perspective, a few seconds earlier…
I feel… I don't feel right.
I manage to untangle myself from Seth and sit up, swinging my legs over the side and pull myself up before standing… it's a bit of a stumble, I almost feel like I'm sleepwalking.
I open the restroom door and flip the light on, shaking, my body feeling horribly warm… the last thing I hear is Seth asking if I'm okay before everything leaves me.
Roman's perspective…
"Roman, Dean, call 911!" We hear, waking up immediately and see it… oh sweet mercy, no!
I grab the phone and dial 911 and Dean runs over to them, Seth keeping Mandy's mouth open and Dean helping keep her on her side as I explain what's unfolding.
Time moves by so slowly… in the hospital, everyone's waiting and pacing.
"How could you not notice the signs of a fucking seizure?!" Batista demands, me about to yell at him when a nurse walked over to us.
She explained everything… the two more seizures that happened in the ER, Mandy's heart stopping… febrile seizures are more common in children, not adults. That's what worries me, she could have some kind of infection.
Dean's perspective…
Damn it… damn it, damn it, damn it!
Our Shield sister nearly died and we didn't even think it was that severe!
One at a time, we all walk in to see her, John sitting by her left side and me by her right as she was still out from the meds.
But her fever had retreated last night… we had thought so, at least.
"She's been through so much in life…" John says quietly, him having been crying like all of us.
Mandy really has… and we almost lost her.
Amanda's perspective, 3 hours later…
What... the hell? What... happened to me?
Slowly, I open my eyes… it's all blurry but I can see John on the phone, most likely with Mom and Dad.
"You scared us half to death…"
I slowly turn my head to the side, rubbing my face and seeing familiar black and blonde hair.
"So much for okay, huh?" I say as Seth and I hug and him lightly kissing both sides of my face.
I nearly died… and I don't want it happening again.
