**Okay fellow readers and lurkers, this story I've tried revamping SEVERAL times and I think I FINALLY figured out how to do it the right way. Here's hoping you enjoy!**

Waves

Chapter 1

Rain poured down in gallons, which didn't happen often in the luxury city known as Las Vegas. Horns blared, people ran across the busy streets, hoping not to be clipped by a maniac taxi driver. The city never slept, it was more alive than New York ever thought about being. Lights flashed wildly on the strip, igniting the city at all hours of the day and night. It didn't matter when one stepped out to go for a walk, the lights never stopped burning bright and the casinos were always open 24/7. Very rarely did Las Vegas get rain because of the dry terrain from being on the outskirts of the Mojave Desert. There was also Red Rock Canyon, a favorite landmark for tourists. Vegas was beautiful, especially when the sun was out shining brightly.

Just not today.

Anciana sighed heavily standing at a crosswalk, looking down at her watch and saw it was a quarter to 9 AM, knowing she was going to be late for work again. Vegas traffic was unpredictable, especially when it rained because all the crazy drivers seemed to come out to play. Though her boss was getting tired of hearing the excuses, Anciana was sure of it. Her crystal blue eyes looked up at the crosswalk light, watching them change colors. When the white walk sign flicked on, Anciana immediately hurried across the street with the slew of other people and made her way to the other side, knowing if she ran the rest of the way she would barely make it to work on time. She only lived a few blocks away from work, so she walked every day, seeing no point in taking a car. However, now, Anciana wished she would invest in one so she could get to work on time for once.

Stupid traffic, she thought while stopping at another crosswalk with the blinking red light and glanced down at something that caught her eye. A mark on her pencil skirt – great. Just what Anciana needed, as if she didn't already look unprofessional enough with her Aubergine wine colored hair put up in a messy bun. She looked like a drowned rat with the rain, having forgotten to grab her umbrella on her way out the door that morning. Glancing up at the crosswalk sign, Anciana saw it had already flicked to the white walker symbol and continued on her way, deciding her boss would have to deal with her appearance.

Her thoughts were cut short as the sound of a car came to a screeching halt, Anciana barely having time to see the headlights heading towards her. It was too late. The bumper of the car crashed into her legs, forcing Anciana's body to fly in the air and coming back down, smacking her head on the windshield. She didn't even have time to scream because of how fast it happened; her body sliding off the hood of the car and landing on the concrete with another thud. Darkness quickly enveloped her as Anciana succumbed to it letting it pull her under, eyes drifting closed while pain radiated through every part of her small frame.

"OH MY GOD, SOMEONE CALL 911!" Someone screamed from their window, making the driver immediately get out of his car to kneel beside the victim.

The driver, a rather tall man, felt his breath catch in his throat at the sight of the woman and slowly turned her over since she curled up, her face hidden by her arm. He stared into her beautiful face, which was now bloody due to a cut across her forehead from hitting the windshield. Sliding his hand beneath her neck and lifted it up, checking her pulse with his other, the driver sighed with relief when he felt it, but it was slow and very weak. Gently placing her head back on the ground, he stood up and looked down at his hands, starting to tremble with pure fear when he saw a red liquid covering both of them.

Blood.

It wasn't his either.

It was hers.

Mark 'the Undertaker' Calaway had rifled through this woman's belongings, scouting out her information. When the ambulance and police had arrived on the scene, he was practically in tears as he informed them what had happened. Being charged with vehicular assault was not high on his list of things to do or experience, ever. Now – now, hours after the fact, he was sitting in a long, busy hallway of one of Vegas's many hospitals, twiddling his thumbs. Long, black jean encased legs stretched out before him as he waited on Anciana's doctors to come out and tell him what was going on with her. He would be back; he now had to face a judge at a small arraignment, which… he would ensure was a matter of formality and nothing serious. Jail time, prison time, was not in his cards either. He stood up when the doors just behind to the right opened, shifting to stare down at the surgeon.

"Well?"

Doctor Horris rubbed his hands together, clearing his throat because he'd worked for hours on his patient and barely kept her alive. "Anciana has a severe concussion and some swelling on the brain. She slipped into a coma upon arrival at the hospital and we had to rush her to emergency surgery because she started crashing. We had to relieve the swell on her brain, which is why the surgery took so long. Luckily, we managed to get the swelling to go down and fixed the hemorrhage she suffered. She should recover with no problem, but we have no idea how long it will take her to regain consciousness. Her left arm is broken along with two fractured legs, which also had to be repaired surgically by our orthopedic surgeon, Doctor Matson."

Basically, in a nutshell, Anciana would be here for quite a while and then, when she was released, she would need a caretaker. Mark made a mental note to arrange for a temporary live-in nurse for the woman. She had been hit a bit harder than he had thought, apparently. "All right… who do I speak with to start settling up the bill?" Because that, on top of being here with her until she woke up, was the very least he could do.

"I'm not done, Mr. Calaway." The doctor could tell the man was a little…anxious and looked down at his chart briefly before back at the giant. "We also had to perform a third surgery, so keep in mind we had to cut into her in 3 different areas of her body. One of her ribs punctured her kidney and we had to remove it; it was unsalvageable. She can live with just one kidney though and the other one is functioning well. Other than that, it's just a lot of bumps and bruises. She did have a deep laceration on her forehead from the impact and we had it sewn up by one of our finest plastic surgeons, so she won't have a scar once it's healed. All in all, she's a tough woman and she's going to be fine, but we still have her under critical condition until the swelling in her brain goes down fully." Doctor Horris concluded, dabbing his forehead with a tissue since the room was somewhat stuffy.

Mark stared down at the physician out of narrowed, venomous eyes. "You couldn't have just said it all at once?" He asked flatly, wondering if the man liked dramatic pauses. "I'll have my card on file for her medical needs."

He hadn't gotten to see her face overly well and the damage he had seen, when he had gotten out of his car to check on her, hadn't exactly given him an understanding of what she had looked like. Mark would assume the doctors were as good as they were bragging, and she'd appear fine. He was a bit more concerned with her mental state.

"How long is the expected recovery period?"

Doctor Horris didn't appreciate the attitude this man had and squared his shoulders, narrowing his own eyes. "Mr. Calaway, with all due respect, you're the reason she's in here with all of these injuries. You're the one who struck her with your car. A little more patience on your part and sympathy will go a long way." He advised coolly, adjusting the stethoscope around his neck. "Unknown at this time due to the swelling in her brain. It can be anywhere from 3 months to years. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other patients to check on and I suggest you call a lawyer. You're going to need one when the young lady wakes up. Better to prepare yourself." He walked away, instructing his nurse to keep Anciana in ICU until he personally instructed her to be moved to a room. This young lady would be lucky if she ever woke up again and survived what happened.

Everything that doctor said was instantly dismissed. Lawyer up… not a bad idea, but not for the lawsuit or whatever else the idiot physician thought he would need it for. He ambled down the hallway, beginning to smirk as he considered options from here on out. First, Mark would set up that medical fund for his new acquisition and then make a phone call to someone who wasn't a waste of his time. Someone who would be able to tell him what he would need at home. It looked like Anciana would be a long-term investment for him and he was glad he had infinite patience when it came to things that he either wanted or interested him. All due respect, all due respect… and he hadn't even tried running. Mark had answered questions for the police, come to the hospital and had been here for eternity during her surgeries… all due respect. He snorted, flipping his ink black hair back behind his shoulder.

"Hello, is this Miss Cameria Reynolds?"

"Yeah…who's calling?"

"Miss Reynolds, this is Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center calling. We have you down as the emergency contact of Anciana June Williams. She was brought in this morning to our ER…"

Cameria didn't pay attention to anything else the receptionist at the hospital said, too busy panicking while trying to pull her tennis shoes on. The lady had explained the reasoning why she was brought into the ER, but Cameria heard nothing. Why the hell was Anciana at the hospital? The worst-case scenarios flashed through her mind while Cameria flew out the door, grabbing her purse she knew had everything in it she would need. Of course, it would be down pouring on the ONE day Cameria had to speed to the hospital! Something told her Anciana was in bad shape, especially if the hospital was contacting her. It definitely wasn't a stubbed toe or anything of that caliber. Whatever happened was bad; Cameria jumped into her car and floored it out of the parking garage of the apartment building they lived in, tears stinging her midnight blue eyes.

Being nearly 10 years apart in age did nothing to destroy the bond Anciana and Cameria had. From the moment they met 2 years ago, there was an instant connection not a lot of people could understand. Anciana had walked into the bar Cameria worked for at the time, asking for a double scotch on the rocks. She looked to be having a hard day and presented her ID, keeping her eyes lowered to the bar counter. Cameria poured her the drink, asked her if she wanted to talk about what was bothering her and their friendship grew from there. There were nights they closed the bar down leaning against each other, laughing so hard tears streamed down their cheeks. Neither were alcoholics, but it definitely helped each of them spill some pretty embarrassing and dark stories about their pasts.

It helped Cameria get past a dark point in her life, something she was still suffering through, thanks to her self-proclaimed ex-dirt bag of a husband. 2 months into their newfound friendship, Anciana got to meet the douchebag refusing to relinquish his hold on Cameria. He stormed into the bar at midnight and demanded Cameria to give him a ride home, stone cold drunk. Cameria had a few drinks in her already and didn't feel comfortable drinking and driving, but she didn't want her husband causing a ruckus at her job. Anciana stopped her, offering to drive him and was pie-faced for her troubles when she tried stepping between Cameria and the dirtbag. A few seconds later, Anciana had whirled him around, kicked him in the gut and delivered a DDT to the hard-wooden floor of the bar, knocking him out cold.

That was the night Cameria vowed to never get on Anciana's bad side and she found out what her newfound friend wanted to do for a living.

Anciana ran away from home at the tender age of 16, skipping out on her high school education in order to make her dream of becoming a professional woman wrestler come true. Her father forbade her to pursue the same life he did as a professional wrestler, wanting something better for his daughter, but Anciana was steadfast. Wrestling was in her blood. All she ever wanted was to step foot inside the squared circle and kick some major backside, to prove to the world, as well as her family, she could do it. If Anciana wanted to tell her, she would've and 5 years later, she still didn't know which family. Hell, Cameria didn't care where Anciana originated from and considered her a little sister, always having her back the same way Anciana had hers.

After the incident with Cameria's soon-to-be ex-husband, she was fired from the bar and evicted from her apartment. Anciana came to her rescue again, offering her to move in and they could be roommates once she got back on her feet. It was hard living in Las Vegas and Cameria had cried, thanking her for being so kind opening her life and home to her. Anciana claimed at that moment they were more than friends, they were sisters and nobody would change that. She would find a way to help Cameria get out of her marriage, which made her decide to get a job as an administrative assistant to one of the most brilliant lawyers Vegas had to offer. They took on Cameria's divorce case and Anciana had paid for it out of pocket, telling her roommate not to worry about it. So far, they had dragged their feet with the divorce proceedings, but hopefully, it wouldn't be too much longer before Cameria was finally a free single woman.

It was Cameria's turn to be there for Anciana as she broke out of her thoughts, wiping the tears away. She couldn't think the worse because, if she did, her world would crumble. Anciana had kept her grounded for the past 2 years and Cameria had no idea what would happen if she lost her little sister. Whoever hurt her would pay dearly and possibly with their own life if anything happened to Anciana.

"I'm coming Ani, just hang in there, girl…"