This takes place after the Cesaro and Kevin Owens match from the 8/31/15 episode of Monday Night Raw. Some fluffy fluff fluff for your reading pleasure.
Antonio limped back to the locker room area holding his ribs, he pressed his side gingerly, he was positive nothing was broken, he just need a giant ice pack and a giant coffee and he would be ready to go in the morning.
"Cesaro! Hey, Cesaro!"
He turned and saw the head trainer waving him over to the training room, he sighed, he wasn't in the mood for this, "I'm fine," he yelled and tried to keep walking but the doc caught up with him.
"Come on, man, you know its protocol, I gotta check you out."
He didn't have the energy to argue so he followed the doc back into the training room and sat down on the exam table and glared at the doc. He almost felt bad for being such a jerk, but not enough to let the doc poke at his sore ribs. "I just need an ice pack, doc."
"I need to take a look at it first and make the decision myself."
"I just need an ice pack," he repeated.
"And possibly x-rays. Now move your hand."
"Nothing is broken, I know what broken ribs feel like," he argued. There was no way he was sitting in a dingy medical facility for the next three hours waiting for some half assed med student to tell him what he already knew.
The doc was about to lecture him when the new assistant trainer came running in, "Doc! Doc! They need you at ringside."
Antonio raised is eyebrow, that couldn't be good, who was in the slot after him? Ambrose? The Divas? He couldn't remember… She tossed the doc some gloves and a pack of gauze pads, "Head laceration, bleeding pretty bad, you need to get out there. I'll take care of this," she added nodding her head towards where he was sitting.
The doc took all the supplies and patted her on the shoulder, "Good luck, Soph, he's being difficult."
She rolled her eyes, "difficult men are my specialty, I work for you, don't I?"
Antonio suppressed a laugh and watched the doc walk out. He'd seen Sophie around, she typically focused on the Divas, she was cute, pint sized and apparently she knew how to deal with difficult men.
"OK, so I saw the match and we need to check out those ribs," she said pulling on a pair of exam gloves.
"I just need an ice pack," he said for what felt like the millionth time.
She put her hands on her hips and tapped her foot, her chocolate brown eyes burning a hole in his skull, "So, let's recap what happened out there, shall we? You were tossed from the ring apron, where you spun around and slammed your ribs against the announce table. You hunched over on the floor, gasping for air and holding your side with both hands. You then did some weird limp/crawl thing back to the ring where you pulled yourself in with one arm and then laid on the mat and panted a little. You attempted a few moves but kept wincing and grabbing at your ribs. The ref made the call and the match was cut short since you couldn't stand up straight. Then you took another pop-up power bomb and Kevin, being the graceful gazelle that he is, plomped down on you for the three count. Now you are sitting here holding your purple side, still showing signs of mild respiratory distress with beads of sweat forming on your big bald head. Now, tell me again why you don't need a medical professional to check you out?"
"Did anyone ever tell you that you need to work on your bedside manner?" he said rolling his eyes.
"How many pop-up power bombs is that now? Three? Four?"
"Ouch. That's a low blow."
"Well, if you would stop being an ass and let me look at you, maybe I'd be a little nicer."
Antonio smirked, this chick was something else, he liked her, a little too much. He would love to let her put her hands all over his sweaty body, but at this point, it would be hard to drop the asshole act he had going on.
"Who's the doc checking on out there?" he asked trying to change the subject.
She shrugged, "If you weren't being such a baby about it, you'd be outta here by now and you'd know."
He looked her up and down and tried to stay angry, but she was a little stick of dynamite, her long brown hair was secured in a french braid, he remembered seeing her with Nattie and Naomi backstage earlier, one of them must have done it for her. She was standing across from him with her arms folded across her abdomen, enhancing her rather ample chest and still tapping her foot impatiently at him. He took a deep breath and winced, "Ok, fine," he huffed and moved his hand away from his side. "But nothing is broken."
She smirked at him and gave him a look that said "who's the doctor here?" and gently placed her gloved fingertips against his ribcage, he didn't realize he had been holding his breath, the doc has a heavy hand, but not her, he stared at her tiny hands as she pressed each rib and looked at the ugly welt that was already forming. "Take some deep breaths for me," she said, nodding when he complied.
"Ok, you are right, nothing is broken," she put her hand up when he opened his mouth, "save the 'I told you so' for another day."
"Actually," he said, "I was going to take back what I said about your bedside manner."
Her eyes widened in shock at the sudden change in his tone, he wasn't barking at her anymore, his voice was soft, "I, Umm… well, thanks. And I take back what I said about you being a douchebag."
He blinked at her a few times, "You didn't…"
Her mouth dropped open, forming a perfect O, "Umm… never mind… guess I didn't say that part out loud."
He laughed and grabbed his sore ribs, wincing a little, "So, about that ice pack?"
"Sure thing, how about some pain killers too?"
He shook his head.
"Ah, you are one of those, well, trust me, that welt is only going to get bigger, so some ibruprophen is a really good idea."
He rolled his eyes, "Coffee is a better idea."
She handed him a large ice pack and a little paper cup with 4 pills in it, "Fine, get some coffee and wash down these bad boys with it."
"You want to come with me and make sure I follow doctor's orders?"
She stopped and looked at him, she was quiet for a long minute and he feared that he crossed a line, until she recovered, "Well, you smell like the inside of a gym locker and I have to help the doc get this place cleaned up, so, I'm going to have to pass."
He flashed her a half smile and winked, "I'll be back in 20 minutes and I promise I'll smell much better."
She smiled and nodded her head as he slid off the exam table and walked out of the trainer's room, he paused and looked back at her, "Seriously, who got hurt out there?"
She scrunched up her nose and shrugged her shoulders, "I dunno."
Doc came back in grinning like a Cheshire cat, "No one did. I've been trying to get you two alone in the same room for weeks."
They both stared silently at the doc who was looking pretty pleased with himself, "You can thank me later, right now I need the supplies packed up and she's right, you do smell pretty bad."
