Chapter 2

Ding-Dong..

The doorbell chimed as Matt tried to stand up. Jeff had let himself into the house and made his way over to the door. Looking through the side glass, he saw Angelina standing there dressed in her medical uniform with her badge clipped to her pocket.

"Hello." Jeff stated.

"Hello. I am looking for Matt Hardy. I am Angelina Rodriguez, the physical therapist." Angelina responded showing Jeff her badge.

"Come on in. Matt is in the living room. I'm Jeff, his brother." Jeff stated.

"Thank you. It's nice to meet you Jeff." Angelina stated.

"No problem. Matt, your physical therapist is here." Jeff called from the kitchen.

"Show him in." Matt stated, expecting a male therapist.

"Uh sure." Jeff responded laughing at the fact that his brother was in for a surprise. "Matt, I would like you to meet Angelina, your therapist."

"Hello." Angelina stated.

"Oh hi. I'm sorry. I guess I was expecting to have a male therapist, not that your not good, um, I'll shut up now." Matt responded slightly embarrassed.

"It's ok. I get it all the time." Angelina stated with a smile. "Shall we get started?"

"Yeah." Matt answered.

Angelina spent the next hour showing Matt some easy exercises and gave him a copy of the papers. After Angelina was done with the therapy session, she called Dr. Martin with a progress report. Dr. Martin, recommended therapy 3 times a week.

"Ok. Dr. Martin is requesting that you receive therapy 3 times a week for the next 3 weeks. After that, it will be on an as needed basis. I will leave you my cell phone number and pager number just in case you need to get a hold of me. Do you have any questions?" Angelina asked.

"Thanks. When is my next therapy session?" Matt answered.

"Day after tomorrow, if that works for you." Angelina responded.

"Perfect." Matt stated with a warm smile.

"Good. I will see you in two days. Remember to practice the exercises three times a day and ice your knee after." Angelina responded.

"I will. See you later." Matt stated.

Jeff helped Angelina out to her car. He noticed that her license plates were from Missouri. Jeff could tell there was a story behind her chocolate brown eyes and he was determined to find out what it was.

"Missouri, huh?" Jeff asked.

"Yeah. I used to live there before I moved to Cameron." Angelina answered as she wrote some notes in Matt's chart.

"I know someone who lives in Missouri. I used to work with him." Jeff responded.

"Oh, really? That's cool. I miss Missouri, but I like it here. It's a lot quieter here." Angelina stated.

"Yeah. What part of Missouri are you from?" Jeff asked.

"St. Louis. I lived in a suburb of St. Louis." Angelina answered.

"Which one?" Jeff asked.

"High Ridge. Why do you ask?" Angelina answered.

"Just trying to get to know you. My co-worker lives in High Ridge, maybe you know him." Jeff responded.

"I knew a lot of people there. What's his or her name?" Angelina asked.

"Randy Orton." Jeff answered.

"You work with Randy?" Angelina asked.

"Yeah. I take it you know him?" Jeff answered.

"Yeah I know him. I would love to stay and chat, but I need to get the report back to Dr. Martin." Angelina responded as she got in her car and took off.

Angelina tried not to think about the questions that Jeff had asked her. She was also trying not to remember why she left St. Louis in the first place. After she parked her car in the staff parking lot at the hospital she gathered her stuff and headed into the building.

Later that night, Matt and Jeff were sitting in Matt's living room playing X-Box and waiting for Jeff's girlfriend, Beth to arrive with dinner. Jeff thought that he should tell Matt about what he knows about Angelina.

"Hey Matt, I talked to Angelina before she left this afternoon and I thought you might want to know, that she's from Missouri and from the same suburb as Randy." Jeff stated.

"Ok. I don't have an issue with Randy, Jeff. I have an issue with Adam." Matt responded.

"I know. I just thought you should know." Jeff stated as Beth walked through the door. "Ahh food."

"Hey baby, Matt. How was therapy?" Beth asked.

"Hey. Good. She'll be back day after tomorrow." Matt answered.

"That's good." Beth stated as she looked at Jeff.

"Yeah, a female physical therapist." Jeff whispered.

"Wow. Got your favorite, Matt." Beth stated.

"Thanks." Matt responded from the living room.

Over the next two weeks, Matt was making excellent progress with his knee and Angelina was impressed. As they worked on Matt's therapy, Angelina and Matt got to know each other better. Jeff and Beth even noticed a difference in Matt and they couldn't be happier. During the two weeks since he started physical therapy, Matt had confronted Amy on the show "Reality Byte" on RAW.

The last week of his physical therapy had come rather quickly. Matt liked Angelina, but was worried that she didn't like him back. After talking to Jeff and Beth about it, they told him that he will never know unless he says something to her. So Matt came up with a plan to get to know her better.

"Ok. Matt, you are doing wonderful. I have no doubt that you will be up and running around like before you were injured." Angelina stated as she packed up her stuff.

"Thanks. I couldn't have done it without you." Matt responded.

"Thank you. So I will see you again on Wednesday at 2." Angelina stated.

"Sounds good." Matt responded.

As soon as Angelina left, Matt started making his plans to get to know her better. He knew that she had been around Randy and was slightly concerned about that, but he would worry about that later. Jeff and Beth helped Matt get stuff for Friday.

Wednesday came rather quickly and Matt was a little nervous about asking Angelina to dinner. He really hoped that she would agree. Jeff and Beth were due to leave Thursday to get ready for a Pay-Per-View event. Angelina stood out near her car just before leaving the hospital. Her sister, Isabella had text her about hanging out this weekend.

I don't know.

You have plans?

Not yet, but its only Wednesday. I'm so ready to move on.

I don't blame you. Call me later.

I will.

Angelina headed over to Matt's house and was surprised that Jeff and Beth weren't there for once. Not that she didn't like them, but she just felt that they were crowding them during the therapy sessions. Matt was happy to see Angelina again.

"Before we begin, is it possible to change my appointment time on Friday?" Matt asked.

"Sure. When would you like me to be here?" Angelina answered.

"About 6pm." Matt responded.

"Ok. I don't think that should be a problem." Angelina stated as she pulled out her phone and called the office. "Ok. It's all set at the office. I will be here at 6pm on Friday."

"Ok. I'm ready when you are." Matt responded.

Matt and Angelina headed into the living room and started the session. Matt wanted to start to get to know her better before Friday. So he decided to make small talk and go from there.

"My brother mentioned that you were from Missouri. How did you like it there?" Matt asked.

"Correct. I liked it. But I needed to get away from the big cities." Angelina answered.

"I can understand that one. How long did you live there?" Matt asked.

"3 years. Moved there when I graduated from medical school. What about you? How long have you lived here?" Angelina answered.

"All my life. The older house that you pass getting here is the house I grew up in and our dad still lives there. The other house is my brother's house." Matt responded.

"Cool. You must be really close to your family." Angelina stated.

"I am. I just wish that mom could be here to see us now." Matt responded.

"Where is your mom?" Angelina asked.

"She died when I was 12 and Jeff was 9, from brain cancer." Matt answered.

"I'm sorry to hear that. It must have been tough on you and Jeff." Angelina responded.

"It was, but we got through it and we visit her grave site as much as we can." Matt stated. "So where are you originally from?"

"That's good. I'm originally from Arizona." Angelina responded.

"Nice. I've been there a few times." Matt stated.

Angelina just smiled at Matt as they continued doing the exercises the doctor wanted him to do. Wow. I can honestly see myself being with him. I wonder if I should tell him about my past. His brother already suspects something, especially when I reacted the way I did when he mentioned Randy's name. Angelina thought to herself.

Later that night after getting back to her apartment, Angelina sent a text to her sister. She needed some advice from someone who wasn't their parents.

Hey Bella. I need some advice.

Hey. What's going on?

I met this guy, who is really nice and sweet, but he's also my patient. I have one last therapy session with him on Friday at 6.

Ok. Wow. What do you know about him other than why he needs physical therapy?

His brother works with Randy. He lives in a house on his father's property, as does his brother. Their mom died when they were young from brain cancer.

Ok. Are you talking about Matt Hardy?

Yes. How did you know?

He and his brother Jeff are some of the biggest stars in the WWE. Even though a few weeks ago Matt was released from his contract after a blow up between him, his ex-girlfriend, Amy and Adam Copeland.

Really? Randy never really talked much about work when he was home.

Randy also used to smack you around. Stop dwelling on what Randy did and move on. Maybe Matt will ask you out.

Yeah right. Why would he want to ask me out? Anyways, I'm going to get something to eat and head to bed. Night.

Ok. Night.

Angelina grabbed a something quick to eat and headed off to bed. She had a hard time sleeping as she kept thinking about what Randy had done to her and what could happen if she started dating Matt. Angelina tossed and turned most of the night was exhausted the next day.