Chapter 3

"You can't do this to her! She doesn't even know him! He could be a rapist, a murderer! He RAN HER OVER with a fucking car because he wasn't paying attention to the road!" Cameria was beside herself, yelling at the doctor as tears of frustration poured down her cheeks. "I don't care what it costs, I'll help her! Don't send her away with this lunatic! We have no idea what kind of person he is!" Everybody had lost their minds – the justice system as well as the healthcare providers and doctors…This was a losing battle and she was about to lose the only friend she'd ever had in her life. "Please don't take her away…I'll care for her, I'll get 3 jobs if that's what it takes! We can do the in-home nursing here in Vegas, there's no need to send her with him, Doctor Horris."

Cameria made several valid points as Doctor Horris sighed resignedly, not sure what more he could do for his patient at this point. "And what if your 3 jobs can't provide the financial stability Anciana needs along with medical and long-term care? Do you really think you're in any position to deal with it considering you have your own battle to overcome with your husband?" That stunt her husband had pulled in the hospital a few months ago had forced the hospital to hire more security for this particular floor. "You need to see reason, Cameria. Anciana may never be the same Anciana you knew again, and you need to come to terms with it. I'm sorry."

"Now, if you promise to stop being… overly loud…" Not his first choice in words, but Mark could play nice. "You can come too, Cameria." He hadn't bothered using her name, until now, and his tongue felt scraped raw. "And I find it absurd that you honestly believe Horris hasn't had my background examined." He shot Horris a piercing stare. "Especially as he's suggesting I pretend I'm married to her."

"Well… obviously, we needed to know… and you were being investigated, so we learned quite a bit…"

"In-home nursing is expensive and, if she needs equipment, will your-"

"Apartment."

"Be able to house everything?"

There was zero trust when it came to this brute, but Cameria knew fully well the apartment wasn't safe. The floors were rotting through due to termites, amongst other unhealthy problems. It was home and in the slums…they couldn't afford anything else. Living in Las Vegas wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Again, it was home and they were about to rip home away from Anciana.

"No…" She admitted reluctantly, knowing she'd been defeated and Anciana's fate was now in the giant's hands. "I don't want anything from you except to stay away from Anciana, but I know that's not going to happen. That's fine, you can live this lie all you want, but I know her. She will regain her memory and when she does…hell WILL be brought down on you for what you did to her, Mr. Calaway. She'll contact me when those memories resurface, mark my words." Glancing through the window one final time, Cameria made her way out of the hospital and let the tears flow, feeling more alone than ever.

Anciana had no idea what was going on, so when she was told she was married to this giant man named Mark Calaway, she was more than a little intimidated.

He left Anciana alone for a bit longer, mostly to handle some business. So that was what it took to get that shrew bitch out of his hair… Mark should've thought of this himself. "Dr. Horris… I live in Houston." At the other man's nod, he smiled. "I would like for you to recommend who you believe will be a suitable candidate to take over Anciana's primary care." Since Horris was obviously not coming with him. "I'd appreciate your opinion."

"I'll get you a list, I can think of a few doctors…"

Mark had also procured two plain bands, via one of Vegas's couriers. Used. Not too used, but used, to give the impression of being married longer than… 3 hours. Her ring would be slipped in her purse, which was in a footlocker with the rest of her belongings. He slid the ring on his own finger and decided it was time to go meet his blushing bride, smirking.

A blushing bride she was not.

Confused, flabbergasted and annoyed were better terms to describe how Anciana currently felt. She knew absolutely nothing about her life, but still remembered how to use the bathroom and whatnot. The necessities. Amnesia was really weird. Apparently, she forgot everything regarding her name and family, friends…stuff like that, but as far as writing and showering, cleansing herself, had all stuck with her. The doctor assured her it was normal, especially since she'd suffered such a horrific accident and head trauma. Doctor Horris hadn't told her what exactly happened to her, waiting for her 'husband' to get back. He felt she would need his support and, truthfully, she didn't know. Her head snapped up when the door opened at that giant she had woken up to walked inside, carrying a bag in his hand. Her eyes instantly lowered from him to stare at the blanket covering her legs, chewing her lip thoughtfully.

Amnesia was a mental problem, a mental one, and those physical things such as wiping your own backside were physical things that were trained in the body. Physical responses. Those were a bit harder to reprogram, he imagined. Sighing, Mark moved over to take the chair Cameria had practically yanked from him, setting the bag on his lap. Anciana looked… well, like she had just come out of a coma. She was going to be weak, scrawny, gaunt, for a while. Nothing some Texas sunshine wouldn't fix.

"Now darlin'," He spoke in that slow, low, and infinitely patient voice of his. "I know you don't remember anything or anyone, but if you got any questions you want to ask, I'll answer them and maybe we can jog your memory." He reached out to gently place his hand on her knee, feeling her stiffen. "My name is Mark, Anciana." He added a hint of sadness in his tone.

After all, he was her husband and she had forgotten all about him.

"Mark…" Anciana said it slowly as if feeling it out to see if anything jogged her memory. Nothing did though. "Mark." This time, it was said with a little more confidence. "I like that name, I think."

She smiled sheepishly, tucking a strand of wine/blondish colored hair behind her ear. Due to her being in a coma for 3 months, the roots of her natural hair color had sprouted, which was blonde. Her crystalline eyes gazed at him, studying his ruggedly handsome face and found her heart doing a weird flip in her chest.

"It's nice to meet you, Mark." Extending her hand, his practically swallowed hers whole and she cracked another smile before gently pulling away. "T-The doctor said he'll be in soon to tell me what exactly happened." She had no idea the truth would be changed in order to make Mark completely innocent.

Mark sighed at that, pretty sure Horris would have some crazy explanation that would be an even bigger lie than this marriage. He'd rectify the marriage bit, in for a penny – in for a pound, he supposed. It was always better to mix lies with the truth because they went farther.

"Darlin'… you were hit by a car." He said quietly, watching her eyebrows draw together. "I… I was the driver." He could feel her hand convulsing in his. "It was an accident, Ciana." He did not like Ani, it was far too plain for this beauty. "It was raining, and I was coming to get you to give you a ride." He pulled his hand away from her, burying his face in his own hands for a minute, shaking his head before looking at her. "You usually walked, it's not that far a walk and it never rains here, but it was that morning…" There. Truth. Lie.

Horris was in the doorway listening, which gave the doctor his cue to add his explanation.

"But I…what?" Anciana made no move to comfort him, in too much shock by this revelation and looked up as Doctor Horris entered the room. "I-Is this true? He ran me over with a car?"

"Accidentally, yes." Doctor Horris was shocked by Mark's truthfulness and figured he'd judged the man wrong, thought less of him than he should've. "The roads were slick, it was raining really hard outside that day, Anciana. The brakes…they got stuck on the rental car he was driving. Your husband travels for work, you see. That day, he was coming to see you on his day off and wanted to take you to work, but you'd already left. He was catching up to you when it happened."

"He travels for work?" Anciana blinked, looking back at her 'husband' and folded her hands in her lap. "W-What's your job, Mark?"

"I'm a professional wrestler, darlin'." He informed her, staring at her intently as she took in his size and build with renewed interest. "My schedule keeps me pretty busy, on the road a lot." Mark took a deep breath, glancing at Horris, who was giving him a very odd look, almost as if he were revising his opinion. If only they knew. "We have a place in Houston, but you came here to stay with Cameria." At her confused look, he smiled gently. "The woman who was here, your friend? She's going through a pretty bad divorce and she hasn't been doing so well." He had done the whole nine yards, lies and truth – always the best way to get away with something.

"Actually, that's not entirely true." Cameria stood in the doorway of the hospital room, having thought long and hard about this ridiculous idea of Doctor Horris' and concluded he was right. Anciana would need a lot of medical help going forward now that she was awake and Cameria simply didn't have the funds to do it. "You and the big guy here haven't known each other very long. You met at the bar I used to work at, hit it off really well and…well, this IS Vegas. You two wound up going to an all-night wedding chapel about a month ago and got married. I didn't want you being alone in Houston, so I offered to have you stay with me while he's on the road. On his days off, he comes to get you and you fly with him to Houston before taking a flight back here once he goes back on the road."

"Really?" For some reason, Anciana trusted this woman and she had no idea why. Mark…not so much, not yet. "We…got married at a chapel…what's that called?"

"Eloped."

"Yeah, that."

"Yes, you eloped with his giant ass, nearly gave me a heart attack…" Cameria joked, trying to inject humor into her tone and squeezed Anciana's hand. "He didn't win any brownie points by hitting you with his car, but…it was an accident." Boy did that leave a bitter taste in her mouth. "He didn't mean it and he…loves you. You love him." More bitterness. "And he WILL take care of you…something I can't do right now."

Anciana giggled somewhat hoarsely at the 'giant ass' comment, nodding slowly. "Okay…you live here in Vegas then?"

"Yeah, but…after you're better, maybe you can come back here while he's on the road or something. Or maybe I'll come see you while he's on the road. We'll make it work somehow, okay?" Cameria's heart broke at the confused understanding in Anciana's eyes, wanting desperately to tell her the truth, but…all she could do was support what the doctor wanted to do.

"Okay…" Her eyes finally looked at Mark, who seemed a little…shocked by what was said from Cameria. "So, when can I get out of here and go home with you?"

Mark decided to let it slide that Cameria was, in fact, going through a shitty divorce and the idiot had even been here. That was all on him though, early on, figuring to needle the harpy bitch, who made his ears bleed. As it was, Miss Cameria was about to be left behind because he had offered once to let her come with them, she shot it down, and that ship had sailed.

"That is entirely up to Dr. Horris." He said quietly. "He's making recommendations for a new primary in Houston," Which also had some superb, top of the line hospitals. "And it'll take some time to coordinate with whichever hospital he deems fit to work for you." Not that he cared, money wasn't a major concern.

"Okay…" Anciana didn't know what else to say or how to think about this entire situation, laying her head back on the pillow.

"A few days should be more than enough time to find you suitable doctors in Houston, Anciana. You'll be out of here soon." Doctor Horris assured her, having a feeling the giant wanted out of this hospital and he didn't blame him. "Are you hungry?"

Her stomach growled at that moment, her cheeks turning somewhat red. "I guess I am…"

"Nothing too heavy, stick to soup and lighter food like yogurt and applesauce. You have to train your body all over again."

"Okay, thank you Doctor Horris."

"I'll go get you something from the cafeteria." There was no way Cameria would let her wait for the nurses to take their sweet time bringing her food. "I'll be back."

She and Mark were left alone.

Mark leaned back in his chair, studying Anciana just as intently as she was him. He knew he was a physically imposing man and he was wearing a long-sleeved, lightweight black button up shirt, cuffed at the wrists, which hid his tattoo-sleeved arms. He figured he'd wait before springing that one on her. Long, jet black hair, standing 6'10, pale as he possibly could be, with inky facial hair… he wasn't normal, by any means.

"I've taken some time off to stay home with you." He informed her, not that Mark hadn't already taken a very reduced schedule and had only been doing Monday nights. That would continue for a while because he wanted to maintain his presence on Raw Is War and one of the many reasons he was bringing in around the clock nurses. "Darlin', I'm so sorry."

"It was an accident, right?" At his nod, she smiled softly and extended her hand to him, her eyes soft and warm. "There's nothing to be sorry for, then. This could've happened to anyone. I'm still here, just hard to believe I was out cold for 3 months." Anciana blinked, realizing for the first time she'd missed 3 months of her life besides the accident. 3 months was a lot of time and she wondered what all she'd missed in all that time. "So, you're a wrestler and you travel. Tell me more about it." For some reason, in the far recesses of her mind, the words professional wrestling sent tingles through her body. That was definitely a sign she knew what it was, but the amnesia refused to let her remember. "I don't know why, but I want to know more about it."