"NO!"
Jasmine looked at the couple in shock. How could they possibly ask her this when her sister's still in surgery and her grandmother was recuperating?!
"We understand that this might seem like a bad place to ask this but we really need you to give us an answer as soon as possible." Stephanie said
She looked at them, "Are you kidding me?! You are asking me to take my sister's place in the roster like we are somehow the same person! It is not just bad, it is disgusting!"
"Look, I understand that it might seem insensitive on our part but we assure you that it is all in the best interests of Taylor. Promos have been cut and shown today regarding your sister's impending arrival and storylines have led to her debut. We don't want her to wake up to missing her big shot." Paul L said
Jasmine shook her head, "Are you listening to yourselves?! How is this in the best interest of Taylor, huh? Me posing as her until she wakes up? It could be months, it could be years! I don't even know how she is doing now! How could you even think to ask me about this?!"
"You are stressed and upset. We know. But this concerns your sister's future. The board had a meeting and everyone agreed to this idea. We train you starting from tomorrow till the date your sister was to debut and continue after until your very first television match. We keep your sister relevant with the masses until she gets better." Stephanie said
"What about my life? I can't just give everything up!" Jasmine said
"We will hire the best team to help you keep your life intact. You will still continue to do your studies just that it's on the road." Paul L said, "We will make damn sure that both you and your sister get well taken care of no matter what."
"And in the event something bad happens?" Jasmine asked
Stephanie looked at Paul L before looking at Jasmine, "It will be up to you."
Jasmine shook her head, "I can't deal with this now."
"And you don't have to. Here's my card. Take it and think about it. But you need to give us an answer by tomorrow morning." Stephanie said
As the couple moved towards the door, ready to leave, Stephanie turned back to Jasmine.
"We will respect whatever decision you make. But we hope that you will consider the options first. Your sister is very talented and we don't want her to wake up to losing her career." Stephanie said
She gave Jasmine a polite nod before leaving with Paul L.
Jasmine sat outside the operating theatre, replaying the conversation she had with Stephanie and her husband. It was proposition that was out of this world. Where in the world did they even come up with such an idea? Her replacing Taylor? That's gotta be the craziest idea ever. She couldn't do it. She shouldn't do it. But not doing it also meant she had to be ready to tell her sister that the WWE dropped her because her sister hadn't done all she could to help keep her career alive.
She leaned forward and put her head in her hands. What should she do? Grandma normally had the best solutions to problems the twins had.
Just then, Jasmine realized that no nurse had come to tell her where they brought her grandma. She was just about to get up when a nurse with bleached blond hair came up to her.
"Miss Jasmine Cho?" She asked
"Yeah?" Jasmine replied, "Where's my grandma? Is something wrong?"
The nurse put the clipboard in front of her, "I'm sorry but you are going to have to sign this. Your grandma is in a coma."
Jasmine stood up straight in shock, "What?"
"We thought she had just fainted but upon closer observation, we realized that she had slipped into a coma." The nurse said
"Are you kidding me?!" Jasmine exclaimed
"Miss Cho, maybe you should calm down." The nurse said
"Calm down?! Calm down?! You're asking me to calm down when my sister is in surgery and my grandma is in a coma?! Are you freaking kidding me?! Is your hospital so incompetent that you didn't think to inform me as soon as you found out about my grandma?!"
The nurse looked up and caught the eye of a security guard. He walked over and took Jasmine by the arm.
"Come with me, miss." He said
Jasmine struggled and tried to remove her arm from his grasp, "Let me go! I am not a criminal!"
"Relax, Miss Cho. We are just going to escort you to the waiting room." The nurse said, "You are making a scene and we don't want you to scare the patients."
Jasmine couldn't believe what she heard. Before she could continue her rant, the guard and the nurse led her away to a room a few doors down.
"This is a new one, Jas. Getting locked in by the hospital staff."
Jasmine looked up to see Allie come through the door.
She turned around to the guard, "You can leave the door unlocked. I'm with her now."
The guard gave Allie a polite nod and left the door unlocked before heading back to his post. Allie walked over to Jasmine and sat down next to her.
"How are you doing?" Allie asked
"What do you think?" Jasmine replied
"I'm sorry to hear about them…" Allie said, "But you gotta be strong Jasmine. Taylor and grandma Cho are counting on you."
"It's not that I don't want to… I am trying to, Allie. But I am at the peak of my coping capacity. Even before I had time to register Taylor's accident, grandma fell into a coma. I am pass the point of being able to stay strong." Jasmine said
Allie put her hand on Jasmine's wrist, "Well then, here's me passing you some strength as your best friend."
Jasmine looked at Allie and gave her a small smile, "Thanks, Al."
"What are besties for?" Allie said
She looked around before saying, "Does Taylor's bosses know about this?"
"Yeah. And they came down to visit already." Jasmine said
"Why didn't they stay? Taylor's their talent… They should be staying behind to see how she is right?" Allie said
"Yeah… Well… I think it has something to do with me." Jasmine said
Allie looked at her, "What do you mean?"
"I kinda chased them away?" Jasmine said
"What? Why?" Allie asked
Jasmine sighed, "Because of their main reason for the visit."
"And that is?" Allie asked
Jasmine took a deep breath and said, "They had a proposition for me."
"Which is?" Allie said, with an expression that told Jasmine to continue.
Jasmine swallowed and said, "Pretend to be Taylor."