A/N: I want to warn my readers to have tissues ready when you read this chapter. This was so hard for me to write, and when I was finished, I literally had goosebumps! I apologize for making the chapter so long and so chock full of stuff.
I want to thank those of you who have read and followed the story so far. I want to give big shout-outs to Esha Napoleon, DarkAngelElektra, and RKOsgirl92 for reviewing the chapter. Also a big shout-out to VolcomStoneBabe for reviewing Chapter 4! You guys are fricken' AWESOME!!!!
As always, read, review, and enjoy!!!
Chapter 6: I Walk Alone
Regina was towering over the Animal like an authoritative figurine. Regina's head had eclipsed the light, which ultimately made it difficult to see the solemn expression on her face or the reddish pigmentation in her eyes and nose from crying. She looked almost angelic as the remaining gleam played off like a halo around the perimeter of her face. With her chocolate brown hair center-parted and worn down to her bosoms, Regina looked surprisingly immaculate. She was dressed in a long, black buttoned-down winter coat with a carnation rose scarf loosely-wrapped around her neck. A dark pantsuit and black shoes complemented her attire. Batista could sense that Regina also felt the cold whiff of air in the room as her hands were snuggled comfortably in her coat pockets.
The grieving brother-in-law was too caught up in his emotions that he didn't hear the tacking footsteps creep into the examining room. Batista was surprised that his sister-in-law had the audacity to show her face. Sure, Regina was Angie's little sister, but this was supposed to be his moment with his wife.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Batista's voice grew raw with emotion.
Regina tried her best not to flinch at her brother-in-law's forceful response. She was not about to let her constant intimidation of the Animal get the best of her. She had every right to be in the room just like him. Knowing that Batista would not budge himself away anytime soon, Regina wanted to show some support. It was the least that she could do for her brother-in-law during this difficult time. But as soon as she saw what was about to unfold, a shocked Regina had to take matters into her own hands.
"Stopping you from making the biggest mistake of your life," she answered.
Batista was amazed at Regina's courage. The in-laws were seldomly in a room together. Just the two of them. It took a lot of guts for Regina to come into the examining room, Batista thought. Either that or she was forced by the family to come in and drag his carcass out of the room. Either way, Batista wasn't moving a muscle.
Deep down, Batista had no qualms with Regina. In fact, he was quite fond of her … in a sisterly fashion. Growing up, Regina was everybody's sister in the neighborhood. She was the only person in the family that managed to stay out of his path. As the baby of the clan, she was scary smart who always carried a book in her hand like a doll. She was also deathly shy, a trait that Batista could relate to. Angie had always reminded her husband to be easy on Regina, but the more Batista got to know her, the more she pulled back and he never understood why.
Another thing he didn't understand was what Regina meant by the term mistake. "And what would that mistake be exactly?" Batista egged on, a hint of cockiness unexpectedly escaped his throat.
Regina didn't want to stir up trouble with Batista. One push could easily land her in the emergency room, and she didn't want to risk that. She didn't want to interrogate Batista for what could have been a harmless act. Wedding rings are supposed to be a symbol of eternal love between spouses. Usually, it takes widows and widowers months or even years before they are strong enough to let go of the final reminder of their deceased soulmates. Others like Regina's mother never take it off because it's too painful.
Maybe Batista had a good reason of taking his ring off. "Angie wouldn't want you to give up your ring so soon," Regina continued.
"I'm not giving up my ring," Batista declared as he quickly put the gold band back on his left ring finger. "The medical examiner took Angie's rings away. I-I was just putting mine on her finger so that she won't be alone without it. She never took her rings off, so why now?"
Regina watched as Batista fondled the ring around his finger, taking it off and putting it back on as if it was a toy. The more he did it, the more it annoyed her. As she let it out a light sigh, she rolled her eyes. "Dave, her rings were covered in blood because of the accident," she explained. "The medical examiner had to do some DNA tests to see if the blood matched Angie's." She walked over to one end of the table, glancing down at the floor. "And they matched." Her voice was low enough that she didn't think Batista could hear her.
But Regina was proved wrong as she heard the chair screech back against the wall. Batista pushed himself to his feet, pacing a few steps toward her direction. Thanks to his much-elevated height, he was towering over her this time. Regina couldn't help but gulp. Her pulse was racing as he inched closer and closer. She tried to study Batista's expression, but as usual, he was emotionless. Why does this man have to be so damn mysterious? Still, she managed to stay calm as she bore her eyes into his. She took a couple of steps back, hoping to increase some distance between them.
But Batista's deliberate footsteps were catching up to her. Suddenly, Regina felt the edge of the counter bite into her back and stopped. She closed her eyes. Her breathing became heavier and faster. Her hands were starting to get clammy. She was afraid of what was going to happen next. She was scared of what Batista was going to do to her.
All of a sudden, the Animal let out a loud, husky chuckle. Regina's brow creased with confusion. "What's so funny?"
Batista stopped. He ran his fingers through his dark, moussed hair. "Nothing," His face turned serious. "It's just that I wonder how you know all of this, Einstein."
Contrary to her family's belief that Regina was smart because her nose was always dived in the books, most of her knowledge of certain things, particularly death, were based on experience."The medical examiner told us a few minutes ago. She said that she's going to give the rings to the funeral director when he picks up Angie's body," Regina explained again. "Then when he's done dressing her, he'll put the rings back on her finger for the funeral."
"Bullshit!" Batista angrily spouted. Sprinkles of saliva spewed out of his mouth and landed on Regina's cheeks. Dazed, Regina wiped the liquid remnants off her face. She made her way over to the body, still maintaining her distance from her brother-in-law. For his part, Batista massaged his forehead, hoping to ease the constant throbbing. Each bit of news he heard made his temperature boil. "They don't have the right to take the rings," he chanted. "I'm her husband. They should have asked me first."
Regina looked at Batista in disbelief. "They're just trying to do their job," she tried to reason with him. She pointed at the metal doors. "Look, if you don't believe me, go talk to the medical examiner. She's out in the hall right now."
At this point, Batista wasn't listening to a word she said. He stared at the floor for what seemed like an eternity. Arms folded, he leaned his massive body against the counter. His mind kept repeating the same questions over and over again. Hoping that in the nucleus of his brain, answers would come to light.
What exactly happened at the scene of the accident?
Was she wearing a seat belt?
How did the perpetrator get away with only minor injuries while Angie suffered the consequences?
Something about the accident just didn't make sense. The pieces to the puzzle just didn't quite add up, and there was one piece of information was missing. Batista couldn't put his finger on it. Angie was a careful driver, he thought. The more questions he processed, the more agitated he became. No need to make the Animal angrier than what he already was. One thing was for certain. Batista was going to get to the bottom of this, even if physical action had to be enforced. He wasn't going to do it for himself. He wasn't going to do it for Angie. He was going to do it for his babies. They had a right to know, albeit they were too young to understand. It would be a daunting task for Batista to tell his daughters what exactly happened to their mother on that fateful night on the interstate. Fortunately, he would have to wait several years before the time would come.
People better stay out of my way, the young father thought.
A hissing ruffle of the blue sheet snapped Batista back to reality. He looked up and saw Regina lift the cover up to see Angie's nude body. She took her sister's hand and placed it on her cheek. The touch was rock hard and cold. She looked wholesome, not a drop of scar or bruise on her scary white skin. She kissed the hand and gently placed it back down on the table. Tears streamed down the little sister's face.
"So why aren't you out in the hall with the family?" Batista asked, watching her performance unfold.
After wiping the tears off her cheeks once more, Regina pulled the blue sheet down, enough to cover Angie's arms, legs, and breasts. "I couldn't hear anymore of it. So I decided to come in here," she explained. She gazed down at Angie's exposed face. "I-I had to see her-."
Finishing her final thought proved to be hard as a gushing roar of emotion caught her throat, filling up the canals of her Adam's apple, and pouring out into the open air. Her heart plummeted at the sight of the snow white pigment on Angie's face. Regina tried to control the never-ending sadness, but it was too late. She quickly put her hand over her hand to muffle her wailings. "Oh, God," she cried. "Oh, God!" For the next few minutes that was all the little sister could vent.
Batista made slow strides towards the table. He pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and extended it across the table. "Here, take this." The young sister-in-law looked up, somewhat surprised at Batista's gesture. Nonetheless, she took the white cloth from him. "Thank you," she muttered through her tears. She wiped the tears off her face and blew her nose … loudly!
Batista made a face after hearing the farting-like sound. "Um, you can keep that," he said, referring to the handkerchief. Minutes went by before Regina regained her composure. She then pulled a chair closer to the table and sat down. She continued to stare at Angie's face. "That son-of-a bitch is going to pay for what he did to her," Regina angrily chimed.
"He going to have a lot to pay when I get to him," Batista declared. Regina glanced up at her brother-in-law. She felt a spark of intimidation crawl under her skin again as she began to think of all the possible implications over his last words.
Regina rose from her chair and walked over to the other side of the table to where he was. She placed her hand on Batista's shoulder, hoping to inject some comfort once more. The Animal sharply looked over, confused. Before he could even speak, Regina beat him to the punch. "Dave, I know you're angry. I know you're upset." Her voice trembled. She paused for a moment to collect himself. "We need each other right now," she whispered. "I want to help you. Please let-."
Batista turned to face her. The expression on his face wasn't quite what Regina had anticipated. She was so shocked that for a minute she didn't think she breathed. She had hoped the ounce of comfort would calm the Animal down, making him aware that there was somebody by his side. Instead, it was the opposite.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Batista's husky voice turned emotionless. He shoved her hand off his shoulder. Stubborn as he was, Batista was in no mood to be consoled. "What are you God? You want to make the world better?" Batista could see that every word he spat out, Regina's face sagged with fright. He could lower his tone and become more mellow, but the Animal was on a roll. His face was a mixture of pain and venom. It was as if his on-screen character was coming into play. "You see her?" Batista pointed at Angie's body. "She was my world. She was everything to me." His voice almost broke as he turned his head to that very subject. "And now she's dead. You want to help me? Bring her back," He glared back at Regina again. "Bring her back!"
Batista turned away from her, heading for the metal doors. But before he made his way out, the chilly widower stared back at his frightened sister-in-law without compassion and delivered one last nail-biting statement: "Do me a favor and keep doing what you do best," he paused. "Stay out of my way."
With that, Batista pushed back the metal doors and walked out into the hallway. As soon as she heard this, Regina's face crumpled even further in disbelief. She felt her lower lip quivering. Hot tears burned down both sides of her cheeks. As she weeped away, Regina couldn't shake off the vivid memory of the destructive Animal. The venom on his face, the raw emotion in his voice, the pent-up rage in his massive specimen. All she wanted to do was support him. Be there for him in this time of need. That's not so bad, right? All he did was simply reject her. He scolded her.
Regina couldn't move at first. She felt numb. She looked over at the glowing sight of Angie's body. She walked over to the table. Leaning down, the little sister kissed her forehead. Reality had suddenly set in as Regina's body was shaking with sobs. "All I wanted to do was reach out to him, Angie," she sobbed, caressing her sister's face. "How am I going to get through this? How?"
As Regina rested her head on Angie's shoulder, she closed her eyes. She prayed that somewhere in the heavens above, her older sister could hear her and could provide her with some sort of strength, some sort of answer, some sort of miracle that could help Regina move on from this nightmare.
Batista pushed through the metal doors, storming down the hallway. The pulsating sound of loud footsteps echoed down the long corridor. As much as it agonized him to leave his deceased wife behind and to identify her body, Batista was relieved to have an ounce of weight lifted off him.
He could have stayed there just a little while longer. There were so many things he wanted to say to Angie. He wanted to apologize to her for the times he was an imperfect husband. He wanted to tell her once more how much he loved and missed her, hoping that Angie would hear it in heaven. Batista wanted to be alone with her just one last time.
But then Regina had to come into the room and ruin a perfectly, poignant moment. What did she have to bother him? Of all the times, why did his sister-in-law have to stand in his way? Batista could still see the Regina's horrified reaction in his mind's eye when he uttered his final words.
Stay out of my way.
He questioned himself on whether he was too hard on her. No…he silently corrected himself. I did what I had to do. Regina had no business being there.
Plus, there were other times to say goodbye privately, and the funeral was a few days away.
As his thoughts were bouncing off his thick skull, Batista grew frustrated as he still was searching for more answers concerning Angie's accident. He veered to the right, and suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by a cacophony of voices in the nearby waiting area. Those voices were too familiar to him. He glanced outside the window of the waiting area and saw his brothers-in-law Matt and Nate speaking with the medical examiner. Too distraught to participate in what looked like a deep discussion, Maria was sitting in one of the chair, sobbing. A police officer was also in the room, talking to the men and the medical examiner.
"There was no way we could have saved her," stated the medical examiner.
"What do you mean?" Batista asked as he entered into the room. Everyone looked up at him. Maria rose to her feet and ran up to her son-in-law once more. She embraced him tightly and apologized to him over and over again through her cries. "What's going on here?" he asked again.
The police officer walked over to his direction. "Mr. Bautista, I'm Chief John Mentzer from the Pennsylvania State Police. On behalf of the department, I am so sorry for your loss. My condolences to you and your family." The police chief extended his hand toward the widower. Batista returned the favor and shook his hand. "Thank you," he replied. "Did I hear correctly? You've reached a conclusion in my wife's case?"
"For the most part, but there are a few small details that we need to sort out," Chief Mentzer said as he looked behind Batista's shoulder. Batista couldn't help but turn around. Maria still couldn't stop crying in the background. As a grieving mother, she was in hysterics. Her wailings grew louder after exhaling each breath. Obviously, she must have learned some damaging new information or else she wouldn't act this way.
Chief Mentzer glanced at each of the sons with concern. "Can one of you-." He began to say.
Nate comprehended the police chief's query before he finished his thought. The younger son nodded and walked over to his mother. "Come on, Ma. Let's go outside and get you some water," He coaxed her.
After wiping her tears repeatedly, Maria shook her head. "No, no I'm fine. I want to go see Angie." With the help of her sons, she rose to her feet. Nate and Matt held their mother's hands as they started to leave the room.
"Here, let me take you to the body," uttered the medical examiner, guiding the family out to the hallway. The last word struck a chord with Maria as she bawled her eyes again. The wailing sound echoed down the corridor as they turned the corner.
Once they were out of sight, Chief Mentzer turned his attention to Batista. "Here, let's sit down." He gestured the massive-built widower to the empty chairs in front of them. The police chief pulled one of the chairs next to Batista's seat and sat down in front of the Animal.
Suddenly, Batista felt a sense of déjà vu. Not too long ago, he participated in this type of meeting.
That day in the locker room with Vince McMahon. The Animal remembered. You growled at the Chairman for spouting the news of Angie's death. You called her cell phone, but she didn't pick up…
Despite the fact that Batista yearned for more information, he wasn't so sure how he was going to digest it. "I know it's an understatement to say that your wife's death has really shocked your family," Chief Mentzer uttered. "Yeah." Batista nodded his head in agreement.
The Animal slouched his upper body, resting his big elbows on his lap, hands clasped together. "Officer, what have you found so far?" Batista was in no mood for insignificant chit-chat. He wanted to get to the bottom of this ordeal. Chief Mentzer let out a heavy sigh. "I had already explained this to your family." He began to say, maintaining eye contact to the widower. "We conducted an autopsy on your wife. And the results came back."
Batista creased his brow with confusion. An autopsy? Angie wasn't the culprit, she was the victim. "I don't know about investigation or anything, but why did you conduct an autopsy on Angie?" Batista asked. "It's part of our investigation so that we can determine what exactly happened at the scene of the crime," the chief explained. "Mr. Bautista, I have to ask. When was the last time you spoke to Angie?"
Batista didn't have to think long and hard about his last conversation with his wife. It was the night before the accident. The Animal was on the road with his Evolution buddies heading to the house show in Pittsburgh. The group had stopped at a diner near the Ohio-Pennsylvania state line to grab a bite to eat. While they were waiting for their food orders, Batista went outside for a minute to call his wife and talk to her for the umpteenth time. Angie was still in Philly at the time and was planning to leave the day after to go back to their luxurious home in New York. They discussed a variety of topics like work, kids, and each other…
"I miss you so much, baby," Angie admitted. "I can't wait for you to come home."
"I miss you so much too. You have no idea," Batista answered tenderly. "It won't be long though."
"I don't know if I can wait a few more days," Angie said.
"It'll be here before you know it," the Animal reassured his wife. "Just promise me you'll be at the airport on time?"
Angie had giggled on the other end of the line. "I'll be there with bells on," she replied. "Besides, I got a big surprise with your name on it."
This time, Batista had smiled on the other end. "Ooo, what kind of surprise?"
"You'll just have to wait and see," Angie playfully teased.
Batista had looked over and saw the guys eating already. "Baby, I gotta go. My food just came. I gotta go eat before the guys eat my plate," The Animal hated ending the conversation with his wife. If it was for him, he would talk all day and night with her. "I'll see you very soon. I love you so much."
"I love you too. Have a safe trip," Angie said.
"You too, baby," Batista replied. "You too."
"And that was it," Batista said to the officer, after explaining the last conversation with Angie. "Next day, I called her and left multiple messages. She didn't call me back."
Chief Mentzer paused for a moment. Before he could speak, he wet his mouth with his tongue. "Your wife's vehicle was the first one to be hit head-on. It spun around multiple times that it slammed into the median, which caused to her have severe head injuries. He stopped for a moment for the Animal to digest the information.
"Was she wearing a seat belt?" Batista inquired.
"Yes, she was," Chief Mentzer answered. "-but the impact of the accident on a highway was too strong for the seat belt to save her. She died instantly at the scene."
Batista kept quiet, only peering over at Chief Mentzer, who looked painfully serious. "Mr. Bautista, we discovered something about your wife in the autopsy report."
"What?" Batista anxiously asked.
And as he opened his mouth, his words dropped like a ton of bricks. "Your wife was pregnant at the time of the crash."
Batista widened his eyes. He stared at the officer in pure astonishment. The Animal tried to hide his facial expression, but he couldn't. All of a sudden, he found himself breathing heavily, almost panting. It didn't help that he had asthma, and unfortunately, he didn't carry along his inhaler. His head was throbbing. He felt dizzy, as if the wind knocked the living lights out of him. He tried opening his mouth, trying to uttering a word, a syllable, a sound. But nothing.
"The medical examiner discovered a dead fetus in her body. Since it was very early in her pregnancy, it was unclear to identify if it was a boy or a girl," Chief Mentzer continued. "She determined that your wife was approximately eight weeks along."
Angie? Pregnant? Batista tried to wrap his head around the sudden revelation. My baby. Then a light bulb turned on in his mind. He remembered what Angie said to him on the phone. Her big surprise.
She was going to tell me, Batista said to himself. She was going to tell me that we were going to be have a baby. The young couple had talked about expanding their family.
It was bad finding out that the love of his life was gone forever, but a baby taken away from life too? It seemed surreal. Too cruel. One poor decision from a bastardly drunk driver changed the lives and hearts of many.
The Animal bowed his head, disguising any possible emotions from the chief. But he couldn't control his feelings anymore. He could feel the tears streaming down his face. Unbeknownst to him, his shoulders started shaking. It wasn't long until the Chief heard a muffled wail from the person in front of him. "Oh, God. No!" Batista's voice was raw with emotion, bawling like a baby He remained like that for a while, burying his face in his hands.
Chief Mentzer patted Batista's shoulder, repeating his condolences and offering some words of comfort. However, the officer could sense that the Animal didn't want to be comforted. After a couple of minutes, he felt it was best to leave the widower and father of two alone in his grief.
Before he went out the door, the chief stopped and abruptly turned around. "We're going to do the best we can to punish the culprit for what he did to your wife and unborn child." He bit his lip. "I'm so sorry for your loss." With that, he opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.
After the door clicked shut, Batista slowly raised his head and wiped his tears. He slowly rose to his feet and walked over to the window on the far side of the room. He looked out and saw a young mother walking and carrying her child over to her car in the parking lot. Tears starting falling down his cheeks again.
"Yeah," he muttered to himself. "Someone's going to be very sorry."