Disclaimer: I don't own anything WWE. I don't own Eve or Matt. I do own Heather and Jack though, as well as a few other minor OCs that will be appearing over time.
Author's Note: Heeeey. :D So not much to say. Glad the chapter was enjoyed and thanks for the reviews. Enjoy!
"What's the matter, Eve?" Heather and rushed to her side as she nearly collapsed before her. Her normally bubbly and non-serious friend was now staring at her with intent concern, eyes terrified. "What happened? Why are they're police here?"
Eve tried to speak, but found she couldn't find her voice. Finally, she whispered, "We need to get to the hospital," with a new found determination. Slowly, she got up and dusted off her clothes, looking at the street they were on. She calculated the time it would take in her head and then pulled Heather by the arm.
Heather kept protesting from confusion at first but she soon enough realized something serious had happened and that Eve wasn't going to tell her right away. They walked quickly as a pair toward the large building that spanned nearly a block, seeing so many other people outside, some in tears, some happy, some with expressions unreadable. Eve wasn't a fan of hospitals. Ever since she was a kid and her childhood best friend had been inside of one for nearly a month, she had hated it. It was like a trap that held sorrow and only sorrow.
"Can you please tell me what is going on now?" Heather whined, grabbing Eve by the shoulders. "Why are we at the hospital? And where is Matt?"
"He was shot," she gravely whispered back. "I need to find him now."
"Why?"
"Because he was shot," Eve repeated with annoyance, "and when he called me before, he had left me a message saying get help. I…"
"Eve, it's not your fault," Heather replied with understanding. The Hispanic woman fell into the arms of her best friend and sobbed for a minute, knowing she could be the reason Matt lived or died because she didn't answer her phone. "But you don't know what happened yet. I'm sure Matt is fine… let's go!"
The two friends walked into the hospital together and walked up to the front desk. "I'm looking for Matt Hardy," Eve said in a soft voice, trying to remain calm. She had to keep Heather's words in her mind. Everything would be fine. Everything would be fine. "Do you know if he was put into a room yet?"
The girl behind the front desk smiled apologetically at them after checking her computer. "I'm afraid he hasn't been admitted yet. But if you take the hallway to your right and go all the way down, you'll run into the ER and you could check there. If he was brought through there, they may not have had the time to get the information down and they may know where to lead you before I would."
Eve was too frightened to speak again so Heather thanked the woman and led the now shaking Eve down the hallway. It almost seemed crazy to her though. She had only known Matt for about a week and there she was nearly sobbing over him. But he was everything she wanted… and something like this couldn't happen.
By the time they got to the ER, Eve was pretty much trembling uncontrollably so Heather had to do the talking again. "His name is Matt Hardy and he was shot. We're looking for information on him."
Another young woman behind a podium nodded. "Yes, he was brought in about a half hour ago. Let me see what I can find on him. I haven't heard anything for my records yet."
Heather led Eve over to a seat and made her relax and got her a cup of coffee. "Drink this and try to calm down. I'm sure Matt's fine."
The woman came back, a small smile on her face. "He's in surgery right now. It may be a while before you're able to hear more."
"Is he okay?" Eve managed to stutter out, her voice shaking almost as much as she was.
"I don't know, ma'am. I just know he's in surgery at the moment."
To Eve, this wasn't enough. Although it meant that he was alive, it didn't mean that he would be okay. There was still a haze over the situation and there was nothing she could do about it. She considered her options. Other than Heather, she didn't really have any other true friends to call, since Jack wasn't speaking to her and vice versa, so she believed she was stuck.
Then, it hit her; all the hoopla that Jack had been trying to get her to believe about Matt being trouble. What if he was right and this was a part of it? She scolded herself for thinking that way. Jack was just jealous… right?
!
Eve began to wander around the ER in terror as the minutes passed, hoping to hear from a doctor or a nurse about Matt's condition. She was still unable to stop shaking and almost all eyes in the room were on her. Heather had given up on trying to consol her and was sitting alone in the corner with a watchful eye.
She took a chance and walked over to the vending machine where a man who looked to be a teenager or maybe in his early twenties was standing, trying to decide between something obviously.
He turned to her much to her surprise, ignoring the look of confusion and tears streaming down her face. Then, he smiled at her with this smile she was sure had to be one of the best she'd seen in a while. "I can't decide what to get, sorry," he said with a laugh, his voice hinting an accent.
"It's okay," Eve muttered quietly. "I'm not even sure what I'm getting either."
The man turned around again, finally giving in to her look. "Are you alright? I mean, I know that's a silly question to ask at a hospital but…"
"Thanks," Eve smiled for a moment. The man seemed genuinely nice and just wanted to be so obviously. "I'm waiting for news on my uh… I guess boyfriend."
"Ah," the guy said back. "I'm waiting for my little sister. She's got a bad ear infection."
"Oh." With that, they greeted each other goodbye and Eve stood for a moment, awed by the man's act of kindness. People weren't kind to each other anymore. You were lucky if you got a hello out of someone if you happened to know them. Forget about strangers. Glares all around!
When she came back from the machine, Heather was talking to a doctor, nodding her head enthusiastically with a smile. "Oh, Eve!" she greeted. "This is Dr. Andrews. He's Matt's doctor here."
"Is Matt okay?" Eve asked nervously, toying with her shirt. That was all she wanted to hear: those three words. Matt is okay.
The doctor turned to her. "Well, he did lose quite a bit of blood from the gunshot wound but he was lucky enough to miss any major organs or arteries. Some by just inches, actually."
"So he's okay?" Eve repeated.
The doctor smiled warmly. "He's going to be fine. Of course, the wound was to his abdomen so he's going to be very sore for the next few days. We recommend bed rest actually… a good week at least depending on what he does for a job as well as painkillers. He's in quite a bit of pain."
All of this didn't matter to Eve. She just wanted to see Matt. "Can I see him?"
"Sure. But one at a time."
Heather put her hands up. "By all means."
With a deep breath, she thanked the doctor and made her way toward the area to which Matt was in. Heather told her she was going to move the car and would meet her in the hospital café when she was ready. So, all alone, she went to see Matt. As she stopped outside of his door minutes later, she was suddenly so afraid. Why? She had no idea. Matt wasn't a monster. He was a good guy with a good personality. Just because he had gotten hurt didn't mean he had changed.
So she knocked at this explanation in her head.
"Yeah?"
Eve walked in slowly, trying to make sure he recognized her. Much to her surprise and much to the boost on her ego, his antagonized face lit up in happiness. "Eve!"
She smiled back, glad to see him okay after all of it. "Hey, Matt."
"You must have gotten my message."
She nodded as she took a seat beside of his bed. "God, are you okay?"
"They sewed me up pretty darn well. I'd say so."
Eve's eyes trailed down to his stomach area, staring at the white bed sheets and sighed. "I'm glad. I was worried. By the time I got your message, they had taken you out of the apartment."
"Yeah, the doctor told me my neighbor came home and found me unconscious."
Eve was curious now. "What happened?"
There was a brief awkward silence and then Matt looked up darkly. "I don't want to talk about it."
Hmmm... why won't Matt talk about it? You'll find out in timeeee... Please read and review! :D
