Here we are! This is the end! Thank you so much for reading this story. A big hug to everyone that commented and followed this story… And now, til next time, bye bye! =)
Chapter 8
Remembering
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Punk slid into the bed next to Emily. He smelled like he had just come out of the shower, he smelled like soap.
"Let me sleep!" she said, grumpy.
"You know, I think you must have been a woodchuck in another life, sleeping all the time!" he smiled, kissing her cheek.
The contact of his beard against her skin tickled her and she smiled without opening her eyes. She knew nothing better than to wake up in his arms…
"Not everybody is an insomniac! The world would go mad!" she said as she opened her eyes on her smiling boyfriend of two months.
"I'm an insomniac and I think I don't do too bad! I mean, I have a good job, a super class mobile home and the coolest girl on earth in my bed!"
"Technically, it's my bed!" she said pushing the covers over her legs.
She got out of bed and stretched like a cat, exaggerating every movement because she knew Punk liked the view. He was watching her, a smile on his lips.
"I can't believe it's the last PPV I'll be able to come!" she whined as she started brushing her teeth.
"It's your fault! Why did you want to get a job instead of travelling with us!" he said, grouchy.
"Inactivity makes me mean!" she said, her mouth full of toothpaste foam.
"Say that to Kaitlyn! She is even more upset than I am. I don't think she will talk to you ever again!"
Emily shrugged. Deep down, she knew the Texan was happy for her, even if she would have liked better for her to get a job with the WWE to remain close to them. Emily would have liked it but the idea of being treated differently because she was CM Punk's girlfriend/fiancée would make her ill-at-ease.
From an exterior point of view, Emily was still Punk's fiancée but the idea had not fully made its way into her head yet. She was in love with him and she could see herself marry him… but like way down in the future.
They had decided to postpone the wedding to an undetermined date.
She wanted to put order in her life before settling in with him, that's why she had wanted to work again. She was really proud to be an independent woman and being financially independent was a part of it.
She was coming from a little town where young women's major ambition was to get married very young to become housewives. That wasn't her plan. Her mother had had to find a job after her father's passing and they had been through tough times for a few years. Once she had been of age, she had found a small job and she had been proud to help her mother out.
"I'm not doing it to bother her!" she said after she spat.
Punk was watching her even though he knew how much she found it "creepy". But he couldn't help himself. He had been so nervous to have scared her away that he enjoyed every moment now. She had decided to give him a chance two months prior but he still had trouble to believe it.
He had understood her memory wasn't coming back and that a part of their past was going to remain blank to her. At the beginning, he had wondered if it wouldn't affect their new relationship but Emily had been "like herself" again and they had agreed not to speak about the past unless it was something important.
And it didn't prevent him from loving her and he saw she loved him as well, so there was no reason to complicate things with mentions of a past only he could remember. As Colt said "nothing could stop their love anymore!".
"I know that… But we're still going to miss you on the road! Specially me, on the bus!" he got up behind her and cuddled her from behind.
"Because you don't think I'm going to terribly miss you, alone in this apartment, imagining you living a rock star's life touring in your bus?" she raised an eyebrow at their reflection in the mirror.
He giggled in her neck and kissed her pulse point. He let her finish preparing and went to read a Comic on the couch, the new one that AJ had lended him. He was only half reading because he would rather watch his girlfriend going back and forth between the bathroom and the bedroom in her lacy red underwear. Obviously she had not decided what to wear today.
He thought back to the day she told him she was in love with him… for the second time:
"What is it about the former me that you miss the most?" she had asked.
"I don't know… Probably the stupid little singsong you had invented, you used to sing it all the time!"
"Really? What was it like?"
"I'm telling you the lyrics but I'm not singing it!" he had said, warning.
"No I want the all thing! I want to be able to sing it!" she had whined.
"CM Punk is my guy, I love him and he's mine, the tattoos and the pipebombs, made every girl's heart melt, but I'm the one to take off his belt!" he sung with a raspy voice.
Emily had been stuck in awe but then she had started laughing really loud. At first, he had been upset because he had thought she was making fun of his singing voice but he had soon realized it was the lyrics that had made her laugh. It was so stupid and corny but she had started singing it anyway. He hadn't shared her enthusiasm and she had noticed it:
"What's going on?"
"Nothing, it's just at the time, they had another meaning… You really meant them!"
"But I really mean them!" had she defended herself.
"What?!"
"Punk, I love you!" she had said, forcing him to look her in the eyes.
He remembered he had exploded with joy and had sung with her for the rest of the trip to San Francisco. That was one of the best nights of his life.
He smiled as he heard her humming "their" song. She was finally ready, they could go to the arena. They didn't have to get there so early but Punk was a perfectionist and he liked to be there for the mike tests and the pre-runs of the video packages… Everything that may concern his promo and his match.
They got in the car and drove through Chicago. Punk had a TLC match in the main event against Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship that the American dragon had held for four months…
At the arena, they went their separate ways. Punk went to technicians to prepare his entrance with the pyrotechnics. Emily went to the Divas locker room, she knocked on the door. Alicia came to open it:
"Look who has finally escaped from Phil?" she joked opening the door wide.
Kaitlyn got up on her feet and came to hug her:
"I thought you were mad at me?" Emily asked, surprised by such a welcome.
"What's the point? You're going to leave me anyway and I don't want to waste the last moment that we have together…"
"Oh please, I'm not dying!" Emily punched her slightly on the arm.
Kaitlyn let her go and she finally entered the locker room. She spent the rest of the afternoon there talking with the girls about nothing and everything.
When the show started, she went to the TV room where she found Paul Heyman:
"Emily, I'm so happy to see you!"
"Thanks, you too!"
"So, I hope Punk is not too stressed about the match?"
"You know him, he hasn't slept much last night… And I know he didn't train as much as he wanted with Bryan because he was too busy with Brianna…" she sighed.
Paul reassured her, saying that Punk had chronical insomnia and that never stopped him from being the best in the world.
They settled in front of the screen and a few minutes later Punk came to join them in his ring gear and a new hoodie with his name on it.
"Hey Chip 'n' Dale!"
"What are you doing here?" Emily greeted him with a kiss.
"I thought it would be nice to watch the show with you while I wait for my turn!"
"Don't you like to be by yourself to focus before the shows?" asked Heyman.
"True but it's the last time Emily comes to a PPV and I wanted to spend some time with her…"
Emily smiled, deciding to ignore the implicit remark saying she was abandoning him. She knew she was betting a lot by leaving him so soon after getting together again but she believed in them, it would only make them stronger. Anyway, what she had done last time could only be temporary; she couldn't follow him on the roads and let him pay for everything.
"Am I really such a non-threat to you that you'd rather spend time watching TV instead of preparing for our match?" asked a voice behind them.
They turned around and saw Bryan, accompanied by his girlfriend, Brianna. Emily smiled. She liked Brie a lot, way more than her sister Nikki. If those two were twins, you soon learn how to not confuse them. Brie was less of an attention seeker than Nikki, who more often than not spoke without thinking, giving her the reputation of being dumb. Brie was a hard-working woman, who paid more attention on her moves in the ring and security than to her make-up and manicure. Not that Emily didn't like to spend time with Nikki, the beautiful Latina could party like no one. It was just that Brie could be more into the serious conversations.
"Let's just say that I could be stretching alone in a corner or hang out with my beautiful fiancée so… What about you, then?"
"I made the same conclusion!" the bearded man smiled.
Emily smiled, both for the compliment and because she knew how much Punk liked to spend time with Bryan. It reminded him of his time in the indies. He was happy to go against him. She knew he had been a bit disappointed to not spend more time with him, because even though they were in the same company and roster now, they both had their own lives. One of them was mediatized because of his relationship with a Bella Twin who was filmed 24/7 for a reality TV show. The other had become the new idol of the company since he had decided to spoke his mind in an epic promo.
"Don't be too relaxed, I don't plan on loosing this!" he said, showing the belt on his shoulder.
"We're going to give them the best match of the year!" Punk answered, shaking the champion's hand.
They smiled and Bryan made his way out of the room:
"Emmy, since it's your last PPV, we wanted to organize a little something with the girls… We have cake and we will watch the main event in the Divas locker room! We knew you would want to spend the rest of the evening with Phil… See you then!"
Brie offered her her brightest smile and a wave of the hand, she then went after her boyfriend.
"Aren't they soooo cuuute!" Punk gently mocked.
"Do you get a cake at the end of the night? So you don't get to make comments!" she answered as she kissed him.
"Hey, easy on the kisses!" intervened Paul "I don't want my little Punk to be too distracted!"
"Don't be nervous like that, Paul! I know you're not a big fan of ladder matches but trust me, I'm used to it now!"
"We never get used to it!" Heyman was grumpy, he knew it wouldn't change Punk's mind.
They watched the show in silence, except for Punk's commentary on some Superstars' moves.
"Do you think they make commentary on your matches too?" Emily asked, amused.
"No… I don't even think they watch them and that's why I'm the best in the world and not them! You have to keep informed on what's new when you go against someone as talented as Daniel Bryan!"
"But aren't all the videos you make me watch in that purpose?"
"Yes, too!" he smiled "And don't try to make me believe you don't like it… The other day, you made me watch the same match twice!"
"Well it's not my fault, I love the high flyers and there was Alex Shelley… And he is hot!" she shrugged.
Punk smiled and pushed her gently. She smiled back. She liked to tease him when they were only friends but now that they were so much more, there wasn't anything she liked more.
An assistant came to interrupt them:
"It's going to be your turn next!"
Punk turned to Heyman:
"You should go! I'll join you at gorilla in a second!"
If Heyman hadn't accompanied Punk to the ring for a while, he still went with him to gorilla to give him last minute advice. It was their ritual.
"And you should go to the Divas locker and enjoy that infamous cake to start celebrating my victory!"
"Do you want me to keep you a piece?"
"Can you do it without eating it first?" he teased.
"I was going to propose you eat that cake directly on me body to celebrate but I suppose you don't want any of it, right?"
She didn't give him time to answer. They kissed him quickly on the lips and left him, going to the Divas locker room.
"Surprise!"
"Surprise?"
"Yes, we thought we could watch the main event here for your last PPV with us! We even bought a cake!" Layla smiled.
"I already know, Brie told me earlier!" Emily said, confused.
All heads turned to the tattooed twin:
"I didn't know it was a surprise! You told me she had to be here… Well, she's here!" she half-apologized.
"Good job, lil' sis'!" Nikki mocked "That's the last time we give you a mission!"
"I was told there was a cake! What kind?"
"What a silly question! Chocolate of course!" answered Kaitlyn, who had put on a party hat along with a monocle and a fake mustache.
Emily spent a moment to admire her. If she still had doubt that Kaitlyn was her best friend, she would have been convinced right then. Only the two-toned Diva was crazy enough to pull off that look. Specially because Alicia and Rosa were eyeing her like as had escaped an asylum.
"Did you get a monocle for me?" she laughed.
"Of course!" Kaitlyn took a plastic thing similar to hers out of her pocket.
"In that case, that improvised goodbye party can start!" Emily screamed.
AJ blew a whistle and the girls took out plastic plates and cutlery. Once everyone was served, they all said a nice word to Emily before settling on the sofas facing the TV.
Emily and Brie were sitting next to each other, holding their breath. Both knew their boyfriends were going to get hurt, no matter how little…
"Everything is going to be fine!" Natalya promised in her ear.
Punk's music could be heard in the entire arena, a chill went down her spine when she saw the man she loved coming out wearing his hoodie.
He went to the ring and took off the hoodie, looking into the camera with an intense look. Emily knew it was for her.
The song of the Valkyries started and Daniel Bryan came out, holding proudly the WWE title. From the corner of her eye, Emily could see the twins share a look.
After a long introduction from Justin Roberts, the match finally started. If both men respected each other a lot outside the ring, it wasn't the case on screen. Bryan had just turned heel a month after winning the championship, so tonight the public was cheering for the Second City Savior.
They started, punching and kicking hard. They threw each other in the ring corners, jumped above the top rope, into the stairs. Emily's heart missed a beat every time she feared Punk might get injured.
He pushed Daniel on the commentary table and looked at the title that had just been hanged above the ring.
He took out a ladder under the ring and opened it inside. He was climbing up the first steps when Daniel arrived and brought him to the floor, hard.
The matched kept going for a while, it was captivating but Emily could perceive a certain uneasiness on her fiancé's face, she hoped it was only for the gimmick…
Daniel went to get a giant ladder after he suicide dived on Punk. The end of the match was near. CM Punk got up and knocked the champion out with a high kick, placing him in the ring. He opened the big ladder outside to jump inside the ring on Bryan Macho Man style.
He climbed it up with difficulty, which gave Daniel enough time to get up. Once the challenger was high enough, Daniel started to get close. He wasn't supposed to push it all the way but his foot got caught up in a camera wire.
Punk tried to stabilize the ladder by putting all his weight on his heels but instead of falling in the ring, he fell towards the announcing table.
His head collided with it. The referee immediately made the X sign with his arms.
It was complete silence in the arena and all the Divas turned to Emily who was staring at the screen, shocked.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, the situation is very serious…" she could hear Michael Cole declare.
She could feel arms hug her and for a second, she thought it was Punk, but it was Kaitlyn… Seeing the worried look on her best friend's face, she realized something:
"I know you!"
"What?" the Blonde wasn't expecting this.
"I know all of you!"
"Of course you know us Emmy! What are you talking about?"
Emily had no time for this, she needed to get to Punk… She didn't care about cameras, his gimmick or the rest of the world for that matter, she needed him and she was certain that right now, he needed her. And she really needed to tell him something:
"I remember everything!" she murmured before leaving the room, running.
As she ran in the hallways like crazy, she noticed she didn't have flashbacks or she wasn't overwhelmed by memories, nothing was falling back into place. It just felt like she had always known about it, like something you know that you know but can't remember right now… The shock of maybe losing the man of her life was the shock to make everything right. But it wasn't right, Phil was hurt and she had no idea how bad.
She was stopped in her tracks by a group of Superstars with worried looks: Kofi, Wade Barrett, Drew McIntyre and Randy Orton…
"No Emily! Let them do their job!" Kofi screamed as he caught her by the waist.
Emily fought to get free, she scratched his skin with her nails, she slapped him, she bit him… She liked Kofi a lot but in this instant, he was in her way and nothing/no one could stop her from being by Punk's side…
"I need to see him! Leave me alone! I must see him, just let me go!"
She didn't know if she was screaming or crying. Her mind was not there… In the back, she saw the ambulance come into the arena in reverse. So she fought harder to get free from the Ghanaian. Once she managed to do it, she started to run in case another one of the group would try to stop her again. She arrived and stuck herself to the ambulance doors. Nobody would push her away until she had seen him.
Deep down, she knew there was no chance he wasn't alive anymore… She just feared how badly injured he would be…
The stretcher came in. They had but a neck-bracer on him, Doctor Robinson was there. He left Punk's side as soon as he saw Emily:
"He needs to go to the hospital, right now" he explained "We think he might have broken cervicals and he still isn't conscious…"
Emily's gaze kept going from the doctor to the body on the stretcher.
"I'm coming with!" she said.
The doctor wasn't pleased but he could see the determination on the young woman's face and knew better not to argue. He just nodded. She went in the ambulance after Punk and a member of the medical staff.
"Can I touch him?" she asked as the doors were closing.
"Nothing in the neck area!" warned the man in black.
"Just his hand!"
The man nodded and Emily took Punk's hand into hers.
"Hey, don't do that to me, not now that I remember everything. I want you to know it!" she cried.
Of course the hospital was on the other side of town… Emily stopped crying and started praying. She was not religious at all, but she didn't know what else to do.
The nurse was checking every ten minutes the pulse and the breathing of the patient. He put a light in front of his eyes, those seemed absent as if he was dreaming or deep in thought…
"Nothing?"
"Nothing"
Emily squeezed his hand tighter, hoping for some kind of miracle to happen, that he would open his eyes and be perfectly fine. She sang their song… He remained unconscious…
Once at the hospital, the staff asked Emily to get out of the way. She didn't want to leave him but she knew she couldn't do anything to help him.
Just before they entered the building, she heard a small voice:
"Hey, easy tiger!"
She tried to pass through the nurse and doctors encircling him, asking him a lot of questions at the same time and pointing lights at his eyes.
"You fell during your match and we had to take you to the hospital. As you remained unconscious until now, we want to examine you and see if everything is okay…"
"Emily? Where's Emily?" he asked, still confused.
"I'm here!" she screamed from behind the crowd of people surrounding him.
They all let her through. She immediately took his hand and brought it her lips.
"I'm sorry Miss Crawley but you can't come with us!" Dr Robinson said.
Emily nodded. She didn't want to be in the way, the sooner they examine him, the sooner he could come home.
"I just want to tell…"
"It will have to wait!"
They pushed the stretcher and the intertwined hands of Punk and Emily were separated. She shrugged, she could always tell him later, the priority was his health.
Behind her, she felt movement. She turned around and saw Kaitlyn, Bryan, Brie and some other Superstars worried about Punk. There was also some of the WWE staff, that went directly in to ask the medical staff about the condition of their top star.
"Hey" Kaitlyn said, breathless.
"Hey" Emily answered more calmly than she thought she would be.
"We should probably go in?" Kofi asked.
Emily's cellphone started to ring. It was Chez, Punk's sister:
"Emmy, tell me that what I just saw on TV was just for show? Mom and the girls are panicking!"
Emily told her everything that happened since the WWE had gone off the air. She reassured her as much as she could, asking her to tell her family, Colt, Lars and everyone that might get concerned for Punk's status because it would be hard for her to pick up in the hospital. She promised to call her as soon as she would get more news. She hung up and went to join the others in the waiting room. They all tried to comfort her but she didn't feel like talking:
"What did you mean by 'I remember everything'?" Kaitlyn finally asked, she couldn't wait anymore.
"I… The shock… I remember the missing year!"
"Everything? You mean, you remember me, and Punk and all of us?"
Emily nodded, Kaitlyn jumped in her arms. The young woman tried to hug her back but she didn't feel as excited about the news as her best friend. Though she was happy to "find back" Kaitlyn, the one she wanted to celebrate with was Punk.
A doctor came in to speak with Emily privately: Punk had nothing too serious physically, just a concussion that was a bit concerning, but if everything was fine, he wouldn't stay too long in the hospital. And he was asking for her. She thanked him and asked him to share the news with their group of friends while she went to the man of her life's room.
She went in without knocking and saw the office employees of WWE discussing with the injured man:
"Sorry" she said as she was closing the door to wait in the hallway.
"Wait! You can speak in front of my fiancée!"
Both men exchanged a look but they knew how stubborn Punk could be and that he would impose Emily's presence no matter what they said.
"First of all, the McMahon family wishes you the best in your recovery!"
"You can tell them I thank them!" Punk answered with irony as he made a sign to Emily to come closer.
"Then, we spoke to your doctors and they think you'll need at least 2 weeks off to rest… We might call you before that to make a promo but be assured, you won't wrestle for 2 weeks!"
Punk frowned. He didn't like forced leave, if he was taking a vacation, he liked to be the one to ask for it.
"And that's all for now!"
The two men took their leave after exchanging a few politenesses. The two love birds were finally alone:
"You'll have to bear with me for 2 weeks then…" he sighed as he pulled Emily closer to kiss her.
"That shouldn't be a problem!" she smiled, sitting next to him on the bed.
"I'm not sure I will be in a good mood though!" he warned.
"Anyway, you'll be spending your time reassuring everybody you're okay, I won't see you that much!"
"Yeah, especially if you work all day…" he sighed louder than before.
"Well… I'm going to thank them for the offer but I won't do it… They won't be too happy about it but I think you'll need me more than they do…"
"Thank god!" he smiled widely.
They remained cuddled up in each other for a few minutes:
"That reminds me the night we spent after Night of Champions last year, you had hurt your knee and you could barely walk… I thought you'd tear off the head of your doctor… And then, we went in the bus, under the opening roof…" she started.
"With the covers on the floor and Kofi driving… Thinking back, this is probably one of the best nights of my life… Even though you suck at astronomy!" he laughed.
"Not everybody is obsessed by stars and constellations, Mr Spaceboy!" she answered, nudging him lightly.
He only laughed harder and pulled her closer to him. She looked at him in the corner of her eye. She may have been too subtle… He didn't get that she remembered a night she should have forgotten!
"I should call your sister to reassure her!"
"Which one?"
"Chez… But she keeps the whole "tribe" in the loop!" she insisted on the word because that's how he always called them.
"Let Kofi do it! I want to keep you with me as much as I can! They're going to force you to leave soon…"
"Phil…"
"Hmm?"
"It's been twice I tried to make you understand something subtly but you don't seem to get it…"
"That's the concussion for you!" he shrugged "Nothing serious?"
"On the contrary, it's good news I think!"
He sat back up and looked at her attentively:
"You know I probably won't remember it in a few hours, right?" he warned.
"I'll tell you again, then!"
"Okay… Wait… Night of champions… You remember? You remember! Right?"
She didn't have time to answer, he pulled her into the tightest hug ever. She could no longer breathe but he was so happy, she didn't want to ruin the moment. She could feel his tears roll in her neck.
"I thought it would never happen!" he sniffled.
"Yeah well… Mr Brooks, you're going to get stuck with a girl who remembers every day of her life! Are you sure you still want to marry her?" she joked.
"Oh yes! And that concussion might be a good news after all! We're gonna spend our time talking about all that you remember and everything we need for our future!"
He couldn't stop crying and she felt some tears of joy roll down her face too.
She thought that it felt like the end of a fairytale. Everything was for the best in the end.
THE END.
