Wow. Day two and I have that many reviews. I'd like to thank God, my family and WWE because I could never have done this without them. And last but not least, I want to thank the fans. I do this for you and you make it so worthwhile... LOL. Anyway, thanks. Keep 'em coming, you know the deal. Reviews before updates. Much love.


When Rae opened her eyes she felt like death warmed over.

"Fuck!" she swore to herself.

Why the hell was this happening to her? Was she being punished for the fast life she had led? Had she caused too much heartache to too many people? Was she too much of a selfish, cold hearted bitch to deserve to live? It was ironic really, how she had watched the disease claim both her step dad and mother and now she was suffering the same fate.

"How are you feeling?"

She turned her head to see the rainbow haired warrior sitting in a chair next to the bed. He had a sketch pad in his lap and headphones around his neck.

"I could be better," she smiled sadly as she sat up.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

"Not really."

Hardy nodded his head and put the pad down.

"I ordered some food," he said. "I thought maybe you'd want to get something down you before you go back to your room."

"I'm not really hungry," she said.

"You should eat something. It'll help you keep your strength up."

"I'll catch a bite later with Randy."

"He called, by the way. He must have tried about a hundred times before I decided to answer it. I hope you don't mind."

"What did you tell him?" she asked in a panic.

"Relax. I just told him you were sleeping and he came up with his own conclusions," Jeff assured her, watching her face intently the whole time. "So what is he? Your boyfriend?"

Rae laughed at that.

"No. He's just my best friend. We met when I was one and he was three when my mum moved down the road from their family and we've been inseparable since," she explained.

"Is that why you won't tell him?"

Rae looked away from the searching gaze.

"I told you I don't want to talk about it."

"If you pass out like this often, I'm guessing he'll find out anyway."

"Look, I'll tell him when I'm ready," she snapped. "It's none of your business anyway."

"You're right, it's none of my business. But I think you really need to tell him. When you go through the treatment, you're going to need someone there for you."

She grunted in amusement. Treatment? He was a fucking joker, wasn't he?

"What was that for?"

"Nothing," she lied as she got off the bed. "You're right. I'll tell him soon. Just don't say a word until I do, okay?"

"Sure."

As she stretched, she caught a glimpse of the sketch he had been doing. It was her, but she could hardly recognise herself. The woman in the sketch looked like she was just sleeping, she could almost feel the glow radiating from that woman's face as if she'd just enjoyed a lovely morning tumble. She looked like she didn't have a care in the world.

"I hope you don't mind. I sketch when I'm anxious or just thinking. It helps me relax," Jeff said.

"It's beautiful," she said truthfully.

"I had a lot of that to work with," he smiled.

Rae looked at him as if she was seeing him for the first time. He was gorgeous, sure, she'd noticed that straight away, but now she realised he had so many dimensions. Everyone knew he was very creative but she'd never seen it firsthand. She'd never wanted to, actually.

"You're really good. How come you're slaving away for Vince when you could be making loads of money doing this?"

"My art is my thing. Maybe one day, when my body can't take being abused as much, I'll quit wrestling and pursue that. For now I just use it to keep me sane."

"What were you thinking about, when you did the sketch? You said you use it to help you relax."

"My mum," he answered quietly.

"You were thinking of your mum while you sketched that hot goddess? Kinky, but whatever rocks your boat, man!" she chuckled.

"No," Jeff laughed, then sobered up when he looked at the sketch again. "My mum died when I was nine. She had brain cancer."

The smile left her face as well as reality came once again to bite her in the butt.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't mean to bring it all up for you again."

"It's always there with me," he said. "Time makes the pain better but it never leaves you."

"I know. That's why I was leaving it till the very last minute to tell Randy. I want to give him as many good memories as I can."

"You say that as if it's already beaten you," Jeff said.

"It's not that," she lied. "It's just that I lost my mum a year and a half ago to it. She fought it for three years and still lost so I don't really see much hope for me."

"What are the doctors saying?"

She turned away from him so his observant eyes wouldn't catch the lie.

"They say I have a good chance," she said. "In a few weeks they'll know what course of action to take and book me in."

"I'm sorry. I know you said you didn't want to talk about it," Jeff said as he stood up to stand behind her. "And I know if you did want to talk about it, it wouldn't be with me. We're hardly friends. We've never even been introduced."

"My bad," she smiled, turning to face him again. "You seem like a good guy and after what you did for me today, I'd like to think that we can be friends. Racheal Taylor. Well, Racheal Taylor Callaway."

"No shit!" Jeff chuckled. "You came from the Dead Man? That explains a lot."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she frowned.

"Nothing. It's just that people have seen you having meals with him this weekend and there's been a lot of speculation," he explained.

"Ewww!"

"I know. That's what I said," Jeff laughed. "Taker's daughter? Wow. Now I have to make sure I don't mess with you."

"You couldn't have messed with me even if Mark wasn't my dad!" she chuckled. "I've brought down bigger and stronger men."

"I can believe that," Jeff answered. "So how come noone knows about this, anyway?"

"Long story. To cut it short, when I found out I was dying I decided to get to know him better," she answered as she picked up her bag from the table.

"Don't say that."

"What?"

"That you're dying. You haven't even started the battle yet."

"I know," she sighed.

She could see she had to watch everything she said around this man.

"I'm going now, but I'll see you at the show later," she said. "Thanks for what you did for me, Jeff. I hope I can repay you somehow."

"You don't need to do that," he said as he walked with her to the door. "If you need to talk, just come and find me, okay?"

"Sure," she smiled.

As she made her way to the room she was sharing with Randy and John, she thought how easy Jeff had been to talk to. She never really talked to anyone other than Randy and John, maybe that was her problem. She never saw other people as people, just potential bed partners. So maybe Jeff was what she needed. She could get to know him then maybe they'd form some sort of connection. He was weird, John and Randy always said that about him, but maybe weird was what she needed. She'd never get bored then and she wouldn't need to find another person to sleep with, at least not for the few weeks that she had to carry out her plans. As for the sex, she had her toys to tide her over until a suitable time had passed for her to sleep with him.

And how the hell would she know when a suitable time had passed? She'd have to ask John how these things worked. She didn't have a single clue.


"What do you want to watch?"

"I don't know what half this stuff is," Randy said as he went through the dvds that Rae had brought with her. "I don't even think they've been released yet. Mirrors? You know that one?"

"No," John replied as he grabbed them beers from the mini fridge. "How the hell does she get them, anyway?"

"She sleeps with the right people!" Randy said as he finally picked one that looked good.

"She's been acting a bit different. Have you noticed that?" John asked.

"Yeah. I think it's this list of hers. It's changed her a lot, she lives like she's dying tomorrow," Randy answered.

"I wonder why she won't show it to us," John mused.

"Probably because it's got shit crazy things on it," Randy said dryly. "If I'd known she was going to Columbia, to the jungles no less, I'd have put my foot down."

"Me, too," John agreed as the movie Randy had picked started. "Maybe we should ask her to tone it down a bit."

"I don't think it will be necessary. Not anytime soon, anyway. With her trying to date and fall in love, that could take a while."

"You don't think she'll do it," John stated, looking at his friend.

"Come on, John. You've known her a long time, you know as much as I do that most people bore her to tears. She couldn't last a day in a relationship."

"Are you saying she's never even had a proper relationship?" John asked incredulously.

"Once, a long time ago, she tried the dating thing," he answered. "She was only sixteen at the time."

"What happened?"

"We tried it for a few weeks and decided we were better off as friends."

"We?"

"Oh. Didn't I tell you? I hold the record for being not only her longest relationship but her only one," Randy chuckled.

"No, you never mentioned that to me."

Randy chuckled.

"I should have. Funny story that was."

"Are you going to explain?"

"We were young and foolish. She had it in her head that she was in love with this jerk and I had to do something to make her see sense."

"So you asked her out?"

"It's complicated. Bottom line is I persuaded her I was the best person she could lose her virginity to and we took it from there."

"So what you're saying is you ruined the whole dating thing for her? No wonder she's so messed up. You are the wrong person to show anyone anything about relationships."

"Actually, she ruined it for me. I caught her with the same bastard she'd tried to sleep with first about two weeks in the relationship."

John laughed.

"It's not funny, bro. She broke my heart."

"I find that very hard to believe," John put in.

"Okay, so when I found her I'd just come from doing the hot girl who'd just moved into the neighborhood, but she didn't know that."

"Are you sure?"

"It doesn't matter, anyway. We were both so relieved we didn't have to pretend we were happy. We had one last fuck and that was it."

"You two actually...?"

"Every spare minute we could get. Even when we shouldn't have. She's very creative," Randy chuckled.

"So how did you go from being lovers back to just friends?"

"We're too alike to ever work out. Imagine going to your favourite bar and your girl is there. Then going to your favourite strip club and she's there. And imagine her shouting her lungs out right next to you at every game, every monster truck rally. It wouldn't work. We realised that and just moved on."

"Most people actually think having things in common is a good thing."

"Not when you're trying to get laid by someone else it isn't!" Randy argued. "Besides, we've got a deal. Once she hits thirty we'll both be ready to settle down. She'll pop out a few of my kids to fill up our home and we'll live happily ever after."

"That easy, is it?"

"Actually, yeah."

"So what happens when she does fall in love and she wants someone else's babies?"

"Dude, that will never happen."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I just am."

Rae walked in at that moment, cutting their conversation.

"Hey people," she said happily as she sat down between them on the couch. "Did you miss me?"

"Like a hole in the head," John answered, earning himself a little punch. "So why the big grin on your face?"

"I think I found him," Rae answered.

"Him?" Randy questioned.

"The man I'm going to fall in love with."