Chapter Eight: By His Side

I hold the phone in my hands, unsure of what to say. "What...what do you mean there's been an accident?"

Luke's voice, which I can now place the emotion as sadness, waivers as he said, "Phil and I were supposed to go out for dinner tonight and I went by his place to pick him up. I got to his room and the door was unlocked. You know Phil never leaves the door unlocked. So I went in. Lillie, he was attacked. He's in a bad shape. I know you two aren't together for the time being but..."

"Where is he?" I ask, trying to keep my voice calm but the sadness leaking out. My eyes are waterlogged and I can't believe what I'm hearing.

"I sent Serena to pick you up," Luke says, "she told me to call you first though to let you know. Look, I have to go. I'll see you when you get here." He hangs up and I get out of bed quickly, changing into a black hoodie and black sweatpants. I can't believe what Luke told me. Phil...hurt...I can't believe... I shake my head and hear a car pull up outside. I look at Serena who is sitting in the front seat. Her mascara looks like it has been ruined so I can tell she's been crying. I get into the car and then remember, "Wait...can you wait?"

Serena nods, "The hospital isn't to far away from here." I run back inside and grab the ring out of the drawer. I want to have it just...just in case. I get back in the car and put a hand on Serena's shoulder, "You'll be okay. I'm sure Phil...Phil's gonna make it."

"How do you know? He was hurt pretty bad..." Serena says softly, I can tell there's something in her voice. I connect two and two together.

"Before you and Luke were together and before I was with Phil...you liked him didn't you?" I ask with a smile. She blushes and I laugh, "Don't feel like that. If you liked him, you liked him. I can't stop how two people feel about each other."

"Yeah, I had a crush on Philly. He was the whole reason I got into the WWE anyways. Much like he saved you from alcohol, he saved me." Serena replies, "And as for love, Phil called Luke and I and told us that he saw you kissing Alberto Del Rio. How could you hurt Phil like that?"

"How could I hurt Phil like that? I didn't kiss him back! I invited Alberto in before my lingerie pillowfight because we were friends growing up. He just sorta kissed me and Phil walked in," I cry. "I never meant for that to happen. I never meant for him to be so upset with me! Dammit I never meant to lose him!"

Serena frowns, "I'm sorry Lillie. I...I should have thought things through."

I nod, whiping my eyes, "It's okay. I just...I never wanted Phil and I to be brought down to this. How can I expect anything to get better between the two of us if...if he doesn't..."

Serena cuts me off, "Hey, don't think like that. It's kinda late so why don't you take a nap. I'll wake you when we get to the hospital."

I nod and curl into a ball in the passangers seat the best that I can. I'm terrified of what's going to happen. I finally manage to fall asleep and what seems like a short while later, Serena is shaking me awake. I turn to look at her, "We're here?"

"Yeah," Serena sighs. She parks the car and the two of us walk briskly to the front doors. Luke and Joey are waiting for us in the waiting room and I look at them, worried.

"We thought we'd stay out here to wait for you and take you back," Luke says. He wraps an arm around Serena and leads us back to where Phil is. He's laying there, hooked up to so many machines that my heart stops cold. I put my hand on the glass that seperates us from where he's at. What sort of heartless monster could have done this to him? Could have attacked Philly so harshly that he ended up like this?

The tears run down my face and I say, "He proposed to me...he proposed to me and caught Alberto kissing me and he got so mad. I didn't want Alberto to kiss me."

Luke puts a comforting hand on my shoulder, "It'll be okay, he'll be okay. I mean, it's Phil...he has to be okay." For once I can sense an emotion in Luke's voice that I've never heard the big guy produce before. It's fear. He's trying to cheer me up, this I know. But every fear soaked word he lets out only scares me even more. Phil has to be okay. I mean, he's my hero and whens the last time a hero died. Well, Braveheart...and Titanic...and... I can't let myself think like this. I can't let them see me down. The doctor walks out of the room and smiles at us.

"Are you all here to see Mr. Brooks? I'm Doctor Albreight." he extends his hand and I shake it.

"Yes, I'm Lillie. His...his girlfriend," I reply, softly. How I wish I could actually say that I was his fiance.

"Well, only one person at a time is allowed back there right now. He's in a very serious condition." Dr. Albreight says, looking at us meaningfully. "He was attacked with some sort of object and has suffered temporal lobe damage as well as a few broken ribs, a broken leg, and a broken nose."

"You said temporal lobe damage. What does that mean?" I ask.

"Well, he will have a hard time with memories. There are things that he may never remember and things that he may remember. All we can do is wait and see what happens." Doctor Albreight says to me very cooly and calmly.

My heart breaks, "He'll...he'll remember me won't he?"

"There is a possibility he won't but then again, there is a possibility that he will. Now, if you excuse me I have other patients to get to." Doctor Albreight walks off and I'm still standing there but it's only until Luke speaks up that I remember he, Serena, and Joey are there.

"Do you want to go in Lillie? Serena, Joey, and I can always wait it out. Can't we?" Luke smiles, patting my back.

Joey nods, "Right. Let's go get some coffee or something." They walk off and I enter Phil's room. I pull a chair up close to the bed and take Phil's hand in mine. I won't ever let him go. If he dies...I go with him. If this would have happened to Dave it probably would have scared me off but it happening to Phil has made me realize that relationships like this, where you truly love the other person, are hard to come by. And whoever tried to hurt Phil, they better pray to whatever God they believe in because if I catch them, only their religion is going to save them. I'll make damn sure of that.