Chapter 9 – Moments
Warmth.
"Ma'am..."
She felt warmth on her chilled skin.
"Ma'am can you hear me?" A voice that sounded like it was muffled and in the distance. "She's got a pulse but she is FREEZING. We need to get them out of here and get them under some warming blankets. How's the other one?"
She could feel warm fingers touching her face, neck and fingers.
"Ma'am, Can you open your eyes for me?" The voice asked.
She forced her eyelids open as she blinked a few times to focus. She could feel the cold had seeped into her bones and body; even her eyes felt frozen.
"He's definitely got a pulse, but he's got some injuries. It looks like whoever has been cleaning this cut on his head for him has been taking really good care of him. Looks like he's got a possible fractured shin; that's definitely going to need some surgery."
"S-Shane..." Dominique whimpered.
"Is that his name ma'am?" The Fire & Rescue Paramedic asked. He watched as she nodded as she tried to move around a little. "Can you tell me your name ma'am?"
"D-D-Dominique." She didn't realize how cold everything really felt until she tried saying her own name.
"Okay Dominique, it's nice to meet you. My name is Chuck and I need you to stay still for me. I'm going to put an IV in you and start pumping warm saline solution into your body so we can get you warmed up." He stated softly.
"S-Shane..."
"Don't worry my partner is taking good care of him. I promise." Chuck reassured her.
Dominique could hear a few more foot falls around her and figured there were more than two paramedics. She reached out and grabbed Chuck's hand; he stopped what he was doing and looked at her. "P-Please take g-good care of H-Hamilton and S-Shane." She was definitely more cold than she initially thought she was.
"Okay sweetheart we will. I take it Hamilton is the deceased gentleman in the back of the plane." He pointed out and watched as she nodded. "No problem; we got them both covered - just relax for me." Her fingers on his felt like ice cubes. He watched as she nodded once more.
AJ jogged down the hallway towards the locker room; word had just came through that the WWE private jet had been found. The only thing that was throwing everyone was that the Appalachian Fire and Rescue team said that there were only two survivors. Everyone knew that it was Shane, Dominique and the pilot Hamilton on the company jet; so there was tons of speculation on who had made it and who didn't.
AJ slid to a stop in front of Dean's locker room door; he tried the knob but it was locked, he'd practically become a hermit the two weeks since the plan had gone missing. AJ banged on it with his closed fist. "Dean! DEAN GET YOUR ASS UP AND OPEN THIS DOOR!"
The door flew open. "WHAT?" Dean growled.
AJ grabbed Dean's shoulders. "They found the plane." AJ could tell Dean was processing the information. "Did you hear me? They found the plane." He stated again.
"Tell me she's okay." It was Dean's only request. "Tell me..."
"I don't know bro. They reported the plane was found with only two survivors." AJ knew he couldn't keep the truth from Dean. If he hid it and Dean found out he would more than likely wind up with Dean's fist punching a whole through his head. "They were all taken to Richmond; if we leave now we can get there in two hours."
As luck would have it the roster was in Fairfax Virginia that night.
Dean nodded before he grabbed his cell and called Jaleesa to tell her; she made it to the rental car with her bags in 3 minutes flat. She may have been in her ring attire, but she didn't care as she flung clothes all over the front seat while AJ was driving. AJ was leery of driving with a half naked girl in the SUV but Jaleesa finally punched him in the arm and told him to move his ass.
Dominique was sitting up on the edge of a hospital bed. The staff had been nice enough to put her and Shane in the same room; he wasn't there long because he had been whisked away to surgery. It took her a good full two hours before she actually got her body to stop shivering violently. The nurse had come in and had taken the IV out of the back of her hand finally.
She had been extremely happy that the fire and rescue guys had made sure to grab her suitcase. The nurses had allowed her to take a shower while one of them stayed outside the bathroom in case she needed help; the warm water and feeling of clean skin never felt so good before. Two weeks without a shower or bath was 13 days longer than she wanted. She would NEVER take showers or baths for granted again.
She was happy when she got out of the shower that Shane had come out of surgery for his shin, but wasn't awake just yet. She was also grateful again when the nurse allowed her to dress in her own clothing instead of a hospital gown. She had four bruised ribs but it wasn't anything major that wouldn't heal. Shane would need some light physical therapy but he too would make a full recovery.
She thought she could hear a freaking stampede coming down the hospital hallway as she slowly let her feet touch the floor and she walked over to the door. Her aqua eyes widened as she looked out and saw practically EVERY WWE Superstar and Diva standing in the hallways arguing with the nurses at the nurses' station. She couldn't hear what they were saying just could get the jest of them trying to find out where she and Shane were.
AJ had never seen one man move as fast as Dean did. As soon as he had parked the rented SUV Dean was out and running into the hospital. Stephanie had called him ahead of time and told him what floor to meet on.
Meet on?
AJ chuckled. There was going to be no meeting anyone anywhere! It was going to be Dean going balls to the wall until he found his sister. Stephanie had also been able to let them know that Shane and Dominique had been the survivors of the plane crash. So that was a breath of relief they all had been holding for almost two hours in the rental.
AJ and Jaleesa could run but neither one could keep up with Dean.
Dean slid around the corner and wasn't really all that surprised to see almost the whole WWE roster on one floor. He really hoped the support beams and foundation were sturdy otherwise they all would be crashing down on the floor below them. Dean was in a sea of people and no one looked like his sister.
"DOMINIQUE!"
Dominique's head snapped around; she hadn't left the room - she hadn't been ready to face anyone yet. The questions she was sure they would bombard her with were something she just didn't want to hear. "Dean..." She whimpered out as she opened the hospital room door again and stuck her head out and looked down the hallway. She could see everyone else but she couldn't see her brother.
"DOMINIQUE!"
Nothing sounded as good as hearing her brothers voice; even if it sounded slightly panicked because she knew he couldn't find her. She finally stepped out and started towards the crowd of familiar faces. "DEAN!" She finally called out. The other Superstars and Divas standing around the hallway started approaching her but she was trying to duck away from them. She had to push a few of them away. "DEAN!"
"DOMINIQUE!" Jesus Christ Dean didn't remember THIS many fuckers working for WWE before. Dean finally started pushing and shoving people out of his way; he would apologize later.
Dean finally got through everyone and saw his sister standing barefoot in her jeans and t-shirt. "Dominique." He walked over to her and engulfed her into his arms pulling her into his body.
Dominique wrapped her arms around her brothers torso as she buried her face into his t-shirt covered chest. She couldn't help letting the tears fall as she held onto her brother for dear life. "I didn't think I was ever going to see you again." She whimpered.
"I'm here; I'm not going anywhere little sister." Dean murmured into the crown of her head. He let a sigh of relief slip from his lips. He never really gave up hope; he just didn't want to think about the alternative.
AJ and Jaleesa stopped dead in their tracks as they watched the exchange between the siblings. Jaleesa grabbed AJ's arm as she too sighed with relief as AJ joined in the sigh before putting his hand over hers in comfort. As much as AJ was ready to tell Dominique how he really felt; it could wait - he could wait. She was definitely worth waiting for.
Dean couldn't have been happier having Dominique back on the road with him, AJ and Jaleesa; it was nice having the entire gang back together. Dean had pampered and babied his sister all weekend. Sunday was going to be Smackdown's first Pay Per View Backlash.
Dominique got a kick out of watching the matches and promos between Dean and AJ leading up to the PPV where AJ was challenging her brother for the WWE Championship. AJ and Dean were in their locker room getting ready for their match as they listened to Dominique laugh, boo and growl at the tablet. When Dean hung AJ on the ropes her mouth dropped open as she looked at her brother who just shrugged nonchalantly.
"What?" He asked.
"I can't believe you did that!" Dominique exclaimed. "Then you bounced the rope, patted him on the shoulder and shook his hand...REALLY? You shook his hand?"
"Well I wasn't going to kiss his boo-boos and make him feel better." Dean shrugged it off again.
"Yea thanks by the way. You just hung me out to dry before Smackdown went off air and then Cena, Reigns and Rollins come out and bounce their big asses all over that damn top rope and squished my plumbs even more." AJ grumbled.
Jaleesa chuckled. "You mean the Jesus zipper."
"Uh, I'm sorry the what?" Dominique asked wide eyed.
Jaleesa walked out of the bathroom after having changed for her match as she planed herself on the couch next to Dominique. "This dork went on Talking Smack with Renee and Daniel and said Dean got him in his Jesus zipper and then proceeded to try and EXPLAIN what it was exactly in front of Renee."
If AJ hadn't been so tan they would've totally been able to see him blushing at their laughter for his choice of words. "Well - I was just trying to explain what it meant. They both asked; Daniel understood even if Renee didn't."
"Oh no Renee understood she just wasn't sure if you were explaining it right or not." Jaleesa continued to tease AJ.
"Okay this I have to see." Dominique requested; as Jaleesa took the tablet from Dominique and she scrolled through the videos on an found the topic at hand before pushing play and giving the tablet back to her best friend.
Dominique's eyes widened once more at AJ's explanation of the Jesus zipper before she let out a round of boisterous laughter. She watched as Jaleesa stood up and threw her arm around AJ's shoulders.
"Awww look the Phenomenal one is blushing." Jaleesa teased before she pinched AJ's cheeks.
AJ scowled at both women. "You two suck." Before he let out a chuckle because he could hear Dean's laughter coming from the bathroom. "I don't want to hear shit from the peanut gallery." AJ lightly kicked the bathroom door only making Dean's laughter louder as he threw a glare at the girls on the couch when they laughed as loud as Dean.
He missed this and didn't even realize it until now.
Dominique stayed in the locker room for most of the Pay Per View; half the roster kept asking her questions and the other half wasn't really sure what to say to her. She had been happy earlier when Roman came by to check on her and make sure she was doing okay. Since he had been drafted to the Raw roster; they hadn't seen much of their giant Samoan friend.
And he did give some of the best hugs.
AJ was witness to that as he watched the Samoan Dynasty family member with his twin cousins made their way into the locker room. The first person to him was Dominique. Once Roman swallowed her tiny frame into his arms, his twin cousins joined in the hugging. Dominique's laughter flitted around the locker room; AJ never enjoyed a sound so much in his life. Though her being surrounded by three gigantic Samoan's was kick starting his green eyed monster.
By the time the production assistant made his rounds to AJ and Dean's locker room to let them know it was time for their match Dominique's nerves were all over the place. Jaleesa walked with her down to the gorilla pit; there was no way she was going to miss watching it on one of the huge monitors that Stephanie and Paul had set up backstage.
They had been dividing their time between Raw and Smackdown weekly since Shane and Dominique's disappearance. Once Shane was back up on his feet it would be back to Raw permanently for them, but until then they were helping.
Jaleesa and Dominique took seats on an equipment trunk and watched as Dean and AJ were talking back and forth as they approached the Gorilla position. If anyone took a picture now; they'd never believe the two could pull off being enemies in the ring. The girls couldn't help laughing as they continued to strategize.
AJ stopped in front of Dominique. "I didn't realize how much I missed that smile."
Dominique leaned over and kissed AJ's cheek. "Good luck and all I ask is that you try to remember he's still my brother." She watched as he nodded while backing away as his entrance music began to fill the arena speakers.
Dean was next to stop in front of Dominique; he leaned over and kissed the crown of her head. "I know I know all you ask is that I'm careful; I promise to try."
"Actually I have a second request." She stated; Dean nodded for her to continued. "Try not to kill the man I have a crush on; plus he is still one of your friends so maiming him would be bad."
Dean chuckled. "I promising nothing of the sort." He flipped the title over his shoulder as his music cued up next.
By the end of BackLash Smackdown had a new WWE Champion in the shape of AJ Styles. No one saw it coming; especially with the way the match ended. People were sure to be pissed off for the days to follow, but it was how the match was to be won and that was exactly how Dean and AJ executed it.
AJ walked back to the gorilla position and saw Jaleesa and Dominique standing there. "I know your both going to be pissed, but it's the way Shane had wanted it before you guys disappeared and Stephanie wouldn't dare go against what her brother had planned out. I would've much rather won with the clean pin, but Shane said the dirtier the better for my heel status."
"Alright Styles, just give me a few to get used to it." Jaleesa nodded before she took off to shower; her match had been grueling but she had retained her Women's championship.
AJ placed the title on the equipment trunk that Dominique was standing next to. "I really did want this to go a different way."
Dominique nodded. "Yea I know; sometimes you're too nice for your own good Mr. Styles, but you've got your moments."
AJ stepped closer to Dominique before he cupped her left cheek and leaned down catching her lips in a soft kiss. He pulled back not wanting to smother her.
"Yes...yes I do."
