Disclaimer: The Undertaker (Mark Calaway) is not mine, but I've been thinking about kidnapping him... Just saying... :-)

Author's Note: Again.. not my best work, but I think it's okay.. right? Please read and review! Thanks

THANK YOU TO TAKERSOULMATE, KEEPER OF OZ, SEAOFEMOTIONS92, KEPOUROS, MISSBRIANNA, MRS. A87, JACESHADOWHUNTER, & BINGOBABY FOR YOUR REVIEWS!

Chapter Ten
Learning Curve

She shook her head as tears spilled down her cheeks. She clawed at her throat and that's when I heard the wheezing. She wasn't breathing and fuck, she was turning blue.

"Mr. Calaway?"

I turned around and faced the doctor who had Ashley's life hanging in his hands. After recognizing that she was having an allergic reaction and with Ashley's direction before she passed out, I found the epi-pen in her camera bag and plunged it deep in her soft thigh. She had almost immediately gone back to breathing but it was shallow and definitely not enough to satisfy me so I rushed her to the nearest hospital. They pulled her out of my arms and into the back before I could utter a word. Now after thirty minutes, the doctor was finally coming to let me know what the hell had happened.

"Yes."

"You're the one who brought Ms. Martin in?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yes."

He nodded in reply. "The epi-pen probably saved her life. She went into Anaphylactic shock after having an allergic reaction to mushrooms."

Anything he said after mushrooms, I barely heard. I can't believe I almost killed her. I had completely forgotten that she was allergic to mushrooms. It never even crossed my mind while popping one after another into my mouth while talking with Jacobs. I'm a complete fucking dumbass and I fucked up. I just wanted to take Ashley back to the hotel and keep an eye on her. Then I needed to check into a mental hospital because I needed serious help. But then again, I did almost kill her so I was entitled to feel a little off.

"When can I see it? When is she being released?" I asked.

The doctor's eyes narrowed. "She's stabled and will be able to leave in the morning."

"Can I see her?"

He nodded. "You can see her, but only because she asked for you."

His words took me back. She asked for me? I wonder if I should be worried. "What room is she in?" I asked. The doctor gave me her room number and I made my way towards her room. Entering the small and somewhat depressing room, I felt more guilt. On the verge of thinking I should just leave Ashley alone and not sleep with her, she looks up at me and smiles and that thought flies out the damn window.

"It isn't your fault. I promise." Those were the first words she spoke to me and again the spot in my chest squeezes so tight, it's painful.

I reach her bedside and run a gentle finger across her lower lip. "I do believe it is my fault." I told her.

She shook her head and a frown mars her pretty face. She looked so damn tired. "Accidents happen, Taker. I'm fine I promise. I've been in the hospital for my allergy to mushrooms more times than I can remember. It's okay. Honest."

My brow furrowed in confusion and I perched myself on the side of the bed next to her; my thigh against her hip. "Why is that?"

She shrugged her shoulders and looked away. With a tip of a finger, I brought those darkened brandy eyes to meet mine once again. "Explain please. How long have you known that you've been allergic to mushrooms?"

She lets out a sigh. "Since I was about six or so. My mom and her boyfriend ordered a pizza and ordered mushrooms on it. I wasn't allowed to eat it, but I snuck a piece anyway. Within minutes of eating a piece I was rushed to the hospital because I wasn't breathing. The hospital informed my mom that I had eaten something I was allergic to, but they wasn't really able to pinpoint what since the piece of pizza I had eaten had onions, cheese, pepperoni, banana peppers, and mushrooms on it. So once I was released from the hospital, I –" She broke off and took a deep breath. "Can we talk about something else?" She asked, almost desperate.

I shook my head. I had tons of questions just from the small bit of information she had given me so I definitely didn't want to talk about anything else. "How come you weren't allowed the pizza, Ashley?"

She pursued her lips and sighed. "My mom wasn't exactly a mean person, Taker. She just wasn't the perfect mother either. She didn't want me to eat a lot of bad foods because she was afraid I would get fat. And fat little girls always grew up to be fat woman who had nothing and nobody."

"She said that?"

Ashley nodded. "I ate a lot of peanut butter sandwiches and eggs. One reason why I hate peanut butter. I rarely got chocolate so I get a little crazy with it sometimes. I had an okay childhood, it just wasn't perfect."

I nodded. "Well you said that the hospital wasn't sure what you were allergic to. How did you discover which ingredient it was?"

She let out another sigh. "My mom waited a few days and then gave me onions to eat. They were mixed up with my eggs that I ate every morning. Since nothing happened, the next day she gave me eggs and cheese."

My eyes widened and then hardened in anger, but I didn't interrupt.

"The next day she gave me the eggs with banana peppers and still nothing happened. That night she gave me a peanut butter sandwich with mushrooms on them. The reaction was almost instant. I was once again rushed to the ER and admitted. My mom said she had no idea what I had gotten into."

"What the fuck, Ashley? Was your mom trying to kill you?"

She shook her head. "She had this disease and it wasn't curable."

"What disease, Kitten could make a mother do that to her child?"

"She had to have attention. She craved it like a drug. Once she realized that I was allergic to mushrooms, she – she um –"

I interrupted. "She took advantage of you and your allergy. How many times have you been in the hospital for this?"

Ashley shrugged. "I'm not really sure, Taker. It's been a while."

"More than ten?" I asked and she nodded. "More than twenty?" I asked and she hesitated before slowly nodding. I stand up to my full height as a stream of expletives left my mouth and she grimaced. I paced the small hospital room and she watched my every movement.

"It's not a big deal, Taker and –" More hesitation from her. "It's none of your business."

I stalked back over to her and grabbed her chin with one hand. Her defiant eyes met mine and all I could do was stare at her. She had been neglected and abused as a child and she didn't see it. Maybe she did, but she didn't want to admit it. I had put her back in the hospital once again for her mushroom allergy. It wouldn't happen again.

"I'll be back." I told her before releasing her chin and walking out of the room with the sound of Ashley's giggle in my ear.

The Next Morning—

Sitting in my truck in the hospital parking lot, I dialed Vince's cell number.

"McMahon."

Vince McMahon, my boss answered his cell phone with the same attitude he always has. Cocky and arrogant. I've learned to deal with it because I really like my job and Vince is just one of those side effects.

Never one for niceties. "We need to cut mushrooms from any and all of our catering menus."

"Calaway?"

"Yes." I snapped.

"Why?"

"Why what?" I asked.

"Why do we need to cut mushrooms from the catering menus?"

"Because Ashley is deathly allergic to them. I do mean deathly. Just coming in contact with someone who has eaten them can kill her."

"How did you discover this?"

I took a deep breath. "Because I almost killed her last night."

It was Vince who took a deep breath then. "Consider it done."

"Good. Thanks."

He made an mmm sound. "What's going on between you and my new photographer?"

How should I answer that? "With all due respect, it's none of your damn business. I'm not a general manager and neither is she. So mind your business." With that said, I hung up the phone. I knew I would have to face Vince but for now I just didn't give a shit.

I stepped out of my truck, grabbed the duffel bag with Ashley's clothes and headed towards the entrance to the hospital. I made my way to the fourth floor where Ashley was located and lucky me, I only got stopped twice by fans who asked for autographs. Both of them were kids so I had no problem giving them what they wanted. I reached Ashley's room and barely heard the end of her conversation.

"Yes I understand." "I don't know exactly." "No Sir." "Thank you, Sir." "Bye."

I entered her room and found her hanging up her phone. Her breathing was erratic, she was shaking awfully bad, her face was pale, and the air in the room was thick with fear. Who the hell had been on the phone?

"Who was that?" I barked and Ashley jumped at the sound of my voice. She swallowed hard and hesitated with an answer. "Don't lie to me, Kitten. Who was that on the phone?" I asked again.

She licked her bottom lip. "Mr. McMahon." She answered.

I swore. "What did he want?" I asked.

"He wanted to know what was going on between us."

Another swore word left my mouth. "What do you tell him?"

She took a deep breath. "I told him that there was nothing between us because there isn't."

I cocked an eyebrow and nodded. She was wrong, but I wasn't getting into that here and now. I placed the duffel bag on the bed and helped her slowly to her feet.

"Get dressed and I'll go find a doctor to get you released. We've got to get on the road."

She nodded and reached for the duffel.

"Ashley?" I called her name from the doorway. She looked up at me with question in her eyes. "You have no reason to be scared of Vince. You know that, right?"

She slowly nodded. "I'm not scared of Mr. McMahon."

I nodded and left the room, shutting the door behind me. I didn't believe her. She had to be afraid of Vince. Why else would the air be so thick with fear if she wasn't scared of our boss?

Wednesday On The Road—

We had been on the road for a little over an hour when Ashley finally broke the silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, it was just quiet because neither one of us had anything to say. Well, I had plenty to say but I didn't want to be on the road when I said it. Something told me she wouldn't like what I was going to say.

"I talked to Mr. McMahon Monday night at Raw. He's sending me to Bejing."

I almost went off the road. "What the hell for?" I barked as I cut my eyes towards Ashley.

Ashley gave me a dirty look and I returned it. "There's a charity event coming up and several of the wrestlers are going and he wants me to go to take pictures."

I didn't like that at all. She didn't need to be traveling across the globe to take pictures. She had a crazy stalker after her and leaving her home turf didn't sound like a good thing to me.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" I asked.

She nodded. "I do. I'm excited. Mr. McMahon gave me a list of some of the wrestlers that were going and I'm even more excited to get to work with them."

I took a deep breath. "Who's all going?"

"Randy Orton, John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Alberto Del Rio, and several others are all going. How come you don't go?"

I cut a quick look at her and felt the urge to smile. "Miss me, huh?"

She giggled. "Nah, I just thought you might be getting bored in your old age."

I growled and she giggled again. Definitely a sweet sound. "I may be getting up there in age, but I'm still young where it counts." I replied back with a wink.

She blushed a bright pink and that did make me grin. "Mr. McMahon already said that he had enough volunteers so you couldn't come anyway, but I was just wondering why you didn't volunteer to go."

I didn't volunteer because I didn't know Ashley at the time nor did I know I would actually be considering dragging my ass across country to sleep with some woman, but I was considering it. Have I seriously lost my fucking mind? Shaking my head, I avoided that answer. I didn't want to go down that road. Not that I was afraid of what I would find, but because I didn't care. Yeah that's it.

I decided to change the subject. "You said your mom craved attention and that once she discovered your mushroom allergy, she used it to her advantage. Right?"

Her whole body tensed tight and she slowly nodded.

"What did she do before she discovered that particular tidbit?"

If it was possible, her body became more tense and her jaw was clenched so tight I was afraid she was going to break a few teeth.

"It's really none of your business, Taker and I don't want to talk about it."

That none of my business shit again. It was getting really old. "How about we trade?"

She looked over at me with a wary look on her face. Good girl. "Trade what?"

"You answer my questions and I'll give you anything you want."

She opened her mouth to say something and I cut her off.

"And no I am not backing off on us going to bed. That isn't even on the table."

She blew out a breath and sighed. "Fine, but anything else I want is okay?"

I nodded. "Anything. Now answer the question."

She chewed on her lower lip. "What question was that again?"

I actually chuckled at that. She was cute. "You know the question, Kitten. Now answer it."

"She was a good mother, Taker. She just had some problems that she didn't get help for."

"A good mother wouldn't feed her child mushrooms which she's allergic to just to get sympathy and compassion from others."

She sighed. "I know."

"So…"

Another sigh. "I fell down some stairs when I was three and broke my collarbone. When I was four, I broke my arm. Five, I ran out in front of a car backing out of the driveway. My mom told me that when I was two I drank bleach and I fell and hit my head on the corner of the coffee table when I was just started to walk."

"Jesus fucking Christ, Kitten!" She flinched as my booming voice filled the close confines of the truck. "You fell down some damn stairs or did your mother push you? Did your mom help you break that arm? Did she push you in front of the damn car? And did you ever think maybe you didn't drink the damn bleach on your own, but maybe your mother bottle fed you the fucking stuff."

She had tears in her eyes by the time I finished yelling and I fucking hated that I made her cry, but damn it. It was pure luck that her damn mother didn't kill her. What kind of mother did that to their own child and where in the hell was her father while all this shit was taking place.

"And where in the hell is your damn father while your mother was trying to kill you slowly?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I never knew him."

I made our turn-off and did something I hated doing. I apologized. And she once again shrugged it off.

"Remember you said you would give me anything in return?" She questioned.

I nodded. "What do you want?"

"For you to completely forget that I told you any of that. It's not a big deal and I'm over it."

I agreed. I was a little shocked by what she wanted but I agreed. I was learning more and more about this little girl who I thought I just wanted to sleep with and forget. However, I needed to hurry and do just that before it was too late and I wouldn't be able to let go.