Chapter 10

As soon as that question popped out of his mouth, it gave Andalyn the opening she needed. She hated hurting him like this, but it was the only way to get him to back off and stop saying and thinking Rebel was his. Steeling herself from her own pain, Andalyn squared her shoulders and finally looked up at him, no emotion in her grays.

"Enough to assure ya that Rebel isn't yers." She stated evenly, feeling him slowly release her wrists from the wall and willed the tears to stay in her eyes. Pain later, she had to stay strong right now in this moment. "I wasn't aware we were exclusive back then. My mistake." Andalyn sounded like a coldhearted bitch and once again convinced herself it was the right thing to do. "Is there anythin' else ya needed?"

Mark finally nodded, an unreadable expression on his face and his green eyes turned from pained to blank in a second. "I see. My mistake." He echoed tonelessly, throwing her words back at her. "I thought we were. Good night, Miss Kervin." Not giving her a second glance, Mark stalked away and disappeared in the nearest stairwell, the door slamming shut behind him so hard it fell off its hinges.

Blinking, Andalyn let the tears she fought back spill down her cheeks and went back inside the suite. Pressing her back to the door, Andalyn heard the soft click of the lock as it closed quietly and slid down it until her backside met the carpeted floor. Sobs tore through her entire body as she drew her knees up, burying her face in them. Never would she be able to get the image of the heartbroken look in Mark's eyes out of her mind as long as she lived. The lies were piling up and Andalyn hated herself for every one of them she told. She had no choice; protecting Rebel and herself was her number one priority.

Mark was the only man she'd been with in college, the only man she thought about, the SOLE reason why she hadn't dated anyone in the past 10, almost 11, years until Steve. Her heart shattered in her chest again, just like last time when she had to say goodbye to Mark since he had planned going overseas to play professional basketball. She loved Mark, always did and always would, but she loved Rebel more. Andalyn wasn't willing to risk losing her parental rights over Mark's anger toward her from keeping his child from him the first 10 years of his life.

Mark rode his motorcycle all night, letting the wind blink away tears that came to his eyes. He wound up looking for a fight with someone, anyone, just as long as he could vent his anger. Picking a fight with a man at a biker bar, Mark ended up fighting a group of at least 5 or 6 men, barely walking away.

Walking into the hotel restaurant with Rebel, a cup of straight black coffee in hand, Andalyn wore a pair of black shades over her red swollen eyes. No sleep came to her. She was worried about Mark, knowing he left incredibly upset. Crying herself to sleep, Andalyn didn't get any rest because her dreams were consumed with nightmares. Andalyn sighed heavily and sunk down in a chair, not hungry while Rebel went to help himself at the breakfast bar, wiping a stray tear from her cheek. Putting up a brave front for Rebel was hard nor easy, but somehow Andalyn did it expertly and smiled at him whenever he looked at her. He hadn't noticed she'd been crying since she'd gotten up and, when questioned about the shades, she merely said the sun bothered her.

"Shit…Mark?" Glen Jacobs was sipping a mug of coffee at a table nearby when he spotted his friend stumble through the hotel doors bypassing the restaurant. He got off of his seat and ran to catch the big man before he fell. "Someone get the WWF trainer and send him to my room!" He shouted toward the front desk, taking in the bruises and lacerations on Mark's face. "What happened to you?"

"I picked a fight."

Andalyn overheard Glen shout Mark's name and immediately looked up, eyes widening at how he looked. "Stay here, Rebel." She ordered, rushing over and took her shades off, hardly believing the horrid shape he was in. What the hell did he do to himself?! "Jesus…" She covered her mouth with her hand and looked up at Glen, wanting to go with them, but also couldn't leave her son alone. "Damn it! Wait here!" Andalyn quickly retrieved Rebel from the table, knowing he wouldn't be happy to be pulled away from his food. "Come on, Mark needs our help." Being Mark's personal assistant, Andalyn had to follow him wherever he went, mostly.

"Get off me!" Mark growled, trying to push Glen aside, conscious enough to know he was being carried and didn't appreciate it. He groaned at the feeling of being laid on a bed, trying to get his vision to focus. "I'm fine, I just need to sleep it off." His eyes narrowed on Andalyn. "Get out." He hissed dangerously.

"Mark…"

"GET HER THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!"

Andalyn immediately left the room, Rebel staying behind to glare at Mark before following her out, running back to her suite in tears. She shakily opened the door and dropped to her knees, wrapping her arms around her abdomen. Rebel came up behind her, his hand on her shoulder. After sitting on the bed, Andalyn didn't care if he liked it or not and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him to sit sideways on her lap. Stroking his blonde hair between her fingers, she pressed her forehead against the side of his head, doing her best not to sob. Andalyn needed his comfort right now while she silently cried, not strong enough to fight off the overwhelming intense emotions flowing through her.

Rebel knew his mother was on the edge of something bad and needed him, so he let her hug him to the point of nearly cutting his air supply off. Returning the hug just as tightly, the boy rubbed her back as gently as he could. "It's okay, Mommy." He whispered, calling her that to soothe her, something he hadn't done in a few years. Rebel had dropped the endearing word for the shorter and more boy suitable 'Mom'.

Finally calming down after a while, Andalyn gently pushed him off of her to stare into those emerald gems that broke her heart every time she locked eyes with her son. They reminded her of Mark because they WERE Mark. Andalyn slowly shook her head and kissed his forehead, hugging him again wiping her tears away. It was time to pull herself together because Rebel looked worried and she hated seeing that expression on his face. She had to get over this and move on, to forget she ever had a relationship with Mark Calaway. Venturing into the bathroom to freshen up, Andalyn shuddered at the thought of having to deal with Mark that night at the arena. She splashed cold water on her face, knowing she deserved everything he did to her and more for her deceit and lies.

Mark arrived at the arena with Glen, not bothering to argue about needing to be chauffeured because he wouldn't win. He didn't care people whispered about his face, wondering what had happened to him. All he wanted to do was his job, injure someone and go back to his room to drink a pint of whiskey before venting some physical frustration on Rena's all too willing body.

That's how it went for the next several weeks.

Andalyn would leave Rebel at the hotel and be called every name in the book by Mark, keeping her head lowered while trying to do her job. She would walk out of the arena every night in tears, feeling like she wanted to die. He would ask her how many men and Andalyn wouldn't answer him. It was none of his business and, honestly, she couldn't lie to him again. Andalyn knew this would eventually pass and hoped Steve came back soon so she was out of Mark's clutches.

Though, unbeknownst to her, Mark had other plans in mind after Austin returned from having his neck checked out. Andalyn received a call on a Friday morning, waking her out of a dead sleep and was told she would be Mark's PERMANENT personal assistant instead of Steve's. Her boyfriend, if she could even call him that, would get a new personal assistant. Andalyn felt like hanging herself, knowing Mark did this on purpose. He did it so that way she would crack and leave the WWF.

Well, she wouldn't break easily.

After the first few weeks, Mark quickly realized he couldn't stand Andalyn around him. He didn't want her around the WWF, period. When harassing the hell out of her didn't work, he went a different route. He kept her by his side as much as possible and would FORCE her to leave. The bitch broke his heart, he'd break her one way or another.

Andalyn followed behind Mark numbly, holding Rebel's hand as they went through the airport, sighing heavily since her jetlag was pretty bad. She was coming down with a vicious cold too on top of everything else. Mark guided them out to the rental car, not allowing her to take her own and Andalyn sat in the passenger seat, not saying a word. What could she say? She was used to this treatment and leaned back in the seat, black shades over her eyes. He hadn't struck her, but had his own ways of abusing her mentally and emotionally.

There was no excuse for her lies. Andalyn knew she'd hurt him deeply with what she said about sleeping with other men while they were together in college. Hell, she could tell him the truth and admit she lied to him, but what good would that do? It would just further piss him off and things would only get worse. Andalyn would deal with as much pain and punishment as it took because, eventually, she knew Mark would get over this and move on.

Rebel was almost to the point of going nuts. He had tried and still couldn't figure out what was wrong. His mother looked like a zombie from the living dead these days and Mark refused to look at or acknowledge him. Every time Rebel tried talking to the man, he'd have his head patted and watched Mark walk away. Honestly, the boy missed Steve.

Andalyn wasn't surprised when Mark got them a suite to share, the sleeping arrangements having changed drastically. She didn't bother calling Steve, knowing he was too busy with his neck problem to care what was happening to her. Trudging in silently, Andalyn went to her room and pulled the black shades from her eyes, tossing them aside. She looked in the mirror and immediately turned away, feeling sick to her stomach at the reflection staring back at her. Deep bruises rounded her eyes due to lack of sleep, the nightmares about Mark plaguing her every time she shut her eyes. Sitting on the bed, Andalyn coughed loudly, the sound reverberating around the room and coming from deep in her chest. She was definitely coming down with something terrible, especially when she checked her temperature and seen it was bordering 102.

"Damn it…"

"Out Rena." Mark ordered, wondering how the hell she'd gotten in the suite in the first place. He wasn't about to let Rebel see a woman coming in and out of his room. Even if the kid wasn't his, it just wasn't right.

"But Mark…"

He had to physically escort her out, turning and frowning. "Bitch."

Andalyn stumbled out of her room, dizzy from how high her fever was and started searching through her bag, finding the ibuprofen. Popping 3 dryly, Andalyn hoped that would bring her fever down. She started shivering with chattering teeth and a ghostly white face, looking like a walking corpse.

"Rebel, order whatever ya want, sweetie…" She trailed off, coughing again and felt her nose begin to run. "P-Put it o-on m-my t-tab…" Andalyn managed to get out before stumbling back into her room, tears stinging her eyes.

She was sicker than a damn dog.

"Mom?" Rebel frowned, his voice rising hysterically at the sight of her and couldn't remember ever seeing her in this bad of shape. "MOM?"

Mark couldn't ignore that even if he wanted to and walked into Andalyn's room with a frown, spotting Rebel standing in the doorway. He stood behind him and looked in the room, noticing how bad Andalyn looked and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You need a doctor." He finally spoke, breaking the silence between them.

"N-No…I'm f-fine…oh g-god…" She chattered out and groaned, wrapping the comforter around her as tightly as she could like a cocoon. "I-I j-just need r-rest…" Andalyn smiled at her baby boy and managed to give him a wink, coughing more in the blanket, eyes bloodshot since she'd barely slept the past couple weeks. "O-Oh hell…" She slowly reached over and dragged something out of her bag, handing it to her son. "G-Give that t-to h-him, sweetie…" Andalyn knew she still had a job to do and closed her eyes, trembling from head to toe curling into a tight ball.

Shaking his head, Mark gently nudged Rebel out of the way. "Get your coat and shoes on." He ordered quietly, scooping Andalyn up into his arms and discarded the blanket. She needed to be cold, it would bring the fever down. "Fuck." He cursed, feeling how hot she truly was and carried her out of the hotel room with Rebel on his trail. "Yer goin' to the hospital." Andalyn was in no condition to fight him off right now.

Andalyn was too tired to argue and coughed harder, groaning softly leaning her head against his shoulder. "M-Mark please…" She whimpered, shivering from head to toe.

It felt like she was freezing. She hated having Rebel see her in this condition, but honestly it was out of her hands. Mark ran her ragged for weeks and it finally caught up to her along with her lack of sleep.

"Rebel…"

"I'm right here, Momma." Rebel said reassuringly, shivering as they walked out of the hotel, the chilly wind hitting him. He ran ahead to Mark's rental truck when the man unlocked it with the control on the keys. "She gonna be alright, Mark?" He asked worriedly, watching the big man gently lower his mother into the backseat of the truck to lie down.

"Course she is." Mark noticed how worried the kid was and hoped he hadn't lied to him. "Don't worry, she'll be fine."

Not wasting another second, Mark buckled Rebel in the front seat and slid behind the wheel, peeling out of the parking lot heading for the local hospital as fast as he could.