2011

Dawn winced as she reached for the cell phone placed inside her gym back. She dialed a familiar number, frowning as she saw the dried blood caked around her perfectly manicured fingernail. The phone range for a few seconds and the person on the other end of the line answered within a few rings. It was nearing midnight and after a taping of Smackdown, Dawn knew she needed to call home. She had been in a match with Victoria "Alicia Fox" Crawford and when the other Diva had gone for a Superkick, Dawn had missed the cue and hadn't ducked in time. She had caught the heel of the other girl's boot and subsequently suffered a cut over her left eyebrow. It had left an ugly gash that had split wide open and spurted blood. Dawn was okay and cuts, quite common in their business, were usually sewn up backstage by the WWE's medical crew. But they had been concerned that Dawn required more specialized attention and in turn she had been ordered to the nearest hospital. Though the show wouldn't air until the following Friday night, she wanted to give her family fair warning.

Dawn's family had supported her career and were extremely proud of her but that happiness came at a price. Even with the kayfabe and carefully choreographed moves and years of intense training, there was always the chance something could go wrong. She knew they would worry and therefore wanted to prepare them. So she made the call to her grandmother to let the family know that she was okay. They spoke for a few minutes and Dawn quietly reassured them that she was fine and not in much pain and her minor injury would probably only require a stitch or two. As soon as she hung up, her next intention to call her boyfriend, there was another incoming call. It was Randy.

"Hey you. What are you up to?"

"Hi Randy. Oh my gosh, you will never guess where I am," she playfully rolled her eyes.

"Try me."

"The ER, can you believe it?"

There was a small pause on the other end and she could hear the worry in her ex's voice despite his best efforts to hide it.

"Everything alright? What happened?"

"I messed up the match and Victoria accidentally kicked me in the face but I'm okay. I'll probably need stitches but I'm fine."

"That's good to know," he breathed a sigh of relief. "Were you able to cover in the match or are they gonna have to edit it out?"

The show always went on. That was the motto every professional wrestler lived by. If there was no drastically serious or life threatening injury, all mistakes were to be covered as smoothly as possible.

"Yeah, it was good. I think we played it off pretty well. It was my stupid mistake with the timing being off but whatever. Anyway, what are you up to?"

"Nothing much. I got home early this afternoon and headed straight to the range to blow off some steam. I bought this sweet little .45 and I've been wanting to try it out ever since."

Dawn smiled to herself. Guns weren't her thing but Randy was an avid collector and a sharpshooter, a skill he had fined tuned back during his brief stint in the Marine Corp.

"You and your toys," she shook her head. "So how was it?"

"It was cool," he said rather flatly.

Though he thoroughly enjoyed shooting at the gun range, Randy often bored easily. Dawn used to joke that he had the attention span of a gnat. Even when they were together and happy and doing fun things, she sometimes sensed a distraction within him, the constant longing for something else, something more.

"You sound weird. Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Big plans tonight? Let me guess, the bar, the strip club with the guys…what?"

"Nah. I just got the new season of Dexter in on DVD. I need to catch up."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's a good show. I try to catch it whenever I can but I've missed a lot of episodes and somehow the DVR stopped recording them."

"Oh."

"What's that for? The 'oh'?"

"Nothing, I…"

"What?"

"No, it just surprises me you spending a quiet night in. That's not the Randy Orton I know. You like to be out and about, partying, undoubtedly getting into trouble."

"That used to be my thing, Dawn, key words, used to be. That life, as exciting as it is, gets kind of old after a while."

"Yeah," she leaned her head back against the wall. "I guess it does."

"Don't sound so surprised," he gave a throaty chuckle. "I recall we had a lot of fun nights just staying in, hanging out."

"Randy…"

"I used to kick your ass in Monopoly or we'd watch those dumb teen dramas you were always into or we'd make dinner together…and uh, sometimes, hell, a lot of times, we'd make love. Don't you remember?"

Dawn felt a chill involuntarily go down her spine. She hated when he took impromptu trips down memory lane. It always did something to her.

"Yeah, um, I…I remember everything," she said quietly, closing her dark eyes.

"It wasn't all bad, you know," he replied after a brief moment of silence.

"No. No it wasn't but um, that, that was the past, Randy."

Cutting him off at the pass was her best and only defense mechanism whenever he brought up their time together. The bad times made her sad and even remembering the good times made her uncomfortable.

"Yeah…that was the past. Look, sorry if I'm bothering you or whatever. I just called to see how you were doing, what you were up to."

"I, um, I guess the doc will be in soon and hopefully we can wrap this up and I get medically cleared. I am starving and exhausted so after I grab a quick bite to eat, I am going back to the hotel and take a long, hot shower, then hit the sack. I have a super early flight back to Texas in the morning."

Randy felt his loins tighten just at the mention of her being in a shower. That was one place where they had definitely had some good times before.

"Okay. Well, I'll let you go."

She detected a small hint of disappointment in his voice.

"You sure you're gonna be alright?"

"Yeah. I'm cool. Gonna make some popcorn and watch the show, crash, hit the gym early in the morning or maybe go for a run."

"Okay," she nodded. "I'll talk to you soon, then. Have a good night."

"Yeah, you too."

She ended the call and blew out a breath, making the decision to call Austin next but before she could, there was a knock on the door before it opened. It was Adam.

"Hey," she smiled. "What are you doing here?"

"Couldn't let my partner rough it in the hospital all alone," he playfully ruffled her hair. "You hanging in there?"

"I'm good. Trust me, it looks a whole lot worse than it feels."

Ever the overprotective big brother, he gently gave her the once over before pulling up a chair next to the examining table.

"Hopefully the doctor will be here soon."

"I hope so. Honestly, does it look bad? You think it'll leave a scar?"

"Nah. You'll still be as beautiful as ever."

"Charmer," she stuck her tongue out at him. "I appreciate you dropping by but you didn't have to. And you don't have to stay. Adam, I will be alright."

"I know you will but I've got nothing else going on."

"Gee thanks," she laughed out loud.

"That's not what I meant and you know it," he gave a sheepish grin. "I'll hang out, we'll see what's up with the stitches, get out of here, and hit up the first IHOP we see on the way back to the hotel."

Dawn closed her eyes as her stomach growled lightly.

"Mmmmm, that sounds so amazing right now. Buttermilk pancakes with hot maple syrup."

"Whatever you want, babe."

"You are the best, you know that?"

"I try, kiddo."

Dawn reached over as it was her turn to ruffle his hair, something he loved to do to her but hated when anyone was touching his own hair. He recoiled at her touch, letting out a slight grunt.

"Okay, okay. I know. Don't touch the hair, right? Geez, you are such a punk. You don't have to be such a grumpy pants about it."

"You know me…Mr. Grumpy Pants is my middle name."

Adam managed a teasing smile as their conversation was interrupted by the doctor. He spoke with Dawn for a few minutes and after cleaning her up, assessed the damage. It would require three stitches and he assured her it was unlikely it would leave a permanent scar. He began the process of numbing her up and sensing her fear, Adam reached out and held her hand. She squeezed him when it hurt. He looked down at her and tried to keep it together. She was holding onto him so mightily that the tips of her fingers were bright red.

"Sorry," she groaned. "Hope I'm not hurting you."

Adam bit his lip, the worry evident on his face.

"You've got a hell of a grip. Those arm workouts are really doing it for you, D."

But in fact, he couldn't feel it at all. He could tell she was squeezing but he felt nothing. And that wasn't the first time. It had started a few weeks before. It would come and go. His feet would tingle or his hands would go numb and he'd have the most godawful headaches. The episodes would come and go and it was his nature to dismiss them. Injuries and weird things happened to wrestlers physically all the time. It was the norm to work through pain but this was different. As much as he hated to admit it, as much as he feared acknowledging it, it was becoming too much to ignore. Years before he had suffered a legitimate neck injury that was serious enough to require major surgery. He had feared he would never wrestle again but after a successful fusion and months of intense physical therapy, he had finally been medically cleared to get back in the ring. But he had been warned that his body could only take so much. There would come a day in a few years when his body would tell him that he could no longer take night after night of being tossed around a hard ring. Then it would be time to give it up…for good. If he didn't listen to his body, the alternatives were a permanent wheelchair or death. Adam had known that day was coming, that there would be a morning when he would awaken and his time would be up.

"Ugh!" Dawn squirmed around on the table. "It kind of burns. Talk to me Adam. Tell me something, anything so I don't have to think about this."

But Adam's mind was a million miles away. He was thinking about his own health, his own fate. And that scared the hell out of him. His day was coming.

"Not today," he whispered aloud.

"What?"

"Huh? Oh nothing, I, um…you're doing fine. And he's almost done. We're gonna get out of here and go grub on some pancakes and bacon. Lots of bacon. All the bacon you can eat. That's your favorite, right?"

"Yeah. Can we be totally unhealthy for one night and have pork bacon instead of turkey bacon?"

She squeezed him again and he jumped. He had actually felt her that time. A broad grin filled with relief spread across his handsome face.

"You bet. All the pig we can handle."

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze of his own. Sure his day would come, just as every athlete's would but it wouldn't be today.