Hunter lifted the man off of Stephanie and looked her over with fear in his eyes. What happened to her? He couldn't see any new injuries but that would be hard to tell with the way she was looking. He glanced at the man who had betrayed him in so many ways and shook his head in disgust. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do with him but he would definitely figure it out.
" Paul?" Stephanie whispered waking up.
" Yeah. Did he hurt you?" Hunter asked gently as he stroked her hair lovingly.
" No. I guess I just fainted because I was so scared." Stephanie admitted sheepishly.
" Hey that's ok Steph." Hunter said kissing her forehead gently. " You've been through a lot and if I were you I would be terrified to."
" No you wouldn't have been but it was sweet of you to say that." Stephanie said with a grin.
" Whatever you say." Hunter said as he heard a groan from behind him. Glancing back he saw the man coming to and turned angry as he walked over and stood in front of him. " What in the hell did you think you were doing?"
" None of your business." He said with a grin.
" Well here let me tell you what happens now. I'm gonna kick your ass until you tell me whats going on and why you thought you could put your hands on Stephanie." Hunter said taking a menacing step towards him.
Vince walked into the room with a smirk on his face. He watched Hunter advance towards his associate and made a tsking sound to stop him in his tracks.
" Now why would you want to hurt one of your friends?" Vince asked as he closed the door behind him and leaned on it.
" You have a lot of nerve coming in here after what you did to your own daughter." Hunter said turning his attention to his ex father-in-law.
" Well Stephanie just needed to be taught a lesson. You see I don't like it when people don't do what I want them to." Vince said simply as he glanced at his wide-eyed daughter. " Stephanie let's just face it. You're not cut out for this business anymore. Now I can't fire you, being the strong negotiator that you are you got that into your contract. But I will make sure that you quit." Vince said with a sigh.
" And how are you going to do that?" Stephanie asked hesitantly.
" By putting you into a major match of course. The terms will be simple and I'll get them to you as soon as possible." Vince said as he nodded towards the man in the room. " He will most likely be your opponent."
" No way." Hunter spoke up. " If you even think about putting her in the ring with him I will tear you apart."
" Oh come on Hunter. It's not that big of a deal." The man said getting up. " You wrestled with me before." He said laughing.
Stephanie glanced over at the man Hunter had considered a good friend and shuddered. She couldn't imagine what he was going to do and what he would have done if Hunter hadn't of come back to the room when he did. Gulping she looked at him very closely and shook her head clear.
" You were part of his team and you were a friend. Why would you hurt someone who only thought of you as a friend? Why would you do that Jesse?" Stephanie asked.
" Well you see he was the reason I was no longer wrestling for a while. So when Vince called and he said I could come back and this would be a great come back I had to take it. You ruined everything! You made him into a spitting fool with everything you did and I hate you for it. X-pac is coming back to and he is going to make sure you rot for what you did." Jesse James said with a snarl.
" I won't let anyone near her. Get the hell out of here. And Jesse if you want to make a come back so badly well how about a one on one match. You and me buddy, I'll show you what pain feels like." Hunter said to the man he once thought of as a friend.
" It's up to the boss man. But I will see Stephanie in the ring." Jesse said laughing as he and Vince left the room.
Hunter watched the two men leave and clenched his fists at his side. He should have taken care of them right then and there but there was no way he would do anything that might put Stephanie at risk. He turned back and saw her watching him with concerned filled eyes.
" Hey it's all right." Hunter said as he sat on the bed next to her. " Everything is going to be just fine."
" You don't know that Paul." Stephanie said softly. " What if he does force me into the ring with Jesse? What if there is a plan and there is nothing anyone can do to help me?"
" Nothing bad is going to happen to you, I promise." Hunter said as he leaned down and kissed her forehead.
" Are you all right?" She asked after a moment of silence.
" Yeah just fine." Hunter said with a grin. " I mean it sucks that a friend of mine would be involved in this but I'll get over it."
" I wish I were as sure as you about that." Stephanie said with a small smile. " I just don't want anything to happen to you."
" Well stop worrying about me and start worrying about yourself. Stephanie right now you are my main concern and no one or nothing else." Hunter said with a smile of reassurance.
" Thanks Paul." Stephanie said with a grin.
" Your welcome Steph. Now I am going to talk that nurse into letting me sleep in that chair right there so you won't be alone tonight. You try and get some rest." Hunter said as he got up to go and talk to the nurse.
" You shouldn't have to sleep in the chair. I'll be fine Paul, really. Go back to your hotel room and get some rest." Stephanie said not wanting him to sleep uncomfortably.
" Sorry but I'm not letting you out of my sight. I can't leave you here knowing that they want to hurt you Stephanie. I love you to much to see you get hurt anymore than you already have been. Now shut up and close those beautiful eyes of yours and sleep." He said as he walked out of the room to talk to the nurse.
Stephanie's jaw dropped as she heard him say the words I love you. She hadn't thought he would say them again. She watched him walk over to the nurses station just outside her door and she glanced down at her bed. She loved him so much and that's why everything was killing her inside. She didn't want to lose him again and she certainly didn't want to see him suffer. Yet now because of her one of his close friends was now his enemy and it seemed like another one might be as well. She gulped as she tried to come up with a plan to fix this mess that she had gotten herself into. There had to be some way that she could make everything all right again without anyone sacrificing anything that they believed in. There had to be some way that she wasn't thinking of yet. She would find out what it was and she would fix everything, she had to.