Seth stood directly behind his mother, and right next to Dolph, as the doctor spoke with them about Randy and Bob's conditions. Even though Seth was staring at the doctor and watching her lips move, he just couldn't focus on the words that were spilling from her mouth. He would catch a word here or there, but his mind just wouldn't focus. He kept thinking about everything that happened over the past few days. In a short amount of time, three people had died, two had been shot, and his father and Randy were ran off the road by some psycho. He had never seen anyone move this fast in a retaliation hit. This was unprecedented.
The only family that had yet to be dealt a tragedy was the McMahon family and Seth gathered that if they hadn't been attacked within the next 24 hours, then they were the ones behind all of this. Even then, Seth still couldn't understand why they would do this. Seth knew there was a long history between the McMahons and the Anoa'I family, so Seth had a little understanding of why they might attack them…but the Harts or his family? Seth just didn't understand the motive to attack the Harts or his family. The Harts have been nothing but cordial to Vince and Bob was Vince's little lap dog. Seth wanted to ponder on this issue some more, but his mind snapped back to reality when heard the words "Tetraplegia".
"What?" Seth questioned and the doctor looked from Elaine to Seth. "I'm sorry, but could you explain that again?" Seth asked. "It's hard to process." Seth lied, but he didn't want to admit he hadn't been listening.
The doctor nodded in understanding. She figured this was a tough time for the family. "I was telling your mother that your brother, Randy, suffered damage to his cervical spine. Your brother has tetraplegia, meaning he has loss the use of his limbs. We won't know the severity of it until he wakes up. When he wakes, we'll be able to test if his sensory functions are still working. If so, then he may be able to regain function in his limbs…but I wouldn't bank on that. Most of the damage was done to his C4 vertebrate. He'll mostly need constant care for the rest of his life." The doctor explained and Seth could hear his mother let of a sob.
Seth wrapped an arm around his mother in an automatic response, but didn't display any emotions on his face. Seth tried to work up some emotion and put on a display of sympathy for the doctor, but he couldn't do it. It was sad that Randy would possible be in wheelchair for the rest of his life, but Seth wasn't heartbroken over it and he couldn't be bothered to shed any tears. Seth thought it was a just punishment for the way he'd treated Dolph, and the many boyfriends, girlfriends, associates, business partners, and others that came before Dolph.
Seth turned his head and looked over at Dolph. He had a very stoic expression on his face as he stared at the doctor. It was the first time in a long time that Seth wasn't able to read Dolph. That scared him a little, because Dolph was normally an open book and wore is heart on his sleeve. He desperately wanted to know what the blond omega was thinking.
"Can I…" Dolph started in soft voice. It was a voice he'd used often when addressing Randy. "Can I visit with him? With Randy?" Dolph asked and the doctor nodded and gave Dolph Randy's room number.
"He's still unconscious." The doctor added and Dolph nodded.
"That's okay…do you think he can hear me?" Dolph asked in the same soft voice and the doctor shrugged.
"Not sure, but there has been past cases of unconscious patients being about to remember conversations going on around them while they were still under." The doctor explained and Dolph nodded before turning away from them and walking down the hall toward Randy's room. Seth frowned as Dolph walked away. Seth didn't know what was up, but he hoped it wasn't anything too lethal. He had a strange feeling that Dolph may try to kill Randy in his unconscious state. Seth turned his head from Dolph's figure disappearing down the hall and back toward the doctor.
"And what of my dad?" Seth asked and the doctor let out a sigh.
"The crash caused severe damage to his brain and well…Bob is brain dead." The doctor announced, opting to explain this in simple terms. Elaine started to silently sob while Seth's eyes widened.
"Brain dead?" Seth questioned. "All of the brain?" Seth pressed and the doctor nodded.
"His whole brain is dead, the only thing keeping him alive are the machines." The doctor said. "I know this is hard for you, but you'll have to decide whether or not to pull the plug."
"So, he'll never live without the machines?" Elaine asked in between sobs and the doctor nodded.
"The machine is keeping his heart beating and his lungs breathing." The doctor started. "Once that is turned off…he'll die." She explained before give mother and son Bob's room number. Seth thanked her before walking the short distance down the hall to Bob's room. Elaine walked into the room and went straight to Bob's side, sitting down next to him and clutching his hand. Seth stood in the doorway and stared at his father. He could hear the machines whirling in the background, keeping his father alive. He couldn't believe it. He knew his father would eventually die, because everyone eventually dies, but he didn't expect it to be like this. He thought his dad would die of old age in his sleep. He thought he would have a family and this children would have actually gotten to know their grandfather, now he would only be a picture in a book to them.
Seth placed his hands on his face and rubbed at his cheeks and eyes. Seth was hurt, heartbroken, over this. While he didn't always see eye to eye with his father, Bob was his father…and Seth loved him. Seth walked to the other side of the bed and placed his hand of Bob's forehead. "What do we do?" Seth asked and Elaine shrugged.
"I don't want to give your father up." Elaine said. She'd heard what the doctor said about Bob never waking up, and she knew it was impractical to keep Bob on life support, but she loved her husband and she couldn't let him go…not now, not ever.
Seth nodded in understanding as he looked from his mother to his father. He didn't want to let go either. Seth let out a chuckle in disbelief. It was amazing how fast he went from not caring about Randy to having his heartbroken by his dad's imminent death. Seth's eyes widened as the realization set in that with is dad brain dead and Randy having tetraplegia, he was now the head of the Orton family. Seth took a step back from the bed as he realized he would now have to navigate his family through this mess.
"I need to step outside. I need some time." Seth said in a low voice before leaving the room and going back to the waiting room. He needed some time to think.
Dolph slowly pushed open the door to Randy's hospital room. Upon entering, Dolph saw Randy laying in the small bed. He was a lot paler than usual and there was a multitude of wires and tubes coming out of his body. Dolph walked further into the room and grabbed a chair, pulling it toward the bed and sitting down in it. Dolph took a moment to observe Randy, watching how is chest rose and fell. He could hear the heart monitor beeping in the background. It was at this moment that Dolph realized how human Randy was. He wasn't the monster he proclaimed himself to be, he wasn't the God that control Dolph's life anymore. He was human, a human that was hurting and broken…just like Dolph. Randy no longer hand any control over his life. He was finally free to do what he wanted and what he wanted was to be in Mexico with Rey.
"We had some good times Randy." Dolph started as he stared at Randy's eye lids, how he wished those eyes were open so they could do this eye to eye. "But those times were grossly overshadowed by all the horror you put me through. No more…no more. I'm done Randy. I'm done." Dolph said before standing up and leaving the room. Dolph made his way back to the hospital waiting room, feeling freer than he'd ever felt. He doesn't know why he waited so long to break it off with Randy, but he's glad he it. It felt great.
Dolph walked into the room and saw Seth sitting in one of the plastic chairs, staring off into space. Dolph bit his lip as he made his way over to Seth and sat down next to him.
"Did you kill Randy?" Seth whispered to Dolph, thinking Dolph might have smothered him with a pillow.
"No…" Dolph answered. "I should have though…" Dolph trailed off before shaking his head. "I shouldn't have said that to you, that's your brother." Dolph explained and Seth shrugged.
"I don't care." Seth said. "There's no love loss here." Seth explained and then turned to look over at Dolph. "When the doctor said Randy lost all function in his limbs, I didn't care…I know it's horrible, but I thought it was his just desserts." Seth confessed and Dolph nodded in understanding, as he felt the same way. Seth cleared his throat. "So, I guess you'll be going to Mexico?" Seth asked and Dolph nodded.
"Yeah…" Dolph trailed off. He wanted…he needed to be with Rey right now. "I have to tell you something before I go." Dolph started and turned to face Seth so he was looking the two-tone haired omega in the eyes. "Before we left for the family meeting in Miami, the Ortons and the McMahons brokered a deal."
"A deal?" Seth questioned and Dolph nodded.
"A plan of sorts…to get you and Roman or Rey together. They wanted to get you together with one of them so they could use the relationship to easily ship in drugs and do other business." Dolph explained.
"Use me?" Seth questioned.
"Yes, I'm sorry I should have told you. I wanted to tell you, but Randy-." Dolph started to explain but Seth cut him off.
"I understand, don't worry about it." Seth said as he sat back in his chair. He couldn't believe his family tired to use him. He could believe Randy trying to use him because that's all Randy ever did was use people, but his father… "Was mother involved?" Seth asked and Dolph nodded.
"Every member of the Orton and McMahon families knew…well except Shane, but Shane is never in on anything." Dolph explained. "I'm sorry, but I needed to tell you before I left the family."
"Left the family?" Seth questioned and gave Dolph a confused look.
"Well since I'm no longer with Randy…" Dolph trailed off and Seth shook his head.
"Since I'm running this family, you'll always be apart of it." Seth said and it was Dolph's turn to give Seth a confused look. "Dad is brain dead. He won't wake up, the machines are keeping him alive." Seth explained and Dolph reached over to place his hand on Seth's leg. Dolph gave it a squeeze in solidarity. When Bob wasn't letting Vince lead him astray, he was actually a good man and a great leader of the family and even though Dolph and Bob weren't the closest, he would miss him. "And with Randy forever incapacitated, I'm the new head of the Orton Dynasty." Seth finished and Dolph nodded.
"If you need me, you know where to find me." Dolph said before leaning over to hug Seth.
"Do you need the jet?" Seth asked as Dolph stood up to go. Dolph shook his head and gave Seth a small smile.
"No, I'll find me own way…see you later." Dolph said before leaving the waiting room. As he walked out of the hospital, he grabbed his phone from his pocket and made a call to Rey and explained everything to him and told him he was coming to Mexico. Rey told him that he would be waiting for him at the airport.
Back inside the hospital, Seth made a call of his own to Roman. When Roman picked up, Seth updated Roman on the condition of his brother and his father.
"So you're in charge now, huh?" Roman asked.
"Yeah, I guess I am." Seth said and he knew it was impossible, but he could hear Roman smirking through the phone. "This isn't how I envisioned myself rising to power...but I have to step up." Seth explained. "And I need Ata's number."
"Why?" Roman asked and Seth chuckled before telling Roman about he plan that was made to use their relationship to get business done easier. Roman chuckled upon hearing the plan, saying it would have never worked anyway because even though Ata loves Seth, she hates Vince too much to give him anything.
"Well, I need to talk to Ata still." Seth started. "Because after we deal with the person that's killing us off, I bet she'll want to deal with Vince personally." Seth explained and Roman agreed before sending Ata's phone number to him.
"Hey…" Roman started before hanging up the phone. "I'm proud of you for stepping up into this role. I know you didn't want his and I know it's not easy."
"It's not easy, believe me." Seth said. "But someone has to do it and I'm the only someone left." Seth explained. "Thanks for everything. I'll call you later." Seth said before hanging up the phone and sighing a great sigh and leaning his head back against the wall. He had no idea his entire world would change so quickly and he had no idea it was about to turn upside down again.
AJ rolled her eyes as she watched Dean flick through the television channels. AJ turned her head to see Adam Rose laying on the other couch and Eric reading a book in his favorite chair while Vince, Hunter, Stephanie, and Shane were in Vince's office discussing the current situation.
AJ sighed as she sat up into a cross-legged position on the floor and twirled her hair around her finger. She was bored and going stir crazy in the McMahon mansion. Ever since the attack on the Anoa'I family, the McMahon's had been confined to Vince's mansion for safety reasons, but none of it made sense to AJ.
First of all, she didn't understand why it was safer for them to be all together. If someone really wanted to attack and wipe out the McMahon family, they've made it much easier for them by being together.
Secondly, AJ believe that these attacks were put together by the McMahon family because they had yet to be attacked. The McMahons stepped on toes and didn't go out of their way to make friends in the business. If anyone with a grudge wanted to attack the five families of North America, they'd start with the McMahons.
Lastly…AJ needed to get the hell out of this house before she murdered one of her family members.
AJ quickly stood up and started out of the room, but didn't get too far before Eric stopped her.
"Where are you going missy?" Eric asked as he sat his book down on the end table.
"To the store. I'll be back." AJ said and tried to leave again but Dean stopped her this time.
"You know we're on lockdown." Dean said. "Not allowed to go anywhere." Dean explained and AJ went over to Dean and sat next to him.
"You know all of this is bullshit." AJ whispered to Dean. "We have nothing to worry about."
"What do you mean?" Dean whispered back as he turned to face AJ.
"You have to believe Vince is apart of this somehow…I mean the fact that we haven't been attacked yet speaks volumes." AJ reasoned and Dean shrugged.
"I've had my thoughts and theories…" Dean trailed off. "But Hunter seems to really be clueless about all of this, and I can read him very can't lie to me...he wouldn't lie to me about this, not something this big." Dean explained.
"I think Vince is doing this on his own because Stephanie has no clue either…and you know if Hunter and Stephanie know nothing, then Shane knows even less." AJ explained in a hushed whisper so Adam or Eric couldn't hear them. "But anyways…" AJ said as she slid off the couch. "I'm going to the store. It's going to storm really bad in a while. I want to get batteries for the flashlights just in case the lights go out…and we're in need of alcohol. Want to join?" AJ asked and Dean shook his head.
"No, I don't want to be on Hunter's bad side tonight…trying to get laid." Dean explained and AJ chuckled before leaving the room with Eric yelling out for AJ to be careful.
AJ quickly slipped her shoes and coat on before grabbing her purse, inside was a small handgun that she always carried. AJ pulled it out of her purse and made sure it was loaded before placing it back in her purse, grabbing her car keys, and leaving the house.
AJ got into her car and quickly drove away from the residence before Stephanie, or another one of the McMahons, could stop her. AJ first stopped at the liquor store to stock up on some essential wines and spirits. If she was going to be locked in the house with everyone for another few weeks, she was going to need the liquor. It wasn't that AJ didn't like her family, on the contrary she loved them dearly, but staying with them for long periods of time drove her crazy. She valued and enjoyed her time spent alone, or spent with just Stephanie, and it didn't seem like that would be happening anytime soon.
As AJ walked out of the store with bags in her hand, she could see the clouds over head rolling in and the wind had picked up. The storm was rolling in faster than she thought. AJ hurriedly placed the bags in the trunk before driving down the street to the grocery store. AJ ran into the store to only buy batteries, but it ended up turning into an all out grocery store run. If the lights went out and they were stuck in the house for a while, they would need more food that what they currently had.
AJ grabbed her items as quickly as she could and hurried through the checkout lane before leaving the store and rushing to her car. She popped the trunk and began to quickly place the bags inside the trunk. It was already dark outside, lightning bursting throughout the sky and the thunder could be heard for miles. As AJ placed her last few bags in the trunk, the rain started to pour down. AJ cursed as the rain fell onto her face and wetted her hair.
She reached up with one arm to close the trunk, but then she felt an arm from an unknown person wrap around her waist and, before she could fight this person off, she felt the tip of a gun on her head. AJ eyes frantically search around the parking lot for anyone, but no one was around. AJ's tears mingled with the raindrops hitting her face as she heard the person behind her laughing. She knew she was going to die and she never got a chance to say goodbye to Stephanie. The last thing she thought before she was knocked unconscious was that her theory about Vince was wrong.
Stephanie paced back and forth across the kitchen as she checked her watch. It was the next day and AJ had yet to come home. Dean told Stephanie about AJ going to the store so they would be prepared for the store. Even though Stephanie would have preferred for AJ to stay put, she didn't mind it too much…that was until a few hours past and AJ had yet to return home.
Her father and brothers tried to reassure her that AJ was okay. They said she might have pulled over and decided to wait out the storm since it was raining so heavily. Stephanie wanted to go look for AJ but the storm made it impossible to drive anywhere because visibility was horrible. Shane promised that as soon as the storm let up, he and Adam would go and look for AJ. Hunter, Dean, and Vince agreed to do the same. The storm raged on all night and at dawn, the rain finally stopped and visibility was good enough to drive. Shane, Adam, and Vince left in one car while Hunter and Dean left in another, they all promised to find AJ. Eric stayed back with Stephanie, just in case the small omega made her way back home.
Stephanie stopped her pacing when the doorbell rang. "I'll get it!" Stephanie yelled out to Eric. Stephanie thought it might be AJ at the door, she might have forgotten her key, so Stephanie rushed to the door and threw it open. Stephanie frowned when the only thing waiting on her at the door was a large brown, square box. Stephanie bent down and picked up the box and checked it out. There was no return address, but it was addressed to Stephanie.
Stephanie closed the door and went back into the kitchen with the box in her arms. She placed the box on the counter and grabbed a knife to open the box. She ran the knife down the taped sides and watched as the tape broke. Stephanie then opened the box and removed the piece of thick brown paper that was covering the contents of the box. Stephanie then let out a horrify scream that sent chills down Eric's spine. Eric jumped up from his position on the couch and ran into the kitchen. He saw that Stephanie was a crying mess on the floor before he noticed the box on the counter. Eric cautious approached the box before gasping and throwing his hands up to cover his mouth.
"Oh my God." Eric said into his hand. Inside the box was AJ's severed head, her eyes open and looking up at them. It was a horrify sight.
"Oh, my AJ. Not my AJ!" Stephanie screamed as Eric bent down to take his daughter in his arms and rocked her slowly. "She didn't deserve this! She didn't!" Stephanie cried and Eric couldn't image the pain she must be in. Losing the love of your life was always hard, but losing them like this was unthinkable. Stephanie gripped Eric tight as she cried. "I'll kill them. I'll kill them all!" Stephanie yelled and Eric didn't doubt her for a minute. This mess was about to get a lot more bloody.
A/N: I've been getting PMs from people asking me if anyone in the story is safe and I've literally only decided on one person that I know for sure I will not be killing off (and it isn't who you think) ;)
Thanks 4 Reading
YoominC16
