Miranda had been kidnapped early Monday afternoon and was found in the evening of Tuesday night. Randy had been detained from Monday evening till Tuesday morning. In that short time, the media had been running wild. The fact that Randy had been taken into custody as a suspect for the disappearance of his ex-wife had made it all over the country. Christopher had his associates release that Randy had a violent past with Miranda and had been the last one to see her before her disappearance. It was on every radio station, news channel and all over the internet. News travels fast. And people were quick to talk. Now that the truth had finally come out about Christopher's involvement, and Randy's possible re-connection with his ex-wife was definitely newsworthy.
Reporters followed Randy every time he left the hospital to go to physical therapy or when he'd leave physical therapy to go back to the hospital. They were also camped out outside of his house and outside of her apartment. Randy didn't want Miranda worrying about it, so he made sure no one told her. And she didn't want to watch the news because she didn't want to hear about her story or about Christopher's. So he was all good there. Randy bit his tongue; he only ran his mouth about Chris's involvement once. He had told a reporter that Christopher had better feel pretty damn lucky that he's not out on the streets because he would give him what he had coming to him and more. Needless to say, that didn't go over to well. And Randy had been advised to keep his mouth shut.
By the time Thursday morning rolled around, Miranda was feeling pretty good. The doctor had given her the green light to be discharged and permission to fly. She knew Randy was already at physical therapy, so she had called her parents to come and pick her up and take her back to her house. After arguing back and forth about still going to the wedding and whether or not she should go back to her house since it was still a mess, her parents were finally on their way to pick her up.
She called Kim and talked to her a bit. Kim broke the news to her about the reporters. She figured if she was going to be leaving the hospital and going home, she would be seeing them anyways. Kim told her about how they had eaten Randy alive while she was gone. Miranda sighed, "You know, Christopher has no right to talk crap. He has no idea about what kind of a past Randy and I have. He asked me once and I told him that I didn't care to discuss it. I never said anything to him."
Kim replied, "I know, but Chris was trying to cover his own ass. He knew he was going to get nailed, but he wanted the heat off of him."
They talked for awhile longer, but then Miranda's parents arrived at the hospital. After the nurses went over the discharge instructions with Miranda, she was finally released. Leaving the hospital to Miranda was like beginning a new chapter in her life. This time, she vowed to live life for her. Not to prove anything to anyone, not to make anyone else happy, but all in all it was time to make herself happy.
As they left the hospital, there were paparazzi and local media reporters everywhere. They were snapping pictures and asking questions. Finally Miranda held up her hand, "I would like to say that I am eternally grateful to everyone on the St. Louis Police Department, the agents with the FBI and the DEA that were here. I want to say thank you to Joe Gillmore for being there and getting Christopher to confess. I also want to thank everyone who looked for me; I really appreciate you guys not giving up hope. I want to say thank you to Randy Orton who may have be stuck with the label of ex-husband, but above that, he is my soul mate and one of my best friends. Don't believe everything you hear unless it's coming from me. I am not saying anything else at this time. Thank you."
They got into her parents car and drove off. "That was very well stated Miranda." Her father Greg remarked.
She smiled, "Thanks. I needed to clear the air. When Kim told me everything that was going on, I knew I needed to say something."
"Are you sure you want to go to your place honey? It's still such a mess." Her mom asked.
"Yeah, I need to get home, let Liz know I'll be there since my cell phone broke, and then try and figure out my life."
"If you want, we could drop you off at Randy's house? The federal agents still have your computers, so you don't have any of that there." Her dad offered.
"I don't have keys to Randy's house and he's still at physical therapy. Trust me, I'll be fine. I just need to get home." Miranda replied. She needed this time. She needed to see everything and process what had happened.
By the time they arrived at Miranda's house, she was anxious to get inside. She gave the same statement verbatim to the reporters that were waiting outside. Then she went inside and shut the door. There was her house, completely trashed. Her tv was broken, her stereo was thrown off the shelf. Pictures were pulled off the walls, furniture was turned over. Her computers were gone, her answering machine was gone. She grabbed her house phone and left Randy a voicemail letting him know that she was at her place and if he wanted to, he could stop over.
Then she went to her bedroom. Chris had pulled all of her clothes out of the drawers and out of the closet, her jewelry box was dumped over, all of her picture albums were thrown on the floor. The only thing he couldn't get into was her lock box. She walked into her bathroom and everything was a mess. She just wanted to take a normal shower. Since her wrist was only sprained, she just had to take the brace and wrap off and she was able to move it. She got into the shower and took a nice, long, hot shower. When she was done, she pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. She began to pick up stuff off her floor and she started to pack for Liz's. But as she packed, she picked up the photo album that had her wedding pictures in it.
Randy walked in the house. When he didn't see her right away, he thought maybe she was taking a nap, so he walked to her bedroom and smiled, "Hi honey, I'm home."
Miranda jumped at the sound of his voice. She blushed like a kid who got caught with their hand in the cookie jar. "Sorry it's still a mess. I got a little sidetracked."
Randy went over and kissed her sweetly and sat down on the bed beside her. "First off, you look great. You look like you're feeling a helluva lot better. Second, is that our wedding album?"
Miranda bit her bottom lip, "Yeah it is. And thank you. It was thrown on the floor and when I picked it up, I just had to look through it."
Randy put his arm around her and they flipped through it together. They laughed at the silly pictures and took a brief stroll down memory lane. Once they closed the album, Randy looked over at her, "Are you doing ok?"
Miranda shrugged and put the album back on the shelf. "Yeah, overall I feel a lot better. Right now, it's just odd. It doesn't feel like it could be real. But it is. Everything happened so fast, and was over so fast, but yet it felt SO slow. Being in that basement, it was the longest day and a half EVER. I didn't know if I was going to make it out of there."
Randy took her hand and looked into her eyes, "I thought I might lose you. And when the police told us that in his confession he said that he strangled you and dumped your body here, I…I thought you were gone." His eyes filled with tears and his voice quivered as he spoke.
Miranda looked down and nodded, "I spent a lot of time in that room wondering if I was going to live or die. And what did I have to show for my life? If I died, what would I be missing out on? And the first thing that crossed my mind was you. I wondered if fate put all of us at that restaurant that night for a reason. I mean, Chris NEVER wanted to eat anywhere but the country club. I had been telling myself to keep things to myself and not rush things along, but after everything happened, I realized that life is too short to not say what's on your mind. Randy, I broke up with Chris that night we were at mom and dad's. That's what set him off. But I didn't want you to think I was rebounding. But I have to tell you this. I love you. Randy, I've never stopped loving you."
Randy gently took her in his arms and kissed her sweetly. "You have no idea how much that means to me to hear you say. But right now, I want you to focus on you. You had a near-death experience, and I don't want you to rush into anything because you feel like you need to. I will be here. I'm not going anywhere."
Miranda smiled and held him, "You are so understanding, and thank you. I appreciate that."
"Now, let's get you packed. We have a plane to catch." Randy said with a smile, trying to lighten the mood.
"I'm really nervous though." Miranda said as she began to dig through the piles of clothes all around her room to find what she needed.
"About what?"
"Look at me. What if she doesn't want me in the wedding anymore? I have marks and bruises on my neck and my forehead. What if I'm too much of a mess?" She asked. "I still don't have a cell phone, so I can't send her a picture."
"Carebear, she's happy you're alive and she's overjoyed that you're healthy enough to still make it to her wedding. She knows what you've been through, and she's honored that you would still want to be her bridesmaid. Trust me on this one. She chose you because of the friend that you are to her. Not because of any other reason." Randy replied sincerely.
Miranda took a deep breath, "You're right. I don't know. I'm just…"
"Overwhelmed. Scared. Elated. Happy. One hundred and fifty thousand emotions running wild through you and you don't know where to start, stop or pause. I can only imagine. You've been through a lot. Are you sure you're up for going this weekend?" Randy began to ask, but Miranda quickly interrupted.
"Yes. I have to go this weekend. This is my way of getting back to life. But, I do have a favor to ask of you." She said as she finished packing.
"What's that?"
"Can I stay with you again? In your hotel room? I know the night before the wedding all the girls are crashing in Liz's room. But I mean on the wedding night, after the reception." She asked nervously. As much as she hated to admit it, she wasn't ready to be alone yet.
Randy smiled, "You are more than welcome to stay with me anytime."
She thanked him and gave him a quick kiss. Then grabbed the last of her stuff and they climbed into Randy's truck and headed to Randy's so he could pack. Then they were headed to the airport.
**What will the wedding weekend hold? Randy and Miranda will be walking together in the ceremony… Please read and review!**
