Chapter 14: I'll Be There
After the game Punk dropped Colt off and drove April to the airport. She had to be back at work by Monday and he did as well. He pulled up at the drop off area and put the car in park and looked over to her.
"Did you have fun this week?" Punk asked her
"Yes" April said to him "I wish we didn't waste a night not talking"
"We had our first argument" Punk reminded her "And I think we did well" he said happily
"Yea" April agreed
"So Thanksgiving is in two weeks" Punk said slowly "Are you going to spend it with me in Chicago?"
"I was actually going to invite you to Tampa" April said to him "I know you have your family and friends but the last two years I've spent Thanksgiving at the diner with Hector and the staff"
"You want to waitress on Thanksgiving?" Punk asked her with a laugh
"No not working" April said to him "We volunteer. We open the diner to people who can't afford a meal and once we close we eat together. I promised Hector I'd be there this year."
"That's really sweet" Punk said to her
"That's how I met Hector actually" April admitted "I went for a meal on Christmas and he offered me a job. I have to give back."
"You're something else" Punk smirked
"But I'm not expecting you to drop your plans to do that. I'm sure you want to be with your family" April assured him
"I want to be with you" Punk corrected "I'll be there"
"Thank you" she said to him kissing him "Am I going to see you before that?"
"Yea I'll fly out Tuesday morning" Punk offered "I'm not working SmackDown this week and there's no live events"
"Good" April said to him "Maybe we can finish we started the last time you were at my place"
"Maybe" Punk shrugged simply
"Why are you torturing me?" April whined
"Because it's fun" Punk said chuckled "We're going slow and there is still so much more to explore"
"Like this?" she asked reached over his shorts and rubbing him
"That's something else" Punk forced out as she continued to move her hand. He pressed his head back and just enjoyed the feel of her hand against him for another few moments. She leaned in and kissed his neck and then moved to his mouth and kissed him with such passion he forgot where he was. She abruptly pulled away her hand and mouth and smiled. Punk looked over to her and looked at her evil smile as she unbuckled her seatbelt
"You're right that was fun" April informed him "Could you pop the trunk so I can get my bags?" Punk remained frozen as he stared at her "What?"
"I have to drive home like this" he said gesturing to his growing bulge
"That's a problem" April agreed forcing a sad face "So are you going to help me with my bags?" she asked simply
"Really?" he asked pointing to his groin
"I'm just playing your game" April replied innocently as she jumped out of the car.
"She's the devil" Punk groaned taking his own seatbelt off. He glanced outside to make sure no one was around before he got out of the car to help her with her bags.
On Monday April was back in the ring training. Bill and Hunter felt she had to work on her bumps more so most of today was her dropping to the mat constantly.
"Come on April!" Bill shouted "You can do better than that!" he scolded from outside the ring. April didn't respond she just pushed herself harder and harder. "Six more" he instructed. "You're slacking April!" he yelled "You want to make it to Raw one day?"
She never took anything Bill said to her personally because this was his job. He was her drill sergeant and she kept up with every order. As April was going for her last fall on the mat she knew something was wrong once she hit the mat, she forget to tuck her neck in and ended up whacking her head hard on the mat.
"You ok?" Bill asked her. She wasn't even sure when Bill entered the ring "Call doc over" Bill said to someone
"I'm fine" April said trying to sit up
"Lie back" Bill warned pushing her back onto the mat
"Really it's fine" April insisted sitting up and that's when a wave of nausea hit her.
"Get me a bucket!" Bill called out.
April ended up getting sick (thankfully in the bucket) and helped to the back to be looked over.
"Concussion" she heard the doctor say to Bill
"How bad?" Bill asked
"I won't know for a few days" the doctor said to him
"I'm really ok" April assured them
"You can't walk in a straight line, you got sick and you have a headache" the doc pointed out
"I just have a bump" April shrugged
"Do you also have a medical license?" Doc asked her
"You're going home April" Bill informed her
"No!" April yelled out "I'll try harder-"
"This happens" Bill assured her "You're not being fired" he promised "But you need to rest"
"I can rest here" April said to him
"There's no resting here" Bill laughed "You're doing great kid so that's why I want you to go home and rest. We'll check back in with you in a few days"
"Can someone come pick you up?" Doc asked
"No" April admitted
"Can someone at least stay with you for the night?" Bill asked "You shouldn't be alone"
"No" Doc said to her "If you don't have someone with you we could bring you to the hospital-"
"Hospital?" April asked horrified jumping off the chair but quickly hit the floor
"Easy kid" Bill said picking her up and sitting her back down
"We don't know how bad this is" Doc said to her "You can't be left alone"
"Let me make a call" April said to them. Her first instinct was to call Punk but obviously he wasn't going to be much help since he was at Raw, Langston was also working Raw now, Jewel was working out of town and Hector was at the diner. That left her with one option.
"Thank you for getting me" April said as Jason helped her into her apartment
"I'm just surprised it didn't happen sooner" Jason said helping her to the couch "Nice place" He said looking around it.
"Yea it's pretty nice" April said of her small but lovely apartment
"You need anything?" Jason asked "Ice for your head or something?"
"No" she said shaking her head
"Food?" Jason asked
"I can't even think about food right now" April groaned
"Well I don't think you should be sleeping" Jason said to her. "No music, probably shouldn't watch TV- what a boring night" he groaned taking a seat on her chair
"You don't have to say" April insisted
"Please I got like the third degree from Bill" Jason said to her "He gave me a list of things not to do and told me if anything happened to you he'd rip my arms off of my body"
"He was kidding" April smirked
"He specifically said he wasn't kidding" Jason clarified "I'm not getting blamed if you fall asleep and don't wake up"
"Well I'm going to call Punk" April said pulling out her phone
"Yea where is your boyfriend? Shouldn't he be here tending to your wounds?" Jason questioned
"It's Monday so obviously he's working" April shot at him "If you have a problem with him you don't have to be here I'll take my chances dying"
"Relax kid" Jason said annoyed "I'm just messing with you" April didn't even have a chance to call Punk because he was calling her fist.
"Hey" April said into the phone
"Hey how's training going?" Punk asked
"Um" April started
"What?" Punk asked
"I hit my head" April informed him "They think I have a concussion"
"How bad?" Punk asked sounding more alert now
"They won't know for a few days" April said to him "I got sick, I can barely walk and the worst part is they sent me home"
"You shouldn't be alone actually them sending you home alone was stupid" Punk said to her "I'll see if I can switch my flight for tonight"
"I'm not alone" April said quietly
"Whose with you?" Punk asked
"You're not going to like it" April said glancing over to Jason who was now poking through her DVD collection "But I didn't have anyone else to call"
"No" Punk warned "Don't even say it"
"You and Langston are at work" April reminded him
"What about Jewel?" Punk asked
"She's out of town" April said to him "And Hector was at the diner I didn't want to go to the hospital"
"So you called Jason?" Punk asked in disbelief
"It's fine" April said to him
"I'm definitely flying out tonight" Punk said to her
"Don't be silly" April said to him
"I'm not getting into this right now" Punk said to her seriously
"Punk you're not going to be able to get a flight out tonight" April said to him "I'm ok. I'm just going stay up and watch TV"
"You shouldn't be watching TV" Punk groaned "How did it happen?"
"I was running drills and hitting the mat working on my bumps" April said to him "I forgot to tuck my neck in"
"Shit" Punk muttered
"I'm ok" April promised "Have a good show tonight and I'll see you in the morning"
"Put him on the phone" Punk said to her
"Oh I don't think that's a good idea" April said with a weak laugh
"Put him on" Punk insisted not taking 'no' for an answer
"Jason" April said waving the phone at him. He rolled his eyes and reached for the phone
"Yea?" Jason asked
"No loud music, no bright lights, no TV, no games and more importantly no sleeping" Punk instructed
"I know how concussions work" Jason said annoyed "I am a professional"
"I'm not even going to comment on that" Punk groaned "Are you capable of actually taking care of her or am I going to have to find another person?"
"Who?" Jason laughed "And relax I'm more than capable of taking care of little April"
"Are you going to actually stay with her until I get there?" Punk asked
"As long as you're here before ten in the morning, I do have a life" Jason said to him
"You wouldn't even have a roof over your head if it wasn't for her so why don't you show her a little gratitude" Punk shot at him
"Oh I'd love to show my gratitude" Jason laughed "But I don't think that kind of physical behavior is appropriate given her concussion and all"
"Don't test me" Punk warned
"Yea whatever I've got this" Jason said then hung up the phone on him
"He fucking hung up on me" Punk said in shock looking at his phone to see the call ended
"Who hung up on you?" Paul Heyman questioned walking over to him
"Jason" Punk said with disgust
"Who is Jason?" Paul asked
"April's former trainer" Punk said and Paul still looked confused "You met him" Punk reminded him and Paul just shrugged "He was there at her tryout…"
"Oh yea" Paul said nodding "He's still around?"
"She got hurt tonight and has a concussion and he's taking care of her" Punk said to him and Paul frowned
"Hmm" Paul said slowly "That's nice of him"
"It's the least he could do" Punk spat "Do you know she's been paying his rent?"
"I did not" Paul said amused "But that's very nice of her"
"Yea she's a real gem" Punk snorted
"I've never seen someone so angry that their girlfriend is so generous" Paul smirked "Stop looking for reasons to be angry"
"That's not what I'm doing" Punk said to him
"Yes it is" Paul said seriously "You finally found a girl who is independent, strong minded and beautiful you should just let yourself be happy"
"I am happy" Punk said annoyed
"Oh is this about the virgin thing?" Paul asked seriously
"What?" Punk asked "Is it posted on a billboard outside or something?"
"People talk" Paul shrugged "Well Beth talks" he corrected and Punk sucked in a breath "So is that what this is about? She's still holding out on you?"
"I'm holding out on her" Punk informed him smugly
"Why?" Paul asked almost disgusted
"Because I am" Punk defended "And I really don't want to talk about this"
"Why are you holding out?" Paul asked again "Are you sick or something?" he asked concerned
"Because I don't want to rush into it with her alright" Punk said annoyed "Part of this connection I have with her is all of this anticipation"
"So you think once you do it the magic will be gone?" Paul asked with a laugh "What are you twelve?"
"See this is why I didn't want to talk to you about this" Punk said walking away
"Wait, wait" Paul said running after him "I'm just kidding! I think it's great that you're so sensitive to her needs- really but enough is enough now if she's ready and you keep turning her down she's going to get upset"
"Yea I guess" Punk agreed
"And hey I think it's great that she hasn't been touched" Paul said to him "I mean I'd love to be a with a woman who was only ever with me" he admitted "And a possessive crazy man like yourself would probably really enjoy that"
"I do like that" Punk agreed
"She's not going to run out on you and you're not going to mess it up unless you keep pushing her away" Paul said to him
"I'm not pushing her away I'm just-" Punk started
"Keeping her at arms length" Paul finished for him "Suck it up and get laid already"
"What a way to put it" Punk retorted that's when he caught Beth walking down the hall "Oh Elizabeth!" Punk shouted obnoxiously "I'd love to have a word with you!" he shouted heading down the hall
Punk wasn't able to fly out that night but he did get an earlier flight for the morning and arrived in Tampa at eleven in the morning. Punk reached her door with his bag slung over his shoulder and knocked but no one answered. He reached for the door handle and was surprised it was unlocked.
"April?" Punk asked stepping inside. He then saw April sleeping on the couch, still in her workout clothes. "April" he said a little louder as he walked over to her
"Oh hey" April said slowly opening her eyes
"Are you ok?" Punk asked and his face was filled with concern "I tried calling you all morning"
"I guess I fell asleep" April admitted
"You weren't supposed to be sleeping" Punk reminded her "Where is Jason?"
"I don't know" April said rubbing her head "It hurts worse today"
"I think we should take you to the hospital" Punk said to her
"No we'll just go to the doctors" April said to him sitting up
"Easy" Punk instructed "When did you last see Jason?"
"He put on a movie last night and I guess I fell asleep" April said to him "See the TV is still on"
"No TV" Punk said turning it off "I'm going to kill him"
"I hope he's ok" April said with a frown
"Yea it would be a shame if something terrible happened to him" Punk replied sarcastically"I need to take a shower" April said standing up
"Are you ok on your feet?" Punk asked helping her up
"Yea, yea I'm good" April said "Just a headache"
"Alright call if you need me" Punk said to her and she nodded
April walked into her bedroom and noticed something was out of place, her jewelry box to be exact. She didn't have much jewelry since she didn't wear much of it but she had a few pieces that she kept for sentimental value. Her most prized possession? A necklace that her grandmother had given her for her 15th birthday. It was worth a couple hundred dollars but April had a bond with her grandmother that she didn't have with any of her family members, she felt a tear a escape her eye once she realized it was gone. Jason must have come in after she had fallen asleep and took the necklace. He probably took more but none of that meant anything to her.
"You ok?" Punk asked placing his bag in the corner of her room
"No" April said sadly. She looked over to her boyfriends concerned face and knew if she mentioned this to him he would throw it in her face how he was right and she was wrong. She didn't want to have to deal with that on top of her headache. "It just hurts really bad" she said rubbing her temple
"I know" He frowned walking over to her "It'll get better" he promised
"Yea" April forced out
"Are you sure that's it?" Punk asked her and she nodded slowly
"Uh-huh" April said to him "Thank you for flying down so quickly" she said looking up at him. Punk was the only man in her life who hadn't wronged her; she loved him more than before if that was even possible.
"Don't mention it" he said to her with a wave of his hand "I know what it feels like"
She just forced a smile and walked past him and headed into the bathroom. He couldn't help but notice how sad she truly was and didn't think it had to with her concussion.