CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

RANDY

As soon as he landed, Randy raced to the hospital. His mother was already there. "Samantha called us," she told him as she embraced him. Randy let her hold him for a moment before realizing she'd said "us."

"Wait, Dad's here?" He asked.

"He's with Sam right now. She looked like she hadn't eaten in days, poor thing."

Randy didn't want his father anywhere near his daughter unless he was there. He wasn't worried about Sam, because his father had always been good to her, but he didn't trust the man with a child. He'd never been alone with Alanna. Randy had told Sam he had a hand problem and that was enough to get her to agree to keep him away.

"Where is she?" Randy asked.

"Come with me," his mother said gently. She led him to his daughter's room.

At first glance, Alanna appeared to be asleep. Her chest rose and fell steadily without a ventilator. She had a couple of fluid bags attached to her, but other than that, she did not look sick. A closer look revealed some nasty cuts and bruises, but nothing that looked life-threatening.

A doctor met them outside of the room. "Mr. Orton, I'm Dr. Grant," he said.

"Tell me everything," Randy said.

"Your daughter is unconscious. Her head trauma may have been worse than we thought, but we will only know that if she wakes up."

If, Randy thought. Not when. He said if.

"She's breathing on her own, which is very good. There does not appear to be any organ damage. Unfortunately, fluids are only going to work for so long, and we may need to consider a feeding tube soon."

Randy's mind was racing. They give feeding tubes to people who aren't going to wake up, he thought. People who are dying.

"Mr. Orton?" Dr. Grant asked.

"Can I see her?" Randy asked.

"Of coure you can."

Randy walked into the room, sat beside Alanna's bed, and immediately took her tiny hand in his. "I'm here, baby... Please wake up..." He kissed her hand, but didn't let it go. "Everything's going to be okay now. Daddy's here..."

His mother saw the look on his face. "I'll be outside, sweetheart," she told him. She left him alone with his daughter.

His voice began trembling. "I love you, baby... I know you're in there. Find your way back to me. I'm right here. I'm not leaving you." He squeezed her hand gently.

Unsure of what else to do, Randy watched her in silence. Knowing he was alone, he allowed himself to cry. This was his baby girl. He had to be able to reach her somehow.

A memory flashed in his mind. It seemed like a century ago. He was sitting next to Alanna's bed at home and holding her hand.

"Sing to me, Daddy?" Alanna asked.

"I don't sing, silly girl. You know that."

"Sing anyway." She'd smiled her brightest smile at him and started singing her favorite Hannah Montana song to him. "You tuck me in, turn out the light, kept me safe and sound at night. Little girls depend on things like that. Brushed my teeth and combed my hair, had to drive me everywhere. You were always there when I looked back. You had to do it all alone, make a living, make a home. Must have been as hard as it could be. And when I couldn't sleep at night, scared things wouldn't turn out right, you would hold my hand and sing to me... Your turn, Daddy!"

Back in the present, looking at his broken baby girl, Randy held her hand tighter and began to sing. "Caterpillar in the tree, how you wonder who you'll be. Can't go far, but you can always dream. Wish you will and wish you might, don't you worry, hold on tight, I promise there will come a day... Butterfly fly away... Turned around and you were there. The two of us made quite a pair. Daddy's little girl was here at last. Looked away and back again, suddenly a year was ten, don't know how it got so far so fast... And yes dear, you don't understand, it's not anything we planned. Kind of makes you think it's meant to be. I knew the day would come, you'd stop crawling, start to run. Beautiful as beautiful can be... Caterpillar in the tree, how you wonder who you'll be. Can't go far but you can always dream..."

He felt the slightest squeeze against his hand. He looked down and saw Alanna's eyes fluttering open.

"Daddy?" She asked in confusion.

"I'm here, baby..." He said, trying to hide his tears.

"Why are you crying, Daddy?"

"I'm just really happy I'm here with you, Alanna. I love you, baby." He pushed the call button next to her bed after kissing her head and wiping away his tears.

"She's awake," he said as Dr. Grant, his mother, and Sam appeared in the doorway.

The doctor began checking her out. "How?" Sam asked Randy. She hugged him. This surprised him, but considering their daughter had just regained consciousness, he figured Sam would have hugged anyone right about then. "We tried everything... She just wouldn't wake up."

"Daddy, will you sing it again?" Alanna asked suddenly. "I was sleeping and I missed some."

Randy kissed her hand and said, "Only for you." He began singing, this time from the very beginning, with Alanna joining in at the chorus. Even Sam couldn't say anything cruel in that moment.

"We're going to run some tests," Dr. Grant said, "but so far, so good."

She's awake, Randy thought. In that moment, that was the only thing that mattered.

CORRI

Everything was falling apart. Cayla had been released but was in terrible shape emotionally, and Corri blamed herself. She hadn't been there to protect her sister, all because she'd been drinking. It continued to haunt her.

Then, there was Randy. He was halfway across the country and his daughter might be dying. Corri knew Alanna meant everything to him and it broke him to not be allowed to see her much. In fact, Corri was tempted to punch Sam in the face. Unlike her dad, Randy wanted to be a father more than anything, but Sam kept him away. It wasn't fair at all.

She sighed. The temptation to go party and forget everything was strong, but she needed to wait. Cayla was safe with Saraya for the day, but Corri was still waiting for an update from Randy.

As if on cue, a text came through. She's awake. Be in touch when I know more. Love you.

Corri relaxed slightly. This was a good sign. She sent back, I'm glad. Good luck. She hesitated before adding, Love you, too. She'd already said it aloud. The cat was out of the bag. She was in love with Randy Orton, and really, after everything, how could she not be? It still scared her to admit it, but she couldn't deny it now.

She decided she needed a distraction, so she called Dean. He agreed to meet her at the local karaoke bar, which was open by noon and until six in the morning. I won't drink, she decided. I'm just going to blow off some steam.

Since Corri refrained from ordering liquor, Dean ordered a soda. They spent the afternoon singing and watching other people make drunken fools of themselves. Corri was surprised to find she could have so much fun while sober.

"We should do this more, Dean," she told him.

"Sure, whatever," Dean replied. "You know I love this shit."

Corri smiled and focused on selecting her next song.

RANDY

When Alanna fell asleep, Randy stepped out of the hospital room. He walked right into his father. It was as if ice ran down his spine.

"You did good today, Randy," he said. "That little girl just wanted her daddy back. That's all she needed to wake up."

"Right. She's good, so you and Mom can leave if you want to," Randy said.

"Come on, Boy, is that how you greet your father?"

Randy was tempted to greet him with a punch to the face, but he stopped himself. "I didn't expect to see you," he said instead.

"Where else would I be with my granddaughter in trouble?"

"She's okay. The doctors are pretty sure there's no serious damage. She just needs a little more recovery time."

"Good."

"I need some air."

"Let's go for a walk."

"Alone. I need to get some air alone."

"Nonsense, Boy. You shouldn't be alone at a time like this."

Randy wanted to scream. The last thing he needed right now was for his father to be so close to him, but he couldn't make a scene. He took a deep breath even though his chest was tight.

He didn't argue, but stepped outside with his father. He stayed close to the hospital, knowing his father would have to behave there. They made pointless small talk while Randy tried to clear his head. After a couple of minutes, he couldn't stand it anymore.

"I need to call my girlfriend," he said.

"You have a girlfriend? What about Samantha?"

"Dad, we've been divorced for two years."

"You need to work it out. Your baby girl needs you."

"I know she does, and she has me."

"Samantha didn't even call to tell you this happened at first, Randall. You weren't here for her when she needed you."

"You know what? Screw you!" He regretted the words as soon as that familiar anger flashed on his father's face. "I'm sorry," he said quickly. "It's just, I got here as soon as I could. I love her. I'm here for her, but staying with Sam won't help her. Watching us fight won't help her. She needs to grow up in a peaceful environment, not a war zone."

"Don't disrespect me again, Randall." His words were venomous. Randy shrank automatically. He wasn't a child anymore, but he suddenly felt like one.

"I'm sorry," he said again. "I need a break." He walked away. As soon as he was alone, he dialed Corri's number.

"Is she okay?" Corri aswered immediately. "Are you?"

"Yeah, and mostly, I guess," Randy said. "I just really needed to hear your voice."

"What's going on?"

"My father's here. It's a little hard..."

"Talk to me."

"I don't want to talk about him."

"How's Alanna?"

"She seems to be okay. My father said she was waiting for me to get here before she woke up. I hate to agree with him, but it seems like she was."

"That's sweet. Will you be okay?"

"I think so..." They talked for a few more minutes before he headed back to Alanna. Just hearing Corri's voice soothed him. He felt ten times better. Now he was ready to face whatever he had to.