A few days later, Rose was readying herself for her first title defence, against Trish Stratus. She still thought of Mark back at the hospital, but he had told her not to worry about him, so she did her best to put him out of her mind.
As she walked down the ramp that night, her eyes were firmly locked on the ring and who was inside it. Even though Trish could see her coming she still looked for Rose's confidence as she knew her mind was elsewhere.
Rose was having none of Trish's mind games and defiantly kept a straight face on her way to the ring. She stepped inside, watching Trish's every move.
The match passed in a dizzy blue for Rose. The competition had stepped up and she was caught in a perpetual adrenaline high. Mark's words rang in her ears throughout, a detatched whisper: "A target...bullseye on your waist"...
She didn't know how long the match had taken but she did know that she won.
As she picked up her belt at match's end, she couldn't help remembering those words again. She shook off the wierd feeling of trepidation, coming down slowly from the adrenaline and the rush of competition, then walked back up the ramp, heading backstage.
As soon as she was back behind the scenes, Amy caught up with her. "Rose!" She called as she sped up to walk beside her. "Where've you been? Ii've been looking for you all night."
Rose wondered where the hell Amy had been hiding. It was hard to miss her match. "I just..." she stopped to get her breathing in check. "Came from a Title Match," she panted, pointing at the belt around her waist.
"Mark's back," Amy gushed, as if it was incredible news she couldn't keep to herself.
"I know," Rose said, which deflated Amy a bit. "He always comes back sooner than they think he will, the showoff."
Amy laughed. "He's in his locker room, waiting for you." Rose was still trying to get her breathing under control.
"I think I need to just get some sleep at the moment. I've had a hell of a day," Rose said. Amy nodded. "I'll tell him you'll catch up with him later."
Rose gratefully nodded, before heading to her locker room to shower before calling it a night.
Triple H watched her go and sniggered.
"Perfect."
He slunk into the shadows.