Chapter 25
"'Taker, this is ALMOST a third degree burn. You got lucky." Larry said with a frown, glancing over at Kane who had to be sedated because he had been panicking. "How's he doing?"
"His left arm is going to be hurting like a son of a bitch for awhile." Joseph said with a frown, cleaning the burnt skin. "A lot of blistering, but nothing we can't handle."
'Taker just rolled his eyes.
"Did you hear?" Mandie asked, walking into the room. She was the WWF's massage therapist and Larry had sent for her to look over the burns, sighing gently. When Larry shook his head, she frowned. "I heard Grace was leaving."
"WHAT?"
"Yeah, she called Vince and that's all I know. Though I've heard from the grapevine that she's leaving because...well..." She gestured between the brothers, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Do you honestly blame her after what she's gone through?"
"I believe personal and professional should be kept separate. I also believe this isn't the time nor the place for this conversation." Larry said, shooting her a stern look. "So do your job and mind your mouth."
"Grace is leaving?" 'Taker pushed Larry away impatiently, eyes on Mandie. "Where is she?"
"I have no idea. She left earlier and I didn't get a chance to ask…" She blinked as 'Taker rushed out of the trainer's office, shrugging when Larry just glared at her. "What? He deserved to know and so did you. Excuse me for trying to warn you ahead of time. Won't happen again, POPS." She snorted and walked out, her black hair flying behind her.
Larry made a mental note to talk to Vince about transferring Mandie to the home office to deal with long term therapy. He really didn't need someone who spoke thoughtlessly in front of the wrong people on his team. He had enough shit to deal with.
Gritting his teeth, 'Taker finished wrapping his arm as he walked, not believing Kane had managed to pull him into the fire as well, sometimes baby brother surprised him.
After a shower, Grace was feeling better about her decision to stay, though she was nervous to talk to Larry again. He would understand, hell, he'd gone through a lot with her. Grace changed into a midnight blue nightgown that went to her knees and brushed her hair out, putting it back in a braid that went over her left shoulder before snuggling down on the bed to read a book about mystical creatures. Desperately trying to get her mind off of Mark and Glen if only for a few hours.
He stood before her door, contemplating on whether or not to knock. Would Grace even want to see him? He mentally wondered if he would even give her a choice if he didn't have his memories back, knowing the answer was no. He'd of made it for her. Sighing, he rapped twice, wondering just why the hell he was giving her the chance to not open the damn door.
Her head snapped to the side, knowing it could be a handful of people. Larry, Glen, Mark...Sighing, Grace set her book down on the bed, after putting the marker in it, and stood up, padding over to unlock her door and opened it. Green eyes met hers as Grace stared back at him and leaned her head against the door, sighing gently before walking away from it, knowing he was coming in regardless.
"What do you want Mark?" She asked tiredly, her voice soft, and sat down on the bed, leaning against the headboard.
He closed the door behind him as he walked in, leaning back against it and just surveyed her. His eyes took in the midnight blue gown, then the book that lay carefully discarded on the bed, noting it's subject. "I heard a rumor that you were quitting." He said evenly. "Are you?" No, he wouldn't allow it.
"News travels fast." She muttered, not amused, and pulled the holder from her hair, beginning to slowly unbraid it. She would have to brush it or else it would be crimped, which she hated. "I called Vince to give him my resignation..." She began, running her fingers through her hair, wincing when she pulled some, and sighed, resting her chin on her knees since they were drawn up. "I was ready to quit because I get distracted when I work on the wrestlers, especially you and Glen." She closed her eyes. "I was ready to give up my dream because I didn't know if I could do it anymore, deal with everything. I was ready to go home."
Gathering from the past tense 'was' she kept using, Mark assumed she had intended to quit, but now wasn't. Mentally reminding himself to ask Vince just what the slick, suave son of a bitch had said to convince her to stay and then thank him for it. Maybe. "So you're going to stay?" He asked quietly, green eyes almost glowing as he stared at her.
"I'm going to give myself one more chance to see if I can separate my professional life from my personal. Larry wants me to take his place when he retires in a few years. That's what Vince told me anyway." She sighed, pressing her hand against her forehead, staring straight ahead. "I've worked too long and too hard to give up my dream, Mark. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I'm going to try it one more time, to see if I can do this without getting emotionally involved. If I can't, then I'm leaving to find another opportunity."
"As what? If you can't make it here you'll never be able to do it anywhere else unless you change professions." He said flatly, crossing the room to kneel down beside her, reaching out for her hand. Hopefully, Grace could get her priorities worked out because this was a definite once in a lifetime opportunity and he would hate to have to kidnap her just to keep her near.
She didn't look at him, feeling a few tears slide down her cheeks. "No, I would simply do an internship at a hospital somewhere. I've had a few offers, but this is the best one, especially when I have the opportunity to climb up the ladder so to speak." She wiped them away while he held her other hand, taking a deep breath to calm down. "I'm going to talk to Larry about it tomorrow. It's his ultimate decision if he wants to give me another chance. Judging by what Vince said, Larry won't let me go easily. But if I can't do this job without getting personally involved, then I'm not going to stay. I'll be putting lives at risk and I can't let that happen. In a hospital, I have no personal interests and I can focus one hundred percent on what I'm doing."
"Well," Mark said slowly, tilting his head to the side, his long black hair cascading down over his shoulder as he considered that. "I don't think you'll really have to worry about anyone dying, but I get what you're saying. You can do it, Grace, I know you can." He whispered, reaching out to cup her cheek in his hand. "Gracie can do anything, remember?"
Grace finally looked into his green eyes, leaning against his hand, and nodded gently. "All I can do is try." She softly replied, not about to say if she could do it or not because she didn't know. She honestly didn't know if she could stand by and watch Mark and Glen try to destroy each other. She didn't voice that though, not wanting to ruin this tender moment, and sniffled a little as she wiped her remaining tears away.
Grace didn't need to speak what was on her mind because he could read it in her eyes. Those beautiful amber eyes that held nothing back, at least not from him. He had known those eyes like the back of his when they were children. If she was sad and tried to hide it, her eyes would tell the story and he would cheer her up. If she was upset, they'd flash golden sparks and he'd do his best to make her anger fade.
"I love you." He whispered.
"I love you too, Mark." Grace could only hope he truly meant those words, but one look in his eyes signified that he did. She sighed gently and turned to face him fully, pressing her forehead to his. Her eyes glanced at his arm and frowned, taking it, and gently ran her hand up and down the bandage, shaking her head. "Does it hurt?" She asked softly, praying Glen was alright and not burned too badly. She still couldn't fathom why Mark had requested such a...heinous match, and pressed a soft kiss to the injury.
"Only when you do that." Mark teased, standing up and glanced down at the bandage.
He was tempted to peel the gauze away and study the burn, having not paid it any attention while Larry was doctoring him, more intent on hearing about Grace's apparent resignation. He was definitely glad that wasn't the case, eyes narrowing. Mandie needed slapped for running her mouth and actually scaring him.
"Sorry." She murmured gently, releasing it, and looked up at him with sad amber eyes. Grace wanted to ask him if Glen was alright, but that would just cause a fight between them. "Come here." She whispered, taking his hand, and pulled him gently on the bed with her. She wanted to be close to him, not wanting him to leave yet. Slowly, Grace began unwrapping the bandage and examined it, sighing before kissing his cheek and stood up to grab something out of her bag. "This is going to sting for a few seconds." She cautioned, snapping a pair of gloves on before applying the burn ointment she carried with her. It was apart of her first aid kit, she never went anywhere without it.
If he thought it stung, he didn't show it, just watched her tend to the burn as if watching something interesting, his eyes taking in the angry red marring his otherwise pale arm, where the tattoos didn't cover. "Larry congratulated me on it ALMOST being a third degree burn." He snorted, flipping his hair back over his shoulder. "Do I need a second opinion?"
"It's pretty deep..." She stood up and threw the ointment back in her bag before grabbing her UV flashlight, looking it over with a raised eyebrow. "Second degree burn." She confirmed, knowing Larry had been right. "It'll take about two weeks to heal, maybe a little longer depending." Grace tossed her flashlight back in her bag and stood up, raking a hand through her hair. "I have to ask Mark, what possessed you to ask for that type of match with Glen?"
How come he KNEW that was coming? Mark inwardly groaned, wondering why the hell couldn't Grace just let it go. "Because he needed to be reminded of who I am." He said finally, his tone flat. He wasn't going to lie to her, she'd probably see through it. And he probably needed to remind her that she loved a monster.
"Right." She muttered, walking over and brushing her hair out. He had just said what she'd been thinking before her phone call to Vince. He was a monster, but god help her she loved him with every fiber of her being. "You do realize that every time you hurt him, you hurt me." Grace finally said, staring back at him, pure hurt in her eyes. "He's like a brother to me, he's always been, so hurting him is like hurting a part of me, Mark. Though I suppose since you had to remind him who you are, you also had to do it to me." This was going to be harder than she thought, why hadn't she just resigned when she had the chance?
His green eyes blinked, he hadn't thought of it that way and a scowl creased his face. "I didn't realize." He said finally, raking both hands through his hair, looking disturbed. "But then again..." Mark remembered seeing Kane coming out of her room, cracking his neck. "Does he come to your hotel room often?" He asked suddenly.
Her eyes narrowed slightly, fists clenched tightly at her side. He was insinuating something, she could see it in those green eyes and it pissed her off. "If you're wondering if I've been sleeping with him, that answer is no." She said through gritted teeth, the anger radiating off of her. "He comes to check up on me because he's worried about me. He's overprotective. An overprotective big brother, even though I'm older than him by three years." She snorted, shaking her head, not moving from her spot. How DARE he even THINK that she would actually have sex with Glen? She loved the big guy, but in a family way.
"I didn't wonder if you slept with him, to the best of my knowledge he's incapable of performing." He shot back, seeing the anger literally rolling off of her like smoke, feeling it cresting in him as well. It was irrational to feel threatened by Glen, but now that he thought about it, he always had been. The little bastard always distracted Grace from HIM and that didn't sit well.