Sami finally located Jon in the emergency room; although the staff wouldn't allow him to actually go into the emergency room, so Jon had to go out into the waiting area to see him. He watched as his closest friend poured himself into a chair next to him. "Is Tempest okay man?" He asked, hoping the answer would be that she had kicked some serious ass and that she was absolutely fine.
Jon shook his head, "One of her eyes is swollen shut, her other eye isn't much better. She has a broken nose and a fractured cheekbone. Two broken ribs and a bruised rib; she also has a sprained ankle from where he was dragging her by her foot. She's bruised up everywhere; at one point he must have been trying to choke her, you can see the bastard's hand prints on her throat."
"Christ! Why on earth didn't she take you with her Jon? I mean I get the whole 'Independent Woman' thing; but what if he had a weapon; how was she planning to deal with that?" Sami rested a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"She just said it was something she felt she had to take care of herself; I'm sure it's because she's dealt with this guy and his threats for so long on her own, that she didn't want to drag anyone else into it. I understand her feeling that way; but I was already involved, it's not like she was putting me in the middle of something I wasn't already part of. I don't know Sami; thank god that sick bastard didn't sexually assault her, she apparently did manage to keep that from happening." Jon took a deep breath.
"That is good, Jon. Sounds like she did manage to protect herself from anything too major," Sami said.
"Yeah. There is one more thing though; and I guess I shouldn't be that surprised, but you could have knocked me over with a feather after the Dr. told us this!" Jon looked over at his friend.
"What is it? Is she pregnant or something?" Sami chuckled.
"That's exactly what he told us!" Jon stared at his friend wide-eyed.
Sami's grin left his face temporarily and he got quiet, then a smile appeared on his face and he patted his friend's back. "Congratulations man! I was joking when I said it, but damn; that's good news! Come on; put a damn smile on your face, you're going to be a dad! First a husband, now a father that is crazy!"
"They need to watch her overnight for bleeding; then I guess the women's Dr. is going to exam her in the morning and do an ultrasound. Rick kicked and punched her in the stomach, Sami. The ER Dr. said she could miscarry. What happens if she loses the baby, Sami? How do I make that okay for her, Hell; how do I make it okay for me? I never thought about kids, I just assumed I'd never have any; or want any for that matter. Now that it's been presented to me, I don't want it to be another good thing that's ripped away from me; you know?" Jon rested his head on his hands. "That's another thing; I don't even know there will be a marriage after Tempest gets out of the hospital. We got married so Rick couldn't find her, now that he's in jail again; suppose Tempest doesn't want to be married anymore?"
"Whoa; slow down Jon! I think before you end up throwing yourself off the top of a building; you should just talk to your wife, man. Look, no one knows better than I do; how crappy your life was before you got into wrestling. So I understand why you automatically jump to the worst case scenario; but you have to have a little bit of faith. First, the doctor said she 'could' miscarry; he didn't say 'would' miscarry. So don't wish bad things on your poor kid already. Let's face it; he or she has two of the most stubborn and tough parents I know, the kid will probably out live us all! Secondly, you need to talk to Tempest about the marriage thing, but I will say this. It seems to me; there is something really there and it's got nothing to do with the Rick situation. You've been sweet on her since she showed up, and don't even deny it! I've seen the way she's looked at you, since the wedding; no one is that good of an actor to say they were just faking that. Have you considered that maybe, after all the shit in your past that maybe; just maybe you are due for some great stuff to happen to you now?" Sami smiled.
"I don't know maybe. She knows we are going to have a discussion; I just didn't want to do it when she'd been through so much today. Thanks for getting me here, Sami. I appreciate it. I better go see if they have moved her up to a room yet; I'll give you a call later?" Jon asked.
"Yeah, but tend to what you need to first. Tell Tempest I said speedy recovery and that there are a bunch of us who can't wait to see her square off with you. I hate to say it; but I'm beginning to think she can take you! Then again; by the sounds, you'll have a while to train for that match. Go see your wife!" Sami smiled.
Once Jon returned to the emergency room, he found them getting ready to move Tempest to a room in the hospital. He followed them upstairs and settled in a chair that he pulled up next to her bedside. He had so many things going around in his head right now; talking with Sami had at least calmed him down a little. Some point during the night he must have fallen asleep; he woke up to the sensation of someone running their hands through his hair. "If there were enough room in this stupid hospital bed; I'd move over so you could sleep more comfortably." Tempest said softly to him. She smiled and took a deep breath, "Okay, I'm ready; let's have that conversation and get it over with."
Jon nodded, "What were you thinking Tempest? Going alone to confront Rick; I should have been there, and before you say you didn't want to get me involved; I already was. What do you think I would have done if while I was handcuffed to that bed; Rick had killed you? I wouldn't have been able to get over that! I always would have been thinking about how I should have been there to protect you. I know you're a damn good fighter; don't think I'm saying you aren't capable of protecting yourself, but damn it Tempest!"
"I knew you would be angry and you are right, I didn't think about how you would feel if I had gotten killed. I apologize for that; but it wasn't about trying to keep you out of things. I take that back; part of it was me trying to keep you out of it, but not the way you are thinking about it. I needed you not to be there so that he would get as violent as he did. Jon; the reason Rick has gotten away with everything so long is because the police could never prove he actually had done anything. He never left bruises, he was careful to keep up this image for other people. I told you after you read the letter; the cops said they couldn't do anything until he'd actually hurt me. I couldn't do it anymore Jon; I just couldn't let him get away with it anymore. So I needed him to get angry enough to do some damage; now admittedly, I hadn't planned on it being this much damage. He can't get himself out of this one Jon! No telling people that I'm being overdramatic or that he never put his hands on me. The cops saw all of this; it's been documented, he's going to prison this time and I won't have to be afraid that he's going to appear someplace anymore. I knew if you were with me, you'd stop him long before he could get even a slap in. Like I said; I hadn't expected it to go quite that far, but he got some really good hits in at the beginning that just took the breath out of me. I also had no idea I was pregnant; Jon, if I had known or even suspected I was pregnant. I never would have handled this the way I did and you would have come with me." Tempest squeezed his hand.
"I understand what you're saying Tempest, I just wish; I wish you had at least told me what your plan was. I can't obviously have promised you that I would have stayed away and let you do things your way; but at least I would have known what your original plan was, for this very reason. Maybe I could have stopped him before things had gotten this bad. I know you didn't know about the pregnancy, I'm angry that what he did could affect our child; but I know you wouldn't have knowingly done anything to hurt a baby. Which brings us I guess to our next subject; our marriage."
"Jon; before you say anything else about that. It's not exactly the most normal way to start out a marriage; but it's a marriage and a relationship regardless. I admit; I thought you were an ass! There's no nice way of putting that. You partied too much; you were inconsiderate, and I thought you were self-important. I wanted to kill you the morning you showed up in my hotel room to make me breakfast! A lot of that though; was me not being used to having someone who was trying to take care of me. You could have woken up that morning, gone along about your day and said 'screw her'. You didn't though. When you got ahold of that letter; you could have said 'you know she's cute and all but this is not something I want to get involved with' and left it like that, but you didn't. Instead, you offered to protect me by marrying me; and I know you said in the beginning that I could always end things after all this was over. I can't do that; I'm afraid you are just stuck being my husband and putting up with me." Tempest grinned.
"Got to say; I wasn't sure where you were headed with the whole 'I thought you were an ass' part, but it wouldn't have mattered. I was going to tell you that unless you wanted to drag me into a whole divorce thing; you'd be stuck with me, that I had changed my mind about just letting you walk away." Jon grinned back at her. "However, before you paint me as saint for looking out for you; I did it for purely selfish reasons."
"So…back to tomorrow's big match," Tempest smiled. "I personally think I can hobble out of this bed, climb into that ring tomorrow and still beat you; I'm that good! You on the other hand, look like hell and I can't very well call it a fair fight if you show up tomorrow looking like that. I propose we postpone this match for maybe 10 to 12 months? Give you a chance to prepare better so that I don't beat you too badly. Don't think I'm letting you out of this Moxley; there is no way that is going to happen!" Tempest said with an amused expression on her face.
"That's oh so generous of you Tempest! Kind of you to be concerned about me," Jon smiled and watched her shrug at him. "I think maybe we should push it back to say 24 months, I understand that weight loss can be such a pain for you women." He ducked as she swatted at him.
"Really? A weight joke? You do know I'd only be gaining this weight because my husband is apparently mesmerized by the difficult usage directions found on a package of condoms. All those big words like, Tear Open; Roll Down and Throw Wrapper Away." She smirked.
"Ouch! Woman; I swear you are evil!" Jon shook his head and laughed.