A/N: Not entirely happy with this chapter. In future chapters I will be trying to skip ahead in time to get things moving along. Hope y'all enjoy. Reviews appreciated. :-)
"I wanted to go to the show tonight, but we couldn't afford it." Robbie says, pouting. Then he grins. "So it's really cool that I got to meet you."
"Well the Shield won't be there tonight anyway." Celeste says.
"Why not?" Robbie inquires.
Celeste figures the news has hit and social media by now. "Seth was hit by a car."
Susan drops her silverware, giving Celeste pause.
"Are you okay?" Celeste asks.
"She's jumpy cause her dad's sick." Robbie explains. "He had a heart attack and is in I.C.U."
"I'm sorry. I'll pray for him." Celeste says.
"Thanks." Susan murmurs.
"What about Seth?" Robbie asks. "Is he gonna be okay?"
"Thankfully he isn't hurt worse than he is." Celeste explains.. "But he'll be out of commission for a few weeks. Roman and Dean will be back to work tomorrow night so you can see them on TV."
"May…be…I shouldn't ask this…" Robbie stammers. "But, since I can't afford to go to the show tonight, could I maybe meet them too? I won't ask to meet Seth, cause he needs to rest."
Celeste smiles at the boy's sweetness. "I'll see what we can do." Just then she receives a text and checks her phone. It's from Dean informing her that he and Roman are going to the gym while Seth rests and will be back later. "Oh they just left, but will be back later. I assume you'll be here for a while."
"Yeah. We gotta stay with Susan and Aunt Kathy to make sure Uncle Mike will be okay." Robbie says.
Celeste looks at Susan who is staring at her plate as she picks at her food. "I know what you're going through. My mother had a lot of health issues and I've been in this hospital more than I care to think about."
Susan smiles faintly. "It really stinks." she mumbles. She finally looks Celeste in the eyes. "Are you sure Seth, right, is going to be okay?"
"Yeah. He's got three broken ribs and a small laceration on his spleen. It could have been much worse."
"I'm glad it wasn't." Susan whispers.
Celeste goes back to Seth's room and sees him sleeping. She sits back in the small recliner beside the bed and ends up dozing off herself. Seth awakens and smiles at the sight of his sleeping love. He turns his head toward the door when he hears someone enter the room. "Mom." he says softly, with a smile.
Frances approaches and strokes his head. "Oh Sweetheart. I'm always worried about you getting hurt wrestling, or while traveling. Getting hit by a car never occurred to me." she says.
"I'm gonna be okay." he insists. "The car just came out of no where and I had to protect Celeste. Didn't have time to get out of the way myself."
Celeste awakens and stretches. "Oh. Hi Frances."
"Hello." Frances reply.
"Guess what, Mom." Seth says.
"What?" Frances asks.
"Celeste is my real girlfriend now." Seth says.
Frances looks questioning at Celeste.
"It's true." Celeste says. She looks at Seth. "Thinking I was gonna lose him made me finally realize what he means to me."
Frances-knowing that Celeste is recently out a relationship and knowing her son had his heart broken in the past, feels a bit uneasy about the situation. She sighs. "Who hit you?" she asks.
"I barely even saw the car." Celeste responds.
"It was a girl. A kid." Seth explains. "She looked pretty scared. Woulda been nice if she'd at least stopped after she hit me though."
Celeste thinks back to her encounter in the cafeteria with Susan. Could it be? she thinks.
"You okay, Sparky?" Seth asks, noticing the far away look in her eyes.
Celeste nods. "Yeah. Yeah I'm fine. I'm gonna let you have some time with your mom. I'll be back in a little bit."
Celeste goes back out to the waiting room and sees Roman and Dean speaking to a couple of police officers.
"Celeste, this Officer Taylor and Officer George." Roman makes the introductions.
"Mr. Reigns and Mr. Ambrose have told us all they can about the hit and run." says Officer George. "Is there anything you can tell us?"
There was no way Celeste was going to tell the police her suspicions. "Seth and I were talking, then suddenly he shoved me across the road. I saw him flying over the car, but it was kind of a blur."
"Is Mr. Rollins conscious so we can speak to him?" asks Officer Taylor.
"We already told you he said it was a young girl." Dean explains.
"But maybe he can give a description." Officer Taylor says.
"He's awake and his mother is with him." Celeste says.
The officers head back to see Seth.
"What's wrong with you?" Roman asks, seeing Celeste looking tense.
"I…I might know who hit Seth." she responds.
"What?!" Dean exclaims. "How do you know?"
"I said I might know." Celeste clarifies.
"Who do you think it might be?" Roman asks.
Celeste glances out the window into the hallway and sees Susan and Robbie. "You see those kids?" she asks.
Dean and Roman look out the window then back at Celeste. "I ran into them downstairs. Robbie is a big Shield fan and ask me if he could meet you two. Can you hang out with him while I talk to his cousin Susan?"
"Why do you think Susan is the one that hit Seth?" Dean inquires.
"I will explain later I promise." she insists.
"Okay." Romans sighs.
Celeste steps out into the hall. "Hey you two."
"Hey!" Robbie says with a smile.
"Look who's back." Celeste says gesturing toward Roman and Dean.
"Whoa!" Robbie exclaims.
"Hey Little Man." Roman says.
"What's up?" says Dean.
"Why don't you hang out with them for a few minutes while I talk to Susan?" Celeste suggests.
"I guess that would be okay." Susan says.
She and Celeste walk to the end of the hall. "You know it was me don't you?" Susan asks.
"I'm guessing you got the call about your dad and were rushing to get here." Celeste says.
Susan starts crying. "I was so scared. I saw you and Seth and I couldn't stop before I hit anyone. But I did stop after I got to the main road. I prayed he was okay. I couldn't live with myself if I killed someone." She wipes her face before continuing, "I was glad when I got here and saw there was no damage to the car. I thought I wouldn't have to mention it to my mom."
"If you hadn't hit Seth, you could have wrecked and killed yourself. I think that would have hurt your mom more than anything." Celeste explains. "I don't know if the cops will have enough information to figure it out, but I think you should tell your mom and I'll tell Seth."
"You don't think…" Susan begins.
Celeste shakes her head. "No, I'm sure he won't press charges. He's grateful to be alive, and knows you were scared. It's not like you're a drunk driver. You shouldn't have been speeding, but thank God there's no worse harm and you learned you lesson."
Susan nods. "I definitely did." She hangs her head and groans. "Robbie's gonna hate me when he finds out I hurt one of his favorite wrestlers."
Celeste laughs. "I'm sure he won't. Besides he probably wouldn't have gotten to meet Dean, Roman and me otherwise."
Celeste hugs Susan then heads back to Seth's room. After the police leave, Celeste tells Seth and Frances about the accident.
"Wow." Seth says softly.
"That poor girl." Frances says.
"I told her I didn't think you would press charges." Celeste explains.
"No, of course not." Seth answers. "She's going through enough." He looks at his mother and girlfriend's tired faces. "Why don't you two go and get some rest?"
"I suppose I should see about checking into a hotel before it gets too much later." Frances says.
"You can stay with me. I have an extra bed." Celeste says.
"Thank you." Frances replies.
"I should have stopped to get something to eat." France says. "I'm starving."
"I have some chicken casserole in the freezer I can warm up." Celeste says.
"That would be nice. Thank you."
There is an uncomfortable silence as Frances eats. "This is very good." she finally says.
"Thanks." Celeste says. She takes a deep breath. "You're not okay with me being Seth's girlfriend for real are you?"
Frances sighs. "Didn't you just call off your engagement?"
"It was almost a month ago. It had nothing to do with Seth. I realized that John wasn't the man for me. I'm sorry I hurt him and myself by letting the whole thing happen."
"My son was hurt by someone he treated like a queen. I even came to love her as a daughter, until she betrayed Seth."
"He's never talked about it, other than seeming to regret the tattoo. It may seem like it, but I am not trying to rush things." Celeste insists. "I want to put Seth and I in God's hands and see what happens."