Author's Note: Okay, I'm not all too sure about the names, ages, and all that of Shawn's family, so just stick with it. Oh, and I'm sticking with the last name Michaels-not his real one. Hey—we past the 60,000 word mark! 10 more reviews until I reach 100! I might not be able to update this week (as I write this) or next. Tomorrow I'm going to Canada, and I've got TONS of make-up homework (100 question History sheet, 62 questions in Algebra, character charts in language and a bunch of other stuff) which is all due by Wednesday or Thursday. Plus I've got billions of tests this week and next. I hate my teachers. Anyway… Just letting you guys know!! Please review!
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Dangerous Business
Chapter XXXVII
Shawn Michaels moaned quietly to himself, pain running through his veins, his eyes lightly shut. He was aware of nothing but darkness around him. Slowly, a beeping noise touched his ears. He'd been near enough hospital machines in his life to know that this was one of them, producing beeps at his heart rate. A moment later, a quiet voice rolled across the room. Rebecca? He guessed right, and strained to open his eyes to see his wife. They seemed to be heavier than usual, and he almost retired at the urge to go back to sleep. Through blurred vision, he saw the blotch of smeared dark brown hair sitting next to his hospital bed. As his eyes focused, he could define her more. A silver cell phone was in her right hand.
"He's alive," Rebecca responded to the person on the other line, pushing some of her shoulder-length brown hair behind her ears. "You got Austin?" the person on the other line said something. "Leave Shawn out of this!" she said suddenly. "You're the one who wants to bring her down, so what does Shawn have to do with it?" another pause. "Yes, I know he's her friend, but use that Hardy girl or-or Edge!"
Confusion lacing his face, Shawn struggled to hear the other side of the conversation. Rebecca continued speaking, her left hand curled on top of her light pink skirt. "The only matter concerning Shawn was to hurt him just enough." Shawn heard a voice talking, but he couldn't decipher the words. "So what if it was for my benefit? I agreed to help you because of it! If this doesn't go my way, I'll report you to the police! YES!" Shawn shifted, no longer trying to open his eyes. Instead he concentrated on listening. "Look, if we just take Li-" A groan escaped Rebecca's lips. "Why do you waste your time only hurting her friends? Kill someone-she'll get the message."
Shawn froze. No… He had to be dreaming…
Rebecca snarled something inaudibly into the phone, and then said abruptly. "Bye." Shawn's eyes fluttered closed; his mind reeling. By some instinctive response to keep his emotions intact, his mind rejected what he heard. By his nervousness and confusion over what Rebecca had been talking about, his breathing altered. "Sweetheart?" Rebecca murmured, and he felt a cool hand pressed against his forehead. He squinted up at her. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he felt uneasy at the image he was receiving-cold hands, icy blue eyes… And what kind of man was he, to be questioning his wife?!
"Who was on the phone?" he couldn't resist asking, taking note of the croak his voice seemed to have taken on.
Rebecca leaned forward, her right forearm on the railing to Shawn's hospital bed, her left hand out of Shawn's line of vision. "What are you talking about?" she questioned, sounding confused. Her eyes rounded. "Oh that! I was just talking to Mom. She was real worried about you!"
Shawn shifted in his bed, feeling cornered. "Your mother 'got Austin'?" Rebecca's face twisted into something ugly, and Shawn immediately wanted to recall his last statement.
His wife glared down at him, knowing he had heard. Her eyes blazed with something Shawn couldn't quite decipher. "Shawn, honey," she said, her voice dripping with malice as she rummaged in her bag. Shawn looked as she lifted her hands, and froze as he saw a syringe in her hand. "I think it's time for you to go to sleep," she smiled at him, filling the syringe with a creamy white liquid.
"Rebecca!" he cried, wincing at the pain in his throat. His hand flew up to it, touching bandages. "What are you doing? Stop it! REBECCA!" his voice was no more than a whisper. His wife pressed a finger to his lips.
"Shawn…" Rebecca sighed quietly, fiddling with his IV tube as she spoke. A little smile played on her face as she spoke. "This is because of you that I'm doing this." At Shawn's odd expression, she continued, an airy, but triumphant look on her face, "You are always working. Never coming home, hell, never even inviting me along. You've been acting like I'm nothing. I married you for the money and the spotlight Shawn, and the fact that you're good in bed was just a plus," she smirked slightly. "But lately you've been hanging out with those Divas… And I heard a little rumor going around about you and Elizabeth. I hate being pushed to the sidelines! I married you for spotlight, and I'm not getting it!" her hands shook. Shawn's eyes were frozen widely. The syringe tip moved closer to the point where medicine could be injected. "I found a man that wanted badly to teach that girl a lesson, so I offered to go along with him. The plan was to get you in a crash so that you get hurt, and give the girl a jar. When you woke up, I'd be there, and naturally you'd come back to me, and I'd say my lines to get you to stay," she gritted her teeth. "But Shawn, you screwed it all up! So I'm just going to give you this little bit of drug here… And in an hour, you'll wake up, and you won't remember a thing about the last two years of your life… And if the man who gave me this drug is wrong, it might end up being a little more." The crooked grin on her face was in place as the syringe tip was pushed into the tube. "Goodnight Shawn," she smiled wickedly, "Sweet dreams."
* * * (1 day later) * *
"Liz?!" Liz Smith moaned quietly, her eyes still shut, her breaths coming in slow but steady intervals. Jeff Hardy leaned closer to her. Her eyes flickered open, and shut against the blinding light of the hospital room she was in.
"Why does it feel like I've been hit by a truck?" she mumbled, trying to shift in the bed, but wincing at the pain that came with it. Jeff curled one leg under him as he answered.
"Well that may be because you have been drifting in and out of consciousness for, oh say, 2 days due to a heavy concussion," he ticked off the rest of the injuries on his fingers, "A partially collapsed lung, a sprained wrist, a couple broken ribs," he took a breath, "and you hurt your left arm again…" She nodded slightly, her eyes moving open.
"So, just us?" she asked.
Jeff yawned, setting his chin on his hand. "Just us for a little bit. I told Lita and Edge to go to the hotel and get some rest. They'll be back soon. It's only 7 right now, so they'll probably be here in five minutes," he said with a small grin.
Liz shifted quietly, and the events from RAW slowly took their place in her present thoughts. She sighed, biting down on her lip slightly. "How's Rob?" she asked quietly.
Jeff tilted his head, and replied, "He's doing all right. The doctors were worried about blood loss for a bit… But they said that after a day or two, Rob will be cleared, and will only have a hell of a headache."
"What happened to Da - Austin," she said his last name quickly, louder than the 'Dad' she'd almost said. A frustrated expression was on her face. Had she really almost referred to him as 'Dad'?
Jeff looked down. Technically speaking, this was his *uncle*. Blood or not, he didn't hate Stone Cold, and the way he was beat down, on live TV… God, it made his insides crawl, just thinking about that image he saw, the screams he heard… "He's pretty beat up," was all he managed to spit out, gripping the arm of the chair slightly harder.
"Can we play good news bad news?" Liz asked weakly, snuggling back into the covers. "Bad news first," she ordered.
"Bad news…" Jeff took a deep breath. "Austin was ambushed by some guy in leather. You were ambushed by some girl in leather, after you were beat by Brock and the Big Show. Rob was practically beat to death by the Big Show. Dominique is still in a coma. Big Show and Brock weren't hurt. Shawn was in a car crash. Randy can't be sued for hurting Dominique, because she signed some release contract…" he sighed, letting silence fall over them before continuing. "But, good news… You and Rob are going to be okay. They're pretty sure that Austin is going to pull through. Dominique is showing more signs that the doctors say mean she's going to wake up soon… You've got an angry mob and almost everyone gunning after the Big Show and Brock," he paused, racking his brain for anything he had missed.
"Shawn?" Liz prompted quietly, all the information sinking into her mind.
Jeff looked down at his hands. "He's going to be okay… He woke up the other day… He's doing real well, but…"
"But?" her expression was already hazy, as if she was expecting a great blow to come.
"He doesn't remember the past few years of his life," Jeff spit out quickly, a shiver running down his back at the thought of losing his own memory.
Liz sighed audibly, closing her eyes slightly. "Could be worse," she said quietly. 'Everything can always be worse,' part of her retorted. "So bottom line being Rob, me, Austin, maybe Dominique, and Shawn are going to be okay. Big Show and Brock are going to preferably rot in hell." She wrinkled her nose, "It sounds like a soap opera to me."
Jeff smiled slightly. "I uh…talked to Vince. He granted you a week off. We want you to stay the weekend over at Aunt Lee's house or that cottage you have down in Texas. Either way, we want you to relax. Aunt Lee and I are going to stay at Dominique's hospital, and we'll call you as soon as anything happens."
"This is one of those no choice things, isn't it?" Liz asked weakly.
Jeff nodded. "Yeah, it's one of those." Liz nodded meekly, closing her eyes.
"Give a message to Brock and Big Show for me, will you? Just mail it or something. Tell them this: As long as I'm still breathing, and alive, I'm going for revenge. And tell Brock… Tell him 'You live what you learn.'"
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Author's Note:
I'm so sorry it took so long to get this chapter up! I've been working on my other stories and creating song fics and such, and I forgot about the half finished chapter I had on my computer. I've finally gotten back on track with my ideas for this story, so yeah! The author's note at the beginning was from like 2 weeks ago… Jeez… I'm such a slacker. Anyway, please review! 10 more reviews!
Okay, future warning here. The next few chapters are going to be mean. People are going to get hurt. A person is going to die. NO IT'S NOT SHAWN OR ROB; I'M NOT THAT EVIL!
Then again, I DID kill Jeff in one of my other stories…
Hey, hey I'm just trying to get you guys scared. But I won't kill Shawn or Rob, I promise.
Anyway, please review!
~LittleKnux2008~