Disposing of the medical equipment he had used whilst giving Stephanie the stitches to her head the Doctor then went out into the waiting room, "is anyone here to see Stephanie McMahon?"
When he heard someone asking if anyone was there for Stephanie Paul practically flew from his seat to stand in front of the Doctor, "I am. Is she okay? Can I see her yet? What is the damage?"
Putting his hands up to halt the never-ending stream of questions the Doctor could only answer most of them, "she is comfortable. I was actually coming out to say she can have visitors for the minute whilst I make some calls about her further treatment and then I go and speak with her."
Breathing a sigh of relief that he could see her he nodded his head, "thank you."
"You're welcome. Just follow me."
Motioning to everyone behind him to follow him he followed the Doctor to Stephanie's cubicle.
Reaching her cubicle he turned to the guys behind him, "just stay outside a minute please, let me talk to her and see if she wants you to come in to see her."
Shawn squeezed Paul's shoulder, "don't be too harsh on her."
"I'm making no promises."
Stepping inside the cubicle he stood at the bottom of the bed watching her as she lay there with her eyes closed, "well you're not bleeding any more."
Jumping at the sound of his voice her eyes flew open and she clutched her ribs at the movement, "fuck." Once the shock of pain had passed she reached her arms out towards him, "I missed you."
Walking over to her he hugged her briefly, "it's only been a little over an hour since I last saw you."
Pulling away from the hug he carefully took a seat on the edge of the bed, "so how are you doing?"
Pouting she was hoping he would take pity on her and sign her out of the hospital, "I have a headache and my ribs hurt from where I hit them in the fall but other than that I'm okay, I can't wait to go home."
Fisting his hands into the blankets on the bed he tried to ignore the anger he felt at the way she pretended like everything was okay, "rumour has it after being knocked unconscious one has to stay under the careful watch of the hospital staff so you'll enjoy their company for at least twenty four hours."
"Won't you help me out here and look after me for twenty four hours like you did last time please?"
Before he had an opportunity to answer the question the curtain was opened slightly and the Doctor walked back in, "so I am here to discuss your injuries. Would you like this gentleman to stay or to leave?"
Shrugging her shoulders it didn't really matter to her as it was all going to end the same way with him finding out it was nothing, "doesn't matter if he stays or if he goes because I'm not listening." Putting her fingers in her ears she closed her eyes to pretend that it just wasn't happening.
Frustrated to the maximum by her behaviour Paul just couldn't take it any more and got up from his seat and moved to the top of the bed grabbing her hands and pulling them away from her ears, "for fucks sake Stephanie. Stop acting like a petulant child and open your ears and your eyes and listen to the Doctor as he tells you exactly what that scumbag has done to you. If you don't listen to what the fuck has happened to you then you won't fully understand that the next time this happens you will be back in the hospital but you won't be in the emergency room . . . you'll be in the morgue as he will have killed you." Realising what he had done and said he let out a slow breath, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done or said that."
Stephanie could only sit there and watch as he walked out of the cubicle leaving her alone with the Doctor.
As he exited the cubicle he stopped briefly in front of his friend "Bec or Stace you need to go in there with her please whilst she gets the results, I need some air." Not waiting for them to respond he just kept walking for the exit.
They all stood there silently watching him leave with none of them able to fully grasp what was going on because that behaviour was so unusual for Paul.
It took a moment before Rebecca spoke up, "Stacey you go and sit with Stephanie, Shawn you wait here until Stacey says it is okay for you to go in and I will follow Paul and try and find out what is going on."
Not waiting more than a second after Rebecca had finished talking Stacey walked over to the cubicle curtain and pushed it back a little, "do you want me here for the results?"
Nodding her head as much as she would prefer to have Paul here with her if she couldn't have him then her best female friend would do, "please."
Walking over to the bed she took a seat beside it and held Stephanie's hand, "it'll be okay."
The Doctor had seen how vulnerable his patient was and was reluctant to tell her the extent of her injuries alone but having someone there he felt more able to, "well going from the top down you have a moderate concussion, it's much more severe than a mild one but barely short of a severe one, you have four stitches above your eye, a cracked orbital bone in your left eye socket, a black eye, a cut lip, you have strained your neck muscles, you have one broken rib, two or three cracked ribs but we're unsure as the x-ray wasn't clear and you have bruised your kidneys and lower back."
Stacey sat there with her mouth open in shock as she listened to the Doctor list of all of Stephanie's injuries. Turning her head to look at her friend she was saddened by the blank look on her face like she wasn't even taking any of it in, "so um . . . what sort of treatment has she got to have?"
Addressing the other woman as he could tell his patient wasn't listening he simply said, "she has to stay overnight for the concussion just so we can keep an eye on it and the rest is simply just going to have to get better on its own. We will of course wrap her ribs and supply painkillers as she must be in a tremendous amount of pain but beyond that there is actually nothing we can do. I honestly don't know how much she will be able to do for herself for the next few weeks especially due to her ribs so I don't know if she lives with anyone or if there's anyone that she can stay with or can stay with her but there's at least twenty four hours for a decision to be made. I will leave you to talk things through but if you have any questions I am around but I will arrange the transfer to a ward and the painkillers now."
Waiting until the Doctor had left Stacey then turned her attention to Stephanie, "wow, you really had a number done to you today."
Crossing her arms over her chest she was still going to deny anything more happened, "I think he had the wrong patient to be honest, I only hit my head on the coffee table."
Deciding to shock Stephanie she said, "you and I both know that this coffee table was called Stuart." Seeing the shock written on Stephanie's face she nodded her head, "don't take me for an idiot, I have known for a while what is going on and it is just a shame that you don't realise how much better than that you are."
Playing with the blanket covering her legs she didn't know what to say, "maybe it's all I deserve, maybe I deserve what I get."
"Are you out of your ever loving mind? Stephanie you are smart, kind, beautiful, caring, did I mention smart and kind and caring? Nobody, let me repeat that so you understand, nobody deserves to get beaten by their spouse, not you, not anybody else. You deserve so much better than that, you deserve somebody who loves you and who will treat you like a Princess and don't bullshit me saying Stuart loves you because we all know he doesn't because if he did he would either be here with you or more importantly he wouldn't have done it to begin with." Deciding to change the subject to give her time to think she said, "enough about the crap though, Shawn is here to see you, he is waiting outside if you want to see him?"
Forcing a smile she slowly nodded her head, "that would be great, he'll take my mind off of this blinding headache."
Smiling at her friend she got up from her seat to invite Shawn in to join their little party whilst they waited for Paul to return.
