All of the people in this story are owned by Vince McMahon and the WWF, except for Lisa, Michael, Aunt Carrie and Uncle Wes.
If you would like to use my story, please ask me first.
Chapter 9: Breath of Life
Trying not to panic, Amy thought back to her CPR classes. *Okay, tilt head back, lift chin*... For the next few seconds, she gave Chris mouth-to-mouth. She leaned back, tears springing to her eyes, for fear of losing him, when suddenly he started coughing. Pushing Chris's hair off his forehead, Amy said softly, "Welcome back."
One of the cashiers had seen the explosion and called the police immediately. Amy was just helping Chris up off the ground, when the police car, sirens blaring, roared into the parking lot. The EMT's got there a few minutes later. They treated Chris and Amy for smoke inhalation. Once the EMT's left, the police questioned Amy and Chris for the next 15 minutes. The police confiscated Chris's SUV and told him they would let him know when more information came up. Chris ran a hand through his smoke-filled hair.
"I hope my insurance will cover this," Chris said grimly "What a way to start a vacation!" Chris said angrily, as he and Amy got into her dark, red Isuzu Vehicross. As Amy pulled into the parking lot they noticed Jessica, Jeff, Michael, and Lisa. "Standing ovation, huh," Chris cracked. Becoming serious, Chris turned towards Amy, "Amy, thank you. I owe you big time."
Amy shook her head, "You would have done the same thing for me," she said with a small smile. "You were right," she said with a grin, "this is a sharp car," Amy said to Chris as she closed her car door.
Jessica charged towards them, "What took you so long, I tried reaching you on the cell"... she cut off abruptly, as she took in Chris's appearance. His pale face under the smudged dirt and grease, not to mention his skinned palms.
Chris, looking amusedly at Jessica's open mouth, said ruefully, "Well, you won't have to worry about the cell phone for a while honey." Jessica reached out and touched his face gingerly. "What happened? Are you guys alright?" she asked, her eyes darting back and forth between Chris and Amy. Chris wrapped his arms around Jessica in a tight hug.
"I love you," he whispered into her hair.
"I love you too," she said softly, as she hugged him back. "What happened though?" she asked in confusion.
"It's a long story," Chris said, wrapping his arm around her waist.
Concerned, Matt had a feeling something wasn't right, so he sprinted over to the group.
"Hey, guys, what's up?" Matt stopped in surprise as he got a good look at Amy.
"We'll see you guys in a few days and be careful," Chris said, looking at Amy pointedly.
"Amy, what happened to you?" Matt asked in disbelief. She hadn't even bothered to look at herself since the explosion, so for the first time she glanced down at her clothes: she had a hole in her jeans, her left knee was all bloody and skinned up. She had a hole in her long-sleeved shirt and pale face was all smudged with dirt and grime. Matt noticed some dried blood above her eye. "Are you alright?" he asked her softly.
"Never been better," she replied dryly.
"Come on," he said, ignoring her remark, "let's get you cleaned up." Matt eyes narrowed as he noticed Amy limping slightly, favoring her right knee.
"What happened?" Jeff asked Amy.
"As soon as I get cleaned up I'll fill ya in, alright?" she said tiredly. Michael and Lisa looked up at Jeff, who was holding their hands.
"Is Amy going to be okay?" they asked.
"Yeah, I think so," Jeff said worriedly.
In the locker room
Matt knelt down in front of Amy and gently started cleaning her scraped knee with hydrogen peroxide and rubbing alcohol. Amy was so lost in thought that she didn't even flinch when she felt the sting of the medicines kick in. Matt glanced up at her worriedly.
"You going to be okay?"
"Huh?" she looked at him blankly.
"Oh, uh, yeah, I'll be fine." Tears blurred her vision as she noticed the broken crystal of her watch. "I'm sorry I snapped at you back there," Amy blurted out. Matt looked up at her in surprise. "I'm just freaked out and exhausted."
"You want us to postpone the trip for a few hours so you can get some sleep?" Matt suggested.
"No!" Amy said firmly.
"You want to talk about it?" Matt asked quietly as he finished bandaging up her knee.
"Yes," she said softly. Matt tried to hide his surprise as he started to clean the cut above her eye. She continued, "We were leaving the car rental place, when Chris's car exploded into a huge ball of fire," raising her arms above her head to illustrate the magnitude of the explosion. In shock, Matt continued holding the hydrogen peroxide soaked cotton ball to her cut. "Ouch, that stings!" she said pushing his hand away.
"Sorry," Matt apologized as he put a smaller bandage on her forehead.
"Wanna kiss it and make it all better," Amy smiled flirtatiously.
"Love to," Matt said with a grin as he leaned in to kiss her. Just then the locker room door banged open and Trish and Andrew walked in, laughing and giggling. Amy and Matt sighed, slowly pulling away from each other. *All I need is five minutes alone with her and some courage,* Matt thought ruefully.
*All I need is five minutes alone with him and some gumption," Amy thought in frustration.
"Are we interrupting you guys? Sorry," Trish apologized. She grabbed Andrew by the arm and pulled him towards the locker room doors.
"Well," Matt said, "looks like they're becoming fast friends huh?"
"Looks like it," Amy agreed. Matt looked at his watch, "Well, we'd better be leaving soon." Amy put her hand on Matt's arm.
"Matt, can we hold off a few minutes, it's, it's important to me that I talk to you about what happened earlier.
"Sure," Matt replied. He sat down on the bench beside her and squeezed her hand.
"The police suspect foul play, so they're going to keep Chris posted," Amy finished.
"Wow," Matt said, his eyes wide, "you're kidding! That is so unreal."
"Not really," Amy said thoughtfully. "Not when his car was not even a year old and he didn't have any problems at all, let alone oil or gas leaks," Amy said, chewing on her lower lip thoughtfully.
"And if he did have problems," Matt said, picking up where Amy left off, "Chris would nip it in the bud."
"Exactly," Amy confirmed.
"Anything for his baby," Matt said with a grin.
"Feeling better?" Matt asked, as he helped her up off the locker room bench.
"A little, well let's hit the road," Amy said with a slight smile. On there way up to Missoula, Matt had the radio cranked when suddenly it started cutting out.
"What's wrong with the music?" Michael asked. Before anyone could reply the car started shaking violently. Matt carefully guided the car off onto the shoulder of the road.
"Well, we know the Vehicross does good in natural disasters," Jeff said sarcastically from the back seat. Amy braced her hands against the dashboard for support.
"What did the stupid thing do, track us here?" she asked in exasperation.
"More or less," Matt said calmly. He leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes, waiting for the tremors to pass. Just as suddenly as they started, they stopped.
"Everyone okay?" Matt asked.
"Good to go," Jeff replied. They heard a sniffling sound and all eyes turned to Lisa
"I don't like the shaking, make it stop," Lisa said, her lower lip trembling. She buried her head in Jeff's shoulder.
"We can't sweetie, the shaking starts and stops when it wants to," Jeff explained.
"Why?" Lisa asked, her lips in a pout.
Matt, Amy, and Jeff looked at each other. To explain the process of earthquakes to a two-year old would be virtually impossible and time consuming at best.
"Because that's just how an earthquake works honey," Amy replied. Michael's interest now piqued, he asked, "but why does it work that way?" Matt rolled his eyes.
"Michael, we'll discuss this later," Matt said firmly.
"But,".. Matt cut him off.
"Michael, how would you like to go fishing and ride horses?"
"Oh, boy!" Michael said excitedly.
"Well, then you need to stop asking questions for right now, so we can go fishing and horse-back riding okay," Matt admonished lightly.
"Okay," Michael said happily, settling back in his seat.
"You handled that really well," Amy said impressed. She slipped her hand into his free hand. *Wow, I should discipline the kids more often,* Matt thought to himself.
"Thanks," he said grinning. He released her hand quickly, as he swerved around a large crack in the road. "Jeff, do you see what I see?" Matt asked.
"Yeah, I do," he said with a frown. "It looks like that slash in the road goes on for quite a ways too."
"I just hope a major earthquake doesn't happen"... Matt trailed off.
"You mean, while we're here," Amy finished for him.
"Yeah," he said seriously, his jaw muscle tightening as he stared straight ahead.
Finally, they came to a clearing, and directly in front of them stood five cabins. Matt circled around to find a parking place. Once the car rolled to a stop, Amy was the first one to get out of the car.
"This is beautiful!" Amy breathed, "it's like looking at a portrait." Beyond the cabins were acres and acres of forest, gently following the slope of mountain.
"Look at all the pretty colors!" Lisa said, referring to the tree's bright foliage. *Reminds me of Cameron in the fall,* Jeff thought with a smile as he hopped out of the car.
Amy was exhausted as she flopped down on the canopied bed in the cabin. Lisa and her were in one cabin, while Matt, Jeff and Michael were in the one closest to the lake. A knock sounded on the door. She sighed, taking her sweet time getting off the bed.
"Matt, Jeff, can't you let me chill for just"... her jaw dropped as she opened the door and saw Trish standing there holding a suitcase.
If you would like to use my story, please ask me first.
Chapter 9: Breath of Life
Trying not to panic, Amy thought back to her CPR classes. *Okay, tilt head back, lift chin*... For the next few seconds, she gave Chris mouth-to-mouth. She leaned back, tears springing to her eyes, for fear of losing him, when suddenly he started coughing. Pushing Chris's hair off his forehead, Amy said softly, "Welcome back."
One of the cashiers had seen the explosion and called the police immediately. Amy was just helping Chris up off the ground, when the police car, sirens blaring, roared into the parking lot. The EMT's got there a few minutes later. They treated Chris and Amy for smoke inhalation. Once the EMT's left, the police questioned Amy and Chris for the next 15 minutes. The police confiscated Chris's SUV and told him they would let him know when more information came up. Chris ran a hand through his smoke-filled hair.
"I hope my insurance will cover this," Chris said grimly "What a way to start a vacation!" Chris said angrily, as he and Amy got into her dark, red Isuzu Vehicross. As Amy pulled into the parking lot they noticed Jessica, Jeff, Michael, and Lisa. "Standing ovation, huh," Chris cracked. Becoming serious, Chris turned towards Amy, "Amy, thank you. I owe you big time."
Amy shook her head, "You would have done the same thing for me," she said with a small smile. "You were right," she said with a grin, "this is a sharp car," Amy said to Chris as she closed her car door.
Jessica charged towards them, "What took you so long, I tried reaching you on the cell"... she cut off abruptly, as she took in Chris's appearance. His pale face under the smudged dirt and grease, not to mention his skinned palms.
Chris, looking amusedly at Jessica's open mouth, said ruefully, "Well, you won't have to worry about the cell phone for a while honey." Jessica reached out and touched his face gingerly. "What happened? Are you guys alright?" she asked, her eyes darting back and forth between Chris and Amy. Chris wrapped his arms around Jessica in a tight hug.
"I love you," he whispered into her hair.
"I love you too," she said softly, as she hugged him back. "What happened though?" she asked in confusion.
"It's a long story," Chris said, wrapping his arm around her waist.
Concerned, Matt had a feeling something wasn't right, so he sprinted over to the group.
"Hey, guys, what's up?" Matt stopped in surprise as he got a good look at Amy.
"We'll see you guys in a few days and be careful," Chris said, looking at Amy pointedly.
"Amy, what happened to you?" Matt asked in disbelief. She hadn't even bothered to look at herself since the explosion, so for the first time she glanced down at her clothes: she had a hole in her jeans, her left knee was all bloody and skinned up. She had a hole in her long-sleeved shirt and pale face was all smudged with dirt and grime. Matt noticed some dried blood above her eye. "Are you alright?" he asked her softly.
"Never been better," she replied dryly.
"Come on," he said, ignoring her remark, "let's get you cleaned up." Matt eyes narrowed as he noticed Amy limping slightly, favoring her right knee.
"What happened?" Jeff asked Amy.
"As soon as I get cleaned up I'll fill ya in, alright?" she said tiredly. Michael and Lisa looked up at Jeff, who was holding their hands.
"Is Amy going to be okay?" they asked.
"Yeah, I think so," Jeff said worriedly.
In the locker room
Matt knelt down in front of Amy and gently started cleaning her scraped knee with hydrogen peroxide and rubbing alcohol. Amy was so lost in thought that she didn't even flinch when she felt the sting of the medicines kick in. Matt glanced up at her worriedly.
"You going to be okay?"
"Huh?" she looked at him blankly.
"Oh, uh, yeah, I'll be fine." Tears blurred her vision as she noticed the broken crystal of her watch. "I'm sorry I snapped at you back there," Amy blurted out. Matt looked up at her in surprise. "I'm just freaked out and exhausted."
"You want us to postpone the trip for a few hours so you can get some sleep?" Matt suggested.
"No!" Amy said firmly.
"You want to talk about it?" Matt asked quietly as he finished bandaging up her knee.
"Yes," she said softly. Matt tried to hide his surprise as he started to clean the cut above her eye. She continued, "We were leaving the car rental place, when Chris's car exploded into a huge ball of fire," raising her arms above her head to illustrate the magnitude of the explosion. In shock, Matt continued holding the hydrogen peroxide soaked cotton ball to her cut. "Ouch, that stings!" she said pushing his hand away.
"Sorry," Matt apologized as he put a smaller bandage on her forehead.
"Wanna kiss it and make it all better," Amy smiled flirtatiously.
"Love to," Matt said with a grin as he leaned in to kiss her. Just then the locker room door banged open and Trish and Andrew walked in, laughing and giggling. Amy and Matt sighed, slowly pulling away from each other. *All I need is five minutes alone with her and some courage,* Matt thought ruefully.
*All I need is five minutes alone with him and some gumption," Amy thought in frustration.
"Are we interrupting you guys? Sorry," Trish apologized. She grabbed Andrew by the arm and pulled him towards the locker room doors.
"Well," Matt said, "looks like they're becoming fast friends huh?"
"Looks like it," Amy agreed. Matt looked at his watch, "Well, we'd better be leaving soon." Amy put her hand on Matt's arm.
"Matt, can we hold off a few minutes, it's, it's important to me that I talk to you about what happened earlier.
"Sure," Matt replied. He sat down on the bench beside her and squeezed her hand.
"The police suspect foul play, so they're going to keep Chris posted," Amy finished.
"Wow," Matt said, his eyes wide, "you're kidding! That is so unreal."
"Not really," Amy said thoughtfully. "Not when his car was not even a year old and he didn't have any problems at all, let alone oil or gas leaks," Amy said, chewing on her lower lip thoughtfully.
"And if he did have problems," Matt said, picking up where Amy left off, "Chris would nip it in the bud."
"Exactly," Amy confirmed.
"Anything for his baby," Matt said with a grin.
"Feeling better?" Matt asked, as he helped her up off the locker room bench.
"A little, well let's hit the road," Amy said with a slight smile. On there way up to Missoula, Matt had the radio cranked when suddenly it started cutting out.
"What's wrong with the music?" Michael asked. Before anyone could reply the car started shaking violently. Matt carefully guided the car off onto the shoulder of the road.
"Well, we know the Vehicross does good in natural disasters," Jeff said sarcastically from the back seat. Amy braced her hands against the dashboard for support.
"What did the stupid thing do, track us here?" she asked in exasperation.
"More or less," Matt said calmly. He leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes, waiting for the tremors to pass. Just as suddenly as they started, they stopped.
"Everyone okay?" Matt asked.
"Good to go," Jeff replied. They heard a sniffling sound and all eyes turned to Lisa
"I don't like the shaking, make it stop," Lisa said, her lower lip trembling. She buried her head in Jeff's shoulder.
"We can't sweetie, the shaking starts and stops when it wants to," Jeff explained.
"Why?" Lisa asked, her lips in a pout.
Matt, Amy, and Jeff looked at each other. To explain the process of earthquakes to a two-year old would be virtually impossible and time consuming at best.
"Because that's just how an earthquake works honey," Amy replied. Michael's interest now piqued, he asked, "but why does it work that way?" Matt rolled his eyes.
"Michael, we'll discuss this later," Matt said firmly.
"But,".. Matt cut him off.
"Michael, how would you like to go fishing and ride horses?"
"Oh, boy!" Michael said excitedly.
"Well, then you need to stop asking questions for right now, so we can go fishing and horse-back riding okay," Matt admonished lightly.
"Okay," Michael said happily, settling back in his seat.
"You handled that really well," Amy said impressed. She slipped her hand into his free hand. *Wow, I should discipline the kids more often,* Matt thought to himself.
"Thanks," he said grinning. He released her hand quickly, as he swerved around a large crack in the road. "Jeff, do you see what I see?" Matt asked.
"Yeah, I do," he said with a frown. "It looks like that slash in the road goes on for quite a ways too."
"I just hope a major earthquake doesn't happen"... Matt trailed off.
"You mean, while we're here," Amy finished for him.
"Yeah," he said seriously, his jaw muscle tightening as he stared straight ahead.
Finally, they came to a clearing, and directly in front of them stood five cabins. Matt circled around to find a parking place. Once the car rolled to a stop, Amy was the first one to get out of the car.
"This is beautiful!" Amy breathed, "it's like looking at a portrait." Beyond the cabins were acres and acres of forest, gently following the slope of mountain.
"Look at all the pretty colors!" Lisa said, referring to the tree's bright foliage. *Reminds me of Cameron in the fall,* Jeff thought with a smile as he hopped out of the car.
Amy was exhausted as she flopped down on the canopied bed in the cabin. Lisa and her were in one cabin, while Matt, Jeff and Michael were in the one closest to the lake. A knock sounded on the door. She sighed, taking her sweet time getting off the bed.
"Matt, Jeff, can't you let me chill for just"... her jaw dropped as she opened the door and saw Trish standing there holding a suitcase.