It was funny the way life worked, Hunter Hearst-Helmsley thought. Not 'ha-
ha' funny, more like 'guy gets kicked in the ass perennially' funny. Only a
couple of hours ago, he'd been watching Kurt Angle and Stephanie in a
grotesque mockery of his own reaction months ago of finding out Stephanie
was pregnant. Kurt and Stephanie had been joyful, hugging, Kurt tossing her
around, just like he himself had done upon finding out the news he was
going to be a father. He had been furious at them both, hated them both, so
much so that he'd been certain that Stephanie had finally figured out a way
to get out of his head. But now, here he was, right back where he always
seemed to be: At Stephanie's side. He couldn't seem to escape from her, and
it certainly didn't help matters that sometimes, in the middle of the
darkness of the night, when he woke up alone, he wondered if he really
wanted to escape, or if he was some kind of masochist, always coming back
for more. Sometimes it seemed to Hunter he was the man dehydrating, dying
in the desert, and Stephanie was the water that could save him. He hated
the feeling, despised it, wished it would just go away, and every single
time he thought he'd finally make her just a memory, she was back, more
dangerous and potent than ever. When he'd seen her lying on the floor
tonight...his heart had frozen, and in that moment, he'd known that his
life would never be the same if she weren't in it. It would be like if
someone had taken the sun away, how could anything live without the sun?
He should just leave. He was getting way too sentimental. he should leave, leave, let her go her way, and he could go his. It was the smart thing to do, he knew, he knew it, but he also knew he'd never forgive himself if anything really bad happened to her. He was being a fool, but he couldn't stop. When it came to Stephanie all of his old self-preservation tactics just seemed to fly straight out the window. He was here, at the hospital, with her once again.
And somehow, there was no place on this Earth he'd rather be.
Hunter cracked open his soda with such force that the bottle top snapped off. He drank down half the can in one swallow and pushed open the door to the hospital room where the doctor had just finished examining Stephanie. He pushed open the door.
"Hey! Can I have a drink?" Stephanie had immediately brightened when he had walked back into the room.
Wordlessly, Hunter handed her his soda.
"So, when's the doctor coming back?" he finally asked.
"Pretty soon...Hunter?"
"Yeah, what?"
"I just--wanted to say thank you."
"For what?"
"For staying here with me. I know Dad wouldn't have been to happy about you missing your match on Smackdown tonight."
Hunter looked at Stephanie incredulously. "His only daughter gets poisoned, finds out some freak's been stalking her, taking pictures of her half- naked, and you think your Dad's going to be upset because his ex-son-in-law takes her to the hospital and MISSES HIS FREAKING MATCH?!" he asked, the last words going up in volume.
"Okay." Hunter paused for a moment. "Okay, you're right, Vince is that much of a jackass, he would be upset. But more importantly, do you honestly think that I give a damn about what your father thinks of me? Have I ever?"
"No." Stephanie laughed.
"Well, allright then. You know, I meant that you could have a drink, not half of the whole can." he scolded, holding out his hand for the remnants of his soda."
"Ooh...you're frowning at me. I'm really scared now." Stephanie teased, her eyes dancing.
Hunter opened his mouth to retort, but the doctor came in.
"Well?" Both Stephanie and Hunter asked simultaneously. Stephanie's hand reached over to Hunter's hand and he wrapped his fingers inbetween hers.
"Well, the results from the orange juice are back, and we did indeed find something. There was wild senna in your drink."
"Senna?" Stephanie asked.
"Yes, it's a herb. Mostly used to aid digestion. We're fortunate that it was only wild senna and not Alexandrian senna. It would have been quite dangerous for you, especially with the fact that you're pregnant. Luckily, you only had a drink of the juice, it would have been an entirely different matter if you'd drank the whole thing. But, everything is fine now, everything in your tests check out, so you are free to leave, Mrs. McMahon. I would simply advise you to rest, and take it easy for the next couple of days." With that, the doctor departed.
"You okay?" Hunter asked.
"Yeah, just-just give me a second to get changed?"
"Allright, I'll be right outside the door." Hunter exited.
Someone had actually put something in her drink, Stephanie shuddered. She realized she hadn't truly believed, had even thought it was just a really bad bout of morning sickness, but now they knew otherwise. Shakily, Stephanie pulled her clothes back on and left the hospital gown crumpled on the bed. She paused in front of the mirror. She looked like a ghost. Quickly she reapplied a coat of lipstick and a little blush. She didn't have a hair brush, so she just pulled her hair back in a quick braid. She opened the door and left the hospital with Hunter. They rode down the elevator in silence, both lost in their own troubled thoughts. Chad opened the limo's door and Stephanie murmured a thank you, while Hunter just flopped down in his seat across from her.
"You want to talk about it?" he asked, looking at her steadily.
"Not especially." Stephanie replied, as she picked non-existent lint from her pants. She looked down at her hands and saw that they were shaking.
"You're staying with Vince and Linda?"
She nodded, and he directed Chad to the house.
They were silent for about ten minutes. And then they both spoke.
"Hu-" "Steph-"
"Go ahead-" "You can-"
"Steph, go ahead. You first."
Stephanie inhaled. "I know the drink was meant for my father--"
"What makes you say that?"
"It was in his office!"
"Yeah, but everyone knows you always drink everyone else's drinks."
"I do not." "Do I?"
"Yeah, I don't think you even realize it, Steph. I don't think, in all the time we've been together, that I've ever finished a drink completely on my own."
"I'm sorry--you're right, I never even realized."
"Hey, it's okay. I'm not knocking you, it's kind of a cute quirk of yours, at least I've always thought so."
She smiled at him. Oh, God, not the smile, he thought. He turned his head to the side, pretending to look out the window, but he wasn't really seeing anything. "Yeah, well, anyways, everyone's noticed. Everyone but you, I guess. So it's really possible this guy was going after the two of you both. Or maybe just you. Or maybe just Vince. How can we really know?" Hunter asked, his eyes returning over to her.
"Good point." She said aloud. Scary point.
"So the morale of the story is to be careful from now on, okay?"
"Yeah." They were quiet for another minute.
"Hunter?"
"Yeah, what?"
"What were you going to say?"
"Nothing important."
"Why don't you let me judge that? Just say whatever it was."
He looked her dead in the face now. "I was going to ask you why you're still wearing your wedding ring."
Stephanie looked down at her hand. "I hadn't even realized." she murmured.
"Well, don't you think it's time to take it off? We signed the divorce, Steph."
Stephanie continued to look at her hand, but looked back up at him sharply. God, sometimes he was such an insensitive bastard. And other times he was the most giving, unselfish person she'd ever met. It was like he was two different people, and she didn't know which one he was going to be on any given day. And the great irony was that somehow, she loved them both!
"Well, I see you haven't wasted any time getting rid of yours! So, Hunter, did you pawn it? Throw it in the garbage? Have it melted into scrap metal?" she asked him savagely.
"No." Hunter answered simply. If she only knew what he'd really done with his ring. But he wouldn't ever tell her...she would get the wrong impression, he knew.
He tried a different tack: "So don't you think it would be better if it was off?"
No, it would not be better, you idiot! She thought. But she had to say something. "It's stuck." Oh, that's really good, Steph, way to dig yourself a hole on that one! her mind screamed. She elaborated further upon seeing Hunter's disbelieving, disgusted look. "My finger must be swelling, you know, because of the pregnancy."
"Yeah, right." Hunter muttered.
"I'm not lying! See?" Stephanie said indignantly, as she pretended to try and pull of the band. She was shocked when Hunter came across the limo to her.
"Give me your hand." he demanded. "Stuck, my ass."
She had no choice but to give him her hand. He pulled on the ring, gently at first, but harder when it didn't come off.
Stephanie looked at the ring in disbelief. It really was stuck. Go figure. "See? I told you!" She said triumphantly.
Finally giving up, Hunter moved away a few inches. "Sorry...you have to admit it was convenient."
"Whatever." Stephanie said. This conversation was getting her depressed, he really seemed to want to be rid of her. The limo finally pulled up to her parents' home.
She was surprised when he got out first and held out his arm to her. They walked up the path to the door and he said: "I'll walk you over to the door. Then I'm leaving."
Stephanie stopped dead, smacking into him."You're leaving?" Stephanie echoed squeakily.
Seeing the terrified expression on her face, his resolve crumpled. "Well, I was planning to but--"
"No! It's fine." She pulled her arm out of his. "It's just fine. You've done more than enough. Thank you for everything." She started walking away.
He followed. "You want to stop thanking me, damn it!?"
"Why? Does my thanking you bother you?"
"Yes---No---Yes!"
"Why?" she asked, genuinely wanting to know.
"Because, just because we're divorced doesn't mean we can't still help each other out, you know? It doesn't have to be all or nothing!"
But I want it all! I want it all from you! If I can't have it all, it would hurt too much to have to just settle for anything from you! Her heart screamed. But aloud she simply asked: "It doesn't?"
"No! I mean, it's not like we're enemies, or we hate each others' guts, right?"
"We don't?" He doesn't hate me! Her heart soared.
"No, we can still watch each other's backs. We were married, I still feel like--"
Her heart plummeted again. "Obligated. You feel obligated." Stephanie said slowly.
"I guess that would be one word for it." More like protective, he thought.
"Oh, well, don't worry about it, Hunter. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself. I have been through a lot, and I'm a survivor. You should know that by now."
He did know that. Hunter knew that if there were ever an apocalypse there would be two things that survived the thing: the cockroaches, and Stephanie McMahon. But he still wanted to make sure she was out of danger, then he could work on getting himself away from her.
"Why is it so dark in there?" Stephanie asked suddenly, changing the entire conversation.
"I don't know. It looks like it's completely dark." Hunter frowned. "There's no light anywhere. That's weird. Your mother always leaves the porch light on when she knows you're coming, and that light outside the garage is always on." he knew.
"Yeah...mom likes to pretend someone's always here, prevent burglars. She's cute like that. I wonder--you--Hunter?"
"Steph, go back to the limo, now." he told her as he picked up a heavy branch lying on the ground.
"No! You don't think that--that--my Mother's home!" She said urgently.
"I know! I'm going in there, to check it out! It's probably nothing. We're just being paranoid because of what happened today, but I'm going to check it out. Go back to the car, now!"
"The hell I am! It's my mother! And I'm not letting anything happen to you!" With that, Stephanie picked up her own branch defiantly.
"Oh for God's sakes--We don't have time for this!"
"Then get in there already!" She wasn't budging. He looked down at her angrily, but saw she wasn't going to do as he asked. So he pushed her behind him and opened the door slowly, silently. Stephanie followed, gripping her branch tightly. Hunter flicked the light switch.
"The power's completely cut. Everyone else on the block has power but this house. And my dad usually has security crawling all over the place and I haven't seen a single guard! The security alarm should have been tripped! I have such a bad feeling about this." She whispered.
Hunter didn't respond, but the truth was, so did he.
He should just leave. He was getting way too sentimental. he should leave, leave, let her go her way, and he could go his. It was the smart thing to do, he knew, he knew it, but he also knew he'd never forgive himself if anything really bad happened to her. He was being a fool, but he couldn't stop. When it came to Stephanie all of his old self-preservation tactics just seemed to fly straight out the window. He was here, at the hospital, with her once again.
And somehow, there was no place on this Earth he'd rather be.
Hunter cracked open his soda with such force that the bottle top snapped off. He drank down half the can in one swallow and pushed open the door to the hospital room where the doctor had just finished examining Stephanie. He pushed open the door.
"Hey! Can I have a drink?" Stephanie had immediately brightened when he had walked back into the room.
Wordlessly, Hunter handed her his soda.
"So, when's the doctor coming back?" he finally asked.
"Pretty soon...Hunter?"
"Yeah, what?"
"I just--wanted to say thank you."
"For what?"
"For staying here with me. I know Dad wouldn't have been to happy about you missing your match on Smackdown tonight."
Hunter looked at Stephanie incredulously. "His only daughter gets poisoned, finds out some freak's been stalking her, taking pictures of her half- naked, and you think your Dad's going to be upset because his ex-son-in-law takes her to the hospital and MISSES HIS FREAKING MATCH?!" he asked, the last words going up in volume.
"Okay." Hunter paused for a moment. "Okay, you're right, Vince is that much of a jackass, he would be upset. But more importantly, do you honestly think that I give a damn about what your father thinks of me? Have I ever?"
"No." Stephanie laughed.
"Well, allright then. You know, I meant that you could have a drink, not half of the whole can." he scolded, holding out his hand for the remnants of his soda."
"Ooh...you're frowning at me. I'm really scared now." Stephanie teased, her eyes dancing.
Hunter opened his mouth to retort, but the doctor came in.
"Well?" Both Stephanie and Hunter asked simultaneously. Stephanie's hand reached over to Hunter's hand and he wrapped his fingers inbetween hers.
"Well, the results from the orange juice are back, and we did indeed find something. There was wild senna in your drink."
"Senna?" Stephanie asked.
"Yes, it's a herb. Mostly used to aid digestion. We're fortunate that it was only wild senna and not Alexandrian senna. It would have been quite dangerous for you, especially with the fact that you're pregnant. Luckily, you only had a drink of the juice, it would have been an entirely different matter if you'd drank the whole thing. But, everything is fine now, everything in your tests check out, so you are free to leave, Mrs. McMahon. I would simply advise you to rest, and take it easy for the next couple of days." With that, the doctor departed.
"You okay?" Hunter asked.
"Yeah, just-just give me a second to get changed?"
"Allright, I'll be right outside the door." Hunter exited.
Someone had actually put something in her drink, Stephanie shuddered. She realized she hadn't truly believed, had even thought it was just a really bad bout of morning sickness, but now they knew otherwise. Shakily, Stephanie pulled her clothes back on and left the hospital gown crumpled on the bed. She paused in front of the mirror. She looked like a ghost. Quickly she reapplied a coat of lipstick and a little blush. She didn't have a hair brush, so she just pulled her hair back in a quick braid. She opened the door and left the hospital with Hunter. They rode down the elevator in silence, both lost in their own troubled thoughts. Chad opened the limo's door and Stephanie murmured a thank you, while Hunter just flopped down in his seat across from her.
"You want to talk about it?" he asked, looking at her steadily.
"Not especially." Stephanie replied, as she picked non-existent lint from her pants. She looked down at her hands and saw that they were shaking.
"You're staying with Vince and Linda?"
She nodded, and he directed Chad to the house.
They were silent for about ten minutes. And then they both spoke.
"Hu-" "Steph-"
"Go ahead-" "You can-"
"Steph, go ahead. You first."
Stephanie inhaled. "I know the drink was meant for my father--"
"What makes you say that?"
"It was in his office!"
"Yeah, but everyone knows you always drink everyone else's drinks."
"I do not." "Do I?"
"Yeah, I don't think you even realize it, Steph. I don't think, in all the time we've been together, that I've ever finished a drink completely on my own."
"I'm sorry--you're right, I never even realized."
"Hey, it's okay. I'm not knocking you, it's kind of a cute quirk of yours, at least I've always thought so."
She smiled at him. Oh, God, not the smile, he thought. He turned his head to the side, pretending to look out the window, but he wasn't really seeing anything. "Yeah, well, anyways, everyone's noticed. Everyone but you, I guess. So it's really possible this guy was going after the two of you both. Or maybe just you. Or maybe just Vince. How can we really know?" Hunter asked, his eyes returning over to her.
"Good point." She said aloud. Scary point.
"So the morale of the story is to be careful from now on, okay?"
"Yeah." They were quiet for another minute.
"Hunter?"
"Yeah, what?"
"What were you going to say?"
"Nothing important."
"Why don't you let me judge that? Just say whatever it was."
He looked her dead in the face now. "I was going to ask you why you're still wearing your wedding ring."
Stephanie looked down at her hand. "I hadn't even realized." she murmured.
"Well, don't you think it's time to take it off? We signed the divorce, Steph."
Stephanie continued to look at her hand, but looked back up at him sharply. God, sometimes he was such an insensitive bastard. And other times he was the most giving, unselfish person she'd ever met. It was like he was two different people, and she didn't know which one he was going to be on any given day. And the great irony was that somehow, she loved them both!
"Well, I see you haven't wasted any time getting rid of yours! So, Hunter, did you pawn it? Throw it in the garbage? Have it melted into scrap metal?" she asked him savagely.
"No." Hunter answered simply. If she only knew what he'd really done with his ring. But he wouldn't ever tell her...she would get the wrong impression, he knew.
He tried a different tack: "So don't you think it would be better if it was off?"
No, it would not be better, you idiot! She thought. But she had to say something. "It's stuck." Oh, that's really good, Steph, way to dig yourself a hole on that one! her mind screamed. She elaborated further upon seeing Hunter's disbelieving, disgusted look. "My finger must be swelling, you know, because of the pregnancy."
"Yeah, right." Hunter muttered.
"I'm not lying! See?" Stephanie said indignantly, as she pretended to try and pull of the band. She was shocked when Hunter came across the limo to her.
"Give me your hand." he demanded. "Stuck, my ass."
She had no choice but to give him her hand. He pulled on the ring, gently at first, but harder when it didn't come off.
Stephanie looked at the ring in disbelief. It really was stuck. Go figure. "See? I told you!" She said triumphantly.
Finally giving up, Hunter moved away a few inches. "Sorry...you have to admit it was convenient."
"Whatever." Stephanie said. This conversation was getting her depressed, he really seemed to want to be rid of her. The limo finally pulled up to her parents' home.
She was surprised when he got out first and held out his arm to her. They walked up the path to the door and he said: "I'll walk you over to the door. Then I'm leaving."
Stephanie stopped dead, smacking into him."You're leaving?" Stephanie echoed squeakily.
Seeing the terrified expression on her face, his resolve crumpled. "Well, I was planning to but--"
"No! It's fine." She pulled her arm out of his. "It's just fine. You've done more than enough. Thank you for everything." She started walking away.
He followed. "You want to stop thanking me, damn it!?"
"Why? Does my thanking you bother you?"
"Yes---No---Yes!"
"Why?" she asked, genuinely wanting to know.
"Because, just because we're divorced doesn't mean we can't still help each other out, you know? It doesn't have to be all or nothing!"
But I want it all! I want it all from you! If I can't have it all, it would hurt too much to have to just settle for anything from you! Her heart screamed. But aloud she simply asked: "It doesn't?"
"No! I mean, it's not like we're enemies, or we hate each others' guts, right?"
"We don't?" He doesn't hate me! Her heart soared.
"No, we can still watch each other's backs. We were married, I still feel like--"
Her heart plummeted again. "Obligated. You feel obligated." Stephanie said slowly.
"I guess that would be one word for it." More like protective, he thought.
"Oh, well, don't worry about it, Hunter. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself. I have been through a lot, and I'm a survivor. You should know that by now."
He did know that. Hunter knew that if there were ever an apocalypse there would be two things that survived the thing: the cockroaches, and Stephanie McMahon. But he still wanted to make sure she was out of danger, then he could work on getting himself away from her.
"Why is it so dark in there?" Stephanie asked suddenly, changing the entire conversation.
"I don't know. It looks like it's completely dark." Hunter frowned. "There's no light anywhere. That's weird. Your mother always leaves the porch light on when she knows you're coming, and that light outside the garage is always on." he knew.
"Yeah...mom likes to pretend someone's always here, prevent burglars. She's cute like that. I wonder--you--Hunter?"
"Steph, go back to the limo, now." he told her as he picked up a heavy branch lying on the ground.
"No! You don't think that--that--my Mother's home!" She said urgently.
"I know! I'm going in there, to check it out! It's probably nothing. We're just being paranoid because of what happened today, but I'm going to check it out. Go back to the car, now!"
"The hell I am! It's my mother! And I'm not letting anything happen to you!" With that, Stephanie picked up her own branch defiantly.
"Oh for God's sakes--We don't have time for this!"
"Then get in there already!" She wasn't budging. He looked down at her angrily, but saw she wasn't going to do as he asked. So he pushed her behind him and opened the door slowly, silently. Stephanie followed, gripping her branch tightly. Hunter flicked the light switch.
"The power's completely cut. Everyone else on the block has power but this house. And my dad usually has security crawling all over the place and I haven't seen a single guard! The security alarm should have been tripped! I have such a bad feeling about this." She whispered.
Hunter didn't respond, but the truth was, so did he.