She wasn't in her room.
That was all Randy could think of as he raced through the hotel. He knocked on her door early that morning, and she didn't answer. Despite the fact that she had promised Adam she wouldn't, Randy just knew she went to see Paul the night before. She had gone to see him, and she hadn't returned.
Rounding a corner, Randy caught a glimpse of Adam, who had Jay Reso by his side, sliding a key card into his hotel room door.
"Adam!" he called breathlessly as he ran up to him. He had been running so quickly that he could barely slow to a stop, nearly bowling the two Canadians over.
"Woah, slow down!" Adam said, putting his hands up to block Randy from colliding into him. "What's wrong with you?"
Taking a deep breath, Randy shook his head.
"Trish, she's... she's not in her hotel room. I don't know what to do."
Jay arched an eyebrow at the younger man's statement, which confused him for so many reasons. So what if Trish wasn't in her room? She wasn't Randy's girlfriend anymore, and she was an adult, free to come and go as she pleased. Also, what the hell was he doing coming to Adam? He was even more surprised when his best friend's eyes widened in shock, his gym bag falling to the floor from his hands. He stuffed the key into Jay's hand, before grabbing Randy by the arm and hurrying off.
"I'll be back, Jay!" he called over his shoulder, leaving his very confused friend behind.
He led Randy up a flight of stairs, bolting up them so quickly that he nearly missed a few of them. He sped down the hall, running full speed until he recognized a room number, stopping abruptly in front of it.
"What are you doing?" Randy asked as he paused to catch his breath.
"This is his room," he replied, staring at the large white door before him. "I saw him and Flair coming from here yesterday afternoon."
He grabbed the door handle, jiggling it a bit, groaning as he realized that the door was indeed locked.
"Damn it," he muttered as he fought with the door, cursing at it.
Randy watched as Adam struggled with the door, the Canadian becoming increasingly frustrated as it wouldn't budge. He exhaled heavily, wondering where in hell Trish could be. His stomach dropped as he considered all that could possibly have happened to her. Paul was capable of doing serious, irreversible damage, and the thought of him doing so to someone like Trish terrified him.
He glanced from the door to Adam, and then back to the door again. Deciding there was no way he could sit by and wait for Adam to pry the damn thing open, Randy raised his foot in the air, slamming it down on the door. His extreme amount of worry somehow enabled him the strength to bust the door open with a single kick. It flew back, hitting the wall with such force that it bounced back and began to close again.
Adam nodded thankfully, and then the two men rushed into the room, each calling Trish's name as they tore through the seemingly empty suite. Randy searched and searched and found nothing, and was about to breathe a sigh of relief, until Adam's chilled words caused him to freeze.
"Oh my God... I found her."
"Oh my God, you're kidding me," Stephanie McMahon said almost breathlessly, her eyes widening in terror.
She gripped Chris's hand tightly as Adam retold the painful tale of how he and Randy had discovered Trish. A little over tow hours had passed, and after letting a select group of friends know what had happened, Adam and Randy had been joined in the hospital waiting room by Chris, Stephanie, and Jay. A thick silence fell over them as the tragic seriousness of the situation began to settle in on them. In response to Stephanie's comment, Adam sadly shook his head.
"Jesus," Chris breathed, his blue eyes wide. "Have you heard anything about her condition?" Adam shook his head again.
"Not a single thing," he said, pausing for a brief moment. "I've... I've never seen anything like that before. It was the most horrifying thing I've ever gone through, seeing her like that..."
Stephanie turned out the blonde man's voice, not particularly interested in hearing the gruesome details on how he had discovered Trish. Her gaze traveled around a bit, and as she was glancing past her husband, she noticed Randy, who was sitting across the room. Frowning, she released her grip on Chris's hand and then slowly strode over to him. His face was expressionless as she took a seat next to him.
Stephanie felt a pang of sympathy in her heart as she eyed his pitiful form. She couldn't even begin to imagine how numb he must have been feeling.
"Randy, I'm so sorry," she spoke softly, as she wasn't sure he was even aware of her presence.
"Don't be," he replied without moving so much as a muscle.
He had gotten to know Stephanie considerable well during the past weeks, and he knew her apologies were not the typical sympathies one would give. She was more than likely feeling guilty over the fact that Paul, her ex-fiance, had attacked Trish. Despite the fact that Randy had been desperately searching for someone to blame, he did not want the brunette to be that person. Stephanie sighed, opening her mouth to speak, but a third person stepped up and joined the conversation.
"What did you do?!"
Randy glanced up to meet the furious gaze of Dawn Marie. There was no way he could handle an argument with the feisty brunette, not now.
"Dawn, please..." he begged weakly.
"Shut up, Randy. Tell me how one of my best friends is lying half dead in a hospital bed and..."
"Dawn!" a fourth voice called, and it was then that Stephanie lifted her head and noticed that Jay had come right up behind Dawn Marie. "He didn't do anything. He's the one who saved Trish, okay? Just lay off him."
Dawn quieted down, but it was obvious she was less than convinced. She made her dislike for Randy no secret, and had Jay not been there to hold her back, she'd have given him a larger piece of her mind.
Randy looked up at Jay, and the Canadian smiled as he sensed a bit of gratitude in his otherwise hopeless gaze. The young man buried his face in his hands, and the four remained silent until a doctor, who was accompanied by a police officer, approached them.
"Are you the one who brought the young woman in?" the detective asked, his eyes locked on Randy, who had since lifted his head. When Randy nodded, the man continued. "We're going to need you to give us a DNA sample... same with the other man who brought her in."
"What? What for?" Randy asked, surprised and concerned at the same time.
"Standard procedure," the man replied simply.
Randy, as well as Dawn Marie, Jay, and Stephanie, still looked confused, so the doctor - an African American woman who looked to be in her late thirties - stepped up to explain.
"It's in order to rule you out as a suspect," she said, hoping to clear things up a bit.
"Look, we know who did this to her," Jay spoke for Randy, who had the look of a deer caught in headlights. "We'll all attest to the fact that neither Randy nor Adam did anything but help Trish."
"I understand that, but just to be sure, we have to take the sample. You see, there were fluids found on Ms. Stratus's body... she was raped."