Although it was dark, where Tomoko sat, John could tell she had been terribly upset. When he moved in to get a closer look, he saw the cut on her lip and just a touch of crusted blood surrounding it.
"Oh my God, Tomoko, what happened?" He asked, shocked at what he was seeing.
Tomoko again buried her face in her hands. To embarrassed to face anyone at the moment. John grabbed her by the arm to lift her up off the floor.
"You need to see a doctor." He said, concerned now for her health and well-being. He knew in his heart that she had been attacked by someone.
Once Tomoko got to her feet, her legs were so weak she could barely stand. Instead, John supported her body by holding her close to him while she rested her head on his shoulder.
As he walked through the arena, he made sure that no one saw them leave. He didn't want Tomoko's condition to become public. At least not yet. His main concern was to get her to a hospital and find out what happened.
On the way to the hospital, Tomoko remained slumped in the passenger side of John's rental car. Her eyes open, but they were lifeless. John placed a hand on her leg to let her know he would take care of her, but she made no acknowledgement of his touch. She was almost zombie-like as she stared off in the distance. It was common knowledge that in order to work as a prostitute you had to forget who you were, turn your heart to stone and not let anyone in. It was the only way to survive without going crazy. It was hard for Tomoko to finally open up to people after she left Japan, to trust people. Shortly after arriving in the WWE and meeting people like Stephanie McMahon, who welcomed her with open arms, and like John, who has shown her nothing but friendship and support, she has allowed herself to live without fear. Until tonight, she hadn't felt so alive and eager to meet new people. Until tonight she felt ready to start pursuing relationships and possibly find true love. But as fate would have it that was all taken away from her thanks to Shane McMahon. No more would she trust again. No more would she allow herself happiness with another person. Maybe the street was where she belonged. No one could touch her now. The damage has been done and no one would ever hurt her again.
As John waited at the hospital to hear the news on Tomoko's condition, a million thoughts ran through his head. From the moment he saw her, he had known she was special, and since her arrival into the WWE, he had felt an overwhelming sense to protect her. He cursed himself for not preventing whatever it was that happened to her. None of it made sense. Why would someone do this to such an innocent and sweet person? Was it a random act of violence by a total stranger, or was it something else? Something worse. As the doctor approached John, he would soon find out.
John looked at the doctor with wide eyes, hoping the best, but sensing things were wrong.
"The good news is that your friend is going to be alright, physically." The doctor said putting emphasis on the word 'physically'. This was no comfort to John. "The bad news is after running several tests, it is pretty obvious she was raped."
John couldn't believe what he was hearing. He felt every muscle in his body start to tense up. He turned away from the doctor trying hard not to scream in anger, or just hit someone, anyone. The doctor continued.
"We'll have to keep her here to run a few more tests, but if you want you can go in and see her now."
John didn't waste anytime. Before entering her room, John took a deep breath. He knew what he was about to see would break his heart, but he was determined to be there for Tomoko. As far as he knew, she had no family, no friends to speak of. Although John had always wandered about her family, her life and her past, none of that was his concern now.
When John finally entered the room, Tomoko was lying on her side, curled up like a baby and wrapped tightly in a sheet as if trying to keep the whole world from getting near her.
John knew better than to force her to open up, but he wanted to know what happened, how, by who and why. He wanted answers so he could make the perpetrator pay for his crime.
"Tomoko, I heard what happened, I'm sorry." Water started building in John's eyes, something he swore no one would see him do, but there was no stopping his tears now.
"John, I feel so ashamed. Making you leave the arena, you need to get back there, people will wander and you could get in trouble." Tomoko replied as if trying to change the subject.
"I don't really care about that. Besides, I called Stephanie and told her I was taking you to the hospital."
A frightened look came over Tomoko's face. What if Stephanie were to tell Shane? Shane would think Tomoko told her what happened, and hold true to his promise of making her life even more miserable than he already had.
"It's okay, she promised not to tell anyone until she talked to you. You can trust her Tomoko." John reassured her.
Sensing it was okay to get a little closer to Tomoko, John sat on the edge of the bed, and held Tomoko's hand.
"Tomoko, who did this to you?" He pleaded.
Tomoko turned from John and removed her hand from his. She wanted so bad at this moment to just tell him everything, beginning with her career in Japan to now. But she was ashamed, embarrassed and afraid. Maybe she deserved what had happened to her. Frankly, she was surprised it never happened while she was working in Japan. But damn it, why now, when her life was beginning to really take off, she thought to herself. Even if she did tell John everything, the past would somehow always find a way to destroy anything good in her life.
With her back still toward John she responded, "John, please, I don't want to talk about it. Please don't ask me again."
As John heard these words, he knew better than to push for an answer. He prayed that someday she would be able to talk about it and not try to deal with it on her own. He hoped that he would be the one she would turn to. Until then, he would wait.
As John started to leave, he placed a kiss on Tomoko's head. Trying hard to bring some light to her now black world.
"Take care of yourself Tomoko. If you want to talk about it, I'm here for you, but I'll leave that up to you."
John opened the door, not wanting to leave her alone. He turned back one last time with the hope that she would call his name and beg him to stay. Instead, he found her the same way as he did seconds before; motionless and guarding herself from the world.
Once Tomoko was sure John was gone, she whispered to herself, "Thank you John."