Part Six
Lita awoke to a gray blur, the sedatives she'd been given were wearing off and allowing her to join the waking world again.
Gradually the murkiness in her mind cleared, and she realized that she was in a darkened hospital room and not in her own bed at home. As the fog in her mind cleared more, the horrible memories of last night came rushing back to her. Maybe, just maybe, she thought, I am still dreaming. But she quickly squashed that idea when her legs refused to follow her brain's command to move. The nightmare she had lived through last night had been real after all.
Sighing heavily, she turned her head towards the windows. It was early, how early she wasn't sure, but the pre-dawn dusky darkness had yet to give way to the sunrise. The room itself was bathed still in the fading moonlight's glow from the darkness outside. Her attention was averted when a subtle rumbling came from the corner of her room near the foot of her bed. Lita struggled to make out the figure that was obviously sleeping in a very uncomfortable position in her room with her. Lita stretched her sore neck, squinting into the darkness to see who it was with her. She relaxed as she was able to make out the figure's outline. It was unmistakable. That outline in the shadows was the outline of a Hardy. Lita smiled a little as
she thought about Jeff coming back to stay with her so she wouldn't be alone. "Aw, Rainbow," she whispered. "You didn't have to stay with me."
The sleeping Hardy responded by turning over again, still asleep and still very uncomfortable. Lita couldn't let her friend stay in that position. He'd be in worse shape than her by the morning.
"Jeff," she said, raising her voice slightly above a whisper. "Jeff," she said again. "Wake up, sleepyhead. You're going to have a horrible backache."
"Hmm?" came a groggy response. His hand raised up to wipe at his eyes, dropping unceremoniously again at his side.
"C'mon, big guy." Lita said. "You can climb in this bed with me. I won't hurt you."
"What? Lita?" the figure in the chair fully woke now, temporarily forgetting he had been sleeping in two uncomfortable chairs. He rolled over, catching his feet in the chair spokes and fell with a loud thud to the cold tile floor. "Uuuggghh."
"Jeff, you ok?" Lita said, clasping a tired hand over her mouth. Even as wiped out as she felt, she couldn't help but stifle the
giggle from the site she just witnessed in the corner.
"Um, yeah, fine. Lita, are you ok? Are you awake?" the figure picked himself up off the floor and quickly approached her bed. "I was so worried about you. Are you alright?"
Lita gasped as the figure came fully into her line of vision. "Matt? Oh my… what are you doing here?"
"Lita, you're awake," he seemed very happy to see her. "Oh, honey, I was so worried about you. I saw everything on the tv and rushed here as soon …"
"Stop it, Matt."
"What?"
"I said stop. I don't understand why you're here. I don't want you here."
"But,…"
"No. You don't get it. You can't just come rushing back here again and think everything is just going to be peachy keen."
"Lita, I know you're upset. I expect that. But, I've been trying to call you since the day I left for Smackdown. You wouldn't take my calls. I wrote you letters. Did you read them?"
Lita looked away, not able to look in his eyes. "No," she said softly. "Matt, I was very angry with you. Once again, you turned on your brother and left. And neither of us really understands why you did it. It hurt Matt. You hurt both your brother and me. I couldn't bear to talk to you about it. I couldn't stand to hear a string of excuses." Tears were beginning to well up in the redhead's eyes.
"Lita, I want to explain, I really do. Please don't cry. I have been trying to tell you why I had to act the way I did. I promise. But right now, I am much more worried about you. I don't matter. You do. I know what happened in the ring. I know about your… temporary paralysis."
"I don't want to talk about that, Matt. I can't handle this right now. I'm angry. Angry at those bastards for doing this to me, at Bischoff for being an ass, and at myself for not being able to fight back. I may never walk again because of them. You can't possibly know what I'm feeling."
"Lita,"
Lita's emotions were opening up now, and her feelings began to pour out unwillingly. "No. Just stop. I'm also angry at you for coming here and confusing things even more. I don't want your sympathy Matt. You should have just stayed away."
"Lita, I won't make you talk about anything you don't want to. I'd never hurt you, not intentionally anyway. If you're not ready to talk about your injury, or anything else for that matter, that's ok. I want you to know that I'm not abandoning you, I've never really abandoned you. And…" he broke off, not sure how to finish his impromptu speech. It was all pouring from his heart now as he continued, "if you'll let me, I'll be here for you during your recovery."
"Matt… I don't know. I'm so confused." Lita covered her eyes with her hands.
Matt reached out and tentatively removed her hands from her eyes, covering them with his. "Look, I know you have a lot to deal with right now. I'm making you upset and that's the one thing I never wanted to do. So, I'm going to go. I just had to see for myself that you were alright and to let you know I care. Ok?"
The tears were streaming down her face now. She took her hands back from his, wiping at her eyes with her sleeves. "Just go, Matt. Just leave please."
"Ok," he said rising up from the bed and turning towards the door. "Lita, you are the strongest person I've ever met. You have drive, tenacity and energy unlike anyone I've ever seen. You've overcome hurdles in your life before, and you will this too. No matter what happens between us, don't forget that. You will walk again." And with that, he picked up his jacket and left the room.
Lita just stared after him, watching as the door slowly returned to a shut position. Once she was safely alone again, the flood walls opened, and she sank back in her bed sobbing. She didn't know if she really had the energy to get through this.