Part Seven
"Hey beautiful."
Lita looked up from the magazine she'd been reading at the huge bouquet of flowers in front of her that were now apparently addressing her.
"Hey, Rainbow! They're beautiful. Thank you," she said reaching forward and accepting the bouquet of wildflowers that Jeff had brought to her. She held them to her nose, taking in their fragrance.
"Wildflowers for a real wild flower," he said smiling. "How you feeling today?"
It had been three days since Lita had been attacked on Raw. The bruises that had marked her so angrily were starting to fade.
"Much better, except for this," she said, holding her wrist up to him. Part of her forearm up to her palm was in a cast thanks to a severe sprain. "The itching is driving me crazy. You got a saw handy?"
Jeff patted himself down, as if he was looking for the requested object. "Hmm, nope. Sorry, Red, I left it in my other pants."
He continued, "I just stopped by to tell you goodbye, sweetie. I have to leave out for Lexington this afternoon. That buttwipe Bischoff has demanded I be back on the roster and fight tonight."
"Hmmpf," she huffed. "I'm sure he does. Please be careful Jeff. I don't trust him. Not one tiny bit."
"Yeah. Don't worry though. Y2J is already back there. He's got my back, as does Shane. Speaking of the Hurrifreak, he been by here yet?"
"No, he hasn't. But he said he would change planes in Houston so he could come see me during a layover, which I think is very sweet. So stop calling him a Hurrifreak."
"I just call em like a see em," Jeff said smiling. The smile dropped from his face though as he changed the subject and got
serious. "So, tell me, any feeling yet in your legs? You said you're feeling better."
Lita looked down momentarily. She hated talking about her paralysis because the whole situation frustrated her so badly. She looked back up into Jeff's eyes though and answered honestly. "Yes and no."
"What? Explain," Jeff said.
"Well, yes, I am feeling a lot better. My neck is a little less sore, and my back doesn't hurt as badly as it did. Could be the
drugs though," she said, attempting to inject a little humor into this most serious subject. She continued on. "But no, I'm afraid I still don't have my feeling in my legs yet."
"Well," he said, picking up her hand and placing a soft kiss on the back of it. "You will, soon. And before you know it, you'll be helping me kick the Island Boys asses, along with that creepy GM of ours."
"Right now, I'd settle for just getting to go home to North Carolina. I like Texas, but it's not home. You know?"
"I know. What have they said?"
"If I start to get the feeling back soon, I can start physical therapy here and be transferred to a rehabilitation center back home to take physical therapy. It means getting to go home, as in to my house and everything." She seemed excited about the possibility.
"Cool. And what's the alternative."
A look of distain appeared on her face. "If I don't get the feeling back by next week, then they will transfer me to another hospital in North Carolina. Big whoop, you know?"
"Hey, that's better than a thousand miles away. It will be easier for me to check up on you."
"Yeah, but Jeff. There are more severe consequences. If I don't get the feeling back soon, no hospital in North Carolina is going to want me either. They're going to…" she dropped off as she struggled to keep control of her voice.
"They're going to what Lita?"
"They're going to just send me to a convalescence center. Jeff, there's no need to go to a hospital when they can't fix you. I'll be stuck in a home somewhere, staring at four white walls and eating moldy jello. It will be worse than a prison." It was obvious she had given this a lot of thought.
"Now, sweetie. You think too much. First of all, you're going to get the feeling back and start therapy. Secondly, you do not have to go to a home. You will come and live with me. Dad lives down the road and he'll help too."
"Jeff, you know that's not a possibility."
"Yes it is. I say so."
"Jeff, you are on the road 90 percentof the time. And I will not become a burden to your father, especially when I'm not even dating his son anymore."
"But you know Dad thinks of you like a daughter, regardless of your status with Matt."
"I know, but the answer to that is no', Jeff."
"What about your Mom?"
"She's still out of the country. She's not scheduled to come back until February."
"Ah, well, by then, you'll be all healed up. And listen, Red," Jeff said, getting in his friend's face. "I have the answer anyway. Here's the deal, and you can't argue the point. If, and I mean a very slight if, you don't get the feeling back right away, then you will come home to live with me. We will hire a part-time nurse to stay with you when I'm not there, to help you out and stuff."
"Jeff…"
"No, don't worry. We'll charge the nurse's salary to Bischoff."
"But, Jeff, you've got your own life too. You need time for your own social life."
"I will, Lita. I promise. And besides, I will make a great nurse."
Lita laughed then, reaching up and taking her friends face in betweenher hands. "Jeff?" she asked.
"What?" he answered through a squished face.
"You have made me an offer I can't refuse," she said, releasing his face and leaning back into her pillows.
"Alright!" he said, standing up and smoothing out his shirt. "Ok, I really gotta go now or I'll miss my flight to Kentucky. I'll call you later on, ok?"
"Ok."
"Oh, and Lita," he said, turning around at the edge of her door. "As your caregiver, it will be my responsibility to give you regular sponge baths." With that he ducked out the door, as the tv remote control came zinging at his head and clanged loudly to the floor. As Jeff left, he swore he heard his friend laughing. His mission for today was complete.
Out in the waiting room, Shane Helms sat in a large brown chair, silently debating if it's upholstery was from the 1960's or 1970's. It was so old and outdated he couldn't be sure. He had come to the hospital to visit Lita. However, he was currently watching his friend Matt pace nervously around the small waiting area. They were the only two occupants.
"C'mon, Matt. Let's just go see her already. I have a flight to catch in a few hours. I promised her I'd stop by."
"I know, I know," Matt said. "But, I'm just not sure if she'll see me again Shane. She made it pretty clear the other night that she didn't want me around."
"Matt, she had just been brutally attacked. I'm sure she wasn't thinking too clearly."
"I don't know. She's pretty hurt, both physically and emotionally."
"Well, what did you say to her the other morning?"
"I told her I didn't mean to hurt her. And I didn't. And I wanted her to know I care about her."
"That sounds like a pretty good start," Shane surmised.
"I really didn't mean to hurt her Shane. I'd never hurt her or Jeff. But I had to do what I did. You understand that, right?"
"Of course, I do. I'm in this thing too you know. But, Matt, didn't you tell her what you were getting into before you jumped Jeff?"
Matt looked away. "No…"
"What? Why not? My friend, you have a good heart, but you are really, really stupid sometimes. Did you even tell Jeff?"
"No again. Look, I didn't want to put either of them at risk. I needed them to believe that I was jumping."
"Well, that's certainly the way to do it. Geez, Matt. You really complicated things here."
"I know."
"Do you think Bischoff suspects something, Shane? Maybe he sent his goons after Lita to send us a message."
"Nah. I don't think so. I think he really was just looking for a cheap thrill and Lita's comments about Smackdown fit the bill." Shane then changed the subject. "Ok, look. I am the Hurri-master at repairing relationships. Although you are certainly pushing my superhero limits."
"Cut the superhero crap. What are you saying?"
"Let's just go see Lita. Let me talk to her and you just stand there looking incredibly sad and remorseful. Got it?"
"It's not an act. I am remorseful."
"Good, let's go."
Shane and Matt walked down the hall to Lita's room. They didn't see Jeff, who had turned down the opposite hallway. It was probably a good thing that Matt and Jeff didn't pass each other. They hadn't said too much to each other since the first night at the hospital.
Shane pushed the door open and entered the room, dragging Matt in behind him. "Lita! You're day just got brighter. I'm finally here!"
Lita looked up, a smile coming to her face. "Yea! Shane, you came!" Shane crossed the room to her bed and enveloped his friend in a big hug. Lita hugged him back enthusiastically, then leaned back into her pillows. When she saw who had come in with him she just shut her mouth, not sure what to say.
"Hi Lita."
"Matt."
"Um, look, it might be better if I wait outside while you two talk."
"No, no, no," Shane said. "Look, Lita. Matt here has been driving me crazy because he's so worried about you. It's ok if he stays, right?"
"Um, yeah. Stay Matt," Lita said. She figured since Shane was here the conversation would steer clear of their personal problems.
Matt just nodded.
"So, Red," Shane continued, "How you doing?"
"Well, I'll tell you the same thing I told Jeff. If I get the feeling back in my legs within the week, I get to start physical
therapy and actually go home. If not, then they want to ship me to a "facility"," she said, making imaginary quote marks with her fingers at the word facility.
"Well, that's not going to happen," Shane said simply.
"Yeah, Shane, it is. It's what they said."
"No, it's not. It's not because you're going to get your abilities back and not need a "facility." He mimicked the quotation marks like she had made earlier.
"Yeah, you're right. Think positive and all." Just then Shane's cell phone began ringing. He opened the display and saw Jeff's name on the monitor. "Hmm, I wonder what he wants. I better take this, Lita. I'll be right back." With that, Shane stepped out of the room, answering his phone. "What do you want Hardy…" The rest of the conversation was drowned out as the door closed.
Matt turned around and awkwardly faced his ex-girlfriend, not sure what to say. "Um, you look like you're feeling a little better."
"I do, actually."
"Do you need anything?"
"Yeah. I need to get my feeling in my legs back so I can get my life back."
"Remember what I said the other morning, Lita. You'll make it, I know you will."
"It's so simple to you, isn't it Matt? You have all the answers. Just come waltzing in here and tell me to "buck up little trooper". Life will be just peachy. I can't just smooth over things like you do, Matt."
"Lita, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I did leave you and Jeff, but there is a very good reason for it. I tried to tell you, but you
wouldn't talk to me."
"Oh, there's always a reason, isn't there Matt? Just save it. I don't need any excuses."
"No, please listen to me," he said reaching out and placing his hands on her still legs. "There is so much more to the story. There are things going on in the WWE that you're not aware of. Me, and Edge and Shane are all…"
"Oh my God, Matt,"
"No, I'm serious Lita. Please hear me out."
"No," Lita said, reaching out and placing her hands on top of Matt's. She had an incredulous look on her face. "No, Matt. I mean," she stopped and broke out in laughter. "Matt, you just placed your hands on my legs."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."
"No," she said, glee entering her voice. "No, it's ok. I felt your hands on my legs! I felt it Matt!" She laughed again out loud.
"Oh my God," he said. Instantly, he reached down and enveloped her in a hug, embracing her in happiness. Lita hugged him back, ecstatic with this new development.
At that moment Shane re-entered the room. "Well," he said with a smirk. "I guess you didn't need my assistance at all, did you Matt?"
TBC