Part Eight

North Carolina

"Ok, girl. It's time to take the first step. You ready?" Jeff Hardy was standing next to a set of parallel bars in the physical
therapy room at the rehabilitation center. It had been a week and a half since Lita had first felt feeling in her legs again. She had been released from the hospital and had flown home, making her extremely happy. She had taken Jeff up on his offer and had moved in with him temporarily. While he'd been on the road, he had hired a nurse to stay with her. However, today was his day off, and it coincided with what was to be the most important day in her recovery efforts yet. Today was the day she was supposed to take her first steps.

"Can't we just do more of those strengthening exercises on the machines?"

"We could. But Joey here tells me you're ready for bigger and better things, right Joey?" Jeff nodded towards Lita's physical therapist.

"He's right Lita. You're ready. Let's give it a shot."

"I'm not so sure I'm ready for this yet," she said, hesitation in her voice.

"Why, Lita?" he asked. "Don't you want to get rid of that wheelchair?"

Lita looked up to face her friend. "More than anything," she said sincerely. "But, what if I'm not able to do this? What if I fail?"

"Lita," Jeff said, getting down on his knees in front of her so that they were at the same height. "I am going to be right there beside you with each step. And at the end of that bar I'm going to envelop you in the biggest hug you've ever had. And Joey is going to be right on your other side. If you're really worried about falling, don't, because we will catch you."

"You promise?"

"I promise. Pinky swear," he said, holding out his pinky finger for her to grab onto.

Lita looked at him dubiously for a moment, then broke into a smile as she reached out and wrapped her own pinky finger with his. Using the strength in her pinky finger, she suddenly pulled him forward, almost tumbling him into her lap.

"Drop me and you're a dead man, Hardy," she said with a wicked smile.

"Got it," he said, leaning back, using his weight to lift her up and out of the chair. Joey came over on her other side and they half-carried, half-walked her over to the set of parallel bars. Jeff took his place on her left side, while Joey stood on her right. Lita used the bars as leverage to keep herself standing.

"So far so good," she said, happy that she at least was able to remain standing.

"Ok, Lita. I want you to very carefully put your right foot forward, until you're steady, then your left. Use the bars to balance your weight," Joey instructed.

"What about this?" Lita questioned, holding up her wrist, still in it's cast. "It hurts to put pressure on it."

"Use your forearms to hold your weight. Don't bend your wrists. Keep your forearms and wrists on the bars horizontally." He showed her how to do it.

"Ok. Here goes." Lita gingerly placed her arms on the bars, then looked over at Jeff for encouragement. He nodded to her. "Go when you're ready, sweetie."

Lita took that first step slowly, carefully lifting her right leg and placing it ever so gently ahead of her. She kept her balance using the bars, keeping focused on her feet and the task of making them carry her forward. With much grit and determination, she managed to make the entire walk to the end of the bars without interference from Jeff or Joey. It seemed like it took forever to reach the end, but when she did, her face lit up like a kid at Christmas.

"I did it!" she cried jubilantly.

"Woo Hoo!" Jeff said, sweeping her into a hug. "I knew you could do it."

"Oh, Jeff. Thank you. I don't know what I'd do without you here," she said.

"Hey, it's all you, girl. I didn't do a thing."

"You know what I mean. You're moral support, silly."

Well," he said, still holding her upright on her unsteady feet. "I never did get to give you that sponge bath. Maybe when we get home…" he stopped, breaking into a laugh and looking in her eyes expectantly.

"In your dreams, Rainbow," she said, laughing along with him. "Nice try though." She reached up and embraced him in another big hug.

Joey interrupted their little celebration then. "Great job, Lita. You ready to do it again?"

Boston, Massachusetts

Matt and Edge were together in Matt's hotel room, waiting for Shane Helms to call. Matt fidgeted restlessly with the remote control, flipping blindly through the channels on the TV.

"So," Edge said, "How's Lita doing?"

"Better," Matt said, switching his focus to his friend. "As I told you she went home last week, after she started getting the feeling back in her legs again. She's started doing physical therapy to strengthen her legs and start walking again."

"Is she staying at Jeff's?"

"Yeah. It's hard though cause he's on the road like us. I wish she'd let me take some time off and help her. Jeff has a nurse
staying with them."

"She'll come around. You're talking again, right?"

"Kind of. It's real… " Matt searched for the right word, "strained, but at least they speak to me now. We avoid any type of conversation other than how Lita is doing or what the weather's supposed to be though." He continued on, "I haven't told them what's going on yet. But Shane talked to Jeff some, told him a little about what's going on. I need to talk to him one on one, though. You know, to set things right."

"You will. When do you see him again?"

"As soon as we end this road trip. I'm going to tell them both everything."

"Smartest thing I've ever heard you say, Hardy." Just then, the phone rang. Edge reached over and picked it up. "Shane. 'Bout time, man. We've been waiting on you. You know anything new?"

"Yep. Our suspicions are confirmed, man. He's planning on making his move at the next pay per view," Shane said on the other end of the line.

"Damn," Edge said. "We've got to stop him." He looked over at Matt. Matt stood by the window, looking at Edge and trying to figure out what Shane was saying. From his cursing, it didn't sound good.

"Oh, we will. We will. But we've got to get together and work out the details. Can you come home this trip with Matt so we're all in North Carolina?"

"Not a problem. That bastard's going down for what he's doing. And also for what he did to Lita. We leave here in the morning. We'll meet you at your place and figure out our plan then." Edge said. He said his goodbyes to Shane and turned to Matt, who stood there with his hands on his hips. "What?" Matt asked.

"Man, we've got to figure out our next move fast. This is all breaking loose at the next pay per view."

TBC