See what happens when you have a day off and the muses won't let you be? You get two chapters in one day! Enjoy!
The first thing she was aware of was Torrie's voice. Then, she felt the pressure on her hand, another hand obviously holding hers.
"Torrie, why don't you go and get some rest? I'll stay with Lilian for awhile," she heard Billy tell his wife.
"I'm fine, sweetie," she heard Torrie reply tiredly. "I don't want her to wake up and me not be here."
"I'm awake," Lilian struggled to say, forcing her eyes open to look at Torrie and Billy. She looked to see Torrie was the one holding her hand, giving it a small squeeze to show her that she was okay.
"Hey, Lil," Torrie said, smiling at her friend. "How do you feel?"
"I have a headache," Lilian admitted, raising her free hand to touch her forehead, feeling white gauze on her forehead. "Where am I?"
"You're in Atlanta, Georgia, Lil," Torrie replied, brushing a lock of hair out of her eyes.
"What happened?"
"You and Rob were in an accident, Lil. You have a minor concussion and a pretty bad cut on your head. The doctor had to give you three stitches to close the wound," Billy explained gently, speaking for his wife when she didn't reply this time. He took a seat next to Torrie, looking expectantly at Lilian. The little blonde thought, frowning as she slowly nodded, remembering. "You passed out after the accident," Billy explained.
"How long have I been out?"
"About ten hours," Torrie replied, smiling at her friend. "Do you remember anything?"
"Yeah," Lilian replied, wincing. "I remember a car following us and forcing us off the road… Rob…" Her heart nearly stopped as she thought of Rob. "Rob. Where's Rob!" she asked, panicked.
"Relax, babe. I'm here," Rob said tiredly, walking through the hospital door and collapsing into a chair opposite of Torrie and Billy, exhausted. "Li and Shawn send their love. They wanted to come here today, but they both had publicity things to do earlier. I would have been here sooner, but Steph and Trish made me get checked out."
"It's a good thing, too," Trish said, following Rob into the room, carrying a cup of coffee for Torrie, which the tall blonde accepted gratefully.
"Shut up, Trish," Rob said, giving the blonde a glare.
"What's wrong, Rob? What did you have to get checked out for?" Lilian asked, looking at the man she was managing with an intense gaze at Trish's words.
"It's no big deal, doll," Rob replied. "I just have a sore elbow. I needed to get stitches because my elbow got caught on the window when we were rolling through the grass." Seeing the look of horror on Lilian's face, he shook his head. "Chill, Lil. It's no big deal. Only eight stitches were needed. Just enough to make me not move my elbow for a few days."
Lilian blew out her breath, shaking her head slowly. "I'm so sorry, Rob," she murmured. "It's all my fault."
"No. It's not your fault, Lil," Rob said, taking Lilian's other hand, being careful to avoid the IV in her tiny hand, not wanting to hurt her.
"Yes, it is. This accident, what happened to Trish and Lita, it's my fault. I should have never come back. I've put you all in danger and-"
"No." This time, Trish spoke. "Lil, it's not your fault. The only person who is at fault is John. He's not stable, and he's using us to hurt you."
"And it's working," Lilian said through tear-filled eyes. "I'm so sorry, guys," Lilian sobbed.
"Lil, please, it's not your fault," Rob said, tears pooling in his own eyes, bringing her hand up to his lips, kissing it tenderly, trying to make her realize that no one blamed her for this. "Please, trust me when I say that. I'm fine, and I'm more worried about your health and wellbeing."
Lilian sighed, shaking her head. She opened her mouth, getting ready to respond when Stephanie breezed into the room, a tense and worried look on her face. "Hey," she said to Rob, glancing at Lilian, doing a double take when she realized the little blonde was finally awake. "Lil! You're awake! How are you?" she asked, managing a grin for her employee laying in the hospital bed.
"I'm fine, Steph," Lilian replied, brushing away at the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes.
"Good… look, Lil, I have some big news. I don't really know how to say it delicately, but-"
"Ah, the patient is awake," a doctor said, breezing into the room. "Can you excuse us for a moment?" he asked, looking pointedly at the five bystanders in the room. "Mrs. Garcia and I have to talk."
"No, let them stay," Lilian said wearily. "Whatever you have to say to me you can say in front of them."
"Okay, Mrs. Garcia," he agreed. "You have a minor concussion, which should heal in no time so long as you take it easy."
"When can I be released?" Lilian asked anxiously, suddenly feeling smothered and wanting to get out of Atlanta, Georgia.
"We want to monitor you for a few more hours. Then, you can leave."
"Good," Lilian said with a sigh, leaning her head back. The sooner she got out of this city, the sooner she could hopefully get away from this nightmare.
"You'll need to check up with your regular doctor to make sure everything is okay and to get the stitches out. Also, you need to make sure to relax and not overexert yourself. A concussion is nothing to mess around with. Okay?"
"Okay," Lilian replied, thinking back to the last time she had a concussion, which, of course, had been courtesy of her soon to be ex-husband.
"I'll let you be for now," the doctor said. "I'll check you in an hour to see if anything's changed. If not, then you're more than likely in the clear. I still want to observe you again, but I'm sure everything will be fine. It seems to be a minor concussion, but you can never be too careful when it comes to the head."
"Thank you," Lilian replied, turning her attention back to Stephanie when the older gentleman left the room. "Now what were you going to say?"
Stephanie took a deep breath before speaking. "Look, I don't know of this is good or bad news, but police found a white Honda Accord with tinted windows outside of Tampa about two hours ago. Apparently, there was a bad accident where the Accord ran into the back of a tractor trailer."
Lilian took a deep breath, wondering if what Stephanie was saying was what she thought the owner of WWE was trying to get to. "Is it… was it him?" she finally asked, pulling her hand out of Torrie's grasp, fidgeting with the tube on her hand nervously.
Stephanie sighed, nodding. "They think so, Lil. They need someone to ID the body first, though. The morgue is trying to contact his parents-"
"No." All heads turned, looking at Lilian. "No… I'll do it."
Trish was the first to speak up, hesitating as she said, "Lil…"
"No… I need to do this. I need to know."
"Lil, you have a concussion. You can't be driving! Besides, what did the doctor say about you taking care of yourself and not overexerting yourself?" Torrie questioned, trying to talk some sense into her stubborn friend.
"I'll find a way to get there. But you guys aren't stopping me. If I have to hitchhike my way to Tampa, I'll do it. I need to know… I need to see him, to make sure it really is John… to make sure this nightmare is over."
"Steph, it's fine," Rob spoke up when Stephanie again opened her mouth to protest. "I'll take her." Rob saw that Lilian was again getting ready to protest, and he held his hand up to silence her. "No buts, Lilian. You can't drive and I want to be there for you." Rob ignored the amused look that Torrie and Trish exchanged at the last sentence, simply quietly asking Lilian, "Please let me go with you, okay?"
The little blonde nodded, keeping her gaze steady as she stared at Rob. She wasn't sure why Rob wanted to help her, especially after she had caused him to get hurt. Rob kept eye contact with Lilian, only breaking his gaze when Stephanie sighed.
"Fine," the tall brunette finally answered. "But please, Rob, Lilian, be careful. Even if it is John in that morgue, I still have an uneasy feeling about this whole thing. Something's not right… and I don't want to see you hurt over it."
End Part Unlucky 13…