STIGMATA

The multicolor decorated taxi stopped abruptly in front of the airport. The Pakistani cab driver didn't turn off the engine as he waited his passengers to exit the taxi. Chris Benoit got off from the back somehow in a hurry, and Bob Holly followed, looking a little pale. Next to the driver was sitting the Dave Batista, who hadn't made a move yet to exit the car. His size intimidating as it may be didn't seem to affect the Pakistani. The driver was looking at the big man with a twenty four carat smile on his face. Dave looked at him as he said happily.

"Airport" and smiled again at Dave.

"Just how long have you been driving?" he asked half angry half curious.

The driver continued to smile behind his black beard and white teeth and replied again.

"Airport"

Dave felt a shiver run up his spine right to his head and the hair on his neck stood up. This guy didn't even speak English, and he seriously doubted if he could read it either. Which was disturbing now that came to think about it? How on earth was he reading all the signs on the streets?

"Hey Paul are you coming or what?" He heard Chris calling from outside. Dave took one last glance at the happy driver and got out giving him his fare.

"Hey man what took you so long?"

"What were you two talking about?" Bob asked starting to feel a little better. Paul shrugged his shoulder and grabbing his bag gave his answer.

"Nothing. The dude doesn't speak or read English."

"Say what?" Chris couldn't believe it. "But I heard him when we took the taxi from the hotel"

"No you said 'airport' and he said 'yes'. I think that's about all the English he can speak."

Bob felt his stomach stir again. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"Save it for the airplane. Come on, we are late" said Batista and entered the airport leaving John and Bob behind looking at each other.

Rey had just checked in and was waiting the rest to arrive in front of Gate 23 where their flight was supposed to depart. He was the first one to arrive and he was early. No one else was there, none of the passengers…

'Damn' he said to himself and went to sit in one of the plastic chairs. It was very early in the morning and the sun hadn't come out yet… but it would soon enough. He took out his cell phone and held it in his hands not sure if he should make the call he wanted to. He just kept starring at it. When he finally decided not to use it he put it in his pocket. Immediately it started ringing. Surprised Rey answered it without checking who is was.

"Hello?"

"Hey it's me…" a familiar voice sounded on the other end.

"Hey…" Rey answered back, keeping his voice low.

"I miss you already Rey Rey"

"I miss you too Adam"

"Rey why do you sound like that?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know… weird… sad…"

Rey didn't answer right away.

"Rey? Are you there?"

"Yeah" his voice came out raspier than usual. "It's nothing… just that I miss you. And I won't be seeing you for a month…"

"I know Rey but we talked about it."

"I know…" he looked around him just to check if anyone was coming. "Adam… I… um… I love you…" he said reluctantly while fiddling with the edge of his jacket.

"I love you too Oscar. But don't be sad. I just called to wish you a nice flight. We will be together in no time, you'll see."

"Ok"

"Hey how was your trip back home?"

"Short… I stayed only for one day, just to check on my uncle."

"How is he?"

"He is doing better. The doctors say he should be out in a couple of weeks. They want to keep him a few more days for observation."

"So I take it the surgery went well. His heart is ok?"

"Yeah… I guess… it is still too soon to say. While I was there I went to see him. He was half asleep but he recognized me. Mum was there. She gave me a gift on his behalf."

"A gift? That's nice. What is it?"

"A small black rosary with a small silver cross; she said my uncle had bought it for me on his last trip to Brazil before his heart gave out. I took it with me for good luck."

Rey heard Adam smile and laugh faintly. He knew they had to end the call soon; it's just that he didn't want to. He never had enough of Adam.

"Adam… I need to go. I see the guys coming."

"Ok… please call me when you land, will ya?"

Before Rey could answer, he heard Jericho's voice near Adam screaming out loud.

"Will you two love birds hung up the phone? There are others who might want to use it! Damn Adam… I think I'm going to throw up over here…"

Rey laughed.

"I'll call you… bye…"

"Bye Oscar…" Adam said sweetly.

"Bye Rey…" Jericho screamed again.

Hanging up the phone Adam turned to his roommate and gave him a death look.

"Here miss… you can use the phone…"

Chris looked at him lazily from his bed, where he lay with his hands crossed behind his head.

"Nah… I was just messing with ya…"He didn't finish his sentence because a pillow flew across the room and landed right in his face.

"Asshole"

"Oh come on…" Jericho spat back. "We are going to be sharing the same hotel room for the next couple of weeks and I don't want to be throwing up every time you two talk on the phone, which is like every hour or so… it is boring and it is making me sick"

"It is not boring… you are just jealous… and you better get used to it… your stomach too…"

Jericho rolled over his eyes and grabbing Adam's pillow covered his head refusing to hear any more of this.

Rey had lied to Adam. There was nobody coming. He hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket. He sighed tired.

He had flown from Mexico City last night and had landed in this airport just a few minutes ago. Now he was waiting for the rest of the roster to arrive. They would be flying to Europe for a week, and more precisely to England to do a couple of house shows in London and Birmingham and then back to America and Canada for three weeks in a row.

Rey was getting tired just thinking about it. He hadn't slept in Mexico either. He had spent all his hours next to his uncle and hadn't left his side for one moment. Then he had flown back here… he was surprised when he estimated the hours he had spent awake. According to his calculations, he hadn't slept for nearly two days. He lowered his body to the chair and closed his eyes, trying to rest a bit.

He had no idea how long he was out, but a hand shaking his shoulder woke him up.

"Hey … wake up bro" the distinct voice of Benoit echoed.

Rey woke up feeling very dizzy and heavy. He opened his eyes with too much effort and looked at Chris sitting next to him. There was Bob Holly and Dave Batista there too.

"Where is everybody?" he asked.

Rey shook his head and sat up straight. Looking around he saw no one else but them.

"You are the first here I guess" he mumbled. He hadn't finished his words when voices sounded in the hall. Torrie Wilson was coming along with the rest of the Smackdown divas, and Paul London as well. Soon enough every one else came. The Guerrerro's, Mark Callaway, Booker T with Sharmell, Theodore Long, Heidenreich, JBL and his cabinet, Mark Jindrak, MNM, the Basham's, Scotty 2 Hotty, Nunzio, Tazz, Michael Cole… everyone was there.

It was too loud for Rey, who was starting to have a splitting headache. He sat alone a few chairs away and just looked at his fellow wrestlers talking and discussing their matches and the trip. They all looked so excited. But he wasn't. After what he had been through in the past, he couldn't get excited about anything any more. And being away from Adam wasn't helping. It was the first time they had to be away from each other for so long, and they wouldn't be seeing one another for a month. He had no idea how he would be able to handle his nightmares without Adam holding him in his arms, without him making love to him every night, taking away the pain and exorcising his demons.

He was afraid.

What if HE came again into his dreams?

Rey couldn't even think Jacob's name, but he could still see his face clearly in his mind, hear his voice, feel his rotten touch on his flesh… he felt shivers run through his body, shivers that would soon escalate and turn into shakes. He couldn't let it happen. For the second time, he felt a hand on his shoulder squeezing his tightly, lovingly. He lifted up his head a little scared than anything else.

"Chill esse. It's me…" Eddie said sitting beside him. "Are you OK?"

Rey pretended a fake smile but his eyes betrayed him. He didn't have to speak to Eddie to make him understand. He, along with Kurt and Adam were the only ones from the WWE roster who really knew what had happened then. Rey let his head fall on Eddie's shoulder. This was one of the moments where he wished he was wearing his mask. Eddie's voice whispering really low calmed him down.

"It's going to be OK." And put his arms around Rey's shoulders.

"I'm sorry Eddie. It's just that I am really tired. That's all. I haven't slept for two days. I just flew from Mexico where I spent all my time at the hospital."

"How is he?" Eddie asked.

"I don't know. They say he is fine, but I didn't see that. It felt different."

"Different? How?"

"It felt like 'goodbye'…"

"Rey come on don't say that. Your uncle is going to fine. You'll see. Soon enough he'll be jumping off the ropes again like a monkey…"

Rey shook his head and turned to look at the others chatting, while waiting for the last minutes to pass before boarding.

"So how is Pepe doing?" Eddie joked.

Rey laughed.

"If he heard you calling him like that… man, you'd be in deep trouble. Me too…"

"Nonsense… I can take him down any time. That tall Canadian doesn't stand a chance with the Latino Heat."

"Yeah right… Kurt had once said the same thing and look what happened to his hair… anyway, he is fine."

"And how are you two doing?" Eddie asked reluctantly.

"We… we are doing well, I think."

"You think? What on earth does that mean?"

"Nothing. It's just that sometimes it gets hard, you know with him being on Raw. But apart from that, we are good."

"You still can't take your hands off each other heh?" That was his way of asking how their relationship was going. And from the blush on Rey's face he knew the answer. "It's good to hear it…

"Hey you… Chip and Dale, over there!" Chris Benoit shouted from across the room. "Come on, we are boarding…"

Eddie and Rey looked at each other in amusement and surprise.

"Did he just compare us to a couple of squirrels?" Rey asked lifting both eyebrows. They burst out in laughter and followed the rest on board of the plane.