Author's note: Hey there... here comes a new chapter... okay okay I think you already guessed that 'grin' Well have fun with it anyway... 'smile'

Quick word to my reviewers:

OTHlover04: Thanks for the compliment... I hope you find the new chapter just as good... 'hugs'

foolishangel87: 'grin' I hope you enjoy the new chapter just as much 'hugs' Well who was it... you have to read to find out 'evil grin' and for leaving you hanging there with the cliffie... well keeps you hooked up to the story 'smile' Thanks for the review and enjoy the new chapter 'hugs'

Mizz Molko: Well good luck for your exams... and as you can see I found the time and updated... I hope you and enjoy the new chapter 'hugs' And well you'll find out who the brown eyes belonged to...

Roxxy1984: 'huggles' Thanks for the nice review... and as I told the others...you need to read to find out who was overhearing Randy and John... so much for secret keeping, eh? 'grin' Well have fun with the new chappy 'hugs'

kandiland: When you've read the new chapter you will have found out who overheard... so hurry up and read if ya wanna know 'smile' 'hugs' Thanks for the review and have fun with the new chap

MissUnderstood1212: As for all the others you need to read to find out if it was you know who 'smile' 'hugs'

wwefan01: Thanks for the review and enjoy the new chapter 'smile'

Disclaimer: I don't own anything besides Alexi and her mother... 'kidnaps Randy and John and hides them in her closet'

Chapter 18: New friends

Chris parked the car in front of the hospital and looked at Alexi who had been uncharacteristically quiet during the drive there.

The girl had her eyes half closed and her head was leaning against the window.

"Alexi? Are you okay? " Jericho questioned softly.

The girl opened her eyes and nodded slowly.

"I guess so..." She answered and Chris could immediately hear the worry behind her voice.

"Hey sweetie... you don't need to worry... the operation will be a success and when you wake up you will see me and Randy waiting for you..."
Alexandria had a small smile on her face. "Do you really think Randy will be there?" She asked still insecure.

"Of course he will Alexi... he loves you and he wouldn't leave you alone when you need him most..."

Chris reached over and squeezed her hand gently.

The girl turned her head towards Chris and gave him one of her brilliant smiles that reminded Chris why he had once fallen in love with her.

But suddenly he realised that he was now content with the role of the big brother who looked out for her. Chris smiled and he knew that Alexi's heart was beating for someone else now too.

Alexandria's words interrupted Chris's train of thoughts.

"Chris... shouldn't we go?"
Y2J quickly nodded, got out of the car and helped Alexi out of it, taking one hand and grabbing her bag with the other hand.
So they made their way into the hospital and soon Alexandria was all settled in her room.

Now the two waited for Alexandria's doctor to arrive to give them the information they needed and who would prepare Alexi for the surgery. Alexi was lying in the bed and Chris was sitting in a chair beside her.

They didn't have to wait for long when there was a knock on the door.

"Mrs. Reed can I come in?" A warm female voice questioned and the door was opened slightly.

Alexandria of course couldn't see that.

So she just called: "Of course…"
The woman now fully opened the door. She quickly walked over to the bed and shook Alexandria's hand. "I'm Dr. Cormela. I'm going to perform the surgery Mrs. Reed."

Alexi smiled into the direction of the woman.

"Hi there Dr. Cormela… but please call me Alexi… everybody does… being called Mrs. Reed makes me feel so old."

The young doctor laughed.

"Okay but then you need to call me Martha… I mean there's no need to bother with formalities…" Martha said, trying to make Alexandria feel as comfortable as possible before the operation.
Alexi smiled and nodded. She liked the voice and the easy-going way of the apparently young doctor.

Chris meanwhile studied the young woman. He found her very nice.

The dark brown hair framed her young face and accentuated expressive brown eyes.

Chris guessed she was around his age, perhaps a little younger than him.

His thoughts were stopped when the doctor suddenly addressed him.

"And you must be Mr. Jericho? Alexi's mother told me you were going to accompany Alexi instead of her."
Chris smiled and nodded. "Yeah that's right. I have all the necessary papers already filled in. And for me goes the same as for Alexi… Being called Mr. Jericho makes me feel old… please call me Chris."

The young doctor smiled at the wrestler. "Of course I will do it…"

Then she turned to Alexandria again, getting back to business.

"You can relax for a while now. I'll be back in about an hour to prepare you for the surgery."
"Okay… do I need to look out for something until then?" Alexi questioned, feeling a little nervous.

Dr. Cormela could sense that Alexi was getting tense, so she just smiled.

"Relax Alexi. There's no need to get worried right now. And well… the only thing you really need to watch out for is that you won't eat anything from now on."

Alexandria nodded and felt a little better. Sure she was still nervous about the operation but the young doctor sounded so nice and she helped feel Alexi more confident.

"Anything else?" Alexandria questioned.

"No. The rest is my job. And now please excuse me, I have to prepare the surgery… and when we're ready I'll be back…" Martha smiled at the young girl, knowing that she couldn't see it but she hoped Alexi could hear it in her voice.

Then she smiled for a second at Chris who smiled back brightly and then she went to the door.

When she was nearly out of the door, she turned back towards Alexandria again and said: "Don't worry about the operation. Before you know it, it will be over and you'll be able to see again…"
"Thanks Doc…" Alexi replied, meaning it.

"Yeah, thanks Martha… and I'll make sure that Alexi will leave her hands from the cookies." Chris added, smiling brightly. Alexi could almost hear the grin that Jericho was having on his lips right now.

Martha laughed, said her goodbye and left Alexi and Chris alone again.

When the door had closed behind the young doctor, Alexandria turned her head towards Chris.

"You like her, don't ya?" She questioned, with a smile on her lips.

Jericho looked at Alexandria in surprise and wondered once again how Alexandria had gotten to know him so good. She didn't even need to see him to know what he was thinking or feeling.

"Am I that obvious?" He questioned.

"Just to me honey…" Alexi grinned, grabbing Chris's hand.

Y2J also grinned and squeezed her hand for a second. He was about to say something else when suddenly there was another knock on the door.

"Huh? Who could that be? The Doc said she'd be back in about an hour and not after a minute…"
Alexandria shrugged. "There's only one way to find out." She said and then she added loudly: "Come in."
The door opened and Chris saw John and Randy entering the room.

"Hey, John, hey Randy…" Jericho greeted so that Alexandria knew who had just come.

The smile that appeared on Alexi's face when she heard that Randy had come.

The young Orton smiled and quickly walked over the bed, giving Alexi a quick kiss on the forehead, then sat down on another chair beside Alexi's bed.

"Randy. You came…" Alexandria said and felt relieved.

"Of course I came… I promised you I'd come…" Randy replied, not bothered that Alexi had feared that he wouldn't come. He knew that Alexandria was just insecure concerning Randy and the surgery.

John, who had been leaning against the wall beside the door, now made his presence known again.

"Good day to you all too…" He said, trying to sound hurt that nobody had really paid attention to him.

Alexi indeed turned her into his direction.

"Oh… sorry… hey John… what are you doing here?" She questioned, wondering why John had come with Randy.

"Great… makes me really feel welcome…" John answered, smiling a little. "If I'm not wanted I'll go…"

Alexandria quickly shook her head. "No… I don't want you to go… it's just… I mean I've known you for about three hours so I wasn't expecting you to come." She admitted.

John grabbed the third chair and sat down beside Jericho.

"Well actually… Randy dragged me here… and I thought you need someone to rescue you when our two softies here are suffocating you with their concern."
Chris jabbed John in the ribs and Alexi and Randy just laughed.

The Legend Killer knew his best friend well enough to be used to his teasing and after all he was taking Alexandria's head off of the surgery so he wasn't going to complain.

Randy saw the happy expression in Alexandria's eyes and once again he realised how lucky he was to finally have found the girl of his dreams.

All future conversation was cut off when there was once again a knock on the door.

"Huh? And who could that be?" Chris questioned again.

"I have no idea…." Alexi replied again.
"Looks like you're a really wanted girl…" Randy smiled.

"Looks like it…" Alexi nodded and then called: "Yeah? Come in."
The door was opened and Chris, John and Randy saw a woman enter. She looked a lot like Alexandria but she was in her mid-thirties. Randy quickly realised that this must be Alexandria's mother and he suddenly felt nervous.

Chris meanwhile got up from his chair and went over to hug the woman.

"Aunt Marissa… it's good to see you." He greeted.

Randy could feel Alexi's grip on his hand tightening. "Mom?" She exclaimed happily.

"You're here… but I thought you had to work…"

Marissa smiled and walked over to the bed to hug her daughter. Randy moved back to give mother and daughter the room to say hello.

"Well I convinced my boss that I was of no use anyway and then I drove over here to be with you."

"I'm so glad you're here…" Alexandria told her mother.

Marissa smiled and looked at all the other people in the room.

"My daughter seems to have made new friends…" She said and smiled at John before her gaze rested on Randy, who shifted uncomfortably.

Marissa smiled warmly at him. "Hi Randy. I'm Marissa… Alexandria's mother."
She extended her hand and Randy shook hit a little awkward.
"Hi Mrs. Reed…" The Legend Killer greeted.

Alexi smiled because she could hear the uneasiness in Randy's voice and he knew that he was insecure how to handle meeting Marissa so soon.
Alexandria found it kind of cute how her mother and her boyfriend interacted with each other.

"Just call me Marissa Randy… we're sort of family now…" Marissa enjoyed the look of pure shock on Randy's face and Alexi exclaimed: "Mom!"

"Sorry… just kidding… but you can of course call me Marissa…" Alexi's mother said and let go of Randy's hand to turn to John, who stood beside Jericho and smiled.

"Hi Marissa…nice to meet you. And thanks for that… I really enjoyed the look on Randy's face. Wish I had a camera… would've been great blackmail material."

Marissa laughed wholeheartedly. Chris just shook his head in amusement, Alexi giggled and Randy tried to look offended but couldn't help the smile on his face.

When they had all calmed down, Marissa looked at her daughter a little apologetically.

"Sorry sweetie… I'll be back in a minute… I just need to make a phone call… and since mobiles are not allowed in here."

"It's okay Mom… I'm just glad you're here so I think I can live without you for a few minutes… and besides I've great company."

Marissa nodded. "Of course… three good looking men are always better company than the own mother, right Alexi?"
Again all present in the room giggled and Marissa went to the door. She opened it and was about to say something to her daughter when she nearly ran into somebody.

Alexi's mother was about to apologise when she realised who was standing there in front of her.

The other person was equally shocked.

"Oh... my... god..." was all Marissa managed to say.

The other person recovered slowly from the shock and stammered: "Marissa is that really you? "

Marissa felt her knees give away and her eyes were wide and she could almost feel the colour leaving her face.
Suddenly Chris was beside her and grabbed her shoulder to steady her.

Since he realised Marissa wasn't able to say anything, he spoke up, his voice a mix of anger and smile: "Shawn... I think it's better you go..."

Shawn however just shook his head and Jericho somehow knew that he wasn't going to back away easily. And for once Chris couldn't blame him because he knew that Shawn had a right to know the truth but Chris also knew that this wasn't the best time.

His thoughts were interrupted when Shawn said what Chris had feared: "No Jericho... I'm not going to back away this time... I wanna know the truth now... who is that girl in there?"
"Shawn please... I don't think that's the right time..." Y2J tried again, somehow knowing that it wasn't going to work.

Suddenly he felt Marissa move and when he looked at her he saw the determination in her face.

What she said next however surprised Chris a lot.

"No... actually there won't be a better time..." Marissa told the man she thought she'd left in the past and stepped aside to grant him a look at the bed Alexi was lying in an expression of shock and fear on her face.
Marissa knew that Shawn wasn't dumb and would realise who Alexi was, so there was no sense in denying it anymore.

"Shawn... meet Alexandria Shawna Reed... your daughter..." She said simply, watching the colour drain from HBK's face.

Shawn had tried to reach Marissa for about half an hour now and had come to the conclusion that she wouldn't come home anytime soon.

„Well I should spend my time more useful... I should go to Vince to talk him into giving me time off so that I can visit Marissa..." He told himself and stood up to go down to Vince's office.

With his plan set, Shawn felt a lot better. He wasn't naive and he knew that he probably just couldn't go to Marissa, to tell her that he still loved her and wanted her back but he could at least try.

When he exited the elevator, he saw Randy and John walking down the hall, coming from Vince's temporary office. The Heartbreak Kid was about to call to them but they obviously hadn't noticed him and continued their talk. Shawn didn't want to listen in on their conversation but when he heard his name he couldn't stop himself. As quietly as possible he went closer to the two men, trying to understand what they were saying.

"... Dave will meanwhile have an eye out for Shawn." Randy had just said. Shawn looked on in surprise.

Since when does Dave have to need an eye out for me... He wondered and continued to listen.

"Oh yeah... how is he by the way?" Shawn heard John ask.

"I have no idea... Dave said he was okay... but what worries me is that he's been trying to call Alexandria's mother..."

Alexandria's mother? Again this mysterious Alexandria... I wonder who she is... Shawn thought. Then he realised something else.

But... the only person I've been trying to call today is Marissa... and only Dave knows about that... but if I've only been calling Marissa... and if they talk about me trying to talk to Alexandria's mother that can only mean that... that this Alexandria is Marissa's daughter... no... it can't mean that... that just can't be possible... Shawn's thoughts raced and he tried to hear what else the two younger men were talking about.

"He did? What did she say?" Again John spoke.

"Actually her mother wasn't home..." Randy answered his best friend. Shawn gasped and for the first time in his life he was close to fainting from shock.

HBK was smart enough to realise that John and Randy were indeed talking about Shawn's calls to Marissa and that this Alexandria was Marissa's daughter.

He had only seen the girl for a short moment but Shawn had thought that the girl was about twenty. But... but that can only mean... He thought. But she can't be... I mean... Marissa would've told me... Shawn wasn't able to form a coherent thought because his feelings were playing roller-coaster right now.

I need to make sure... HBK thought, trying to get himself under control again. And with that he made a quick decision. Without hesitation he followed John and Randy to their car and got into his own car to follow the two because he had been able to understand from Randy's and John's conversation that they were going to the hospital because Alexandria would have an operation today.

It just can't be... I'm probably only imagining things and Alexandria is Marissa's daughter but she's younger and her father is Marissa's new husband... Marissa would surely have told me if she'd had the child... I mean she broke up with me because she hated me for agreeing so easily to have that abortion... He thought while he drove and concentrated on not losing Randy and John in the traffic.

But I need to make sure for myself that my suspicions are correct or incorrect... Shawn told himself while parking his car in the parking lot of the hospital. He waited until Randy and John had vanished into the hospital and was about to get out of his car when he saw another car entering the parking lot. Shawn gasped when he saw the woman who drove the car.

"Oh my god..." He gasped, too stunned to move for a moment and when he had recovered from this new shock, the woman had vanished into the hotel too.

Damn... Shawn cursed and quickly exited the car and nearly ran into the hospital.

The first doctor he found he asked: "Um... can you tell me which room Alexandria Reed is in?"
It was a wild guess since he had no idea if that was the girl's real name but it was at least worth a try.

The doctor looked at him surprised. "Aren't you Shawn Michaels?" He asked, while he scanned the files in his hands.

Shawn only nodded, wondering what that had to do with his question.

He said nothing and waited for the doctor to say something.

"Alexandria Reed is in room 240. But if you want to visit her you need to hurry because she has a surgery in half an hour..."

Shawn nodded. "Sure and thanks..." He was about to walk down the hall when the doctor called for him. "Um... Mr. Michaels would you perhaps give me an autograph... my daughter is a huge fan of you..."

Shawn put a smile on his face and turned back to the doctor.
I don't really have time for that now... but my fans are the reason I'm still loved at least from afar.

"Sure... what's her name?" He questioned.

"Annie..." The older man said and handed Shawn a piece of paper and a pencil and HBK quickly scribbled down his name and a short greeting.

The doctor smiled at him brightly. "Thanks a lot..." he said, but Shawn didn't hear him because he was already running down the hall to Alexandria's room.

When he reached the room, he stopped in his tracks and ran a hand through his hair.

He heard laughter from inside and for a second he wondered if he should really go in there.

I mean... my suspicions could be totally wrong and I'd look like an idiot...

The Heartbreak Kid was fighting with himself and had nearly convinced himself to leave and to ask Chris Jericho later on, when suddenly the door opened and someone nearly ran into him, but suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.

"Oh... my... god..." The person stammered and Shawn was equally shocked.

After a short silence that seemed like an eternity Shawn finally found his voice again. "Marissa is that really you?" was all he managed to say.

Deadly silence followed and the woman looked at him wide-eyed, not moving and ghostly wide.

Suddenly Jericho appeared in the doorframe beside Marissa and steadied her. Then he turned to Shawn, a mix of glare and smile on his face.

"Shawn... I think it's better you go..."

HBK shook his head with determination. This time he was not going to be sent away that easily. He wanted and he needed the truth about the girl in the hospital bed.

"No Jericho... I'm not going to back away this time... I wanna know the truth now... who is that girl in there?"
"Shawn please... I don't think that's the right time..." Chris tried to reason with the older man.

But suddenly Marissa regained her senses and looked at Jericho and then at HBK.

"No... actually there won't be a better time..." And with that she stepped aside to grant Shawn a look at the girl in the bed. And Shawn knew immediately what Marissa would say next because he could see the resemblance between mother and daughter, but he could also see features of Alexandria's face that were unmistakably his.

"Shawn... meet Alexandria Shawna Reed... your daughter..." The words were nonetheless a shock for the Heartbreak Kid.

to be continued... if you want me to... oh yeah and before some of you point out that Shawn's eyes are blue and not brown... well actually I always thought Shawn had brown eyes... but I'm not sure anymore... so I hope you're not mad that I mixed up Shawn's eye colour