Chapter 27

A hospital room in Greenwich, Connecticut...

Stephanie opened her eyes slowly, moving her head around slightly to take in her surroundings. She knew immediately that she was in a hospital, and instinctively her hand went to her still-flat abdomen. Everything that had happened with Chris rushed back to her, and in that instant came a sudden, bone-chilling fear. Oh God, what if she had somehow lost their baby?

"The baby's fine," came a familiar voice from next to her.

"Shane?" she asked, looking to her side. There her older brother sat with a concerned look on his face. She hadn't spoken to him in weeks, hadn't seen him in months, and normally they never went that long without seeing or speaking to each other. She guessed that she had been so busy sneaking around with Chris that she hadn't noticed how long she had gone without seeing her brother.

"I know, I know, long time, no see," he said with a smile. "I haven't seen you in months, baby sis, and now I find out that you're pregnant, that you and Hunter are expecting a child. Now I know what's kept you from seeing me these past few months..."

"Where is Hunter?" she asked, just out of the blue.

"He went to go get himself something to eat before he passed out. I had to literally force him to leave," he said with a chuckle. "He had been sitting next to you since you arrived, worrying about his wife and his baby."

"It's not... Shane?" she asked, reaching for his hand, tears suddenly filling her eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned as he held her hand in his.

"I need to tell you something, and you can't tell anyone," she pleaded. "Not Mom or Dad, not Marissa, not anyone. Promise me."

"Sounds serious," he said, looking at her.

"It is," she said, not looking away from him. "I need for you to promise me."

"I promise," he said, observing her and how nervous she suddenly was. "Just spit it out."

"I'm pregnant," she said simply.

"I knew that," he said with a laugh. "Is that all?"

She took a deep breath. "Hunter's not the father."

He dropped her hand and stared at her. "Then who is?"

"I can't tell you just yet, but I love him, Shane, and I made him believe that I didn't," she said, tears creeping down her face. "I'm carrying his child and he doesn't even know it."

"You can tell me who he is," he said, taking her and again. "I won't judge you and I won't judge him... Who is he?"

"It's Chris, Shane, Chris Jericho," she whispered, suddenly beginning to sob uncontrollably. "I'm in love with Chris and I'm carrying his child, but Hunter probably thinks it's his and I love him, too, and... I don't know what to do!"

"Calm down, sis, there's a little baby inside of you and you're probably upsetting it by getting all worked up," he said, hugging her. He wiped her tears away, then spoke to her in a soft voice. "Chris Jericho, huh? I didn't even know you two were talking..."

"It... When Hunter and Trish started their storyline, Chris and I sort of became friends... He was there to comfort me when I needed him, and we... I can't explain it, Shane. but we became friends with benefits," she said with a sigh. "And then somewhere along the line, I fell for him...hard."

"So what were you talking about when you said you made him believe that you didn't love him?" he asked, confused.

"He came to see me on the day I found out I was pregnant..."

"Yesterday," he interrupted. "That happened yesterday afternoon."

"He came all the way from Florida just to see me because he couldn't survive without me," she whispered. "He wanted me to leave Hunter and instead, I practically told him that I couldn't leave Hunter yet because I didn't love him enough."

"Is it true?" he asked curiously.

"No, Shane... I'm so in love with Chris," she said in a quiet voice. "I love Hunter, too, though, and even though he hurt me, I don't want to hurt him... But I need to be with Chris... I need him so much, and he doesn't even know it."

"Then why don't you tell him?" he asked logically.

"I don't know, Shane, but God, I need him," she said with a sigh, putting her hand on her stomach again. "I need him and our baby needs him..." She looked up at Shane. "I know that you know everything, bro... What should I do?"

"I don't have all the answers, sis," he said, taking note of the look of sudden disappointment on her face. "All I can do is hope that you eventually do the right thing for your baby and for yourself...and for Chris."

"And what about Hunter?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know, sis. I don't have all the answers," he replied. "I just don't know..."

Tampa, Florida...

Trish leaned in the doorway of Chris's indoor gym, watching him as he punched a punching bag as hard as he possibly could. He'd been going at it for quite some time, just punching away. As a matter of fact, ever since he'd come back that morning, he'd been acting strangely. He hadn't said one word to her, not one, and that was very unlike him. She wanted to talk to him and ask him what was wrong, because something had to be wrong for him to be acting this way, but she was actually afraid to approach him. He looked like he was about to snap, like maybe he would snap on her if she tried to figure out what was wrong with him.

Chris punched to punching bag one last time, then decided it was time to take a break. Or rather, his tired body was telling him that it was time for him to take a break. His arms felt like the were on fire, and he could barely catch his breath, but he welcomed the physical pain. He let the pain wash over him and he reveled in it, wanting more of it... It took his mind off of what had happened the day before... Well, temporarily, but it wasn't working anymore.

He had flown all the way to Connecticut just to see Stephanie, just to touch her, just to kiss her, just to stare into those eyes that he loved to stare into. His intentions had been to finally persuade her to leave Hunter, but he had failed miserably. Not only had she stayed with Hunter, she had questioned her love for him, for Chris...and that was what hurt the most.

He sat down on the weight bench and covered his face with his hands. It was all so frustrating, so painful. He wondered when she would call, but at the same time, if she didn't call... He didn't know what she would do.

"Chris, what's wrong?" Trish asked finally. She had watched him sit down on the bench, and if she didn't know better, she'd think he was on the verge of crying or something. She sat down next to him and looked at him, concern etched across her face.

He felt her sit down next to him, but he didn't say anything. He hadn't said one word to he since he'd arrived back at the house earlier that morning, and he didn't plan to start taking to her now. He didn't want to say anything, because he just had this feeling that if he opened his mouth to speak, everything about what had happened with Stephanie would spill forth, and he wouldn't be able to stop it...

Just like he hadn't been able to stop himself from falling for her.

"Chrissy, sweetie, you can tell me what's wrong," Trish said, trying to reach out to him verbally. "We're friends now, and I'm here for you if you need to talk."

"I don't need to talk," he said. His voice sounded funny since he hadn't spoken in a while, and it was slightly muffled by his hands.

"You do. Listen to yourself," she said, reaching over to put her arm around him. "I dated you for a long time, Chris, and I can tell that something's wrong with you, sweetheart."

Sweetheart. Stephanie had called him sweetheart. He'd thought that little term of endearment meant something special, showed her love for him or something, but now? Now he didn't know anything.

"Chris?" Trish asked, rubbing his back comfortingly. "You can talk to me, you know that."

He looked up slowly, slowly meeting her eyes. His own eyes held unshed tears, and he felt embarrassed, humiliated, even. "I love her," he whispered softly. "I love her so much, Trish."

"But what's wrong with-"

"She doesn't love me back," he interrupted, his voice hoarse as one sole tear crept down his face. He didn't even attempt to wipe the tear away. He closed his eyes and saw Stephanie's face, and his heart squeezed painfully in his chest. "She doesn't love me back..."

"Oh, Chris," she whispered, wrapping both arms around him. "It'll be ok, I promise it'll be ok..."

"It'll never be ok," he whispered back in a choked voice, his head resting against her as he wrapped his arms tightly around her. He needed someone to hold onto, someone to hold him, to assure him that everything would be ok, that he would be ok... "She'll never love me..."

Trish just kept her arms around him and mentally cursed this woman who had Chris Jericho literally falling apart in her arms...

The hospital room...

Stephanie and Shane were still sitting in the hospital room holding hands in complete and absolute silence when Hunter stepped quietly into the room. He observed the two siblings sitting together. He didn't know whether or not he should interrupt their little moment, but he wanted to talk to Stephanie. There were so many things he wanted to tell her, so many things that needed to be said, and he just couldn't hold it in anymore.

He didn't want to wait anymore.

"Shane," Hunter said, taking a few steps closer to the bed. "Mind if I have a second or two alone with Stephanie?"

"Be my guest," Shane said. "She's your wife." Shane leaned down and kissed Stephanie lightly on the cheek, and Stephanie clutched his hand even tighter.

"I don't know what to do, Shaney," she whispered, using the name she had used for him back when they were little. She looked up at him with pleading eyes, looking so much like she used to look when she would beg him to sleep in her room because she was afraid of the monster in the closet. She looked so nervous, so scared... "Please don't leave me," she whispered.

"It's going to be ok," he whispered back, trying to pull away. "You're going to be ok."

"No, I won't, not without him," she said, referring to Chris. "Don't..."

"You'll be fine," he said, standing up fully. It took all he had in him to pull away from her. The protective, brotherly part of him wanted to call Chris up and tell him everything that Stephanie had told him, but he had promised not to tell, and the sensible, adult part of him knew that he needed to honor his promise, and he would do just that. "I'm just one phone call away, sis. One phone call..."

Stephanie watched Shane disappear from the room and close the door, and then she just stared at the closed door. It reminded her of when Chris had walked out yesterday, how she had just let him go and didn't even try to stop him. She had stared at that closed door for a long time yesterday, before Hunter had brought her out of her trance and informed her of the results of her pregnancy test. She had been so shocked at that revelation, and even more shocked at the fact that it was Chris's baby and she knew it, and she wasn't upset at the fact that it wasn't Hunter's. That had been what had shocked her the most. It was almost like she didn't care that there was no way in hell that this baby was Hunter's, even though she kept telling herself that she had to care. She was pregnant with another man's child...

"What's on your mind, Stephanie?" Hunter asked, sitting down in the spot on the bed that Shane had just vacated. "You look like you just lost your best friend or something."

"I kind of did," she said with a sigh, not looking at him. "And my best lover, too," she muttered under her breath in a low voice.

But it wasn't low enough, because Hunter heard her.

"Best lover? What's that all about?" he asked curiously.

"You heard that?" she asked, finally looking at him.

"Yeah. What are you talking about?" he asked exasperatedly.

She took a deep breath. "Hunter, I have to tell you something," she said quietly.

He took a deep breath as well. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you, too, Steph, so if we're making confessions or something like that then I might as well get it all out now..."

"This baby, this baby is..."She closed her eyes for a minute before speaking again. "This baby isn't yours."

A/N: Ok, this is totally off the topic, but am I the only one who saw John Cena slap the hell out of Triple H tonight on Raw? That was just classic! LMAO! His hair flew! Ha! And then the scene with Vince and Shane in the church. Geez, Vince is an idiot... Anyway, please read and review, this chapter came to me in Psychology class today...just like Chapter 25. Can everyone tell that I have a lot of free time in Psychology? LOL!