Two weeks later, backstage at Raw, the meeting over the Diva situation was about to be addressed. Randy was due to face Shawn tonight but since his match a few weeks ago hadn't been focused at all, not since Triple H dragged that sledgehammer from underneath the ring. His match against Kurt Angle last week clearly wasn't his best, not by a long shot. He seemed to be spaced out, even when he was out of the ring and was often afraid to be left alone without Roxy, Shawn, Chris or one of his other good friends for any length of time.
Roxy was now getting worried. She'd never ever seen anyone act like this before. It was strange. While they were at the house, he would often follow her around like a lost puppy, clinging to her hand at most opportunities. When she was working on the Raw programming in her office, he would sit next to her and watch her with great intent. When she was in the bathroom, he would wait outside the door, breathing heavily and whining desperately for her to come out. Even in bed, he cling to her as if there was no tomorrow, squeezing her as tight as he could. He would often let out soft cries in the middle of his sleep and press his temple firmly against Roxy's back. Something had to change, and fast.
Roxy had asked one of the WWE trainers to take a look at him. He refused to go to the doctors claiming that they'd just twist everything that he said. This came at a really bad time for Roxy who was also anxious about the following Monday when he best friend in England, Lily, was due to have her transplant. She wanted to be there for both of them but knew how difficult everything was to be.
The trainer shone a light straight into Randy's eyes and examined his head. He didn't believe that his patient had a concussion.
"Tell me, Randy, how have the past few weeks been for you?" Daniel asked.
"Terrible...I can't concentrate, I feel sick, everything."
"He's not pregnant is he?" Roxy joked, trying to make herself above everyone feel better.
Daniel just raised an eyebrow at her.
"Can you think why that is Randy?"
"When I got hit with that chair and the sledgehammer came near me...I dunno."
"Yes, well, it sounds like you've got an emotional problem regarding your back injury. What was particularly bad about it?"
"I felt alone...everyone was gone. My career was gone, my life was gone, Roxy was gone..."
Roxy looked over at Randy and pouted. She reached for his hand and went and sat next to him on the stretcher bed.
"Are you worried that everyone's gonna leave you?"
"Yes." Randy replied positively.
"I ain't going anywhere baby." Roxy reassured, kissing his temple and twirling a strand of his hair. She rubbed his leg with her left hand.
"Randy, I think you should be given some advice, ok? Triple H is a bully, pure and simple. He likes to make people's lives hell, innocent people's lives difficult. Now, if you succumb to this, you would just be a victim to him, nothing more, nothing less. You have to rise above that, show him you're not afraid and all of these negative thoughts shall float away from your mind. Don't be scarred of him, he ain't worth it." Daniel stated.
"Thank you." Randy said, shaking Daniels hand firmly.
"Go out there and have a great match against your buddy." Daniel smiled, waving the young couple away from his room.
"Are you ok now?" Roxy inquired, clasping both of his hands in hers, swinging them slightly.
"Much thank you." Randy said softly.
"Look I'm gonna be late for a meeting, here's Shelton, he'll look after you." Roxy replied, looking at her watch.
"C'mon my man, Shawn's been looking for ya!" Shelton smiled, winking at Roxy and putting his forearm around Randy's neck.
Roxy strolled into the room where all of the current WWE Diva's were waiting with Vince and Stephanie McMahon, Eric Bishoff and other important WWE figure heads.
"Sorry." she mouthed at Vince.
"It's ok, I understand." he nodded.
"Ok, so, yeah, we are here to discuss the current situation of the Raw Women's division. As you probably know, we have been looking into bringing back old members of the WWE Diva roster in order to boost the standard of the women's matches as well of the expectations of the fans. Are there any thoughts or concerns about this?" Roxy questioned her female staff.
"You might not like the Diva search but I think it opens a very good opportunity for those girls, like me, who are models and are interested in becoming a Diva. It gives us a platform in which to express ourselves and adds a different flavour to our programming. Why do you want to scrap it?" asked the 2005 Diva Search winner, Ashley.
"I hear what you are saying Ashley, and I appreciate that. But, the ratings over the past few Diva searches have dropped significantly since the 2004/5 searches. Basically, we are putting in more money than were are actually gaining to be fair."
"I think what Roxanna's trying to say is that the focus is more on eye candy than it is on the wrestling anymore." Stephanie interjected.
"Exactly."
"But isn't that what guys want?" Candice Michelle scowled.
"Possibly yes - possibly no." Eric Bishoff said.
"All I'm saying is that can't the girls that wrestle be eye candy as well?" Roxy reasoned.
"Yeah, as the Women's Champion I agree with Roxanna. I'm getting a little tired of facing the same people, week in week out. It gets boring. Even if these girls are only here on a part time basis, it'll be better than nothing." Trish Stratus spoke.
"It's not very often I agree with you Trish, but I do now!" Lita responded.
"Urgh, Torrie?" Candice Michelle asked Miss Wilson, somewhat disgusted at the fact no one was siding with her.
"Actually, Candi, I have to side with Lita and Trish - I like the male attention and all but would love more opportunities to wrestle. After all, that's what we are on Raw for, right?" Torrie asked reluctantly, facing her best friend.
"I liked being adore by millions of men!" Candice pouted.
"I like being on Raw to wrestle, I've always wanted to do it but I'm grateful that the Diva Search has given me a way to break into the business." Ashley concluded.
"I realise that. I think that we need to compromise. We do one more Diva Search and see how the ratings fare. If they aren't that good, we scrap it from TV time for a few years. In the mean time, we bring in Indy women workers as new opponents for the wrestlers amongst you. Everyone in favour?" Vince inquired.
Everyone was satisfied with this apart from Candice.
"Well, Miss Michelle, if you would like to be transferred to Smackdown! I could sort that out immediately...or I could release you...what's it to be?" Vince quizzed an agitated Candice.
"Fine, I'll go back to the blue side but I'm not happy." Candice winged.
"Very well." Vince smiled "Thank you everyone." he added as the meeting ended.
Shawn and Randy had just finished there match and now both men were backstage about to shower. Roxy walked into their locker room after Chris had told her it was ok to enter.
"Hey, how'd it go?" she asked.
"Ummm, he beat me." Randy sulked.
"It was a close call though, buddy." Shawn enthused, trying to make Randy feel better about the situation.
"I guess." Randy sighed.
"Just coz I won tonight, you could win at Unforgiven..."
"That I can guarantee." Randy stated confidently.
But who would be victorious on Sunday night?
Thanks to Roxxy1984 and MissPhilippinesSuperStar for their reviews, hope allyou guys liked this chapter!