Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers apply.
Title: Hearts And Minds
Chapter: 3
Pairing/s: Cena/Maria, Cena/Lita (Amy), Randy/Lita (Amy)
Rating: PG-13/T, bound to go up.
Summary: When things go from bad to worse between John and Maria, Lita just tries to be a good friend without letting her own feelings get in the way.
Author's Notes: Thank you for all the reviews, I'm really glad y'all are latched on to this fic! For those of you wondering about the eventual pairing, I suggest y'all just hang tight and watch what happens, coz you never know. You just never know. PS If you see a series of AAAAAA's somewhere in the fic, don't mind it that much, it's just a scene break.
HEARTS AND MINDS
CHAPTER 3
The wheelchair trip to Maria's room feels like forever to John, so when they finally make it there, he tries to get up, but Amy stops him.
"Sorry, man," she says, "but I'm putting my foot down this time. I'll wheel you in, just stay in the chair."
John begins to protest, but Amy shakes her head. "No buts," she tells him. Trish lets them in, and Amy does as she says, parking John right beside Maria's bed.
Maria is only just stirring, her eyes fluttering as she moans softly. John notices her flexing the fingers of the hand in a cast, and takes that hand in his own unbandaged one. Maria turns her head, her eyes slowly opening and focusing. A smile spreads across her face slowly when she takes in John's own relieved smile.
"Hey there," she says, her voice raspy.
"Hey Sleeping Beauty," John greets back, "How you feeling?"
"Awesome," Maria replies, "Other than that, like I've just survived a car crash."
John chuckles. "Glad to see your sense of humor is still intact," he tells her. Neither patient nor visitor barely even hear Trish saying that she and Amy are going to give them some time, barely realize that Trish is dragging John's redhead guardian by the arm out the door.
Outside, Amy wrenches her arm free of the blonde, indignant. "Why do you keep doing that!" she asks angrily, trying to keep her voice down.
"Keep doing what, exactly?" Trish asks.
"Why are you always, ALWAYS separating me from John!" Amy asks in reply, "What is your deal? How come everytime I'm with John, when I'm just talking with him, or trying to help out, you're always pulling me away? What is your problem! What if he needs help or something!"
"Listen, calm down," says Trish, "A – You're not his mother. B – I'm just trying to be a good friend; I'm just looking out for you. I've got a very good reason for all of this, I swear."
"Well it better be way better than you're 'just trying to be a good friend,'" Amy remarks, crossing her arms in front of her and glaring at Trish.
"It is, just…listen to me for a sec, okay?" Trish pleads, "Look, I do it because…how am I supposed to explain this?...Because…okay, I know how you feel about John, you told me a long time ago. I also know that John and Maria are absolutely smitten with each other. I just don't want you to get hurt. The more time you spend with him, the higher your hopes go, and the higher your hopes go, the harder you'll drop and land on your ass. I've seen it happen before, to you and to other people, to myself eve. That's really not something you need right now, considering you and Adam--"
"Will everybody PLEASE just stop thinking my whole life crashed down around me when Adam dumped me!" Amy interrupts, "It wasn't the end of my world, you know! I'm fine, just freakin' fine, thank you very much!"
One of Maria's doctors comes up to them then. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, ladies," he says politely, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "Are you of any relation to Ms Kanellis?"
"We're her friends," Trish answers for them both, "Co-workers. We travel everywhere together."
"Then you'll do just fine, I guess," the doctor replies, "We have an update on the head injury she's sustained. Let's have a seat, shall we? This will take a while to explain."
AAAAAAA
"I've been worried sick about you," John tells Maria softly, stroking her scarred cheek, "You won't believe the nightmares I've had."
"YOU were worried about ME?" Maria asks, half-chuckling, "Would you look at yourself? You look like you jumped into a tank full of piranhas!"
"Yeah, but still," replies John, "The pain I'm feeling can't be anything like the pain you're going through."
Maria's free hand flies to her forehead. "Well, my head does hurt something fierce, I'll give you that," she tells him, "But I'll be okay now, you'll see. We'll both be okay soon, and we'll be back in the ring in no time."
John sighs sadly, "God, I hope you're right," he says.
"Hey, you never know," Maria says with a reassuring smile, "It might happen. In fact, I think you're starting to look better already."
John laughs appreciatively, but it's short-lived.
"Look at me, John," Maria tells him, "I'll be okay, okay? I'll be all right. I don't know how long I've been out, but I'm awake now. That's a start. We're both gonna be okay, we're both gonna get through this, and when we get back in that ring again, it's gonna be you and me, together, smiling from ear to ear, saying 'Look at us, we're survivors.' And everything is gonna be okay again. You know why?"
"Why?"
"Coz I love you, and you love me, right?"
John gives her as big a smile as he can. "You betcha," he replies, and kisses her maimed hand affectionately, as if his kiss would make it all better.
AAAAAAA
Outside, Trish and Amy sit in stunned silence, tears pooling in Trish's eyes.
"When do we tell them?" Amy asks, "We can't not let them know. They're going to find out sooner or later anyway."
"My dad always told me," Trish replies hoarsely, "that the best time is always now."
"But Maria's just woken up," Amy reasons, "This is the first time they've seen and spoken to each other in almost 2 days."
"Well, when do you expect you'll be telling them, following that reasoning?" Trish asks, "They'll be spending as much time together as possible. They're going to be inseparable once they're outta here."
"But they're not inseparable yet," Amy points out, "We'll tell Maria once John has gone back to his room. Maria has to know immediately, it's her injury."
"What about John?" Trish asks suspiciously, "It sounds like you don't ever want to tell him."
"I'll tell him," Amy reassures her, "I'll tell when the time is right."
Trish eyes her friend suspiciously, uncertainly, but nods, giving her the benefit of the doubt.
In the room, Maria yawns mid-sentence, and her eyes begin to droop.
"What's the matter?" John asks, "What are you doing? Don't close your eyes."
"I'm just gonna take a nap," Maria answers sleepily.
"You haven't been awake for more than half an hour," John says.
"The pain in my head is making me sleepy," Maria reasons, "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine, just fine. I'll let you know when I'm awake again, okay?" She yawns once more after that, and is lost to sleep again.
John squeezes her hand gently. He doesn't really have much say on the matter anymore, so he decides to just throw in the towel. " 'Night, princess," he says softly, planting another soft kiss on her hand before wheeling himself out the door as much as he can with just one working hand. Amy takes command of his chair then, taking him back to his room silently, where he too falls asleep in the blink of an eye.
END CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4 COMING SOON.