Title: Remedy
Author: Shantay
Email: PG
Content: This one is actually pretty good.
Timeline: Whenever.
Spoilers: There's no roster split.
Summary: Lita's ailing physically and emotionally. And there's only one cure for her…
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these people…tear…
Distribution: Please just ask me first.
Trish Stratus jumped at the sound of loud sneeze which rattled throughout the hotel room. She watched on in sympathy as the force of the sneeze caused her best friend's body to thrust forward violently. The blonde shifted in her spot on the side of the bed, in which her the other woman was situated.
"Is there anything I can do for you? Do you want me to get you something?"
"No. I'm fine." Lita's muttered gruffly through sniffles and wipes at her nose. She leaned back once again on the two pillows Trish had fluffed and set up behind her.
Trish wished there was something she could do to make Lita feel better, but the redhead seemed to be too miserable to accept any kind of help. She watched as the redhead weakly dropped the hand clutching the tissue and let her head fall to the side. She just looked absolutely wretched. Her nose was red and raw after being wiped too many times to count. Her entire face was red and puffy and her red hair was piled messily in a high ponytail at the top of her head.
"Are you sure? You just look terrible. I really don't mind helping you out right now.", Trish pleaded, hoping the redhead would take her up on the offer.
"I'm sure.", the redhead whined in response as she lay with her eyes shut. Trish shook her head disappointedly. She stood from the bed and grabbed Lita's nearly empty water bottle.
"You may say that you don't want anything, but I'm just gonna refill your water bottle." Trish went to the kitchen and refilled the water bottle with ice and Brita water. As she reentered the doorway of the bedroom, she heard Lita sniffling again. She could tell from the sound of the sniffles that they weren't due to her cold, but tears. She watched as the redhead, who was now turned on her side, staring out the window, wiped at her eyes. Trish inhaled deeply at the sight of the ailing woman.
Lita had been having the worst couple of weeks. After being diagnosed with the flu, she hadn't been able to wrestle for the past two weeks. She was forced to be sidelined and watch everyone else wrestle. The stubborn redhead had refused to go home to get better. She couldn't stand to be away from the action. Or so she said. Trish knew otherwise.
Nothing was making these couple of weeks worse for the redhead than the fact that Chris Jericho wasn't there. Trish knew exactly how the redhead felt about him. Not only was he practically her best friend, but the love of her life.
Trish slowly approached the bed again, with no response from the redhead. Trish sat beside her and placed a hand on her thigh. "Sweetie, what's wrong?"
The redhead didn't budge. She simply continued to stare out of the window, not even blinking.
Trish swallowed before proceeding to ask the question in her head. "You're upset that Chris isn't here, aren't you?" If she hadn't been watching closely, she would have missed the slight flinch the redhead gave at the acknowledgement. Trish rubbed Lita's thigh comfortingly. "I'm sure he wants to be here with you more than anything. And I wish he could be here too to help you feel better. But-"
"Yeah. I know." Lita cut Trish off, not even allowing her to bring up the movie. Everyone knew that one of Chris's other loves, besides Lita and wrestling, was definitely acting. When he'd been offered a starring role in an upcoming movie, he was bouncing off the walls with elation. And he just couldn't resist taking the job offer. Even if it was going to be a year of filming in Australia. A long year away from his redheaded girlfriend. Although Lita tried to play the role of supportive girlfriend, the thought of being away from Chris for so long had been killing her on the inside.
The blonde woman sighed as she tried to think of an alternative solution. "Do you want to call him?"
The redhead shook her head as she wiped at more tears. "No. It only makes me miss him more." She hadn't spoken to her boyfriend in a week. Trish could only imagine how hard this was for Lita. Being sick probably only magnified her feelings of loneliness without Chris. He had always been there to take care of her. Now it had been four months that he'd been away, unable to take care of her. And there were eight long months to go before they'd be together again.
There was a heavy silence. Trish continued to stare on as Lita wallowed in her misery. She was sure Lita was even more miserable now because she was at the peak of her illness. The poor woman had gotten a fever just the day before of 101 degrees. Trish had taken her friend to the doctor, only to have him confirm what she'd assumed. Lita needed to rest more than she had been in order to get better. And the fever was actually a good thing, because she would only get better after having had the fever.
"I'm gonna fix a bubble bath for you. How about that? You can take a bath and then come back out and rest some more."
The redhead did not respond for a few moments. Eventually she nodded, as though deciding to give in to the blonde. Trish left the bed and went to get all of Lita's stuff ready for the bath. She carried all of the items into the bathroom and set them aside in order to run the bath water. She made sure the water was warm enough before adding the bubbles. While the water was running, she left the bathroom to go help the redhead.
Lita was now sitting on the edge of the bed, preparing to stand. She still looked weak and fragile, but she was too stubborn to allow it to fully show. Lita had always been known for doing things for herself. Chris was probably the first person, besides her parents, that she ever allowed to do anything for her. Trish approached the redhead as she stood from the bed.
"Do you need help with anything?"
"No. It's okay. I've got it." The redhead rested the palm of her hand against her forehead as she proceeded toward the bathroom door. She stopped suddenly and turned to face her best friend. "I know I've been a pain, but thank you so much for all you've done."
Trish offered a smile. "Don't worry about it. I know what it's like to be sick and miserable."
The redhead smiled back and entered the bathroom, shutting the door behind herself.
Lita drug her hand through her damp hair as she reemerged from the bathroom. "Trish?" She searched the room with her eyes, not seeing the blonde in sight at all. She walked slowly in the direction of the kitchen. The long bath had reenergized her enough so that she didn't feel like she was going to pass out every time she took a step.
"Trish?" There was still no answer to her calls as she scanned the kitchen. Maybe, she'd gone out to the store or something. Lita wrapped her arms around herself in the chilly kitchen. She focused in on an object that was quite foreign to her. Her legs led her to the kitchen table where a picture lay. She lifted the photo and examined it closely.
She remembered the day the picture was taken clearly. She, Chris and a few friends had gone to a nearby beach on one of their days off. It had been six months into their relationship, and they were just as happy as when they'd first gotten together. In this picture, she was on his back, hugging him closely. She'd give anything to have a moment like that right then.
The redhead hugged the picture to her heart. She wasn't sure she could take eight more months of this. She sucked in the warm air.
"Damn. Four months have been way too long to endure without seeing you."
Lita froze in place, her breath catching in her throat. Her heart slowed dramatically. There was no way. He couldn't possibly be there. Her fever had made her delirious. She slowly turned in place.
It was true. This was real. He was there right in front of her, smiling that gorgeous smile of his. His skin was now a more golden tone. He was wearing clothes she hadn't seen on him before, a button up shirt and a pair of jeans. But he was still the same Chris. He was finally back with her.
"Oh my God.", her words came out breathily as she brought her hands up to cover her mouth. Her chest rose slowly and heavily as her body swayed in awe. She ran to him, leaping into his arms. He hugged her closely, loving the feel of her in his arms. She breathed in his familiar scent, letting it linger in her nostrils. His hand came up and ran through her still damp fiery red locks. She buried her face in his neck, never wanting to be apart from him again.
Lita suddenly lifted her head from his neck and brought her lips to his, causing him to let out a small moan of shock as she caught him off guard. She grasped his face in her hands, needing to feel every part of him and know that he was really there. She twisted her head continuously, rediscovering the textures of his mouth. She kissed him with passion and need, kissed him out of desperation. She slid down from his waist as the kiss slowed. Soon, both of her feet were touching the floor. She pressed soft kisses against his lips.
It took her a few moments to open her eyes. She was afraid that he might vanish. She couldn't bear losing him again. She slowly lifted her eyelids to be greeted by his warm blue eyes and his smiling face.
"I missed you so much.", the redhead stated, breaking the silence.
"And I, of course, could barely live without you."
Those words seemed to trigger the practical half of her brain to take over again. A million questions flew through her head. She stepped back from him slightly, her hands still on his chest. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't going to be done filming for another eight months. And when I talked to you, you said you weren't sure when the next time we saw each other would be."
Chris stepped closer to her again, wrapping his arms around her waist. "When I called you, you just sounded so sick. And I couldn't stand the thought of not being here to take care of you. So, I told the director that I had a family emergency and had to return to the U.S. for a couple of days. And here I am."
She grinned. He was such a sweetheart. He'd flown all the way from Australia just to take care of her in her ill state. That was exactly what she loved about this man.
His eyebrows suddenly furrowed worriedly. "Aren't you still sick? Shouldn't you be resting?"
She shook her head. "Seeing you was remedy enough for me."
He rolled his eyes at her, smirking. "Yeah right. Look, your face is all puffy and you're all red. You look so tired. Come on, let's get you back to bed."
She drug her feet as he walked behind her, urging her toward the bedroom. "Chris, I feel fine. I really do. I just wanna spend time with you. I haven't seen you in so long." He ignored her pleas, continuing to push her into the bedroom. As they made it through the doorway, she spun around, halting their progress. She ran her hands up his chest. She sniffled before saying, "I think we should reacquaint ourselves if you know what I mean."
He stared at her for a few moments and then burst out into laughter. "If you knew how you just sounded…Let's go. Straight to bed, you go." She whined as he forced her to sit on the bed.
"Come on.", she squeaked as he lifted her legs onto the bed, putting them under the covers. "I haven't seen you in four months and you want to waste our little bit of time with me sleeping?", she asked incredulously.
Chris sat down sat beside her and patted her leg. "Not necessarily. I just think you should be in the bed instead of up and about. We can talk though."
Lita sighed in defeat. "Fine. How's the whole movie thing been? What haven't you told me already?"
The blonde man smirked. "I love it. I would love to do more movies. This has been the most amazing experience. I'm telling you, you have to come out to the set once and meet the crew. They're amazing. It's a nice change from wrestling."
She stared at him, smiling. "I'm glad you like it so much." She continued to watch him for a few moments in silence. "Do you know how much I've missed you?"
"I'm sure it can't even compare to how much I missed you."
Lita leaned in, pressing her lips to his. He kissed her a little bit and then mumbled against her lips, "You're trying it again."
She puckered her lips against his. "You know you want to. It's been four months. Four long months." She began to unbutton his shirt. "There used to only be at most four days in between, remember?" He watched her silently as she unfastened the last button and pushed open his shirt, running her hands up and down his bare chest. "You don't want to pass up this opportunity and end up waiting eight more long months." She brought her legs from under the covers and sat on her knees, directly in front of him. He continued to watch her without any kind of facial expression or reaction.
She scooted closer to him, so that she was looking down at him, her red hair curtaining her face as well as his. She lowered her mouth to his and just as she was about to make contact, he interrupted. "We shouldn't do this while you're sick."
Lita clutched his face in her hands. "Consider it therapeutic." She squealed as he pushed her backwards onto the pillow and climbed onto her.
Chris blinked a few times in order to clear his vision. He yawned as he turned over to look at the clock. He began to slide out of the bed when a hand suddenly grabbed hold of his wrist.
"Please don't leave me again." He turned to look at the sleepy face of his girlfriend. She lay there with her eyes closed, sheets tightly wrapped around her body. His eyes fell upon her hand as her grip tightened. He resituated himself in the bed, sliding closer to her. Then he ran a hand through her now curly, after skipping the step of blow drying, hair.
"I wasn't leaving you Sicky." He tried to sound as though he weren't phased by her words, although they'd crushed him. She loosened her grip slightly in response. Her eyes opened slowly. She seemed to come to terms with the realization that he was still there and not preparing to leave. She released her hold on his wrist.
"Where were you going?" Her eyes seemed to be begging for reassurance.
"I was just gonna go get something to drink and I swear I was coming right back."
Lita nodded her approval. Her nod was followed by a harsh sneeze and sniffling. Chris jumped at the impact of her sneeze. "Damn. I didn't know you were that sick."
She shivered and pulled the covers farther up. He swore as he suddenly remembered the open window in the room. He ran out of the bed and shut the window. He returned, stating, "I forgot that we opened that window last night. You said it was too hot while we-"
"I know. I remember." She smiled as memories of the previous night flooded her mind. She turned onto her back, securing the covers around her as the draft lingered in the room. He propped himself up onto his elbow, looking down at her as he lay beside her.
"Honestly, how do you feel about me going back to work on the movie?"
Lita searched his eyes for a few moments. He couldn't read that action. She looked away from him. "Honestly…I'd be lying if I said I wanted you to go or that I was even happy about you going back."
A wave of guilt ran throughout him at the look of distress in her eyes. "Do you not want me to do the movie anymore? In all honesty?" He waited patiently for her answer.
She sat up, pulling the covers up with her as she sighed. "Chris, I may not be happy, but I don't want to ruin your dreams. This makes you happy and that what matters to me. I don't want my selfishness to make you unhappy and possibly ruin our relationship."
He smiled at her. "I really appreciate that. That means everything to me." She gave him the best smile she could muster as he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "Let's not sit here mourning our time apart when we're together right now. Let's enjoy it. What do you want for breakfast?"
"You're gonna make me breakfast in bed?"
He nodded. "Of course. I'm here to take care of you. So, that's what I'm going to do."
The redhead placed a hand over her heart. "Aww…that's so sweet. In that case, you have to make me your famous French toast."
"You got it. I'll be back." Chris leaned in once more, kissing her again. Then he hopped out of the bed, pulled on his clothes, and headed out to get the items he needed to make breakfast.
Lita sank down into her bed, marveling at the fact that she was lucky enough to have him in her life. She was sitting on top of the world. But she couldn't fit the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach reminding her that soon her world would come crashing down once he left again.
Lita stared out the window silently at the passing scenery. She couldn't believe a week had gone by so quickly. She'd spent every day of it dreading this one. Sure, she felt a lot better than before, but that didn't matter to her. She clenched her teeth as they passed a sign letting them know that they were just ten miles from the airport.
"What time exactly does your flight leave again?", Christian, who was acting as chauffer, asked.
"12:15.", Chris replied from the backseat.
"Okay. Looks like we actually are going to get there on time. Barely on time, but on time indeed." Trish sighed in relief in the passenger seat.
"Yeah. I told you. You should have some faith. Chris'll make it onto the plane." Christian was quick to defend himself, having almost caused them to completely miss the flight. Trish rolled her eyes, a small smile pulling at her lips.
Lita remained silent throughout the entire exchange. Her eyes were fixated on the trees on the outskirts of the highway. She could feel her boyfriend watching her from his seat beside her. He reached over and took hold of her hand. She didn't turn to him, but simply squeezed his hand. Her leg began to shake.
She willed time to pass as slowly as possible. She held his hand the entire way. Her breath caught as she saw a few commercial airplanes and the car began to go off the exit. Her head felt light. She wanted to pass out. Everything hazed in her mind as he perception of reality and sense of time all seemed to slip away from her. She wasn't aware of anything happening around her. All she could hear were the words he had uttered to her right before he'd left the last time. "I love you and I promise I'll be back soon." It wasn't soon enough for her.
"Lita, baby, are you coming?" She snapped out of her trance, looking up to see her boyfriend standing outside of her open car door. He was reaching out to her, urging her to come with him. She took his hand and stepped out of the car. She wrapped her arms around herself as she walked along beside him, not because of the cold wind blowing, but rather the chills that were running through her body.
Lita allowed him to pull her through the crowd in the packed airport. She followed her boyfriend and two friends as they rushed to make it to his gate after an announcement of the boarding of his flight aired. She wasn't sure how she was even getting her legs to move.
"We made it."
The redhead's vision focused on the line of passengers entering the gate and handing over their tickets to the agent. The line was dwindling and she knew Chris didn't have much time. She felt her hand being released. The blonde dropped his shoulder bag and approached his best friend. "It was nice seein' ya again. Can you do me a favor?"
"Sure. Anything." Christian offered.
"Take care of her, okay?"
"I will. I promise." Chris smiled his gratitude and hugged his friend. He then made his way over to the smallest blonde.
"Trish. I'm gonna miss you." He hugged her closely.
"I'll miss you too. See ya later." Chris released her and she smiled her goodbye. He returned the smile. Then he sighed, dreading what he had to do next.
He turned to his girlfriend, who stood away from the group with her arms wrapped around her shaking body, tears overwhelming her. He approached her, trying to fight the plummeting feeling inside of him. "Sweetie-"
"No!", she retorted, stepping away from him. She wiped furiously at her eyes, stifling her sobs. "I promised that I wouldn't do this." She took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself. She then stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around him, laying her head against his chest. He embraced her as well, not wanting to let her go. "Chris, I love you. And I hope you have an amazing time in Australia. I'll see you soon." She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to fight the sobs.
"I love you too. I'll call you as soon as I get there. I'll call everyday. I love you so much." They stood there a little while longer, simply holding each other.
"This is the final boarding call for Flight 747 to Sydney, Australia."
They both reluctantly released each other. He walked away from her and picked up his bag. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she watched him retreat. A couple more tears slipped from her eyes. He turned to her and she forced herself to waved goodbye weakly. He smiled sadly as he turned away from her.
Trish stepped up to Lita and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It's gonna be okay honey." Lita's head dropped forward as more tears came.
The redhead looked up just in time to see Chris drop his bag and return to her. She gasped in shock. "Chris, what are you doing?"
He shook his head. "I can't do this." He grabbed hold of her hand and dropped down to one knee. He looked up into her teary hazel eyes. Her over hand was clasped over her mouth in disbelief as she slowly shook her head. Chris swallowed hard. "I love you so much. And I want you in my life forever. I need you to be there always. I know this isn't the ideal marriage proposal or anything, but I can't go another minute without knowing that you will always be a part of my life. You are the love of my life and I need you to breathe. So, Amy Christine Dumas…will you marry me?" He released a shaky nervous breath. He patiently awaited her response.
She mover her hand from her mouth to her chest, right over her heart. She struggled to control her breathing. Her tears continued to fall. He was willing to miss his flight just to get her answer. Deep down she wanted to buy more time with him. But she couldn't allow herself to do that to him. "Yes! I will marry you." He beamed and stood, taking her in his arms as she laughed happily through her tears. After a few moments she began to hit his arms, asking for her release.
"Chris, go! You have to go! I love you. And I'll talk to you soon."
"Okay, okay." He pressed a kiss to her lips and ran over to his bag, picking it up and running to the agent. As he handed over his ticket, he looked back at her one last time, smiling. Then he disappeared.
She released a breath she didn't even know she was holding. She felt a hand on her arm again. She looked over, catching Christian's comforting eyes. "Are you gonna be okay?"
"I think I will.", she said. He placed his arm through hers and rubbed that same arm with his other hand. Trish joined the two and held the redhead's other hand. The three of them stood, looking out of the large airport windows. The plane began to depart. Lita tensed up. She could do this. She'd be okay. Now she had a wedding to look forward to. She was going to be a bride. Chris's bride. And that was a great thought to hold onto.
The plane began to ascend. The three friends watched until the plane disappeared from sight. "Let's go." Trish rubbed Lita's back comfortingly. They began to walk out of the airport. Suddenly the redhead stopped.
"What is it?", Christian asked worriedly at the blank look on the redhead's face.
"I'm getting married!", she exclaimed in near shock. A huge smile spread across her face.
"Congratulations." Trish laughed at her best friend. She was relieved that Lita wasn't so depressed. Chris knew exactly what he was doing. "Now let's go and plan your wedding."
Lita grabbed each of their hands and began to run, pulling them out of the airport.