Joe walked into the hospital feeling as though his heart was going to pound out of his chest, his anger mounting with each step.
"Joe!" He heard Chris call his name and turned to find him standing across the hall with Allen.
Picking up speed Joe walked over to them, his breathing heavy from anger. "What's going on? Where is she? How is she? What happened?" He was firing off questions at a faster rate than either Allen or Chris could comprehend.
"Whoa big man, calm down. She's back with the doctor right now...she was still unconscious when we brought her in. We have no idea what happened and we probably won't until she wakes up and tells us herself." Allen explained.
Joe sighed and collapsed against a wall. "This is all my fault, I should've never left her let alone let her go out by herself tonight."
Chris put his hand on Joe's shoulder and shook his head. "This isn't your fault Joe. You didn't know this would happen...none of us did." Before anyone else could say anything they were interrupted by a voice.
"Is there a Mr. Daniels or a Mr. Jones here?" All three of them looked over to see a doctor standing there.
"I'm Chris Daniels." Chris spoke up, the doctor nodded and walked over to them.
"My name is Dr. Thompson and..." The doctor trailed off when he spotted Joe and looked at Chris questioningly.
"This is her...husband." Chris lied.
"Very well, as I was saying my name is Dr. Thompson, Miss Callahan is awake and asking for you. She suffered a concussion as well as her left wrist being broken...do you happen to know what caused this?" Dr. Thompson asked them and they all shook their heads.
"We were working and found her out in the parking lot unconscious." Allen said, speaking up for the first time.
"I suppose she'll tell you then if she wants because she's refusing to give us any information. If you gentlemen will follow me I'll take you to see her." Chris, Allen and Joe all followed the doctor through the hall and into a small exam room. "Miss Callahan you're husband and friends are here to see you."
Husband? Nessa thought, confused but giggled a little when she saw Joe walk in the room. Within a matter of seconds he was by her side holding her hand.
"Babe I am so sorry...I should've went with you tonight."
"Joe it's not your fault. I told you that I wanted to go myself so there was nothing you could do...Brandon." She whispered the name and he could barely hear her but he pulled away quickly.
"He's not here."
"No Joe...he's the one who did this." She clarified and heard all three men growl. Joe stood up, ready to head for the door but stopped when he felt Nessa grab his hand. "Don't Joe, not this way please." Nessa whispered. She could see him trying to get his anger in check but he finally sat down next to her. "Thank you."
"Do you need anything Nessa?" Chris asked, walking over and kissing her forehead.
"Nothing that I can think of right now except maybe for a new head since mine is killing me." She joked and they all laughed.
"Still making jokes I see." Allen said, stepping up to her.
"Hey, you know me. I never can take this shit too seriously...he'll get what's coming to him if I have to do it myself."
"You won't have to Ness we'll take care of it, he'll never hurt you again. You're not coming to the pay-per-view Sunday are you?" Joe questioned and Nessa looked at him like he was crazy.
"Are you kidding me? You're teaming up with Sting! I wouldn't miss it for the world Joe...besides that Alannah will have to be there for her man won't she?" Nessa teased him and he smiled.
"Yeah but I was kind of hoping you'd be there for yours too." Neither of them heard Chris or Allen slip out of the room as Nessa sat in the hospital bed looking at Joe in shock.
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
"Nessa I made a mistake in giving up so easily, I should've fought harder for you. You know that I'm not the kind of man to give up what I want just like that so I don't have an answer for why I did but if you'll give me another chance I promise you that I won't give you up without a fight this time. I love you more than anything and I know in my heart that we should be together, you may not believe that now but I do."
"Joe I do love you..." Nessa trailed off.
"But?" He knew there was a "but" he could hear it in her voice.
"But...I just can't. Not right now anyway, I will promise you though that when I'm ready you'll be the first to know. I also promise that until that time comes I won't be with anyone else."
Joe sighed, knowing there was nothing he could do right now to change her mind. "I guess I can accept that but until that time does come I will be by your side proving to you that we do belong together and I'll be here for you whenever you need me. I want to ask you something and I'll understand if you say no but I want you to hear my reason for asking you first okay?" Nessa nodded, listening intently to what he had to say. "Will you let me stay with you for now? I know Chris and Allen would both feel better if someone was there to protect you incase something like this were to happen again and quite frankly so would I. I'm not saying that we have to sleep together or anything...unless you want to, I just want to be there."
"I would feel better myself if you were there actually. I was going to ask you but I didn't think it'd be the right thing to do." She admitted and he smiled.
"Great! Then it's settled." The doctor came in, smiling when he saw the two talking with each other.
"Ahh Miss Callahan, I see that you are feeling better."
"Much. When do you think I'll be able to go home?" Nessa asked and he laughed.
"That's precisely what I came to talk to you about. If you feel that you are able to, we can release you now as long as your husband promises to keep an eye on you."
"That won't be a problem Dr. Thompson. He's a professional wrestler and has had concussions before so he knows what to look for if anything goes wrong." She explained.
"Wonderful! I'll go get your discharge papers ready and we'll have you out of here as soon as possible. Here is a prescription for some painkillers to help with your wrist, take one every four to six hours as needed." He said, handing her a slip of paper.
"Thank you very much doctor, you've been very helpful to me and my wife." Joe stated. When Nessa heard Joe call her his wife her heart fluttered a little and she smiled.
"Just doing my job sir." Dr. Thompson left the room and Nessa giggled.
"So, who's idea was that?" She asked.
"What?"
"Saying that you're my husband."
"Daniels'. He saw the doc wasn't going to say anything in front of me or let me come back here so he had to think of a fast reason to tell him so he would. You're not mad about it are you?" Joe questioned, worried.
"Not at all. It just confused the hell out of me when he first came in here and said my husband and friends were here to see me. Once I saw you, I realized what was going on."
"Good. Ness...did Silvestry say anything tonight?" She flinched at just the memory of what he said and what happened.
"He kept saying over and over that I thought I could deceive him, I still have no fucking clue what the hell he was talking about. When he hit me the first time he told me not to look so shocked...that I knew I had it coming." At those words a thought popped into Joe's mind and he immediately became concerned.
"Ness did he ever hit you before when you were together?"
"Brandon? I...I...yes." She whispered and dropped her head as tears formed in her eyes. Joe reached out, hooked his finger under her chin and lifted her head until she was looking into his eyes.
"He'll never touch you again babe, I promise you that with all that I am." Nessa nodded and was about to say something but a nurse walked in and interrupted her.
"Miss Callahan? You're all ready to go, just sign here." The nurse handed her a clipboard and she quickly signed it. "If your symptoms get worse please come back here immediately, other than that you're free to go." She took the clipboard back and left the room.
"I'll step outside so you can get dressed." Joe said, standing up but Nessa stopped him.
"Why? It's not like I don't have anything you haven't already seen. Besides that, I may need some help with this thing and all." She stated, holding up her left hand which was in a cast and he laughed.
Joe grabbed her jeans and stepped in front of her. "Sit on the side of the bed." He instructed and she quickly complied. He bent down and slid the jeans on one leg at a time then straightened up. "Stand up babe." He held his hand out and she took it, hopping down off the bed. Joe pulled her jeans up the rest of the way, fastening them and Nessa gasped a little as his hand brushed over her stomach. Joe went over and got her shirt off the chair and turned around, gasping when he saw that she had already removed the gown and was just standing there in her jeans and bra. He shook the dirty thoughts that quickly entered his mind and walked over to her. "Arms up." Nessa giggled and lifted her arms up so he could slip the shirt over her head.
Nessa slipped her feet into her sandals and looked at him. "Let's go home Joe."
