Disclaimer: All the events and character description taken place in this story is COMPLETELY FICTION. No copyright infringement intended. All characters are copy written to their respective owners. No profit is being made from this story. It should be viewed only as entertainment.
Chapter Forty-Two
Angle's blue eyes glazed over. He sharply sucked in a small bit of air causing his chest to feel like it was on fire. As hard as his wife had slapped him, it felt like a tickle in comparison to how sore his ribs were.
"I should sue your ass!" Levesque barked, finally sitting up after having his back pinned to the kitchen floor due to the Olympic gold medalist's onslaught.
Paul's left eye was a nice shade of pink and was already beginning to swell. A small trickle of blood dripped from his nose. He was feeling a little out of it and because of that, he hadn't attempted to get to his feet.
"I'm so sorry." Steph professed, wiping away a tear each time it managed to escape from her eyes. She was concerned enough about her former husband to then grab her napkin off the breakfast table and bend down next to him, wiping away the blood from his face.
Kurt was gob smacked. He couldn't believe that Stephanie, his wife, was apologizing to Levesque when he, her current husband, was the one she just slapped. Here he was, coming home after almost having his ribs caved into his chest and Steph was busy tending to her ex-husband's little bloody nose. The guy deserved what he got, and Kurt wasn't sorry for attacking him in the least. Paul had no business even being there. What was really pissing Angle off was the fact that Steph didn't seem to see that.
"This is bullshit." Angle finally muttered aloud. His voice was quivering from the overwhelming anger that he was trying his best to contain.
Kurt's words caused Stephanie to look in his direction. Her eyes widened when she saw that he was actually attempting to walk out of the kitchen.
"Kurt!" She called after him hoping that it would beckon him back.
She felt sick to her stomach due to the turn of events that had just transpired between her former and current spouse. With all she had endured the last four days, the last thing she wanted was unneeded drama between the two men; But it was more than that now. Her husband had attacked Paul right in front of all of their children. Kurt obviously couldn't keep his promise to her that he would try and be civil toward Aurora's father.
"Kurt, where are you going?" Steph inquired again after she saw that he was not deterred from leaving the kitchen.
He was already passing into the hallway entrance where his two older children were still standing worried sick. He didn't even acknowledge them. The fact that she had slapped him must have really upset him. She really wished she hadn't hit him. Though she did have to diffuse the situation, and her slapping him across the face had done that.
Stephanie felt torn. On one hand she had her baby girl, Aurora, crying still in her boaster seat while her daddy was still getting his bearings on the floor, and on the other hand, her husband seemed to be walking away. Should she go after Kurt or stay and smooth things over in the kitchen?
"It's okay, sweetie. It's all over, everything is okay now." Steph assured her daughter the moment she stood back up and went to tend to her.
The moment she had heard the front door open and slam shut, she knew that Kurt was leaving to go blow off some steam. If she would have followed him and pressed him to deal with the issues right then, it could make things worse. The best thing was for her to give him some space. He would be back and then they would deal with their problems.
"See how wonderful your new husband is? Attack me without any provocation really shows some nads." Paul complained in a strained voice as he struggled to get to his feet.
Steph was focused on comforting the children. It was all she could do to keep her own feelings at bay. Besides, it was her responsibility as a mother to love and protect her children. After some assurance, hugs and kisses, Aurora was over it. The only thing that baby Andrew needed was to be held by his mommy. It was Kyra and Kody that were still upset.
"Why did Daddy leave?" Kyra asked her stepmother aloud. Her little brown eyes were still filled with tears as she inquired about her father leaving the house.
Stephanie instinctively walked over to where Kurt's children were still standing. She knew that she just couldn't worry about her two biological children. Kyra and Kody became part of her responsibility when she married their father.
"It's okay, honey. Your daddy was just upset and he went out to calm down. He'll be back soon, okay?" Steph assured her little stepdaughter, gently running her hand over Kyra's brown locks of hair to emphasize her words.
Kyra wiped her eyes and slowly nodded to signal that she understood what was being told to her and her little brother. Kody's reaction was to move toward Stephanie and wrap his arms around one of her legs. It was obvious that he considered her to be his stand in parent when neither his father nor mother was there.
"Daddy, you hurted? You need Booboo Bunny?" Aurora asked her father. She was very fond of the pink cloth bunny that was wrapped around a cold block and lived in the freezer.
"I'm okay, sweetie, just a small booboo but your daddy is tough."
Aurora's eyes stayed focused on the swelling of her daddy's face. She also took notice of the bloody napkin that her mommy had given to him after wiping his nose. She couldn't figure out why Andrew's Daddy was mad at her daddy. Was her daddy being bad? It didn't seem like he had done anything naughty. Was Mommy going to be mad too? And if Mommy got mad, was Daddy not going to be allowed to visit her anymore?
"Steph?"
Paul called out to his former wife when she suddenly, set her youngest child on his wobbly feet, and ran out of the kitchen. Levesque, of course, knew immediately that her nausea had returned and that she was going to lose her breakfast. The illness was still in her system.
"Keep an eye on the baby." Directed Paul in a mutter when he passed by Kyra who was the oldest of the children.
Levesque was compelled to check on his ex-wife. He didn't know how severe the vomiting was going to be since it was pretty bad yesterday morning. When Paul approached the bathroom, sure enough, Stephanie was leaning over the toilet retching.
"I really thought the vomiting was behind you. Is there anything I can do?" He offered while coming in close to her and gently rubbing her back.
Paul let out a sigh, waiting patiently for Steph to give her reply. She had to wait until the vomiting relented before she was even able to speak. When it finally did, Stephanie first let out a moan and then brought her right hand to her face, wiping away a few beads of sweat that had formed on her forehead.
"You've really done enough. I'm sure you'd like to stop at home before leaving for the SmackDown tapings. Besides, Kurt could be coming back home at any time. I think it would be best if you weren't here for his return." Steph finally said in a hoarse voice.
"Are you sure that you're going to be okay being alone with four kids? Do you at least want me to carry you to one of the sofas in the living room?" Levesque then offered.
"No, I'm just going to stay in here by the toilet for a little while. I don't think I'm done getting sick. If you would though, could you please put Andrew in his playpen before you leave?"
The second after making her request, she was overtaken by a wave of nausea that consisted of three painful retches that made all of her abdominal muscles ache.
"Yeah, sure, no problem." He replied softly before he started to leave the bathroom.
"Wait, Paul?" Stephanie spoke out quickly in a raspy voice. She had managed to fight off her queasiness just in time to call after him.
"Yeah?"
"I just wanted to say again how sorry I am about Kurt's behavior. I'm sure that if he knew about the circumstances of you being here, how you've helped me; he wouldn't have been so upset." Steph explained in a hoarse voice as she tried her best to give him a kind smile.
Levesque simply gave her a nod. It was all he could do to acknowledge her without letting a smart ass comment about Mr. Gold medalist slip out of his mouth. A comment like that would only upset Stephanie. She was already under enough stress because of her persistently lingering illness.
Paul did what she asked of him. His daughter and Angle's two older children followed him into the living room where he deposited baby Andrew into the safe constraints of the playpen.
"Daddy, we pway now?" Aurora asked with a hopeful smile. She was finally beginning to get over the traumatic event she and the other children had just witnessed and was ready to get back to having fun with her very own daddy.
"No sweetie, Daddy has to go to work. You look after Mommy. Okay?"
"Okay, you coming home soon?" The three year old inquired with a question of her own.
The sweet voice of his baby girl asking if he was coming back to be with her was almost heartbreaking. She defined her home as the house she shared with her mommy and she wanted him there too. It was all the more clear to him that at the tender age of three, Aurora Rose could not grasp the idea of divorce. Paul would do anything for the chance to erase his past indiscretions so that his daughter would never have to be faced with having divorced parents.
"We'll see each other again soon, sweetheart. I promise." He answered back in a voice full of love as he gave her a quick but tight hug.
While Kyra and Kody settled in the living room in front of the television, it was Aurora that followed her father all the way through the house and to the front door. With his previously worn shirt in his hand, Paul let himself out the front door before instructing his three year old to lock the door behind him.
It was when he climbed into the driver seat of his Hummer that he leaned himself forward toward the steering wheel so that he could get his cell phone out from his back pocket. A quick search of his contacts yielded the number of his former in-laws. Despite the possibility of Vince answering the phone, Paul was willing to take his chances. He didn't feel comfortable leaving Stephanie by herself with four children while she was that sick. If he told Linda of the situation, he was sure she would race over to give her daughter a hand.
"Hey Linda, this is Paul, how are you?" Paul asked politely, letting out a sigh of relief. He was happy to hear Mrs. McMahon's voice answering the phone rather than her husband.
"Hello Paul, I'm doing fine, thank you. I must confess that I'm surprised to hear from you. Is everything okay?"
"Well that's why I was calling you. I just got finished visiting with Aurora and Stephanie this morning, and Stephanie is really sick. I'm worried about her being alone with not just the two kids but Angle's kids as well. Do you think you could head over and give her a hand with the kids?" Levesque reported into his cell phone while at the same time he began to slowly back his Hummer out of the long driveway.
"She's sick and all by herself with the kids? Is Kurt not there with her?" Linda asked with concern as she rattled off the two questions one after another without giving her former son-in-law time to respond.
"No, he came home, pitched a fit, and stormed out of the house like a two year old. I would stay and take care of things with Steph, but I have to be en route to the SmackDown tapings."
Mrs. McMahon didn't even choose to question what would cause Kurt to be upset enough to leave his sick wife with four children to look after. She didn't want to further trouble Levesque. After all, her daughter's welfare was no longer any of his concern. The fact that he cared enough to call her was honorable enough.
"Well I appreciate you calling me. I'll be right over there. Thank you, Paul." Linda responded.
"All right, you take care. Bye." Paul said into the cell phone before ending the call, setting the phone in the nearest cup holder, and then turning his attention to driving the SUV.
"Who was that?" Vince asked the moment he entered his commodious kitchen where his wife was standing.
He had heard the home phone ringing but his wife had been quicker to answer it since he was so preoccupied with looking over SmackDown rewrites. Steph had certainly been slacking on her responsibilities as head of creative development. SmackDown was a mess and it was being taped in a matter of hours. Sure, they had cut it close before with revisions and rewrites, but never without Stephanie's direct involvement.
"It was Paul." Linda replied placing the small cordless phone back into its charging dock.
"Paul who, what's the last name? Heyman? Wright?" Vince asked in an annoyed tone of voice in response to his wife's vague disclosure of the identity of the caller.
"Levesque, you know, your granddaughter's father, your former son-in-law." She told him with a slow and deliberate head shake. She couldn't believe that he wouldn't immediately think of the man who he had once given Stephanie away to before thinking of Heyman or the Big Show.
"Oh, what did he want?"
McMahon's tone of voice shifted from that of frustration to obvious disappointment. Paul Levesque was the very last person he wanted to hear from. He could only wonder why he was calling them out of the blue.
"He called to voice his concern about Stephanie. Apparently, she's still sick and by herself with all four children."
"Where's Kurt? Did you call him? If Steph's sick, I'm sure he's taking care of it. He should be home now from RAW. Levesque needs to mind his own business. Stephanie isn't his concern anymore; she's got herself a real husband and father for her children." Vince proudly proclaimed.
"He said Kurt wasn't there. I'm going over there, Vince. Paul wouldn't have called me if it wasn't important. If you want, you can try and call Kurt." She told her husband before exiting the kitchen.
Linda was so concerned about her daughter, that she didn't even bother speaking to her husband's spiteful comments about their former son-in-law. He knew how she felt about running down the father on their granddaughter. She didn't have to tell him. Right now, however, her mind was preoccupied with her daughter's welfare.
Angle sat in a restaurant booth. His back hunched over and both elbows were propped up on the dining table. To all on lookers, Kurt seemed unusually subdued. He was doing his best to fight off the involuntary shaking of his large muscular frame. He was hurting; so much that all he could think about was his ribs. Every breath he took felt like a knife was puncturing his chest. Still, he was stoic. He graciously acknowledged any approaching fan with a polite smile, and an autograph on a napkin if one was presented with a pen. He loved his fans, especially the ones who had supported him through all the hardships he had endured during his professional wrestling career.
Injuries were always the worst for him. It was only during times of pain and agony that his thoughts would drift to those pain killers that he took to make all the pain go away. But he couldn't have them. After his crippling addiction to them back in 2003, he had sworn off of them for good. Abruptly going cold turkey was the hardest thing he ever endured. He was lucky it didn't kill him. Pain killers were the devil tempting him with the promise of relieving him of all his discomfort. He wouldn't give in. Instead, Angle had found solace and relief from a bit of alcohol. It really took the edge off.
"Hi, I'm Angela, I'll be taking care of you this morning. Can I get you something to drink? You look like you could use a cup of coffee." The waitress said to him the moment she approached his table with a pad and pen in her hand that was poised and ready to jot down his order.
"Yeah, that'd be great, but uh, do you mind spiking it with a bit of Bailey's or something?" He asked in a low voice so that only the waitress would hear his request.
Angela looked a little taken off guard upon his request but she gave him a nod and quickly scribbled her shorthand down on the pad of paper before leaving his table.
"Thanks…" Angle muttered before closing his eyes. He then brought his hands to his face. His scruffy facial hair scratched against the palms of his hands.
While he sat there waiting for his spiked coffee, the sound of his smart phone signaling an incoming call with a continuous vibration caused him to grab it and look to see who was calling him. "Incoming call…Vince's cell" was displayed on the touch screen.
Stephanie must have called her father and told him about the altercation between him and Paul. This had to be his father-in-law calling to lecture him about the importance of self-control because of the danger of lawsuits. He couldn't go there right now. Part of the reason Kurt left the house was to get away from the situation. His wife slapping him and then tending to her ex-husband was enough to make him really lose it. It was better that he stayed away and nurse his sore ribs with a bit of alcohol. He would be back in a few hours to smooth things over with Steph.
With his right thumb, Angle touched the "Ignore call" button causing a missed call indicator to be displayed at the top of his phone. He would talk with his father-in-law later.
Waiting for the waitress to return felt like a lifetime. Just when he was wondering how long it actually took for someone to pour a cup of coffee and slip some alcohol in, Angela returned to his table with his beverage.
"Would you like to order anything to eat?" She offered bringing her trusty small pad of paper out from the pocket of her waitressing pouch.
"No, thanks…" Kurt muttered in response bringing the cup of coffee up to his mouth. He wasn't even going to worry about adding any cream or sugar, he just needed relief.
Angela took her cue and left the table Slowly and with some trepidation, the brim of the cup pressed to Kurt's lips and the hot coffee passed over them into his mouth. As soon as he took his first swallow, he exhaled with a smile on his face. Not only did it taste great, but it was definitely going to dull the pain.
Mrs. McMahon's dark green jaguar sedan slowly pulled up in the driveway of the Angle family home. Linda decided that it would be best to enter the house through the garage. After all, she knew the combination on the keypad, and it would be a less intrusive way of checking in on her daughter without possibly waking her or one of the children up if they were sleeping since she wouldn't have to ring a doorbell.
Only Stephanie's tan Porsche Cayenne was parked in the garage, Kurt's white Escalade was missing from his usual spot on the other side of the garage. It appeared that Paul was right when he told her that Kurt wasn't at the house. What would cause him to leave right after he got back from a show?
Linda could already hear the sound of baby Andrew crying from inside the home when she approached the door that connected the garage to the laundry room area. He must have really been wailing for the sound to carry that far in the spacious home. Not wanting to waste a moment, she let herself into the house, closing the door behind her.
Linda 's first thought was to call out her daughter's name, but with the intensity of the baby's crying, she knew that Stephanie wouldn't even hear her. So she followed the sound of her grandson's cries leading her into the living room where both Kyra and Kody were sitting right next to the pack and play that housed their little half brother. Baby Andy's entire face was beet red and stained with tears, it was obvious that he had been crying for a while. Linda rushed to him and quickly lifted him out of the playpen. His diaper was obviously engorged. Where was Steph? She would never leave one of her children crying with a dirty diaper.
"Where's Stephanie? Is she somewhere in the house with Aurora?" Linda asked Kyra the moment the one year old's crying finally ceased so that her words could be heard.
"They're in the bathroom. Steph's really sick. She keeps throwing up." Kyra reported back while she used her hand to point in the direction of the downstairs bathroom where she knew her step-mother was still laying by the toilet.
"Face is hot." Kody added bringing his own hand to his face to show how he had felt his step-mother's face the last time he and his sister had went into the bathroom.
"Okay, I'm going to go check on Stephanie. I'll be back." Linda explained to her son-in-laws two children as she left the living room with her daughter's youngest child still in her arms.
"Granny!" Aurora called out the moment she caught sight of her grandmother entering the doorway to the bathroom. The three year old ran and hugged her legs.
"Mommy really sick. She too tired to get up." Aurora Rose then explained while Linda's eyes fell upon her daughter.
There was Stephanie lying on the bathroom floor in an almost fetal position. All the color in her face was gone and had been replaced with a pale complexion that resembled the white porcelain toilet bowl that her forehead was pressed up against. Linda couldn't even tell if she was conscious.
"Stephanie, it's Mom." Linda said to her daughter as she approached her.
Her mother's words caused Steph's eyes to slowly open. Her brilliant blue eyes were glazed over like that of a porcelain doll's glassy eyes. She felt terrible. Not only had the sickness not left her body, but it had reached a new level of debilitation. She was so weak from all the vomiting that she couldn't summon the strength to attend to her crying son in the living room.
"I'm so sick, Mom. I'm so weak. My head hurts so bad. Are the kids okay?" Steph croaked as she felt her teeth involuntarily chatter after her words were spoken.
Being a mother of over thirty years, Linda instinctively brought her hand to her daughter's face and immediately knew that she was running a fever. Whatever her daughter had, it was most certainly going to make her dehydrated, if it hadn't already done so.
"The children are okay. I need to change Andrew, but when I finish, I'll be right back to help you up. We need to take you to the E.R."
"We need to call Kurt..." Steph muttered closing her eyes again while she breathed heavy, fighting back the nausea that was trying to overtake her.
"I'll call him after I get you to the hospital. Getting you there as soon as possible is most important."
Stephanie fell silent and simply nodded to show her understanding of her mother's decision to hold off on calling her husband to let her know that they were going to the emergency room. After struggling with this illness for four days, Steph knew without a doubt that she now needed to seek medical attention. Whatever was ailing her, it was much more serious than a common stomach virus. The question was, what was the diagnosis and how could it be treated.
Kurt walked with a little bit of pep to his step as he made his way through the restaurant parking lot toward his SUV that was parked only a few feet away. He was feeling a whole lot better after three cups of his spiked coffee. A good bit of alcohol in a hot beverage really dulled the pain of his sore ribs. He now felt like he was ready to go home and face his wife after the altercation that had taken place earlier. He had been far too angry and in too much pain to speak his mind then. Now he was going to go home and dialogue with his wife. It wasn't going to be a pretty conversation, but they were going to have it. Things had to be said, and he was going to have no problem laying it out for her.
After Angle got into his Escalade, started the engine, and began to drive out of the parking lot, he heard the sound of his cell phone giving an alert of an incoming text message. His curiosity peaked, and he reached for his phone from his pants pocket to see who was texting him. He smiled when he saw the message on the display.
"Haas told me u fucked urself up last night at the PPV. U alright man?" The text read from the sender Brock Lesnar.
Kurt looked up at the intersection in front of him and made a left onto the main road. Once he was going the speed limit on a road he knew he would be on for a few miles, he looked back down at his phone and started thumbing in his reply to his friend's text message. Angle's large thumbs kept accidentally hitting the wrong keys, causing him to have to delete letters and retype new ones in. With all the effort he was giving his text message, his Cadillac Escalade kept drifting over to the shoulder of the road before he would notice and stir it back into the middle of his lane.
A loud blaring horn broke his concentration causing Angle's eyes to immediately shift to where they should have been looking all along. His eyes widened and he immediately pulled hard on his steering wheel while at the same time slamming on his brakes. His tires squealed as the anti lock brakes kicked in. He had reacted too late.