Chapter 59

For the next month, they battled the Faction with Tahlia and Taker in separate rooms, barely saying a word to each other. They tolerated each other and that was it. Tahlia didn't bother hanging out with the boys after the shows and just went to her room, staying as far away from Taker as possible. She had looked into getting her brand removed or covered up, having an appointment scheduled the next time she went home to New York. The damage was done, they would never be together again and she had to accept that. The blowout between them cemented it and, even though she cried herself to sleep every night, she would NOT go back to him. He really thought she was pathetic for giving up her child…and that hurt her more than she would ever admit. Sooner or later, she would get over him and move on with her life, but not until the Faction was taken completely down. It was the night of the pay-per-view event with Stephanie and Tori ready to do battle against her in a 2-on-1 handicapped match. Tahlia stood in the far corner doing her pre-match warmup and completely focused, ready to tear through both whores.

Whatever ghost of a chance they had was completely destroyed. His cruel and callous remark about her giving up her child and her tearing him down over Gunner… that had pretty much cemented it for them both. Words neither could forgive and pain that was just indescribable. Only once had anyone tried talking to him about what was going on between him and Tahlia and he had sent Bradshaw through a window for daring to mention her name. Bradshaw had forgiven him, after a jarring punch to the jaw that had cost Taker a tooth, but… everything was strained. She was facing the Faction sluts tonight in a handicap match… he almost felt bad for Stephanie and Tori because they were the ones handicapped. Tahlia had a lot of pent up frustration and rage to vent.

"Tali, why don't you come out with us tonight after the show? Beat my ass in pool again." Bradshaw hated that she'd gone into a shell of her former self and wanted the old light-hearted, slightly psychotic, Tahlia back. This woman…he didn't know or recognize.

"Not interested."

"Come on, you can't keep yourself locked up like you have. It's not healthy."

"I'm not, I just don't want to go out and blow money on beer when I can save it for my upcoming tattoo I'm getting." Tahlia didn't bat an eyelash, staring straight ahead and continued moving up and down, warming her body up.

"You don't have any, do you?"

"No, but I will." Taker's symbol would be gone soon enough. "I'm going home this week to get it done."

Now Bradshaw was intrigued. "Where at?"

"Hip." Grabbing her title, she walked out of the dressing room to go defend her title.

"Hip? Ain't that where Taker uh…" Farooq trailed off as Bradshaw nodded, frowning as they both stared after their friend.

Whatever had happened between her and the Undertaker had changed both of them. Taker was better at acting like everything was fine, it was the acid and danger one had to watch for in his eyes. The minute they flashed, everyone usually got out of his way. Tahlia just seemed to be wasting away.

"Damn…"

"Ministry whore…" Stephanie taunted, microphone up near her painted lips and smirked wickedly. "Come on out, it's time for you to lose."

Tori felt like this could be a bad idea.

Stephanie jumped and down in victory, holding the title high in the air holding her side. Tahlia was a vicious bitch and had nailed her several times in the ribs, but in the end, she had prevailed…with Tori's assistance.

Tori had nailed Tahlia in the back of the head with a pair of brass knuckles while the referee's back was turned, allowing Stephanie to get the victory.

When Tahlia woke up, she was under bright lights in the trainer's room and groaned, blinking rapidly. "Holy fuck my head…" She muttered, slowly sitting up and suddenly remembered what happened. Those whores had cheated! She'd been screwed out of her title AGAIN!

"Tahlia, I put some stitches in your head and you don't have a concussion, but you need to take it easy the next couple days."

Waving Larry off, she got off the table and left the trainer's room to go back to the locker room she, unfortunately, had to share with Taker, Kane, Edge, Christian and the Acolytes. The moment she walked back inside, a sick smirk curved her lips as all of them nodded at her. The plan was underway and Stephanie was in a false sense of security, which is exactly where they wanted her.

"How's your head?"

"Hurts, I'm fine though." Tahlia assured him, patting his cheek gently and grabbed her gear, ready to head back to the motel for ice and bed.

It was a little ironic, Tahlia being taken out by a pair of brass knuckles. That had been her weapon of choice after he had gifted her with a set as a present. She had destroyed Mideon, not that he hadn't deserved it and taken out one of Vince's cronies. Taker wondered if Tori and Stephanie even knew about any of that. He wanted to go see her head, see if Larry had done a good enough job, but… instead he just nodded at her when her cool amber gaze flickered over him and that was that. He had his own match coming up and wasn't planning on taking anything to the head. No, Taker was more intent on avoiding the damage he knew they were trying to inflict on his hip.

Sitting down in front of the monitor, Tahlia chugged a bottle of water and narrowed her eyes at the sight of Stephanie walking out with her husband, Triple H, and the WWF Women's championship on her shoulder. Tahlia scowled darkly, crushing the bottle in her hand and tossed it to the side. She wanted to go out there to defend Taker and be by his side, but no. He'd made it clear he didn't need nor want her help. The match got underway with Hunter immediately targeting his hip and leg, everyone shaking their heads. However, the Phenom rose up and started pounding the hell out of him with lethal punches. She would only go out there if the Faction got involved, deciding Stephanie wasn't a threat. Taker could handle her and Hunter without blinking an eye – it was the rest of the Faction she was worried about.

Sure enough, toward the end of the match, the Faction spilled out from the back and that was their cue to go out there. Tahlia went around the ring while the others began battling each other and speared Stephanie as hard as she could to the mat. Then she delivered a roundhouse kick to Tori's face, knocking her flat on her backside as well. If they knew the REAL reason why she allowed them to take her WWF Women's championship, they would've thought twice before taking advantage. Hissing, she was grabbed from behind by X-Pac and tossed in the ring under the bottom rope, landing beside Taker.

Hunter had gotten his sledgehammer out, ready to deliver some punishment and slid back in the ring, fire in his brown eyes for what happened to his wife. Tahlia saw him targeting Taker's knee and reacted instinctively, sacrificing her own body as Hunter brought the sledgehammer down right between her shoulder blades. Tahlia dived to cover Taker's leg at the last second and had been knocked unconscious, the shot to her head earlier that night and now her shoulder blades too much for her body to take.

The force of that swing had been meant to shatter his knee or hip and Taker could only imagine the damage it had done to Tahlia. She was a damn strong woman, but that was a potentially career ending blow and she had taken it full force between her shoulder blades. All of the pain and anger at her disappeared in that moment replaced with nothing except concern. He rolled over, gently rolling her off of him and gestured for help from the back. Hunter was backing away, looking somewhat conflicted. When the DX aspect of their little group rushed him, Taker began tossing those little bastards out of the ring, his own group of friends coming out to make way for help to get to Tahlia. Hunter got froggy and rushed him. His hand whipped out and he grabbed the other man by the throat, digging the tips of his fingers in, enough to cause damage.

Stephanie could only watch out of wide eyes as her husband was destroyed, screaming her head off.

A broken shoulder blade was the official diagnosis, along with a mild concussion. After extensive scans and bloodwork, the doctor informed the giant man named Mark Calaway of her main injury. It would take a month to heal the shoulder blade, but she would also need physical therapy. So she would probably be out of the ring anywhere from 2-3 months, requiring someone to care for her while she healed.

Tahlia slowly opened her eyes sometime late the next night, having slept throughout the day and heard beeping machines, frowning. She took in a breath and immediately winced, looking down at her arm that was in a white sling. Then her confused amber eyes landed on the individual sleeping, slumped, in the chair beside her bed. Taker. What was he doing here? Tahlia coughed, groaning out loud when they hurt a lot more than it should've and knew something was wrong.

Taker was the one who had walked backstage with her while EMTs wheeled her backstage, rode along in the ambulance, there for it all. When he had been told the diagnosis, he had seen red. He had also informed their… friends and laid out some groundwork for payback. Tahlia might not be able to physically get her revenge, but others could do it on her behalf. When he heard a change in the heart monitor, he opened his eyes and looked at her, blinking sleep away quickly.

"You're awake." He rasped, clearing his throat.

"Y-Yeah…" Why did it hurt to breathe? Every breath she took, a little stab of pain went through her chest cavity. Tahlia went to sit up and immediately regretted it, biting her lip to the point where it nearly bled to keep from screaming. "W-What h-happened?" She had to take deep breaths between words, turning her head to look at him and swallowed hard.

"What happened?" He echoed almost soundlessly, moving to press the button to slowly raise her, eyeballing her. She was in pain and he was tempted to reach over and increase her morphine. "You… took a blow meant for me, darlin'. Hunter, you remember? He was bringing down that goddamn sledgehammer and you dived in front of me…"

She had shielded him. Tahlia had thrown herself over him and took that crushing blow, breaking bones and putting her out of commission for a few months. Even after everything he had said and did to her. Suddenly, it all came rushing back as Tahlia let the silent tears stream down her cheeks, looking down at her arm and knew that wasn't the injured part of her body. She'd thrown herself on top of Taker's leg and Hunter drove the sledgehammer between her shoulder blades. Tahlia didn't remember feeling the blow though, darkness had set in right after it and her memory was blank. All she could remember was sacrificing herself to make sure Taker didn't have his career ended.

"H-How b-bad is it?" She whispered, stammering because every breath she took felt like a knife was slicing through her chest. "W-What's the d-diagnosis?"

"Concussion…" He said slowly, stating the obvious and knew that was something she was already aware of, sighing. Taker didn't want to be the one to tell her this, knowing her shot at her title was down the hole for the foreseeable future. "Darlin', you have a broken shoulder blade." He confessed quietly, unable to keep the regret out of his tone. How he wished she hadn't done that – hadn't saved him. "It'll take about a month to heal, but then you'll need a few months of physical therapy." The look on her pale face made his chest hurt even more. "Tahlia," 'Taker reached down to take her hand, squeezing gently. "I'm sorry, but you're benched for at least 3 months." Whether she wanted him to or not, he would be there with her.

Breaking down over the news wasn't an option. Tahlia looked into his regret-filled eyes and immediately took her hand out of his, leaning her head back against the pillow. 3 months out of the ring…sidelined with her very first injury and it had to be a broken shoulder blade. Tahlia's visit home had just turned into a 3 month stay and she would be completely alone, trying not to let that fact bother her. What she DIDN'T know was the doctor and Taker had already spoken about her recovery.

"It's f-fine." She cleared her throat, fighting through the pain and turned her head away from him, shutting her eyes. Maybe this was her karma for all the bad things she'd done to Shane, Sable and Vince. "I j-just need to k-know w-when I c-can l-leave."

"Yeah, it's going to be another day or so, darlin'."

He cleared his throat, figuring he'd save the 'surprise' for later. Taker had already called home and made arrangements, discussing everything with Amanda and Sam, and then Gunner. All three had been on board, especially after hearing about how Tahlia had sustained those injuries. He was pretty sure Amanda would castrate him if he didn't bring her home. She didn't want his pity, he could see that. Hell, she probably didn't want him, not that he blamed her, but… she was stuck with him. Pulling away from the bedside remote, he put her hand on it since it let her control everything or page the nurse if need-be.

"I buzzed the doctor. You need to sleep, Tahlia."

"N-No…I n-need my p-phone…"

Tahlia hated how weak she felt at the moment and raised her good arm up to cover the top half of her face, shaking her head. This pain was worse than anything she'd felt, ever. Even her heartbreak over Taker and that had been very painful. This was the type of pain that forced the breath out of her body and it terrified her. It wasn't a surprise when, a few minutes later, a nurse came in to administer some more morphine to help her with the pain management. What would she do once she was back in New York alone though? There was no way she could have a morphine drip.

"Rest Tahlia, the doctor will be in to check on you later on." The nurse instructed softly, looking at the giant man who refused to leave her side and smiled, walking out after checking her vitals.

"Whoa…" That morphine had kicked in strongly and Tahlia finally turned her head to look back at Taker, who had taken a seat in the chair by her bed again. "You don't have to stay." Wow, she could breathe and talk without stammering like an idiot and her chest feeling like it was caving in. It was a miracle! "I need to call the airport and book my flight home…"

When she had first woken up, after they had set her shoulder and did some scans to make sure nothing else was broken, she had been administered morphine. Taker had learned something then. It made her high, giddy, and then knocked her out, usually within minutes.

"Darlin, you don't need to worry about anything right now. You got some time." He reassured her, settling back into his chair.

He needn't stay… no, he would, at least until she had passed out. Then one of the boys would come sit with her while he went and retrieved their things and made arrangements for their travel. He was thinking private jet, this way she wouldn't have to deal with the hassle of boarding lines, other people and potentially cramped sets.

"Get some rest, Tahlia."

"Why are you calling me that?" Her voice had gone quieter, the fight leaving her because of the morphine. "You hate me. You're so pretty. You have pretty hair and pretty eyes." She sounded completely out of her mind, feeling her entire body relax and sag against the bedding. Tahlia felt her bed go back again to where she was more comfortable and could feel the darkness overtake her. "Taker…" She breathed his name out, a single tear sliding down her cheek and didn't feel him take her hand again.

"How is she, Taker?" Bradshaw asked, waiting until she passed out before entering the room, carrying what the man asked him to retrieve. "Are you sure this is a good idea? What if she fights ya goin' to Texas?" They weren't together and, last he checked, they couldn't stand each other.

"You of all people should know I am not against drugging someone to get what I want." Taker replied coolly, having an idea that Bradshaw might care for Tahlia a bit more than as just friends.

He understood and would break the other man's jaw if he even thought about interfering. Paul, as a very special favor, had procured him a small case containing four doses of morphine. He was quite prepared to dose her to make her pliant and get her to Texas. Not to mention she would need all the rest she could get these next few days. Once everything had healed and it was time for therapy… that would be the hard part.

"I will care for her." It was the very least he could do, considering what she had done for him.

Holding his hands up, Bradshaw didn't dare argue with his former boss and nodded, his dark eyes moving to the woman on the bed. "Take care of her, man." He clapped Taker on the shoulder and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.