Underwater

Three months had gone by and AJ was moving forward with her plans while Punk was training for his fight. Punk had been in Vegas for the last two weeks and AJ was set to join him today. She had stayed back in Chicago the extra days to get things done for her new business but she was anxious to get to Vegas. The minute she walked into his old gym where he was training her ran right to her and greeted her with a hug and long deep kiss.

"I've missed you so much." Punk said pulling his lips away briefly.

"I've missed you more." She argued kissing him again.

"This is so sweet." Paul teased. "But Punk we need you back."

"I need a few minutes." Punk told him.

"It's ok. I'm going to head to the hotel I wanted to stop here before there." She told him.

"You're coming to weigh-in's later, right?" Punk asked her.

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss it for the world." AJ smiled. "I'm sorry I didn't come sooner."

"You have a lot going on I understand." He assured her. "I've just really missed you."

"You said that already." Paul added in.

"Could you give me a minute alone?" Punk snapped.

"Be nice." AJ smirked.

"He's been a grouchy bastard since the day he landed in Vegas." Paul mocked. "Don't ever leave him." He warned AJ who giggled.

"I think I'm going to go back to the hotel and lay by the pool for a little." She said to him.

"You've been working your ass off you deserve a restful day." Punk agreed. "What bikini are you going to wear?"

"None of that now." AJ warned him with a smile. "You know your rule." She reminded him of his 'no sex' rule the week of a fight.

"Yea, yea." He sighed. "The second the fight is over though..."

"Do you realize this was the longest we were apart since we started dating?" she asked him.

"It sucked." He said bluntly.

"You'll see her plenty tomorrow night." Paul reminded him. "I'll take you to the hotel."

"I have the cab outside still but thank you Paul." She smiled then looked back to Punk. "What time do I have to be ready?"

"Around 3." He said to her. "I'll have Paul pick you up at 2."

"That's like three hours of pool time." She grinned. "That's the only thing I miss about Vegas."

"Go lay by the pool, read one of your boring books and I'll see you in a few hours." he said giving her one last kiss.

"2 sharp." Paul warned her sternly.

"Got it." She said happily and gave him a wave as she walked out of the gym.

"So are you going to do it?" Paul asked anxiously.

"Do what?" Punk asked innocently.

"You know what." Paul grinned. "You said the minute after your fight you're going to propose."

"I'm not saying anything." Punk replied coyly.

"You can trust me." Paul frowned.

"I may or may not have a ring hiding in the safe of my hotel room." Punk admitted quietly.

"Is it big?" Paul asked eagerly.

"Put's Luis's ring to shame." Punk scoffed. "I spent weeks getting it just right. I had it designed specifically for her."

"And you aren't getting cold feet?" Paul asked him.

"No surprisingly the only thing I'm nervous about is her saying no." Punk admitted.

"She wouldn't." Paul assured.

"She might think I'm only doing it to appease her." Punk told him.

"Are you?" Paul asked him.

"No." Punk said honestly. "I really want this. I want to see her walk down the aisle to me and pledge her love and devotion to me and me only. I want to call her my wife and I want a family with her. I'm not getting any younger."

"Wow." Paul laughed. "Where did this all come from?"

"I've just been thinking about it more and more." Punk confided. "Why wouldn't I want those things? I always said I didn't because I didn't think a woman like AJ even existed."

"Well, I'm happy for you." Paul said to him. "We'll celebrate the engagement after the fight- get back to work." He ordered and Punk just nodded.

AJ was laying by the pool under the hot sun and taking occasional dips. She did drift off with the book she was reading falling onto her chest. She was woken up by her being shaken.

"I said 2 sharp." Paul frowned looking down at her.

"Oh crap." AJ said jumping out of her chair. "What time is it?"

"1:30." Paul scolded and AJ gave him an annoyed look. "Good thing I didn't take your word for it."

"It's fine I have plenty of time." She said standing up in her simple black bikini. She reached for her towel and book and pushed her damp hair behind her ear and that's when she felt the bare earlobe. "Oh shit!" she shouted touching her other ear and realized one earring was still in.

"What's wrong?" Paul asked.

"My earring came off." AJ said shaking her towel out and Paul looked under her chair.

"It's just an earring." Paul said to her.

"No they're not. Phil gave me these for our one year anniversary." AJ said feeling herself about to cry and looked towards the semi-crowded pool. "Let me just check in the pool."

"We don't have time." Paul said grabbing her arm. "I'll call someone here at the hotel and they'll look."

"It could be gone by now! Those earrings cost him a fortune! What if someone takes it?" she asked dramatically.

"I'm sure they already did." Paul said to her. "I'll replace it for you myself this way Punk never has to know."

"I can't Paul I have to look." She then dove into the pool and Paul rolled his eyes.

"Five minutes!" Paul warned her as she ducked back under. He pulled out his phone to let the driver know they were going to be a little late and kept glancing towards the pool. "We're going to be so late." he muttered to himself and glanced back towards the pool and noticed AJ hadn't come up yet.

Paul frowned and placed his phone into his pocket as he walked towards the edge of the pool and peered in looking for her over the crowd. It had to be at least two minutes before he saw her at the deep end that was close eleven feet and saw her struggling at the bottom of the floor.

"Hey!" Paul screamed. "She's stuck!" he yelled out noticing one hand appeared to be stuck as she tried to use her body to pull it out. "Help!" He yelled towards the lifeguard who ran towards the edge and dove in once he saw AJ.

Paul was on his knees peering into the water as another pool lifeguard cleared out the rest of the pool.

"Why isn't she being pulled up!" Paul yelled to no one in particular.

Paul was now panicking when he saw AJ was no longer moving and the lifeguard trying to help her swam to the top. The lifeguard was trying to give her breaths but she had now been under at least another three.

"Turn off the pump!" he yelled out and someone ran to a door that had controlled the pool.

The lifeguard went back under but he still couldn't free AJ's hand and Paul was about ready to pass out. His phone kept going off but he didn't even notice, if he had he would have seen Punk was trying to find out where he and AJ were. What looked to be a paramedic dove into the pool next as the lifeguard came up for air and he was able to finally free AJ and swam her to the top.

"Is she ok?" Paul asked frantically as two people began to give CPR. "Is she breathing?"

"How long was she under?" the wet paramedic asked Paul as he gave her chest compression's.

"I don't know- a few minutes- maybe five." Paul said nervously.

"She has a pulse." someone said and Paul felt relief.

"Why isn't she waking up?" Paul asked leaning over them.

"What's her name?" A dry paramedic asked him.

"It's uh-" Paul started but he was very flustered. "She was looking for earring." he told him instead of AJ's name.

"It's ok sir." The man said helping Paul to a seat as AJ was placed on a stretcher and being wheeled out as quickly as possible. "She's going to get the best medical attention."

"We have somewhere to be." Paul told him going pale.

"Is she your girlfriend?" The paramedic asked.

"No she's a friend her boyfriend-" Paul started then realized Punk didn't know.

"What is her name?" The paramedic asked him again.

"April Mendez." Paul said to him. "It's going to be Brooks soon but she doesn't know that." he rambled nervously. "Her boyfriend has to know."

"Does she have family we can contact?" The paramedic asked him.

"Is she going to be alright? She had a pulse." Paul questioned.

"They're going to do the best they can but she was under for a long time." The paramedic said to him.

"Increases the chance of brain damage." Paul muttered under hid breath and dropped his head into hands. "I told her to leave the fucking earring!" he shouted out at no one in particular. "I have to get Punk." he said standing up.

"What about family?" The paramedic asked stopping him.

"She lives in Chicago and she has a father but who knows if he's even sober today. Her boyfriend needs to know he's nearby." Paul said to him. "Can I tell him she's going to be ok?"

"I would tell him to get to the hospital as soon as possible." The paramedic suggested solemnly.

Punk's weigh-in was over and he noticed both AJ and Paul missing. The minute he stepped backstage he called Paul again but it again went unanswered then tried AJ but her phone wasn't even on.

"Where the fuck are they!" Punk shouted towards his coach.

"Didn't see your cheering squad outside." Tommy smirked coming up behind Punk who looked pissed. "Did little AJ realize that I'm going to embarrass you again?"

"Fuck off." Punk snapped. "I'm going to be swimming in your blood tomorrow night."

"Ok Punk." Tommy forced out trying to hide a laugh. "I don't think you're taking me very seriously."

"Oh I am." Punk said to him. "Tomorrow is the biggest fight of my career and I'm not losing this time."

"We'll just have to wait and see-" Tommy began but saw Paul standing behind Punk.

"Punk." Paul rasped out and he turned to look at Paul.

"Where the hell have you been?" Punk asked looking at him then noticed AJ wasn't with him. "She was running late? Probably fell asleep by the pool." he smirked.

"Yea she did." Paul said looking down at his feet and Paul never looked away from someone when he spoke to them.

"Where is she?" Punk asked confused. "She still at the hotel?"

"Can we talk in private?" Paul asked nodding for him to follow him away from Tommy and the rest of his team.

"No. You can tell me right here and now where the hell AJ is." Punk demanded.

"I really don't think this is something everyone should hear." Paul barely whispered.

"You're freaking me out." Punk warned him. "Tell me right now where she is."

"The hospital." Paul told him and his face dropped. "She had an accident at the pool."

"What kind of accident?" Punk asked trying to remain calm.

"She lost her earring and went to look for it. I guess it was by the drain and her hand got stuck." Paul told him. "I don't really know. One minute I was on my phone and she was fine and a second later I saw her at the bottom of the pool freaking out. They got her out eventually-"

"Eventually?" Punk asked horrified. "How long was she under? Is she ok?"

"A while." Paul admitted and Punk took a step back in shock. "She's at the hospital they got a pulse but she wasn't waking up and she was under for so long-"

Punk was already jetting past Paul who chased after him leaving everyone listening stunned.

The hospital got in touch with AJ's father who was flying down but he told the doctors to run everything by Punk. There were no decisions to make at the moment though. When Punk arrived at the hospital AJ was hooked up to all machines and breathing tubes and was in a coma. The doctors wouldn't be able to tell if there was any brain damage until she would wake up which they told Punk the sooner the better. Punk sat at her bedside with his arms crossed and Paul sat across the room watching over both of them.

"Look at her." Punk said noting how pale she looked. "What was she thinking?"

Paul remained quiet since Punk had been talking to himself for most of the visit that was now going on four hours.

"I'm talking to you now Paul." Punk said to him but didn't look at him, he kept his eyes glued on AJ the entire time in case she moved or showed any signs of life.

"She loves the earrings." Paul said quietly. "She wanted to find it."

"Those stupid fucking anniversary earrings? A gift she didn't even want to begin with." Punk spat. "If I would have given her that ring this wouldn't have happened."

"Don't think like that." Paul said to him. "I'm sure she didn't realize she was risking her life."

"Why isn't she waking up?" Punk asked him. "The nurse said she should be up any minute if she's going to be ok."

"I don't know." Paul said quietly. "I wish I could have done more to help her."

"What am I supposed to do?" Punk asked him.

"Talk to her, hold her hand." Paul suggested.

"I'm too mad at her." Punk admitted and Paul frowned sadly. "It's a fucking earring. I'd buy her a hundred more pairs."

"I think it was the sentiment behind the earrings." Paul said to him quietly. "You can't be mad at her, she needs to hear your voice."

"Can she even hear me?" Punk asked eyeing her carefully. "I'm mad at you." He said loudly but there was no response.

"Maybe you can say something nicer?" Paul suggested.

"If I lose her over an earring-" Punk began.

"You're not." Paul said to him. "She's a little ass kicker."

"She wont' wake up!" Punk yelled looking over to him finally. "I can't do this without her."

"Do what? Fight?" Paul asked.

"Anything." Punk said to him feeling himself start to get worked up for the first time. "I can't go home, I can't fight, I can't look at our dog, I can't do any of it!"

"She's not gone." Paul reminded him.

"She looks gone." He sniffled looking at her. "All of those machines-"

"How many times has she been strong for you?" Paul asked him. "How many times has she helped you shower after a tough fight or rough workout? Iced your sore body? Kept you motivated when you wanted to quit?"

"Every time which is a lot." Punk admitted.

"Now you can return the favor." Paul said to him. "Take her hand and tell her you love her and tell her to fight! Plenty of people survive this."

"She was under for so long." Punk argued shaking his head as he wept into his own hands.

"She can fight through this!" Paul yelled walking over to him. "Can you live without this woman?"

"You know I can't." Punk said looking up at him and Paul tried his hardest to stay tough even though his own heart broke for him.

"Then you tell her that." He said grabbing Punk's hand and placing it over AJ's. "She needs to hear you. Talk to her, beg her to wake up!"
Paul's phone was vibrating and he looked at the ID.

"It's Dana." Paul said to him.

"I can't think about fighting right now." Punk warned him.

"I know and I'm sure they understand." Paul said to him. "I'll be right back, do you want coffee?"

"I wouldn't be able to keep it down." Punk said as his attention went back to AJ.

"Hey." Punk said to her as he inched the chair closer and used both hands to clutch one of hers. "I'm not mad- well actually I am man." He told her honestly.

"But I'll get over it you know I always do." he said waiting for her to respond. "You're still beautiful you know." he said now brushing some of her hair behind her ear. "And I don't know if you heard Paul but he said you're a little ass kicker and he's right if anyone can pull through this is you. And I need you to because I was kind of banking on spending the rest of my life with you." he confided.

"I have a ring. It's really nice or at least that's what the woman at the jewelry store told me it was. And I know what you would say- no because you think I'm doing it as some sort of favor to you but really I'm doing it for selfish reasons. I want to wake up next to you everyday and fall asleep with you laying all over me even when it's like a hundred degrees." He teased. "I want to see you in a white dress and listen to you promise to love me forever. I want every man on this planet to know that you're spoken for and I will hurt anyone who tries to take you from me. I want to introduce you as my wife and I want to have children with you. A boy and a girl." he added seriously as he had given it a lot of thought. "But I can't have any of this without you."

"April." He sighed leaning in closer to her. "If you die, I die." he whispered. "I love you. I need you more than you realize." he began to plead. "I'll do anything. I'll rub your feet everyday, I'll cleanup after Larry's messes, I'll do the grocery shopping, I'll do laundry, you'll never have to lift a finger again you just have to sit there an look pretty which shouldn't be difficult because even though you're at your worse you're still the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on."

"I love you, I love you, I love you..." he whispered repeatedly into her hand that he kept pressed to his lips. He must have said it near a thousand times when he heard a sound and looked up. AJ's eyes were halfway opened and she was groaning.

"AJ." He whispered and smiled and kissed her hand as hard as possible.

"What's going on?" Paul asked walking in with a coffee.

"She's awake get a doctor." Punk instructed and Paul dropped his coffee on the floor and ran out of the room.

"Can you hear me baby?" He asked standing up but not letting go of her hand and leaning over her body. She barely nodded but couldn't speak due to tube in her throat. "Don't talk just look at me." he instructed. "You're going to be ok." he promised her.

A/N: Thanks everyone for their input. I should have clarified that the drama wouldn't have been a 'villain' or a break-up. Every story needs a splash of drama so there you have it! Hope you all enjoyed :)