CHAPTER SEVEN
I wake up feeling safer than I have in days. For a second, I forget everything and think I must be home with Phil. Then I see Colby and realize he is the one making me feel safe. I snuggle against him. Maybe it's wrong, but right now, I don't care. His arms wrap tighter around me and I know nothing bad can happen to me.
An hour later, we are both awake. He calls Dean to stay with me so I'm not even vaguely alone while he showers. Then I get ready. We have a house show tonight.
As I walk down the hallway with Dean and Colby, I see something that makes me squeak. Brie is in the hallway and Bryan is beside her. "Bryan!" I shout. I literally jump into his arms. "I'm so happy to see you!" I literally am thrilled to see him. I've missed him so much.
He hugs me back. "It's good to see you, too, April." He laughs and I feel so relaxed. Bryan always lifts my spirits.
"Bryan's going to be in my corner tonight," Brie says excitedly. "You and I have a match."
This is news to me, but I don't mind. We often get notified of matches at the last second. "Fun," I say. I don't really like either Bella, but Brie is definitely more tolerable. Besides, if Bryan sees something good in her, she can't be all bad.
"How are you feeling?" I ask.
"Better," he says. "I'm still not ready to get back in the ring, but I'm hoping I will be soon."
Nattie and TJ come down the hall and I freeze. Bryan's hand instinctively lands on my arm. "Are you okay?" He asks as everyone else gets distracted talking to Nattie. Only Brie really acknowledges TJ. Dean appears to view TJ as insignificant, but he politely acknowledges Nattie. Colby is too busy glaring at TJ to talk to him. He must be thinking about the night TJ grabbed my arm.
"I'm fine," I lie.
"April, whatever it is, you can be honest with me. I know you too well to believe you're fine," Bryan says.
"Later," I promise. He nods, respecting my privacy enough not to force this conversation in public.
"So, AJ, how are you?" TJ asks me.
"She's great," Colby responds on my behalf. If looks could kill, my problem would be solved. He's glaring at TJ so hard, I expect his head to explode. Colby doesn't even know half of what's going on and he's ready to punch TJ if he takes a step closer to me.
Nattie eyes me questioningly. So does Brie. The girls appear to find Colby's guard dog response odd. Bryan breaks the tension. "Brie and AJ need to plan their match, right girls? It's gonna be awesome." He smiles brightly at TJ, but there is a subtle warning in his body language. He realizes TJ is the reason I'm freaked out.
"Great," Nattie says. She's clearly not sure what the issue is, but she also realizes Bryan is making excuses to get us out of there. "Have fun tonight, girls."
Brie links her arm through mine like we're actually friends and leads me away. When we are alone, she looks at Bryan. "What's going on?" She asks.
"Give us a few minutes, Brie?" He asks her. "Please?"
Brie looks uncertain but nods. "Okay. Call me when you're ready." She leaves us.
"Okay, April, what did he do?" Bryan asks me.
"Who says he did anything?" I ask innocently.
"April, you never lie to me. Don't start now. You're afraid of TJ."
"He grabbed me the other night," I say. "Taylor and Bray broke it up."
"Bray Wyatt saved you? Taylor makes sense, but Bray stays out of thing and stays in character most of the time. What happened?"
"He was worried... I guess I was that scared."
"There's more you aren't telling me... Did he hit you?"
"Not that night..."
"April, what the hell?"
"He's got problems... I guess I'm an easy target for his frustration."
Don't ask, I silently beg. If Bryan guesses it's worse than a few hits, I won't be able to lie to him.
"He's about to have problems! He has no right to put his hands on you. I can't stand guys who think they can hit girls and get away with it."
"Bryan, it's fine. Colby knows. He's looking after me. Please don't get involved. Nattie and Brie are close. I can't have you putting Brie in the middle of this."
"You know if I see him touch you, he's dead, right?"
"He won't do it again. I don't plan to be alone with him ever again. Please just let it go, okay?"
He sighs. "As long as he doesn't do it again." He hugs me. I let him because Bryan doesn't intimidate me. He's always been so protective of me. If he knew the truth, he really would kill TJ. I can't let him do that. He'd be destroying his life. Like everyone else, Bryan can never know what TJ did to me.
"Let me call Colby. I'm not allowed to be alone." I laugh like it's ridiculous, but I'm grateful. Colby comes a minute later. He obviously wasn't far.
"Take care of her," he says to Colby.
"Always," Colby says. I look at him wondering if he means that as heroically as it sounds. His eyes definitely say he's ready to be my hero. I kind of get lost in them, looking for I don't know what.
Bryan hugs me goodbye. "I'll see you later," he promises.
"Thanks for having my back," I say.
"Not a problem." Bryan walks away.
"Are you okay?" Colby asks.
"Yeah," I say.
"Did you tell him?"
"Only that TJ grabbed my arm... Bryan's been really protective of me since our storyline."
"Didn't you two actually date before Phil and you got together?"
"Yeah, briefly, but it was more like he was my brother. I love Bryan, but not like that."
Colby wraps an arm around my shoulder. "Come on, let's get something to eat."
Food sounds good. I don't think I ate yesterday. "Okay," I say.
*Skip...Skip...Skip...LATER...*
I'm in the ring as Brie's music starts to play. Nikki and Bryan are on either side of her. I'm alone. Colby is watching from backstage, but I can't have anyone in my corner.
Brie glares at me, but I know it's part of the show. Nikki's matching glare looks much more threatening. Brie comes at me. She gets a couple of hits in before I reverse things. I throw her halfway across the ring and retreat to a corner to get some breathing room. This is my big mistake. I'm too close to the ropes. Nikki grabs me by the leg and pulls me down hard. She pulls me out of the ring while the ref is checking Brie and throws me at the ringpost. I smash my head on it and suddenly all I feel is pain. I must have hit the same spot I did when TJ attacked me.
I can't think, I can't breathe, I can't do anything but clutch my head and curl up in a fetal position. I stay curled up even after Nikki throws me back into the ring.
Bryan is by my side. I hear him calling "April," softly but I can't figure out how to reply. Bryan calls the ref over. "She's really hurt," he says. "You need to call the match."
Brie stands over me motionless. "Cover her!" Nikki screams.
Brie hesitates, but the ref moves aside and she does it, gently rolling me onto my back. I don't move or try to kick out. The ref counts to three and it's done. The pain won't stop.
Nikki runs into the ring as Brie's music plays. She raises Brie's hand in victory. Brie quickly pulls away as the ref helps the medical team strap me to a strecher. Brie and Bryan follow me backstage.
"What the hell?" Colby demands. He knows I was supposed to go over and he also knows Divas rarely leave on strechers unless they are genuinely injured. "Is she okay?"
Taylor is with me, too. "She hit her head yesterday," he tells the medial team. Panic is in his voice. "Nikki caught the same spot."
"Everyone, back up," Paul says. I know it's bad if Triple H is by my side. "Let them examine her."
"What the hell was that?" Someone demands. I try to catch a glimpse of her. Stephanie McMahon is with me now.
How bad am I? I wonder. Stephanie doesn't appear for just anything, but she does take injured Divas seriously. It's bad for business when the girls get hurt.
"AJ was supposed to win," Stephanie is saying. "Did you and your sister plan this?"
"Of course not!" Brie says in horror. "April, I'm so sorry! Nicole wasn't supposed to touch you. I don't know what happened." Brie's a lousy actress, so I know she genuinely had no part in this attack.
"Bring Nikki to my office," Stephanie says, "and let me know how bad AJ is hurt." Her heels click down the hallway.
"If Punk sues us over this, too, you and your sister can kiss your jobs goodbye," Paul whispers to Brie. He's close enough that I can hear him. "We have enough issues with him already." He leaves, too.
I start to panic as the medical team tries to get me to focus. The pain is so bad. I keep flashing back to last night in my hotel room. I try to swat them away, struggling to get up. One pins me back down and I scream and start fighting harder.
"April, stop!" Colby says. He takes my hand and I'm back in the present. "They're just trying to help you."
Another hand takes my free one. "No one's gonna hurt you," Dean promises. I hadn't even realized he was there. "You're safe. We're here, Taylor's here, Brie and Bryan are here. You're okay."
I nod, which hurts, and stop fighting. Dean moves out of the way of the medical team. Colby doesn't let go of my hand, and I'm relieved. He's the only thing keeping me grounded.
"It's a pretty nasty concussion," a doctor announces at last. "You're out for at least forty-eight hours, then we will evaluate you again. I'm sorry, AJ, but at least you're going to be fine. Just don't hit that head of yours again."
Two days. It could be worse, but I'm not happy I have to take any time off. Working keeps my mind off of everything else.
"I'm so sorry, April," Brie says. "I never would have let Nikki hurt you. I don't know what happened."
"It's okay," I manage. The doctor gave me something and the pain is clearing enough that I remember how to speak.
"No, it isn't. I'm going to talk to her and tell her as much."
"I appreciate your outrage," I say.
"Feel better," Bryan says. He and Brie leave.
"She either needs to go to the hospital or someone has to watch her," the doctor says.
"I'll stay with her," Colby says.
"I can watch her during your match," Taylor says. I realize how scared he is when he discreatly wipes away a tear. He stands beside me. Colby and Dean are fighting each other, so Taylor is a good option.
The doctor seems satisfied. He leaves and my protectors surround me. Colby and Dean have to leave for their match.
"April..." Taylor hugs me. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" I ask.
"For not being able to help... Watching you freak out... April, you need help. You can't just keep this bottled up. You'll snap."
I lean against him. "Taylor, I appreciate you looking out for me, but I'm okay. I just had a really bad head injury and I confused time. I'm okay now."
He is visibly shaken. I hate that Taylor is caught in the middle of my drama. He shouldn't have to be, but I'm grateful he cares so much.
"You can talk to me if you need to," he says gently. "You don't have to tell me details or even who it was, but you can vent if you're scared. You don't have to do this alone, April."
He's so sweet I nearly start crying. Instead, I hug him again. "That means a lot to me," I say. I'm starting to realize I actually do have a few really good friends I can count on.
When Dean and Colby's match ends, Colby stays with me and Taylor while Dean showers. They switch places when Dean is done.
My phone rings. It's Phil. I sigh and pick up. "What happened? Are you okay?" He asks without preamble.
"Um..." I begin to reply.
"Is it true? Are you hurt?"
"Yeah, kind of..."
"April, I'm your husband! Why did I find this out from fans tweeting to ask me if my wife is okay?"
"I was getting checked out. It's a concussion, but I'll be fine."
"What the hell happened?"
"Nikki interfered in my match with Brie. I hit my head pretty hard. It's no big deal."
"Paul swore he'd keep you safe from now on... He just endangered your life!" He starts ranting.
"Phil, stop. Nikki went off-script. This has nothing to do with Paul or Stephanie."
"Will you be okay? Are you coming home?"
"I'll be fine. I'm staying here. I should be back in the ring in two days."
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah, Phil, I'm sure."
"I just can't believe they let her hurt you! The Bellas don't have half your talent, but they let them run things. I should fucking sue them for endangering you!" He's ranting again. My head starts to hurt worse.
Dean grabs my phone. "Shut up, asshat," he says. "She has a fucking head injury. Yelling at her won't help. Now get the fuck off her phone and let her rest... Who do you think it is, dumbass?" He hangs up my phone. I just stare at him. He shrugs. "He was annoying me... Clearly labled for your protection, remember?" He holds up his Unstable shirt and points at it. That, as usual, makes me laugh.
"Thanks," I say."He's just overprotective."
"He's a douche looking for new ways to sue the company that he called home for years, but that's not the point. You just don't need any more stress."
Colby rejoins us then. We go back to his room. Once again, he insists on letting me sleep in his bed. Within an hour, I'm waking up from nightmares and he's holding me. It's becoming a routine and I don't mind the waking up in his arms bit...
This should bother me. I'm married to Phil. The thing is, right now, Phil is making everything worse, and Colby is being so good to me. It's okay to make a friend, right? I really need one right now. Phil would never understand, but Colby makes me feel safe, and I am desperate for that right now.
In the morning, I wake up to an angry text from Phil about Dean taking my phone. He's so paranoid. There's nothing but friendship between me and Dean. I delete the text without replying. Sometimes, what Dean said is true; Phil can be a douche, and I'm starting to wonder if he called because he was worried or because he wanted another reason to attack WWE.