Sleep Jon, they said. Like I can sleep. What the fuck is sleep anyway? I only sleep when I'm cuddled up to my wife, and right now nobody can tell me where the fuck she is. I lie in bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking of how much she begged me to let her stay with me, to not make her go out, to bring her home and keep her close to me. "I promise you Lora" I whisper. "I'm gonna find you, and I'm never letting you out of my sight again. Never. Please just be ok baby. I love you." I lie awake, watching the colours on the ceiling change as dawn breaks. A new day, another day without Lora. I get off the bed as the phone rings. Hunter. "Press conference is scheduled for an hour" he says. "Downstairs in the hotel." I don't answer him, just end the call and concentrate on functioning. Left foot in front of right foot in front of left foot in front of right foot and I'm in the bathroom. The guy staring back at me in the mirror isn't me though. His eyes are washed out from crying, his hair sticks to his head from the terrors that made him sweat throughout the night. Nope, not me. I do what I have to do without thinking, checking I have my phone and a room key before heading down to the lobby.
Press is everywhere. "Damn Jon" Hunter says, grabbing me and pulling me to one side. "You hung up before I could say we would come and get you when it's time." I nod, pulling away from him. "I just want to find my wife" I say. He nods. "We all do, Jon" he says softly. "Come on, let's get you in the room away from all this." I let him lead me into the room where the conference will take place. "It's not normal for you to be in here before the press" a policewoman says. "I don't care what's normal" I spit. "This whole situation isn't normal. My wife is fucking missing!" She nods quickly, showing me to me seat behind a long table draped in white tablecloths. Pitchers of water line the table and I lick my lips, suddenly thirsty. A glass appears in front of me and Hunter pours me a drink. I take it from him gratefully, nearly tipping it as my hand shakes so much. The door opens and Colby and Joe walk in. They take their seats next to me quietly, both of them waiting for me to put the glass down before taking my hands. I know this is rough on them too. Lora belongs to all of us. "Galina sends her love" Joe says quietly. "She's gonna fly out today." I look up at him in horror. "Are you fucking crazy?" I ask. "My wife has been kidnapped, what makes you think yours won't be next? Keep her at home Joe, I beg you!" He nods, picking up his phone and texting Galina quickly. I look up as the doors open and the press are let in. "Here goes, guys" I say, squeezing their hands. Colby looks at me. "Let us talk Jon" he says. "We know just as much as you." I nod. The less I have to do, to go over again, the better.
The policeman in charge goes over the background of the case, how Lora went missing, what she was wearing, the time it all happened. Then he throws the conference open for questions. "Lora had just turned on you" one reporter says. "Why are you sat there so worried?" Colby squeezes my arm and glares at the reporter. "One reason I don't come down there and take your head off right now" he growls. "Lora. That's it. What you guys need to grasp is the difference between acting and reality. What happened last night, in the ring, was a storyline. Clue is in the name. Story. Lora still is a very big part in all of our lives. She's Jon's wife. She's our sister. We all love her, and we all want her back. Unharmed. What happened to Lora after she left the arena is reality. We just don't know what it is. We need any information you guys can give us about this guy, or the car he was driving. Anything at all. We need her back, guys." Joe nods, looking at me. I shake my head. "I can't be polite about this" I say. "I want my wife back. I need my wife back. I don't care who you are, or what you think you stand for, I just want my fucking wife back! She has done nothing!" The policeman takes over again quickly. He says nothing about the text from Lora, we need them to think her phone is dead, but they're tracing it as best they can. "I gotta go" I say, standing up suddenly and walking out of the room.
"Jon?" Colby asks softly, knocking on my door. I open it and walk away, sitting back on the sofa and watching as Gerald crawls over my hand. "Lora hates this fucking spider" I say quietly as he shuts the door. "She begged me to flush it down the plug hole and I refused. Now all I want to do is smash my fist down onto it, but I cant. Do you know why I can't, Colby?" He shakes his head, not looking at me. "Because" I say. "Because I can't snuff his little life out that fast, knowing that somebody somewhere could do the exact same thing to my wife." He looks at me quickly, tears in his eyes too. "They wouldn't, Jon" he says quietly. I stare at him. "We don't know that, Colby" I say. "We just don't fucking know that."