Chapter 25
Several hours later, a man with a blood covered scrub walked out looking exhausted, holding a clipboard in his hand. "Family of Nicoya Harris?" He called out tiredly, his gray hair going to his ears, finely trimmed, and his green eyes looked like they were about ready to droop. Though he was wide awake surprisingly.
Mark stood up, cradling a sleeping Alyssa against him. She'd finally lost the battle after crying for hours on end and succumbed to sleep. "We're her family." He said gravely, following Steve over to the doctor. Steve just stared at the doctor, unable to actually voice anything at the moment. His mouth wasn't working, though the question clearly in his eyes was simple. Was she alive?
"Nicoya is in stable condition and she's resting comfortably. Miraculously, nothing is broken, but she is going to be sore for the next several weeks. The entertainment center didn't really do much damage, but she was cut up pretty badly and she has bruises around her wrist. Something tells me that whoever did this wasn't thinking clearly when they were doing it." The doctor explained, cracking a smile when the men sighed with great relief, and seen the little girl in the green eyed man's arms. "She does have a bandage wrapped around her head and we're not sure if she has brain damage or not. Her MRI results should be back within the next few hours and we'll determine it when. Though there was swelling in the brain, which is why she's in a coma right now. It is expected she will wake up and recover fully from this and she does have multiple bandage on her legs and arms." He finished, sounding exhausted himself. Though the blood on his scrubs had been from her head wound along with her lacerations.
"Coma?" Steve echoed, worry evident in his tone of voice and in his blue eyes. "How long till she comes outta it, doc?" Mark was blinking, listening to the extent of her injuries, grateful some of them weren't as bad as they looked. Pissed because he knew who had done this. It was so obvious that even a blind man could see it coming.
"It's hard to say at this point, sir. It could be anywhere from a day to years from now on. But I assure you that it shouldn't be that long. If you want my honest opinion, I would say once the swelling goes down in her brain." The doctor replied honestly, sighing heavily, and felt his heart go out to these men that this woman obvious meant a great deal too. "Are there any other questions?"
"Can we see her?" Mark asked, shifting Alyssa so her little head was lolling on his shoulder. Steve reached over to take his niece, holding her against him, pressing a kiss to her forehead. She'd been the first to see Nicoya and he knew she was going to wake up with issues that'd probably require some serious counseling.
"Yes, down the hallway, first on the left. Room 392. All of you are welcome to go see her." He answered, patting the big man on the shoulder, and walked away to tend to his other patients.
Mark took a deep breath and led the way to Nicoya's room, halting in the doorway when he seen her. Tears pricking his eyes again. He hadn't cried in years. Now to be doing it twice in one night…that was how much it hurt him to see her like this. "Goddamn…" He whispered, stepping in and walking over to the bed, taking her hand in his instantly. Steve buried is his face in Alyssa's hair, unable to look at his sister, his heart breaking at how frail she looked.
Nicoya was lying prone on the hospital bed, pale, and no color in her cheeks. She had a huge white bandage wrapped around her head from having it rammed repeatedly against the wall. Not to mention the huge laceration that was across her forehead, courtesy of the entertainment center. She had an IV stuck in her arm to keep her hydrated and she had bandages on her arms and legs. Even though her legs were covered by the hospital blanket. There were little cuts on her neck and her wrists had nasty blue, purple and black mixed bruises around them. They were fingerprints. That's how clear they were.
Mark was physically shaking, rage slowly building inside of him. Though he was repressing it at the moment. He knew the best way to get to John was through the courts and after this, it shouldn't be a problem. Then there was in the ring. Everyone thought that was phony anyway. Some 'cartoon violence' wouldn't hurt and he planned on making John pay dearly for what he'd done to Nicoya.
"Alyssa…" A voice sounded hours later in the room, causing both Mark and Steve's heads to snap up, and groaned as her head began pounding in her ears. "Don't hurt her…John…" She croakily whispered out, her eyes still closed, tears sliding down her cheeks freely. Her throat was raw from screaming and crying and she could barely talk. "Don't hurt her…"
"Sssshhhh darlin'." Mark cooed, crouching down so his head was level withers, squeezing her hand gently, letting her know he was there. "Aly's fine, Nico, she's right here with me and Steve." He whispered, looking helplessly in her brother's direction.
Steve shrugged, not knowing what to do other than walk over to the bed, thanking god Alyssa was still asleep so she couldn't see this. "She's right here with me, honey." His soft voice sounded, stroking the little girl's hair.
"Mark?" She whispered out in question, holding his hand, and gave it a weak squeeze as her heart began pounding vigorously in her chest at the thought of what happened. "John…John's gonna hurt her! You…have to protect her…please!" She started crying, not realizing her daughter was in Steve's arms and coughed, which caused her heart rate to rise even more.
"Calm down, darlin'." Mark urged, looking at the machine, frowning when he heard it beeping. "Nico, ya gotta calm down, baby. Alyssa is here with us. Ain't nothin' goin' to happen to her." He frowned when the nurses rushed in, stepping out of their way, looking at Steve worriedly.
"What's happenin' to her?" Steve demanded, his blue eyes hooked on her pulse rate and the machine that was monitoring her heart.
The nurses stopped when her heart rate slowed down instantly at the sound of Alyssa's voice, causing Nicoya's eyes to open, and felt the tears of relief upon seeing her baby girl course down her cheeks. "Alyssa…" She swallowed hard, her body racked with pain, but she was happy that John hadn't touched her daughter. That's all she was concerned about at the moment.
Alyssa had woken up when she heard her mother and remained quiet until now. "I'm right here, Mommy. He didn't touch me." She assured her mother in a quiet voice. "Mark and Uncle Steve kept me safe. I didn't even see him." Mark shot a startled glance at Alyssa, not believing how calm she was being about this.
"Thank god…" She whispered softly, staring straight at her daughter, and actually smiled as she swallowed hard. She didn't pay attention to Mark or Steve as she kept her eyes focused on her daughter and nodded slowly before sitting up, wincing, and groaned in pain. "Don't, I'm fine." She told the nurse. "I've been through much worse than this." She assured her, refusing to have medical attention and touched her forehead, sighing when she felt another bandage.
"Now THERE'S a comforting thought." Alyssa muttered sarcastically before squirming, nodding when Steve set her on the edge of the bed, and reached out to lay her hand on her mother's leg.
Steve pulled a chair up to the bed, staring at his sister. "Mark got a detective to come in and look around, honey. He found a lot of evidence." He informed his sister, knowing she'd want to know what was being done for what happened to her.
Mark nodded and chimed in, "Enough to lock his ass away for a long time." If they ever found the sly son of a bitch, both men added silently in their minds, hoping they did.
"He thought I wouldn't remember. What a stupid prick." She muttered under her breath, swallowing again, and looked over at her brother. "Can you get me a glass of water please?" She asked in a raspy voice and then turned her attention to her daughter, running her finger down her cheek gently. "Are you okay, Alyssa? I know that's a stupid question, but momma wants to make sure you're going to be alright after this…"
Alyssa inhaled deeply, looking quite serous, and replied, "Mom, I think I may need therapy." Mark knew that was coming, he thought they all needed therapy after seeing that, especially her. Eight years old and walking in on that carnage wasn't exactly vital to a child's mental stability. Steve walked back in with the glass of water, holding it out to his sister before taking a seat in the chair he'd pulled up to the bed.
"Thank you." She whispered, downing the cup of water, and handed it back to him, finally finding her real voice. "I told him whatever he did to me will reflect on him in court. There won't be a case after this." She reached over, ignoring everything else she was hooked too, and pulled her daughter against her chest, stroking her hair as she sighed, tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry you had to see that, Aly. I never meant for you to see something like that, sweetheart." She buried her face in her hair and started to silently cry.
Alyssa gently hugged her mother, making soothing noises. "It's not your fault, momma." She whispered, her voice calming and soft. "You didn't know what that bad man was going to do…Don't cry, Mommy. Please don't cry." She pleaded, sounding on the verge of tears herself, shooting Mark and then her uncle a helpless look. As if to say what should she do now.
"I thought he was going to hurt you…" She whispered out raggedly, holding her daughter even tighter to her, and sniffled a little as she pulled back to wipe her tears away. "No more. No more damn it." She stated, staring into her daughter's eyes, and ran her finger down her cheek, tears spilling down her own. "I love you, Aly."
"I love you too, Mommy." Alyssa whispered, carefully moving her head up to kiss her mother's forehead. "Can Mark and Uncle Stevie please beat him up?"
"That gal is definitely my niece." Steve said, sounding a tad proud. Though he reached out to pat her arm gently. "Honey bear, we gotta do this a different way then with violence. Violence don't solve nothin'. Right Mark?" He turned to face his best friend, eyebrow quirked, hoping he just agreed for now.
Mark tore his eyes away from Nicoya, not sure if he agreed with that statement right now, but nodded for Alyssa's sake and muttered, "Yeah, right."
Nicoya already knew what she was going to do, keeping her eyes on her daughter, and tapped her nose with her finger. "We'll deal with this." She promised softly, holding her close to her body, and sighed heavily as she closed her eyes. She ended up falling asleep, the wheels in her head spinning, and knew what she had to do.
~Three Days Later~
Nicoya felt the tears spill down her cheeks as she packed, knowing this was going to hurt her brother and Mark, but she couldn't do it anymore. She had nightmares upon nightmares about John attacking her and then her daughter. Those were too much for her to take when it came to Alyssa. She sighed, wearing a pair of blue jeans and a t-shirt, Alyssa sleeping peacefully, and zipped up the final suitcase. She'd called Vince, sending him her release, needing to get away with her daughter, especially with John still lurking around.
The detectives and police completely threw out her attack, calling it homicidal, and they couldn't pin anything on John. Steve had been a fool when he told her there'd been evidence that pinned against John and Nicoya knew she should've expected nothing less. John was rich and money talked, which is probably why he paid off the police department and detective to keep their mouths shut. She knew this was the only way to escape John's grasp and to keep her daughter out of harm's way. Out of his life, period.
She sighed heavily, finally finishing the packing, and walked into her daughter's room. She wasn't going to wake her as she picked her up in her arms from the bedding, smiling when her legs wrapped around he waist, and her arms around her neck. Mark was staying in his own hotel room, deciding to give her space, which broke her heart because it made her think that he didn't want to be with her. That was fine though. She didn't need Mark or anyone except her baby girl. He'd been distant from her over the past three days and Nicoya refused to allow him to break her heart.
Grabbing her key card, keys, purse and bags, Nicoya looked around one final time and walked out of the room, the door closing ominously behind her, and proceeded to walk away from the WWE and, more importantly, Mark.
Mark stared around the empty hotel room, raking a hand through his hair, trying to figure out what the Hell was going on. He walked into Alyssa's room, his heart breaking when he seen this room was empty too. Something told him Nicoya had run. He couldn't believe she would actually do something like this, but at the same time, he didn't blame her. John had done a nice number on her both physically and mentally. Not to mention her emotions were probably going haywire right now and more than likely she wasn't thinking clearly.
It probably didn't help the fact that Mark had grown distant from Nicoya in the past three days after she was released from the hospital, but he couldn't help it. He'd been scared to death that she was going to die in that hospital when they walked in seeing her trapped under the entertainment center. Mark had never, in his entire life, been so scared and decided to give her some space to sort out of her emotions and thoughts. He didn't want to bombard her and tell her he was in love with her because that would've probably scared her away further. He couldn't deny it though. He was completely in love with her and hated himself now for driving her away when he should've been pulling her closer to him.
Mark sank down onto the edge of the bed, burying his head in his hands, staring down at the floor. He frowned, seeing something peeking from underneath the bed, and bent down to pull it out. The shards of his heart all leapt, jabbing his chest painfully. What he was holding was a small, perfectly detailed, model replica of his Harley. Something he had made for Alyssa when she professed she wanted it. His angel was gone and Mark wondered if he would ever seen her again as he dropped his head forward.
One single tear slid down his cheek and landed on the carpeting below as he held the model in his hand tightly, not to the point of crushing it.