Just to let you guys know, this is the second to last chapter of the story… so please read and review! It is much appreciated…
Lilian felt a cold wave of fear wash over her body, Marc's ringing of the bell to indicate the end of the match not registering for several long moments.
"Lilian! Announce the winner!" Marc hissed urgently.
She started, glancing in the ring and seeing Chad Patton raise Chris Jericho's hand. "Here is your winner of the match, Chris Jericho!" she announced, quickly turning off the microphone and turning to Marc.
"I need you to get in touch with the back. I can't do the angle."
"Why?" Marc asked, wincing at the look Lilian gave him in response.
"Does it matter?! Just get in touch with the back, Marc!" Lilian snapped.
Marc hastily pressed the button to the headset, frowning. "What the hell?" he muttered, glancing back at Lilian. "It's not working."
"Crap," Lilian muttered. "Can you keep trying?"
"Sure... but Lilian…"
"Thanks Marc," she answered hastily, standing up so she could climb into the ring. The angle was supposed to go down after the next match…
"Mikey," she said nervously as the senior referee held the ropes open for her.
"What's wrong, Lilian?" he asked, alarmed at the suddenly pale look on her face.
"I need you to do me a favor," she said, brushing a piece of hair back from her forehead.
"Of course. What's up?"
She opened her mouth to reply, only to have the lights turn back on and Edge's music kick in. "Oh, for God' sake," she muttered, knowing they were live and she couldn't relay her message to Mike.
Lilian announced the match as calmly as possible, exiting the ring when Edge's opponent made his way out.
"Any luck getting in touch with the back?" she asked Marc, who shook his head in response.
"No… we seem to be having audio problems."
Lilian sighed, crossing her arms nervously. She fiddled with her wedding ring, biting her bottom lip as she watched the match. "Any luck?" she asked a few moments later, seeing his fingers touch the buttons again.
"No, Lil," Marc replied. "I'm sorry… what's wrong?"
"I can't say," Lilian answered. "But I can't do this… I can't."
"Okay," Marc said, even more confused at her cryptic reply. "I'll keep trying."
A few minutes later, Edge won the match. "Here is your winner, Edge!" she announced. Mike held up the victor's arm, then made his way out of the ring and over to Lilian. "Okay, what's wrong?" he asked, noticing the distressed look on her face.
"I need you to-" Lilian began, only to groan in frustration when an obviously intoxicated fan jumped the barrier and ran in the ring, dancing around.
"Shit," Mike muttered, sliding in the ring and swiftly tackling the man down, security a couple steps behind him. The crowd cheered for this, beginning to chant 'Asshole' at the man who was now under a pile of security.
Lilian shook her head, muttering about stupid overzealous wrestling fans as she watched Mike escort the man out of the arena.
By the time that excitement was over, it was time for her to get back in the ring and announce the next match… Triple H versus Dave Batista. She glanced at Marc, hoping that he could get in touch with the back and let Dave and Hunter know she couldn't do the angle, but the apologetic look on the man's face was enough to let her know what she feared…
Shaking her head, Lilian made her way into the ring. For a moment, she had a glimmer of hope that perhaps Dave would be announced first and she could somehow relay the message to him. Nevertheless, Motorhead cued up first, and Lilian had to bite back a groan before spouting the weights and hometowns off with ease. Her hands felt clammy as she exited the ring, trying to send a message to Dave through her eyes.
He merely took in her nervous look and winked at her, thinking that the little blonde was just nervous.
"Oh, God," Lilian mumbled seconds later as the action spilled to the outside of the ring. Standing up, she tried to move behind her chair to get some distance between herself and the Game… hell, she was even ready to jump the barrier at this point. However, Hunter grabbed her arm as she began to make her way back, swiftly yanking her in front of him as Dave began to charge at his opponent...
Closing her eyes and thanking God that Hunter's grip had loosened, she made a split second decision. At the last possible moment, she jerked to her right, trying to get out from in front of Hunter.
It almost worked.
Dave's right knee collided painfully with her left one, sending the little announcer falling as it buckled. She braced herself for the fall, surprised when she landed in Marc's lap. The timekeeper started, managing to grab her before she went sailing into the table. Still, her elbow cracked with the bell's sharp edge, a dull ring echoing through the arena as Dave's head collided with Hunter's and the pair went down to the pads outside the ring.
Lilian slid to the floor when Marc's grip loosened, clutching at her knee as a sob rose to her throat. She noticed Dave's wide eyed look, the gaze he was giving Lilian one of pure concern. She could tell that he wanted to check on her, and she shook her head, tears filling her green eyes as she looked at Hunter.
The wrestler was looking back at her, confused as well as blood flowed from his nose where Dave's head had hit it. Hunter shook his head, trying to get some sense of the situation. He stood, moving to stomp on Dave before throwing his opponent back in the ring.
"Lilian!" Mike exclaimed, running around the side of the ring a few seconds later. "Jesus Christ! What the hell happened?"
"I was trying to tell you that I couldn't go through with the angle and wanted you to tell that to Dave and Hunter too," Lilian said miserably, tears now flowing freely down her cheeks.
"Okay, shh…" Mike said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"No… my knee really hurts," Lilian told him tearfully.
"Okay, let me see," Mike soothed, placing his hands over hers and removing them.
"Is it swelling?" Lilian asked fearfully, glancing up at Marc as the timekeeper kneeled next to them as well, pressing a handkerchief against her elbow. It was then that she realized that her elbow was bleeding and that there was blood staining her white shirt.
"Lil, try not to worry," Mike said softly, trying to divert her attention.
"Mike," Lilian said sternly, looking at the referee with a hard gaze. "We've been friends for a few years now. Please, be honest with me."
The referee sighed, shaking his head. "It doesn't look too pretty," Mike told her.
Lilian sighed, thinking that the pain in her knee was ten times worse then when the original injury had occurred several years ago. She closed her eyes and took a shaky breath, listening as the trainer made his way over to the group. "Hey, there, honey," the trainer said. "That didn't look too pretty. Are you okay?"
"My knee hurts," Lilian replied, opening her eyes slowly before adding, "And my elbow."
"Okay," he replied. "Let me see your elbow first." Marc removed the handkerchief, showing him the wound. "Okay. You may need a few stitches for that little cut," he confirmed. "Now let me take a look at your knee."
Mike moved back, allowing the trainer to check out her knee. "Okay," he said to himself, placing one hand underneath to bend the limb upwards.
Lilian was unable to stop the cry of pain that emitted from her mouth, drawing a worried glance between the three men. "Okay, Lilian. We're gonna get you out of here, okay?"
"Okay," Lilian replied, wiping at her eyes with her uninjured arm.
"Can you walk?"
"I don't know," Lilian told him honestly.
"Okay, let's get you standing first, and if need be we'll get you a stretcher, okay?"
"'Kay," Lilian replied, accepting Mike and the trainer's outstretched hands. She leaned against Mike when she got to her feet, holding her injured knee up so she didn't put any pressure on it as the referee wrapped his arm around her waist so she wouldn't fall.
"Can you walk?" the trainer asked, taking a hold of her elbow and placing his hand over the handkerchief that was still there, putting pressure against the still bleeding wound.
"I'm gonna try my damndest," Lilian answered, managing a small smile for the two men.
"Okay," the trainer said. "How about you lean against Mike and he'll support you while I keep the pressure on your elbow? Try not to put that much weight on your leg."
"Okay," Lilian replied shakily. She turned her attention back to Marc. "Thank you," she said softly.
"No problem… you take care of yourself," Marc answered seriously.
With the support of Mike and the trainer, she slowly made her way to the back to a round of applause from the crowd. "Oh, God," she moaned as she made it through the curtain, collapsing to the ground as a wave of pain coursed through her knee.
Several officials rushed over, one of the medics pushing a wheelchair. "Come on, Lilian, stand for a second so we can get you in the wheelchair," Mike said softly. "It's a little more comfortable than the floor."
Lilian merely groaned in response, nevertheless allowing him to help her to stand again. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, leaning against the referee and holding her leg in the air. Carefully, Mike maneuvered her to the chair, helping her to sit down less than gracefully before lifting lift her rapidly swelling knee up to rest against the metal support of the wheelchair.
She heard the bell ring, signifying the end of the match as Vince rounded the corner, fury etched on his face. Stephanie was a few steps behind, but the look on her face was one of worry.
"What the hell was that?" he laid into Lilian the second he saw her.
"Mr. McMahon…"
"You know what? I don't really care!" Vince yelled. "Who the hell do you think you are to change an angle that I made?"
Lilian flinched, the look on her face one that Dave did not miss as he made his way through the curtain, Hunter a few steps behind.
"Hey! Don't you dare yell at her!" Dave yelled back, stepping in between his wife and his boss.
"You stay out of this!" Vince replied hotly, jabbing his finger in Dave's chest.
"Don't you dare touch me!" Dave snarled, knocking his boss's hand away.
"Guys," Lilian began, only to be cut off by Vince.
"You shut up! You've caused enough problems tonight," Vince all but growled at Lilian, and the little blonde jerked back as if she had been slapped.
Dave grabbed Vince's shirt, pushing the chairman back and into a wall. "Don't you talk to her that way!" Dave repeated, his knuckles turning white.
"Stop it!" Stephanie screamed as Hunter and Randy made their way to the pair, pulling Dave back, Randy stood in front of Dave, Hunter moving in front of Vince. A few more guys and referees placed themselves between the pair, not wanting an all out brawl to ensue.
"God damn it," Dave cursed, his glance going to Lilian, who had tears streaming down her face once again.
"Why did you take it upon yourself to change the angle?" Vince asked Lilian, his voice accusing as he glared at the little blonde.
Lilian jumped, then murmured, "I… I couldn't do it."
"So you got scared?" Vince snarled, leveling a glare at the blonde.
"Yes!" Lilian exclaimed. "I tried to-"
"Okay, great!" Vince cut her off. "So because you got 'scared'," he mocked, using his fingers to make quotations, "You caused yourself to get hurt. You also caused Hunter and your husband to get hurt too!"
Lilian glanced up at Dave, surprised to see a knot above his eyebrow, blood trickling freely. "God, baby, I'm sorry," Lilian whispered, forgetting everyone else in the room for a moment.
"Damn right you're sorry!" Vince exclaimed.
"I tried to-"
"Well, maybe next time you should try to do your damn job… the right one!"
Everyone began to talk at once again, but it was Stephanie's voice that rose above the others. "For God's sake, Daddy, shut the fuck up and allow the woman to talk!" she exclaimed, silence reigning among the crowd that had formed.
Vince's mouth opened in shock before he sputtered, "Young lady, you do NOT speak to me that way!"
"I'm not young, Dad," Stephanie replied angrily, glaring at her father with a look that she had certainly inherited. "And you need to shut up and let Lilian explain. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for what happened."
"There better be," Vince grumbled, bringing his attention back to the little blonde. "Well?"
Lilian took a deep breath, taking in the fact that Trish, Lita, and her other diva friends had converged along with most of the roster to watch the fireworks display that was going on.
"I tried to get Marc to call back here to tell you all that I couldn't go through with the angle… that… that something had come up. But there was a problem and he couldn't get through. Something about the audio."
She glanced a crew member, who nodded nervously. "It's been out most of the show," he told Vince.
Lilian nodded to the man, then turned her attention back to Vince, who was still glaring at her. "I tried to tell Mikey, but I couldn't get the message off to him thanks to the drunk fan."
Mike nodded his agreement, placing a hand briefly on Lilian's shoulder to show her that he was supporting her. "She did," Mike said to Vince, the referee's voice letting the chairman know he was serious and not just covering for the blonde.
"Okay, well, whatever," Vince said. "Why did you change it? Why couldn't you go through with the angle?"
She ignored his question, instead trading her gaze between Dave and Hunter. "I tried to hop the barrier, but you were too quick," she told Hunter, who nodded encouragingly to show her that he understood and wasn't mad at her. "I then decided to jump out of the way so I wouldn't be sandwiched. But we see how that turned out," she added miserably, gesturing to her knee, then Hunter's nose and Dave's eyebrow.
"That doesn't answer my question! Why couldn't you do the angle?!" Vince again cut in, earning an annoyed look from Lilian.
"It's personal."
"I'm not settling for that. Why?"
"She said it's personal!" Dave exclaimed, cutting into the conversation. "That means you, and everyone else standing here, does not need to know!"
"Well, she better start explaining if she wants to keep her job!"
Everyone started talking again, Dave and Vince once again engaging in a shouting match. Lilian rested her head in her hand, shaking her head, trying to will the nausea down that had risen suddenly.
She couldn't take it anymore.
"Everyone, shut up!" she yelled, tears welling in her eyes again. The noise continued, and she could tell Dave was about ready to charge through the crowd and hit Vince.
So, she yelled the one thing that she knew would make them stop.
"For God's sake, I'm pregnant!"
End Part 6.3
And to the couple of you who figured it out... how? LMFAO! I thought I was being subtle...