Laid Out
Eric paced backstage, anxiously watching the stretcher match between Matt and Jeff play out. On the surface it looked like a good match, but Eric could sense that Jeff was off tonight. And if he could tell, then it was obvious that everyone else also knew. Eventually, the match would end. Until the moment when Jeff was safely backstage, Eric couldn't stay still.
Mr. McMahon had provided legitimate security for Jeff, but it seemed out of place. Four cops stood at ringside, one to a corner, keeping an eye out in case Adam or any of his Edgeheads decided to interfere.
"Just finish this quickly." Eric muttered, his nerves getting more frazzled with each passing moment.
"You need to chill, dog." That voice was unmistakable. Eric turned suddenly and banged into the muscular chest of one John Cena.
"I know I do, but catering doesn't have any booze handy." Eric laughed
"You're working yourself up. McMahon said he'd take care of things... don't worry, bro, there are some of us you can trust around here."
"But how..."
"I heard Edge yammering to Jay about it." John replied "I know the truth is probably somewhere between what he's been saying and what you'd say if I asked, but it ain't my bizness, yo. Just wanted to let ya know that if you and Jeff need a hand, then the champ is here!"
"I'd say yes in a second Cena,.but Jeff isn't exactly warming up to people right now."
"Whatever, dog. Just throwin' it out there."
"It is appreciated. I sure as hell can't watch him 24/7." Eric looked back at the monitor.
"At least the match is done."
"Yeah. Small miracle." Matt had won yet again. Two and oh.
"Dude, why don't you and Jeff come out for drinks after the show? No clubbing, just maybe a restaurant or something."
"Love to, but I don't know if Jeff is up to it." Eric said "I'll ask him."
"Ask me what?"
"There you are, sweets." Eric hugged his sweaty lover. "John wants us to come out with him after the show."
"No!" Jeff started to shake, clutching Eric's arm tight.
"Shhh... Jeffy, I think it's a good idea." Eric answered "It's just be the three of us, I assume."
"Four. Triple H is coming as well."
"See. You're gonna be around friends." Eric squeezed Jeff's shoulders for support.
"Okay, I guess."
"Hit the showers, Jeff. I'll be right behind you."
Jeff skipped away.
"You gotta lotta work ahead o' ya, man." John said
"I know. Hopefully tonight is the first step..." His thought was interrupted by a scream.
"What the... Jeffy!" Eric took off in a sprint, John followed close at his heels.
The other wrestlers were in a circle around Jeff.
"What the hell is going on?" Eric demanded, out of breath.
"Dunno." Mark said "Kid opened his locker and then collapsed, screaming."
"Let me through." Eric elbowed his way to Jeff. "What's wrong?"
"Bunny." Jeff shook "It's hurt."
"Bunny?" Eric repeated "Okay, lemme take a look." He cautiously opened the locker door. Someone, quite possibly Adam, had hung Jeff's bunny from one of the hooks with a makeshift noose.
"It's not too bad, Jeff. I know CPR. It all depends how long it's been deprived of oxygen." Like he would a child, Eric carried the stuffed toy to one of the benches and lay it down gently. Ignoring the stares, he began artificial respiration on the rabbit.
"One... two... three... four... five." Eric counted off, then gave a breath. He repeated the procedure several times. He was sure the wrestlers who didn't know about Jeff's recent trauma were looking at him like he'd lost his mind, but his mind right now was on Jeff and how to bring him back.
"I feel something." He announced "C'mon... breathe!" He repeated the process. While looking away, he fake coughed. "I think it's gonna be okay."
"Alright!" Cena cheered and the look he gave the other guys made them cheer also, even if it was for a stuffed rabbit.
"Is bunny gonna be ok?" Jeff whispered from where he was still curled against the lockers.
"Come see for yourself." Eric sat the small toy up, like it had just regained consciousness.
Jeff came over, wiping his eyes on his arm bands. "Where is she?"
"Now be careful. Don't hold her too tightly."
"Bunny." Jeff cradled it in his arms, talking softly to it. "I'm so glad you're better."
Some of the wrestlers were less than enthused over having to cheer over the resuscitation of a stuffed rabbit.
"What the fuck was that all about?" Glen asked
"Beats the shit outta me." Mark replied "I think Stryker just brought a stuffed toy back to life."
Glen started to laugh. Mark soon joined in. They were the only two laughing and they were so loud that everyone else in the locker room heard them, including Jeff. He seemed to get very angry at this. Imagine, if you will, two very tall men laughing and suddenly being confronted by a much smaller man with multi-coloured hair carrying a stuffed rabbit.
"What's the problem?" Kane bent down to be on eye level with Jeff.
"That's not nice! Bunny has feelings too! Apologize!" He stuck the stuffed toy in Kane's face.
"Jeff, that thing is not alive! And I am not going to apologize to it!" Kane said
"Shhh! She'll hear you." Jeff covered it's ears and continued to wave it in the big man's face.
"Dude, I'd apologize if I were you." Mark had stopped laughing and was trying to be serious. "If not, the kid'll be on your ass until you do."
Kane was now aware that the entire locker room was looking at him. What to do? What to do?
"Alright." He grumbled "I'm sorry."
"Do it right!" Jeff prompted
Kane looked at the Undertaker for help. Mark just shrugged his shoulders. He sighed, looking into the small animals plastic eyes.
"I'm sorry for hurting your feelings." Kane said as sincerely as he could.
"Yay!" Jeff cheered, holding Bunny close to his ear like they were talking. "Bunny says you're forgiven, but next time she won't be so nice."
Jeff danced back to his locker, his bunny dangling by his side.
"That was weird, man." Cena said
Even Eric was a little put off. He'd only played along with the whole CPR thing to make Jeff feel better. Since the incident, Jeff had shut a lot of people out, including most of his family. If talking to his stuffed rabbit helped, then fine, but much more of this and psychiatric help might be necessary.
"Yeah. And I'm sleeping with both of them. Sometimes I think Jeff loves that rabbit more than me."
"I do not!" Jeff said "I love you both the same. I also love Skittles, and Sketti, and..."
"Okay, Jeff, I'm sorry I brought it up. Now is Bunny coming with us or do I need to get a babysitter?" Eric asked, completely serious. "If she's coming, she has to behave. No table dancing like last time."
"Don't ask." Eric told John before he could.
"Dude, I ain't." John backed off a few steps. "I'll see ya later."
Later that night, Eric, Jeff, John, and Triple H ended up at a far table in a local restaurant. Jeff tried bringing you-know-who into the restaurant but Eric but his foot down. "Jeff," he said, "nothing is going to happen while we're together. She'll be perfectly safe in the trunk with my stuff."
"But..." Jeff pleaded
"Trust me?" Eric replied.
"Okay." Jeff hung his head.
Their meal was eaten in relative peace, once Eric had gotten Jeff some crayons and one of those kid's place mats for him to colour.
"Aren't you a little worried about your 'son'?" Paul asked
"Only if I have to toilet train him again." Eric looked over. Jeff was drawing some garish design on the back of the place mat.
"Mhmm." Paul returned to his steak.
"What I'm really hoping is that I can trust the two of you to help me keep an eye on Jeff. This is gonna be more than a one-man job." Eric briefly related the incidents leading up to the Bunny escapade.
"It beats me how he can get away with that." Paul grumbled
"Unfortunately, we can't prove that it is him." Eric responded "Though who else would it be?"
"Matt?" John suggested
"No chance. Have you seen him lately? He shows up, does his thing, then leaves right away. He doesn't even stick around for the end of the show." Paul stated
"Yeah, but I'd keep an eye on him anyway."
"You can count on me, for sure." John answered
"Same here, man. If you do need a babysitter, though, don't call Steph and I. We got two of our own to deal with. We don't need a third." Paul joshed
"No, babysitting I can handle. It's more like I don't trust the cops Vince hired and since I don't officially work for WWE, the insurance won't cover any accidents if I go anywhere close to the ring." Eric answered
It was almost one a.m. when they left the restaurant. Since they were all staying overnight at the same hotel, Eric invited them back to Jeff and his' suite for a drink. They politely declined.
"I got an early flight." Paul said
"Yeah, me too." John agreed
"That's cool, guys... but thanks again for the help."
"No problem... we'll see you at the airport." They separated, Eric and Jeff heading for their rented vehicle.
"Can I get Bunny before we go?" Jeff clutched the drawings in his one hand.
"Sure... Why not?" Eric popped the trunk. While Jeff got his comforter out of his duffel, Eric slid behind the wheel. There was a single sheet of paper taped to the steering wheel.
"Copeland, now what?" Eric groaned. A single word was written on it. "BOOM!"
"You coming, Jeffro?"
"Right there."
Eric turned the key and the car exploded.
The force of the explosion sent Jeff and Bunny flying through the air, landing some twenty feet away.
"Eric!" Jeff screamed "Eric!"
The explosion had gathered a crowd, Paul and John amongst them.
"What the fuck... Jeff?" Paul saw the rainbow-haired warrior on his knees.
"H!" Jeff ran to him, temporarily forgetting how scared he was. His childishness seemed to disappear as well. "Some fucker just blew up our car!"
"Where's Eric?" John asked
"Eric!" Jeff wailed
"Oh God..." Paul whispered "If he was inside, he's dead as we stand!"
John gulped nervously. "Jeff, come here!"
Jeff was trying to get close enough to the car to see inside. The entire front end was engulfed, but it looked like the passenger compartment was not yet in flames. From where John and Paul stood, they could vaguely make out a figure slumped over the steering wheel.
With a nod, they sprinted to the vehicle.
"Eric!" Jeff continued to shriek.
Both of them attempted to open the driver's door, but it wasn't moving. Precious seconds passed, as the pondered their options.
"I hope this works." John took off his shirt and wrapped it around his fist. "Step back!" He punched the window, shattering it. A huge cloud of acrid smoke spewed from vehicle.
"Gimme a hand!" Paul and John pulled Eric's smoking body from the car and ran him back to where the crowd was.
"Someone call an ambulance!" Paul shouted
"Already done!" A familiar voice replied
"Matty?" Jeff looked up. It was the familiar face of his older brother. "Matty!" He jumped into his brother's arms. "Eric..."
"I know, bro. Don't worry. The paramedics will be here soon." Despite Matt's involvement, Jeff had believed him when he said that he'd just gone along with it at Adam's insistence. This would also explain Jeff's lack of enthusiasm for both their recent stretcher match and their extreme rules match at Wrestlemania.
They waited an agonizingly long time for the ambulance to arrive. Okay, ten minutes, but when your boyfriend is lying on the concrete, freshly char-broiled, every second seems like an eternity.
"Matt, why don't you let Paul and I take Jeff back to the hotel..."
"No!" Jeff clung to him even tighter.
"Jeffro, you should go back to the hotel. I'll stay here and keep an eye on Eric. As soon as I know anything, I'll call."
"Promise?" Jeff eyes Matt suspiciously.
"Scouts' honour." Matt answered "Don't forget your rabbit."
Jeff grabbed Bunny from the concrete. She had come through the accident with only minor dust on her. He allowed John and Paul to walk him to their car, although he looked back ever five steps to make sure that Matt was keeping his word.
"Fuck! Adam, what were you thinking? This has gone far enough." Matt had followed Eric and Jeff to the restaurant, and had even planted the note, but the significance of it had not dawned on him until the heard the bang. Even if Eric survived, there was no way that he was going to be in any sort of condition for a relationship for a very long time, if ever. Realizing this, Matt decided on the spot that if he wasn't going to get what he wanted out of this scheme of Edge's, then neither would Adam.
Eric was rushed to the nearest hospital with first and second-degree burns to his hands and arms and plastic burns to the upper part of his face from his face mask melting. Ironic since Eric didn't need it anymore, but only wore it because of where he was going to be that day.
At the hotel, John offered to stay with Jeff until they heard something from Matt. In Jeff's room...
"Jeff, don't you think you should try to get some sleep?" John suggested, watching the younger Hardy pace the floor.
"Sleep? Sleep! How the fuck can I sleep? Eric's in the fucking hospital!" Jeff yelled
"Don't take it out on me. I promised Eric that I'd help him watch your back and I will. But you gotta calm down." John answered
"Why hasn't Matty called?" Jeff looked at his phone for the twelfth time since they'd arrived.
"He said he'd call when he heard anything, right?" Even though John didn't trust Matt for a second, he went along with it.
"Yeah." Jeff sighed
"How's bunny?" John asked, trying to change the conversation.
"Who cares? I want my Eric!" Jeff began to cry.
Being a strong shoulder was not something John was real good at. He kept his emotions to himself 99 per cent of the time.
"Who cares? Not six hours ago you were making Kane apologize for hurting her feelings in front of the locker room and now you say who cares?" John patted the bed beside him. Jeff sat.
"Here." John reached behind him for the cherished toy.
Jeff hugged it tight. The soft feel of the animal reminded Jeff of better days, which started a full-blown crying jag.
"Jeff, Eric will be alright, and you and he will live happily ever after." John felt like a total dork for saying that, but he was also very aware of Jeff's fragile condition.
Jeff's phone rang. He looked at it. "It's Matt." He said between sniffles.
"Here, dude." John answered it for him. "Cena. Yeah Matt, he's right here... not doing so well... okay... yeah... oh, man... yes, I'll tell him. Yeah, we'll try, but I doubt it'll happen. Tomorrow, then. Bye, dude."
John looked at a wide-eyed Jeff.
"That was Matt. Eric was admitted to the burn unit. His arms and face were pretty messed up, and they had to put him under to work on him." John explained
Jeff's eyes got even wider. Cena hoped they wouldn't fall out of his head.
"But he's gonna be okay, man. There will be some scarring, but other than that, he'll be good as new in a couple weeks."
"Thank-you." Both Jeff and Bunny hugged Cena. A little embarrassed, he hugged them both back.
"He'll be able to have visitors tomorrow, so we should probably try to get some sleep."
As John had said over the phone, neither he nor Jeff slept much that night, and it had nothing to do with Jeff having another panic attack during the night and ending up sleeping next to Cena.
They were greeted at the hospital by Matt, who looked like he'd spent the entire night there, which he had.
"Matty!" Jeff screeched
"Heya, Jeffro." Matt embraced his brother. "Thanks for bringing him."
"No prob. I gotta catch a flight... can you handle things?"
"Yeah, I got him."
"Laterz. Take care Jeff." Leaving Jeff alone with Matt was not something John stopped to think about, although in hindsight it might not have been the wisest move.
"C'mon, let's go see Eric." Matt answered, taking Jeff up to the burn unit. "He's still a little bandaged up, but he's conscious."
"You still awake, man?" Matt asked
"Barely. The drugs are wiping me." Eric answered weakly.
"You up for a guest?"
"Eric!" Jeff ran around Matt and hugged his lover, being careful not to touch his wraps.
"Jeffro!" Eric returned the hug as best he could. Since both his arms were in traction, it wan't much of one for sure.
"I was so worried." Jeff said, his head buried in Eric's chest.
"Me too. Nobody would tell me anything. I asked about you." Eric answered
"Matty, why didn't you...?" Jeff looked at his brother.
"Jeff, you know that they wouldn't have let Matt follow along. He probably spent the whole night at a bar or something."
"Actually, Eric, they let me, but you were out of it. They doped you up real good."
"I can imagine." Eric looked at his arms. "So it looks like I won't be able to watch your back for the next couple weeks."
"I'm gonna stay right beside you until you're all better." Jeff was starting to revert back, and Eric really didn't that right then.
"Cool, but can I talk to Matt for a second before you make that decision?" Eric asked
"Sure." Jeff replied
"Alone." Eric added
"Oh."
"There's a candy machine down the hall... maybe they have some Skittles?" Matt suggested
"Yay! Skittles!" Jeff ran out of the room.
"Close the door, Hardy." Eric ordered "We need to talk."
Matt shut the door and faced Eric.
"What the hell are you and Adam up to? I mean, it's not bad enough that the two of you are trying to break us up so you can both fulfill your little fantasies, but don't you think that you've gone overboard... I mean, this is attempted murder we're talking about!" Eric shouted as loudly as his voice could manage.
"Eric, I..." Matt expected this, but he still had no idea how he'd respond.
"I don't want excuses... what I'd like is an explanation. Dammit, how the fuck can you live with yourself right now? I know Jeff has forgiven you, somewhat, but I'm finding this whole thing a little too coincidental for my tastes."
"Fine... you want an explanation?"
"I think I deserve at least that." Eric said
"Eric, you know that I have feelings for you..."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah... we had this conversation earlier, before I almost made the biggest mistake of my life."
"Are you gonna let me fuckin' finish or not?" Matt replied angrily.
"Just skip to the good part." Eric retorted
"Okay... Adam is out of control right now. The whole locker room can see it."
"So why hasn't someone stepped up?"
"I don't think they know how out of control he is." Matt answered
"Not to mention confused... if he's trying to make me jealous, hanging Jeff's Bunny is not gonna do it."
"It's wayyyy beyond that. He's not trying to split you up with jealousy, he's trying to split you up the old-fashioned way... by taking you out of the picture, permanently." Matt sat down at the head of the bed.
"And he almost succeeded." Eric moaned when a nerve ending unexpectedly woke up.
"So, basically, maybe you should stop trying to watch Jeff all the time and start watching your own ass for a change." Matt suggested
"You're giving me advice?" Eric leaned back on his pillow and laughed. "God, Hardy, you're rich."
"Just trying to help." Matt said
"You wanna help? Stay away from Jeff and me! Any chance that you might've had with me went out the window the moment you two set me up! You should go before I decide to tell Jeff exactly what his big brother has been up to the last few days!" Eric glared at Matt, the burns around his eyes making his gaze even more sinister.
"Like he'll believe you." Matt taunted
"Hey, I brought his rabbit back from the dead... the kid'll believe anything I say to him right now." Eric responded "Go!"
"Just remember, you've been warned." Matt left the room. Eric was only alone for a minutes before the nurse entered.
"Here's your pain med." She inserted the needle into the IV that went into Eric's left arm.
"Thanks... a few nerves were starting to sizzle." Eric immediately felt better as the morphine hit his system. "Have you seen a rainbow-haired guy around?"
"Last time I checked, he was having a fit with a candy machine." She smiled
"That's my Jeffro." Eric started feeling drowsy. "A higher dose?"
"Just keeping the pain manageable." She smiled
"Cool. If you see..." Eric fell asleep in mid-sentence.
The nurse's happy expression immediately left. Opening the door, she let a familiar man into the room.
"He's out, just like you asked." She said
"Thanks, Aunt Carol." Edge kissed her on the cheek. "I'll only be a second."
Edge took the empty syringe from her and stuck it into the IV. Once the air bubble hit his blood stream, it was only a matter of time. Eric would be gone and Adam would be free to pursue his ultimate goal... and this time, no one was going to stop him. No one.
TO BE CONTINUED
A little bit of humour prior to getting back to the serious business of a plot... I'm losing my internet for a bit at the end of the month, so I'm trying to make sure that I finish this story beforehand. I hope it doesn't seem rushed to anyone. Feel free to tell me if you think I'm going a little too fast, plot -wise.
Till my next update!