Chapter 8

She knocked softly on the door. If Shawn was sleeping, she didn't want to wake him.

"Come in," she heard him say.

She opened the door and went in. Shawn sat up from the bed, smiling when he saw her.

"Well if it isn't my lovely nurse," he said.

She smiled back. "I wanted to see if you were feeling any better."

"A little bit doll. What's in the bag?" he asked.

"Fruit. Do you think your stomach can manage it?"

"I think so. I'm starving anyway."

She pulled an apple out and handed it to him.

"Where'd you get the fruit?"

"We all took a walk to the orchard down the road. It was something to do."

He nodded. "They have a lot?"

"Yea, they had a bunch of different stuff. There should be some of everything in here," she said handing the bag to him.

He took the bag from her and emptied the bag onto the bed, looking at its contents. "Hmm not bad." He caught sight of her bouquet as it tumbled out of the bottom of the bag. "Flowers?"

"Oops, sorry. Those are mine. I didn't realize they were in there."

"They're pretty," he said picking up the bouquet. "Which one of our Romeo's gave them to you?" he asked teasingly.

She laughed. "None; I picked them myself. Well, except that one," she said picking up the most vibrant flower.

"Yea? And where'd that one come from?" he asked with a mischievous smile.

She laughed. "Mark gave it to me."

Surprise crossed Shawn's face. "Mark? As in our Deadman Mark? As in Mr. Can-scare-everybody-with-a-single-look Mark?" he asked with an incredulous smile.

"Yea," she said with a laugh. "You've got quite an interesting expression on your face."

Shawn shook his head. "It's just a little surprising is all." He shrugged. "But we all have our moments."

Kat smiled. "I guess so. It's pretty though isn't it?"

"Very," he said. "You should put it in your hair."

"Yea?"

He nodded. "The color suits you."

"Maybe after I go shower. I feel like a mess," she said.

"Alright then. I'll see you later. Maybe I'll drag my ass outta bed to dinner."

"If you're feeling up to it."

"I'll see in an hour or so," he said. "I don't wanna push my luck."

"Ok then. Bye Shawn," she said. She picked up the flowers, and went back to Taker's room.

She knocked on the door. When he didn't answer, she went in. He was still in the bathroom. She put the flowers on the dresser, and started looking through her bag for some clothes. From the bathroom she heard something fall, and a second later she heard Mark curse. She shook her head with a smile. And he talked about Randy. He must have dropped something.

A few minutes later, the bathroom door opened. He came out wearing dark jeans and no shirt. He jumped a little when he saw her.

She smiled. "Didn't hear me come in?"

"No," he said shaking his head. "You sneak around like a ghost," he added with a smile. He was towel drying his hair. He went to the dresser for the brush, and accidently knocked her bouquet off. He bent to pick it up and pain went through his face. "Oh God," he said stiffening.

"Are you ok?" Kat asked standing.

"I'm fine," he said through clenched teeth.

She raised an eyebrow and leveled him with a look of doubt. "Lemme ask you something. Before, when I fell and you caught me, did you hurt your back?"

"Once again, I'm fine."

"Of course you are," she said sarcastically.

He went back into the bathroom with the brush and a second after she heard him groan. She pushed the door open. He was leaning over the sink, his back stiff. Pain was radiating through his face.

"Must be a knot or something," he muttered.

She looked at him. "I'm sorry Mark. This is my fault. If I hadn't been up in that tree, you wouldn't have gotten hurt."

Taker shook his head. "It's not your fault. I'm fine. Don't worry about it." He straightened up carefully, and went back into the bedroom.

"At least put something on it," she said. "There's no sense in you walking around in pain all night."

He sat on the edge of the bed and sighed. "I can see there's no use in arguing with you. Go to Randy's room and ask him for that jar of Mineral Ice he keeps. I'll put some of that on it."

She nodded. "I'll be right back."

She went out the door and to Randy and John's room. Randy opened the door when she knocked.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Umm Mark wants the Mineral Ice. Can I have it?"

"Mineral Ice? Is he alright?"

"He did something to his back. He was saying he might have a knot in it?"

"Here," he said handing her a jar. "Take it. If he's got a knot though, it needs to be worked out. Just putting this on won't be enough."

She nodded. "Ok, thanks."

She took the jar and went back to Taker's room. He was still sitting on the bed. She went over to him and he moved to take the jar from her. She shook her head.

"If you do have a knot, it has to be rubbed out. Lay down," she said.

"I'm pretty sure I can get it myself."

"Yea? Why don't you try reaching your hand back behind you?"

He did and he winced.

"Well?" she asked, gesturing to the bed.

"You don't have to do this you know," he said. "I can get one of the guys to work it out for me."

"I know, but it's my fault that you hurt your back in the first place. And besides, I'm right here. Instead of me going to get one of them, I might as well."

"Alright," he said lying flat on his stomach. "Go ahead."

She climbed onto the bed next to him. "Where does it hurt?" she asked.

"Mostly the left side," he said. "I think that's where the knot is."

"Here?" she asked gently pressing her fingertips down.

He winced again.

"I'll take that as a yes. Anywhere else?"

"My shoulders, but I can live with that."

She nodded and opened the Mineral Ice. She took some on her fingertips and rubbed it on. He stiffened at her touch.

"Relax," she said. "I'm not going to kill you."

"I didn't think you were; your hands are ice cold."

She laughed. "Sorry, they're cold most of the time." Gently she started applying pressure to his back. The knot was easy for her to find. The moment she touched it, he stiffened again.

Slowly she worked around it getting closer and closer to where it hurt the most. Mark's body slowly relaxed, and soon the knot was gone. She sat back, and he turned his head to look at her.

"Thank you," he said. "That feels much better."

"Who said I was done? Sit up."

He raised an eyebrow questioningly, but sat up anyway.

"Didn't you say your shoulders hurt?" she said moving behind him.

She gently massaged his shoulders until she felt all the tension leave. "There," she said sitting back. "Now I'm done."

He turned around to face her. "Thanks. I owe you for this."

"No you don't. You kept me from killing myself with that tree. It was the least I could do."

Mark pulled his shirt on. "I gotta say, I think a lot of the guys would benefit from you being around."

"Yea?" she asked smiling.

"You've got good massage skills. That goes a long way when you're always falling down."

She laughed. "Glad you think so."

He smiled. "You spent all this time trying to fix me that you didn't even shower. Why don't you go now? I'm going to go see where Randy picked for us to have dinner. He said him and John found someplace different. I'll be back."

He stood up and stretched. "Amazing," he said to himself shaking his head. He turned and went out.

After he left, Kat went and took a quick shower. She got out, realizing that she had forgotten to take her clothes with her into the bathroom. She wrapped herself up in a towel and went out into the bedroom to find something to wear. She went through her bag, settling on a black cotton summer dress. It was still very warm outside, despite the fact that the sun was setting.

She had gotten her bra and panties on and was about to pull on the dress when the door opened. She jumped. "Jesus Christ! Doesn't anybody knock anymore?" she said holding the dress up in front of her and turning around. It was Shawn.

Shawn instantly turned his back. "Sorry sorry! I thought Mark was in here."

Kat quickly pulled the dress on. "Ok Shawn, you can turn around again."

Shawn turned, his face slightly pink. "I'm sorry about that doll. Like I said, I thought Mark was in here."

"It's ok," she said "no harm done." She went to the dresser and began brushing her hair.

Shawn went and sat on the edge of the bed shaking his head. "I really gotta learn to knock."

"Really Shawn, it's ok. You just surprised me is all. Besides, it's not like I was totally naked or anything." She turned and looked at him. "You said you were looking for Mark?"

He nodded. "Yea, I wanted to ask him something. Where is he anyway?"

"He's in Randy and John's room. He wanted to know where the place is they found for dinner."

"I'll go look there then," he said still not looking at her. He headed for the door, but she stopped him with a tap on the shoulder.

"Shawn, relax. Just put it out of your head or something. It's fine. Okay?" she asked meeting his eyes.

After a moment, he nodded. "Okay."

She smiled at him and he left. She laughed to herself as she went to the mirror. He looked freaked out. When she was finished getting ready she grabbed her black flats from the bag. Somehow the dress would just look strange with her sneakers.

She turned to leave then caught sight of the bouquet of larkspur. Smiling to herself, she tucked the prettiest one in her hair, like Shawn had told her she should. Well, before Shawn had freaked out anyway.

She left and headed toward Randy and John's room. She knocked on the door and heard Randy answer.

She opened the door and went in. Mark and Shawn were sitting at a table in the corner. Randy was sitting on the bed, and the bathroom door was closed, so she guessed John was in the bathroom.

"Hi guys," she said. She went over to the bed and sat next to Randy.

Randy looked at her and a grin formed. "Well don't you look pretty," he said teasingly. "Did you wear that just for me?"

She smirked at him. "Sorry, but no."

He laughed. "At least your rejection's consistent."

She grinned. "I try."

The bathroom door opened and John came out wrapped in a towel.

"Who was at the door?" he asked then jumped when he saw Kat. "Whoa! You guys gotta give me a head's up when there's a girl in here." He turned to Kat. "You got bad timing," he said grabbing clothes out of the dresser.

"Bad for you maybe," she said mischievously.

Cena's face went pink and he went back into the bathroom with his clothes. When he came back out his face was still tinged pink.

"You ok?" Kat asked.

"Fine," he said.

"Your face looks kinda red there John," Randy said hiding a grin.

"Can it Randy."

Kat looked at him and shook her head. "Relax John. It's not like I really saw anything anyway. It's like I told Shawn. It's not like you were completely naked."

"Yea, I guess you're right." He sat and then his eyes went to Shawn. "Wait, what about Shawn?"

Mischief crept into her voice. "Let's just saw Shawn got a little show."

All eyes turned to Shawn, who looked like he wanted to disappear. Mark was sitting across from him and he raised an eyebrow.

"A show?" he asked.

"Oh Lord," Shawn mumbled running a hand over his face.

Kat laughed. "I was getting dressed before and Shawn opened the door. That's all. He was looking for you Mark."

"Was he now?" asked Mark.

Shawn nodded. "I wanted to ask you something so I opened the door. How was I supposed to know she was getting dressed?"

"You could have knocked," Randy said.

Shawn gave him a look. "It's habit ok? It's like John. He didn't think twice before coming out. He didn't know."

"You two need to relax," Kat said. "No harm done right? And honestly, like I said, nobody was naked so everybody just let it go. Worse things could have happened."

"You're right," John said. "It could be worse."

"Yea," Randy quipped, "it could have been your stalker instead of her."

Cena shot him a nasty look. "Thank you Randy," he said sarcastically.

"Glad to help," Randy answered grinning.

"John, seriously, you have nothing to be embarrassed about." She smiled. "Trust me."

John grinned. "Well I feel better."

She grinned back. "Good." She turned. "And how about you Mr. Heartbreaker?" she said looking at Shawn.

Shawn shrugged. "Like you said, worse things could have happened." He paused and then grinned. "And by the way, you have nothing to be embarrassed about either."

Kat looked at him in surprise, a light pink coming to her face. "Thank you?" she said with a smile. "I think…"

Shawn grinned. "I feel better too."

Kat shook her head. "I'll bet."

"Alright you guys," Mark said standing up. "Why don't we go before the rest of the guys think we left them?"

"I'll go get Ted and Cody," Randy said.

"I'll go get the other crazy blonde," Shawn said. "I hope Adam's not reading again. He's impossible when he has a book."

"I'll go get my truck," John said. "Why don't you get yours Mark? I'll take Randy, Ted and Cody with me. You can take Shawn and Adam with you two."

Taker nodded. "Alright. I'll be following you guys, since I have no idea where we're going."

John nodded then headed toward the parking lot.

Kat and Mark went toward Edge's room to get him and Shawn. From outside the door they could hear Shawn grumbling with him. "Put the book down and get off your rear. Let's go!"

"Maybe I don't wanna come to dinner," they heard Edge reply.

Taker opened the door. "What?" he asked.

"Suddenly I'm starving," Edge said jumping up.

Kat laughed. "That was a quick change of heart."

Taker grinned. "Well aren't you jumpy?" he asked Edge.

He smiled nervously. "Me? Jumpy? Not at all Deadman." He pulled on his shoes. "So let's go."

The four got into Taker's truck and started to follow John to the restaurant. It was about a half hour's drive to get there. The restaurant was in a more populated area. There were several other restaurants and a few bars along the same street.

The group was quickly seated at a table in a back room of the restaurant where it was quieter. The front of the place had its own bar, and it was pretty loud. The back room had been reserved for them. The table was circular, and Kat had ended up sitting between Randy and Edge.

"Anybody else getting a drink?" Randy asked once they had all sat down.

"I'm driving," Taker said. "So I'm not."

"Yea, I don't think I am either," Shawn said. "I don't think my stomach can handle it. That plus who knows how it'll mix with the medicine. So if anybody else wants to, I can always drive John's truck back."

Randy nodded. "How about the rest of you?" he asked looking around the table.

"Yea why not," Ted answered. "Lord knows we don't get the chance much."

Randy looked at Kat next to him. "What about you?"

"I dunno," she answered. "I don't think the idea of me getting drunk around you guys is such a hot idea."

"You don't trust us?" Edge asked with a grin.

"No," she said giving him a smile. "It's not that I don't trust you guys. I don't trust myself."

"Why not?" Edge asked, still grinning.

"Don't worry," Shawn said, cutting Edge off. "We'll keep an eye on you."

Kat shrugged. "I'm not much for liquor anyway."

"Why don't you let one of us do the ordering?" Randy asked. "Maybe you'll like it."

She shrugged again. "Be my guest."

The waiter came and the table placed their drink orders. Randy ordered Kat the same thing he was having. When it came Kat took a sip. She was surprised. It wasn't bad.

"I'll give you some credit there Randy. I actually like it."

He grinned. "Good. Just don't drink it too fast. It's loaded."

The waiter took their dinner orders and went back toward the front of the restaurant.

"So by the way Deadman, how's your back?" Randy asked looking at Taker.

"It's better," Mark said looking at him.

"Your back?" Shawn asked. "What happened to your back?"

"It was kind of my fault," Kat said.

Shawn turned and looked at her, confusion all over his face. "What? How did you mess up his back?" He raised an eyebrow. "Or don't I wanna know?"

Her face flushed pink at his implied meaning. "It happened in the orchard," she said shaking her head. "I was sitting up in a tree. The branch broke, and Mark caught me. We landed kinda hard, and he hurt his back."

"Ohhhh," Shawn said. "For a minute there, I was thinking that…you know what, let's not go down that road…"

"Is that why you were walking so stiff?" John asked.

Taker nodded. "It's fine now though."

"Well that's good," Shawn said. "Did our little angel of a nurse work her magic on you too?"

Taker smiled. "That she did."

"It was my fault he hurt it, so I the least I could do was fix it," she said shrugging.

A few minutes later their food came. The food was very good and everyone was exchanging forks to taste someone else's.

"I think I like yours better than mine, Code," Randy said stealing another piece from Cody's plate.

"Keep your fork to yourself," Cody said pulling his plate away.

There was a sound of footsteps coming toward the room they were in. They were walking very loudly. A second later a voice came from the doorway.

"Randy Orton! I've been looking for you for three days! Why haven't you been answering my calls?" the voice snapped.

.

Author's Note: So who do you guys think the voice belongs to? I hate to end it like that, but I love the suspense of it. =) I'll have the next chapter up soon. Thanks for the reviews, and keep them coming!