John cringed as he felt the needle slide beneath his skin. While he had never been the type to complain about pain, he hadn't prepared himself for the stinging sensation. In fact, he had never had an IV in his arm and now, at thirty years old, it marked the first occasion.
Oh, goody.
"Mr. Cena," a blonde nurse in her late forties smiled at him as she placed medical tape over his wrist where the needle met his skin.
He looked up at her with cloudy blue eyes.
"Dr. Andrews will be in to speak with you in a few minutes. Afterwards, we're going to give you the anesthesia and you'll be in surgery a short while later," she explained.
"Thanks," he nodded as she left the room.
The last time he had a surgery explained to him, it was Jessica's back in 2005 and he remembered just how much hell had followed.
John shook his head at the thought and looked down at his left hand, where he was hooked up to the IV.
A lot had changed since then.
"John," Dr. Andrews addressed him as he entered the room. "Long time no see. You remember what we walked about yesterday. I can't say that I'll give you a six-pack of beer in your IV to knock you out, I'll need more than that. I think we'll put in a keg. You're definitely a heavier drinker than your girlfriend."
"Dr. Andrews…" John shook his head. "She's not my girlfriend anymore."
"Right, sorry," he apologized. "It's hard to get used to."
"Tell me about it," John snorted.
"Anyway, we'll get that keg of beer in your IV and then I'll see you later, alright?"
"Sure," John replied with a nod and watched as the doctor retreated from the room.
Slowly, the beeping of his heart monitor crept back into his mind, followed by the rest of the sounds in the room.
He felt dizzy. He felt weak. He felt numb.
Someone was holding onto his hand, but in his weary state, he chalked it up to a nurse taking his pulse.
"Maybe they did put a keg of beer in my IV," he mused groggily, his eyes still struggling to open as he caught a flash of caramel hair.
"I think that would bring your blood to an alcohol level that would put even Amy Winehouse to shame… then again, that's probably anatomically impossible, seeing as you'd kill yourself before you ever came to realize it."
John's eyes finally pried themselves open and he stared up into a pair of hazel eyes.
"Jessica?"
Noticing his vision was still blurry, she smiled warmly, "Yeah. It's me."
"How…?" he asked her, confusion in his sapphire eyes.
"Doesn't matter," Jessica shook her head simply and gave his hand a light squeeze. "All that matters is that I'm here, right?"
"I just… I just didn't think you'd be here," he shrugged and stared down at their intertwined fingers. "I mean, you were in Australia."
"John," she shook her head lightly, her loose blonde waves swaying with her, "Did you really think that when I heard, I wouldn't come running."
"I don't know. I guess," he replied, still looking down at his right hand, firmly within her left.
"You guessed wrong," she arched an eyebrow at him.
"How was your flight?" John asked her, avoiding her reaction as he finally looking up and made eye contact.
She sighed, "Long."
"How long?"
"Put it this way," Jessica began with a laugh, "From the time you arrived in Birmingham on Tuesday morning, until you went into surgery three and a half hours ago, I was in the air."
"That's a long time," he chuckled lightly and looked back down again.
For a few moments, they sat there in complete silence.
The truth was that they hadn't seen each other in a month and there were so many words dancing on their tongues, waiting to be spoken, but a hospital room was not the place to do so.
John ran his thumb lightly over the diamond band of her left finger.
"John, I…"
"You know," he cut her off. "I don't think that I ever truly understood the commitment that went along with this ring. Well, until today, anyway."
"I really wanted you to be there, John…"
"Me too," he nodded. "Your father just really needed me this month, the whole angle with my dad and all."
"I understand," Jessica nodded, as well. "If anyone understands that, it's me. I just wanted to tell you that it's okay. It's okay for you to have priorities, John. I just had to go away for a little while, take a break. I mean, how long have I been wrestling non-stop…"
John shook his head, "No, Jess. This isn't the time or place. I'm on too many painkillers to be coherent right now," he added with a chuckle.
"Right…" she trailed off into silence.
"Come home with me."
"What?" she eyed him. "You're insane."
"You've got your suitcases, right?" John asked her, to which she nodded. "Fly down to Tampa with me. We'll pick up where we left off."
"We left off with a fight," Jessica informed him.
"Then we'll resolve it."
"Jesus Christ, John," she rubbed her tan cheek. "It's not that easy."
"You and I were never easy…" he trailed off with a knowing smile.
"It was always Liz," they added in unison, laughing at their own antics.
"So what do you say?" John asked her.
Jessica exhaled deeply, "I can take a few days. Why are you so hopped up to get me to Tampa, anyway?"
"I get to wake up like I did today," he replied with a shrug.
She leaned in closer to his bed, her forearms now resting on her thighs, "And how is that?"
"To your face," he answered. "I haven't for a while… and I… I just missed being with you, you know?"
She nodded, "I'm sorry."
"Jess, don't be, okay? You have a great career, a great life... and I'd never want you to throw it away on me."
She nodded silently and stared down at her engagement ring. Only second in beauty to her wedding band, solely because it solidified her commitment to her husband, the diamonds sparkled in the fluorescent lights of the hospital.
John was the first to break the silence, "So what are you going to tell him?"
"Tell who?"
"Don't you play coy with me. You know exactly who I'm talking about."
A thin smile crept across her porcelain face, "I'll just tell him that there's somewhere else I need to be right now."
A/N: Once again, I know this is kind of short, but trust me, it needs to be standalone.
EDIT: For the record, this is a flash forward to October 2007. The span of She's a Rebel 3's "present" is from where we left off in She's a Rebel 2. This is the only flash forward scene in the story. However, there might be a few portions here and there of commentary from Jessica's autobiography. I hope that clears up any confusion.
I'm glad that I've got you all both hooked and guessing. I'll continue to keep you guessing for a little while, I think. I'm going to put a tally of guesses at the bottom of all of my author's notes until the married superstar is revealed.
And by the way, this chapter is in honor of John's 31st birthday today! Happy birthday, baby!
I am incredibly stunned by the amount of reviews I garnered for a single chapter… TWENTY SIX! That is INSANE. You guys rock.
Shout-outs:
MyTeddyBearsLilSis – I'm glad that you like the start. I'm still contemplating on how to integrate the new format, though.
xtobelovedx – I hope it's as SUPER cool as you think it'll be.
Chain Gang Princess – Spell bound? New one, even for me. Come on… take a guess!
Goddessofthenite – I know you know, so thank you for not telling anyone. As we recall, you knew who it was before She's a Rebel I was even over. Haha… and sorry you weren't first. You just took too long, I guess.
Enigmatic Lotus Leaf – Interesting guess, re-reading might be a good idea. I'm glad you like the change of format, too.
StartingLine722 – Yay! That makes me happy. So you think it's Orton? Hmm.
CandaceMcMahon – I think it's exciting too. And another Randy vote.
Lauren – Interesting thought on The Rock. Hmm.
Sideways anger – Seriously, if you amazing people keep this up… it's going to hit 100 by Chapter 5. Oh my God… that'd be AWESOME!
Da-Real-Mrz-Cena102100 - I'm glad you like the change in style. Who was your other guess?
JeffHardyFan02 – Ahh… I was waiting for someone to say Adam. And another Randy!
Inday – Thank you!
Cena-holic8 – Welcome to the review club… thanks for beginning to review this story. I'm glad I drew you out of the woodwork! I'm so glad you think this story is well-written and you're enjoying this story. Another Randy vote!
The.Black.Psycho.Barbie – I mean, you totally could. I'm not going to stop you. Tell you what… print it out and bring it to school with you. You can read it during the breaks of practice testing.
Pr0udpnaii x33 – I'm glad I got your attention. I think this one will throw you all for a loop.
Giftiebee – Yes, I did!
Snap DDT – Oh my God. You returned. I guess this means that now that both this and More Than Words are up… you're going to expect Only One? Damn. Oh and speaking of which… there's a certain appearance in the latest chapter of MTW you MIGHT want to check out. hint hint
Dj-ssdd – I'm guessing you love it?
Westfan – I know! I told you I've got a few chapters in the tank! Think about it though, no one has really shown any jealousy signs before, now have they?
Sailormama – Chapter 1 isn't actually a year later. It's a flash forward, just like this chapter. This one is going to pick up right where SAR II left off once we get to the present. Sorry for the confusion.
Miniature-hero – Mega-excited?! ANOTHER first.
Fozzy-Floozy – I am so glad you like it!
Melissa – Thank you!
Purplefeather21 – It will be revealed… probably in about six chapters or so.
Lady Luv – I'm glad I've got your attention, but I'm not sure who Kristen is. Randy's wife is Samantha.
AngelsDestiny22 – Thank you. I'm glad you like my current direction.
Poll Result:
Randy – 11
The Rock – 5
Edge – 2
Jeff – 1
That only adds up to 19 votes, so there are seven of you that didn't vote. That's cool… just vote next time!
Rock on, everyone!
Danielle