Chapter 18

Kavari relished the heat she found in Colby's arms, both of them occupying the third row seating in the large Expedition. She leaned forward, peering over the second row of seats and laughed when Joe growled at her. "Oh come on, you big baby." Kavari taunted with a smirk. "You should be happy one of your best friends got laid. I'm sure you get laid PLENTY when you go home on your two days off. So it's Colby's turn." She shook her head. "I know I'm too hyper. You'll have to forgive me. Caffeine mixed with sex puts me on overload." Shrugging, Kavari leaned back into Colby's arms. "We definitely need to cut back on the screaming tonight, babe, or your team mate is going to maim one if not both of us."

"If he doesn't like it, he can get his own room." Colby stated, nuzzling Kavari's neck and chuckled when she swatted his arm playfully, ordering him to play nice. "Or better yet, why don't we get our own room? That way I can make you scream as loud as I want and we don't have to worry about prying ears."

"I order you to do it." Joe growled, not in the mood to hear his brother and Kavari going at it for a second night in a row. "Or I'll end up killing both of you in your sleep, your choice."

Colby tapped his chin in thought and looked down into Kavari's baby blues, pressing his forehead to hers. "Your choice, baby. We can stay and make the big man's life miserable along with Bianca and Jon's or…"

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you two get your own room right now, the plan is going to go up in smoke." Bianca said from the front, having overheard the conversation since they were all loud mouths. "Just thought I'd mention that considering we're supposed to still be abducted, sweetie."

"Fuck."

"Damn it." Colby snapped his fingers. "Plan foiled."

Jon chuckled at his comrades' banter, shaking his head. "Okay people, take a fucking pill. I called ahead and got a suite with more rooms. So Joe, you can have a room between you, Colby and Kavari. I'm pretty sure with a whole room between the 3 of you, you won't hear another moan or groan or peep." He glanced over at Bianca. "Forgive them, they are 12."

Joe did a fist pump in the air. "YES!"

"Sorry we kept you up, big guy. We didn't mean to." Kavari apologized, feeling bad about Joe not getting proper sleep and frowned, burrowing further into Colby's side with his arms tightening around her.

Sometimes she wasn't sure about Joe. Sometimes he could be nice…or something. But other times he had a permanent scowl on his handsome face and would growl at her, even when she was standing there silent. Maybe he didn't get laid enough or had a stick that had to be removed from his ass.

Bianca waved him off dismissively with a soft smile, turning in her seat to look at him with her legs curled up beneath her, resting her head against the back. "It's okay…"

She didn't miss the fact he'd gotten more rooms for their suite and knew it was because of her. Halfway to their destination, Jon pulled into a rest stop so everyone could use the bathroom and whatnot. Not to mention, he desperately needed a nicotine fix since he refused to smoke in the car with everyone else. They were all non-smokers, so he had to be considerate of them. Bianca used the bathroom quickly and walked out, seeing Jon standing all alone by the Expedition and chewed her bottom lip. It was now or never. Walking over, Bianca stood beside Jon while he took another drag of his cigarette, keeping her eyes on the ground with her hands in the pockets of his hooded sweatshirt.

"I'm not mad at you about this morning." Bianca said, watching as he froze mid-drag and slowly raised her eyes until electric blue met bluish grey. "I was going to try to go on and pretend like nothing happened, but I can't. I can't pretend we didn't…get heavy with each other. I just don't want things to get weird between us because you think I'm mad at you or I think you're mad at me. If you are, I understand because I basically lead you on, even though I didn't mean to. I thought I was in a dream..." Oh god did she really just confess that?! Her cheeks turned a deep crimson red and Bianca lowered her head to try to hide her flaming cheeks.

Jon arched a brow, frowning thoughtfully. "I didn't know how you were going to react. I was just about as stunned this morning as you were. I know this is probably going to sound like total bullshit, but believe it or not, I was actually dreaming as well. The only thing that woke me up was when you basically wrapped your fingers in my hair and yanked. I'm not mad. I figured you'd be scared I was some kind of rapist or something. Or pissed at me for trying to take advantage of you while you were sleeping." He smirked, putting the gasoline nozzle back on the pump and put the cap back on, shutting the little door on the side of the vehicle. "Believe me, I don't think things could be any weirder between us than they are right now."

"But I don't think of you as a rapist or anything like that. I believe you when you say you were dreaming. I could tell even through my shocked state that you didn't know what the hell was going on." Bianca meant every word she said and hoped he believed her, electric blues full of understanding. "I-I got lost in the moment so that's why I gripped your hair…" She cleared her throat, shuffling her feet in front of her. "So are we okay? I don't want any animosity between us, especially if I decide to take Linda up on her offer. Just…just please tell me you're not mad at me for leading you on. I didn't mean for any of it to happen…" Bianca also didn't regret it happening though, but she kept that bit of information to herself.

"You didn't lead me on, Bianca." Jon assured her softly. "A dream is a dream and everyone has them. There's nothing to be mad about." He reached out to cup her face, stroking her cheek with his thumb. "No animosity either."

Jon didn't regret it because somehow he knew that's as far as things would go between them for now. He didn't want to upset her by telling her he'd wait for forever for her to get over the death of her husband. No doubt it would freak her out, scare her off and make her cry again like the night before his confession. Jon had to keep his personal thoughts to himself because Bianca needed room to breathe. She had a very important decision to make regarding her future and he refused to force it by anything he would or wouldn't say.

"Where the fuck is everyone?" He asked, looking around and watched as Joe climbed back into the Ford Expedition, looking green. "Bro, you look like you're gonna barf."

Joe groaned, rubbing his stomach. "I think we should sit here a bit. I've been puking and think I got food poisoning last night. This bumpy ass car ride isn't making it better either."

"We've got plenty of time to kill, bro." Jon assured him, nodding. "Go yak some more if you need to. Now where the hell are Kavari and Colby?"

Frowning, her medical instincts instantly kicked into overdrive at the sight of Joe and Bianca walked over to him, staring up into his green face. Her hand reached up to touch his forehead and Bianca sighed, nodding. "You're burning up. You need to lie down and take some Ibuprofen to break the fever. It could get worse. And if you had food poisoning, it would've started last night instead of this morning during the drive. Believe me, I know. I think you might have the flu."

"Well that's fucking great." Joe growled, not amused by this petite woman trying to help him and ignored Jon's glare. "Fine whatever."

Bianca helped Joe back into the Expedition and pulled a bucket from the back so he could throw up again if he needed to during the drive. Then she propped his head up with a pillow they stole from the hotel, covered him up with a blanket and gave him a dose of Ibuprofen. "I'll have Jon stop and get you some soup and 7up. Just try to rest as much as you can."

Joe grunted and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back to stare down at him. "Thank you." He said in a weak rumble, squeezing her hand and let her go.

Bianca smiled with a nod and slid out of the Expedition, closing the door behind her. "He's in bad shape. We need to stop and get him a few things, especially if the fever doesn't break. We may have to resort to drastic measures." When Jon just nodded, Bianca chewed her bottom lip and suddenly leaned up on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. "Thank you for being understanding about this morning." Bianca felt him lower a little so she didn't have to strain and moved his hair from his ear, checking the stitches. "When we get to the arena, I'll clean this for you." She said, her mouth right by his ear.

"I'm more worried about Joe than my ear right now. Big man doesn't get sick. EVER. You sure it's the flu and not something more serious?"

Jon swallowed hard, not lying about Joe not getting sick. He'd known the man for 3 years now and never saw Joe get sick, not even a cold, cough or toothache. Nothing. It was just completely foreign to see Joe brought to his knees for something as small as the flu.

"Should we get him to the trainer's or an ER maybe? What if someone fucked with his food last night?" Jon was legitimately troubled and it showed in his blue eyes. Joe was his best friend, brother and he looked far too green instead of his normal Samoan tanned self.

Bianca could hear the uncertainty and worry in Jon's voice, his eyes mirroring what he said. She cupped his face in her hands, forcing him to keep eye contact with her. "Do you trust me?" She asked softly, feeling his hands cover hers as the warmth instantly seeped into her skin, fighting back a tremor. Jon nodded. "I won't let anything happen to him. I honestly think it's the flu, but if you want to be absolutely sure, we can go to the hospital and have him checked out or call up Larry and have him come check on him when we get to the hotel. Just focus on getting us there and let me take care of Joe, okay?" Bianca released his face, turning to get back into the Expedition.

"I'd trust you with my life." Jon muttered through clenched teeth. Why did she have to touch him like that? It wasn't a good thing to do considering how he felt. He looked up, spotting Colby and Kavari walking hand in hand, both smiling widely. Kavari had a freshly fucked look on her face too, making Jon groan. "Oh god, you two really? In the bathroom? That's not romantic."

Kavari laughed, her hand tightening around Colby's. "Might not be romantic to you, but it doesn't mean it wasn't romantic to us. It's called element of surprise, Jon. And if you learned how to use it, it could work to your advantage."

"I know how to use the element of surprise. That is the element of disgusting. Do you know what people do in there?" Jon had a look of disgust on his face, face palming. "Why the fuck am I asking you that when you two just did what other people do in there? Jesus Christ, you know what? Never mind. Get in the damn vehicle, we have bigger issues. Big man is sick, I don't know how we're going to get through Smackdown! tonight." Climbing behind the wheel, Jon waited for everyone to pile in and took off.

Frowning at Bianca, Kavari could see the beads of sweat on Joe's forehead. "This came on very sudden. Could it be his appendix instead of the flu?" She knew all the symptoms when her appendix gave her problems a few years ago. Kavari had to have emergency surgery when it ruptured and she could've died, again, had the damn thing exploded because of the toxins in the organ.

"Oh shit!" Bianca hopped over the seat with wide eyes, not even considering that and swallowed hard, remembering one of her kids had appendicitis a while back. "Fuck. Jon, go to the nearest hospital you can. That's exactly what it is." Her voice remained calm as she took her hands and placed them down right where Joe's appendix was supposed to be.

"SON OF A MOTHER FUCKING BITCH!"

Bianca nodded at Kavari, both of them along with Colby and Jon looking worried. Jon took off without another word, spotting a hospital just a few miles away from the rest area. "Joe, it's going to be okay. I think your appendix ruptured, but everything is going to be alright." She said, hearing him whimper out in pain and felt her heart clench violently.

Tears, actual tears, poured out of the big man's eyes as Joe squeezed them shut, trying to hold back. He wasn't supposed to cry, especially in front of his brothers and women! "Fuck this hurts…" He suddenly doubled over and tossed his cookies in the bucket.

"Oh my god, that's sick!" Colby exclaimed, plugging his nose and hoped he could find a way to not puke alongside Joe. "I-Is he gonna be alright?"

Bianca nodded, looking over her shoulder at Jon. "We're almost there. Just hang in there, Joe okay? Hang in there for me, big guy."

Jumping up and forward, Kavari saw him moving the puke bucket and gathered his hair, holding it for him. He must've taken it out because his head was bothering him. She watched as he rolled over and put her hand in the middle of his chest, feeling how fast his heart pounded against her palm.

"Joe, take some nice deep cleansing breaths for me. In through the nose and out the mouth. Just don't breathe in my face, puke breath." She joked, winking at him trying to get his mind focused on something besides the current pain he was in.

They had to hurry for Joe's sake.