Title: Turn of the Tide (3/??)

Author: slashburd
Pairing: HHH/HBK

Rating: M?
Disclaimer: I do not know of any of this to be true, I don't know or own these people (but I'd secretly love to!).

Summary: M/M Slash, bad language, violence, angst

Sitting alone in the empty waiting room made Hunter feel even more anxious. From the injuries he'd sustained himself over the years of his pro career he knew that it was never a good sign when the next of kin were kept out of the treatment rooms. He'd already let an upset sounding Vince know the latest which was essentially that he knew nothing but would keep them updated when he knew more. It'd taken him almost twenty minutes to talk Vince out of making the journey to the hospital. The only thing that scared Hunter more than dealing with this alone was having to talk to someone else about how he was feeling and just how terrified he was that Shawn wasn't going to make it.

He thought back to when he and Steph were together and he'd busted up his knee. She'd latched on to him all the time he was at the hospital and wouldn't leave, not that they'd even asked her to. With a wry smile he thought back to those days and the life they'd led, every bit the model couple and eventually the model family of the business. Looking back he probably had a lot to thank Kurt Angle for. If he'd not been able to sweet talk Steph into bed then he and Shawn might never have made it to where they were now. Vince had taken some getting used to the idea but his desire for money and success had always compromised any moral issues he'd had with Hunter and Shawn's personal lives.

The more Hunter pondered the situation he concluded that where they were now was probably the biggest high and lowest low of their life together. Doing what they loved as a couple, never being lonely on the road, happy with their careers and each other but now this. Something just had to come along and mess it all up.

He rolled the long-empty vending machine cup between the palms of his hands absent mindedly. In the last few hours he'd done anything he could to distract himself from the heartache he felt and the recurring thought that he'd give anything to change places and take all the pain on his shoulders instead. He wished Shawn was sat beside him, although if he had been he was sure there would be comments passed about him drinking vending machine coffee.

The one thing Shawn had changed most about his life since he was born-again was the way he treated his body. No drugs, very little caffeine or alcohol – he was bordering on turning into CM Punk at times. The daily Starbucks run drove him mad but Hunter had always been a coffee junkie. He closed his eyes and thought about yesterday's stop off, hearing Shawn's voice crystal clear in his head.

*

"Don't drink that shit baby. Hell, it looks like old tar, it smells like new tar and...... Hunter, Hunt, get back here! Awww dammit that didn't mean go and get a-goddamn-nother one did it!"

Ignoring the warnings Hunter had already ducked out of the car and headed back to the cafe doorway, even Shawn's yelling not holding him back. "You know you'll regret it when you're crazyin' out later and I'm gonna have to kick your ass to calm you down. I give the hell up on you Hunt...."

At times they did drive each other crazy but that was part of who they were. And the coffee helped Hunter cope with their life; Shawn found Jesus, Hunter found Java.

Hours after getting back home Hunter was, as predicted, totally hyper. Their match had done nothing to slow him down and the adrenaline turbo-charged the caffeine through his system. Shawn had him pinned to the bed, laughing wildly as they both struggled to get the upper hand. Straddling his lover Shawn leant down and whispered his "I told you so." prompting Hunter to try and roll out from underneath him. In a tangle of arms, legs, long hair and laughter they fell to the bedroom floor, kissing and grabbing at each other's clothes. The frantic and passionate sex they'd had finally grounded Hunter again and afterwards he rested his face on his lover's chest, the soothing feeling of his hair being stroked sending him off into a deep dreamless sleep.

*

Right now yesterday seemed like a lifetime ago. How could it be that so few hours ago they were wildly reacting to each other's touch and yet now, they couldn't even be in the same room together? Hunter rubbed his furrowed brow and leant back in the chair, his fingers interlocked behind his head. He wished now that he could lean back against Shawn's chest like they did at home, that safe feeling of their love was not there to give him the comfort he needed and boy, did he feel lost and lonely. Lost, lonely and scared.

He checked the clock on the wall again. It was now 4am and he'd not heard anything for hours. Slowly he rose to his feet and walked over to the desk where he waited patiently for the kindly faced assistant to finish on the phone.

"Can I help you Sir?"

"Yeah, em, I'm trying to find out how my partner's doin'. We came in together a coupla hours ago and I've sat here ever since and nobody's told me what's goin' on."

Taking Shawn's details down she rang several extension numbers before she finally got an answer.

"Hi Karen, its Briony down in the ER waiting room here. I have the next of kin of a Mr Hickenbottom with me here asking for an update. Yes, that's him. Stage name, uh huh. Yes, I...... oh...... erm, that I did not know."

Her face fell and Hunter's heart skipped a beat, the worry in voice and actions was clear to see and hear.

"Ok, and when was that? Do we have any further update? And when can I send Mr Levesque up to see him? Right, I'll pass that on. Thanks Karen."

She looked at Hunter, a look of sympathy present in her eyes. She'd seen this reaction so many times, the frozen eyes and stifled desperation of anyone left in this room while the doctors did their best or came with the news to expect the worst. It was always harder for the men she decided, they didn't like to be seen crying and making a scene so they bottled it all up and ended up like this.

She began to speak but Hunter was so concerned with the look she had given him that he didn't register a single word she said to him. Reaching to the top of the desk she put her hand over his and this seemed to break the trance he was in. "Are you okay honey? Shall we go and sit down and I'll tell you 'bout what's going on?" Hunter mustered a weak smile and allowed himself to be guided back to the seating area.

"Now what my colleague was saying is that Shawn is in recovery now after his surgery...."

"Surgery! They had to operate?"

"Yes, and that's all been taken care of now. The doctor is going to come down and see you in a couple of minutes and explain it all a bit more clearly. You just sit here and when he comes down I'll be sure to send him over to you. Alright darlin'?"

With a half nod of his head she went back to her job behind the desk and Hunter's worried expression began to crack as the tears welled in his eyes. Just what kind of damage had been done to need immediate surgery? Why hadn't they told him that Shawn needed surgery at all? His mind raced, already scared that Shawn would be paralysed, knowing that Shawn would almost certainly prefer to be dead than crippled.

The image of the impact with the arena floor just would not clear from his head, playing over and over again like a stuck record. The thought that the man he loved was injured almost within his reach and there hadn't been a damned thing he could do to stop it distressed him. If only he'd been closer or quicker, anything that might have changed the outcome.

Hunter used his t-shirt to soak up the water in his eyes that was threatening to stream down his cheeks. He didn't want anyone to see him like this. If he pretended not to be worried it would make things better. Or at least make him feel better.

A door opened just ahead of him and a tall balding man came through it, dressed in scrubs and holding a chart in his hand. The assistant gestured towards Hunter and the man approached him.

"Mr Levesque I assume?"

"Yeah, yeah.... that's me, folks call me Hunter though."

"Ok, Hunter it is. I'm Dr. Lee, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon. And you're Mr Hickenbottom's partner?"

"Yeah Mr Hic... – could you call him Shawn, its just a bit less, clinical y'know."

"No problem. Now as you know Shawn was in a pretty bad way when he was brought in earlier and we carried out some emergency tests and scans. They revealed that his spinal column was trapped between some slipped and herniated discs in his back. I believe that's the main reason why he'd lost movement and feeling in his lower body. Now, we had to carry out some pretty major damage limitation......"

"You mean you fixed him up, right?"

"Well, as best we could with the state he was in. You need to understand that with the pre-existing injuries he had that this might not work but we've done the best we can. We're just grateful that he made it through the surgery so far, but he's not out of the woods yet. He's clearly neither a quick or a good healer and looking at the condition of some of his joints a lot of men wouldn't even be able to walk around, let alone carry on as a professional wrestler."

"He's a pretty special kinda guy......" Hunter spoke softly and fiddled with the white gold band on his ring finger. He was aware that he was professing his love for Shawn at a most inopportune time but it was done now and the doctor didn't seem phased by it. Whether he didn't see the blush rising up Hunter's cheeks or just chose not to acknowledge it was anybody's guess.

"His hip had dislocated so as soon as we had the pins, plates and brace in place we popped that back in. Now we're not sure how its going to work out with his nerves. In some places the cord was pretty well crushed and even in a young healthy man its not always guaranteed it'll return to normal. That's what I meant by damage limitation. We simply don't know how he'll be until he wakes up and we can get him weight bearing on it again."

A long breath escaped from between Hunter's pursed lips. He struggled to take on board so much information with the state his brain was already in.

""Wowwww. Jesus, I, er, had no idea it was this bad. And is all this from the bump tonight?"

"Well it's difficult to tell for certain as the damage was extensive but the internal bruising ties in with the reported impact so I would be confident in saying that its caused most of it. Why'd you ask?"

"Ahhhh, its just, well, it needs reporting to the management so we can take more safety precautions y'know." Hunter was lying through his teeth now. He really wanted a few moments to calculate how much more of a beating he'd need to give Paul in repayment for what he'd done.

"Now Shawn is in a private room on the post-op unit if you'd like to come and sit with him for a while. I don't want him to have company long or a stream of visitors as he'll be very sensitive to infections for a little while with all those stitches. He's also under heavy sedation to limit his movements and to be honest it's going to be a couple of days before we bring him round fully to be able to hold a conversation. We need to give his brain and the wounds some time to recover. So, if you want to follow me, we'll get you two back together."

They stood but Hunter appeared frozen to the spot. Sensing the trepidation in Hunter's anxious movements the doctor put hand on Hunter's shoulder and gave him a gentle squeeze. "Now you'd better know that he's not going to look too pretty but lets go and see him, get the shock out of the way and then we'll both concentrate on getting him back on his feet again. Okay?"

Hunter nodded his silent agreement, grateful for the small amount of physical comfort offered by the human contact, bracing himself to line up another difficult image in his mind. It didn't matter though. Shawn needed faith, strength and love now to make it through and it was down to Hunter to provide it. That's all he could do for him now and, taking a deep breath, he strode forward and through the doors ahead, on his way to see the man he loved.

A/N: So if Shawn pulls through how bad will it be and what's Hunter going to do if he does or if he doesn't? All reads, reviews and feedback appreciated :)