Sorry it took so long for me to update. It's been a bit crazy these past couple of days with projects and exams and a situation that occurred a couple of days ago that I'm still trying to help out with. But I'm finally able to get some focus back for this story and work on it. I hope you like this chapter.

Chapter 20

ALEXANDRIA

Stephanie called me into her office and I was wondering what she wanted now. Paul held my hand as he walked me to her office. Her door was open, so I stood at the doorway and knocked lightly. She noticed Paul still standing by my side and looked at him as if she was about to say something at him in the urge to get him to leave.

"I was just walking her here. Relax." I heard him tell her. Paul gave me a kiss on the cheek and I knew that he would be waiting for me outside her office.

"You can have a seat." She told me after Paul left the room.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I called you in because I talked to Mr. Laurenitis about you and your match tonight. Then I saw the medic and she told me that after checking you out, there seems to be something wrong with your nerves and possibly even your spine and advised us that you should not compete. Now we can not let you compete in that type of physical condition. We're going to give you the rest of the week off. During this week, go get checked out more carefully and have your doctor send us the results. We'll figure out what comes next after we find out the results of what could be going on."

"So I have the rest of the week off?" I asked to make sure I heard correctly.

"Yes. We're going to give you the rest of the week off. Go home, get checked out by your doctor and have them send us the results." She replied. "We just want to make sure to see if there is anything wrong going on with you physically that could very well prevent you from wrestling. The course of action that we will take will be based on the results that you're doctor sends us. So please make sure that they do that as soon as possible."

"Alright. Thank you. I appreciate it." I told her. I was really glad that I got the rest of the week off. I needed it and I really wanted to see what was going on with me. I got up and left. I was met by Paul who quickly came over to me to ask what happened. I told him what happened and I saw his face grow with concern.

"I was going to go back home tomorrow anyways. So I'll just head home tomorrow, set up an appointment and see what they do and say."

"I'm coming with you." He replied quickly.

"You don't want to go home?" I asked him.

"I am going home. With you. I'm going with you."

I couldn't help but smile when I heard him say home with me. I gave him a kiss and I decided to head back to the hotel early to see if I could get some rest. Paul insisted on coming with me so of course I didn't say no. We stopped and got some cheesecake on the way back to the hotel and took our time to try to enjoy everything here before we went home.

As I walked out the bathroom, from brushing my teeth, I went into the bedroom to fix my hair. I felt a strong pair of arms wrap around me. I felt his lips on my shoulder and I relaxed in his arms. I just love being in his arms. They feel nice and secure.

"I'm going to take good care of you tonight." I heard him whisper in my ear.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I can show you better than I can tell you."

I smiled and turned to face him. "Show me then."

I spent the rest of the night letting Paul take very good care of me. I didn't care if we were both exhausted at the end of the night.

The Next Day

I woke up the next morning, wrapped in Paul's arms. I was feeling some pain on my back and I knew that I really had to go to the doctor. I gently got out of bed, put on his shirt, and tried to call to make an appointment as soon as possible. I hope it's nothing serious. If it is, I may have to be out of action for some time. When I got off the phone, I felt Paul wrap his arms around me. I turned to face him and he had a look of concern on his face.

"I'll be okay." I told him.

"You sure?" He asked.

"Yeah. I was able to get a doctor's appointment for tomorrow morning. Will you come with me?"

"I'll go with you." He replied. "Feeling any pain?"

"A little bit of pain on my back. But it's pain that I can handle. I just hope it doesn't get worse from now until tomorrow."

He was still concerned about me and I didn't like it.

"Smile for me." I told him. "Please?"

"I'm sorry, Baby. It's just that I'm worried. I don't want this to be something serious."

"I know." I told him quietly.

"I love you." I heard him say in my ear.

"I love you, too."

We took a shower and got ready to leave. Before you knew it, we were on the plane and I was sitting between Randy and Paul. Paul held my hand as if he didn't want to let go of it, the entire time that we were on the plane. I didn't complain. I like it when we hold hands.

THE NEXT DAY

PAUL

I went to the doctor's with Alexandria today. She was going to get her spine and her nerves checked. Ever since the medic said that something might be wrong, I have been worried like crazy, hoping that it's nothing serious. But then yesterday, she was having some pain in her back which worried me even more.

"Ms. Orton?"

I followed her to the room that the nurse took her too and sat down on the extra chair that was in the room. The nurse took her blood pressure and checked her height, and her weight before asking a couple of questions.

"Do you feel dizzy?"

"Nope."

"Are you in any type of pain?"

"My back hurts. It's been hurting since yesterday." replied Alex.

"On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the worst, how would you rate the pain?" asked the nurse.

"Right now, it's about an 8."

An eight? How does she deal with the pain as if it was nothing and not bothering her one bit? The nurse asked a couple of more questions and went to go take her records to the doctor.

"The pain got worse." I heard her say quietly. "I was fine yesterday. But on our way here, it got worse. What's wrong with me?" She asked.

I got up and wrapped my arms around her. "I don't know, Baby. I'm hoping we can find that out today."

The doctor came in a few minutes later with her charts.

"Morning, Ms. Orton."

"Morning, Dr. McIntyre." She replied.

"Who's this fellow?" she asked.

"This is Paul. He's my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend huh?" she replied giving her a smile. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you."

"Now you're here because of your spine?"

"I went to the medic the day before yesterday and she said that there was something wrong with the way I reacted to something she did and that it may have something to do with my spine. Then yesterday, my back started hurting. Today, the pain is worse."

"Doctor, what's wrong with her?" I asked concerned.

ALEXANDRIA

"Let me just perform some simple little tests first to get a better idea of what's going on with her spine."

She performed some tests and I couldn't help but wince at the pain that occurred on my back when she did. She obviously noticed because she stopped mid-way through a test to keep me from having any more pain.

"Okay, I'm going to send you for some blood tests as well as a couple of x-rays to be taken of your spine. I'll order for the results to be given to me when it's ready and I'll get back to you either today or tomorrow. We'll figure out the next step when I get the results. Until then, I'm going to give you some medication for your pain. Follow the instructions for it okay?" Said the doctor.

"Okay."

"Yes, because I see that you're in pain. So I will get you these tests for you and the x-rays and have them sent up to me immediately. Do we need to send the results anywhere else?" she asked.

"To my job." I replied. "They said that they would like to have the results to see what will happen."

"And if that isn't enough, I'll talk to them myself." added Paul. I smiled slightly. How I love this man.

I took the tests and the x-rays and went to go get the medicine that the doctor prescribed to see if this pain can go away at least a little bit. After we got out of the pharmacy, I stood on my side of the car and hugged him. I felt his arms around me and I didn't want him to let me go.

"I love you, Alexandria." I heard him say.

"I love you, too." I replied looking up at him. He smiled and gave me a kiss.

LATER THAT DAY

"Hello?" I asked as I answered the phone.

"Yes, this is Doctor McIntyre. I just finished looking over your results from your tests and x-rays." She replied.

"What's wrong?" I asked worried.

"Your tests were fine, but when I looked at your x-rays, it was what I would call a bit alarming. You seem to have one of your disks dislocated and pinned thus causing the pain and the problem with your nerves. Remember, your spine is filled with nerves."

My breath caught in my throat.

"So what needs to be done?" I asked.

"The only possible way that it could be repaired is if you have surgery to repair it. That's the only way that would work efficiently. Now I know what you must be thinking. You don't want anything to go wrong with the procedure and get more injured than what you already are. But I can assure you that there is a great team of doctors here that will perform this procedure with success."

"How long will I be out for?"

"It depends on certain things. We have to include the recovery time from the surgery, rehabilitation which is what you will more likely need and the amount of time that it will take. We can't really know for sure right now until we cross that bridge." She replied. "Come back in tomorrow morning and we'll talk more about this and look at it more in-depth."

"Okay. Thank you."

"That was the doctor?" asked Paul from behind.

"Yeah. I need surgery." I told him quietly.

I saw his face drop when the last part came out. "Surgery?"

"A disk on my spine is dislocated and it's pinned. That could explain the pain and the problem with my nerves." I replied. "I need surgery to repair it. She said to come in tomorrow morning to look at it more in-depth and go from there. I could be out of action for months."

His head dropped and I could tell that he was upset about it.

"I'm sorry." I told him.

"You don't have to be sorry about anything. It isn't your fault. Don't be sorry." He replied.

I felt the threat of tears in my eyes and I tried my best to fight it.

"Baby, no matter what, I'm here for you. We'll get through this together. I'm not leaving your side."

"Then what about work?" I asked.

"I don't care. You're more important to me than work. You're my number one priority. You have been since you and I started dating. That's not going to change. I love you."

"I love you, too."

We spent the rest of the night together and we decided to just stay in tonight. I thought it was a good idea. I wasn't really in the mood to go out. I snuggled in his arms and watched television in the living room. I felt him kiss my head once in a while and felt his fingers stroke my sides. I let my fingers intertwine with his after he stroked my arms and it felt nice.

"How you feeling?" I heard him whisper in my ear.

"I'm okay. That medicine seems to be working." I replied.

"If you really have to be out of action for a couple of months, you going to stay here in St. Louis?" he asked.

"I might. My family is here. Wrestling is the only reason I'm away from them." I replied. "Why?"

"Nothing. Just asking. I wanted to make sure because I want to come home to you every time I get off the road." I heard him say.

"You're calling my apartment home." I told him smiling.

"To me, home is where ever you are. I'm not leaving you."

I just melted when he said that. I snuggled closer to him as he tightened his grip a little bit after he fixed the blanket that was covering me.

"What are you going to do with your house in Connecticut?" I asked.

"I'll have someone check on it every now and then. I'll go there to check for any bills and stuff that may have gotten there and to do some other things. Then I'll come straight home to be with you."

I am head over heels in love with this guy and I officially want to spend the rest of my life with this him. I don't know what I would do without him.

PAUL

It was morning when I woke up with Alexandria wrapped in my arms. I remembered how I felt her tossing and turning all night because of the pain. So much so, that she barely got any sleep. When she was finally able to, she had to wake up to go to her doctor again today.

"Baby," I whispered. "Wake up. You gotta go to the doctor today."

She woke up and game me a small smile. I gave her a light kiss and pulled her close as gently as I could in hopes to not hurt her. "I'm gonna make some breakfast." I told her.

"I'll make it." She told me sleepily.

"No. You just go take a shower. I'll go make breakfast."

"Come with me." She responded. I looked at her and knew what she meant.

"You sure you want me to?" I asked.

She nodded. I grabbed her hand and smiled when she got up. She still had my shirt on from last night. Did I mention how good she looks in my clothes? When we finished, I got dressed quickly and went to start making breakfast. I felt a pair of soft hands on my sides and I smiled when I smelled berries and vanilla.

"My boyfriend can cook." I heard her say between giggles.

"Very funny." I replied with a laugh of my own. "But I still love you."

She smiled showing me her dimples. "I know."

After breakfast, we finished getting ready and headed out the door to go talk to her doctor about her x-rays and whatnot. I held her hand the entire time, not wanting to let it go. I want to ask her. But I just don't think it's the right time.

"Ms. Orton?"

We followed the nurse to the room and waited for her doctor to come which didn't take too long.

"Have you been thinking about what I said yesterday? About how you need surgery to repair it?" asked the doctor.

"Yeah. I don't think I have any other choice. Do I?" asked Alexandria.

"I'm sorry. I wish I had better news for you. Or a better method to fix this at least. But we don't. Surgery seems to be the only option at this point. And if you keep wrestling with this injury, it's only going to get worse. That's why I'm hoping we can get this procedure done soon."

"How soon?" I heard myself ask.

"We would have to set up a date and get everything set." She replied. "But as soon as possible. We don't want to risk further damage."

I looked over at Alex and she had a blank look on her face. I know that she's upset when she has that look. I just wish I could make all of this go away without her having to go through the pain. It's not fair to her.

"When's the next available date for the surgery?" she asked without any emotion.

"Let me check my calender." replied the doctor. After a few minutes, she put her attention back on us. "With everything that we have to do to completely set it up, we can do it as early as Saturday or even Sunday."

"That early, huh?" I said.

"I'm sorry. I know you don't want the surgery. But we need to do this. Now the best option that you could have is to go to Birmingham, Alabama, which is where the majority, if not, all of the wrestlers go to when they need surgery for an injury that they sustained. I'm suggesting that you go there. They have the best doctor's for this."