Ok, I'm a little behind schedule as of Monday, May 24, 2010. But, I'm working fast to catch up. And, by the way, I saw Over the Limit last night, and if you don't know what happened, well, I'm going to be writing about it in this chapter, so SPOILERS! I'll say this, Randy made me sad, and John made me scream with delight.. take from that what you will. In any case, it alters my story slightly, if you know what I mean. If you don't, you soon will, with Randy anyway. But that's what I signed up for when I started writing this week-to-week story. It's a challenge. Sometimes I love the turn of events (ie, John Cena getting a Twitter) and then there are these times. C'est la Vie. –shiver- I sound like Maryse. Ok, I'm rambling, on with the story!
Chapter 17- Eyes Wide Shut
Lora
Needless to say, that being back with Randy had a smile on my face that nothing or no one could remove. We had to travel from Canada to Ann Arbor, Michigan for a non-televised Raw event. It was nice to be with John and Casie again, riding in the car, laughing and making fun of the boys; riding on my first ferryboat and just seeing things that I would never have gotten to see before taking this job. Then traveling to Detroit from Ann Arbor for our Pay-Per-View, Over The Limit. I had never seen John train the way he was now, and he was taking Randy along with him. Casie was worried that John was over-working himself too much.
And that's where I was now, waking up in my hotel room in Detroit, Michigan. It was Sunday morning, and the WWE Universe, which included myself, had a big day ahead. It was the day of Over the Limit. But the thing was, as soon as my eyes popped open, I had this feeling come over me. A bad feeling. A feeling that something horrible was going to happen today. And I didn't want to leave my room. I groaned, rolling over in bed, having a few extra minutes before my alarm clock would go off. I heard the side door click open and I braced myself with a smile, pretending to be asleep. I felt the bed descend on either side of me, and the weight of Randy's body hover over my legs, as he crawled up my body slowly. It was hard to keep my eyes closed as I felt his hand brush my stray hair out of my face.
"I know you're awake," Randy's low rumbling voice said. My eyes popped open wide to stare at him. I felt him shaking against me in laughter. "You don't breathe that fast when you really are asleep."
I made a face at him as I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him down to lay next to me on top of the comforter on the bed. As soon as he was at my level, I snuggled up close to him. I wanted to be like this always. I felt sure that everything was okay in Randy's arms. That if the world got too hectic or too stressful, all I had to do was to reach for Randy, and I instantly felt like everything would make itself right. Though now, even as Randy tightened his arms around my waist, that feeling didn't leave my chest that something was wrong with this day.
"You know Lora, this isn't a good idea. If you keep me here any longer, I'm not going to want to leave with John to go work out, and he'll get angry, and then get distracted for his match, and not be on his A-game. Do you want that on my head?" He teased.
"You worry about John too much," I murmured into his chest. I didn't want to tell Randy about my feeling. I didn't want to worry him, or make him think that this job and the hectic schedule were getting to me, and I was losing my mind. "Just a little bit longer? Besides, I don't want to have to look for pants right now."
I heard Randy's groan deep in his chest, and I laughed softly. "Lora, don't do that to me."
"I'm sorry, it's just that I've been thinking, and…" And I suddenly became very shy in front of my own boyfriend. What was wrong with me? I felt like an idiot. I was no good at stuff like this. "You know, since you are supposed to win and everything tonight…" I just couldn't get the words out. I was beating around the bush, feeling like I was in high school, trying to ask someone to the school dance. I felt the atmosphere shift in the room when I knew Randy got on the same train of the thought that I was trying to lead too. I took a deep breathe, and barreled on, ignoring the fact that I felt like a fool. "My point is, well, I'm ready to try."
"Oh," Randy said, "Lora, are you sure? You don't have to rush for me."
"I want too," I whispered. "With you."
"If you're sure, then anything you want."
oo
The feeling I had worsened when Randy wasn't there to keep it at bay. It worried me, but I tried to not let it interfere with my daily routine, because I couldn't afford to be distracted at a Pay-Per-View. Vince would think that I was the one with my head in the clouds and not the one I had complained about, my second, David. So, I tried to push it out of my mind as I got ready for tonights hectic events. I stepped into the shower, hoping it would settle some of my nerves, and it did a little, but not enough to stop my mind from noticing the tug deep in my gut. I shook my head, forcfully clearing my thoughts, and picked out some clothes; a black silk tank top and a red skirt and some black flats that Randy had picked out. It was scary how good his taste was sometimes.
As I dried my hair, I thought of my plans with Randy tonight, trying to ignore the flutter my stomach did at the mere thought of it, and decided to fix myself up more than usual, even though I knew it would be useless; I would end up running around and just look like hell by the end of the night. But it was worth a shot. I brought out the rarely used curling iron and curled the ends of my hair, giving a wavy look to it, that I loved, but it took so long to do, having so much hair. I sprayed it in place with a gracious amount of hairspray and moved on to my make-up bag, once I was satisfied. I thought that my regular mascara-eyeliner-gloss wasn't going to cut it with this hair-do. I used my smokey gray eyeshadow, and my rarely used blush, and my deep red lipstick that I saved for special occasions. I guess one would consider this a special occasion. I had to admit, that once I had accessorized with matching jewelry that I cleaned up rather nicely. I couldn't remember the last time I that I had put this much time in my routine.
I picked up my purse, and I headed to the door. I was going to have to go to the arena alone. John, Casie and Randy were already there. Casie had a meeting with Vince and John and Randy were taking advantage of the arena's free gym service. I didn't think it was a good idea to work out so soon and so strenuous before a big match, but apparently that's John's thing. I sighed, and opened the door, stopping face to face in front of Adam. I nearly jumped out of my skin from fright.
"Oh Adam! You scared the ever living out of me!"
"'Ever living'?"Adam laughed.
I rolled my eyes and slapped his arm. "It must be a southern saying then, you Canadian."
"Ouch, that hurts," Adam said, holding his hand over his heart. I laughed at him, leaving my hotel room, closing it behind me. "You heading to the arena?"
"Yeah, have to go start setting up music and entrances."
"You need a ride? Matt and Edoin are downstairs getting ready to leave as well," Adam said, falling into stride next to me, as we head for the elevator. I smiled, thinking that that sounded a lot better than standing outside for thirty minutes trying to hail a cab. I nodded and let Adam lead the way towards his rental car.
"You look nice, by the way," Adam said, cocking his head to the side as we walked. I smiled, wondering if Randy would notice like Adam did. Hopefully Randy would do more than just comment on how I look. I tried not to blush at my own thoughts, and forced myself back to reality.
"Thank you, it is a Pay-Per-View. I figured I should look nice," I lied. Adam nodded, but I didn't know if he bought it or not; I had a sneaking suspision that he knew that this show was not for Over the Limit.
We finally made it to the car, where Matt and Edoin were waiting on us. I smiled and waved at Edoin and we both climbed into the back of the SUV. I noticed that she had no bags with her, and she was wearing a pair of white short shorts and pale green, loose-fitting tank top that had a darker green ribbon tying just below the chest, with some wedged sandals. Her short hair was clipped back on either side and her bangs fell over her black sunglasses.
"You don't have a match tonight?" I asked, as we pulled out of the parking lot.
She shook her head. "Neither does Matt, so I don't understand why we have to go. We are just going to be bored. But Matt wants too."
I laughed at her tone. "Well, you can hang out with me in my titantron room if you want too? It's not really fun, but we'll both have some company."
"That sounds a right sight better than sitting in a locker room, listening to the grunting and groaning of adult men as they compare who's more masculine than whom," Edoin laughed.
I heard Matt gasp from the front. "You know that I don't do that. That I don't need to do that."
Edoin rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure. You say that now. Five minutes in the room with all that testosterone and you'll be showing out, doing flips off of ladders or something stupid like that."
"Edie, that was just the one time," Matt groaned.
"All men are the same," Edoin continued, as if she didn't hear Matt. I was near stitches, trying not to cry from laughing. That would ruin my pre-planned Randy make-up. "They show out in front of their friends, get hurt doing something stupid, and come running to their girlfriends for comfort, milking it to the very last drop. But when their friends, the same ones they made fools of themselves in front of, come to check on them, they act all macho."
Adam and I laughed hard at the gaping look on Matt's face, that clearly said that this had happened to him in the past. I wanted to stop laughing, because I knew that Matt was probably embarrassed, but it was just too funny that Edoin had let him have it right in front Adam and I.
"Sure, laugh it up now Edie, but I didn't hear you complaining when you were taking care of me," Matt said, smirking back at Edoin, watching as she turned a bright shade of pink. That shut me up as well, bringing Randy, and tonight, to the forefront of my mind again.
The rest of the ride to the arena was a quiet one as my mind was consumed with Randy, and his arms, and his smile, and pretty much every other limb on his body. I told Edoin to join me in the titantron room about half and hour later, so that I could get a head start in silence, and we parted ways in the parking lot. I was getting better at making my way through the arena without getting extremely lost. Each arenas titantron room was usually in the same place, so I had no real trouble. The only difference was, in this arena, on the way to my room, I had to pass the gym. The walls were made of glass, so I could see all the action on the inside. Several WWE stars were already inside, warming up on the multiple machines that were scattered throughout the large room.
I spotted John and Randy near the middle, on some strange machine, that I could tell worked the arms. And from the look on both John and Randy's faces, it worked the arms hard. I stood, transfixed at the sight of Randy, not having truly gotten over my thoughts from the car ride. He wasn't wearing a shirt, only a pair of loose fitting shorts and some tennis shoes. The gym lights shined off of his glistening back and shoulders, from the sheen of sweat he was creating. My body reacted to his; I could feel my temperature rising, and my heart beat speed up. I wanted to touch him. I wanted to be close to him. Stop, I told myself. I couldn't let myself continue this train of thought. It was dangerous. I turned away from the wall of glass with a moan, and shook my head, trying to clear my clouded mind. I took a deep breath and stepped off for my room when a voice stopped me.
"Lora," it was Randy. Damn. I turned back around slowly to face the man I was just ogling. He was toweling himself dry from sweat, gazing down at me with a look at set my body on fire. I chewed on the inside of my cheek, to stop a moan from escaping my mouth.
"Hi, Randy," was all I could manage to say. I resisted the urge to step back when Randy took a step forward, closer to me. I had to force myself to remember that we were standing in front of a glass room full of WWE superstars, including one of my best friends. I was not going to put on a show for them.
"Should I be worried?" Randy asked, slowly wrappnig his arms around my waist. I looked up at him in confusion.
"Worried?"
"Yes, worried. At this whole sultury look you've got going?" Randy smirked, but I saw a different look in his eye. A look that boasted the already crackling flame in my body. I raised my brow at him, pressing into him softly, watching as his eyes closed ever so slightly.
"I don't know. Is it working?" I whispered.
"Definitely worried," Randy said, his voice low and gravelly. I giggled softly, pulling away from, knowing that if I didn't, I wouldn't make it to my room. I backed away from him slowly, not fighting the smile on my lips at the disappointed look on Randy's face. From the corner of my eye, I could make out silhouettes facing our direction from the gym, and I knew people were watching. I threw one last smile in Randy's direction.
"Good luck tonight Randy," and I turned on my heels, and headed for my room without looking back.
oo
Edoin and I sat in my titantron as Over the Limit kicked off. Kofi Kingston was fighting Drew McIntyre for the Intercontinental Championship. The match showed off both men's talent, and to my delight, Kingston won; I had a soft spot for Kofi. Then Drew began spewing his mouth about being Vince's "Chosen One" and demanding the SmackDown general manager to reverse the decision of the match. I heard Edoin groan next to me. I looked over at her in amusement.
"It's people like him and Sheamus that give someone like me a bad name," she said. "Not all Scottish or Irish-born people are ignorant, bull-headed morons." The look of disgust on her face as she watched McIntyre on the screen caused me to burst into laughter.
My bad feeling had returned. It was hard to stay focused on my work. I wanted nothing more to be in the safety of my hotel room, with Randy in my arms, blocking all worries from the outside. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I had to focus. The next couple of matches went by in a blur. Ted Dibiase Jr. was finally coming into his own, though "his own" was being just like his father, and showing the world how much money he had, and what he could do with it. He even found the same assistant, Virgil, that his father had when he wrestled, to be ringside with him. His match with R-Truth was not as easy as he thought it was going to be, however. It was quite the opposite, even though Dibiase put up a good show, he was still to lose in the end. I was excited about the match between Rey Mysterio and CM Punk. I don't follow SmackDown storylines much, but I'm sure everyone's heard of CM Punk's StraightEdge Society, even if they just followed Raw. I, myself, was extremely happy that Rey was scheduled to win, and to shave all of Punk's hair off. Punk acted like a four-year-old throwing a tantrum while Rey had the clippers, and I couldn't help but laugh at his antics. A grown man acting like that was too much. Then came the Hart Dynasty putting the Unified Tag Team titles on the line against Chris Jericho and The Miz. I rolled my eyes at this pairing. I couldn't imagine more ego in one duo. The world over was happy when the guys in pink and white retained the titles.
The next match up was Randy Orton vs. Edge. I hit Edge's entrance first, as planned, and watched as he strolled through the smoke, and stood still through all his pyrotechnics and ran and slid into the ring to await Randy. I hit Randy's entrance, and watched Randy enter the arena to screams and cheers, trying my best not to notice how the strobing lights flash off of his oiled up skin. Soon the match was under way, and Randy had Edge on the ropes at every turn. There were several times that Edge kept setting up for his spear, but Randy seemed to sense it, and would deflect it one way or another. One spear that Randy stopped with a kick to the chest of Edge, he decided to follow up with revving the crowd for an "RKO" and coiled and started pounding the mat.
Then suddenly, he stopped. He just stopped. I felt my brows knit in confusion as I watched my screen. Randy grasped his right arm and stood up from the mat. But he didn't stand up straight. Then a horrifing thought occurred to me, that maybe he couldn't stand straight up. The camera zoomed in close on his face, and I saw the look of extreme pain on his features as he still clenched to his right arm. But the limb looked absolutely useless, barely moving at his will. All the air had left my body. I heard the soft buzz around me, but my eyes were focused straight ahead at the TV screen showing my Randy in pain, and I didn't know what was wrong with him. But Randy tried to continue the match. They took it out of the ring, and I watched as Adam tried to hit and kick anywhere but his arm. He went for a final spear, that Randy barely ducked, and the referee counted them both out, disqualifing them both. As soon as the bell rang, trainers surrounded Randy.
And I was on my feet. I had to get to him. But then I looked around at my room. It was a Pay-Per-View. Leaving this in the hands of the uncapable David was risky. But Randy was hurt. I spun around, noticing the room had more people in it since I spaced out in my own world. I spotted David over by the controls on the wall. I ran to him.
"David! I have to leave for while; I'm not sure how long. Please, I'll have the walkie-talkie with me, if you have any questions. Please, do this for me?" I begged, praying that he wouldn't screw anything up. He nodded quickly and I turned back to Edoin.
"Will you go find Casie Patterson and tell her where I've gone? She was supposed to join us after a while and watch John. But I have to go right now," I asked, already heading for the door. I heard Edoin yell that she would as I flew out and down the hall.
Another good thing about arenas was that the titantron room was usually never far from the ring entrance. I just followed the growing crowd of people until I heard an outbreak of noise. I stopped in my tracks, and spun around, looking for the sound. I found it coming from behind me. The sight tightened my chest. There were two trainers with Randy, one following behind them, and the other had Randy's left arm draped over his shoulders bracing him for the walk. I felt my hand involuntarily move to my chest, as my breathing picked up.
"Randy!" I called out, my feet finally moving, and I crossed the crowded space between us. Security crowded around him, blocking me from reaching him any further. The trainer that had been following behind them broke free from the guards and walked up to me.
"Pardon me Miss, but we need to tend to Mr. Orton right now. He doesn't need anyone in there right now."
"Excuse me?" I said, placing my hands on my hips. They were keeping me from seeing about Randy, and I was in no mood for this. My temper flared, and I felt it take over my mouth, "Look, no want-to-be doctor and some rent-a-cops are going to keep me from going in there!"
I saw the trainer fluster, and turn a brilliant shade of red in anger, and I heard all the guards grumbling behind him, but I didn't care. However, one voice punctured through all the noise and straight to my ears.
"Let her in," Randy called from beyond the door way. I looked back to the trainer and stared at him, until he slinked out of my path. I huffed and brushed past all of the guards, and rushed into the room. My eyes immediately found Randy. They had him lying down on the padded table, prodding him gently with their fingers. But I could see that his face was scrunched together in pain. I stared wide-eyed at him, wishing that there was something that I could do. I felt helpless. I pulled a chair up close to his table and sat quiet and still while the trainers did all they could. The only thing I knew to do, was to just be there.
"What happened?" I whispered, when we finally had the room all to oursevles. Randy was able to sit up, and his arm was in a sling.
"I have another separated shoulder," he said, but the way he said, made it sound like he was angry at himself. I stood up from my chair and sat next to him on his good side on the table.
"But you've had one of those before, so you know how we can handle it," I reasoned, wondering why he sounded the way he did.
Randy turned his head slowly to look down at me. "We?"
I kept his stare. "Of course, we. You're going to be hurting for a while, which I can't stand the thoughts of, and I'm going to be there to help. You'll just have to endure my company. Though, I don't know if I'm going to like you hogging the covers very much… I might have to get another comforter…" I broke off, noticing Randy staring at me, his mouth slightly open. "What?"
"You're going to stay with me?" I rolled my eyes. Randy must really not get this care-giver business.
"Am I going to have to draw it out for you? You, me, one room, one bed, two comforters, you getting better, and me taking care of you, okay?" I laughed, and laced my fingers with his good arm's hand. I heard Randy chuckle softly beside me, then sigh deeply, before grunting in pain. I looked up at him in alarm, my hands fluttering uselessly about, trying to help. He waved me down, telling me he was okay.
"I'm sorry," Randy said softly. I looked into his eyes in confusion.
"For what?" What could he possible have done to apologize for?
"I'm sorry I ruined our plans," he mumbled. And it clicked into place why he sounded so angry with himself. He was upset that he ruined what we had planned for tonight. "You put a lot of thought in it for me, and I go and get hurt, and now we can't."
I placed my hand on his cheek, forcing him to look at me. I saw the self-blame in his eyes, and I wanted to take it all away. I smiled at him, knowing just what to say.
"Randy, you are worth any wait." And I lean in, careful of his hurt arm, and kiss him softly.
oo
"Lora! Can you hand me the remote?" Randy called, while I was in bathroom, brushing my teeth.
Orton was pushing it, I thought. We hadn't even been back at the hotel three hours, and he was working his injury for water, his will on the TV channels, and the temperature in the room. I walked out of the bathroom, toothbrush still in the mouth, and saw Randy sprawled out on the bed, reaching as far as his long arm would, for the remote; but it was just out of reach. I rolled my eyes, and walked over, picked it up, and tossed it at him, making sure it landed on his stomach. He flashed me a wide smile, and went to flipping the channels again. I turned on my heel and headed back to the bathroom. It was amazing that a man that was one of the biggest WWE Superstars was one of the biggest babies when he got hurt. But, deep down inside, I was enjoying it. I felt like I was able to be on his level now that I could take care of him. Like it made us equals now.
I finished getting ready for bed, and walked back towards Randy's, or well, our bed, crawling in next to Randy. He switched off the TV and carefully slid down to lie back on the pillows.
"I've got you an ice pack ready for in the morning," I said through a yawn. The trainers had said that his separated shoulder wasn't too severe, so all that was needed was ice, anti-inflammatory medicine and a little pshyical therapy. "And your bottle of Aleve is on the table over there on the nightstand. There are also a couple of bottles of fresh water in the mini-fridge for in the morning."
Randy wrapped his good arm around my shoulders, allowing me to snuggle closer to him. "You are too good to me." And he kissed my hair.
We were both pulled out of our private stupor by a frantic knocking on our door. Somewhere in my subconsious I noted how easy it was to fall into habit of calling things "our" between Randy and I. I jumped from the bed, flipping the lamp on, and checked the peep hole. It was Casie. I unchained the door quickly and swung it open, letting her in.
"Casie, are you okay?" I asked, not knowing how much more I could take today. I hadn't seen her all day, not even when Randy joined Edoin and me in the titantron room for the rest of Over the Limit. Edoin had said she couldn't find her. The last time I saw Casie was yesterday, but she looked so much different since then. She was shaking, and pale. There were circles beginning to form under eyes. I cast a look over her shoulder to Randy, who obviously noticed the change as well. His brow was knitted in concern. I grasped Casie by the forearm, and led her to bed, sitting her down gently. "Tell us what's wrong, please?"
"You hear it happening to other people, but you never imagine it happening to you…" Casie whimpered. I stared at her, not understanding what she was saying.
"Does this have anything to do with why you've been sick?" Randy asked, scooting closer to me on the bed.
Casie nodded, a tear sliding down her cheek, my eyes following the solitary tear in shock. Since when did Casie cry? That was something Casie and I had in common, something we rarely did.
"Casie," I begged.
"The doctor," she began, "thinks I may have cancer."
A/N
Oh no! I know it's not what some of you were thinking! And it was very sad for me to write! And by the way, I would like to thank Randy Orton, for almost totally changing my story, and having to write around you're injury! Lol, I'm just kidding, and I wish him a very speedy recovery, because we want to see him pounding that mat again soon! Hehe
Eisac Namhort, Duchan Mandic, Christina89, JoolR, Dreamin'BIG, AshleyBabe86, SuperStar89, Viper-Desi, KimmieCena, Xandman216, Thiala, Barnsley Gal 09 and roknpstergrl Thanks to all my reviewers! Keep it up, please! I love you hearing from you!
Sorry for the cliff hanger! Don't kill me! lol
