The following week went exactly as Paul hoped that it would. He quickly found himself an expensive condo to buy not too far from where he had been living previously. He had already faced the reality of losing the house to that leach Trish when the divorce went through. A one bedroom condo was all he was going to need for the foreseeable future, he was done with relationships. The place was already empty too so he could move in the following week.
When Monday night came around again he successfully managed to avoid seeing Trish and restricted his contact with Laura to the minimum possible. She was polite and professional with him again as she had been the week before but he still intended to speak to her as little as possible as he knew that she was only waiting for an opportunity to do something in retaliation for that day in her office. She may have thought she was hiding it but her eyes gave her away. Those beautiful green eyes were the most striking feature about her and you could always tell a lot by looking into them.
He had found himself briefly thinking about how hot Laura was despite how much he hated her but then he had quickly dismissed it as she was not his type. He liked a woman he could be in control of and he doubted anyone was capable of controlling that crazy hot headed egomaniac. The fact that she was married or whether she would have any interest in him did not factor into his thought process. He figured that if he showed an interest in a woman the feeling being mutual was a guarantee.
After the show he had gone back to the hotel and eaten dinner alone then headed up to Stephanie's room where they had spent the night having hot sex again. He considered that the single life really was what he preferred as he again left Stephanie's room during the night as she slept. As long as she did not start wanting this to be anything more than incredible sex things would be perfect.
The next morning as Stephanie dressed following her shower she felt confused. Paul had come to her for sex again but he still had not even given her his number. Surely he should have by now? She had expected him to ask her to dinner or something too, they had not even had a first date as yet. Was she really going to have to be the one to ask him? Maybe that was what he wanted? It seemed strange as he seemed to like being the one in charge. Deciding that she had nothing to lose she intended to talk to him about it if she saw him when she went downstairs for breakfast.
Paul had almost finished his food when he saw Stephanie enter the restaurant and begin assembling her own meal. Silently praying for her not to come in his direction he was immediately disappointed. He realised that she was not getting the message even though he thought he had been plain enough with it. How to get rid of her without being so rude that she would not want sex again? It was going to be a delicate balancing act. Why did women have to be so damned awkward all of the time?
Stephanie gave Paul one of her best smiles as she sat down opposite him. She did not bother to ask if she could sit, it did not enter her head that he might not want her to. She said, "Hey, last night was amazing."
Draining his already nearly empty cup of coffee Paul agreed, "It was."
Starting work on her toast Stephanie said, "Uh... I still don't have your number Paul."
"No you don't." Could she really be this naïve?
Apparently she could as still not picking up on his signals she said, "You should give it to me, we can arrange a date. A meal or something?"
Paul rolled his eyes and clarified for her with a little hostility, "I don't know what you think this is but it's not a relationship. This is sex and nothing more, it's not going to be anything more. I'm not interested in anything more."
Stephanie's face looked surprised and sad as she said quietly, "Oh."
Realising that he had been more forceful than he had intended Paul cursed himself silently before saying, "Look I just don't want anything serious. I'll see you next week or something." With that he stood and walked away, leaving Stephanie at the table looking a little dumbfounded. She knew that Paul felt something for her, she had seen it in his eyes. Why was he trying to deny it? She decided it must be because of how Trish had treated him, he was afraid to get close to someone again. It was a little strange as after all he had been the one to cheat but it was the only explanation that made sense to Stephanie. She would just have to keep working on him, they would get close to each other in the end. He could not deny his feelings forever.
Paul forgot about Stephanie during the week as he was too busy moving into his condo and buying furniture and other things for it. The sooner the divorce went through the better for him. At least that dragon Trish would be out of his life for good. He saw no point in contesting the divorce as he had been stupid enough to admit to Trish that he had fucked Stephanie. That had been really stupid, if he had just denied it she probably could not have proved anything. It was done now though so he decided to grant the little vulture what she wanted and move on with his life. Getting angry, stressed or miserable about it would not change anything and anyhow he did not want Trish to have the satisfaction. Despite the fact that he had lost one of his jobs and his wife he considered that life could be worse. He was now a single man and he could fuck who he liked when he liked plus he was still the best and highest paid wrestler in the industry. Unknown to him was that things were indeed going to get a lot worse very soon.
Triple H was booked in a triple threat match the next Monday night on Raw by Stephanie's character against John Cena and Daniel Bryan with the unspoken idea being that the two other men would both have the chance to beat the hell out of him in retaliation for the way he had treated him during his reign in charge. It was during this match that things went wrong for Paul.
It was something he had done thousands of times in his career and it was one of the most routine things to do in a wrestling match. He knocked John Cena through the ropes to the floor outside the ring and as he turned around Daniel Bryan game him a clothesline which sent him over the top rope. It was as this happened and Paul landed on his feet on the outside as he always did and had done countless times before that he felt an incredible stabbing pain in his right knee and the leg buckled underneath him. He instinctively clutched at it and screamed as the pain hit him and he crumpled to the floor next to the ring apron at the side of the ring.
Referee Charles Robinson knew that this was not part of the match and that Paul must have hurt himself. He scrambled out of the ring and crouched down next to Paul who gasped out, "Knee's fucked. Tell them to get each other back in the ring."
The next thing Paul knew the ringside doctor, Chris Amann had replaced Charles Robinson, looking down at him and asking what had happened. The pain was incredible, making him want to scream again but he managed to grit his teeth and moan in agony instead. He knew he was in serious trouble and that he had sustained a bad knee injury.
"Must have landed funny, knee's gone," Paul said through the pain. He could hear the two other men wrestling back in the ring so he knew that Robinson had communicated the problem to them and the match would be completed without him. It was already obvious to him that he could not continue. With pain this bad he knew he would not be able to put weight on the leg. He might not have been the doctor of the two but he already guessed what had happened as Chris made him lie on his back and moved the knee gently. The pain caused Paul to scream again as he did so. He managed to say, "It's a ligament isn't it?"
"Most likely," Chris confirmed, "Hopefully only a sprain but could be a tear, the knee doesn't feel too stable. You're going to have to go on a stretcher." Paul saw him make the dreaded X signal with his arms that every wrestler dreaded seeing. It was the signal that confirmed there was a genuine and serious injury and would call more medical personnel to ringside.
The pain was so intense that it was now making Paul feel sick but even so he insisted, "No stretcher, help me to walk out."
Chris said forcefully, "This isn't time for pride H, it could be a ligament tear or even multiple tears and if it is it could be career threatening. I'm sorry to tell you that but you need to know how serious this is and you need to go on the stretcher."
Paul's eyes widened in horror as he listened. He knew a knee ligament injury could be bad but this bad? Even so he had no intention of leaving the arena on a stretcher, especially if it was for the final time. He insisted again, "No. I'm walking out. Do whatever you want in the back but I'm walking out."
More personnel arrived a minute later and by this time the pain was getting even worse. This was the first serious injury of his career and he had never felt pain like it as he lay groaning on the protective matting covering the concrete. Injury was an inevitability in this business, everyone on the roster knew that when they signed up but surely the first bad injury he suffered could not end his career? He could not be that unlucky, could he?
Paul made sure to lie still as the pain continued to assault him while Chris informed the other personnel about what the suspected injury was and that Paul was insisting on walking out of the arena. The match was still continuing in the ring but as he was very carefully lifted to a standing position Paul saw that he was now the centre of attention for most of the crowd. His character may have been the most hated on the roster but the fans recognised a genuine injury when they saw one and as Paul hobbled away with an arm around Chris on one side and the other around another large man on the other side for support, keeping his right leg clear of the floor the fans began to applaud and get to their feet.
Tears came to Paul's eyes. If anyone had asked he would have claimed that it was purely the incredible pain that caused them but the reality was that the show of respect he was receiving had a significant amount to do with it. It seemed to take an age to get up the ramp and into the backstage area but eventually he was lying in the doctors room. He was given something for the pain and Chris told him that the first thing that needed to be done was to get ice on the knee to reduce the swelling that had already started in preparation for him to be taken to the local hospital for a scan which would determine the extent of the injury. Things were blurring a little for Paul, the pain was all he could focus on.
With pain assaulting him in waves as Chris worked on him the last thing that Paul needed was what happened next. He heard the door open and then Laura Molinaro's voice, "What is it? Is it bad?" He could not see her as the door was directly behind the top of his head as he lay on the bed which made it impossible for him to look at her, not that he wanted to. In any case the question had been directed at Chris who answered as he continued working, "It's a knee ligament injury, hopefully a sprain but could be a tear or even multiple tears if we're really unlucky."
Laura's simple response was to demand, "How long?" Paul was not really surprised that she had not bothered to say anything to him, she was not the kind of person who pretended to care when she did not. Instead she apparently intended to discuss him as if he was not there.
"Impossible to tell until we get a scan," Chris said.
Clearly getting angry, which never seemed to take much with her Laura barked, "I don't pay you to tell me nothing. Speculate."
The presence of this woman and her attitude were adding to Paul's pain and he was only just able to resist the temptation to yell at her to fuck off. Instead he tried to focus on sucking up the pain and keeping his mouth shut.
Chris did as ordered, "As I said we need a scan but even if it's only a sprain it's still a serious injury. Two months minimum to get back in the ring. If it's one or more tears we could be talking eight, nine months, maybe even career threatening."
For the first time ever Paul heard Laura raise her voice. Apparently the thought of losing TV ratings and money hand over fist were enough to get her there and she yelled, increasing in volume with each sentence, "I can't lose him for two fucking months! And you're talking about nine?! Or career ending?!"
"What do you want me to say?" Chris asked helplessly as he looked up at the irate woman. Despite everything Paul felt a hint of satisfaction at Laura's words. He remembered back to that day in her office when he had told her that she could not afford to lose him and she had just said exactly the same thing to Chris. He hoped that she had also just had the same recollection.
Both men were relieved as Laura said quietly, somehow managing to make an instruction sound almost like a threat, "I want more info on this yesterday," and slammed the door behind her as she left the room.
With closed eyes and clenched teeth Paul muttered, "I fucking hate that woman."
Chris carefully phrased his agreement, "You said that not me H. I'm nearly done here, we can get you to the hospital soon. Judging by your pain I'd say a sprain is most likely, a tear would hurt more than this and although the knee doesn't feel too stable I've seen a lot worse."
Paul was not surprised that Chris had kept this information from Laura, it did not take a genius to figure out what would happen if he gave her an optimistic diagnosis and was then found to be incorrect. What Paul had a hard time believing was that it could possibly hurt more than this. The pain was making him sweat now.
Ten minutes later with the ice secured around his knee and changed back into his street clothes Paul was given crutches and sent with a member of the medical team to an ambulance for the short trip to the hospital. Chris wished him good luck and said that he would be there after the show had finished. He had to be at ringside for the rest of the show in case anyone else suffered an injury. It was when Paul was roughly half way to the parking garage and the waiting ambulance that he saw Stephanie McMahon approaching. He mumbled under his breath, "Not now, please."