Chapter 25

The next day, Valisa was released from the hospital in Zelia's care and they immediately flew to Florida so she could settle in for the week. Physically, she was healed for the most part, but emotionally and mentally was a completely different story. She still hadn't said a word to anyone, including Zelia. Squeezing her hand, nodding and shaking her head were the only responses Zelia got from Valisa, but the woman refused to speak. Zelia wouldn't push her to talk either and knew, when Valisa was ready to do it, she would and not a second before.

When they landed and settled in, Zelia texted both Jon and Joe to let them know they made it safely. Joe was worried sick about Valisa, but he understood that she needed time to heal from what Brooks did to her. Not to mention, Joe had to find evidence that proved his innocence because there was no way in hell he would ever touch Eva Marie, not willingly anyway. The bosses assured them they were doing everything they could to find out who was behind the television setup, but so far they found nothing.

Valisa watched television, read books and relaxed while Zelia took care of the housework and cooking. She knew if the roles were reversed, Valisa would do the same for her in a heartbeat, so Zelia honestly didn't mind. She just wanted Valisa to get better, missing hearing her upbeat friend. It would be a while before Valisa was back to her old self, but eventually she would get there. Zelia hoped anyway. Every day she was gone, Jon blew her phone up with text messages and they talked every night, missing each other like crazy. Most of the conversations turned sexual, which Zelia did not complain about because she couldn't get enough of Jon's low raspy voice.

2 days before they were due back on the road for WrestleMania week, Valisa finally had a breakthrough of sorts. Zelia had been sleeping soundly and bolted upright in bed by a horrible scream, jade eyes shooting open. What the hell? Zelia jumped out of bed and scrambled down the hallway, hitting her foot on the small table on her way to Valisa's room. Cursing violently, Zelia crashed through Valisa's door and tried ignoring the pain in her throbbing toe, hobbling over to her crying friend. Sitting on the bed, Zelia didn't make a move to touch Valisa in case she was still in the nightmare she had, blinking when Valisa clutched her hand.

"Vali, it's okay sweetie." Zelia said soothingly, feeling how badly her friend was shaking and felt her heart nearly stop when Valisa finally spoke.

"It was Phil."

Her voice was so soft that Zelia had to strain to hear her, trying to hold back her temper. "Phillip Brooks?" She watched Valisa nod and closed her eyes, swallowing past the lump that formed in her throat.

"I thought it was you at the door. You'd just visited me and I asked you to leave because I wanted time alone." Valisa increased the volume of her voice a little, though it was still incredibly soft. It didn't sound like a whisper anymore. "I didn't see who it was. I didn't check and I should've." Blinking while staring down at her blanket, huge tears slid down Valisa's cheeks and she squeezed Zelia's hand again. "I opened it and it was him. He had flowers and asked if he could come in to talk to me about the DVD with Joe and that redheaded whore. I never should've let him in." Her voice cracked and Valisa started trembling again. "The last thing I felt was something hard hitting the back of my head. I don't know how long I was out. I woke up and h-he…he was…"

Zelia felt sick to her stomach, but she had to be strong for Valisa right now, not sure she wanted her to continue. She was afraid if she uttered a word or a sound that Valisa would stop talking. That was the last thing she wanted to happen considering this was the first time in almost 2 weeks Valisa had said a word. So Zelia sat there and waited, no longer tired and her toe had stopped throbbing, her primary focus on her best friend.

It took several long minutes for Valisa to get up the courage to continue, not bothering to wipe her tears away. "I was handcuffed, Zel. I was handcuffed to the bed and I remember the pain from them cutting into my wrists." She turned her free hand over and looked at the mean red mark across her wrist that had scabbed over from healing. "He was…raping me while I was unconscious and I woke up feeling him inside of me. It was disgusting. I've never felt so violated in my life and wanted to kill him. Then he started hitting me because my body refused to comply with his invasion. H-He threatened me that if I didn't get wet for him, he would make it more painful for me. And I still didn't do it. He tried kissing me and I nearly bit his tongue off. That pissed him off, so he flipped me over and…took me from behind. He shoved a gag in my mouth so I couldn't scream. It was basically a rape and beating fest for hours. I never thought the pain would go away. I never thought he'd stop. But he finally did and said next time maybe I'd give him what he wants. And then told me that either I didn't give up the goods to Joe or…he needs something more and that's why he went to…Eva Marie. That my pussy wasn't worth fucking."

Zelia wanted to castrate Phil for everything he did to her best friend all because of his jealousy. That's all it sounded like to Zelia was pure jealousy and animosity. "Don't listen to him, Vali. Joe loves you so much. You have no idea how worried he's been about you. It killed him to leave you at the hospital. All he wanted to do was see you once before he left, but he understands why he couldn't. He calls me every day to check on you and he misses you so much. Joe didn't cheat on you. A man who cheats would never show that much dedication, love and devotion. You are the only woman he wants."

"T-Then how did the DVD happen?" Valisa finally looked up at Zelia, keeping her voice low and distant. "If he didn't cheat on me, then how the hell did he wind up on that DVD completely naked with that redheaded whore? Because until I know for a fact he didn't cheat on me with her, I want nothing to do with him." She meant every word that came out of her mouth and folded her arms in front of her chest. "As much as I love him and want to be with him, I can't be with someone who cheats on me. I simply can't. I have more self-respect for myself than that."

In all honesty, Zelia didn't blame Valisa for the way she felt because she still didn't understand how Joe wound up in bed with Eva Marie either. There's no way that DVD was cropped or messed with. It was actual footage of Joe and Eva Marie in bed sleeping together with her head on his chest. If the roles were reversed and it was Jon, Zelia would react the same way Valisa had and demand proof that she hadn't been cheated on. So unless they got the truth from Eva Marie, there really was no way to prove Joe's innocence.

"You're right." Zelia murmured quietly, squeezing Valisa's hand and couldn't even muster up a smile for her. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be defending him against you. I mean, honestly I don't believe he would ever cheat on you, but that DVD was pretty iron clad. I've asked Jon if they've found anything out and apparently Eva Marie isn't talking. They can't force her either. Stephanie threatened to fire her and Eva just shrugged her off. All she said was they did sleep together and she has no idea how it got on DVD."

"Naturally." Valisa snorted, rolling her eyes and scrubbed both hands down her face, completely frustrated. "Maybe Joe should just corner her ass and force her to talk."

"Tried that." Zelia shook her head, sighing heavily. "All 3 of the boys cornered her and she threatened to report them to the bosses for harassment if they didn't leave her alone. Jon wanted to throttle her, but Joe and Colby held him back. Believe me, they've tried everything to get her to confess the truth, but the whore isn't budging."

Valisa could feel tears sting her eyes again and laid back on the bed, curling up with her tearstained pillow. "Maybe its Joe who should start confessing." She said quietly, closing her eyes as silent tears slid from the corners of her eyes. "If you cheat, at least have the balls to tell the person you cheated on that you did it. He's being a coward by acting like a victim. It's not the first time I've been cheated on and something tells me it won't be the last."

"Do you honestly believe in your heart that he did it?" Zelia asked, placing a hand on Valisa's blanket covered side. "Or do you think it's a work?"

"The DVD doesn't lie, Zel. If he didn't do it and it's a work, that's a hell of a job done because it looks completely real." Valisa closed her eyes, feeling exhausted and drained after reliving what Phil did to her. "I'm going to try to get some more sleep. You should do the same."

"Okay sweetie." Zelia stood up from the bed and kissed her forehead, pulling the blanket up a little to tuck her in. "Don't give up on Joe. There's still a chance we'll get the proof we need to clear him. And as soon as we get back on the road, we are going straight to Stephanie and telling her who attacked you."

Valisa shook her head. "I'm calling her tomorrow…or rather when I get up." She corrected when she glanced at the clock and saw it was going on 4 AM. "Good night, Zel."

"Night Vali."

Zelia walked out of her room, leaving the door open in case Valisa needed her and headed back to her own. She closed the door partially, leaving it cracked and went straight to her phone, dialing Jon's number. It was early and she knew it, but there was no way she'd be able to sleep until she told him what Valisa just revealed.

"Yeah?" Jon's deep groggy voice rasped over the line after the third ring, not bothering to check the caller ID.

"Hey, it's me. I'm sorry I woke you up, but…something just happened and I have to tell you about it." Zelia could feel her stomach twisting violently and knew Jon would be extremely angry after hearing this.

Jon shot upright in the hotel bed. "Are you okay?" He demanded, sounding more awake than before and breathed a sigh of relief when Zelia assured him she was fine. "What the fuck happened then?"

"Valisa finally spoke." Zelia admitted quietly, laying back on the bed facing the window.

"Are you fucking serious?" Jon yawned, unable to help it and knew Joe would be happy to hear that. "What did she say?"

Tears stung Zelia's eyes as she grew silent, trying to control her emotions and felt her heart completely break at what Valisa told her. "Everything. She told me everything, Jon." She whispered, not trusting her voice at the moment and wished he was there to wrap her in his strong arms. "I-It was horrible…"

Jon closed his eyes, absolutely hating the sound of a woman crying, especially Zelia. "Calm down, Zel." He murmured soothingly, scrubbing a hand down his face and reached over on the nightstand to grab his cigarettes, immediately lighting one up. "Breathe and tell me what she said."

"It was Phillip Brooks. H-He's the one who attacked and…raped her…" Zelia squeezed her eyes tightly shut, full blown sobs erupting from her body as she curled up in a tight ball. Her hand clutched the phone like a lifeline while Jon proceeded to let out a string of cuss words. "S-She had a nightmare and woke up s-screaming. And told me everything that piece of shit did to her. He beat and raped her for hours. And she wasn't even awake for some of it because she said everything went black as soon as she let him in her room."

"Why the fuck did she let him in there in the first fucking place?" Jon growled, standing up from the bed and began pacing, puffing on his smoke, opening the window to flick ash out of it. "What the fuck was she thinking?"

Zelia felt the guilt crash over her in violent waves and cried harder. "S-She thought it was me checking on her again. I-I went to her before going to my room, where you were waiting for me." Then the realization of what happened dawned on Zelia and her crying turned to full-fledged sobbing, not able to hold it back. "W-While she was being beaten and r-raped by that monster, we-we were together. I never should've left her. I should've stayed even if she asked me to leave. T-This is all my fault…"

Taking a long drag, Jon had to calm down before he ended up breaking his phone and closed his eyes, sitting on the bed with his icy eyes staring straight ahead. "No it's not, Zelia. The only one responsible for what happened to Valisa is that sick mother fucker. She asked you to leave and you respected her wishes. That's all there is to it. She didn't know he'd show up." Even then, Valisa should've checked to see who was at the door, but Jon would never say that to her. "What did Brooks say to convince her to open the door?"

"He wanted to talk to her about the DVD incident with Joe. Said he had information about it or something." Zelia muttered, gritting her teeth and suddenly stood up from the bed, staring out the window. "I know Joe didn't cheat on her and something tells me Phil and Eva Marie are somehow working together. It's too coincidental."

Jon couldn't help agreeing with her, blowing smoke out of his nose and mouth. "We'll get to the bottom of it, I promise you that, Zel. That mother fucker isn't getting away with what he did to her. Even if I have to kill him myself." He meant that, cracking his knuckles and knew Joe would join in on the murder if that's what it took to get some sort of vengeance for what happened to Valisa. "Change of subject, I can't talk about this anymore."

"Okay, what's on your mind?" Zelia agreed, knowing Jon could only hear about what happened for so long and then he had to talk about something else.

"Do you remember Sami Callihan? He worked for a bit in HWA with me and then moved onto CZW."

Zelia smiled. "Of course, Aric called and told me he got signed to WWE developmental."

Jon raised a brow, flicking his cigarette butt out the window. "What? When did you talk to Aric?" He wasn't aware she'd kept in contact with anyone in HWA considering she had completely cut all ties with him.

"The night of my debut where you completely freaked out on Colby." Zelia would never forget the anger in his eyes. "Aric is the only one I kept in contact with from HWA." She admitted, not realizing just how irate her boyfriend currently was on the other line. "Jon?"

"I have to go. I'll see you in a few days."

The line went dead and Zelia blinked, pulling the phone back to stare at it questioningly. Did Jon really just hang up on her? Swallowing hard, Zelia walked back over to the bed and collapsed on it, not expecting the phone call to end so abruptly as fresh tears slid down her cheeks. She couldn't help wondering if things between her and Jon would ever be fully healed from what she did to him.

Would they ever be able to let the past go and move on?