Chapter 16
He couldn't believe it.
The beautiful doctor Austin had bragged about, and Taker had planned using to gain an advantage against him, was none other than Geneva. How the hell hadn't he noticed her at the hospital? Those chestnut corkscrew curls should've been a dead giveaway, not to mention they'd been in Seattle. Taker wanted to bang his head against the nearest wall, knowing he'd taken one too many shots to the head over the past few years.
How could he possibly forget his 1997 lover?
Taker technically didn't need her help. His hand was just bruised from how hard he threw a punch in the ring, maybe even a fractured knuckle, and shook himself mentally. "I'd like you to look at my hand." He said, the words polite, but his tone holding something else entirely. It was low, sounding like a deep rumble coming from the center of his chest.
Gritting her teeth, Geneva had to maintain her temper and could not believe he acted as if he didn't know who she was. "Okay have a seat." She replied evenly and walked over, snapping on some gloves, the mere presence of this man sending a shiver down her spine. For two years she'd pined over a man who didn't even remember her. How nice. She suddenly thought of Steve, tempted to make Taker wait for Larry, but knew she couldn't. 'It'll have to wait.' She thought, taking his hand gently in hers and looked at it. She began pressing on it, more importantly the knuckle, definitely feeling the problem. "It's fractured. The only thing I can recommend is a lot of ice, rest and pain killers. So pick your poison." She stated, taking the gloves off and threw them in the trash.
"My poison is bourbon, perhaps you'd care to join me?" Taker offered, standing to his full height, staring down at her intently with piercing acid eyes.
Geneva was never a big drinker, so he didn't expect her to accept his invitation at all. In fact, she acted professional towards him and that unnerved him. This woman had given him the best two years of his life, sex and laughter…only to disappear because of an internship. Now she was back acting as if they were complete strangers. He heard her cell vibrating again and tilted his head to the side, his long black hair swaying with the motion.
"My friend." She said by way of explanation, seeing his eyes drift down to her pocket, where her cell was and looked back up into her eyes. "Actually, I have other plans tonight. Maybe some other time." She replied politely, though her eyes remained icy. The hell she would join this mongrel for a drink when he didn't even remember her! "So if there's nothing else you need, I have to get going."
Taker merely nodded, stepping out of her way, his large body moving with a feline grace that was just wrong for a man his size.
"Hey Doc, you bout ready-" Steve stopped, halting in the doorway at the sight of Taker, blue eyes narrowing to dangerous slits.
"Austin." Taker's voice dripped with sarcasm and malice.
Steve nodded, his fists tightening at his sides, but managed to smile tensely at Geneva. "I'll walk you to your car." He said not wanting Taker to know they were going out together.
There was no reason to be scared of Taker, Geneva thought, as she raised an eyebrow at both men, wondering what the hell was going on between them. Wasn't the wrestling stuff supposed to STAY in the ring? "I don't get it." She mumbled under her breath, shaking her head, and growled when her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. "WHAT?" She shouted in the phone, sighing when she heard her friend Callie. "I'm sorry Cal okay? Look, I got a tattooed giant and that Steve guy I took care of to deal with right now. Can I PLEASE call you back later? Thanks bye." Ending the call abruptly, Geneva picked her bag up, not caring WHO overheard her. She was confused and pissed off all at the same time.
Steve fell in step when she walked out into the hallway. "Geneva, look," He began, using her first name for the first time. "If he was bothering you..." He trailed off, shaking his head. "That's Taker, you might remember him from Seattle. We don't...see eye to eye, to put it mildly."
Of course she knew who Taker was, though nobody else knew about their two week fling back in 1997 and Geneva wanted to keep it that way. "No really? I hadn't noticed." She replied sarcastically, watching as Taker walked in the opposite direction, feeling even more frustrated. She felt terrible for snapping on Callie, but honestly didn't have a choice. It'd been a LONG night and Geneva's mind wasn't exactly on Seattle at the moment. "I know he's the guy from Seattle. He's also the reason why I had to stitch you up again tonight." Playing dumb was her best bet at this point.
"Taker and me are the exception to the rule. He don't like me and I sure as hell don't like him." Seeing the confusion on her face, he sighed. "What you see on TV with him is what you get. He IS into all that dark, demonic shit."
Jaycee actually stopped in her tracks on the way to her car and blinked at him, swallowing hard. No way. No he wasn't, Geneva knew Taker and there was no way he could be THAT evil and sadistic! "Are you serious?" She blinked again when he nodded and shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself. "Are there...other people like that? Do people get hurt in the back, off camera?" She had to ask, remembering those three men who surrounded her earlier.
Back in 1997, people followed the script for the most part and followed rules, but that wasn't the case anymore.
"Not usually." Steve assured her. "His Ministry is about the only nuts who subscribe to what he's preachin', but they normally don't go out of their way to bother anyone. Basically, they're his entourage." He snorted, looking around the lot. "You're lookin' shaken up honey, how 'bout I drive you?" He offered softly.
Geneva could only nod and handed her keys over without argument, allowing him to guide her to his truck that had Austin 3:16 painted on it. Her eyes widened in horror when they got closer and a purple T with an X through the bottom of the T was painted on his hood. The shock caused her to stumble back because something about that symbol caused her nerves to heighten further, a lump forming in her throat.
"Um...I know I shouldn't ask, but...what is THAT?"
"THAT is Taker's callin' card." The anger was radiating off of Steve in waves as he surveyed his truck. "That mother fucker..." He hissed. Steve was quite tempted to turn around, go find the Deadman and really kill him for this. "Don't worry about it, Doc. Nothin' that can't be fixed." He said finally, taking deep calming breaths and opened the passenger door for her.
"Actually, I'm not feeling so well. I think it's the jetlag. Rain check?"
Geneva didn't wait for an answer, darting to her vehicle and unlocked it, throwing her bag in the backseat. She quickly slid in the driver's side, fired up the engine and peeled out of the parking lot. That symbol flashed in her mind while driving to the hotel, wondering what the hell was going on in the WWF. She wished she could talk to someone about Taker, but not even Callie and Lance knew about her fling.
"I really got myself into a mess this time." She mumbled under her breath, needing a hot bubble bath and bed after the night she had.
After a bubble bath, Geneva felt a little calmer as she poured herself a glass of wine, deciding to call Callie back, and apologized ten times for the way she treated her. She explained what had happened and sighed when Callie demanded she come back to Seattle. No matter if Taker had changed, that wasn't going to chase Geneva away from the WWF, refusing to let him intimidate her.
"I can't, Cal, not yet." She stated, sipping some of her wine and looked out the window, wearing a black silk robe with a matching nightgown underneath. "I have to go to bed now. I'll call you later. I love you bye." She then hung up and downed the rest of her wine, heading to bed, knowing she had to be up early in the morning to go to the next city.
Geneva Foley. Taker tossed the file onto his bed, sinking down into a chair, staring out the hotel window. It seemed the Rattlesnake had a little crush on the good doctor. How interesting indeed. He chuckled darkly before exiting his hotel room, acid eyes flashing at the thought of Austin touching what was his. No matter if they hadn't seen each other in two years, Geneva was Taker's and had staked that claim for two straight weeks.
Discovering where she was staying wasn't hard. Procuring a key to her room even less of a challenge. Taker stood over the sleeping chestnut haired beauty, just staring down at her, still not believing she was back in the WWF. He could see quite well in the dark, his eyes quickly adjusting to the night. A hint of a smirk played on his lips as he gently pulled back the blanket covering her body, taking in the nightgown.
"Black..." He murmured huskily, his desire for her already rising. Nostrils flaring slightly, Taker stepped away, turning to leave. When she woke up, she would find his gift.
A black rose on the nightstand beside her.
When Geneva found that gift the next morning, she knew something definitely wasn't right and checked all of her things to make sure nothing had been taken. A pair of panties. Great. She sighed and shook her head, jumping in the shower before having a quick cup of coffee. Having a deadline, Geneva always met them in Seattle, so this was nothing new to her. She grabbed her bag and left the black rose on the nightstand, pretending like it wasn't there.
Steve lounged in his locker room at the arena early. Knocking back a few pre-show beers and contemplating just how he'd pay back Taker for ruining his truck. Not that it was ruined anymore, he'd gotten that fixed as soon as possible. No way in hell he was driving that thing as it was.
"Did you know your doctor has quite an...exotic taste in panties?"
"Get the fuck outta here, boy."
"Mmm."
Steve knew he shouldn't have looked, but he did, eyes widening. "You sumbitch!" He shouted angrily, getting to his feet.
Geneva sighed when she arrived at the arena a few hours later, seeing Steve waiting for her and knew she'd have to explain herself for the previous night. She didn't mean to bolt, she simply...she got scared honestly. Not to mention that gift she found in her hotel room this morning caused her fear to heighten a little more. Blinking when he held a pair of panties...the same panties that were stolen from her…on his fingertips, Geneva immediately growled as she snatched them from him.
"You son of a bitch!" She shouted, shoving him back and walked into the office, slamming the door in his face. "Go away right now, Steve!" She ordered when she heard the door open, knowing it was him who broke into her hotel room.
"I am not Steve." The disdain at the mere thought dripped from his tongue like venom. Taker held up his hands when she whirled around to glare at him. "I'm not here to bother you, I'd just like you to have a look at my hand." He extended his left hand, the one with a broken knuckle, only now it was red and swollen. "Austin decided to smash it with a chair." He explained, trying to flex his fingers and couldn't, hissing in pain through his teeth.
"That damn..." Geneva sighed, composing herself and nodded before gesturing to the bedding. "Have a seat." She sounded almost in disbelief as she snapped some gloves on and turned around, wearing a deep purple tank top with a pair of black skinny jeans and black tennis shoes. "Try flexing your fingers." She ordered gently, wincing slightly and pressed against them, chewing her bottom lip when he could barely move them. "It's broken." She confirmed, shaking her head and practically ripped the gloves from her hands. "You need to go to the hospital and have it x-rayed for further damage. If you don't and the bones heal wrong, they will have to rebreak your hand to set the bones right, which will take a LONG time to heal. The choice is yours though." Turning her back on him, Geneva still could not believe Steve would go that far as to break a man's hand.
"Is there anyway you could tape it for me for the night? I'll go to the hospital after the show." Taker said, standing up directly behind her. "I have a few segments tonight that'll be aired live, I can't just leave, Neva." He waited patiently for her to turn back around, almost tempted to lean down and smell her hair, her skin, but refrained. Time for all that later.
Her eyes closed, hearing his special name for her and fought back tears, so many emotions coursing through her body all at once. So he finally remembered her, or maybe he knew all along. Geneva sighed, knowing there was no way she could convince him not to do his segments for the night, remembering how stubborn Taker was about his work.
"Sure."
Walking over, Geneva snapped on a new pair of gloves and grabbed the tape, swallowing hard. She rolled the stool over to sit on, taking his large hand in hers and began wrapping it, focusing all of her attention on what she was doing instead of the man before her. She was angry at Steve, vowing to get a bolted door on any hotel room doors she stayed in from now on and extra security.
Taker smiled down at her when she'd finished, the expression very out of place on his otherwise grim face. "Thank you, Neva." He said, staring into her eyes for a moment.
Those beautiful ocean blues that invaded his thoughts and dreams for the past two years. Taker had missed her, thought about tracking her down in Seattle several times, but Geneva made it clear they were no-strings attached. He nodded at her then walked out. As soon as he was out the door and down the hall, the smile turned pure evil. Breaking his hand had been worth it to see her again, oh yes indeed.
Geneva had to learn how to breathe again, shaking herself mentally, trying to focus on what was going on around her. He still had those hypnotic green eyes that pierced her soul, searing her insides. Even after all this time, Geneva didn't understand how he could still have such a strong effect on her. Clearing her dry throat, Geneva's next client, Jeff Hardy, stumbled in needing treatment.
"You hit another ladder again, didn't you?"
"Not a ladder this time and you wouldn't even believe..." Jeff mumbled in his slow easy drawl, groaning and closed his eyes. "I was walkin' and Terri opened the door to the women's locker room, and bam!" He pulled his hand away from his forehead, revealing a beautiful lump. "Got me good, didn't it?"
"Doc, we gotta talk, honey. There's been a misunder-"
Jeff looked at Steve expectantly, fluttering his eyelashes playfully. "Yes, Austin?"
"Steve, unlike you, I have a job to do right now so kindly vacate my office so I can finish with my patient. Then you can explain your misunderstanding." Geneva ordered gruffly, refusing to turn around to face him, dabbing at Jeff's cut on his forehead and shook her head. This boy was going to wind up with brain damage if he wasn't careful. "No more running into doors or ladders, Jeffrey. Now get moving. I have more patients to see." She ordered, stepping to the sink to wash her hands.
Jeff hesitated, his hand on the doorknob and looked back at her, chewing his bottom lip thoughtfully. "You gonna be alright, Doctor Foley?" He asked quietly. "I mean…this has gotta be different as hell from working at a hospital, dealin' with all us nuts, I mean."
"C'mon Hardy, I need to ask the doctor a question!"
"Your implants can wait, Terri!"
Geneva had a very hard time keeping a straight face and nodded back at him with a smile. "Yeah, I am Jeffrey. Go on now so I can answer the dumb blonde's question." She smirked as he laughed and held her hand up to Terri. "The swelling WILL go down, Terri, I assure you. They are new, it usually takes around four weeks for them to COMPLETELY heal. So try staying out of the ring, m'kay?" Guiding her out of the room none too gently, Geneva slammed the door in her face and pressed her forehead against it.