Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Part Twenty-Four

She rushed down the hallway, ignoring the fact that she'd just about turned her ankle in the high heels she was wearing. Melina had come running to get her just a few moments ago, and part of Eve still couldn't believe what the other woman had been telling her. Not that she thought Melina would lie to her - she had no reason to do so - but it just seemed so... Crazy. Surreal. Something she'd never seen coming though, in truth, perhaps she should have. Perhaps it shouldn't be such a surprise. After all, she knew how freaking obsessed Maria Kanellis seemed to be with Jeff Hardy. Even though Maria was actually starting to see someone else right now - that jerk Dolph Ziggler - the diva's eyes still seemed to always be on Jeff... Something Dolph didn't seem the least bit insecure about. Perhaps because he knew that Maria had no chance with Jeff. Maria, however, still seemed to think that she did... And Jeff clearly knew how the woman felt about him. After all, there were no doubts in Eve's mind that, despite the fact that it was Maria that had done the attacking, it was Jeff Hardy that was really behind it. Jeff suspected that Kelly knew the truth about things, he knew that she was Eve's friend - the only friend he was aware of that she had, probably - and it made sense that he would want her out of the picture.

Eve knew now that it was foolish of her to think that Kelly would be safe. She'd been correct in thinking that Jeff would know better than to go after the blonde woman himself, but she hadn't been prepared for the fact that he might talk someone else into going after Kelly for him... Someone like Maria. And Eve knew damned good and well that Maria was too desperate for Jeff's approval to spill the beans and tell people that she'd attacked Kelly because he'd wanted her to. But Eve knew the truth. She knew it. This was all Jeff Hardy's doing.

"Damn him," Eve muttered as she continued to hurry down the hallway, the woman ignoring the odd look she got from Melina for that. Not surprising that Melina would look confused... Like everyone else, the Latina diva thought that Maria had done this on her own. She probably figured that Eve should be saying 'damn her' instead of 'damn him'. But the thing was, Eve knew that Maria wasn't smart enough to pull off an ambush on her own. Not a successful one. After all, the one time Maria had attacked her from behind? She'd turned it around on the girl almost instantly. And that attack had been on a whim. This one had clearly been premeditated. Why else would Maria have had a freaking tire iron in her hands when she'd gone after the younger diva?

"Is Kelly going to be okay?" Eve questioned, hoping to distract Melina from her previous muttering, and the older diva heaved out a sigh.

"In the long run? Yeah, she should be. But Maria got some good shots in on her. She won't be in the ring for awhile," the woman said, shaking her head as she walked. "I don't get it. I know Maria has been a little off lately - dating that Dolph Ziggler jerk sure isn't doing her any good - but seriously... To attack Kelly with a freaking tire iron? And for no reason. I don't know what in the hell is going on in that woman's mind," Melina said, glancing at Eve as she spoke, looking as if she hoped the other woman would enlighten her, but Eve just shook her head. She liked Melina well enough, but she wasn't about to let her in on what was going on... Especially since the one person she had let in on things had just been attacked with a tire iron.

"I don't know. I guess I should just be glad she didn't have a tire iron on her when she attacked me awhile back," was all Eve said, and Melina nodded slightly at that, looking for a moment like she'd almost forgotten Maria and Eve's fight in the hallway just a couple of weeks before.

"Well, all I know is that the girl's gone psycho. I don't know who in the hell she'll attack next, especially since there's no reason behind it."

"Don't ask me how her mind works. I'm usually amazed the woman makes it to work without getting lost," Eve replied, falling into the old 'Maria's an idiot' joke that never failed to earn a smirk and a nod... Well, it got a nod this time, but since they were both worried about Kelly, the smirk was skipped this time around. Taking a deep breath, Eve rounded the corner and headed for the door that was marked as the trainers' room. She stopped short at the sight that met her eyes in the main part of the room. It wasn't Kelly that was there, it was CM Punk, the man getting his wrists taped up like he usually did, the wrestler clearly getting ready for his title defense later that night on the pay per view. She stared at him for a moment, their eyes meeting for what hopefully wasn't too long considering the fact that they had an audience, Eve pulling her gaze away to look at the trainer that was there, but not before she saw the concern in Punk's eyes that told her he knew what was going on. "Where's Kelly?" the diva asked.

The trainer pointed to the door that led to the smaller, inner room. "She's in there. There's concern about her ribs."

"She was hit with a fucking tire iron. Of course there's concern about her ribs," Melina tossed out with a roll of her eyes as she headed across the room, leaving Eve to send the trainer an apologetic look for the other woman's comment before she hurried after her... Sending Punk one last look before she slipped into the smaller room, where Kelly sat on the table, having her ribs looked at by a member of the medical staff. She hissed and jerked when pressure was put on her rib, then whimpered at the motion. Eve rushed to her friend's side.

"Kelly, I'm so sorry-"

"Are you the one that hit me with a tire iron?" the blonde diva questioned. "No, you're not. Which means you have nothing to be sorry about."

"Kelly-"

"Don't apologize to me, Eve. It's not your fault that she's a psycho loony," Kelly said, giving her friend a pointed look, letting her know to back off before she said too much... The diva ruining the look by gasping in pain.

"She needs to have x-rays. We don't have access to a machine here. We'll need to take her to the hospital," the trainer stated, and Eve nodded slightly.

"Of course. Can I go with her?" she asked, nearly flinching as she realized that would cause her to miss the match between Jeff and CM Punk... The match that she had decided would be the time and the place for her to turn against Jeff Hardy. But there would be other matches, she told herself, and the important thing was to be there for Kelly. After all, the blonde was pretty much the only friend she had in the company right now - the make-out sessions with Punk settled him firmly into the category of being more than a friend - and whether Kelly wanted to admit it or not, Maria had gone after her because of her connection to Eve. Odds were that Jeff was likely the one that had put her up to it. Oh, maybe he hadn't out and out asked her to do it, but he'd probably planted the seeds somehow. It wouldn't have been hard. Maria would do just about anything for the man. That much was obvious.

"You're supposed to walk out with Jeff," Kelly whispered, and Eve knew why she said it... Because Kelly knew that what her plans had been. She'd told the blonde on Saturday, just hours after she'd made the decision and told Punk. Kelly had been excited about it for her, especially when Eve had confessed that Punk wanted her to be with him publicly once it was all said and done. But now...

"You're my friend, and you're hurt," Eve told her. "You're more important than a damned match, and if he can't understand that... Then screw him."

"He doesn't deserve to have her out there anyway," Melina said with a snort, speaking for the first time in several minutes, Eve jerking slightly because she'd almost forgotten that the other diva was there. When the younger woman looked over at her, Melina rolled her eyes. "You know it's true. It wasn't that long ago that he tossed you into a damned wall."

"It was the heat of the moment," Eve stated haltingly, though the truth was, she agreed with Melina completely. She just couldn't say it yet. Not with other people around... Not before she'd gotten the chance to cost Jeff his dream again. To make him pay for hurting her.

Melina snorted. "Oh, come on-"

"Ouch, ouch, ouch!" Kelly broke in, her pain only partially feigned as the trainer gently touched her ribs again. "I thought I was going to the hospital," the blonde woman demanded, and when Eve looked over at her, she knew that her friend had deliberately interrupted the conversation with Melina. Eve nodded.

"That's right. You are." She looked at the trainer. "Is there an ambulance-"

"What? No ambulance-"

"Yes, Kelly. An ambulance. It'll probably get you seen faster."

"I'm not being loaded onto a stretcher-"

"Yeah, well, you probably can't even stand upright to walk with those ribs," Eve countered, then jerked at the sound of a voice in the doorway.

"I'll carry her."

Surprised, Eve whirled around, finding that Edge was standing there. Beyond his shoulder, she could see a dark head that she knew belonged to CM Punk, and she knew that the man had been listening to the conversation in the room, just as Edge probably had been. Of course, she knew that Punk had been there the entire time; she wasn't sure how long Edge had been there. "What?"

The blond man shrugged his shoulders. "You heard me. I can carry her to the ambulance. Of course, once I get her there..." His gaze moved to Kelly. "You do realize that you'll probably have to get on a stretcher then. But at least you won't be on one through the backstage area."

Kelly bit her lip uncertainly, looking over at Eve, and when the brunette nodded - Edge had, after all, helped her out before and she didn't think he meant any harm now, either - Kelly gave a slight nod as well. "Okay. I'll... Thank you."

Edge nodded, stepping forward. "It's not a problem," he said quietly, holding out his arms, waiting for Kelly to nod again before he carefully lifted her from the table she was on. The blonde winced at the pull in her ribs at the motion, but she didn't say anything... Eve quickly going to follow after them when Edge started to make his way out of the room and the to the hallway... The brunette stopping to look at Teddy Long, the SmackDown General Manager having stopped by to see what was going on.

"I'm going to make Maria pay for hurting Kelly. I want a match against her."

"And you can have one. But not tonight. There's already a full card. You can have it on SmackDown. As for tonight... I heard you ask if you can go with Kelly, and the answer's yes, if you want to. I'm sure she would appreciate the company." His gaze slid to Melina. "And as Ms. Perez already has a match tonight..."

"Which I need to go and get ready for," the woman muttered, giving Eve's shoulder a squeeze before she headed off. Teddy watched her leave before turning his attention back to Eve.

"You best be going if you're planning on riding in the ambulance with her. I asked Lilian Garcia to get your things and Kelly's and take them to the ambulance."

"I... Thank you, Mr. Long," Eve said, the diva at a bit of a loss, wanting to go to the hospital with her friend - she wouldn't have offered otherwise - but also a little unsure. After all, she knew what she'd planned for tonight. She couldn't exactly turn against Jeff if she wasn't there. Flicking a look beyond Theodore Long, she saw CM Punk still standing in the room, his wrists now wrapped, the diva meeting his eyes. He nodded at her, then gestured with his head toward the door, letting her know that he knew what was going on... And telling her without words that he understand and that she should go. Quickly, she looked back at the SmackDown GM. "I'll get my match?"

"You'll get your match, Ms. Torres. Now go and take care of your friend."