Disclaimer, etc., in part 1. Whelp. Three-quarters of the way done...

Part Forty-Six

The rest of the night was a blur.

After the referees had pulled Maria away from her, after Jeff had managed to get a three-count on a distracted CM Punk, Eve had realized that one of the people out there wasn't a referee... A shocked Dolph Ziggler had been out there as well, the man quickly picking her up and bringing her to the back to be seen by the trainers. He'd repeatedly said he was sorry, that he hadn't known that Maria was even there that night; he'd still thought that she wouldn't be back until SmackDown that week. She believed him, partly because he had no real reason to lie that she was aware of, and partly because of the look of shock on his face as he'd stood there in the trainers' room. Melina had shown up as well, the woman looking upset and furious at the same time, the older diva declaring repeatedly that Maria was going to pay for this... And not once had Dolph tried to say anything in defense of the woman that was supposed to be his girlfriend. In fact, the only thing he'd really said was that Melina might want to be careful. After all, Maria had attacked Kelly several weeks before at The Bash and now, at the next pay per view, she'd come out and attacked Eve. And given the fact that the kicks from Melina had been a big reason Maria had been out of commission for awhile, and the fact that both of the women Maria had attacked so far were Melina's friends... Well, it just stood to reason that Melina would be the next target.

Hopefully, Kelly would be back soon... And hopefully she and Melina would be able to watch each others' backs. Especially now that Eve was going to be out for the next few weeks... Maybe a month. She'd be lucky if she'd be able to show up for SummerSlam.

According to the trainers, her ribs were mostly just bruised, though two of them were actually cracked. The hits to her arms that had come when she'd been blocking attempted blows to her face at only resulted in bruises, but they were still painful. In fact, at the moment, pretty much every part of Eve from her neck to her hips hurt. Honestly, even one of her knees hurt from the way she'd fallen from Maria's first blow... And being thrown into the steps hadn't done her any good, either.

"I can't believe this happened. I should have kept a better eye on things," Melina lamented, the woman pacing back and forth around Eve's hotel room, where she'd brought the younger woman after the trainers had finally released her.

"You couldn't have known. We didn't even know Maria was there tonight. Dolph didn't even know she was there."

"I still should have stayed close. Then I might have seen her head for the ring area, might have been able to stop her," the woman stated, making a face as she rubbed at the bruise that she'd gotten near her temple during her match against Michelle McCool. In reality, Melina had plenty of bumps and bruises of her own after her unsuccessful bid for the title that night, but she'd seemed to forget about them after what had happened to Eve.

"Maybe. Maybe not. What's done is done," Eve muttered, jerking a hand through her hair and closing her eyes as she leaned back against the pillows piled behind and around her. Her entire body hurt, her ribs most of all, and she wished more than anything that she could go back and start this night again... That she'd interfered in the match earlier instead of waiting to see how it went. That she'd acted sooner and not given Maria time to come out for the attack. That somehow, CM Punk had retained the title instead of losing it to Jeff Hardy. "I should have... I should have never had my back to the ramp... There was one point where I almost interfered. I should have done it then. If I'd done it then, Punk would still be the champion, and Maria wouldn't have had time to come out there and attack me."

Melina made a face. "If only one of us had seen her earlier, known she was there. Then we would have been prepared." She arched a brow. "Do you think Jeff knew she would be there?"

"I don't know. I wouldn't be shocked if he did. I really don't think Ziggler knew, though. He was just way too surprised-"

"And he came out there to try and help you. That wasn't the move of a guy that was somehow involved in this," the older woman said, then made a face when there was a sudden knocking at the door.

Eve frowned as she watched Melina head over to look through the peephole. "If it's Jeff come to gloat about winning or something, don't answer the door," the woman said. Jeff hadn't even bothered to come and check on her after the show was over... Probably out celebrating already or something. Not that she'd really expected him to check on her, unless it was to keep up his public persona of being a good guy. From what Melina had said, Jeff had actually been celebrating his win as Dolph carried her up the ramp to the back... A misstep that Eve figured Jeff would figure out sooner or later. After all, she was still viewed by fans as his friend and manager, and he hadn't even seemed concerned about her after a vicious assault occurred right in front of his face. He'd actually used the distraction of it to surprise CM Punk and take him down, then hitting the Swanton Bomb for the victory.

"It isn't Jeff," Melina said quietly as she turned back toward Eve, the older woman arching a brow again as she looked at her injured friend. "Despite the hood mostly hiding his features, I'm pretty sure it's a certain former champion from Chicago."

Eve sat up a little straighter in bed, then winced at the pain that lanced through her body at the motion. "Punk's here?" she asked. Like Jeff, he hadn't been around at the arena, but she'd told herself that was just because they still had to keep up appearances. Even so, a small - or maybe not so small - part of her was afraid he was mad that he'd lost his title because he'd gotten distracted by what was happening with her at ringside tonight.

"Looks like it to me. You want me to let him in?" the older diva wanted to know and Eve nodded, gesturing toward the door. Melina arched a brow, then nodded, turning to unchain the door, then turn the deadbolt, finally opening it and stepping back to allow CM Punk to enter the room. It was a good thing she'd stepped back, too, because Punk practically barreled into the room, and he probably would have run into her had she been in the way. He didn't even seem to notice that the older woman was there, the man instead brushing right past her and heading toward the bed where Eve was, the man dropping down to his knees beside the bed and looking up at her.

"I am so sorry."

Eve blinked in surprise, quickly shooting a glance toward Melina, and the older woman nodded and headed out the door. Apparently Punk's first few seconds inside the room were enough to convince her that it was perfectly fine to leave the two of them alone... After all, the man's first words weren't anything about the title he'd lost that night, but were instead an apology to Eve - despite the fact that he hadn't done anything wrong. As the door shut, Eve looked back toward Punk.

"I don't understand."

"I should have stopped it. I didn't see her at first, and then it was too late, and I couldn't get to you. I just... I'm sorry, Eve."

"It's not your fault. My back was to the ramp. That let her sneak up on me. And if I'd just interfered when I first considered it... Your match would have been over before she'd had a chance to get out there, and I wouldn't have gotten hurt... And you would still be the world heavyweight champion."

Punk shook his head, pushing himself up from the floor and moving so that he could sit on the edge of the bed. "Eve, I'm a hell of a lot more concerned about you getting hurt than I am about some damn title-"

"You lost the title tonight because you got distracted. And you got distracted because of me-"

"I got distracted because Maria Kanellis ran out there and started beating you with a fucking tire iron!" Punk tossed back. "I'm pretty sure you didn't ask for that. You didn't ask for her to hurt you. And I couldn't get out of that ring and get to you."

"Because Jeff hit you with a cheap shot and then got you with a Twist of Fate and the Swanton Bomb," the diva said, giving a one-armed shrug that caused her to wince in pain when he gave her a confused look. "I asked someone in the trainers' room how the match ended, and they told me. I'm pretty sure they only thought I wanted to know because I was so happy that Jeff had won the title or something. They didn't realize that Jeff winning was the last thing I wanted."

"Yeah, well, the last thing I wanted was for you to get hurt in all of this."

"It will heal. In a month or so. But Punk, the title-"

"Automatic rematch clause. And trust me, I'm gonna get my rematch. But right now, I'm a hell of a lot more concerned about you than I am a damn title shot," he told her, lifting a hand to cup her cheek, his eyes on hers. "What's the damage, Eve? How bad are you hurt?"

"It's... It's not that bad."

"Eve, she came after you with a tire iron and had to be pulled off of you by Dolph Ziggler and some referees," Punk told her. "I'm sorry I couldn't get to you. I just-"

"I know. He attacked you and took you out. You couldn't do anything about it. It's not your fault. I'm sorry I distracted you-"

"I already said that I get a rematch. I'll get the title back and become a three-time world heavyweight champion. That's all there is to it. I know I already said it, but since you don't seem to believe it... I'm a lot more concerned about you right now. You could have been hurt so badly. Damn it, I saw her aiming at your head-"

"And I blocked it," Eve said, absently gesturing with her arm as she spoke, doing the same motion she'd done in the arena to try and keep Maria from hitting her in the head with the weapon, and Punk flinched, the man quickly reaching out and taking hold of her arm. She could tell he was trying to be gentle, barely even touching her, and when she realized that he was looking at the nasty bruise that was coming up, she understood why. Gingerly, she pulled her arm from his grasp. "It's not as bad as it looks."

"It looks like someone beat you with a weapon, which is exactly what *did* happen. Don't try to dance around it, Eve. How badly are you hurt? For real."

"It's mostly just bruises. Nothing in my arms are broken," she said, then flinched a little at the realization that she'd used the plural instead of the singular for that, though she kind of figured he'd already noticed that there were bruises running up and down both arms and not just the one.

"And your back? Your ribs?"

"I have a bruise on my back. Two of my ribs are... They're just cracked."

"There's no 'just' about it. Damn it, if she weren't a woman... I want to get revenge on her, but I can't. Damn it."

"I know you can't. Because you don't hurt women. Unlike some guys I know... or one in particular. It's one of the reasons I love you," she told him, watching as his head jerked toward her, the man meeting her eyes, and she knew the word that had caught his attention.

"Eve?"

"Too soon?" she questioned, and he shook his head.

"Say it again. Please."

"I love you," she told him, her voice quiet but firm, and Punk leaned forward, his forehead resting against hers, his hand coming up to cup her cheek again.

"I love you, too. And I will do whatever it takes to get back at Jeff and Maria for what happened tonight, because you know he had something to do with it."

"I know. But that can wait... For now... Can you just hold me for awhile?"

"I can do anything you want."