Chapter 9 – Don't Let Go

Grey eyes watched the monitor that sat beside the hospital bed. It beeped quietly following her heartbeat. She'd been unconscious for two hours and had a mild concussion.

He was going to MURDER Rob Van Dam; that was if Amora hadn't done it already along with half the WWE roster. The wrestlers had been told to keep the match in the ring while Lizette was ringside. It had been RVD that not only pushed it out but then decided to flip off the ring apron and onto his opponent's so carelessly and without them being prepared for it because it was not in the script of the match.

Roman moved forward and leaned his elbows on his knees. Roman looked down at his already bruised knuckles on his right hand; at this point he would be lucky if Hunter didn't suspend him for not only breaking character but for attacking his co-worker. Right now he didn't care about anything or anyone; except for the angelic woman lying in the hospital bed in front of him.

Roman had been getting ready for the main event which was the Royal Rumble. He was going to be the number nineteen to enter the brawl. He was sitting back stage with Dean and the twins as all eyes were on the IC title match. He had a VIP meet and greet before the PPV even started so he was in his black cargo pants, boots and his Roman Reigns 'one versus all' t-shirt.

Roman's eyes stared a whole through the flat screen monitor as he watched RVD shove Nick and Wade out of the ring.

What happened next was like driving by a bad car accident. Everything was in slow motion. Roman's lips parted as he slowly took in air for his lungs as his tongue slipped out and wet his suddenly dry top lip and his bottom lip rolled under his tongue wetting it as well. He started to exhale as he watched RVD step between the ropes and in an instant he back flipped onto his two opponents who were on the floor beside the ring and Roman saw red the instant all three landed on Lizette effectively knocking her and the chair she was sitting in backwards.

Before Roman's brain could even think about what he was doing he was on his feet and racing down to the gorilla position. Jimmy, Jey and Dean were running after him trying to get him to stop, but it was little to no help. Roman broke through the black curtain out onto the platform; he didn't even stop – he was like a man possessed as he ran down the ramp towards the announcers table.

Roman came around the corner and plowed over RVD, Wade and Nick to get them out of his way so he could get through the medical team working on Lizette; chewing his bottom lip he knelt down by her head. "What's going on with her?" His deep voice asked. He could see her nose was starting to bleed and there were small droplets of blood coming from the back of her head as well.

Dr. Sampson looked up at Roman. "She's definitely got a concussion, but I can't tell what grade it is. She hasn't regained consciousness yet either. She's got a small cut on the back of her head, but it's not too deep. She should be ok Roman."

Roman swallowed hard. "She's been going through chemotherapy for breast cancer. If you're going to take her to the hospital; I can't go but make sure Amora or Jillian goes with you." He watched with a heavy heart as they strapped Lizette down to a back board before loading her onto a stretcher. He followed the medical team as they left the arena into the back hallways where the ambulance was waiting for them.

Amora ran up to the ambulance as they were loading Lizette and saw Roman. "What the fuck happened?"

Roman growled. "RVD jumped script; that's what happened." His voice dripping with disdain; He grabbed Amora's hand and helped her step up into the back of the ambulance. "You stay with her Amora. Don't let her out of your sight for a second."

Amora could only nod as the ambulance doors were closed. The last thing she saw was RVD walking up to Roman with what she assumed was a half baked apology before Roman turned and pulled back his right arm and his fist rammed into RVD's face.

Roman couldn't stop his fist. "YOU STUPID MOTHER FUCKER! THEY TOLD YOU TO FOLLOW THE SCRIPT FOR A REASON! WHEN YOU JUMP SCRIPT PEOPLE GET FUCKIN HURT YOU ASSHOLE." Roman's angry words roared through the hallways of the arena.

It had taken Jimmy, Jey and Dean to pull Roman off of RVD. In the end RVD was rolled away with a broken nose, a severe concussion and two cracked orbital bones. If Roman was fined or suspended he would take his punishment like a man; even if they decided to fire him as well. He would still take it.

Roman was just waiting for Hunter and Vince to show up. He knew he was in for the ass chewing of a lifetime. If they didn't take his push away it would be a fucking miracle.

Dark violet eyes looked around the hospital waiting room. The emergency room had already assessed Lizette and placed her in a private room; he could see the concern and worry on the big Samoan's face so she'd walked out to the waiting room to give him some kind of peace. She'd already gotten a few text messages with video footage of him kicking the SHIT out of RVD.

That was long overdue in her opinion. RVD was older now but still tried to wrestle like he was in his 20's. That shipped had long since sailed.

Amora had to admit, she was damn proud of Roman for beating the shit out of RVPuke the way he had. Roman may have just gotten back in her good graces after his fuck up with Lizette. Though he definitely had miles to go before he was fully back into their inner circle of trust, he had earned big brownie points for sending RVPuke to the hospital.

The quiet waiting room was livened with a 'Pssst' echoed through the hallway. Amora's head snapped up as her mouth opened and closed when she saw who was standing at the opening of the hallway that led to the waiting room. "Oh my God…what are you doing here?" She asked as she ran over and jumped in the strong tattooed arms she had been missing as her legs wrapped around his muscular waist.

Baron chuckled as he caught his girlfriend with ease; his hands going under her ass so she didn't fall. He snickered when her lips crashed down on his. "Mmhmm…" He hummed against her lips as he accepted her kiss. She pulled back and cupped his cheeks.

"Once again, what are you doing here?" Amora ask as she peppered his face all over with soft kisses.

"We were a couple of hours away shooting this week's episode of NXT since everyone has the week off after Smackdown." Baron stated softly as he walked back over to the seat Amora had been occupying before jumping on him. He moved her legs as he sat down with her sitting sideways on his lap. "I heard what happened to Lizette and then I got the video and figured you might need me. So how is she doing?"

Amora frowned. "She's got a mild concussion and hasn't regained consciousness yet. I'm so worried about her."

Baron kissed her left temple. "Don't frown babe; she's going to be okay. They got her to the hospital and she's being looked at after by a good team; let them do their job. Where's Jillian and Dean?"

"Dean pulled a muscle in his rotator cuff; she checked on Lizette and then took him back to the hotel to work on the kinks for him. I'm supposed to call her if there's any change with Lizzy."

"Well then you relax. I'm sure Roman will come get us if something drastic changes." Baron ordered in a soft tone.

Amora nodded as she burrowed herself into his body as she felt his arms tighten around her.

Roman had fallen asleep sometime around mid-night. He was pulled from his deep sleep when something icy touched his right arm. His grey orbs blinked open as he looked to his right arm and saw a familiar small hand on his tattooed arm. His eyes blinked away a few more times before venturing up to the face associated with the hand.

Jade eyes were staring back at him and Roman suddenly jumped up to his feet as his left hand grabbed Lizette's hand. "Hey babygirl, how are you feeling?"

Lizette swallowed hard and could feel a dull throbbing in his head. "My head hurts a little."

"You want me to call a nurse?" Roman asked softly; being sure to keep his voice down so the pitch didn't aggravate her headache.

"No…Will you lay with me?" Lizette requested.

Roman would never deny Lizette anything. He nodded with a soft smile on his lips. "Sure." He watched as she moved over in the overly large hospital bed. Roman kicked his sneakers off as he carefully got on the hospital bed next to Lizette and watched as she slowly rolled onto her side and wiggled against the side of his body as he wrapped his right arm around her he kissed the top of her head as she rested it on his t-shirt covered chest. Roman pulled the blankets higher to cover her arm.

Roman felt Lizette grab his hand. "Don't let me go." She mumbled half asleep.

"Never…"

He would lay there all night; he would lay there for the rest of his life if he had to – if she needed him to.

By the time Wednesday hit Roman was shadowing Lizette. The doctor in Philly had deemed Roman Lizette's guardian before, during and after she got home. It was a good think she lived literally 5 blocks from Roman in Pensacola.

Roman took her to her chemo appointment on Wednesday afternoon. The repercussions afterwards were something he was not expecting. She was so strong sitting getting her chemo. She started not feeling good towards the end of the ride back to her place. By the time Roman pulled into the parking garage of her apartment she was throwing the door open on his Lincoln and running for the door. She couldn't even make it inside – god bless the trashcan sitting outside her door.

Roman almost couldn't watch as she sank to her knees and practically buried her face in the trashcan and started puking.

Lizette moaned softly as her head pounded; puking wasn't her idea treatment for a concussion, but she couldn't skip her chemo treatment. She took a napkin out of her pocket and wiped her mouth; she pushed up and stood on shaky legs when she felt two large hands at her waist.

"Easy Lizzy; I got you sweetheart." Roman murmured softly. He gently pulled her against his side to steady her as he took her keys from her shaking hand and unlocked the door.

Before they could go any further Lizzy tore off down the hallway to her bedroom as she hit the bathroom floor and emptied her stomach contents again. She flushed the toilet as she slowly moved back and sat back against the wall. She knew what this was going to be like just like the weeks prior.

She heard a soft knock on her bathroom door. "C'mon in." She watched as the door eased open and Roman stepped into her nicely sized bathroom.

"What can I do for you; just name it? I can do laundry or clean go pay some bills. Just say the word and point me in the right direction." Roman stated truthfully.

"You should really get out of here while you can. I don't think you want to watch or listen to my puke party." Lizette shook her head negatively as she felt her stomach starting to churn violently. "Oh no…" She frowned as she used the sink counter as leverage and pulled herself forward and retched again.

Roman grabbed a hand towel and soaked it before he flushed the toilet and handed it to her. He watched as she cleaned her mouth off. "I'm not going anywhere as long as you've got that concussion. I don't want you left alone at least not until the doctor can clear you."

"Well fair warning this is going to go on for a couple of hours and then I'll probably sleep for the rest of the day." Lizette stated honestly; as she sat back against the wall again. She watched as Roman sat against the other wall, but far enough away that he wasn't in her way of the toilet.

Roman shook his head. "I don't care. You could sit and ignore me all day long. I just want to be physically here in case something goes wrong. It would take someone way too long to get across town with traffic at all hours of the day. I'm staying."

"Stubborn ass." Lizette teased.

"Soooo….do you come to the joint often? If so I'd LOVE to buy you a drink later honey." Roman joked trying to lighten the mood; if it was at all possible. He struck pay dirt when she smiled.

"I come here all the time. Just remember to tip your waitress. The girls get pissy when you don't acknowledge their hard work and you could quite literally end up in the bathroom puking your guts out." Liz teased back.

Another hour of puking and Roman couldn't understand how Lizette hadn't dropped onto the floor in a heap of bones and skin. This whole experience was making him far more aware of what cancer did to the human body; even with as healthy as Lizette was. She was a runner and loved getting in the exercise room with him. She couldn't bench his weight but he started her out on the smaller weights because he didn't want her to hurt herself.

Lizette was probably the last person on earth he would've imagined to get cancer. Not someone as healthy as she was. Apparently she wasn't as healthy as he assumed she would be.

He helped her into the living room of her apartment as she crawled into the corner of the couch; her favorite place. Roman tucked the pillow under her head and wrapped the soft fleece blanket around her.

Roman walked over and locked the front door; before he walked back over and leaned down and kissed the side of her head. "Relax; try to get some sleep I'll be here if you need me." He watched as she nodded as she drifted off to sleep.

He pulled the curtains in the living room giving her a nice dark room to sleep in. He walked over and pulled the blanket further up her shoulder and started to walk away when she grabbed his hand. He sat down on the couch above her head as her fingers threaded through his.

"Don't let me go…" She mumbled once again in her sleep filled voice.

"Never…"