Mike's sleepy after another long day of taping and exploring with Paige. AJ presses kisses to his shoulders, not enough to disturb him, but just enough to make her presence felt. He smiles into the pillows, releasing sighs as she kneads his tense flesh under her fingers, only half listening to her talk about Smackdown. Something about Sandow mimicking everyone he comes in contact with, which sounds absolutely horrible. He smirks into the pillow and sighs. "I knew he'd be worthless without me," he says quietly.
"You were right," she mumbles. "I was always Team Miz anyway, but this is a fresh level of hell, watching him do this stuff..."
"I tried to warn him." He shrugs. "Oh well, he has to learn somehow, I guess this is as good a way as any. Meanwhile, I continue succeeding at my movies and being the Most Must See Superstar. His loss."
"Indeed it is," she agrees, kissing between his shoulderblades once more.
He smiles and yawns. "I love you, sweetheart," he murmurs, sinking into his pillows and finally falling into a badly needed sleep.
She smiles down at him and strokes his hair. "Love you too, husband."
Friday starts early but Mike slips quietly out of bed and lets AJ sleep on, collecting his things and leaving. Paige is waiting at the restuarant, looking surprised at the lack of AJ, but he merely smiles. "She looked wiped out, thought she could use some extra sleep so it's just us today."
Paige nods and returns to picking listlessly at her chipped phone protector, barely noticing as he settles in across from her, a worried look on his face. Before he can ask, however, she speaks up finally. "I think I'm about to ruin things with Ricardo." She stares up at him desperately. "Brandon on Total Divas last season, it nearly broke us... and now..." Tears start to well up in her eyes and Miz abruptly regrets not waking AJ up. "They've kicked Cameron and Rosa off of the show, and Cameron, yeah, she's in a relationship, but Rosa was single and it just makes me think... maybe it is a factor, kind of..."
He's not liking the sound of any of this, well aware of how badly Ricardo had taken the season finale of Total Divas. "Paige, what are you saying?"
Rosa's eyes are dark and desperate as she stares at him. "I have this friend..." Her voice trails off as she traces circles in the woodwork of the table between them. "He wants to help me but I'm not sure how to tell Ricardo... without hurting him..."
Mike closes his eyes and shakes his head, pinching his nose. "Just tell him," he says after a moment. "The longer you wait, the worse it'll be. These episodes are airing in, what, July? Next time you see him, just open your mouth and explain the situation to him." He stares at her. "I understand why you don't want to ask him to be on the show, but if you're going to film things with a fake boyfriend, you need to tell your real boyfriend."
"I know," she groans, wiping at her eyes. "I just don't feel good and then we left for Vancouver and I haven't gotten to see much of him lately and I'm not sure how to look him in the eye and say By the way, you're the greatest and I love you so much, but to maintain my success, I'm going to pretend to date some other guy... I feel so selfish..." She slumps down against the table and buries her face in her hands. "He's been through so much, and I'm only going to add more to it..."
He sighs and stands up, moving to her side of the bench and resting his hand on her shoulder, brushing her hair away. "What do you mean you don't feel good?" he wonders, though he thinks he knows as soon as he touches her skin. "Paige... you're burning up." She looks up at him, a flash of fear in her eyes, and he shakes his head, taking her by the hand and leading her to the front desk. "Excuse me," he says to the woman sitting behind it. "Do you have a first aid kit with a thermometer?"
"Ah, yes," she nods, scrambling around and locating it. Spreading its contents upon the counter, she and Miz work together at finding the thermometer among the bandages and miscelaneous other things within.
"Found it!" he exclaims, fingers skittering over the hard plastic case tangled up in gauze. He turns to Paige and leads her over to the couch, sitting her down before waving it at her. "Mouth or underarm?"
"Underarm," she sighs, not believing that her first movie role is going like this- entering Canada with internal injuries, boyfriend troubles and now... now, this. Mike sits with her, ensuring that the thermometer remains where it belongs until it beeps. He looks grim as he peers at it, turning to look at her. "How bad is it?"
"Come with me," he tells her, gripping her gently by the arm and helping her to stand. She's about to balk at all of this when her knees give out on her and she's suddenly thankful for his presence as he guides her back to the couch. "Ok, never mind. Ma'am? Do you mind getting her some juice and sitting with her? I need to get my wife," Mike calls to the woman who is still watching them with a worried look on her face.
"Yes, of course," she says, rushing away to do just that.
As soon as she returns with the juice, Mike leaves, almost dashing up the stairs until he arrives at their floor. Pushing the staircase door open, he rushes down the hall until he spots their room number and stops short, nearly faceplanting. He roughly jams the keycard into the slot, relieved when it flashes green on the first attempt.
AJ, thankfully, is awake, staring blearily at the TV as she brushes her teeth, but all of it is quickly forgotten when she sees the look on his face. Only wasting enough time to spit out the past in the sink, she looks at him. "What's wrong? Are you ok? Is-"
"Paige is sick," he says, tossing her jeans and a merch shirt of his to her. "She has a fever of 102. Come on, sweetheart, we need to go." She doesn't even bother pulling off the clothes she'd slept on, just putting the other clothes on over them before taking his hand and allowing him to lead her back down the stairs to Paige.
The hotel worker goes back behind the desk as soon as she sees them, AJ immediately cooing over Paige's equally pale and flushed skin, Mike tapping his phone against his knuckles. "Come on, we're going to go get you checked out," she tells Paige, pulling her to her feet. This time, between AJ and Mike, she maintains her balance and they get her to the car in one piece.
While he waits for AJ to get Paige as comfortable as possible, he dials the studio number. When one of the secretaries answers, he explains as hurriedly as possible that Paige is sick and they're going to get her checked out, asking her to tell those in charge of Santa's Little Helpers. Once she agrees, he hangs up and starts the car, peering at the women in the rearview mirror before peeling out of the hotel parking lot. The hospital, thankfully, is easy enough to find, and they get Paige out of the car, Mike wrapping her arm around his shoulders when her step falters once more. "I've got you," he tells her quietly, guiding her inside.
She nods thankfully as he guides her to the nurse's desk. When beckoned forward, Paige stammers out a rough explanation. "I was recently injured internally and now I have a fever..." She looks beseechingly at the woman, her skin glistening with sweat. "Please help me."
There's a bit of activity as the nurse gets forms together, looking from Mike to AJ for answers when Paige wavers. Soon, they're directed to the waiting room chairs to fill out the rest of the forms, which Mike painstakingly works through while AJ brushes a wet cloth that she'd brought from the hotel over Paige's forehead and upperarms, whispering soothingly to her. After the forms are filled out and returned to the desk, it feels like a lifetime passes before they're finally called back in, nurses bustling around as they talk to Paige about what's been going on and check her vitals. Mike looks on, relieved that he's on this end of it as they take blood for tests and return not long afterwards to put in an IV. "What's wrong with her?"
"She's dehydrated," one of the nurses explains. "We're putting her on liquids to fix that, and when the blood tests come back, we'll have a better idea of what's going on with her fever." She pats Paige on the arm before bustling off once more.
Paige smiles sheepishly at Mike, releasing a weak sigh as AJ settles in next to her and starts to run the refreshed washcloth over her glistening skin. "Sorry, Mike, guess I'm ruining filming for you and the crew today..."
"Don't worry about it," he tells her, taking a chair across from the bed and spinning it around like a little boy. "I'm sure they can find a scene without us to film... or something." Growing dizzy, he stops himself by planting his feet on the ground and grinning back at his wife as she huffs at him. "What?"
"Don't fall out of that chair and break your head, I'm only nursing one of you today, and that's Paige." He pouts at her but she pointedly ignores him, lips twitching as Paige giggles at them.
"You two are ridiculous. And cute. But mostly ridiculous." She dozes after awhile, feeling better with the liquids now in her system, but AJ's quick shifting when the nurse returns wakes her up and they all stare at her, desperate for an answer.
"Doctor will be in soon, but it is an infection so we'll be putting you on these antibiotics. Do you have a doctor in these parts?"
"WWE suggested a couple just in case," Mike offers when Paige stares dozily at the woman, clearly not sure of the answer.
"Great," the nurse nods. "We'll call whichever one you prefer and notify him." She pats Paige's ankle. "We'll have you fixed up right away, no worries sweetie."
"Thank you," she murmurs, British accent so thick that even AJ has trouble understanding her.
After the antibiotics are administered and a couple of more tests are run, just to ensure that nothing's been missed, Paige is released into Mike and AJ's care and they take her back to the hotel. He calls the studio to update them on what's been going on, tapping his fingers against the desk as he watches AJ settle Paige in their bed, tucking her in warmly. All three of them are exhausted, for different reasons, so once Paige is asleep, AJ brushes her teeth and changes into one of Mike's merch shirts, crawling into bed next to the British diva. She doesn't want to be too far away, and Mike understands that as he handles his own bedtime absolutions, plucking the drapes so they cover the windows and keep them from being disturbed by the still setting sun. He sinks down on the couch and watches AJ watch Paige, hoping that his costar will feel better in the morning.
He doesn't sleep well, the couch not that comfortable and his mind racing, worry causing him to sit up every hour or two to look over at the bed, make sure everything's alright. Despite his and AJ's both restless attempts, Paige sleeps through the night and looks almost normal come morning. Even so, the studio gives her another day off of filming, though they insist that Mike come in, so he kisses his wife, absently rests his hand against Paige's forehead, and then leaves, his eyes dull and dreary.
AJ yawns and scrubs at her eyes before squinting at Paige. "Want something to eat? I definitely need more coffee..." She nods drowsily, looking like she wants nothing more than to fall asleep, but when room service comes with eggs and orange juice, toast and jam, she perks up a little bit, AJ handing her a slice of the toast. "We'll split the eggs if you think you can hold it down," she says softly, settling the rest of the tray up on the bed near where Paige is laying.
"Yeah," she says quietly. "Hey, AJ? Thank you. I know you were supposed to work on your book while here, and I'm disrupting that too-"
"Shush, my English muffin. I'm already ahead of my goals, so don't worry about it. Besides if I don't make sure you take care of yourself, who will?" she asks, absentmindedly shaking out another dosage of Paige's antibiotics. "Here. Take this after you eat," she urges her.
She sighs but takes the pills obligingly, holding onto them until she finishes a couple bites of the eggs and the toast, downing the medicine with sips of the orange juice. As soon as she's done, she lays back down and watches as AJ putters around the room, soon settling back in next to her with the laptop and Paige's cell phone. "What're you doing?" she wonders.
"We're gonna watch some British comedies to cheer you up," AJ explains. "But first, you're going to call a certain Mexican before he hears from somewhere else that you're sick and never forgives me or Mike for telling him." Paige balks but eventually takes the phone from her, making faces at AJ as it rings in. Soon Ricardo answers and AJ watches as her entire expression changes, softens as she talks to him. She smiles faintly, turning her attention to finding one of Paige's favorite shows to watch.
AJ had laughed incredulously at Alex Riley's attempt at insulting her when she'd first retired, but she hadn't seen him since, figuring that it would blow over, or be irrelevant by the time they next saw each other. Mike, however, is not as easy to forgive, apparently hadn't spoke to the man since the Raw afterwards. Even so, when she realizes, while scanning her timeline, that Alex is injured, and currently preparing for surgery the following week, she knows Mike will want to know. To her relief, when Mike returns from filming, worn out and looking like he wants nothing more than to collapse for five hours, Paige is asleep so she takes his hand and guides him into the bathroom.
He prepares a bath, too exhausted to stand for a shower but desperate to wash whatever remains of the movie makeup from his skin, and AJ strokes his hand as the water runs and he stares blankly at the phone, reading the tweet on its small screen. "What's wrong with him?"
"WWE posted an article," she says quietly. "Knee surgery to repair degenerative arthrosis." He stares at her and she smiles blandly, pressing the phone into his hand and stepping up on her tippy toes to kiss him softly. "Call him, husband. Then let me know if you want some help with your bath afterwards..." Winking, she turns and leaves the room.
He takes a breath, dialing the number. He almost expects Alex to not answer, but within three rings, it clicks in and there he is. "Hello?"
"Hey." Mike can't shake the disgust he still feels, the betrayal of his close friend insulting his wife so publicly, but dammit, Alex is injured again and Mike's in Canada, and the best way he can make sure the jerk is getting taken care of- will have someone around during and after surgery- is this, a phone call. "So, another surgery, huh?"
"Yeah. Are you calling to see if it's karma?" Ok, so Alex is angry too, or at least annoyed, but he's probably in pain, and Mike's been ignoring him for weeks, so it's kind of understandable. He gives him a minute and finally Alex breathes out. "What do you want, Mike?"
"Just making sure you have someone there to help you out afterwards. Alicia, Ricardo?"
"Both," he says, sounding tense but thankful at the same time. Because nothing is ever simple in wrestling, the emotions always heightened along with the physicality of their outlets for hatred. "I'm going to be ok, Mike. It's just something that's needed done for awhile and I decided to have it handled while recovering from this back injury Owens caused me."
He nods. "Alright. Well, after the movie wraps, I'll see about working it in for my schedule to come visit you. We need to work some shit out anyway. Don't worry, I'll take it easy on you." He smirks as Alex huffs. "Bye, man. I'll call Alicia on Thursday, see if you have your wits about you enough to talk."
"Yeah, yeah, bye," Alex sighs.
Mike laughs softly before hanging up, staring down at the bathtub. "Hey, AJ?"
-x
Monday also dawns bright and sharp, AJ groaning as she again swats at the phone before realizing it's not the alarm. It's ringing, the specialized tone she assigned for Tamina. Squinting her eyes open, she realizes that Mike and Paige are both gone now, back at filming now that Paige feels better apparently. She sighs, pulls it towards her and answers. "Lo?"
"Good morning, sleepyhead," her former enforcer greets her. "I need to talk to you, got some coffee on hand?"
"No," she grunts. "Give me a minute." She leaves the phone tangled up in sheets, stumbles into the bathroom and brushes her teeth, staring blurrily at herself in the mirror before starting a pot and returning to bed. "I'm back."
"Some things have never changed," Tamina laughs. "Are you awake now?"
"A l'il," she sighs. "What's going on? It's not like you to call..."
"I'm making my big return to Raw tonight." She pauses, sounding a little strange. As if lost in thought. "Naomi has contacted me, she wants me there to have her back with the Bella twins. Not that I think she needs it, personally, but family is family; I won't question it. I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to be working with someone else."
AJ hesitates, oddly choked up about this. The last piece of her existence in WWE, her right hand woman, Tamina. "Of course, I understand," she says shakily. "Hey, kick some ass out there, mama. I'll be cheering you on." She thinks they're in Canada tonight, actually, but she can't bring herself to ask. Knowing that Tamina is returning has left her feeling a little sad, that she won't be there to support her friend directly after her long road to recovery. Even so, she forces herself to smile. "I'm so happy for you, Tamina."
"Thanks, AJ. How is everything going on over there? The book going well?"
They talk for awhile longer before Tamina gets dragged away by Naomi to discuss what they're going to do and AJ hangs up her phone, suddenly feeling claustrophobic so she leaves the hotel room and heads downstairs with her supplies, ordering breakfast from the restaurant. She eats and drinks and writes, people watches and scrolls the Internet and waits for her husband to return.
When he finally does, she leaves her things behind and calls his name before he can reach the elevators, racing through the lobby into his arms as he turns and catches her, spinning her around. "I missed you," she mumbles, stroking his face before leaning in to kiss him. Paige ducks into the restaurant, makes sure she's paid up and grabs her laptop, nodding at Mike when he mouths a quick thank you, the three of them getting into the elevator to go up to their rooms, AJ never letting go of Mike once.
"What's going on? Huh?" he asks her quietly, settling her down on the bed. Paige has left after putting AJ's laptop and things on the other side of the bed and he kneels down in front of AJ, resting his hands on her knees.
"Tamina is working with Naomi now," she tells him. "I guess it was just... the final thing... that made me realize my time in the WWE is really done. It's over. I'm free." Her lips wobble slightly and he immediately sits down next to her, wrapping his arms around her and kissing the top of her head. He smiles faintly and rocks her back and forth as she sniffs and cries into his shoulder, digging her nails into his side. "It's over."
"Yeah, sweetheart," he murmurs, stroking her neck and back. "It is." He stares at the clock, realizing that Raw is on currently, and considers asking if she wants to watch it, see if they can catch Tamina, but then a fresh sob rattles through her and he changes his mind, pulling away to kiss the tears off of her cheeks. "You're gonna be ok, I promise."
She nods as he lays her down and wraps her up in his arms and the sheets, comforting her in the cocoon-y warmth of it all. "I love you, Mike."
"I love you too," he whispers, holding her closer until she falls asleep against his chest.