Shadows of the Heart

Chapter Twenty Nine

Bret wasn't too sure what he'd expected when he reached the hospital where Rain was being kept on a side ward. A police officer stopped him before he went in and checked his ID, though he said it was a formality as who wouldn't know who the Hitman was? Bret found the strength to smile at him and then made his way into the room. There was a monitor attached to her which beeped intermittently. He was assured by the nurse that this was just a precaution as they checked all her stats. They had also taken bloods and a urine sample. They wanted him to know that she had been assaulted, physically and sexually from what they had seen of her injuries. She had not spoken to anyone and just lay completely still on the bed staring up at the ceiling. Bret stared at her for a long time. Her face was bruised but there was nothing broken and her teeth were fine; he'd take any good news at the moment.  He could see a hand mark on her throat as well which kept drawing his gaze. She was covered in a sheet so he couldn't see the rest of her body but as he approached he could see her eyes. They were dead, empty as if every ounce of life had been taken from her.

"Rain?" he said softly but there wasn't even a flicker to suggest she had heard him.

"She has shut down," explained the nurse. "Trauma like she's been through has caused her to go into complete shock. Just keep talking to her, ok? I'll be right outside if you need anything."

Bret nodded and took the chair beside the bed, sitting down and then taking Rain's hand in his. She didn't respond though and so he started to talk softly, reassuringly.

"I'm sorry Rain. I'm so sorry. But I know you and I'm guessing you don't want me sitting here apologising. You'll want to know what's been going on, whose been covering your blog. Mai decided to do that herself, took herself to Raw and caused no end of trouble from what I heard. She says you need a new chair, that one you have is too uncomfortable. And she's also insisting that the booth is placed a little closer to the commentary table as they have a better view. Honestly, I thought Vince was demanding but Mai is something else!"

He paused to see if any of that had registered. He thought her eyes might have flickered but she didn't look at him.

"You won't believe what Steve did to Taker. I never knew that he had it in him but he got him good. Steve is an old friend of Paul Bearer and they got chatting about this time Paul pranked Taker with a cucumber. Apparently Taker can't stand them and if he ever got above his station Paul would just say the word to watch him go green. Well Steve found out about this and he commissioned a cucumber teddy dressed as the Undertaker, complete with a little grey hat and a scyth. He had it delivered to Taker in the dressing room. Taker was not impressed. Apparently he ripped the thing to shreds with his bare hands and chased Steve all round the arena."

This time he thought he saw a small quirk of her lips but then her face became passive again. Bret breathed in deeply.

"Let me tell you a story about me instead," he said. "About two years ago I came to work thinking it would just be another day at the office. I was feeling a bit down because I'd missed another birthday back home and thought I'd just sit by myself for a bit. Sometimes I like to just be alone. Anyway I went into the canteen all set to be miserable by myself when I saw the most beautiful woman I've ever seen sat by herself looking all nervous. Something about the way she looked up when I approached made me want to get to know her better. We talked a bit, started to get to know one another and when it was time for us to get back to work I knew she was the girl I would marry. I don't think I'd ever felt more at ease with someone in all my life. We just kind of slotted together. That first time we were on tour together I made sure we were always sat together. I spoke to Louise in the travel office and asked her to make sure I was always sat by you. She's an old friend of my Mom's and she was only too happy to oblige. She knew I was in love. And you never questioned why you always got stuck with me. I guess then I thought I might be in with a chance.