Post by Tombstone on Jun 17, 2012 5:57:18 GMT -5
Monday, May 14th, 2012
Cleveland, OH
9:43 a.m.
Chris Stone grimaces as he scoots to the edge of the bed, slowly swinging his legs over the edge. A heavy metal brace is wrapped around his left leg, partially covered by his hospital gown. It had been less than a day since he got surgery on his leg, broken after a vicious attack at the hands of a man lost in his own mind just two nights before. He looks up at the nurse, a young brunette woman, still feeling slightly out of it from the anesthesia. The sun pours through the hospital window, his eyes squinting as he looks away for a moment. The nurse locks the wheels of the wheelchair she was standing in front of, placed just a few feet from the bed. Stone slowly stands up on his right leg, putting his arm around the nurse as she helps him into the chair.
He should have been sleeping right now. But more than just his leg was broken just a few nights ago. John King, or Hyde as he liked to be called now, had planned for Stone's appearance in CPW. The man had already knew what he was going to happen before he even came face to face with Stone for the first time in months. The image of those two women bringing Ashley out from the back was still fresh in his mind. And so was everything that followed. Hyde laying her out. The chair being wrapped around her neck. The dead silence of the crowd. Demona Angel and the woman with an icy cold stare watching on from the outside, eyes gleaming, sick smiles on their faces. He saw all of this. And there was nothing he could do. Leg broken, handcuffed to the ropes, he watched helplessly as Hyde climbed the turnbuckle, laughing the whole way. Everything seemed to be in slow motion. And then, Hyde pointed at him and yelled one last thing before he jumped off.
He settles into the wheelchair, letting out a groan as the nurse props his left leg up. He should have been sleeping right now. But he couldn't. He wanted to know how Ashley was as soon as possible.
He watches the nurse unlock the wheels and move behind him. They move out of the hospital room, turning right into the long hallway, the walls of the hospital an icy blue. His mind flashes to the woman with the cold, icy eyes. He stares at the wall color as they slowly make their way down the hall, only seeing those eyes glaring out at him from beneath that mask. He closes his eyes, shaking his head. He didn't know who she was, but if she kept company like Demona or even Hyde, then she had to be a piece of work.
The nurse stops in front of a set of elevators, pressing the 'UP' button to call one. She looks down at Stone, patting him on the shoulder.
Ashley's frightened scream echoes through his mind. He grits his teeth, looking down in his lap. The nurse nods, patting him on the shoulder reassuringly as the elevator doors open. She pushes him in, turning the chair around and reaching forward, pressing the 3rd floor button. The doors shut, the elevator humming as it ascends. He began to grow anxious, wishing the elevator would move faster. The last thing he had heard about Ashley was that she needed an emergency surgery and that was just a few hours after they had arrived at the hospital late Saturday night. Not long after, x-rays of his leg were taken and he was put into surgery as well. And now, here he was, on his way to hear his first news of Ashley's condition since he last saw her.
The elevator doors open slowly, the wheelchair moving forward and turning left. The icy blue walls met him again as they slowly move down the hallway. Hyde's laughter enters his ears, playing on an endless loop. He felt surrounded by him, the laughter pounding down on him from all angles. He grips the arm rests, his knuckles popping. He closes his eyes, seeing Hyde pointing at him, laughing.
They stop in front of a door, the nurse knocking on it before opening it. She wheels Stone inside, where the doctor helping both of them, Dr. Stewart, smiles at him from behind a desk. Accolades cover the walls, an x-ray illuminator planted on the wall behind the desk. The nurse stops the wheelchair in front of the desk, squeezing Stone's shoulder one last time before exiting the room, closing the door behind her.
Stone nods, looking up at Dr. Stewart. The doctor stands up, a small, forced smile on his face. He picks up a manilla envelope off his desk, holding it up.
He opens the envelope, carefully taking out some x-rays and placing them up on the illuminator, turning it on. Stone looks up to see his broken leg, the knee practically shattered. The doctor takes a pen out of his coat pocket, pointing at the knee.
Stone stares blankly at the x-rays, a stern expression on his face. He glances over at Dr. Stewart, his lips barely separating as he spoke.
The doctor turns around, his eyes locking on Stone's. He quickly nods, taking the x-rays down and placing them back in the manilla envelope. He pulls out another set, keeping his head in front of the illuminator.
The doctor steps back, slightly sighing as Stone looks over the x-rays. The doctor extends his arm, using his pen to circle a part of Ashley's neck near the top, which was askew.
Stone holds up a hand, not taking his eyes off the x-rays.
Dr. Stewart puts his pen in his pocket, turning to Stone and leaning on his desk.
Stone opens his mouth, his words catching in his throat. He takes a moment, biting on his index finger's bent knuckle. He finally gathers his words, his breath catching as he spoke.
Dr. Stewart slowly nods, the room filling with a tense silence. Stone lets out a deep breath, feeling his eyes welling up. Dr. Stewart taps on the desk though, getting Stone's eyes to dart up, wanting to keep the feeling upbeat.
The doctor nods at Stone, who nods in return. Stone clears his throat, trying to regain some composure.
Stone nods, looking down at his hands. He felt responsible. He should have put his foot down. He knew how stubborn she could be. But she wanted to be there with him and he couldn't say no to her when he looked into those beautiful eyes of hers. He should have known better than that. He did know better than that. He didn't trust his gut feeling and now, they were here.
Dr. Stewart takes the x-rays down, turning off the illuminator. He places the x-rays back in the manilla envelope, taking a seat behind the desk. Stone shifts in the wheelchair, running a hand through his hair.
Stone nods, unable to think of anything else to say. Dr. Stewart clasps his hands together, leaning forward. A bit of uneasiness showed on his face, his mind working to bring the right words together. Stone continues staring at his hands, focusing on the now scabbed over cuts on his wrists from the handcuffs. Dr. Stewart clears his throat, seeing this as the only opportunity to break his news gently.
Stone slowly looks up, his eyes glossy, looking like he was being kicked while he was down. Seeing he wasn't going to say anything, the doctor continued.
Stone's face contorts with confusion. He shakes his head, waiting for the doctor to continue. Dr. Stewart sighs, a grim looking on his face for just a slight moment.
Stone stares at him, eyes blank. The words weren't registering in his mind. They played over and over, each time getting more and more hard to understand.
Dr. Stewart nods his head, again speaking softly.
Stone holds a hand up, shaking his head.
Dr. Stewart, a look of surprise, leans back in his chair. Stone's eyebrows slowly raise, his hand lowering back onto the armrest.
Stone slowly nods his head, eyes wide.
Stone shakes his head in disbelief. His mind jumps back to a few days before he and Ashley got on their place for Cleveland. Both of them in his office, Ashley's arms around his neck from behind as he sat at his computer. And the words she said suddenly came back to him.
His eyes slowly shut. He didn't know why he didn't pick up on it then. He lets out a heavy sigh, looking at the doctor with defeated eyes.
The doctor shakes his head. Stone nods, his eyes welling up again. It seemed like everything had fallen around him. He hadn't felt like this since...
He clears his throat, a single tear cascading down his cheek.
Cleveland, OH
9:43 a.m.
“OK, Mr. Stone, nice and easy. No need to rush.”
Chris Stone grimaces as he scoots to the edge of the bed, slowly swinging his legs over the edge. A heavy metal brace is wrapped around his left leg, partially covered by his hospital gown. It had been less than a day since he got surgery on his leg, broken after a vicious attack at the hands of a man lost in his own mind just two nights before. He looks up at the nurse, a young brunette woman, still feeling slightly out of it from the anesthesia. The sun pours through the hospital window, his eyes squinting as he looks away for a moment. The nurse locks the wheels of the wheelchair she was standing in front of, placed just a few feet from the bed. Stone slowly stands up on his right leg, putting his arm around the nurse as she helps him into the chair.
He should have been sleeping right now. But more than just his leg was broken just a few nights ago. John King, or Hyde as he liked to be called now, had planned for Stone's appearance in CPW. The man had already knew what he was going to happen before he even came face to face with Stone for the first time in months. The image of those two women bringing Ashley out from the back was still fresh in his mind. And so was everything that followed. Hyde laying her out. The chair being wrapped around her neck. The dead silence of the crowd. Demona Angel and the woman with an icy cold stare watching on from the outside, eyes gleaming, sick smiles on their faces. He saw all of this. And there was nothing he could do. Leg broken, handcuffed to the ropes, he watched helplessly as Hyde climbed the turnbuckle, laughing the whole way. Everything seemed to be in slow motion. And then, Hyde pointed at him and yelled one last thing before he jumped off.
“JUST REMEMBER! YOU'RE DOING THIS!”
He settles into the wheelchair, letting out a groan as the nurse props his left leg up. He should have been sleeping right now. But he couldn't. He wanted to know how Ashley was as soon as possible.
He watches the nurse unlock the wheels and move behind him. They move out of the hospital room, turning right into the long hallway, the walls of the hospital an icy blue. His mind flashes to the woman with the cold, icy eyes. He stares at the wall color as they slowly make their way down the hall, only seeing those eyes glaring out at him from beneath that mask. He closes his eyes, shaking his head. He didn't know who she was, but if she kept company like Demona or even Hyde, then she had to be a piece of work.
The nurse stops in front of a set of elevators, pressing the 'UP' button to call one. She looks down at Stone, patting him on the shoulder.
“How you doing?”
Ashley's frightened scream echoes through his mind. He grits his teeth, looking down in his lap. The nurse nods, patting him on the shoulder reassuringly as the elevator doors open. She pushes him in, turning the chair around and reaching forward, pressing the 3rd floor button. The doors shut, the elevator humming as it ascends. He began to grow anxious, wishing the elevator would move faster. The last thing he had heard about Ashley was that she needed an emergency surgery and that was just a few hours after they had arrived at the hospital late Saturday night. Not long after, x-rays of his leg were taken and he was put into surgery as well. And now, here he was, on his way to hear his first news of Ashley's condition since he last saw her.
The elevator doors open slowly, the wheelchair moving forward and turning left. The icy blue walls met him again as they slowly move down the hallway. Hyde's laughter enters his ears, playing on an endless loop. He felt surrounded by him, the laughter pounding down on him from all angles. He grips the arm rests, his knuckles popping. He closes his eyes, seeing Hyde pointing at him, laughing.
“JUST REMEMBER! YOU'RE DOING THIS!”
They stop in front of a door, the nurse knocking on it before opening it. She wheels Stone inside, where the doctor helping both of them, Dr. Stewart, smiles at him from behind a desk. Accolades cover the walls, an x-ray illuminator planted on the wall behind the desk. The nurse stops the wheelchair in front of the desk, squeezing Stone's shoulder one last time before exiting the room, closing the door behind her.
“Good morning, Mr. Stone.”
Stone nods, looking up at Dr. Stewart. The doctor stands up, a small, forced smile on his face. He picks up a manilla envelope off his desk, holding it up.
“I suppose you want to get right to it, so let's jump in.”
He opens the envelope, carefully taking out some x-rays and placing them up on the illuminator, turning it on. Stone looks up to see his broken leg, the knee practically shattered. The doctor takes a pen out of his coat pocket, pointing at the knee.
“All right, so to keep this simple so you don't get lost in the doctor mumbo jumbo, as you can see here, your knee is basically destroyed. Or I should say was. There wasn't much of a kneecap left, just fragments of what it used to be except for a few pieces. But all we did was take off a piece of your hip, and shaped it to fit with two of these pieces, that you see here. Then we put a few screws in and stapled you shut. Should take about 3-4 months to heal. I'll tell you now though, arthritis is probably going to be in your future.”
Stone stares blankly at the x-rays, a stern expression on his face. He glances over at Dr. Stewart, his lips barely separating as he spoke.
“I want to know about my wife.”
The doctor turns around, his eyes locking on Stone's. He quickly nods, taking the x-rays down and placing them back in the manilla envelope. He pulls out another set, keeping his head in front of the illuminator.
“Uh... Ashley's injury is obviously much more severe than yours. She suffered a great amount of trauma to her neck. We needed to do emergency surgery to relieve pressure on her spinal cord.”
The doctor steps back, slightly sighing as Stone looks over the x-rays. The doctor extends his arm, using his pen to circle a part of Ashley's neck near the top, which was askew.
“The force of... what happened... dislocated her neck at the C3 and C4 vertebrae. That caused a fracture, a pretty bad one. Simply put, she had an enormous amount of pressure on her spinal cord. We successfully performed the surgery, reinforced her vertebrae and relieved the pressure, but she will have central cord syndrome. Whether that's permanent or not, we'll have to wait and see.”
Stone holds up a hand, not taking his eyes off the x-rays.
“What's central cord syndrome?”
Dr. Stewart puts his pen in his pocket, turning to Stone and leaning on his desk.
“It's a form of an incomplete spinal cord injury. Not to sound rude, but she is extremely lucky to have this. She may be paralyzed for the rest of her life, she may not be. It's hard to tell. But the injury being incomplete puts it more in her favor of the paralysis being temporary.”
Stone opens his mouth, his words catching in his throat. He takes a moment, biting on his index finger's bent knuckle. He finally gathers his words, his breath catching as he spoke.
“She's paralyzed?”
Dr. Stewart slowly nods, the room filling with a tense silence. Stone lets out a deep breath, feeling his eyes welling up. Dr. Stewart taps on the desk though, getting Stone's eyes to dart up, wanting to keep the feeling upbeat.
“Hey, like I said, there's a very good chance it will be temporary. I can't guarantee it, but the chance is there. I suggest you hold on to it.”
The doctor nods at Stone, who nods in return. Stone clears his throat, trying to regain some composure.
“How... where is the paralysis affecting her?”
“Right now... We don't know. She's hooked up to a machine, which is there in case her respiratory system is affected. But she's still out from the surgery, so we can't be sure. But based on the area of the injury, it could just be her arms or diaphragm. The damage to her spinal cord was surprisingly minimal, but it really doesn't take much for signals to make it to the rest of her body. So we'll know more on that once she wakes up and we run some tests.”
Stone nods, looking down at his hands. He felt responsible. He should have put his foot down. He knew how stubborn she could be. But she wanted to be there with him and he couldn't say no to her when he looked into those beautiful eyes of hers. He should have known better than that. He did know better than that. He didn't trust his gut feeling and now, they were here.
Dr. Stewart takes the x-rays down, turning off the illuminator. He places the x-rays back in the manilla envelope, taking a seat behind the desk. Stone shifts in the wheelchair, running a hand through his hair.
“When will I be able to talk to her?”
“A few days at the most. Don't worry. When she's ready, I'll come get you myself.”
Stone nods, unable to think of anything else to say. Dr. Stewart clasps his hands together, leaning forward. A bit of uneasiness showed on his face, his mind working to bring the right words together. Stone continues staring at his hands, focusing on the now scabbed over cuts on his wrists from the handcuffs. Dr. Stewart clears his throat, seeing this as the only opportunity to break his news gently.
“Now... there was a complication.”
Stone slowly looks up, his eyes glossy, looking like he was being kicked while he was down. Seeing he wasn't going to say anything, the doctor continued.
“The amount of trauma and the severity of the injury... It was all too much for her body to handle along with what it was already handling. As I mentioned, injuries to the spinal cord can interrupt signals to the body. Even though it was minimal damage, it was enough to... I'm sorry, Mr. Stone, this is very hard for me to say.”
Stone's face contorts with confusion. He shakes his head, waiting for the doctor to continue. Dr. Stewart sighs, a grim looking on his face for just a slight moment.
“I'm sorry, Mr. Stone, but... the baby couldn't be saved.”
Stone stares at him, eyes blank. The words weren't registering in his mind. They played over and over, each time getting more and more hard to understand.
“Excuse me?”
Dr. Stewart nods his head, again speaking softly.
“The baby... We couldn't save the baby. There was a small window, but we would have had to known right away and unfortunately, we didn't realize until later.”
Stone holds a hand up, shaking his head.
“Wait, wait, wait, what are you talking about? What baby? Ashley was pregnant?”
Dr. Stewart, a look of surprise, leans back in his chair. Stone's eyebrows slowly raise, his hand lowering back onto the armrest.
“You didn't know?”
Stone slowly nods his head, eyes wide.
“I'm sorry you had to find out this way.”
Stone shakes his head in disbelief. His mind jumps back to a few days before he and Ashley got on their place for Cleveland. Both of them in his office, Ashley's arms around his neck from behind as he sat at his computer. And the words she said suddenly came back to him.
“Besides, when it's all done, we'll basically be on vacation! And that would be the perfect time to share something with you.”
His eyes slowly shut. He didn't know why he didn't pick up on it then. He lets out a heavy sigh, looking at the doctor with defeated eyes.
“Does she know?”
The doctor shakes his head. Stone nods, his eyes welling up again. It seemed like everything had fallen around him. He hadn't felt like this since...
He clears his throat, a single tear cascading down his cheek.
“Don't tell her. When she's ready... come and get me.”