“I agree,” her room mate, Indira commented.
Ash had met Indira the night before when she had first gotten into her hospital room. When she first arrived at the hospital, Ash was taken into the emergency room and checked over. She had passed out and refused to be woken up until later that night. She was diagnosed with a herniated disc in her neck, as well as a concussion. The doctor had also done a CAT scan to make sure that she didn’t have and head trauma. They were keeping her in the hospital for a few nights under observation to make sure that she was going to be okay. Indira, her room mate, was a girl about her age that had been in a car accident. She had a broken leg and stitches running up her arm. That’s all Ash knew about it.
“I hurt and it sucks,” Ash commented, attempting to get comfortable.
“So do I,” Indira agreed, “What’s with pain anyway? What’s it’s major problem?’
“I’d love to know,” Ash replied, laughing slightly.
“So you’re a wrestler then?” Indira asked.
“Yeah,” Ash replied, “With the OVW.”
“Cool,” Indira commented, “I love wrestling. It’s pretty wicked.”
“Until you land wrong,” Ash laughed.
“Good point,” Indira agreed.
The girls were eating their lunch when a nurse walked in. She took Ash’s temperature and checked her over.
“You have a few visitors,” the nurse told her, “Do you want to see them?”
“Sure,” Ash shrugged, “Why not?”
“Okay, I’ll send them in,” the nurse said, with a smile.
Ash turned to look at the door, eating a spoonful of fruit salad. Shane, Jeff and Matt walked in.
“Hey!” she said, smiling.
“Hey girl,” Matt commented, giving her a high 5, “Lita wanted to come, but she couldn’t. She’ll be by later though.”
“Not a problem,” Ash smiled.
“How are you feeling?” Jeff asked.
“Not too shabby,” Ash commented, “Considering I hurt.”
She looked at Indira and the girls laughed. Ash turned back to her friends. Shane handed her a stuffed tiger.
“Aww, thanks bro!” she said, as he gave her a gentle hug.
“Not a prob sis,” he commented, “What are brothers for? It actually from all of us. Jeff picked it out and we all decided it was a good idea.”
She smiled and placed the tiger beside her on the bed.
“Well thank you very much,” she said, with a smile.
“So when are you outta this hell hole?” Jeff asked.
“2 days,” Ash replied, “I’m under observation right now.”
“That’s gotta suck,” Matt sympathized, “Having people in and out of your room every 5 minutes.”
“More like every 3 hours, but thanks for coming out,” Ash replied, rolling her eyes.
Shane, Jeff and Matt stayed to talk for a little bit before heading for the arena for the night’s show. After they left, Ash sat in her bed, holding the tiger on her lap and thinking.
“Shane’s your brother?” Indira asked.
“Huh?” Ash replied, snapping out of her own little thoughts.
“I said, Shane Helms is your brother,” Indira repeated.
“Yeah, my dad married his mom, so more like step brother,” Ash explained.
“That’s awesome,” Indira commented, “I wish I had a brother that was that cool.”
“I’m sure your brother’s very much like Shane,” Ash told her.
“That’s funny, because I don’t have a brother,” Indira laughed.
“I’m losing it, huh?” Ash laughed, as well.
“You’re gone girl,” Indira nodded, “So what’s with you and Jeff?”
“What are you talking about?” Ash asked.
“Well, he didn’t take his eyes off you once, I swear,” Indira said, “And you seemed to enjoy looking at him as well.”
Ash didn’t say anything for a while, she just sat thinking. She knew that Indira must have been seeing things, because she knew that Jeff had a girlfriend and loved her.
“Jeff’s off limits,” Ash finally said, “He’s untouchable. He’s taken.”
“Yeah, but you can’t control what you feel,” Indira pointed out to her.
The doctor walked into the room and began to prep Indira for her leg surgery. She was soon taken to the OR, leaving Ash to think about what she had just said.
~*~
Ash arrived at her apartment a few days later, exhausted. She walked into the living room and flopped down on the couch, closing her eyes. She felt so much better and was looking forward to getting back into the ring. She had had numerous visitors during her stay at the hospital and was glad to be alone for once. She had gotten Indira’s phone number before leaving the hospital and promised to get her front row tickets when she debuted in the WWF. She was scheduled to begin training again in 5 days and couldn’t wait until then.
~*~
Upon arriving back at the club, she was greeted by smiles and handshakes. It was as if she had died or something, then been brought back to life. She didn’t mind the attention at all.
“Hey darlin!” Jon said, giving her a hug.
“Before we get started for today, I want to talk to Ash about something,” Bill said, taking Ash’s arm and leading her to his office.
She sat down in one of his big cushy chairs and looked up at him. He sat down behind the desk and looked back at her.
“Ash, Shondell’s gone,” Bill said.
“What do you mean by that?” Ash asked, confused.
“A couple days after you were injured, she came forward and said that she had injured you on purpose out of jealousy,” Bill told her, “We had no choice but to terminate her contract.”
“Oh my God,” Ash said, in shock, “I knew she hated me, but I didn’t think she’d attempt to jeopardize my career.”
“I just thought that I’d let you know that the problem has been taken care of, and we’re glad to have you back,” Bill told her.
“Thanks, Bill,” Ash replied.
They headed out to the mats and got ready for their training.
~*~
Ash boarded a plane headed home to North Carolina for a week before her big WWF debut. She had planned nothing but relaxation and sleep for her week at home. She watched as the other passengers boarded the plane. She was sitting in the window seat, which she had requested, and had just closed her eyes for a little bit, when she heard someone speaking very loudly.
“Jay,” a male voice announced, “Over here, we’re over here.”
“Wicked,” another male voice commented.
Ash opened her eyes and prayed to God that the two loudmouths wouldn’t be sitting near her. She turned and looked as one of them plopped down in the seat beside her. ‘You’re doing this because I’ve done something terribly bad, right God? This is some form of punishment?’ she thought, looking up towards the sky. She turned and looked out the window, attempting to ignore them. She had them both pegged as people that would obviously enjoy annoying other passengers. She soon found out that she was right.
“Hey!” one guy announced, holding up a pamphlet about air safety, “We get these really cool pamphlets!”
“Wicked, dude,” the other guy agreed.
Ash managed to ignore them until the plane took off. She sat back in her seat and attempted to enjoy the in flight movie, but it was really hard with the two guys making comments through out the whole thing.
“Dude, did you see that?” the one guy said, “That was the most wicked thing I have ever seen!”
Ash rolled her eyes and attempted to pay attention to the film. She snuck a glance at the two guys, after failing to keep focused on the movie. They both had long blonde hair. One was wearing a black sweater with a red stripe across it and the other one was wearing a white sweater. They were both in jeans. She sighed and closed her eyes. What seemed like minutes passed before she felt someone poke her.
“Girl,” the guy sitting beside her, the one she referred to as Black Sweater guy, said, “Wake up, it’s supper time girl.”
“Thanks,” she muttered, opening her eyes.
“Not a problem,” the guy grinned.
“Whatcha doing sleeping anyway?” White sweater guy asked, “You’re missing the movie.”
“Not as much as I would be missing if I had to listen to you two commenting on everything,” she mumbled.
“What’s your problem girl?” Black Sweater guy asked, “You seem grumpy.”
“It could be that I haven’t had more than 3 hours of sleep in the past few days,” she snapped, “Or it could be that I have a herniated disc in my neck that just isn’t getting better, or...”
“Wow, you got a lot of problems,” Black Sweater guy commented, “How’d you hurt your neck?”
“Landed wrong,” Ash shrugged, “Don’t ask, long story.”
“Oh,” White Sweater guy said, “My name’s Jay.”
“Great,” Ash replied, as the flight attendant gave her a tray of food.
“I’m Adam,” Black Sweater guy said.
“I’m glad to hear that,” Ash replied, taking a bite of her mashed potatoes, “I’m Ash.”
“Ashley?” White Sweater guy/Jay said.
“No, just Ash,” she said, with a sigh.
“Why are you going to North Carolina?” Adam asked.
“Going home for a bit before I start my new job,” Ash replied, deciding to talk with them, “You guys?”
“Our work is sending us there,” Adam said.
“Like a transfer?” Ash asked.
“Not really,” Jay replied, “We’re just supposed to go there. We have things to do.”
“Uh huh,” Ash commented.
“Important things, dude, you forgot the word important,” Adam informed him.
“Oh sorry,” Jay said, “Important things.”
“Good for you,” Ash replied, “Good to know that you have important things to do.”
“Dude, check this out!” Jay commented, wiggling his fork, “It wiggles!”
Ash couldn’t help but laugh as she watched Jay’s jello wiggle on his fork. Adam laughed as well.
“That was so cool dude, do it again!” Adam laughed.
“One question, are you guys really this dumb?” Ash asked.
“Do I sound dumb to you?” Adam asked.
“Slightly,” Ash commented, with a nod, “The whole stupid surfer thing you guys got going on isn’t really working for me.”
“Damn Adam,” Jay commented, losing his surfer attitude immediately, “I told you it wouldn’t work. It’s not a good gimmick. It’s not gonna sell.”
“Yes it will,” Adam said, nodding, “We’ve just gotta perfect it. It’ll take time. It’s like learning a new language, it takes time.”
“I’m just not comfortable with the world thinking I’m some sort of moron,” Jay said, “Can’t we pick something else?”
“We look like surfers,” Adam commented, “We act like surfers, hell Jay, we can even surf.”
“I know,” Jay sighed, “I still think it’s a dumb gimmick though.”
“What the heck are you two talking about?” Ash asked.
“Nothing really,” Adam shrugged, exchanging glances with Jay.
“Whatever,” Ash laughed, “Not like I care.”
They sat and chatted for a while before the pilot announced that they were almost at the airport.
“So, it was nice meeting you,” Ash said, doing up her seatbelt.
“Nice meeting you too,” Jay commented, nudging Adam.
“Can I have your phone number?” Adam blurted out, “I mean...... so I can call you sometime. If that’s okay with you, I mean..... uh...”
“Sure,” Ash laughed, writing her number down on one of the pamphlets, “Call me anytime. This is my NC number and this is my Ohio number.”
“Awesome,” Adam smiled, “I’ll definitely call you.”
They got off the plane and headed for opposite directions. Ash hoped deep down inside that he would call her, even though she wasn’t sure if he was just trying to get her phone number to impress his friends.