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Vergeltung #4: Der Dunkle Pfad
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Topic Started: Aug 2 2013, 08:16 AM (180 Views)
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Tombstone
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Aug 2 2013, 08:16 AM
Post #1
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July 16th, 2013 11:34 am Newark, New Jersey Newark-Wayne Community Hospital
The sun shined brightly through the hospital window. There were very few clouds in the sky, nothing to block the sun's rays of heat from beating down on everything below. And the heat could be felt through the thick hospital window. It was almost noon and it was already a high temperature outside. But the temperature was nowhere near what was on the mind of the man staring out of the window like a statue.
Tombstone stands in front of it, his arms behind his back, his eyes focused on nothing in particular. Not the cars driving by on the street. Not the group of girls roller skating by in bikinis. Not even the three seagulls fighting over a half wrapped burger on the sidewalk. Only one thing was on his mind.
The image he saw inside the ring that past Sunday night. He had heard a loud crack. His eyes were full of his own blood and he had struggled to keep his eyes open as he turned his head up. But the image he saw had caused his eyes to go wide. Alexis collapsing to the mat, chair falling from her hands as RAW, baseball bat in hand, stood in a pose that resembled a professional baseball player after he had hit a home run.
Everything, even that night, moved in slow motion. From that moment, he heard nothing but his own breathing as he watched his love fall to the mat. Slowly, she fell, her eyes rolling in the back of her head. Blood was already staining her blonde hair as she hit the mat with a thud. He had stared at her for just a moment. But that moment felt like an eternity. He didn't know what to think. He wasn't even able to really process what he was really watching in those few seconds. But as he stared at her motionless body on the ground, the amount of pain he had been in was not enough to keep him from shooting up off the mat and going straight for RAW.
He closes his eyes, letting out a sigh. Why this had to happen to Alexis was something he couldn't understand. She had been a target quite a few times over the past couple of months. Thrown into the steel steps, assaulted by McCoy and even having RAW force a kiss onto her. But those were all things that she was able to get up or shrug off. She was that tough. But nobody was tough enough to withstand a baseball bat to the head. Even after what James Stall put him through last December... he didn't believe he could take a shot like Alexis did and be able to get back on his feet.
He turns away from the window, looking at Alexis as she lies motionless in the bed. She had been brought in from surgery about an hour ago. Heavy bandages were on the side of her head and you can see where part of her head was shaved so they could operate. He was told she had increased intracranial pressure and the only way to relieve that pressure was to drill holes into her skull to remove the hematomas that had formed. It was all a language he couldn't understand. He just wanted to know if she was going to be okay or not. The doctor wasn't exactly the most optimistic about the procedure by his own admission. He had said it was a 50/50 shot of relieving the pressure. If it didn't work, they would have to remove a piece of her skull so her brain would be able to swell without risk of further damage.
He walks over to the bed, gently placing his hand on top of hers. The heart monitor beeps at a steady rate, the only sound in the room. The doctor had said she could wake up later today or she could wake up days or even a week from now. He didn't care. All he cared about was being here when she did wake up. He was willing to forgo sleep just to be able to see her when she opened her eyes.
His head darts up as a soft knock is heard on the door. He watches it open and a nurse walks in, a vase of beautiful flowers in her hands. She quietly walks across the room, holding them out to him. Her head tilts up and her eyes give away that she's intimidated by his tattooed appearance. But like a professional, she smiles politely and speaks softly.
Nurse: "These just came in for her. Also, when you have a moment, a representative would like to speak with you. She's at the desk down the hall."
Tombstone nods as he takes the flowers from her. She smiles again and turns around, quietly walking out of the room. Tombstone looks down at the flowers, seeing roses, lilies, daisies, carnations and many others. A single orchid was in the middle, not yet bloomed. By the orchid was a folded note. Tombstone sets the flowers down on the table next to Alexis' bed, picking the note up and reading the inside.
To Alexis,
Get well soon. My thoughts are with you.
With regards,
Eric Donavan
Tombstone stares at the hand written name, feeling anger begin to form in the pit of his stomach. Slowly, his hand begins to close, the edges of the note folding. He stops before crushing it in his palm, staring at it a moment longer. He then folds it back together and places it in the flowers.
Eric had a lot of nerve sending flowers. Tombstone didn't understand what was going on in Donavan's head lately. And the way he just turned his back and walked away on Sunday... it made his blood boil just thinking about it. It was very well possible that Alexis wouldn't even be in this bed right now if Eric hadn't turned his back.
He lets out a sigh, slowly turning away from the bed. He walks to the door, opening it and walking out. He moves down the hall slowly, seeing a brunette woman in a business suit at the desk down the hall talking to the receptionist. He walks up beside her, letting her finish her conversation. The woman turns to him, looking up with a tiny bit of shock.
Woman: "Mr. Dietrich?"
Tombstone nods, placing an arm on the desk. She smiles and extends a hand, which he gently shakes.
Woman: "Hello, Mr. Dietrich, my name is Megan O'Hare. I'm a patient service representative. How are you today?"
Tombstone just stares at her, not saying a word. She nods her head and turns to a file on the desk, picking it up and opening it.
Megan O'Hare: "I understand this is a hard time right now. My best regards are with Alexis and yourself. The reason I wanted to talk to you is Alexis' file just got passed on to me. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there is a bit of a problem when it comes to payment."
Tombstone stands up straight, his eyes narrowing as he finally utters a few words.
Tombstone: "She ist insured."
Megan O'Hare: "Yes, yes she is. And her insurance company is going to pay their portion of the bill, no problem. But the problem isn't with her insurance. It's with the co-pay portion, the portion that's out of her pocket."
Tombstone holds a hand up, shaking his head.
Tombstone: "No, zis ist a mistake. Both of us vork for NEWera Vrestling. She vas injured during one of our shows. They should be paying zat portion."
Megan O'Hare: "Well, I'm afraid they're not going to."
She bites her lip, looking genuinely sympathetic as Tombstone's hands go to his head. He rubs his tired eyes, taking in a deep breath. She gently grabs his arm, pointing to a line of chairs across the hallway.
Megan O'Hare: "Would you like to take a seat? Make this conversation a bit more private?"
He nods his head and both of them walk across the hallway, sitting on a couple of chairs in the middle. She turns hers toward him, leaning in and talking lowly.
Megan O'Hare: "We contacted their corporate office and they're obviously aware of what happened to Alexis. But it was passed down through the channels that they would not be doing anything to pay Alexis' portion of her bill."
Tombstone: "Vhy?"
Megan O'Hare: "Mr. Dietrich, yours and Alexis' occupation comes with its hazards. NEWera is completely within their rights to deny paying for their performers' hospital bills. I'd guess that if they did that, it'd be extremely expensive for them."
Tombstone: "But Alexis ist not a performer. She ist just a manager. My manager."
Megan O'Hare: "I see. I'm not familiar with your company's policy when it comes to non-performers. All I know is that they are denying payment."
He sighs, rubbing the back of his head.
Tombstone: "So... vhat does zis mean? Vill she kontinue to receive treatment?"
Megan O'Hare: "Oh, of course! In no way, shape or form will she not receive the treatment she needs. But obviously, it's in the hospital's best interest to get this little problem sorted out right now so the road ahead isn't as bumpy as it can be. My first question is would you be able to pay for her treatment?"
Tombstone leans forward, placing his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands behind his head. The completely renovated home of Alexis' went through his head. It took nearly every dime he had to rebuild it and refurnish it. It took so long to save up to do that for her. Without looking up, he asks a question.
Tombstone: "How much ist it so far?"
Megan closes the file, letting out a sigh.
Megan O'Hare: "Honestly... not cheap."
Tombstone: "Und it's just going to get bigger..."
Megan O'Hare: "Look... I don't want to add any more stress to you. Yes, the bill will get bigger. But if we set up a payment plan today, would you be able to make a payment soon?"
Tombstone: "No... I have next to nothing right now."
Megan O'Hare: "I see. How about the future? I don't know exactly how someone in your profession is paid."
Tombstone: "That vould be possible. But taking out cost of living und travel... it vouldn't be much..."
Megan O'Hare: "I see. Can you give me a ballpark of exactly how much you'd be able to give on a monthly basis?"
Tombstone: "...Maybe... $500?"
Megan nods, placing a hand on his back.
Megan O'Hare: "That's actually not too bad. We could make it $400 if that would make you a bit more comfortable."
Tombstone: "No... $500 would be fine. Vould ve be able to start zis next month?"
Megan O'Hare: "Of course. I'll go have the paperwork drawn up. Are you going back to her room?"
Tombstone: "Yes."
Megan O'Hare: "Okay. I'll bring it by personally in a couple of hours. Don't worry, Mr. Dietrich. Everything is going to be fine."
He nods as he stares at the floor. She stands up, patting him on the back, then walking off, her heels clicking on the tile. He continues staring at the floor, the anger building inside of him. As much as he wanted to blame Eric for turning his back and possibly causing this to happen... as much as he wanted to point his finger at him and curse his name... he knew he couldn't do it. There were only two names that leaped forward in his mind at this moment.
Kyle Travis.
And the man that swung the bat himself.
'RAW' Randy Altzer.
-----
July 17th, 2013 11:45 pm
"Mr. Dietrich, please! You have to leave the room!"
Tombstone barely heard the frantic doctor as he stared at Alexis, who was standing on her bed, her eyes enraged. She kicked at one of the six nurses surrounding her bed, screaming.
Alexis Jones: "Bleib weg! Ich sagte Bleib mir vom Leib!"
She lets out a yell as she kicks a nurse's arm away from her. The nurses back up as Tombstone watches on, bewildered to the whole situation. She looks up at him, her eyes filled with anger, fear and confusion. She backs up against the wall, the bandage on her head coming slightly undone. She sees the vase of flowers next to her bed and quickly picks them up, throwing them at him. He ducks and the vase flies out into the hallway, shattering as it hit the floor. The doctor shoves Tombstone out of the door, his eyes wide.
Doctor: "Please, Mr. Dietrich! We have to calm her down! Just wait outside!"
He slams the door in Tombstone's face as more screaming and objects being thrown is heard. Tombstone slowly backs away from the door, his heart beating rapidly. His foot steps on the unblossomed orchid, crushing it with an audible crunch. He slowly looks down, seeing all the flowers scattered across the floor, accompanied by the broken pieces of the vase. In the middle of it all, the note, now unfolded, faces up, most of the ink words running from the water.
All the words except the name.
Eric Donavan.
Tombstone looks back up to the door, his jaw hanging slightly open. After a few moments, he slowly turns away, walking down the hallway. He didn't understand what had just happened. It was all so sudden, so abrupt... so unpredictable.
He continues walking silently down the hall, going over everything that happened moments before. He didn't even pay attention to where he was walking. He turned corners without realizing it. He walked around people, not bumping into a single person. Only when he heard the sound of crying did he stop.
He looks to his right, finding himself outside the maternity ward. A newborn baby was beginning to cry. On the other side of the hall, another baby begins to cry. Followed by another.
Then another.
And another.
Soon every baby in the maternity ward was crying. Tombstone looks all around him, beginning to feel overwhelmed from everything. Alexis, the crying, what the future held...
For the first time in a long time... he didn't know what to do.
-----
The scene slowly fades in, the screen nothing but a blur. Slowly, it begins to come into focus. The black and white pictures of Kyle Travis, Miss McCoy and Randy Altzer come into view. The camera remains focused on them for several seconds before a shadowy arm slowly moves over the top of them. As the arm passes over, the pictures disappear, being replaced by just one.
A black and white picture of a smirking Eric Donavan.
"Erik... I'm going to speak very clearly for you because I don't want any words misunderstood. You've been around me long enough to know what I'm saying, yet... I'm just not sure of that anymore. I don't know what to be sure of. You... you were a friend to me. Someone I called a brother. There is not many people I say that about. And you know what?
I can still say it."
The camera slowly pans up, revealing the shadowy figure of Tombstone sitting in front of the bright lights that he has for the past few weeks. He stares into the camera, his eyes, his face, everything unseen. You can see his shoulders slightly moving as he breathes, the scene filling with a thick silence. You can see him cross his arms, that being the only movement he makes.
"I just don't understand, Eric. I really don't. How you can construe a simple accident, an accident that you saw with your own eyes, as a malicious attack on my part is... interesting. You know as well as I do that the boot that met your jaw was not meant for you. Yet... you think it was. And you have convinced yourself of this paranoid reality. I've had time to think in the past few weeks since everything happened. Since you turned your back and walked away... since RAW hit my Alexis with a baseball bat... since all of it. And you know what I think?
I think you're looking for any reason to turn your back. I think you're looking for any reason to become unraveled, to shove everyone close to you as far away as possible. Look at what you've done in the past few weeks. You announced that you have no friends. You tore your White Noise shirt in half. You've done everything possible to distance yourself from the very people that welcomed you with open arms. And not only that... you blamed me."
You can hear him let out a disappointed sigh. He shakes his head, just a glimpse of the spider web tattoo on the inside of his ear becoming visible for just a split second.
"After everything we've been through... you do this. There are a lot of things that I would simply brush off, Eric. Many things. But you shoving the blame off on me when it is you yourself that has done everything in your power to build a wall between yourself and the world? You know better than anyone that I do not shy away from the truth. But what you speak... what you have spoken... nothing but lies.
Does it make you feel better at night? Are you able to sleep soundly in the world that you have created for yourself? I'm guessing it's not. I know that right now, you are having a very rough, very dark path in life. What I want to know is... how can you acknowledge that I and others have had just an equally hard path, or perhaps an even worse path, and still remain so self absorbed? You bring up the state James Stall left you in a few months ago. Have you forgotten what he did to me? I know you haven't. I know that image of what he did is as clear in your head as it is in mine. He gave you a pretty good beating and on top of it, broke your ankle. What did he do to me? He didn't try to break my ankle. He tried to break me. He tried to break my spirit. And you know what?"
You can see the shape of his head look down as he speaks the next set of words.
"He succeeded. He may have also tried to end my career, which he wasn't able to do. But he did break my spirit, Eric. When I awoke in the hospital, all I could see was James Stall. For months after what he did, I was right where you are. Except there is a big difference between you and me. While we walked the same path, I didn't push away my friends. I didn't build a wall up and blame you or Robbie or Beest or Alexis. The blame for that night was on one person and one person only: James Stall. But that doesn't mean that I almost didn't become what you are now. I lashed out at those that were not in my little circle. The most notable person was Romeo Stylez. He tried to warn me about the path I was on, how nothing good could come of it. And what did I do? I choked him. I beat him. I made him suffer.
And what did he do?
He never gave up on trying to steer me right. That man kept his chin held high and took every ounce of pain I delivered to him... and kept trying to help me. Do you know what kind of resolve that takes, Eric? What kind of commitment? It's astonishing really. Nearly any other man would have gave up when they faced what he faced, but he stood his ground. And in the end... we gained a respect for each other. Not unlike the respect that you and I gained once we reached the end of our historic battles.
And when you came back and I looked in your eyes, I recognized what I saw. I saw what Romeo saw in me all those months ago. And as your stablemate, as your friend... as your family... I felt obligated to step in. But much like I did with Romeo, you have retaliated with resistance. At first, it was subtle. But nearly one month ago, you proved that you do not want my help. You don't want anybody's help. But I'm sorry to say, Eric...
I can't allow that."
He takes a deep breath, his head turning off to the side. You see a glint of the piercing in his nose, shining momentarily in the light.
"Even after you turned your back over something so trivial... even after that very act very possibly could have caused Alexis to..."
His words catch in his throat. A low growl is heard as he snaps his head back to face the camera.
"To be in the state that she's in, I won't do what you did to me. I won't turn my back on you, Eric. You will get my help, whether you like it or not. But I realize that I am not as level headed as Romeo. I know that I cannot keep my cool like him. But in this case, Eric... that's just what you need. I would apologize for throwing you throw that window. Thinking about that over the week after it happened... I felt terrible about it. But you know what? You deserved it. That window... the sound of it breaking... the feeling of that glass tearing into your skin as you go through it... that symbolizes your wake-up call. You need to open your eyes, Eric. And I won't be afraid to force them open. Think of it as tough love.
You are not the Eric Donavan that I grew to respect anymore. But that doesn't mean I won't pull that Eric out of you. Make all the excuses you want in your own head about what happened after you turned your back on me. If you remember, we were doing okay in holding our ground against Fabulous Disaster. Not long after that, Bombtrack and Tommy Zeller came down. If you had been there... I firmly believe Alexis wouldn't have suffered what she did. But don't mistake that for me blaming you for what happened to her. You may have contributed, albeit not on purpose, but the blame is on the shoulders of Kyle Travis and RAW. The only thing you're being blamed for is turning your back on a friend that needed your help more than anything at that moment. I will not fall into that same trap. One way or another... you will learn what you did all those months and months ago.
Friendship isn't easy. Respect isn't either. It's going to be a long hard road for you, Eric. And not just with me. With Bombtrack as well. But I know these things are still inside you. You're just doing a good job of burying them. I know it pains you that you turned your back. I know that you feel slightly guilty for what you did that night. Why else would you send flowers to Alexis? As angered as I was when they came in... it was a moment where I realized that you weren't beyond my help."
He kneels down, the camera following him and continuing to pan back down to the picture of Donavan. It suddenly bursts into flames, the face of Eric bubbling and hissing as the flames slowly engulf it.
"Alles brennt, Erik. And this darkness inside you right now? It will burn away. But it won't be you that starts that fire. It will be me. Your darkness will be lit up until not one single shadow is left. And then... your healing will begin. Schlaf jetzt, my friend. It's only going to get harder from here."
Static and images of a bloody Alexis flash across the screen as the rest of Eric's body bubbles up from the flames. The scene slowly fades away, the only sound being heard the hissing until that eventually faded out as well.
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 W/L/D 25/12/0 The Streak: 11/0/0, June 24th, 2012-December 15th, 2012, Broken by Bombtrack 3x NEWera Televison Champion - 08/19/12-02/24/13 - 03/09/2013-04/21/2013 - 05/19/2013-11/3/2013 Longest Reigning NEWera Television Champion - 189 Days
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