Not that bad // Rhea Ripley

31- Stay Awake

"But dreams only last for a night."

All Time Low

The guys went first, in a lock, but Phil overpowered Scott quickly. He was really giving his best to impress his family. But guess what, I was about to do the same. Punk threw Colt in our corner and I made the tag. Colt looked at me and winked, letting me go in the ring. I thought Punk was going to do the tag, but he just stayed in the middle of the ring, looking at me like the cheeky bastard he is. I wasted no time in outrunning him, it's the only way I could win. I also dodged a lot of his attacks, gaining speed, but when he countered me with that mother fucking clothesline, I just laid flat on the ground for one too many seconds. I was brutally brought up by a feminine grip, Mickie. And now the fun begins. We spent a good 15 minutes to wrestle each other, each moves more impressive and dangerous than the previous one, but also more destructive. The guys probably saw we were going too far, and Colt force-tagged me, and so Mickie went to tag with Punk. Colt sent me a glare as he was entering the ring and I looked down. Yeah, I can't forget that this is entertainment, and I can't let my emotions or hatred take over. I watched the match for a little, before going under the ring to search for foreign objects. When I brought the chair up, the crowd was cheering so freaking loud. I glanced into Ashton's direction quickly, and saw on his face a mix between excitement and fear. I called Colt and passed him the chair. He used it well for a few minutes, before Punk took it away from him, and almost broke his fucking back. I have to admit that at that moment, I was genuinely scared for Scott, and not Colt the wrestler, but Scott the human being. So I didn't think and entered the ring to be between Punk and Colt, protecting the latter for a few seconds, until he regained spirit and tagged me. Punk turned to Mickie and gave her his hand, in which she tapped directly. She ran to me like a devil and speared me, like I've never felt before. I felt my back crack in every single way, and bitch it hurt. I fortunately didn't hit my head, because I think with the impact, I could have lost consciousness for some seconds, even minutes. I got up as quickly as I could, and went on her, throwing fists, elbows and kicks, a combination that Phil actually taught me. I tried to pin her once, but it didn't work, so I hit her as much as I could, so she could stay on the ground, while I was searching for my favorite weapon, that actually was perfect for my little revenge, a kendo stick. I hit her multiple times, and people yelled at every single kick, but then I felt someone hit the back of my head, and before I could realize, I was on the mat, face down, feeling dizzy. And next moment, Mickie had put my knee in a chair. The bad knee. Then nothing for a moment, and suddenly a sharp pain, like I had never ever felt. I felt like screaming, crying, begging for the match to stop, but I didn't do anything of these. I kicked Mickie with all the strength I could gather in my other leg, and crawled to tag with Colt. I watched him fight Phil for a moment, but they only had half of my attention, I was on the verge of passing out. And I eventually did, the pain being too strong in my leg. The only thing I heard was the bell ring, and then nothing, all black everywhere, for like a minute. When I opened my eyes, the medics were around me, and Punk's theme song was echoing throughout the hall, so I assume they won. Scott was above me.

" I'm so sorry." I just said. "I'm sorry we lost."

" It's not your fault in any way!" He reassured me. "You fucking did a great match, I'm so proud of you! Now let's go get your leg checked alright?"

I smiled at him half-heartedly, and left the stage, Scott holding me and helping me backstage. He directly led me to the infirmary and sat me on the table. My leg was completely numb at times, and could literally hurt like hell 3 seconds after. We waited for a doctor to come, and check on my knee.

" Okay, it's not broken or anything, that is the good news." He announced with a smile. "The bad news is that it'll need surgery eventually."

" Really ?" I felt a mix between joy and fear right now. "What does 'eventually' mean?"

" I'd say the wiser would be to get it done within the month." He advised. "Until then, you could still appear in shows, but no wrestling."

I felt really relieved. I could just wait until I go back to Australia to get surgery done. I thanked the doctor that told me he was going to say to the direction what's the matter.

" How do you feel beautiful?" Scott asked gently.

" Relieved." I admitted. "It kind of hurts but that happened before too."

" Alright." He smiled gently at me. "Your friend, Ashton if I remember well, is outside of the venue, do you want me to go get him?"

" No thanks, I'll just get changed and go see him, if you could just tell him that." I demanded.

" Of course princess." He responded. "But will you bee okay?"

" Yeah, those are just crutches for a week and a knee brace until the surgery, I'm used to it."

I smiled at him and went to the locker room. Fortunately, it was empty due to the time that I spent at the infirmary. I changed rather quickly, since I was really excited to see my friend. He'll probably be worried, and will throw shit at me, but hey, it wasn't my fault after all. I put my bag on my shoulder and went towards the exit. A tall bundle of joy with curly hair ran towards me and hugged me.

"You did fucking amazing!" He squealed. "I'm so impressed, you've gotten so good!"

" Thank you, Ashton." I said, looking down and blushing.

" How does your knee feel?" He asked, worry lacing his voice.

" It hurts, I'm not going to lie." I admitted. "I'll have to get surgery done when I come back to Australia. Until then no wrestling, only appearances, and I have to be extra careful."

" Alright. And when are you coming back?"

" In a bit more than two weeks, for the holidays." I explained. "And I'll be here until after New Years."

" It's awesome, everyone is going to be so happy!" He exclaimed. "And I am too of course!"

" Could you please not tell them Ashton?" I demanded. "About the fact that I'm coming home? They're probably aware that I'm hurt since they've seen the show, and if they ask you can tell them that I'll have to undergo surgery but please, let me surprise them."

" Okay, I'll keep it a secret." He smiled at me.

" And you, when are you taking a plane back home ?" I asked, not wanting to let him go.

" Tomorrow morning, early, sadly." He looked down. " Trust me, I'd like to stay here longer."

" Hey, let me invite you to eat out? We were planning on going with Scott, you can tag along !"

" Yes, that would be great, thanks a lot Roxy."

He smiled warmly at me and we went through the parking lot, searching for Scott, who was with Phil and Mickie. Oh joy.