Tame

Chapter Ten

I'm torn when it comes to tonight's main event: Kane vs Punk. Kane's my friend, but he's also my responsibility when it comes to work. But, everyone knows that Punk and I are best friends and that I support him 100% in his matches. It's hard to choose a side now.
Punk suicide dives out of the ring towards Kane, knocking him to the ground.
"Come on, Kane!" I cheer.
Punk raises his arms to the fans who boo very loudly at him. He limps toward Kane and picks him up to throw him back into the ring. He backs Kane into a corner and goes to work on stomping down on his left knee, screaming, "Best in the world!"
The referee gently pushes Punk back into the opposite corner.
"Punks had a pretty good plan here-keeping the big man off his feet," Mr. Cole observes. "Can he continue it?"
Punk charges at Kane, kneeing him in the face. Punk goes back into the opposite corner again, darting forward to deliver another running high knee to the face of Kane.
"Really, the longer this matchup goes on, the more confident Punk has become," Mr. Cole says.
Punk mouths, "One more," before going into the corner for the third time. When Punk runs forward, Kane charges out of the other corner, upper cutting Punk.
"Did you notice when Punk came out of the corner all three times, he had a slight limp?" Mr. Cole asks Jerry.
Limping over to Punk, Kane pushes him into a corner and starts clotheslining and throwing himself at him. He picks Punk up and delivers a sidewalk slam, going for a pin. "1...2..." Punk kicks out, stretching out his left leg. Both of them are favoring their weak leg.
"Punk trying to get some feeling back into that knee," Jerry states as Punk tries to make it to his feet while Kane starts climbing to the top rope. He flies off and clotheslines Punk to the ground.
"And suddenly, the big red monster closing in and knocking off the champ," Mr. Cole say as the WWE Universe goes wild for Kane.
Kane raises his hand and goes to clamp it around Punk's throat, when Punk ducks and twists around to deliver a neck breaker instead. "1...2..." Kane kicks out making Punk rolls out of the ring onto the apron to get some words of encouragement from Mr. Heyman.
Punk stands up and pulls on the top rope to propel him in Kane, but Kane catches him with a choke slam. Mr. Heyman crawls in to pull Punk's leg under the rope. Kane grabs onto Punk and glares at his manager as Mr. Heyman strolls over to the commentary table. I round a corner of the ring and walk up behind Mr. Heyman, tapping his shoulder. He whirls around and I slap him as hard as I can across the cheek. The fans cheer as I walk back to my spot.
Kane backs up and runs the tip of his thumb around his neck to signal the end. He picks Punk up and swings him around in tombstone position. Instead of planting Punk on his head, Kane looks around at the fans. I see Roman first because he's closest to me, but Dean and Seth quickly come into my line of vision. I back away from the side they're on. With Kane momentarily distracted, Punk's able to slip down his back and takes out Kane's knees.
Punk picks Kane up onto his shoulder and hits the Go to Sleep as Ryback's attackers calmly look on.
"...then the cover on Kane..."
"1...2...3!"
"...and it's over. Punk has knocked off Kane," Mr. Cole proclaims as the bell rings and Punk rolls off of him.
"And the winner of this match, the WWE Champion, CM Punk," Justin Roberts announces to the fans as I climb in to check on Kane.
"You alright?" I ask him.
"I will be as soon as I get out of his ring," Kane replies, referring to Dean, Seth and Roman who are starting to cross the barricade. "You need to leave."
"I'm not leaving you like this," I tell Kane sternly. "You know that's not like me."
I struggle to push Kane's dead weight out of the ring as Punk scoots into a corner, Dean and the guys' eyes locked on his every move. Now I have Punk to worry about. What if the guys unnecessarily attack Punk just to prove a point that their loyalty isn't just to one person? I groan as I push Kane harder but now he's barely budging.
"You have to help me help you, Kane," I grunt, hitting his back to keep him from drifting off.
Dean and the guys slowly climb into the ring making me panic, but Kane starts to get to his feet, using the ropes for support and I'm thinking I'll be able to get him out of harm's way.
"Well, they said earlier tonight, they weren't working for Punk," Mr. Cole says as Punk puts his fists up.
Hell breaks loose in a split second. I'm yanked backwards just as the guys descend on Kane like animals. I thrash around, yelling, "Kane! Kane!"
"Stop, Munchkin," Punk tells me, tightening his hold around my waist as Kane falls to the floor and curls up to protect himself.
"Tell them to stop!" I scream at Punk. "Tell them to stop!"
"I can't," Punk grunts, readjusting his arms to get a better grip on me. "They won't listen to me." He carries me out of the ring as the assault on Kane continues.
I see Daniel run down to the ring and slip in. The guys start to pound on him. Seth kicks him out of the ring so that they can go back to Kane. Punk finally lets me go to nurse his knee. I think about crawling back inside the ring when Ryback's theme plays and everyone freezes, especially Punk, horror written all over his face. He darts to the barricade and flips over, but I'm not fast enough. Instead, I get a rough shove into the steel steps by Ryback before he climbs inside the ring. The push made one of the edges of the steps jam into my ribs and I rest my back against the staircase, holding them. I peek inside the ring to see Ryback pushing all three men away from him. He punches Dean and Roman away before picking Seth up like a rag doll and power bombing his back against the canvas. He clotheslines Dean and Roman who are getting up just as Punk comes back and clubs Ryback from behind. Ryback stumbles forward, but whirls around just in time to kick Punk in the stomach and pick him up for a power bomb. Roman spears Ryback making him drop Punk. Punk rolls onto the apron as the mugging on Ryback continues.
"Get him up!" Roman roars.
With Ryback arms draped across Dean and Seth's shoulders, they sit his legs on Roman's shoulders and slam him into the mat. Staring at the three men looming over Ryback's motionless body, Punk hops off the apron. They do a replay from the beginning moments of when Ryback came to the ring  to when Roman speared Ryback as Dean and the others back out of the ring toward the barricade. When Punk slips into the ring to stand over Ryback with his championship, Dean glances down at me and it's like he's seeing me for the first time.
"Are you okay?" he asks in concern.
I give him a subtle nod and they cross over the barricade, disappearing into the crowd as Punk's theme plays.
"Do you guys see how Punk's not checking on Ada to see if she's okay?" Jerry questions. "She hit her ribs pretty hard on those steel steps."
"...that man, the WWE Champion, CM Punk is benefited," Mr. Cole says. "We leave you with this question tonight: Does The Shield's argument that they are not working for CM Punk still hold water?"

"Ow!" I scream as Dr. Sampson presses into the bottom part of my right rib cage.
"Yep, those need to be wrapped," Dr. Sampson tells me before going over to the medical shelf.
"Are they broken or something?" I ask.
Dr. Sampson shakes his head as he pushes things away to find what he's looking for. "Surprisingly, they're only slightly bruised up. Nothing to worry about."
After he gets the roll of gauze, the doctor helps me to a sitting position and lifts my shirt up.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Me and the doctor's heads snap up to Dean who's standing in the doorway, glaring.
"I'm just wrapping her ribs up," Dr. Sampson quickly explains.
"Dean...don't worry," I say breathless. I can't even breath without my ribs hurting, let alone speak.
Dean rushes to my side as Dr. Sampson starts wrapping me up. "I'm going to kill Ryback," Dean grumbles.
"Haven't you done enough," I say angrily. I can feel him looking at me, but I don't turn my head in his direction.
The doctor clears his throat and straightens up. "All right, Ada, I suggest you be extra careful for the rest of his week. You're good to go."
Dean helps me down from the vinyl cot and shuffles me out of the Trainers' Room.
"Where's your stuff?" Dean asks.
"Divas...Locker Room," I breathe.
We stop by the room and Dean sighs before quickly marching inside. I hear a scream.
"Get out!" I hear AJ scream.
"Perv!" I hear Alicia Fox shout, then I hear a thud and cringe. Poor Dean.
He walks out with my duffel bag, rubbing the top of his head. "I'm never doing that again," he mumbles grumpily. I can't help but laugh a little.
We walk out into the parking lot where the wrestlers cars are and Dean leads me to a black Hummer that is already occupied by Seth and Roman. I stumble back into Dean.
"We're going to take you back to the hotel," Dean explains, but I shake my head.
"I don't want to go in there," I tell him frantically.
"They're not going to hurt you," Dean assures. "There's nothing to worry about."
He opens up the back door and gestures for me to climb inside. I do and sit back as far as I can in my seat as Dean puts my bag in the trunk. Roman and Seth turn around to me and I'm sure I'm two seconds away from dying of a heart attack.
Seth raises his hand in a greeting way while Roman just turns back around, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. Dean climbs in beside me and places his arm behind my head.
"Stop tensing," he whispers in my ear. "They smell fear."
My eyes widen. "Really?" I whisper back.
"No," Seth pipes up, rolling his eyes at Dean through the rearview mirror. "Stop trying to scare her."
"But it's fun," Dean whines as I hit him on the chest.
"You're mean," I say.

We finally make it back to the hotel after what seems like forever when you're bickering with Dean. I fly out of the car and snatch my duffel bag from Dean's hands. He raises his hands in surrender.
"Night, Dean," I say quickly, power walking into the hotel.
I've spend enough time with him to last a lifetime. Now I can go back to ignoring him especially after what he and the others did to Kane. What is wrong with me? I keep telling myself that I'm going to stay away from Dean, but I can't seem to even after knowing what he's doing to my friends and to me.
"Wait, Ada!" Dean calls out, jogging towards the elevator I'm in.
I repeatedly punch the Close Door button but it doesn't want to work until he's already inside the bank with me. I push myself up against the far wall and look everywhere except for him.
"What did I do this time?" Dean asks, rolling his eyes.
"Nothing," I state simply with a shrug.
"Really, cause it seems like you're giving me the cold shoulder and we were just playing around not too long ago."
"It's nothing, Dean," I sigh.
"This is about us isn't it?" I finally look at him. "You're trying to lose your feelings for me."
"What feelings?" I scoff.
Dean gives me a look like he doesn't believe me. "You like me, Ada," he says. "I know you do."
I go back to looking at the floor numbers.
"Why are you trying to detach yourself from me?" Dean questions exasperatedly. "Why won't you just let this happen?"
"Because I don't want it to happen, Dean," I tell him. "We're not right for each other."
"If this is because of my age-"
"It's not," I interrupt. He doesn't seem to believe me. "I mean, it was...at first. But that's not it anymore. You're not really a good person, Dean. What you and the others are doing is wrong. I can't be around someone like that."
"But you're best friends with Punk and he's the dirtiest of us all," Dean snaps.
Without thinking, I slap him just as the elevator opens up on my floor. I walk off the lift and stop just outside of it, my back towards him.
"Thanks for being there when I told you about my family, and thanks for bringing me home, but we need to keep our distance," I tell Dean before going down the hall.