Broken Handcuffs [III]

xiv.

April... April you need to wake up...

Hm...?

Come back to me, Ape... Wake up please!

Who is that?

April!

Her eyes shot open and she took a deep breath, her eyesight correcting and seeing Phil there.

"Oh thank God, the doctor almost pronounced you dead!" Punk was crying, hands clutching one of her own like a lifeline while everything was coming back to her.

"What happened to me?"

"What are you talking about? You were attacked! Remember? That crazy guy in a mask. You said he looked familiar to you? That he attacked you about Nicole?"

Nicole...

"Nicole? Nikki? Is she okay?"

He makes a face, "Yeah, I wouldn't know. Why do you care about her all of a sudden?"

All of a sudden? What was going on? Why was she in a hospital with her ex-husband? Where was Nicole?

"Phil, this isn't the time to joke around. You know Nicole's my... my ex-girlfriend." Phil's reaction is meme-worthy, his face twisted in a little disgust and mostly shock.

"What? Since when? Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

"You already—" Something told April to look down. She followed the instructions and saw something she hadn't seen in about two years, and that was her wedding ring as well as Phil's still on their fingers. "Phil?"

"Yeah?"

"What year is it?"

Punk makes a face, "2015."
________

It had been about three hours that April was in silence as the doctors worked around her and confirmed she was okay to go home, and the detectives promise they were gonna catch the mystery man. For the most part Phil didn't ask too many questions, and that silent understanding he has of her to know when she needs her space is one of the reasons why she married him. But the main question was how the hell did April end up back in time? It had to be a dream or some weird trip from that expired candy she ate out of Jared's car. In her defense, it was her favorite and wrapped candy can last up to a year after it's expiration date. She just applied the time rules she'd seen in multiple movies and tv shows.

Don't spoil the future by telling someone in the past.

However, what if this was her chance to change fate? To change how both her and Nicole's thread was turning?

"Phil, how's your health?" She starts off.

"I'm still in pain a bit. The McMahons, those assholes are trying so hard to keep me on screen regardless of my potential of getting worse. And it's not even like I'm in quality matches, y'know? I'm championship material! I should've main-evented WrestleMania by now!" AJ discreetly rolls her eyes at having heard this verbatim befo- Wait a minute! This is a memory! Of course! Something significant must've happened here that my subconscious is trying to dig back up! "I think I'm gonna follow up on my Muay Thai. Learn some Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and try MMA."

"Don't do that." April impulsively said, making Phil blink, "I mean," she starting to flounder, "it's really dangerous and I don't want you to hurt yourself. That's actual fighting Phil."

"So? If Brock can do it, so can I."

"That's not the same instance and you know it." She couldn't help but deter Phil, knowing how his first fight was going to play out and how WWE clowned him for it. But what did she need to remember about this certain hospital visit? What was it?