Post by AngelicaVaughn on Oct 20, 2017 21:07:24 GMT -5
The following takes place after Angelica suffered a brutal assault at the hands of Voidstar at the ACM show on October 18th that left her unconscious and stretchered out of the ringside area.
Thursday, October 19th
Hospital de Jesus
Mexico City
Hospital de Jesus
Mexico City
The crowd’s horrified screams were the last thing she remembered. She didn’t remember the sensation of the steel against her cheek. Or the whizzing of the chair as it came down on her skull. Or the sickening thud that rang around the arena as it connected. No, just the screams. After those, nothing. A big, white wall that didn’t show even the slightest of cracks no matter how long she looked at it. Maybe it was for the best. She hadn’t even seen the footage, but the doctors had told her what had happened.
She was now waiting for the verdict. It was a potentially career-threatening injury, or so they had said. For a young girl on the cusp of a big breakthrough in her wrestling career, suffering a cranial fracture could be devastating and force her into early retirement. Angelica didn’t even want to think about it. The fact that her head felt like it could crack open at any moment and the contents were to spill out was bad enough. The panic attacks she felt emerging very time she thought about having to put her wrestling career on ice or on the shelf were probably even worse. She couldn’t even begin to fathom how life-changing It would be for her.
What if she did have to retire? All of her plans, hopes and dreams gone… Poof! Up in smoke. Out the window. Everything she had accomplished so far, and everything she had been working towards, all for nothing. Her partnership with Ash that she treasured so much, and their hunt for the LAW tag team titles… done. Over before it had even really truly began. Of all the things that an early retirement could possibly entail, that was undoubtedly her biggest fear. Because for the last few weeks, every times she had closed her eyes, she had daydreamed about it. She could see Ashley and herself, holding those prestigious and much coveted LAW tag team championships up in the air as they stood side by side in the middle of the ring. She could see those shiny belts draped over their shoulders as they sat together during talk shows or interviews. She could see that gold strapped around their waists as they walked into the arena of every LAW show together, side by side as champions. It was her ultimate dream. And the fact that it could be taken away from her because she was assaulted by a monster who bashed her skull in from behind was enough to send her into a downward spiral of despair.
But she had to be strong. She had to be brave. The verdict was still out there, and she was a good girl. Surely God would help her overcome this. She was one of his most loyal children. He would not be this cruel to her, not even in his most mysterious of ways.
The outpouring of love over social media had been overwhelming. The few times she was able to check her phone (staring at the screen made her head feel like Hiroshima II), the messages she had received were those of kind well-wishes and unrelenting support through these troubling times. Ashley of course chief amongst them. But also her fellow LAW roster members, her fellow Cincy HitGirls, a lot of the people at ACM and even old friends had checked in to see how she was doing. Their love and support was a comforting blanket, but she still felt like she was outside in a blizzard, and temperatures were about to drop even further.
She heard voices outside of her room, evolving from unintelligible gibberish to audible speech. She clearly recognized the voice of her agent as she was talking to the doctors. Edith Seybold had rushed in as soon as she had seen the assault on live TV. The fate of one of her most promising young athletes was of course one of her top priorities, and it hadn’t taken long for her to make the trip over to Mexico City, apparently. She and a duo of doctors, one of them clad in aquamarine scrubs, the other in a more snow white classic outfit, walked into the room. Edith looked all business, her black and white skirted business suit clinging tight to her body. Her high heel made very little noise on the plastic floors as she walked over to bedside accompanied by the doctors. One of them was carrying a few CT scan images and proceeded to put them up against a lit up panel against the wall.
“How are you feeling?” Edith asked as she arrived at Angelica’s bedside, softly putting her hand on her client’s arm. It was as caring a gesture as she was ever going to get from her.
“My head hurts. A lot. A whole darn lot, Mrs. Seybold.” Her voice was a lot more hoarse than she had prepared for. It felt like she was listening to someone else speak through her mouth. A weird sensation to say the least.
“Of course it does. What happened to you… no young woman should have to go through that, wrestler or not. It was assault, plain and simple.” She turned to the doctors. “The doctors have told me the situation. It’s important you know what’s up.”
The doctor standing near the CT scans cleared his throat. Angelica looked over at him. The lit panels made her squint as she felt a new pang of pain flash through her brain.
“Miss Vaughn,” he began as he pointed at the scans, “let me put it plain and simple: you’ve been extremely lucky. The stress on your skull was obvious, and it hit just below point of fracture. Having review the footage of your incident, it’s quite obvious you have an extraordinarily thick skull… No offense. We do believe you narrowly escaped a depressed fracture, in which the bone of folded inwards directly into the cerebral parenchyma… or brain for short. Suffice to say that had that happened, things would have been a whole lot worse. We don’t believe there to be any permanent brain damage, but the fact you’re going through such apparent pain means that your brain took a nasty hit. Your skull will remain fragile for a good while, and it is therefore that we heartily recommend you do not wrestle for a good while, as hard as that may be.”
“How long?” Edith and Angelica both asked simultaneously. While Angelica was semi-relieved to hear that things weren’t life- or career-threatening, there was still the issue of having to be out of action for a time.
“My client has many obligations,” Edith continued. "Both inside the ring and out of it.I want her back inside that squared circle and in front of those camera lenses as soon as possible. So tell me the earliest return window, and then tell me that you can cut it in half because you’re such an amazing doctor.”
“Not much I can do, I’m afraid,” the doctor replied. “Rest, pain killers and a little bit of luck are the best I can prescribe you for now. Especially the next few days any kind of physical contact is absolutely and strictly forbidden. No doctor would ever in good conscience clear you to compete in the next few days.”
“But… I have a match tonight!! And tomorrow I have an LFL game!! I can’t miss those!”
“Well, you’ll have to, I’m afraid,” the doctor sternly reprimanded her.
“What about LAW?” Edith asked, but before the doctor could answer, the door opened again, much more forcefully this time.
Enter The Game. Ashley WIlliams stepped inside, panting, and at a brisk pace walked over to Angelica’s bedside, nearly shoving Angelica’s agent out of the way as she hugged Angie, careful not to hurt her.
“I came as fast as I could when I heard!” Ashley said, whispering in Angelica’s ear before releasing the hug. She remained by the bed, but kept her hand on Angelica’s shoulder. “How are you feeling, Ange?”
“Like I’m badly hurt.”
Ashley turned towards the doctors. “Is she going to be okay? Tell me she’s going to be okay.”
“In time she will” the doctor in white answered. “We don’t foresee any permanent damage.”
“That’s great!”
“Unfortunately, she will have to take it easy for a while.”
“Whatever,” Ash answered. “I’m just glad she’ll be okay in the end.”
“What about LAW?” Edith asked, repeating the question she had gotten no answer to as of yet. “They are set to face Prime Addiction on Sunday. Will she make it?”
“Of course not,” Ash said in the doctor’s stead. “Look at the state of her! She’s not in any kind of state to wrestle and I can’t in good conscience allow her inside a ring next to me. But not to worry. I’ll find a backup partner, or hell I’ll even take them on both by myself if need be.”
“With all due respect, Miss Williams, I wasn’t talking to you!” She looked at the doctor, who pursed his lips, clearly in deep thought.
“It’s hard to say. Miss Vaughn is clearly very tough. The stress on her skull has been severe, and if I cannot recommend she wrestles as early as Sunday.”
“See?”
“Unless…”
“Unless what?” Edith impatiently asked.
“Protective headgear might be a possibility. It will reduce the risks to a minimum even if she takes a bump there. It will still hurt, but the injury won’t worsen, unless something extreme happens of course.”
“Well, that’s good news then. Arrange it.”
“Forget it. The risk is too big. If Angelica gets hurt I won’t be able to live with myself, and even worse: it might be genuinely career threatening.”
“Erm, does anyone actually care what I think?” Angelica interrupted the bickering pair. Both of their heads snapped in her direction.
“Look, I appreciate you both looking out for me in your own way. But in the end, it’s my decision. Ash, like always you want to protect me and keep me safe from harm. I love you for it, and it’s exactly what you did for me when we first met: you plucked me from the streets, made me your protégé, and taught me how to properly defend myself. You’ve been the greatest friend a girl could ever ask for, and like back then, you’re trying to make sure I have a future. But if the doctor say that with protective headgear the risk is minimalized by Sunday, then I want to compete. I want to stand in that ring alongside you as your partner and give Prime Addiction the asskicking they deserve. Last time, we beat the Sugay Sisters. While they downplayed the importance of our victory and even called it ‘generic’, the fact remains that we beat one of the best teams in the business. We’re on a roll here. We’re picking up steam, garnering momentum with every step we take, and neither Maya Jensen or Abby will stand in our way. We came into LAW with one clear goal: the LAW tag team championships. The Boardwalk Angels still stand at the top of the division, awaiting competition that will truly test them. We came oh so close to beating them not so long ago, and I firmly believe that if we face them one on one as a tight unit, we can prevail and dethrone them.
But we need to keep our momentum going. We’ve been doing so, so well but Prime Addiction can’t be taken lightly. Defeating them as well would be another feather in our cap, and further testament as to why we, the QoW, deserve the honor of facing the Boardwalk Angels for the tag team belts. No other team in LAW even comes close to being able to demand contention. Not even… Team Kickass. As much as I love them both.
We’ve been the most consistent unit in our division, rivalled only by the champions themselves. But therein lie two keywords, the first being ‘consistent’. We have to keep going, and if there is even the slightest chance that I can compete on Sunday, battered and beaten or not, then I have to take it. We are so close… So close on the cusp of our definite breakthrough that I can almost taste our moment of glory. And we will do it together. Keyword number two: unity. It’s what binds, makes us whole, makes us more than the sum of our parts. When we came into each other’s lives, they changed forever. And I’d like to think for the better. Angie wouldn’t have gotten very far in this business without her Ash…”
Angelica smiled as she looked at her mentor-turned-partner.
“I can do this, Ash. With you by my side, we can’t lose and won’t lose. I might be a bit worse for wear after what happened to me here in Mexico, but I can assure you that I wouldn’t take this risk if I wasn’t sure of both my abilities to fight through this, and our abilities as a team to overcome Prime Addiction. Maya and Abby are good, but we can be even better!”
Ashley cocked her head slightly, then nodded. She didn’t seem disappointed. If anything, she seemed to beam with pride. Edith seemed relieved, more than proud, but in the end she was satisfied. Angelica was going to be at LAW #71, with her trusted partner and friend by her side, to take on the team of Prime Addiction.
The future was about to begin. It was going to be hard. Arduous. But together, they would prevail. Now and always.