My Number One Fan

I walked with Matt and Jeff toward the stage, my ring gear feeling slightly foreign since I haven’t dressed like this in a long time.
“Ready?” Jeff asked, smiling at me and grabbing my hand. I nodded and glance at Matt, who nodded his head as well.
“Remember what we have planned?” Matt asked. I nodded, jumping on the balls of my feet just as the Team Xtreme music began to play. Instantly my mind went into its comfort zone, as it did so many times before. Jeff let go of my hand and he and Matt ran out. I took a huge gulp of water before, completely getting into character.
“Team Xtreme is back on the scene!” Jeff shouted into a microphone. “But we have a special member for the night.”
“That’s right, a person that’s been out of action for a while is back, for a special one time return, in support for everything you all have done for the United States!” Matt’s voice said. I prepared myself for my theme, shaking my head to clear it. There was pause before the music began to play. Many people didn’t recognize the song. This was the first time it’s been used. When I heard my queue, I walked out onto the stage, holding myself as I would have before. There was deafening shouts and applause from the crowd. I walked out in the outfit Matt had made me, which was really cool, and walked up to the ring, waving and skipping every once in a while. I stepped into the ring just as a gong sounded from the speakers. I looked at Jeff and Matt, surprised. They just smiled and shrugged.
“And, introducing, The Undertaker!” Lillian Garcia, the ring announcer called just as Dad appeared on the stage. He stood for a minute, staring at me before walking the rest of the way down the ramp. When Dad entered the ring, he grabbed Jeff’s mic and stared at me.
“Welcome back, Princess.” he said, bowing.
“Great to be back, My Lord,” I said after grabbing Matt’s microphone, bowing back. Jeff and Matt snorted laughter and Dad smiled, but I didn’t care.
“This contest is scheduled for one fall,” Lillian said. “And it is an 8 man mixed tag team match. The rules of the match are as followed, if a diva is tagged into the match, then the other diva is automatically in the match. In the ring, the team of Matt and Jeff, the Hardys, and Phoenix and The Undertaker.” There was a roaring applause just as music started playing. It was kind of upbeat and techno sounding.
“And making their way to the ring, Johnny Nitro and Melina!” Lillian shouted, as a man and woman walked onto the stage. I knew right away I would have my hands fun with Melina. I’ve seen her fight and she was quick and flexible. They stopped on the outside of the ring to wait for their partners. When a heavy guitar riff started playing, I was amazed. It was one of the best riffs I’ve ever heard.
“And, introducing their partner, C.M. Punk!” Lillian announced as screaming joined the guitar riffs. When Punk joined them Nitro and Melina, another theme started playing. I knew who it was right away. The newer pride of the WWE, John Cena.
“Go on out Ri,” Jeff muttered, pushing me toward the corner. I stood next to Dad, leaning against the ropes. Jeff was starting out, along with Nitro. The bell rang and the match began.
“Let’s go Johnny!” I heard Melina yell. I froze and stared at her. It sounded like she was right beside me.
“You’ll get used to it,” Matt muttered just as Jeff was dropped on his back. Melina cupped her hands to her mouth and screamed, sending shivers down my spine.
“She isn’t that brainless is she?” I asked Matt as Nitro picked Jeff up and twisted his arm, tossing him into the turnbuckle.
“No, it’s just show.” he answered just as Jeff countered a strike from Nitro. Jeff went to kick Nitro, but Nitro caught Jeff’s foot.
“Come on Jeff!” Matt shouted. Jeff quickly did a mule kick, sending Nitro on his back. I could tell Jeff was already getting tired. I stomped my foot, trying to get the adrenaline going in his system. He jumped and got Matt’s outstretched hand just as Nitro made the tag to Punk.
“You okay?” I asked Jeff as he rolled onto the apron. He nodded, breathing heavily but otherwise fine. I turned back to the match just as Punk tagged in Melina. The ref indicated the tag was made and that I needed to get into the ring. I climbed through the ropes and shook out my hands, trying to loosen myself up. We started in an aggressive lockup, with me gaining the advantage. Out of nowhere I felt something hit the back of my head, followed by the bell ringing and many angry shouts and protests. No shout I heard more than Jeff’s though.
“What are you doing!?” he shouted to the person who hit me. The person didn’t reply. I felt something hit the back of my head again. I was able to move my head enough to see it was a chair I was getting hit with, but I couldn’t see who was hitting me with it.
“Get back!” Dad’s voice shouted, kneeling next to me. “Riley, can you hear me?” he asked, moving my hair from my face. All I could do was groan. “I think we need help,” I heard Dad’s voice tell someone. I heard someone shout for help just as I felt the chair hit me again, this time nearly hitting my temple.
“Keep him back!” Dad shouted, covering my head. I coughed and seen spat something up.
“She’s bleeding!” Dad said. I heard someone curse and kneel beside me on the other side. A tingling feeling on my skin told me it was Jeff.
“Riley,” he said. “Hang on helps on the way.” I didn’t respond, I couldn’t. Blood was pooling into my mouth and pouring onto the ring.
“Bring it up!” Dad shouted. “Riley, they’re going to take you to the medical tent, but we might have to fly you home.” he said, even though he knew I couldn’t respond. I felt myself getting strapped to the backboard, a neck brace getting placed around my neck as well.
“The blood could be internal bleeding,” someone said. “Or just a knocked out tooth.”
“She has to be flown to the closets hospital.” another person said. “We don’t want to take chances.”
“We’ll check over here though.” the first person said.
“Riley, hang on we’re here.” Jeff’s voice filled my fuzzy brain. He grabbed my hand and that’s the last thing I remembered before passing out.

~POV: Mark~

“Where did he go?” I asked a stage crew.
“Who?” he asked, confused.
“You know damn well who!” I shouted, advancing on him.
“Mark!” Matt’s voice called. I turned and seen him chasing him down the hallway. Matt’s legs wasn’t very fast, but neither were mine, but my strides were longer. I caught up to Matt and passed him, catching the person who hurt Riley.
“Why?” was all I asked, pinning his to the floor. He stared at me, terror all over his face.
“WHY!?” I shouted at him.
“Mark,” Matt said, walking up to us. “What were you thinking Orton!” he shouted. “Do you know how much damage you probably caused her!?”
“I didn’t think I was hitting her that hard,” Orton said, his voice quivering.
“You didn’t…” I stopped myself. “Orton, your twice her size! Of course it was harder than you thought it would be!”
“Mark, go take care of Riley,” Vince’s voice said from behind us. “I’ll take care of him.” I didn’t move.
“Mark, Riley needs us,” Matt said. I stood and rushed to the medical tent, storming in to see it empty. Matt cursed and ran from the tent, toward the air bases.
“They have to take her to the hospital.” Jeff said when they walked up. “The bleeding’s internal, so they have to operate.”
“Vince better keep me away from him.” I said, climbing onto the plane. Jeff and Matt followed. We didn’t care we were leaving our stuff, the crews or someone else will take care of it.
“Who was it?” Jeff asked, sitting as close to Riley, who was on a stretcher, as he could.
“Orton!” Matt shouted, fury in his voice.
“He chose the wrong girl to attack.” Jeff muttered. I stopped listening. I was staring at Riley’s face, so pale.
“How long till we get there?” I asked the pilot.
“A few hours. We’re taking her to Russia, there’s no other place closer with the technology needed.” he said, getting the engines started.

~6 hours later~

“What’s taking so long?” I asked after an hour of silence. We arrived at the Russian Hospital two hours ago. Jeff and Matt was staring at the ground. I went outside, pulling out my phone. Turns out while they were checking on Riley, someone put our luggage on the plane. I had service, which surprised me. I dialed the number and pressed send. I needed to talk to someone, and they needed to know.
“Hey Mark, how’s the tribute.” Paul answered the phone.
“About 4,000 miles behind away,” I answered. “Did you know Riley was here?” I asked.
“No, for what?” Paul asked, confused.
“She was a special guest I thought I told you. She was in a tag match with Jeff, Matt and me.”
“Her and Jeff in a match?” Paul said, surprised.
“They reconciled I guess.” I informed him.
“About time,” he muttered. “But why are you 4,000 miles away, and where are you?”
“Russia,” I muttered. “We were halfway through the match and Randy Orton attacked Riley. Sorry Paul, but things are looking good. She’s been passed out since and they’ve had her in surgery for 2 hours now. She was bleeding from the mouth and they think it was internal.”
“Oh my lord.” Paul muttered. A noise in the background told Mark Marylyn was there as well. There was a moment where Paul told her what happened.
“Mark, are you with her?” Marylyn’s voice asked.
“Not at the moment. She’s in surgery. We’re waiting for her to get out.” I said, sighing.
“Keep us updated, we’ll go let Gilbert know.” Paul said.
“Fine,” I said hanging up the phone. I turned and seen Jeff standing behind me.
“The doctor came out.” he said, staring at the ground. “She’s sedated and stable, but not out of the woods yet.”
“Do they know the extent of the damage?” I asked him.
“Brain damage,” he muttered, tears over flowing onto his cheeks. “Brain damage and a cracked skull. A concussion, obviously. And possibly,” he stopped and took a deep breath. “Possibly amnesia.”

~POV: Riley~ ~The Next Day~

My eyes opened slowly. My brain and vision was fuzzy, but I was able to make out the shapes of people. They were muttering around me, causing a slight ache in my head.
“Riley?” one person said. My eyes opened fully and stared around at the people.
“Riley, thank goodness.” another one said, hugging me. I cringed back slightly, confused.
“Whose Riley?” I asked them. “And who are you?” They stared at me, stunned.
“Riley, it’s us. Jeff, Matt and Dad.” the person who hugged me said. He was freakishly tall, with long brown hair and very muscular. The other two were less tall. One had curly brown hair and brown eyes while the other one had a rainbow of hair colors with green eyes.
“I know you?” I asked, confused. “Where am I?”
“A hospital in Russia.” the rainbow haired person said.
“Why?” I asked.
“Uh oh,” the freakishly tall hugger said. “I think the amnesia’s there.” The rainbow haired person said something under his breath while curly q brownie rubbed his eyes.
“Who are you?” I asked again, getting tired of not knowing their names.
“I’m Jeff,” the rainbow haired guy said.
“I’m Matt,” Curly said.
“I’m Mark,” freaky tall hugger said.
“You said one of you was ‘Dad’” I said, looking around. “Which one?”
“I am, I’m your father Riley.” Mark said.
“I’ll stick with Mark,” I said. He just shrugged.
“I have to go call them.” he said, standing up. Matt and Jeff nodded as he left.
“You feeling okay?” Jeff asked. “Besides the not remembering anything bit.”
“My head hurts.” I said, reaching up to place a hand on my head. Jeff grabbed my hand, and a sudden surge going through my body made me freeze.
“Sorry,” he said, dragging my hand back down. “You have a bandage on your head your not allowed to touch.”
“Orton’s gonna die,” Matt muttered suddenly.
“Who?” I asked, looking at him.
“No one you need to worry about.” Jeff said quickly, throwing an angry look at Matt.
“I talked to a doctor,” Mark said walking back in. “They’re keeping her here another night and we’ll be flying her home in the morning.”
“Where’s home?” I asked. They froze.
“Cameron,” Mark said finally. “Cameron North Carolina. It’s a small town.”
“Sounds lovely.” I said, trying to picture it, but everything came up blank.
“It is,” Matt agreed.
“We’ll let you get some rest Riley,” Mark said.
“Is that really my name?” I asked suddenly.
“Yeah, Riley Michelle Calaway.” Jeff said.
“How did I get that name?” I asked, looking up at Mark, or “Dad.”
“I have no idea.” he said, looking at the floor. “We’ll talk more when we get you home honey. Just rest now okay?” I nodded and they left the room. Riley? I liked it.

The next morning I was released, but no closer to remembering anything.
“Ready?” Mark asked, grabbing my hand and leading me off the plane. “Now, you have an aunt and uncle living with us, their names are Paul and Marylyn. They’re going to be worried, but let them fuss a little okay?” he said. I nodded and followed him, Jeff and Matt into a large room with hundreds of people.
“Are we in Cameron now?” I asked him, looking around. Mark laughed.
“No, we’re in an airport in Charlotte.” he said. “Your aunt and uncle is getting things ready at home. It’ll be about an hour drive to get there.” I just nodded. I sat in the back seat, Jeff beside me. I looked around the green environment around me, and cried.
“Are you okay?” Jeff asked, seeing the tears.
“I can’t remember anything.” I said, sniffling.
“It’ll come back to you,” Jeff said. “We’ll help you remember.”
“Thank you,” I said, smiling at him. He ran a hand over his hair, flattening all but a lose few strands. I reached and flattened them for him, the same shock going through my body as before when he grabbed my hand in Russia.
“Almost home Riley,” Matt said as we passed a driveway hidden in the woods. We came up to another one and turned, going down the long drive. There was three cars parked.
“Dad’s here.” Matt muttered.
“She can handle it.” Jeff said, winking at me. I suddenly felt nervous, like I was meeting these people for the first time when it seemed I knew them quite well. Matt helped me from the car and walked with me up the stairs. I looked around the woods, but nothing seemed familiar.
“Riley,” Matt said, gently grabbing my elbow. I followed him into the house, where three people was sitting in a living room. A female and two males. One of the males looked like Mark, so I figured since he was my uncle, he was Paul. Since there was only one woman, I knew she was Marylyn, but I didn’t say anything. The other man must have been Jeff and Matt’s dad.
“Riley, welcome home.” Marylyn said. “I’m your aunt Marylyn.” She pointed to Paul. “This is your uncle Paul and that’s Gilbert.” she pointed to the other man.
“He’s mine and Matt’s dad.” Jeff said.
“Why don’t you take Riley to her room.” Mark said, handing Jeff a suitcase that was used for my stuff. He nodded and grabbed my hand, leading me into the back of the house. The bedroom was simple. White walls with pictures all over the room. I looked at the pictures above a desk. They were of two kids, up until what looked like the age of 22.
“Us,” Jeff said, walking up beside me.
“We’ve known each other this long?” I asked, staring at them.
“Yeah. We were seven when we met.” he said, pointing to the first picture. “Each year for our birthdays we took a picture and hung them on our walls.”
“How old are we here?” I asked, pointing to one where we were showing of matching bracelets.
“13.” Jeff replied. “You loved that bracelet. You wouldn’t ever take it off.”
“I don’t have it on now,” I noticed, looking at my wrists.
“It destroyed. I was going to make a new set, but never got around to it.” Jeff said, sighing. “You bugged me for a good two years about a new one.”
“We’re really close aren’t we?” I asked, turning to sit on my bed.
“We were.” Jeff said. “We had a falling out and separated for 8 years.” he said, sitting next to me. “It was a misunderstanding. Before you lost your memory, we worked everything out and was back on the friendship track.”
“Good,” I said. “I could see us being as close as you say we were.”
“You considered Matt like a brother,” Jeff said.
“Didn’t I you?” I asked, confused.
“Yeah,” he said, resting his chin on his knee. “Hey, maybe tomorrow I’ll take you to the old stomping grounds.”
“’Stomping grounds?’” I asked. “What’s that?”
“Where we got our start.” Matt said, walking into the room. Mark, Marylyn, Gilbert and Paul was behind them.
“We just thought of something that might jog your memory.” Marylyn said. “Get dressed, we’re going to go to the diner.” I was confused on what the “diner” was, but I was curious as well. We piled into two cars, heading into town. The town was super small, and the diner seemed even smaller. We walked in and was immediately seated.
“Riley Calaway, back home.” the waitress said. I looked for her name tag, but found none. I stared at her blankly. “Don’t tell me you forgot about me already,” she said, setting menus down.
“Tricia, there’s a slight thing you should know.” Mark said. “She has amnesia, she doesn’t remember anything. We brought her here to see if we can jog anything out of her.”
“Oh, well. That’s just terrible. How did this happen?” Tricia asked.
“I was hit in the head by a chair,” I said before anyone could stop me. They all froze, even Jeff.
“What?” I asked, confused. “I was, wasn’t I?”
“Y-yeah you were, but none of us told you that,” Jeff said, looking around. “You don’t have complete memory loss.” he said.
“I remember being hit in the head with a chair, but that’s it.” I said, staring at the table. “Sorry.”
“It’s not your fault hun,” Tricia said, rubbing my shoulders. “We’ll do what we can to help you, starting with some of your old favorite down home cooking.” I just smiled and looked down at the menu, but nothing seemed very appetizing. I knew I had to order something though.
“Cheeseburger?” I asked her. She smiled, as if knowing I would pick that.
“Cheeseburger, ketchup, lettuce, and mayo. Fries on the side.” she said, writing it out. Everyone else ordered and Tricia went to get out drinks. I sat with my hands in my lap, to sure what else to do.
“So, Riley, any questions?” Marylyn asked.
“Only about a million,” I muttered, still not looking up.
“What do you want to know?” Mark asked, who was sitting next to me.
“I know I got hit, but why did I get hit?” I asked, looking around.
“Well, first off we should start that out by saying that I’m called a wrester.” Mark said. “My character is called The Undertaker, and he’s in a feud with another one called Randy Orton.” Out of nowhere I heard a gong. I looked around, trying to find the source, nothing around here to make the noise.
“What?” Matt asked.
“A gong,” I said, hearing it again.
“What exactly does it sound like?” Mark asked. I made the noise and Mark smiled.
“That’s the beginning of my theme music.” he said as Tricia placed the drinks in front of us. I went with plain water.
“Where were we?” I asked, taking a sip.
“Afghanistan.” Jeff replied. “We were doing this tribute to the troops thing…”
“Great answer Jeff. She doesn’t even know we’re in a war,” Matt said, smacking Jeff’s head.
“A war?” I asked. “Why?”
“There were these buildings,” Paul began. “they were in New York. A terrorist group attacked them, killing a lot of people. They also killed people in a national government building and in a field.”
“We declared war on him, and it’s been that way since.” Mark finished up.
“What we do is every Christmas for the past 2 years is we go over seas and take a completely free show to the soldiers, showing them our respect and gratitude.” Jeff said. “We were there in the middle of a match when the ambush happened.”
“Oh,” I said, staring at my hands. “I’m sorry.” I said.
“Riley, you have nothing to apologize for.” Gilbert said. We sat in silence before a sudden thought hit me.
“Okay, you’re my father right?” I asked Mark. He nodded. I turned to Gilbert.
“You’re Matt and Jeff’s dad right?” I asked. He nodded as well.
“So, what about my mom? What about Jeff and Matt’s mom? We’re sitting here and they’re not here, so where are they.” I seen everyone visibly tense.
“Riley,” Matt said, slowly.
“Riley, your mom…” Mark started saying, but his voice cut off. He took a deep breath and looked at everyone, who nodded. “Riley, your mother passes away, when you were very young.”
“Passed away?” I asked, shocked. “You mean, died?” Mark nodded.
“As did mine and Matt’s mom.” Jeff said, grabbing my hand. “They both died when we were really young. That’s how you came to be down here. You originally lived in a different state, but your mom died so you had to come down here to live with your aunt and uncle.”
“What about you?” I asked, looking at Mark. “You’re my father, weren’t you there?” I asked. He froze. I seen it right away.
“Baby, I would have been.” he said finally. “I lived in Texas when you were born. When your uncle and aunt found out about you, they called me and I rushed to get to you.”
“How long did it take?” I asked him, staring at the table.
“You were six by the time I heard you were born.” he answered.
“You wasn’t in my life for 6 years?” I asked, shocked.
“Riley,” Jeff started saying. I didn’t listen. I stood and ran from the diner and up the street, the opposite way from where we came in.
“Riley!” voices called, but I didn’t stop. I didn’t know where I was, but I didn’t care. I didn’t stop running until I came up to a large building. I stared at the place, trying to decide if I could hide in it. I finally started moving forward, slowly. At the top of the building was “Cameron High School.” Suddenly I seen something inside my head. I turned and stared at a bus, a bus I knew was not there when I arrived. I saw a girl running off of it, and rushing up to a car. She threw herself in, but a boy on the passenger side seat jumped out.
“Wait, that’s…” I turned and stared at the bus, a boy staring out the back made me uneasy. “Ron.” I breathed.
“Riley,” a voice cut through my thoughts. I knew the voice was Jeff’s.
“What happened here?” I asked him, looking around the parking lot.
“This is where we went to school.” Jeff said as I started walking toward a parking space.
“Right here,” I said, standing in the spot. “The car was parked. She ran to the car, and a boy got out. Another boy followed him, and so did she. He wanted to kill another boy on the bus.” I turned to face Jeff’s stunned face. “It was you. You wanted to kill a boy from the bus. Matt was there, and the girl was me. Something happened with him. What?”
“I’m not sure how to tell you that.” Jeff responded honestly. “But one thing I can tell you is that your father was telling the truth. Your mother never told him about you, for reasons I don’t know. You came here when you were 6. I found out at the end of our driveway and we helped you find your family. You’ve been here ever since.” He walked up to me and grabbed my hand, the tingling I was used to spreading through me.
“Jeff, be honest with me,” I said, staring at the ground. “How close were we?”
“We were dating, until a misunderstanding separated us for 8 years. We met back up and then the chair thing happened, but we worked things out.”
“Were we back together?” I asked.
“No, but we went back to being friends.” Jeff answered. I looked up into his eyes, and seen nothing but love and complete sincerity in his gaze. I wrapped my arms around him as he laid his head on top of mine.
“Come on,” he said after a few minutes. “Everyone’s worried about you.”
“So what did happen here?” I asked as we started walking.
“There was a kid, Ron. He touched you in a very inappropriate manner.” Jeff said.
“How?” I asked, confused.
“By what you told me, he touched you right here.” He said, using his own legs to show me. “Everything was taken care of though, until the one night.”
“What one night?” I looked up and noticed we were already close to the diner. I seen the neon sign just ahead.
“We’ll tell you about that later.” Jeff muttered, as though it was the most repulsive night of his life.
“Okay,” I said, following him back into the diner. Everyone was still sitting there. When we walked in Tricia the waitress flung her arms around me.
“Oh, girl don’t you ever do that again. It’s just lucky Jeffrey knows you so well.” she said.
“I didn’t even know where I was going.” I said, looking up at him.
“No, but he knew where you would stop.” Matt’s voice said. “He watched you run that way and knew you’d stop at the school.”
“Yeah unfortunately.” Jeff muttered, sitting back down. “She had a memory return to her.”
“What one?” Mark asked.
“School bus,” Jeff said, giving Matt a look. Matt understood right away.
“Oh, that terrible Ron kid. You know he’s in prison?” Tricia said, placing her hand on the back of my chair. “Doing time for manslaughter I heard.”
“Wouldn’t surprise me none.” Matt mumbled, taking a sip of his drink. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, feeling a slight ache in my head beginning to form. A sudden vision of a bedroom formed in my head. I felt young, not even a teenager. I heard Mark and Marylyn talking. I ran from the house, upset. When I returned, Mark, Dad, explained the argument to me.

“Daddy, will you show me what wrestling is?” I asked suddenly.
“Sure.” He said, before picking me up and tossing me onto the couch. “That was called a scoop slam.” he said, tickling my sides making me shriek with laughter.
“Will you teach me?” I asked him.
“I don’t think your aunt will like that to much.” he said. “Maybe when you’re older.”
“Okay.” I said, truly happy to hear that answer for once.

I opened my eyes and sat up startled.
“You okay?” Dad asked.
“Fine,” I said, rubbing my eyes.
“Tired?” Marylyn asked. I nodded, stifling a yawn.
“Get her home.” Tricia said. “It’s so good to see all of you in here again.” she gave everyone a round of hugs. Jeff and Matt helped me into my uncle’s car.
“D-Dad?” I said from the backseat. He turned around and faced me. “I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to apologize for.” he said, reaching for my hand. I smiled and leaned back into the seat, Marylyn wrapping her arms around my shoulders. I sat and thought about the memory. I knew it was a memory. It was the best one I could probably have. My eyes drifted and the last thing I heard was “we love you Riley,” in my aunt’s voice.