My Number One Fan

“Matt are you okay?” I asked him. He straightened up and nodded.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” he said, taking in a deep breath. I didn’t believe him, but I just let it go. The movers started bringing furniture in. The next half hour was Jeff and I directing where things are going. Since our bed was so heavy, the movers stayed to help us set it up. They were leaving as Shannon, his fiancé Julie, Shane and his girlfriend Christy walked into the house.
“Ready to get started?” Jeff asked, everyone. They nodded and grabbed boxes. The girls and I took the kitchen while the guys started in the living room.
“Hey Mandy,” I said while we were working on the table. “Has Matt been acting weird to you?”
“He was acting like he was in pain last night,” Mandy replied. “Why did he show it again?” I nodded.
“Something’s going on with him but he’s not letting on what,” I said, tightening a nut on the table. I made sure it was sturdy and stood up, all 3 girls helping me flip it over and place it in the room. We placed the chairs under the table and worked on filling the cabinets with dishes.
“So are you happy that you’re almost back home?” Julie asked, unwrapping a cup and handing it to Christy, who rinsed the dishes before handing them to Mandy to dry.
“You know it.” I said, taking the glass and putting it in the cabinet. “I mean, I love Matt and Mandy, but Jeff and I need our privacy, and maybe now that we’re back in our own home, and if the time becomes right, we could try to have a baby.”
“I would love to see Jeff as a father,” Mandy said laughing. “I mean, don’t get me wrong he’ll make a great one, but he’ll be a weird one as well.”
“I doubt that,” I said, laughing. “I watched him with Oscar’s kids a while back, before the fire. He was great with them.”
“Yeah, I don’t doubt he’ll be great,” Julie spoke up. “He just has to remember that a baby isn’t going to be wrestling anytime soon.”
“Jules, he won’t be doing scoop slams or head locks or mule kicks on a baby,” I said, turning to face her. “I doubt he’ll do anything like that until the teenage years.”
“What do you want, if you have a baby anytime soon?” Christy asked, drying her hands on the towel Mandy was using.
“We both already talked about this,” I said. “Before we got married. We both want two kids, gender doesn’t matter, as long as they’re happy and healthy.”
“There has to be something specific you want,” Julie said, jumping and sitting on the counter.
“There actually is,” I said, leaning my arms against the counter. “I want at least one kid to have Jeff’s middle name,” I told her.
“Nero? Why?” Mandy asked, confused.
“I love the name, I don’t know why I just do. I want to have out first born, boy or girl, to have his middle name.”
“Is he okay with that?” Christy asked.
“No idea, he was as shocked hearing me say it as you three are.” I said, shaking my head.
“Well, it’s what you two want.” Mandy said. “We better get back to work,” I said. “The guys might come in here and yell at us if they catch us goofing off.”
“We’re not goofing off,” Mandy said. “We’re being women, we’re talking.”
“Well I know women who can talk and work at the same time,” Jeff said walking into the room.
“Yeah, us.” I said, as Julie jumped from the counter.
“We got the living room situated and we’re working on the bedroom now.” Jeff informed us.
“Okay, we’ll go find something to do,” I said, smiling.
“We can go make sure the living room is still there,” Julie said, smirking at Jeff. I couldn’t help but laugh softly as the girls went into the room.
“I can’t wait to get them out of here,” Jeff whispered to me. “I heard you guys talking, by the way.” I just shrugged.
“Nothing that isn’t true,” I said.
“I know,” he replied, leaning his forehead on mine. “Thank you.”
“For what?” I asked, confused. He just smiled and gave me a ghost of a kiss.
“For being you,” he said before pulling away and walking toward the stairs. I watched him disappear to the upper level before walking into the living room.
“I can’t believe it,” Mandy said. “They did a pretty good job in here.”
“They did,” I said, looking around. The furniture matched the paint perfectly. It was just the way Jeff and I had imagined. I felt a sudden emotion course through me, one I didn’t expect in the slightest. It felt like dread, but I had no idea why I was feeling like this way.
“Are you okay?” Christy’s voice cut through my thoughts. I turned to face the girls, who were all staring at me.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said. “Let’s head upstairs and see what we can do up there.” I said, leading the way to the stairs. I walked up two stairs before I had to stop from being dizzy.
“Riley,” I heard someone scream as I started falling.
“Guys we need help!” another girl called. I opened my eyes as far as I could, but wasn’t able to focus.
“Ri-Riley,” a voice said. I could never mistaken that voice. Jeff. “Riley, baby what’s wrong?”
“D-dizzy,” I found myself saying.
“Are you okay?” he asked, grabbing my hand. I didn’t reply until I felt the dizziness subside.
“Whoa that was weird,” I said, grabbing my head.
“What happened?” Matt asked as he ran down the stairs.
“You girls go back to Matt’s house, or her aunt and uncle’s house, just get her somewhere she can lay down,” Jeff said. They nodded, but I didn’t move.
“I’m fine, I just had a little dizzy spell. No big deal.”
“Uh, Riley,” Jeff was saying. “Need I remind you about the brain damage you just received a while ago?”
“I’m fine,” I said, trying to stand up, but Jeff kept me down. “Jeff, that was healed a while ago. I’m fine, just a little dizzy. Everyone gets dizzy every once in a while. I’m probably catching something.”
“Do you feel sluggish?” Jeff asked. I shook my head. “Then it could be something with your brain.” he said. “I don’t want to take a chance Riley.”
“But Jeff, if I stop working here, then it’s going to take us longer to get back in,” I said.
“Only by a few hours at the most.” Jeff said. “We have almost half of everything done already.” Out of nowhere I felt my temper start to boil over.
“You know what, fine,” I snapped, attempting to stand up again. This time I was able to due to Jeff’s surprise. I stormed down the stairs and was almost out the door when I felt a hand on my arm, stopping me. I knew it was Jeff’s hand. I tried to jerk my arm from his grip, but his grip was to strong.
“Whoa, what the hell?” he asked, turning me to face him. “I’m just looking out for you Riley, no need to get snappy on me!”
“No Jeff,” I said, still trying to jerk my arm from his hand. “You’re not trying to look out for me. You’re trying to control me and I’m not someone who can be controlled!”
“What’s her psychiatrist’s name?” Matt asked.
“This has nothing to do with my brain!” I shouted at him.
“Hey, there’s no need to yell at him Riley Michelle,” Jeff said, stepping so I was looking at him rather than Matt. “He’s just trying to help you, like all of us. We’re trying to help you. No one wants to control you, no one is stupid enough to try.”
“Yes there is. You are!” I said, finally getting my arm free. I ran out the front door and through the woods, as usual stumbling over roots and sticks.

~POV: Jeff~
“Riley!” I shouted, running after her. She was gone. “Get that damn doctor on the phone!” I shouted to Matt. “Her name’s Amelia Grace. Get her on the phone now!” I ran through the woods in the direction Riley had went. I could hear the leaves rustling as I heard her move through the trees, so I found her in no time at all. What I didn’t expect to find was her on her knees with her arms wrapped around her waist, crying. I slowed and walked up to her. She looked up at me, her face red and blotchy from the tears. I collapsed onto my knees in front of her as she wrapped her arms tightly around my neck.
“I’m sorry,” she said, sniffling.
“I know you didn’t mean anything,” I said, stroking her hair. She sobbed even harder into my shoulder. “We called that Dr. Grace woman, something’s going on with that mind of yours and we’re going to figure out what it is.” She nodded her head, as I heard rustling behind her. I looked up and saw it was everyone else.
“She okay?” Mandy asked. I nodded.
“She’s on her way, said she’ll be here in about a half hour.” Matt informed me. I nodded, and turned back to Riley.
“Do you want to go lay down?” I asked her. “We have the bed in our room up, we just need to put sheets and the blanket on there.”
“You stay with me,” Riley said, looking up at me.
“I will, don’t worry I will.” I assured her. I picked her up and carried her back to the house, heading straight for the bedroom. I laid her on the bed and sat next to her, rubbing her hair until she fell asleep. I watched her long after she fell asleep. A knock at the door had me turning around to face a woman with short red hair and bright green eyes. She was small and petite and concern was all over her eyes.
“Hello,” she said walking into the room. “I’m Amelia Grace, you must be the infamous Jeff Hardy.” she held out her had, which I shook.
“Yep, that’s me.” I muttered.
“What happened?” Dr. Grace asked me, looking Riley over.
“One minute we were working on the house, then she had a sudden dizzy spell,” I began. I went on to explain what happened after that, and her eyes became more concerned as I ended.
“She did tell you about her injury didn’t she?” I asked, knowing how Riley could be. Sure enough, it was a good thing I mentioned it.
“What injury?” Dr. Grace asked, looking up at me confused.
“She had a head injury, just barely under two years ago.” I informed her.
“How bad was it?” she asked, sitting in a chair that someone had brought up.
“Severe brain damage, along with a concussion and amnesia,” I answered her. I noticed her freeze.
“Amnesia, so she doesn’t remember things, like family health history?” Dr. Grace asked. I nodded.
“She was to young to remember her mother’s side, even without the amnesia, and her Dad told her all their medical history.” I said.
“Is there any family close to here?” Dr. Grace asked.
“No, all her mother’s family is in Baltimore,” I said, thinking of the woman we met claiming to be my wife’s grandmother.
“Maryland?” she asked, shocked. I nodded, and went on to explain to her about meeting the woman.
“She never told me any of this,” Dr. Grace said. “Why?”
“She’s got trust issues, as you can probably guess.” I said, sitting next to Riley on the bed. “She’s been hurt and abandoned to many times, she doesn’t want to get close enough to someone to get hurt again, not that you’ll do that.” I said quickly.
“Riley’s a unique person,” Dr. Grace said. “I wouldn’t think of doing anything to betray any trust she’s given me.”
“I know that,” I said. “I can sense that about you.”
“We need to get in touch with her mother’s family.” she said. “If it’s what I think it is, we need to get her checked out as soon as possible.”
“What do you think it is?” I asked, nervous.
“I don’t think I want you to know right now,” Dr. Grace started saying, but I grabbed her elbow.
“Riley hates being left in the dark, and so do I.” I said. “Tell me, what do you think it could be?” I saw her hesitate before she took a deep breath and let it out with a sigh.
“It’s possible, if it’s in her mother’s history, that she could have Bipolar Disorder. It explains so much of her symptoms. I’ve noticed she’s tired a lot, or she’s just not tired at all, but she’ll get irritable easily and quickly change back to happiness. Those are the basic signs.”
“Bipolar?” I asked when I finally absorbed the information. “She could be Bipolar?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” Dr. Grace said. “We need to get a hold of her family, do you have any idea how?”
“No, but Riley’s Dad might,” I said, quickly pulling out my cell phone.
“Mark,” I said when he answered the phone. “I know it was 30 years ago, but do you remember anything about Riley’s mother’s family?”
“Very little, I remember her mother’s name and her grandmother’s name,” he answered.
“Riley’s grandmother’s name?” I asked.
“Yeah, I think it was Alexandria,” he said. My heart raced, the name of the woman.
“Thanks Mark, that’ll help.” I said.
“Jeff, what’s going on?” Mark asked.
“I’ll explain later, right now I have to call information to get her number.” I said.
“Call me as soon as you can,” Mark said before hanging up his phone. I called information and asked for the number. I got 3 numbers to try. The first two came up with nothing.
“Hello?” a woman’s voice answered.
“Alexandria?” I said, crossing my fingers.
“Yes,” she said slowly.
“This is Jeff Hardy,” I said.
“Oh, Riley’s husband right?” she asked, making me sigh with relief. It was her.
“Yes, thank goodness you remember me. Listen, I need to know, is there a possibility that someone in your family has had Bipolar Disorder?”
“Yes,” she said. “Samantha had it. It’s how she died. She ended up coming suicide.”
“S-Samantha’s Riley’s mom isn’t she?” I asked, gulping.
“Yes she was,” Alexandria replied sadly. I hung my head, feeling tears clog my throat.
“T-thank you,” I said. “I promise, Riley and I will come and visit you soon.”
“I hope you do, we didn’t really want to give her up, but it worked out for the best didn’t it?”
“Yeah I guess,” I muttered. “Thank you Mrs. Mitchell.”
“You’re family, call me Alex,” she said. I didn’t reply, I just hung up the phone.
“Riley’s m-mother had the disorder,” I told Dr. Grace. “She-she-” my voice trailed off, I didn’t want to say it, but I knew she had to know. “Her mother ended up killing herself from it.”
“That’s been known to happen,” Dr. Grace said.
“That means it could happen to her though,” I said, shaking my head. “If Riley has it, I could lose my wife to herself.”