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Lita awoke reluctantly, her body locked in a tight fetal position. Her hands were curled into tight fists, near her chin.
The redhead squinted as she glanced around the room, and she winced as she lifted her head off the pillow.
Moving herself into a sitting position, Lita reached up and clutched at her jaw.
It felt sore and swollen...
Her eyes welled up with tears as she recalled why she was now feeling this physical pain - Christian had hit her...
The blond Canadian was currently nowhere to be seen, and for that, the diva was grateful.
She actually began shivering as she thought about what her boyfriend had done the previous night.
"Where the hell were you? Huh?" Christian demanded, his voice more and more furious by the moment.
"I was with-"
"Who were you with? Are you fucking someone else behind my back?!"
"No!" I was with Trish, okay? I went to talk to Trish..." Lita said, her voice surprisingly strong despite the fear she now felt.
"Yeah, right! Bullshit!" the blond man shouted, and then he reached over to flip on the lamp on the nightstand at his right.
Lita squinted, practically recoiling at the sudden brightness that filled the room. As she desperately tried to open her eyes and face her irate boyfriend, she spoke again.
"It's the truth, Christian...I was with Trish..."
"Don't you dare lie to me, you little bitch! Don't even think about it, because I can see right through your lies!"
"I'm not ly-"
The redhead's sentence was abruptly cut short as the Canadian struck out and slapped her, catching the diva in the jaw.
The expression on Lita's face was one of shock as her head was rocked to one side by the force of the blow. She kept her head down for several seconds, her hand to her now aching, swelling chin. She felt tears welling up in her eyes and was incapable of looking up - of looking at Christian...
He'd never hit her before...
Oh, sure, the blond man had been mean before - he'd made plenty of nasty, abusive comments toward and about her - but this was the first time he'd ever lifted a hand to her in violence.
Now, as she sat there, cringing at the horrible not-so-distant memory, her shoulders began to shake.
She finally realized, after long moments, that she was crying, when she felt a tear trickle down her cheek and sore jaw, landing on the mattress. Her hand moved from her jaw to her brow, as though to shield her tear-filled eyes.
Lita wept her heart out, and she bitterly wondered what on earth she was going
to do...