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Edge has just about all but forgotten about his anger over what had befallen him at the pay-per-view earlier that night. He sat anxiously in the waiting room, restlessly running his hands over his face before raking his fingers through his long blond hair.
He'd been in the emergency room with Lita earlier, mostly standing - he'd been too jumpy to sit on the chair beside her bed - at her bedside as they'd waited for a doctor to come by. It had seemed as though it was an impossibility, as the doctors kept bypassing the redhead, as though she weren't important in the least. It had infuriated Edge to no end. And then, when they'd been there for at least a good three hours, he'd finally had enough and stopped a small, wiry balding man and grabbed him by his white coat. The redhead had looked on in horror and shock as he'd demanded in a deadly whisper that he take a look at her.
That had been two hours ago... The tall blond Canadian had been with the diva all that time - until the doctor had said Lita needed to get an MRI on her left knee. Although the redhead was hurting, she'd kept insisting it wasn't *that* bad. But the physician had seemed to think otherwise and deemed it necessary. And so, because he couldn't accompany her up to the MRI room, Edge had retreated to the hospital waiting room.
God, was he a wreck... He'd never thought anyone or anything could affect him this way. Other people in the room were probably thinking he was an expectant father or something. But he was so worried about Lita... What the hell was going on here? Why was this taking so long?
Edge rose from the chair upon which he'd been sitting for what seemed like forever and started to pace. He was seconds away from tearing at his hair when a nurse who'd earlier helped attend to Lita approached him.
"Excuse me... sir?"
The tall blond man stopped in his tracks, not saying a word as he eyed the woman expectantly.
"Lita's MRI is through. She's been checked into a room, and you can see her now."
The Canadian nodded. It was about damn time! He followed the nurse to the bank of elevators two flights up and they walked down the hallway to a room. And shit... A thought suddenly occurred to Edge - if Lita had been checked into a room, it must be a lot worse than they'd thought.
The nurse left Edge at the door, saying something about coming back later, but the blond man barely heard her as he entered. His gaze was instantly drawn to the redhead sitting up in the bed. Her head was turned slightly away from him, and she was unblinking and appeared almost lifeless - not at all like the Lita he knew.
"Lita?" he said softly, tentatively. He stepped farther inside the room, and she finally turned her head to exchange gazes with him. The extent of sadness on her face broke his heart.
"Lita, what happened?" he asked, rushing over to the side of the bed. He didn't even bother with the chair there, ignoring it and instead opting to stand and lean by the bed, close to her. "What did they say?"
The redhead appeared to be seconds from bursting into tears. She closed her eyes tightly, shaking her head. Then, opening her eyes again, she met his green orbs.
"I tore my ACL. Edge, I need surgery... I'm going to be out of action for six to eight months, the doctor said!" She looked down sorrowfully. She didn't want to have to deal with this. Why did this have to happen to *her*? She wanted her Women's title back, wanted to beat the shit out of that little bitch Trish Stratus, wanted to be able to be there for Edge and in his corner for his matches - helping him to achieve his dream in winning the World Heavyweight Championship. Although now, with the title having gone right back to that worthless piece of crap Triple H, that seemed to be all but impossible.
"Shit, Red... That totally sucks," the tall blond man said softly. He felt horrible for her. Somehow, he'd hoped it wouldn't be this bad and just a sprain. Damn it...
To the Canadian's shock, something he hadn't expected happened - Lita broke down and started crying, harsh, uncontrolled sobs wracking her body. He stared down at her in shock, his heart hammering as he found himself momentarily unsure of what to do.
"Aww, Red... D-don't do that..." Edge felt helpless as he reached a hand out to her shoulder. She was shaking so badly. It wrenched at his heart. It went on and on for several minutes until the redhead finally raised her head to look into his eyes.
"I can't take this anymore, Edge!" she moaned. "It... it hurts so much!" She let out a whimper as she cried some more, her heart aching.
The blond man frowned, wincing at her obvious pain. He wished there were something - anything - he could do to make her feel at least a bit better.
"Lita..."
The redhead moved slightly out of his grasp, her hazel eyes reddened and full of tragedy as she looked up at him.
"I can't do this, Edge - I *can't*," she cried. "I'm only a woman... There's only so much my heart can take!"
The tall blond man cocked his head to the side. What exactly was she crying about here?
"What..." He shrugged lightly. "... What is this all about?"
The diva reached up with one hand to wipe gently at the tears on her face. He really didn't have any clue, did he? All this time, these last three months... Ever since that night at Taboo Tuesday, when he'd just taken her so roughly, and he'd just left her so abruptly immediately after, something in her had changed. She'd hardened, toughened - or at least she'd *tried* to or made herself believe she had. She'd tried to pretend that it didn't matter that he didn't hold any feelings for her aside from friendship. But damn it, it *did* matter - it mattered a whole lot.
"It's not your knee, is it?" he asked, an understanding coming to him. "Lita, what are you-" He shook his head, realization setting in. He raised a hand to her cheek, gently stroking the soft skin. "Look at me."
The strength in his soft voice drew her gaze instantly to his, and she saw something in his green eyes... Something she couldn't quite grasp. His face was so near to hers, so much so that she could feel his warm breath against her cheek.
"I'm sorry, Lita," he apologized. "You're... you're crying because of *me*, aren't you?"
Her lips parted ever so slightly as she stared at him. He was full of surprises. Maybe he wasn't quite as typical a clueless man as she'd thought.
"E-Edge...?"
He cast his emerald eyes down, his heart pounding unbelievably fast in the confines of his chest. This woman invoked in him feelings he hadn't experienced in so very long. To tell the truth, he was terrified of admitting how he truly felt about her - but he knew he had to let her know now, while she was so upset and he knew *he* was the cause.
"Don't cry," he soothed, his gaze back on her hazel eyes. "Please... I... It's not easy for me to say certain things, but..." He looked down again for a beat, then shifted his gaze back on hers. "... I... Well, I *love* you, Lita."
The redhead blinked for a beat, then her eyes widened in shock. Had she really just heard him correctly? She couldn't speak, couldn't even move as she stared into his handsome face.
Edge swallowed all of his fears completely as he closed the tiny distance between them, capturing her lips tenderly. He kissed her softly at first, deepening it as he felt Lita respond and kiss him back.
He felt her arms wind around his neck as it went on, and all of his fears started melting away. Then, breaking the kiss, the redhead pulled away just enough to gaze into his eyes, her tears stopped. Breathlessly, she pressed her forehead to his. She smiled.
"I love you, too, Edge."