______________________________________________

"Oh, my God..." Lisa Marie's entire body went numb as she eyed her bruised and battered friend, who was just pushing herself up to her knees, tears all over her face, black mascara pooling on her cheeks. The raven-haired diva felt her blood run cold and realized she could barely feel her extremeties. She wondered if she was about to pass out.

Randy, on the other hand, was a lot more quick to act, and seemingly completely had his wits about him. Fast as lightning, the young man sprang into action and ran into the room.

"Oh, God..." the youngest Evolution member said softly, his blue eyes wide with horror. The redhead had a fresh bruise on her left cheekbone, and her left eye appeared to be swelling a bit. But worst of all, what with her tattered clothing - which, it looked as though she'd somehow put back on her body - she appeared to be the victim of rape.

"Amy... Amy, can you hear me?" he asked, then felt stupid. He didn't know what else to say, as he'd never even dreamed of being in such a situation. "Are you... hurt?"

Before the redhead could answer, Lisa Marie made an exclamation of her own.

"We've got to call an ambulance!" she shrieked, a scream building inside of her as she looked over Amy. Damn it, what was wrong with her? This woman was her friend - a close one, at that, and she was seconds from falling to pieces - she should be rushing to her side, making sure she would be all right... But then... she didn't know that Amy would be all right.

Very gingerly, and although he knew he shouldn't have moved her, Orton knelt down and lifted the diva, cradling her in his arms. To his surprise, Amy didn't fight, scream or protest in any way. On the contrary, she seemed to shrink against him, pressing her head against his muscular chest as she began to cry again. However, she still wouldn't speak.

Lisa Marie eyed them incredulously, her brown eyes widening.

"Wh-what are you doing?"

"We've got to get her out of here..." Randy explained, fear in his eyes. "By the time an ambulance arrived, we'd probably have already gotten her to a hospital - come on." He headed back toward the door, but the dark-haired woman stood rooted to the floor.

"Randy, are you crazy?" Lisa Marie's voice stopped him as he reached the door. When the young Intercontinental champion turned back to meet her distraught eyes, the woman continued. "She's not speaking..." When he arched a brow at her as though to say 'so?' she continued. "If someone passes us by in the hall and sees her like this with her in your arms, they might think... they might think you..." The woman became choked with emotion as her gaze lowered to her friend's face, which was turned slightly away and still pressed against Orton's chest, hazel eyes staring ahead at nothing, unseeing. One slender, shaking hand snaked up to Lisa Marie's forehead for a beat. "They might think you're responsible..." She couldn't bring herself to say the words in her mind.

Orton blinked as he eyed her intensely, silent for a moment as he mulled it over. Then, his gaze traveling down to the deathly silent, battered diva in his arms, he made up his mind.

"Damn it, I don't care - that's a chance I'm willing to take. Now let's get out of here! She needs help!"

Resignedly, the black-haired young woman nodded, then followed her friend out the door. She glanced around fearfully as they made their way down the hall, realizing they'd both be leaving their things behind. Hell, that didn't matter - she had her cell phone in the pocket of her jeans, so she could just as easily call Trish Stratus and ask her to bring her stuff back to the hotel.

Amazingly, the hallway seemed deserted, and for that, Lisa Marie was grateful. But then, a moment later, she realized she'd jumped the gun, as she suddenly heard footsteps nearby. In a haste to get the hell out of there, she poked Randy in the back, gesturing and mouthing for him to move.

"Holy shit..."

The voice so startled Lisa Marie that she damn near jumped three feet into the air. Whirling around, she came nearly face-to-face with Adam Copeland, his green eyes looking haunted as he stared past her at Amy in Randy's arms.

"Oh, my God! What happened to her?" the blond man demanded, practically shoving past Lisa to get to the redhead.

"We don't know exactly..." Orton began. "We were walking down the hall and-"

"A-Adam...?"

Randy and Lisa Marie were startled by the sound of Amy's voice issuing the blond man's name weakly.

"Amy! Oh, my God... What... what happened?" Adam reached out with one hand, wanting to touch her face but stopping himself when he saw just how bruised she was. He winced as he noticed her left eye was actually swollen.

"We were going to take her to a hosital," Randy continued, as though not affected by the fact the diva had finally spoken. "Should we try and find Matt Hardy?" he asked.

"N-no!" Amy shouted the single word, her features displaying an almost deadly fright. She began to squirm in the young man's grasp, wanting to escape and run away if they were to get Matt. Never mind how much she hurt, she would run like mad if her life depended on it.

"Oh, God..." Adam breathed, and his sharp features suddenly displayed rage at his startling realization. "He's the bastard who did this to her..."

Lisa Marie's eyes widened, her jaw dropping in utmost horror.

"You... you mean...?"

The blond man's expression hardened even more.

"When I ran out to save her in the ring earlier, she looked terrified - of Matt Hardy," he revealed. "And then, in the hallway with you, she still looked scared..."

"Oh, God..." the woman breathed. She realized the tall blond was right - Amy had looked extremely skittish out in the hall with them earlier.

"Adam..." Amy breathed, squirming a bit more in Randy's arms. She appeared to be trying to free herself from his arms, and the young man looked down into her face questioningly. He realized she wanted to go to the blond Canadian man and, reluctantly, released her.

The blond man willingly took hold of the redhead, who immediate began crying again as she cradled against him, her face pressed against his chest as she held onto him as though for dear life. She shook badly, and Adam gently swept her up into his arms, holding her against him.

"Shh... I've got you now..."

Amy gazed up into his face, her hazel eyes filled with horror. Then, very softly, so silently that Adam himself had to strain to hear her even though she was in his arms, she spoke again.

"Matt beat me up... He raped me..."