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*Two Weeks Later*
The women's locker room at the Gund Arena was all abuzz. Not only had Trish Stratus and Jay Reso recently gotten married, but there was another tremendous event taking place as well. And it was huge for the women and the WWE - Amy Dumas-Copeland was to be making her long-awaited return that very night.
Things would seemingly start back up slowly for the redhead. She was going to have an onscreen promo-type performance that night, nothing strenuous and nothing more than that. In the weeks to come, however, she would be stepping back into the ring - and Amy couldn't be happier for that. She could not wait to wrestle again.
Naturally, after having a baby, and being out of action for so long, she'd had a bit of ring rust. She'd been going to Deep South Wrestling a couple of days a week over the last two months to re-train and to work off the rust. It seemed to help, but she would know for absolute sure once she wrestled Mickie James in a couple more weeks. The two were slated to feud, and Amy couldn't wait.
Trish was not currently present, as she was visiting her new husband's locker room. She'd assured Amy she would be back in a little while.
The redhead looked up from her bag, where she'd been sorting through various garments, and caught sight of one seemingly unusually quiet diva. The woman had her head down, eyes downcast, and for some reason appeared unhappy, at least to Amy. She seemed lost in thought and was not at all involving herself in any interaction with any of the other women in the room.
The redhead slowly approached her. Even when she was right there by the girl, she still seemed unaware. She reached out and touched her on the arm.
"Ashley?"
The blonde nearly gasped, startled, and looked up to meet her eyes.
"Sorry. Didn't mean to frighten you," Amy said. She cocked her head, posing the question on her mind. "Are you all right?"
Ashley nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she said, her blue eyes darting back and forth a bit. It seemed she couldn't just keep them focused on the other woman. "Thanks for asking." She forced a smile she didn't feel for the redhead's benefit. Afterward, she turned away, busying herself with the contents of her makeup bag.
Amy interpreted the action as a dismissal. She eyed the younger woman for a moment longer before turning away and going back about her business. However, she couldn't help but wonder what was going on in the former Diva Search contestant's life for her to look so troubled. And it was strange that no one else had apparently noticed.
A few minutes later, Trish stepped back into the women's locker room. Amy smiled and turned toward the door as she heard her best friend's voice. But her smile waned immediately after, when she realized that Ashley Massaro had evidently slipped from the room. Again, she wondered what was going on, and if she could somehow help.
*
"I can't take it... I really *can't*!" she cried. It was difficult for her to keep the tears from coming as she spoke into her cell phone.
"Hang in there, Ash," Matt Hardy said in response. "I know this is tormenting you, but you have to stay strong for me. Can you do that?"
Ashley sniffled, hesitant in her reply.
"Y-Yes... I can try."
"Good girl," Hardy said. He wished the blonde were right here with him so he could hug her. He hated hearing and seeing her so horribly unhappy. This was tearing her apart. And why wouldn't it? A part of her had literally died inside... A part of him as well. He still could hardly believe she'd been pregnant with his child, let alone spontaneously aborted. It seemed like a bad dream - well, at least the latter part.
Ashley dabbed lightly at her eyes with a tissue. She sighed deeply, exhaled and then spoke again.
"I can't wait till tonight is over, Matt. All I want to do is get home, get to you."
"Well, it won't be much longer, baby," he said. "Please don't cry. I know it's difficult, but just try to put it out of your mind until you're out of there."
The blonde let out a small cry, as though letting him know without words that that was impossible.
"When you get home, we'll figure out what to do. I promise, I'll make it right," he said.
"Okay," Ashley said.
The conversation ended soon after, and the young woman wiped at her eyes, trying to gain composure. She hoped there was no redness in her eyes or anything like that. She couldn't tolerate Amy Copeland or any of the other women bothering her again. She knew the redhead had meant well, but she would just as soon rather be left alone.
Besides, how could the returning diva even *possibly* begin to understand what she was going through? After all, she had two healthy children. Ashley hadn't seen them, but she knew about them. She didn't need some mother rubbing her nose in the fact of her existing kids.
Her tears now gone, Ashley wiped the tissue at her nose one last time, her shoulders squared, and headed back
to the locker room.