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Lita opened the door with a somewhat stern expressiion on her face and suspicion in her mind. The other woman eyed her as steadily as she could manage and murmured a greeting.
"Hello, Lita... Thank you for agreeing to hear me out. I-I appreciate it." Dawn Marie ducked almost shyly into the house and bit her lip at the other woman's silence.
"Let's get one thing straight," the redhead said after a long, awkward moment. "I don't trust you."
Dawn bowed her head in shame.
"As a matter of fact, I don't trust you as far as I could throw you." She glared daggers into the other women for a beat before speaking again. "And quite frankly, I don't like you much right now."
The brunette kept her head bowed but nodded.
"I can certainly understand that."
"Oh, can you now?" Lita asked in an angry, mocking tone. She raised one hand, gesturing toward the closed door of her bedroom. "You put that man thorugh hell and back - you *and* that 'wonderful' husband of yours. And he didn't deserve one damn bit of it!"
"I know," Dawn replied calmly, although inside she yearned for a cigarette. "You're right - you're *absolutely* right... I've done some horrible things to Adam, and I don't deserve your forgiveness or friendship." The woman raised her head, maintaining clear and even eye contact with her former friend as she uttered the next words. "But I would like to try to right the wrongs - if you would just give me that chance."
Lita stared at her in silence for a long moment, her arms crossed under her breasts. Then, finally, she nodded.
"Yeah... We'll see." The truth was, she still wasn't convinced she could trust Dawn Marie.
The brunette nodded wordlessly. At the moment, she guessed that this was the best she could hope for, all things considered. And she'd meant what she'd said - she knew she'd done some truly horrible things and that she wasn't worthy of forgiveness, let alone regaining the other woman's friendship. But that didn't mean she didn't *want* those things. She did, more than anything.
"Where is he?" she finally asked in a soft voice.
Without a word, Lita gestured with her right hand and turned back toward her bedroom. Cody was barking up a storm in there, as though guarding the fallen blond man from his one-time girlfriend who'd betrayed him.
Dawn Marie cringed, and the redhead noticed, though she wasn't sure it was from seeing Edge like that or from seeing Cody. She supposed it could have been a combination of both.
The tall Canadia was once again awake. He laid there with his green eyes open but sleepy-looking, bloodshot. Slowly, as he noticed Dawn standing there with Lita, he smacked his lips. They were parched.
The redhead was by his side instantly, and she poured a glass of water for him from a pitcher on the nightstand. The other woman watched, her heart sinking as she helped him, holding his head as she gingerly tilted the glass for the man to drink. What the hell had Christian done to his stepbrother? The horror of it took her breath away.
"Oh, my God," Dawn Marie breathed, covering her mouth with both hands. She saw the stab wound her husband had administered, how open and raw it looked. Adam had clearly bled a lot. But why wasn't he in the hospital?
Edge finally acknowledged her as he sat up a little once his thirst was quenched.
"Well, well, well... If it isn't my ex who's now my stepsister-in-law."
The brunette seemed speechless now. She merely stared at him - and he *and* Lita together as she realized how in love they must be. Her eyes began to grow misty.
"Adam, please hear me out," she blurted. "I had nothing to do with Jay's attack on you. I didn't even have a clue he was going to do it - you *have* to believe me!" She shook her head frantically, gesturing with both hands. More than ever before, she wanted a cigarette.
The blond man settled back so that his head rested on the redhead's lap. His eyes seemed half-glassy as he responded.
"Oh, really? And why should I believe you?"
"Because I'm telling the *truth*. I swear it on my mother's grave," Dawn proclaimed. "And I'm here because I want justice to prevail."
The Canadian merely stared at her. Could this woman really be trusted after everything she'd put him through? He'd loved her... He'd loved her and she'd betrayed him in not one way but two. However, he knew how he felt now. He held no more love for Dawn Marie Psaltis and was in love with Lita. He was a forgiving person by nature in spite of the wrongs he'd been dealt. Besides, he was dying of curiosity to see if the brunette really meant what she said in wanting justice to prevail.
"I'll prove I'm sincere," Dawn Marie declared. "I'll prove it right now that I meant what I said." Without asking Lita, she neared the bed, stopping at the nightstand. As Edge and the redhead watched, she picked up the receiver of the cordless phone and dialed 911.
"Hello..." After a brief pause as she listened to the operator on the other end, "I'd like to report an attempted
murder... Yes. My husband tried to kill his stepbrother, and I witnessed the entire thing."