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Adam watched Amy cautiously as she grappled in the middle of the ring with Ivory.
So far, the match seemed to be going fairly well, and the redhead seemed to be able to put whatever fears she had aside.
Lita executed a smooth, effortless-looking tilt-a-whirl slam on the other woman, who then quickly rolled to her corner.
As Ivory put out a hand to tag to Christian, the redheaded diva grabbed her ankle in an attempt to prevent the tag. The brunette, however, managed a spinning heelkick to Lita - but rather than getting her in the side of the head, she made contact with the side of the woman's torso.
Amy dropped to the canvas in pain so great, she actually saw stars for a moment. She pressed her arm tightly against her injured side - it hurt where she'd been cut open the previous night - where Ivory's kick had landed.
As she looked up, she saw Jay hovering over her, still obviously in Christian mode, as he evidently hadn't noticed anything awry. His blue eyes took on an almost manic quality as he grabbed hold of her, lifting her up by her long red hair.
On the other side, Adam was trying to get into the ring, yelling and protesting to the referee. He seemed pretty angry, and she wasn't quite sure he was still in the character of Edge.
All of a sudden, the blond man who had her in his grasp executed a reverse suplex, planting the diva on her back. Again, Amy felt pain shooting through her.
Adam's eyes widened as he took in the sight of the fallen redhead. She appeared to be in pain - very real pain, and had ever since Lisa had kicked her in the side. Concerned, he shoved past the referee, enraged that the official couldn't see what was going on, and kneeled at the diva's side.
Oh, God... There was fresh blood seeping through the stark white belly shirt she was wearing - high up, about three inches beneath her right breast.
Damn it...
Jay too was suddenly aware of the injury, and a look of confusion and concern took form in his blue eyes. Adam could tell his best friend was wondering whether or not the match should continue. They'd both wrestled to the conclusion of contests with injuries, as had the redhead - who could forget the horrible cut she'd received against Ivory at Survivor Series last year? The entire left side of her face had been bloody.
Finally, the referee called for the bell. The tall blond man was only partly relieved by that, for, as he examined the redhead, he could plainly see the bruises...
There were several of them. And damn it, as he gently raised the corner of her shirt to examine the gash that was bleeding, he could tell that it wasn't fresh. No - at the sight of the wound, it appeared that she'd suffered this bruise at least a day before.
A day before...
Adam quickly made up his mind as the horrifying thoughts went through his mind. Gently, he picked the diva up off the canvas, and as gently as possible, he walked her to the ropes. The referee, Jay and Lisa were right behind them, watching with concern.
The redhead clung onto his arm in an attempt to keep upright - and maybe to lean on someone strong for her own sake.
The Canadian briefly turned his head toward her as he gingerly supported her, taking care not to touch the nasty-looking injury on her side. As he peered with concern into her face, he took note of the left cheekbone. Earlier, as they'd been backstage together, waiting for their entrance, he'd thought it odd that her face had seemed slightly miscolored in that area. Now he knew why, and a cold, unpleasant knot clutched his stomach.
While the redhead had been in the ring with Ivory, her makeup had run a bit while she'd been sweating. It had been concealer, or foundation - it had been caked on the left side of her face, obviously to cover up the darkening bruise he could now more clearly see.
Adam knew exactly what he was going to do. As they reached the backstage area, he brought the redhead directly to his locker room rather than to her own.
"I'm taking you to the emergency room," he announced.
Amy looked up at him fearfully, wanting to ask why, but she knew she didn't have to question him. She swallowed hard, not daring to speak a word to protest. He sounded so firm, so final in his decision.
She wondered, consumed with a feeling of horror, what Chris would do if he found her with Adam...