Tears of a Stranger


The match between Edge and Kurt Angle had gone smoothly, although the Olympic Gold Medalist had won.

As the three of them made their way back to the locker rooms together, Angle expressed surprise at Amy's appearance at ringside.

"I know most people are probably keeping their mouths shut about this," he said, "but guys - I want you to know how sorry I am...and I hope you're feeling better," Kurt said, gazing meaningfully at the redhead, his blue eyes full of compassion.

Amy nodded, not quite knowing what to say, but she was touched that Angle had shown he cared.

The tall blond man placed a hand on Angle's shoulder.  "Thanks, Kurt..."

"If you guys ever need a friend to talk to, you know where you can find me," the man said as they approached his locker room.

Both the Canadian and the diva nodded, and, somehow, Amy managed a tiny smile for the man.  He returned the gesture before quietly slipping into the locker room.

Amy looked up to exchange glances with Adam, noting the sadness in his green eyes.  She winced, glancing down, and felt the blond man's arm go around her waist before they resumed their walk down the hall to return to their own locker room.

"I'll get showered, and after I get dressed, we'll get out of here, okay?" the Canadian was saying as he opened the door.  He stood back to allow her to enter first, then continued.  "I don't think Stephanie would-"

He cut his sentence short abruptly as Amy suddenly let out an ear-piercing scream.

"My God, Ames!  What-"  He turned his head sharply to glance in the direction of where she was staring with eyes widened in stark terror, one of her arms outstretched, hand out as though warding off a vicious specter of some sort.

"Oh, God...oh, God..."  The redhead was actually shaking as her gaze remained fixed on the objects positioned on the small table in the room.

Adam marched into the room and approached the table.  He stared, puzzled, at what had evidently freaked the woman out so horribly - and when he turned back to look at Amy, a sickening, cold knot of fear clenched his stomach.  She had sunk to the floor, her back against the wall, knees drawn up to her chest.  She was slightly huddled forward, arms wrapped around herself, hugging herself protectively.

The blond man rushed to his fiancee's side, coming to sit on the floor beside her.

"Amy, Amy...are you okay?  Talk to me, baby..."  He pulled her into his arms as he positioned himself on his knees before her.  He rocked her back and forth, and although the redhead clung onto him, she was now strangely silent, as though catatonic.

Adam pulled back at the startling realization that, not only was she still shaking, but she felt deathly cold to the touch all of a sudden.  A quick glance into her face told him that she had also begun to cry, and the tears were streaming down her face.

"Hey, is everything okay in there?"

The blond man looked up to his left as he realized people were just outside the door.  Although he wanted to simply ignore them, he instead decided to acknowledge them, as they'd obviously heard Amy screaming and were concerned.

He hated to move away from the frightened redhead for even a second, but he had to move a bit to answer the door.  He opened it without even getting up from his knees.

"What happened?  Is everything okay?" a concerned voice asked, and Adam was surprised to see Brock Lesnar in the doorway.  Directly behind him stood Kurt Angle, who looked equally worried.  "What are you-"

Before the man could finish his question, he stepped a little further into the room, catching sight of the distraught woman huddled on the floor, and his eyes widened as he glanced over his shoulder at the Olympic Gold Medalist behind him.

"Oh, my God...Is she going to be all right?" Angle asked as he stepped a bit closer to the doorway when Brock moved.

"I don't...Yeah, she'll be fine," the blond man said, running a hand through his hair.  He swallowed nervous as he glanced back at the diva.  She hadn't moved from her spot - and, in fact, the only movement he detected from her was her shaking.  She didn't even seem to be blinking.

When the two men had left - reluctantly, at that, Adam returned to the redhead's side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"It's going to be all right, sweetie..." he whispered, pressing his lips to her forehead.  God, she felt so cold...

He shifted his gaze back to the small table across the room, wondering why an empty plate with a fork resting upon it - and a mug full of coffee would terrify her so badly.  And then again, he wondered where they'd come from in the first place - and who had come in here and left them in his locker room.

He couldn't help the feeling that someone had deliberately placed them here, knowing exactly how Amy would react to seeing them...














Part 19

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