004

The last thing she remembered was being in her hotel room, seated in front of her webcam. She'd been recording one of the most brilliant trash talk pieces of her career... and then there was nothing but blackness. The more she tried to probe past that dark void in her mind, the more her head hurt. Finally, she opened her eyes and realized something quite startling: she was NOT in her hotel room anymore. Instead she was lying in a hospital bed with an IV drip in her hand. Panic settled in, making her heart race. She was supposed to be in a wrestling ring against Katherine Stryfe in less than twenty hours— mind you she didn't know it was that close.

Struggling to sit up, she fought against the dizziness that threatened to overwhelm her, desperate to get out of here. Defending that title was the most important thing in her world right now, and the thought of forfeiture made her feel more ill than the room spinning around her. She stared at the tape that held the needle in the back of her hand, surprised to find blood crusted under her jagged fingernails.

"I did not ever imagine that the next time we meet, it would be under such...auspicious surroundings, Kaitlynn. But nevertheless....I am pleased to see you." These were the words from a very familiar voice; the monotone icy nature of it identified its owner before even her eyes could bother with the task. Making his way around to the foot of the bed, he clasped his hands in front of him, admiring the leather restraints tying her feet to the bed and around her wrists, giving her just enough give to be able to move her arms a bit, but not much else.

Her breath caught in her throat, genuine terror making her eyes flood with tears. "What..." her words caught in her throat, "what have you done to me?"

"Nothing. When I discovered you in your hotel room, you were unconscious. Being the Good Samaritan, I brought you here to a hospital, upon which I sit on the board of directors of the parent company. And for your own safety....and my own, you have been restrained. Other than that, you have been well looked after." His eyes roamed up to her face, trying to keep the slight smile on his face hidden but without success.

His words penetrated her fear, adding a little anger to the mix, "my... hotel room?" She scowled at him, oblivious to the tears that fell down her cheeks as she blinked, "what the hell were YOU doing in MY hotel room?!"

"I'm assuming you or your dear husband forgot to lock the door. I had heard you were staying, and I wanted to come visit. You should be glad I did, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to text your doting husband with your phone and let him know that you had no intention of meeting him for dinner. He sent such a sweet little text, asking where you were. I felt bad for him." His fingers crawled along the leather restraints at her ankles, letting his crawl up her calf like a spider towards her thigh.

She shuddered, unable to do much more than tense up at his disgustingly intimate touch. Her mind raced, trying to keep one step ahead of him and failing. She still felt groggy from whatever they'd given her. "I need to get..." she blinked, suddenly wondering if she'd been out long enough that she'd completely missed her match against Katherine. "What day is it?"

Gambini's hand continued its leisurely crawl up her leg, stopping at her thigh before cupping it as his hand began to massage the inner muscles. "Friday, September 23. You are here at this fine medical establishment, receiving the best care possible. And on top of that...you should make a full recovery." His eyes fell down to where his hand was, taking in a deep breath. "And firm as ever, too."

A full recovery?

She tried to ignore his hands on her body, instead trying to twist her hand free from its restraint. The leather began to dig into her wrist, almost drawing blood. "There's nothing wrong with me." She hissed at him between clenched teeth, "I want to go. I need to get out of this place."

"And so you shall. I have no desire to keep you here. At least for any long period of time." His other hand pulled up the hospital gown she wore to reveal the lower half of her body, only a pair of panties lay underneath. His eyes feasted on the flesh before him while his other continued its massage till it slid up to her hip and his thumb slid under the garment there as though the idea had come to his mind to remove it. "You stay in such excellent shape, Kaitlynn. No wonder you are so successful in your profession."

She kept twisting her wrist in its restraint, ignoring the fire of the friction burn as her eyes squeezed closed. "Please, just go away."

"In due time. You see, the reason I came to see you is a simple one. We had a little arrangement, you and I. One that was personally beneficial to me, but upon your husband involving the FBI, our arrangement came to an early conclusion. And while you and your husband saw fit to try to lock me away for the rest of my life, I had...time to think about how much that hurt me." His fingers began to tug at the fabric, sliding the panties down just a few inches as he admired her womanhood. "But I want you to know.....I forgive you."

"I don't want your," she almost choked on the word, feeling saliva flood her mouth, "forgiveness." Swallowing hard, she tried to keep herself from gagging, keeping her eyes closed because it was easier to pretend he wasn't ogling her. "I wanted you to disappear." She said the words in such a small voice, almost a childlike whisper, that he almost didn't hear them over the beeping of the heart-rate monitor.

"You should be nicer to me, Kaitlynn. It wasn't that long ago you were going to take care of a personal desire of mine. But that was then. This is now." His eyes never left her lower body, letting his fingers form into that spider-like formation as it crawled up her thigh and came to rest on her pelvis. "Believe me if I didn't want you to be here right now, you wouldn't be. As a matter of fact, your husband is providing me with great entertainment as he is making my company money hand over fist. I wouldn't dream of doing anything that would deter that from happening."

Her eyes opened slowly, fixing on him. The way he spoke of her husband sickened her in ways she couldn't explain, driving away the last vestiges of fear. There were no tears now. Nothing in those greenish-gold depths but infinite amounts of hate. "I don't want to be here. Listen," her voice took on a strange edge, almost as if she was trying to bargain with him, "I have to wrestle Katherine Stryfe today. Tomorrow... I..." her voice faltered slightly, "I need to get out of here. Can you make that happen?"

"I could." He admitted, though his attention was not fully on the words coming out of her mouth. Staring at her body, his tongue dragged across his lips for a moment before he put her panties back into place. "You want me to get you to Detroit on time? That's easy enough." He grew silent for a moment as he moved up towards her head. "You sound as though you are trying to make a deal, Kaitlynn. What pray tell are you offering me for my assistance?"

"I have nothing to give you." She was as honest as she could be, hoping that he would ask for money. She had enough of that socked away. "But you have to admit, if you hadn't been in my room... we wouldn't be here now." Her lips tried for a smile, failing miserably. The look was almost feral— a grimace.

"No, then the hotel bellboy would have found you. And he would have called for an ambulance, and your striking face would be all over the media. I saved you a great deal of public humiliation and publicity." A sigh escaped his lips as he leaned down over her, his face near inches from hers. "Imagine what a shambles it would have been for your career if another hospital admitted you, ran their tests on you to find out...you were abusing drugs." He leaned back up, touching his finger to his chin. "Now we both know that isn't the case, but perception is reality. And there is no shortage of substances I can have inserted into your body. It would end your career, wouldn't it? No title. No FFW. No way to make your husband...proud of you."

"Please..." she found herself stricken by his words, shocked into near-speechlessness, "this... this is all I have. Don't..." she trailed off, closing her eyes against the prickle of tears. The worst thing she could possibly do in front of him was appear weak, and she'd already done it. Breathing shallowly, she bit her lip and said nothing.

"Don't? I haven't done anything, Kaitlynn. Yet." This brought a little bit broader of a smile to his face. "How would it feel to be no longer the apple of your husband's eyes, but the disappointment? The woman whom is supposed to do everything to make him proud, only for him to discover you couldn't do it on your own. You needed a crutch. How disappointed would that make him? My guess is....very." He pulled a chair up towards the head of the bed, taking a seat. "The long and the short of this, Kaitlynn, is you and your husband nearly cost me everything. Again. And in the very near future, we are all going to come together and...rectify the situation to my satisfaction. In short, Kaitlynn....you haven't seen the last of me. We've only just begun."