Oh, I'll never kill myself to save my soul
I was gone, but how was I to know?
I didn't come this far to sink so low
I'm finally holding on to letting go
A new arrival
Off Camera
New York Presbyterian Hospital
Earlier this week
It had all started in a flash. Austin had flown back from Europe two days before. Everything was going as planned. Or as planned as these things could be. The bag had been sitting by the door, Markus was to go to Elena, the emergency message had been recorded for the answering machine. And Austin had been laying in bed, drifting off to sleep with Lisa in his arms, his hand had come to rest on her stomach, he could feel their daughter move, he could feel her twitch. It made him smile, it made him remember why he did everything. Why he worked so hard. But it also made him miss his father, his mother, the rest of his family.
But then hell seemed to be unleashed. They had gone through it all before. With the birth of Austin and Lisa’s son. They had rushed around, they had been prepared then too but learned so much. Austin had planned the fastest route to the hospital, he had fresh towels in the car, the car keys in a visible place with the spare pair hanging up in the kitchen right above the hospital bag sitting on a chair by the door.
But at 1:15 am on a Monday none of that mattered.
Lisa had woken Austin up, shaking her large husband awake with a panic. Austin opened his eyes as Lisa was already up and ready to go. Then it was a blur, the bag, the keys, Markus awake and ready to do to Elena’s. It was all coming together but more stressful than either thought. The contractions had started, they were much faster than last time. The 18 hours labor Lisa had with Markus was a marathon, this was a sprint. They had got to Elena’s and she took Markus, but one look at Lisa and Elena yelled at Austin to power to the hospital.
They arrived and from there it was even more intense. Lisa started to scream and be in pain, her hand wrapped around a few of Austin's fingers squeezing hard. Doctors and nurses moved around and before they knew it, four hours later, Mia Elena Mercer was born. The storm had moved on, nurses and doctors checked and made sure everything was ok. And now, in the real quiet time, Lisa was laying in the bed, Holding the tiny newborn girl in her arms, Austin sat in a chair next to the bed beaming with a smile ear to ear.
“I can hardly wait for Markus to meet her. He’ll have a baby sister to take care of” Austin smiled weekly and gave a small nod. He knew what it was like to have a sister. His was older, but he still had to take care of her…..
5 Years Ago-Briarcliff Mental Hospital.
“I understand where you are coming from Mister Mercer but you need to understand something…” The doctor trailed off, a much younger Austin sat across the table, his hands clasped together as there was an awkwardness in the air. It was thick and filled with tension as he pushed to his feet grabbing a file, he put it on the table and slid it towards Austin who cocked an eyebrow. “That is Amy’s file, your sister is…..her mind is fractured.” Austin reached forward opening the file, he slowly took each picture and shook his head.
They started a decade ago, a 13 year old Amy looking normal but dejected, then every year getting worse, her appearance changing, her weight dropping, all the way to the now 23-year-old, looking sunken and gaunt. Like a zombie. Austin sighed as his teeth ground together, he threw the pictures down and stood up towering over the doctor, an intimidation tactic that he knew wouldn’t work. But it made him feel better anyway. Even at 22, Austin was huge. ”You’re worried, but doc, Amy needs out, she needs to be with family, she needs to be in an environment where she can grow and she can be the women she was always going to be. I can give her that environment.”
Austin raised his eyebrows, his eyes were full of feeling and light. The doctor let out a deep sigh and reached into his desk pulling out some papers and a pen, he looked up at Austin then back down at them flipping to the final page. ”I’m doing this because over the last six weeks while you have been visiting Amy regularly she has regained her communication skills.” He signed on the bottom of the last page, initialing where he needed before sliding the papers to Austin. He read them slowly realizing they were discharging instructions. Austin sighed happily and signed the bottom adding the date.
”Thank you” He smiled warmly as the doctor gave him a nod leading Austin out of the offices and back through to the wards. The two men moving fast but Austin not wanting to seem overly eager as they went down the stairs and out to the courtyard where some of the patients were spending their day. ”Mister Mercer….Austin….I….just be careful. Watch her. Don’t give her all your trust right away. She might have an episode and if she does please don’t hesitate to call us. But, at the same time I wish you luck, I hope she continues her improvement.” He held his hand out and Austin took it shaking it, as the doctor turned and moved away Austin smiled looking over at his sister who was sitting on a bench with a sketch pad.
Amy had improved. Her long brown hair was now brushed and smooth, her face was a little fuller from eating, her body too had become stronger as she hummed a familiar tune. Austin came up behind her and set the papers down before Amy, she looked up smiling at her younger brother before looking at the papers reading through them. ”I’m out? She took a sharp inhaling breath before popping up from the bench setting her sketchpad down jumping and wrapping her arms around Austin squeezing him tight. ”I’m going to take you home Amy…and I promise...I promise you will have a better life...
Strength in numbers
On Camera
New York. New York
Present Day.
Austin stood in the nursery, his long hair tied back as he set up his iPad that had started recording. He smiled looking over at his newborn daughter who was awake laying in her bassinet still getting used to the world around her. Austin laughed and poked her tummy lightly before turning back to his iPad.
”What a difference a few weeks can make huh?. Normally you’d all see me at the gym, working out and cutting a promo, or maybe in the town or city that we’d be performing in. Hell if Lisa hadn’t have gone into labor I would have been cutting this promo from the casino, maybe even a gym there or the hotel room. But since I am taking as much time as I can at home with my wife and kids I thought I’d just do it this way. Now,l I’m sure some people out there are going to believe the arrival of my daughter will be a distraction. And while she’ll be in my mind and my heart a distraction is definately not what she is….”
“Motivation though?....”
“That’s different”
“I have always wrestled for family. For a family legacy that I barely understood, for a legacy that my own father wanted to be buried because it didn’t fit in with his new business orientated life. I wanted to be the best and bring honor back to the name Mercer. My family line is celtic, we come from a civilization where family honor is paramount. But now?. Well, I’m not sure that is what I should be fighting for. See, I respect my grandparents, my Aunts, and Uncles. I even respect my father’s decision to walk away from wrestling. Now though, now I fight for other reasons…”
He smiles at Mia, his finger poking her tummy again as her pretty brown eyes stare up at him, wondering who this giant man was and why he kept making faces and poking her.
”I’ve had this on my mind for months and it hasn’t been easy. Being focused on wrestling while always having this in the back of my mind. Lisa was at home heavily pregnant and we went on a european tour. I did twice as much flying as almost everyone else in the company and still, still I defended my championship successfully and I showed the world that Austin James Mercer is ready for the responsibility of being the face of SCW. It’s a responsibility only a few can really do. Alicia is doing it on the female side, Alex knows he’d be able to carry the company, Fenris proved he can and to be completely honest...Ty West would be able to, or he’d be a damn good substitute.”
“And I feel for Ty, I really do. I mean he and I have something in common just like Alex and Fenris do. See, Alex and Fenris are proven commodities. Alex has been a champion everywhere he’s gone and even now, without an SCW title he’s looked at as a threat and someone to be respected. And Fenris?, well we know what he has done and what he can do but Ty and I?. Well, we seem to be synonymous with the word “Potential”.
“I have the potential to be a great world champion..”
“And Ty has the potential to be a world champion…”
“Alex is someone who knows what it’s like to have that word thrown at him, for years he struggled in companies and was told he was the most talented man to never hold a companies world title. Then, on the final show ever of a place that had been his home for five years, he won their world title, He was their final champion as the company closed. And from there it was on, every single company ended up having him be their champion at a given time. And I have no doubt one-day Alex will come for the world title, whether I am champion or not he will chase it with the ferocity of a hungry pit bull.”
Austin chuckles and picks up Mia as Lisa walks in handing him a bottle. She gives him a kiss on the cheek and sleepily goes back to their room as Austin sits down on the chair cradling his daughter as she sucks hungrily at the liquid.
”Just like I know Fenris will. I know Fenris isn’t done with me or the championship and I’m sure he’s eyeing a one on one rematch with me just as Kale Smith is waiting in the wings as well as Vinnie and Ty. Fenris is just looking for a chance to remind the world of who he is. Like we all somehow forgot. Thing is I could never forget. I know what it’s like to lose to Fenris, to feel the strength he has and the almost ungodly ability to take a beating and come back for more. Here’s a guy who hasn’t been wrestling all that long, who kind of stumbled into it who has become one of the most talented and deadly human beings in the ring…”
“And I was able to beat him.”
Austin scoffs and shakes his head.
”I’ve had big victories in the past but that one was the biggest. And it allowed me to call myself a world champion agaijn and as we all went into the fourway at London Brawling I had that fear in the back of my mind. What if this one ended the same way my two previous ones had?. What if I lost the title as quickly as I won it and became a footnote in SCW history?. That, of course, is not what happened. But still that fear was real and it was there. And it will be there whenever I step in that ring with anyone, least of all the beast known as the White Wolf.”
“But really we should thank Fenris. See he has ushered in this new renaissance in SCW. There was a time when both Honor and SCW had great talents but both together now?. Well, the main event scene has some amazing talent. Myself, Fenris, Alex, Ty, Vinnie, Kale, Griffin Hawkins. We are all here and ready to go and any one of us could be “the guy”. And that’s what makes me sad about Ty. See Ty West is a man who puts a hundred percent of himself into everything.”
“His business life, his personal life, his relationships, his friendships. This is the type of man that feels every win and loss on a deep level. And I respect that. And truth be told if this was any other era of SCW Ty West would already be the world champion, he would already be the guy. But this time, this era, this roster?.”
“It’s hard for anyone to get to the top, least of all stay there.”
“And now here I am, teaming with my friend and mentor against two of the biggest threats to my title reign with another few in Vinnie and Kale waiting in the wings to see any cracks in my armor. The main event in our return home, to our home base. To the fans who have bled SCW for years. Every match is important, every match is a time for me to keep that pressure going and prove I deserve to be champion, week in and week out. It’s a pressure guys like Fenris and Alex know, it’s a pressure that Ty, Vinnie, Kale, and others want. It’s a pressure that people like Jake Raab, Todd Williams and Caleb Storm can’t handle.”
“But for me?. I thrive under it. I respect both of you. I respect what you want and what you’ve done and I respect the fact you are competitors of the highest order who will constantly push me to be better and to be the best and represent this company as it’s champion. And this will indeed be a main event to remember.”
