Consumed with memories that preceded today
Given a chance to bereave life that's slipping away
Suffered through tragedy of my slow decay
Deceptive tendencies dragged my soul away
All that I know is there was no God for me
Force that shatters all, absence of mortality
The long road back….
January 14th 2020. New York, New York
Rehab sucked. It was a very simple statement but true. A week after her surgery Alicia Lukas sat in the special outpatient area and physical rehab clinic. Her arm still sitting in a sling, her breathing was slow and calm but inside her mind was racing. This would be the first test, the first moments where her arm would be moving and the corrective surgery would be examined. She looked up at the walls, studying all the posters and paintings. Inspirational quotes from famous people and pictures like the kitten holding on to the rope.
Hang in there
She chuckled to herself, her eyes going down to the corner reading the small print. Trademarked 1990. Well that kitten is long dead. That’s depressing. (Simpsons reference noice). Alicia rolled her neck from right to left, feeling the blood flow increase and her shoulder pulling. She hated that feeling, she hated feeling tight and restricted. Alicia’s career and success was predicated on the fluidity of movement. Her freedom to move back and forth, the rotation. She lost it. It was stolen and taken away.
This was the start of her road back. The beginning of the journey that would be hard and frustrating.
Anger was never her friend.
The door opened, a young man walked in, looking as if he was fresh out of high school, let alone any type of college. Alicia sighed and shocked her head before stopping herself. She was young still, but she was also in his position once. Being judged by older people, judged by veterans in wrestling. She gave him a small smile as he looked up placing her file down next to her on the bench. ”Mrs Reynolds?” The sound was still foreign to her.
She never went by her husbands name, she always went by her stage name in her day to day life. But her day to day had changed. Just this simple act had hit her in the face like a brick. She went silent and stared out to the wall. Then his voice broke the silence and reminded her even more, that6 this world was different than wrestling. ”Violet Reynolds?” Alicia’s head shot sideways and she cleared her throat smiling.
”Oh yeah...yeah that’s me…” The young physio raised an eyebrow looking confused, Alicia coughed and moved her head to the side. ”Sorry I uh...I don’t usually get6 called by my name. It’s usually, Alicia” He smiled and gave her a small nod folding his arms over his chest.with a light hearted laugh, and a smile that put her at ease.
”If you are more comfortable with me calling you by that name I have no problems Alicia. It’s not everyday I get to work on a star athlete and performer.” He knew who she was, that made things easier than explaining the name difference. Alicia smiled and sighed letting all the trepidation out. ”My name is Daniel, I’m going to be your physical therapist. I’m here to assess your range of movement and tailor a recovery program for you.” He pauses for a moment as Alicia raised an eyebrow.
She felt much better with this few seconds of conversation, he wasn’t going to treat her like a number on a page. He was going to treat her like an individual. ”You are a professional athlete, your fitness is higher than the everyday person I see. Your body will naturally recover faster. So...that’s what we are going to focus on...we don’t want to impede that process.”
Her heart bounced, her mood changed from frustrated and angry, to scared and unsure, to happy and confident. All because she has someone looking out for her that gets it. Daniel wrote a few things on her file and humed to himself before turning and looking at the sling, his eyes moving around to the position of her shoulder. ”Alright Alicia, I need to take the sling off and see how well the joint moves” She again gave a small nod as Daniel undid the back of the sling, her arm pulled down as she now felt the weight of her arm.
She swallowed hard and closed her eyes taking a deep breath as Daniel lightly placed his hand on her elbow and wrist encouraging her to straighten her arm and rotate, she felt a sting of pain, but not as bad as she had expected. He moved around lifting her arm up and rotating her shoulder joint. Alicia took another sharp breath in and exhaled slowly. Daniel then moved her arm back down pulling the sling up and around to support the weight.
The seconds seemed tense. Had he seen something bad?. Had she not healed right or was the surgery a failure? Would her comeback be pushed even further back before the road had begun? All the questions flooded her mind as Daniel wrote a few things down and signed the bottom. He turned to Alicia and smiled. ”Movement is great, you’re not compensating at all, your upper body didn’t turn or edge to the left.”
Alicia swallowed hard and slipped off the table to the floor. ”And that means?”
Daniel laughed and handed her a script while holding the file in his other hand. ”Your body has started the recovery for us. I have written some basic exercises, fifteen minutes, twice a day for two weeks, then we will reevaluate. And take some anti inflammatories to aid healing. Then we’ll add more and see where we are…” He turned and put the file down as Alicia let out a slow breath. ”Don’t worry...we’ll get you back where you need to be...I promise.”
She believed, she felt the honesty. And now she was ready to get back to work….
The deep end
She was starting to go a little stir crazy. Since returning to SCW and relocating to Vegas for the temporary lockdown she had done nothing but eat, sleep, train and wrestle when needed. Two matches back. Two moments in the ring after almost six months of sitting on the sidelines. But now, she was back where she belonged. And...happy.
”Well, I finally have a win under my belt. After being robbed of the chance because of Bobbie Dahl against Roxi I was determined to have my hand raised. To get the monkey off my back and remind ther world who I am. See, I don’t know what would have happened if Bobbie hadn’t of walked in to the match with me and Roxi. Maybe Roxi would have won, maybe I would have. We don’t know and that is infuriating. But I’m sure Johnson and I will eventually go one on one again some point in the future. It’s a match I will always look forward to and despite our differences it’s something that excites me…”
“But what isn’t in question, is my win over Candy. See, I said it before, I like Candy. She’s a talented woman who is tougher than people realise. She brought it in that match but, and this will sound super egotistical, she never had a chance. And I get it, in this day and age it’s so evil having an ego. But it’s the truth…”
“As good as Candy is and as great as she’s been for the bombshells division and the roulette title she isn’t in that group. She isn’t good enough to be a WORLD champion.”
“And our match proved that. Because I am in that upper echelon of talent. I am a world champion. I have been one of the best professional wrestlers on this planet for a long long time and while I understand it’s in vogue right now to fein humility I would rather tell the truth. And the truth is that I am still one of the best, I am still the goddamn benchmark in SCW and the bombshells division.”
Alicia laughs under her breath and pushes up to her feet pacing back and forth, her long golden blonde hair flowing down her shoulders and back, her bright blue eyes sparkling with that confidence she had been missing since returning. It had appeared, for all intents and purposes...Alicia Lukas was back.
”Now, am I saying that Candy and Bella and the other list of names on the list can’t work their way up to that championship level? No, I’m not. In fact I have always wanted that to happen, it’s why I wanted Andrea to step up, it’s why I wanted Roxi to re-sign, it’s why I wanted Amber Ryan to come in to SCW, It’s why I wanted Evie Jordan back full time. I wanted these names and personalities in the division because I know that bit will pull others up, including myself.”
“I want competition.”
“I want challenged”
“And I want all the other bombshells to realise that fact. I want them all to try and get better and improve. Whether your name is Candy, Kate Stewele or Jesse Salco. Werll, maybe not Salco, but still you get my point. And people like me just smiling and telling you all that we’re equal is not going to accomplish anything. Because, truth be told. We’re not equals. There is a dividing line between people like Candy, Bella Madison and Bobbie Dahl and women ;like me, Roxi Andrea and Evie...a clear line that you need to cross.”
“A line that Kate Steele, Crystal Zdunich, Seleana Zdunich and Mercedes Vargas were once above….and then fell below…”
“That might seem harsh, arrogant, even cruel. But the truth often hurts.”
She nods slowly with a grin, showing her pearly whites before grabbing the small wooden chair next to her and sitting on it kicking her legs up.
”Now, this week has got mer much more excited than normal. See at Climax Control 270 you people watching at home, and everyone backstage will be in for a treat. Alicia Lukas will go one on one with Evie Jordan for the first time ever. Think about that. Evie Jordan, former SCW Roulette Champion, Former SCW Bombshells tag team champion, two time Blast from the past winner and former SCW Bombshells champion. One on one against a woman who has dominated every company she has been in and in a year and a half revolutionised the Bombshells…”
“Doesn’t it just send chills down your spine?”
“I mean Alicia Lukas versus Candy, that's a fun match, Alicia Lukas versus Bobbie Dahl, that will be crazy because of the personal stakes involved but from a pure wrestling fan standpoint, this, well, this is a dream match. Now, I’m not going to travel down the road most do, I’m not going to talk about your husband or anything like that. Cause, I’m smart enough to know you had success before you and Ben became a power couple. Your success has nothing to do with his and his has nothing to do with you aside from the love and support you both offer one another…”
“Now...Evie Jordan is a woman who stands on her own two feet. Evie Jordan is a woman who has been in SCW a long time on and off. And I know that when you’re focused Evie, you’re one of the best. But your focus has been on and off for years. Although this time, I can see in your eyes that you’re the best you’ve ever been. You’re at that point where you go from great wrestler, to legend and possible hall of fame name. And all you have to do to get there is beat Andrea Hernandez right?...and a match with me?..well that will be your test…”
Alicia winks and puts her hands behind her head.
”But, while you know it will be a test for you, what do you think it will be for me?. I was the dominant champion in this company, beating everyone and anyone in front of me. Only to have it taken away. Only to lose my title, to lose my place and have to rebuild myself from the ground up. And now, I have to face the current number one contender for a championship I want back. So, while my focus is definitely on getting revenge against Bobbie Dahl...my other eye is on you. And while in my heart I would feel bad about disrupting your momentum, from a selfish point of view...beating you...means when I am done with Bobbie….”
“Well….whether it be you or Andrea holding that title….”
“I’ll have the winner lined up in my sights.”
“And trust me, this isn’t an issue I have with you, this isn’t like it has been with me and Roxi or Crystal or even Bobbie. This is a professional, business issue. You came back, you won the right to face the champion, you are ahead of me in that line regardless of if I had Bobbie Dahl’s head on a platter. But this match will test us both, it will give us both an idea of where the other stands. I’ll respect you before it, I’ll respect you after it. But, I need to know...am I as good as I remember?...”
