All In All...A Pretty Shitty Night...Sort’ve
Sunday Night
Colorado Springs, CO
If you could potentially call it a quiet night right outside of an emergency room of one of the busiest medical centers, this would be surprisingly it.
Thankfully where they were for Climax Control wasn’t that far.
It was all a blur really. One minute he was sitting next to his brother as they watched his fiance in the main event of one of the craziest episodes that he recalled in recent history of SCW. The next they both watched in horror as Carter was sprayed in the face by Entity and watching as Peter Vaughn steals the briefcase from Carter’s own hands and then getting hit in the head with it, only to fall from the top all the way to the mat.
If he had blinked in that moment, he would have completely lost Miles with how fast his brother took off. He heard the multitude of voices call out for the EMS to make their way directly to the ring as he tried to get to the ring through the out and around way that Miles took. Entity and Vaughn were already long gone and up the ramp by the time they had even gotten there and the EMS weren’t that far behind.
He looked around watching people continuously standing and watching every move that was made and then he’d glance over to watch Miles talking to Carter and trying to wipe the red mist from his eyes and face with water and towel.
And almost in a blink of an eye they loaded Carter onto the stretcher and started wheeling him through the halls with Miles hot on their heels. LJ realized what his job was, and that was to stop anyone that somehow missed what happened and keep them from freaking out over Carter’s current condition and letting Miles focus on just that.
By the time he heard the sirens Ally stood by his side, holding on to his arm to keep him from taking off after them.
LJ just stood there, in that stupid suit, and at that moment all he could say was, “I have never felt so helpless in all my life.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine. By now those two have this down to a science.” she said, trying to lighten the mood, “Did you find out where they were taking him?”
His eyes just grew wide, as he ran his fingers through the scruffy looking blonde hair, “Fuck! That’s what I didn’t do!”
“Relax, there are still medics around. Maybe they’d know.” she said looking around and quickly finding one of the many medical staff that remained, “HEY YOU! Do you happen to know where the ambulance was taking Carter?”
The medic just gave a look of serious doubt, “That depends, are you family?”
“This is his almost brother-in-law and the man that got in there with him was Carter’s fiance and his brother.” Ally said motioning to LJ who just stood still staring out of the dock, “We’re going to need to take their rental and stuff to them as is, wherever they may be going, so if you could help us out it’d be appreciated.”
“Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to tell you for that. Closest hospital nearby would be UCHealth Memorial Central, so more than likely that’s where they’ll be heading.”
“Thank you.” Ally said before turning on her heels, grabbing at his arm and trying to pull him along but LJ doesn’t budge, “Come on, LJ. We have work to do.”
“Is it even worth it though?” LJ said, “You said it yourself, they have this whole thing down to a science. I highly doubt they need us.”
“You have a lot to learn. Trust me, it’s only a matter of time before...” Ally suddenly gets a notification on her phone, “And there it is. One thing about Miles, he knows when to reach out for help...most of the time.”
“But...”
Ally starts dragging him “No buts, go grab Carter and Miles stuff and we’ll get what they need to them and go from there.”
“Bossy.” LJ smirks as she shoves him in the direction he needs to go, before he turns he hears.
“You like it.”
A Few Hours Later
Outside of UCHealth Memorial Central
It took some interesting juggling but essentials were dropped off, including food. In the three trips they dropped off necessities, the car and in the final trip Ally knew the perfect spot for Indian Food to drop off at the hospital. In fact, she went overboard which was found out after the fact, and Miles told them that they treated the floor that Carter was admitted on and that they treated the staff and that’s how Carter was able to land a room for one night and day with a good view.
In the parking deck, both LJ and Ally were finally allowed to let themselves slow down and stop. So that’s where they find themselves. Sitting on the back bumper of the rental Jeep Grand Cherokee just in silence for a period of time, both just staring out to no particular place and occasionally up but there was nothing there but clouds. Still dressed up in their business best but LJ long since lost his tie and loosening up the buttons of the shirt a bit.
Ally was the first to break the silence, “Did he tell you anything?”
LJ glanced over, “Just that he’s going to be kept for observation. XRays looked good, there were a few other tests they wanted to run and they flushed his eyes and he should be fine but they have a specialist coming in first thing. He should be released sometime tomorrow, probably in the afternoon or evening hours. Got told that they should be just fine on their own and to head back to the hotel. Miles of course is staying...”
Ally just laughed, “That doesn’t surprise me at all. He’s so protective of Carter and Carter is just as protective of him. It’s one of the things that I admire and am slightly jealous of.”
LJ smirks and leans forward to look at her, “Not the best luck in love, I’d take it?”
“To put it mildly. What about you?”
LJ sighs and sits back, “What about me?”
Ally smiles, “Well you’ve been around for a few months. I know you’re 22, I know from Miles that you just graduated from college...but other than that you are quite the mystery.”
“Feeling nosey are we?”
“Just a tad, it’s better than sitting in silence. So tell me about you and then who knows...I’ll share.”
The look that got shared, LJ was slightly amused and trying to figure if he could get away with something and Ally’s face basically dared him to try.
“Ok, fine. Well if you must know, yes I did recently graduate from uni in Manchester, before you ask it was originally on goal to become a law student just like my mum’s wife.” He paused to see her reaction but there was none so he just continued on, “Joan, is basically my other mother, she helped raise me and well I saw things that she did and wanted to be sort’ve like her. My mum works for her firm as a paralegal, it’s how they met. So while my da was gone, we weren’t struggling by any stretch of the imagination. Not like Miles’ mum.”
“I see.” is all she said.
“As far as relationships go, I had a few girlfriends but nothing that you’d call stable. Seeing as I had academic goals, time was a factor and they didn’t exactly like taking a back seat to that. Which I completely get. Who would sit around and just watch me reading case study after case study. It’s mind numbing after a while, even for me.” He wasn’t trying to show off, so he finally took a breath for a moment and leaned back, “I still do have those goals, just trying to work through all the fine print details, as it were. That and still trying to find a regular place to live that isn’t a shite hole inn. Apartments aren’t exactly cheap in Las Vegas and I’d prefer to stay there at least for the foreseeable future.”
Several moments of silence filled the air.
After a bit, he looked at Ally with a moment of worry, “I just completely killed the convo with that, didn’t I?”
“No, not at all actually. It gives me insight into who you are. You know, what makes you who you are.” She takes a deep breath, looking at him. “I like knowing about people, more than just what we see. There’s always more to a person than what we can see with our eyes.” She took a deep breath. “Well you know I have a daughter, her name is Ashlynn. Her father, well he wasn’t a good man, to say the very least. I did the whole college thing, I have a masters in Anthropology.”
“Ah, so you are definitely not scared off by intelligence.” LJ joked, “That’s fantastic to know.”
“Not in the slightest.” She giggled. “I’ve had my fair share of relationships and so far they’ve all ended the same. With the man choosing someone else.” She laughed a bit. “Thought about changing my nickname to pitstop.”
“Well on behalf of all humans with an XY chromosome...some of us aren’t exactly the brightest of the batch. I will say also, in all honesty, that you didn’t deserve that, at all. Fickle fuckers gave up on something as beautiful as you, says a lot about them and not you.”
She blushed at his words and shivered a little, wrapping her arms around herself to try and warm up. While it was summer, the air was a bit chilly at this hour, mountains who would have known. “That goes on both sides to be honest. For all of our bravado, not all women are exactly the brightest.” She smiled a little. “You deserve someone who understands how hectic life can be. Someone who can appreciate the time you do spend together. They didn’t deserve someone as handsome or as amazing as you.”
That brought a smile to his face, “You barely know me, but thanks for that. But I can tell you one thing for sure about me,” he carefully slides off his suit jacket and carefully wraps it around her shoulders. Her eyes grow big for a moment watching him get a little closer than they ever had been before he makes sure it’s secure around her and pulls back, “I’m a gentleman.”
Grabbing the jacket and pulling it tight around her, “Aren’t you going to be chilled?”
“I’m English, love. This kind of weather is a little warm, even for me.” he said and just to show off he unbuttoned his cuffs, showing off some of the tats he has, “There. At least the jacket came into use tonight for one of us.”
That brought a soft giggle from her. “Thank you LJ. This is very sweet of you.” She snuggled into his coat, the scent of him still on the suit coat. She mentally kicked herself for the thoughts that rolled through her head. “I’m sure you are tired. Perhaps we should head back to the hotel? Maybe eat some of this extra food?”
“Cold Indian food? Suddenly I feel like I’m back in uni. Lived off that and cold as hell pizza my first semester of my senior year. You should have seen it, had a gut on me and everything.” He said, hopping off the bumper and pushing his stomach as far as he could in a hilarious show, “Once I got through the holidays, I ate nothing but rabbit food and spent any extra minute I had in the gym. I was permanently exhausted for days.”
She giggled and shook her head. “Okay.. so no to cold Indian food. We could always get something to eat on the way to the hotel.. Or order room service.”
“Ooo, and really really stupid movies. I think after the night we’ve had, we deserve a laugh or two.” LJ says looking back at the hospital, “I’m sure they won't need us anymore tonight, right?”
“Definitely can find some really stupid, funny movies to watch.” She nodded and looked back up at the hospital. “Carter’s in the best place he could be, with the people who can take the best care of him.” She hopped down off the tailgate and moved to stand in front of him. “If they need us, they’ll call. But we can’t help them if our tanks are empty too.”
“You’re right. And you wanna know what just popped into my head?” LJ said heading around to the passenger side and opening the door for her.
“What’s that?”
And as Ally climbs in he leans against the door frame and smirks, “That this trip didn’t turn out to be a complete waste of time after all.”
Couple of days later
“Ok let me see if I understand this clearly.”
“Take your best shot, bro, because even I am still processing it.” LJ was back in Vegas by now and Carter had been released and he managed to talk Miles into making his quick trip to New York. So this was his way of checking in, and being nosey.
“Ok so you two sat in the parking deck after you dropped off my car and the food and talked annnnnd... this is the dot dot dot portion of the conversation, LJ.”
“And nothing, we went back to the hotel, we both got comfortable, ordered room service and just watched movies until we both passed out. We woke up and...that was it. Next day we just delivered coffee and breakfast after checkout and she had to head to the airport to get home to her daughter so I dropped her off.”
“Wow, that was not at all what I was expecting from you.” you could hear Miles laughing through the line.
LJ sits up and looks down at his phone, “Hold on, what were you expecting?”
“Nothing PG but here we are. I will say that I’m rather proud of you about that though.” there was a brief pause when another voice popped in ‘Proud of what?’, “He was a complete gentleman with Ally the other night.”
“I will say that I wouldn’t mind seeing her again though, she’s fun and has no problem just loafing around but I think I’ll need to try and plan the next one instead of just letting things flow.”
“Hey, there is nothing wrong with letting things just flow naturally, ya know. But if you need help, I would suggest that you listen to Carter this time.”
“Yes, I’m well aware that the great bleaching of 2024 is never gonna be let down anytime soon and thus will forever have no choice but to go to him for first or at least second opinions.” LJ said rolling his eyes, “I just wanted to make sure that I was fully prepared for this week, provided Kris doesn't get on a different plane, this time to perhaps Antarctica. And at least I’ll do it before I head off for these supposed 4th of July activities that I’ve been invited to.”
“He’s a legend in the game, doesn’t make him the smartest sometimes. Actually let me rephrase that, smartest in life, he is a father after all and sometimes being exhausted leads to some interesting travels.”
“Good to know that one. You guys gonna be in Pueblo?”
“Unknown, we still have a few more details to work out as we close in on the big day and neither of us really have to be there, but if you need to have your big brother come and hold your hand...”
“You can kiss my ass with that shit.” LJ laughed, “Alright well if anything I’ll check in in the next day or so. Tell Carter I said hello and yes, they fixed the spray tan”
“I TOLD YOU THEY WOULD!”
Let’s Try This Again
“Ok, so have we made it with absolutely certainty that Kris has booked a proper flight to Colorado this week and is actually making it to Pueblo? Because if so, we should absolutely be safe to say that Kris is indeed making his grand return this week.”
“Welcome back dude, and I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to razz you too much but even I was amazed when that happened. Imagine my shock when I got to Colorado Springs last week, all dressed to the nines with my gear in tow and you weren’t even in the same hemisphere let alone the same time zone. And I get it, you are just coming back from a long break and it may sound cliche as hell, but it’s an honor to be the first man to enter into the ring with a former multi-time champion.”
“Bruv, I gotta admit, in my young career part of me had rather hoped for something like this. You see, for some they prefer the easy road, getting their feet wet on the lower tear, but as you know, I am a Kasey afterall. We never like to do things the easy way but as I’m well aware you know that about me as well. However, I do believe that some people may try and claim that I am and that is exactly like my big brother.”
“So let’s get it out of the way, while I do sit in amazement of Miles and how he just seemingly just is able to easily sit on top of all the world and not really break a sweat. Meanwhile just even the thought of something as big as this for me? In the infancy of my career? I have had to start studying breathing techniques just to make sure that I don’t get blown up in the first few minutes of the match. And I admit, I’ve slipped several times on my path to this moment.”
“Several times that I could have been something like my brother, and yet I manage to make a complete and total arse out of myself. You’re not the only one who manages to be a complete and total goof off and foul things up. It’s like there are times I can feel Carter doesn’t trust me, my brother is still suspicious and people are waiting for something that just isn’t going to come. I’m not a bad guy but maybe it’s just how the world is today that leads to a civil distrust of your fellow human being.”
“I don’t want to be the bad guy, Kris. I really don’t. I want to head into Pueblo against you like we should have last week and have the potential match of the night with all kinds of room to improve on it. I want to win but I’d be happy with a handshake. I am more than ready to give you the return that you rightfully deserve, mate, because I am not a bad guy. Oh I’m gonna give you a match that is going to make you seriously question if you should have, or if you had prepared yourself properly. But man, what a return you will have.”
