The Sins of the Father Chapter 1-6

TITLE: The Sins of the Father
AUTHOR: Lisa
RATING: NC-17
SPOILERS: None
DISTRIBUTION: Irresistiblyfictional.com. All others please ask.
DISCLAIMER: Use of wrestlers real names, they of course belong to their good selves. All other WWE gimmicks/characters belong to V. McMahon, WWE, Titansports and all their subsidiary companies. I claim no affiliation with anyone featured in this story and claim no knowledge of their personal lives. Of course if this had happened I would be trying to find out where the people in question had hidden their time machines. This is all just fiction people, as you will realise when you check out the subject matter. No offence intended. I am not making any profit from this story or this site.

Mark eyed Glenn over the menu that he had in his hand. They were stuck in another crappy diner on their way to yet another crappy venue to do another show. He was sore, he was tired and he was in a bad mood. He had no idea why he had the menu in his hand, they had already ordered and eaten their meal … if you could call it that. Now he just wanted to get the hell out of here and get back on the road but Glenn was taking his own sweet time and slowly drinking down his second refill of coffee. He glared at his travelling companion. “I would like to get some sleep tonight you inconsiderate bastard. Stop slowing us down. I don’t want to be stopping every five minutes so you can pee.”

“If I don’t get this caffeine down I’m likely to fall asleep at the wheel.” Glenn stated calmly. “So if you don’t want to end up bleeding in a ditch somewhere I suggest that you unbudge your panties and try to relax for another ten minutes.”

Mark scowled. Normally he wouldn’t tolerate that kind of disrespect from anyone but Glenn somehow always managed to get away with it. He snatched his stuff off of the table. I’ll wait for you in the car.” He muttered and headed out of the place.

It wasn’t until he had left the diner that Glenn realised that he had left his cell phone lying on the table. He grabbed it. “Hey Mark, you forgot your …” He realised that his friend was already gone. “Phone.” He shrugged and pulled it over beside his stuff on the table. The last thing he needed was to forget it too. Mark was in a bad enough mood as it was. He had just brought the coffee cup back to his lips when Mark’s phone rang making him jump slightly but enough to spill a little of the hot liquid on himself. “Shit.” He muttered in a low voice as he attempted to dab at the spill with an astonishingly non-absorbent napkin. Putting down his cup he grabbed the still ringing cell phone, stabbed at it with a thick finger and brought it to his ear. “Mark’s phone.” He growled. There was a marked silence on the other end.

Finally someone spoke. “I’m sorry I might have a wrong number.”

“No … well, if you’re looking for Mark Callaway you have the right number.” He continued intrigued. A female voice … what had Mark been up to? “But you have the wrong person. He left his phone behind when he left here a little earlier. Can I take a message?”

She sighed. She should have known that this wouldn’t go smoothly. “I don’t know.” She began; she didn’t even know who this was on the other end of the line.

“Look, I promise you that he’ll definitely get the message.” Glenn continued. “I’ll be seeing him in about ten minutes.” He didn’t mention that if he tilted his head he could see Mark perfectly well sitting in the car.

“Ok.” She said quietly. “I just thought that someone should tell him that Elaine Graham had died. I suppose the main reason I’m calling is that she left him something in her will, if you have a pen I can give you the number of the attorney who is handling the estate.”

Glenn was a little stunned at the slightly detached way that this young woman had just given him the news and in a way he was glad that Mark hadn’t been able to take this call. “Give me a sec.” He felt around in his pockets and finally pulled out a battered and chewed pen, he grabbed another napkin to take the number down on. “Shoot.” He listened intently as she gave him the number and then repeated it back to her to make sure that he had taken it down correctly.

“The attorney’s name is Bill Stallings, he’ll be able to answer any questions that Mr Callaway has about the situation.” She finished hurriedly. “Well, thank you for all your help and if you could please make sure that Mr Callaway gets that message.”

He realised that she was about to hang up and quickly spoke. “Wait, I don’t know your name. He’ll want to know who called, he’ll want to know the name of the person who left the message.”

“Tara.” She stated softly. “My name is Tara.” Then she hung up in his ear with a soft click.

Glenn was a little surprised with the abrupt way that she had disconnected the call. He shrugged, some people were weird. He shoved the napkin in his pocket along with the pen.

-o0o-

Tara dropped her head into her only slightly shaking hands and tried to take a few deep breaths. That hadn’t gone as badly as she had expected. She let out an unexpected snort of laughter. Who was she kidding? The only reason it had gone as well as it had was because she hadn’t spoken to Mark. If she had spoken to him she had a feeling that she would either still be on the phone right now or would be cowering under some blankets crying. Before she forgot about it she switched the answering machine back on. She had no intention of answering the phone for the rest of the time she was here. Instead she planned to screen the calls and get back to anyone who had something important to go over.

Walking back upstairs she wiped at her eyes with the backs of her hands. Time to start going through the paperwork that she had found again.

-o0o-

Glenn threw a tip down on the table for their waitress and headed towards the door. He wasn’t worried about being stopped for autographs even though the diner was filled with likely looking wrestling fans. That was one of the benefits of working behind a mask; no one had a clue who he really was. It was definitely a little colder outside now than it had been earlier so he hurried to the car as fast as he could. He had to hold in his laughter as he saw Mark glaring at him from the passenger seat. If he could only see himself. Then he sobered when he remembered the message that he was going to have to pass on, not a job that he was looking forward to. He pulled open the drivers door and slipped into the car.

“Finally.” Mark said sounding completely exasperated. “You decided to drag your big, coffee drinking ass out here so we can leave.”

Glenn pulled the cell phone out of his pocket. “Here.” He said and tossed it to his friend. “You left it behind in the diner when you decided to make your oh so graceful exit.”

“Thanks.” Mark laughed slightly. “I hadn’t even noticed it was missing.” He slipped it into the inside pocket of his jacket. “So … what are we waiting for? Let’s get a move on.”

“Um.” Glenn thought for a minute trying to work out to word what he had to say.

Mark just looked at him. “Don’t um Glenn.” He said quickly. “Just put the keys in the ignition and start the car.” He looked at his friend noticing how uncomfortable he was looking. “Oh no, I’m telling you right now, I’m not driving again Glenn! I drove this far and now it’s your turn.” He faced forward.

“Jesus Mark! Can you just shut your mouth for a minute!” Glenn said raising his voice taking in Mark’s slightly stunned expression. “Someone called just after you left the diner. I took a message but I’m trying to be a nice guy and find a way to cushion what I’m about to say.” He stopped to take a deep breath and pulled the napkin out of his pants pocket. “I’m really sorry to have to tell you this man but someone by the name of Elaine Graham has died …”

Mark slumped in his seat a little. “Lainie died?” He said very quietly as he fixed his gaze out of the windscreen.

Glenn paused for a moment in case Mark was going to say something else. When he didn’t Glenn swallowed and started talking again. “The girl who called said that this woman had left you something in her will.” He passed over the napkin. “That’s the name and number of the attorney that’s handling everything. She suggested that you give him a call.” Glenn pulled on his seatbelt and prepared to start the car then caught sight of Mark looking as sad as he had ever seen him out of the corner of his eye. He turned to face him. “Look Mark, we can hang out here for a while if you want to talk about stuff.”

“No, no.” Mark said seeming to come out of a trance and pulled on his own seatbelt. “I’m ready to go. It was just a shock to hear that Lainie was gone.” He looked down at the napkin and noticed the male name above the number. “You said that it was a woman on the phone?”

By this time Glenn had already pulled the car back out on to the road. “Yeah, she was a little weird on the phone. Said her name was…”

“Tara.” Mark finished almost tonelessly.

Glenn looked at him surprised. “Yeah, that’s exactly what she said her name was. What’s up Mark, have you suddenly become psychic or do you know this chick?”

“You could say that.” Mark said suddenly feeling very tired as he rubbed his hand over his face. “In fact you could say that we go back a ways. She’s my daughter.”

CHAPTER 2

Glenn was so surprised that he almost drove them off the road. “You have a daughter?” He asked trying not to let the surprise show in his voice. “Sorry, I didn’t know.”

“No one does … well not in the Fed anyway.” Mark said, as his mind seemed to whirl with a million thoughts at once. “God that poor kid. Her mother just died, she must be going through hell.”

“So Elaine Graham was her mother?” Glenn asked trying not to sound too curious. “She didn’t sound like a kid either.”

Mark smiled a little. He knew that Glenn was fishing for information especially since this was all new to him. “She isn’t a kid really. Tara’s in her twenties.”

Glenn’s eyes widened in his face. “Her twenties. What were you … a kid when she was born?” He couldn’t resist asking.

“I was eighteen ok? Does that satisfy your curiosity?” Mark almost laughed. “I was eighteen and Lanie was seventeen. We had absolutely no clue what we were doing.”

Glenn couldn’t resist snickering a little. “Well since you ended up with a kid I’d say that you had way to many clues what you were doing.” He winced slightly as Mark whacked him in the head. “So how come no one knows about her. What is she, some kind of big family secret? Is she kept locked up in an attic? What’s wrong with her? Does she have a hump … a hump and a hairpiece?” He winced himself after he had finished talking. One day he would realise when he was going too far, unfortunately today hadn’t been that day.

“You are about ten seconds away from an ass-kicking boy.” Mark said in a deceptively quiet yet still steely voice. “Remember that’s my family that you’re talking about.”

Glenn had the good grace to look embarrassed. “Sorry, I’m completely useless in these kinds of situations. I never know what to say so I end up saying the first thing that comes into my head … which is never a good idea.”

“So I don’t talk about her much.” Mark continued. “That doesn’t mean anything.”

Glenn shrugged. “If you say so Mark. But just for the record, you don’t talk about her at all. I mean, you’ve never been full of family tales but you usually have a few highlights to drop on us. You know the kind of thing … things that a parent is usually proud of.”

“I’m proud of her!” Mark said vehemently. “I’m proud of her. See … the thing is …” His voice trailed off and he sighed loudly. “I don’t see her. I haven’t seen her since she was eight years old.”

“Shit! And now she’s in her twenties?” Glenn couldn’t help saying. He was enjoying this. Not only was it passing what would normally be a truly boring car journey but also he was genuinely interested. “Did you and her mother have a problem with each other?” He asked secretly thinking how sad it was that an argument between parents could keep a child from seeing one of them.

“No.” Mark answered firmly. “Lanie and I always were friends. I just talked to her last week. It was Tara that had the problem with me. She was always so … so stubborn and bull headed. I used to be away a lot, this job isn’t exactly a nine to five number, but I would still try and get back to visit her as often as I could. Apparently that wasn’t good enough for my little girl.” He sighed again. Why had he started talking about this? It never failed to feel like it was happening all over again and the pain … the pain was crippling. “The last time I really saw Tara she was crying and screaming that she never wanted to see me again. That if I couldn’t be there for her like a normal dad that she didn’t want me to visit her anymore. She was such a little smartass. She informed me that even kids of divorcees see more of their dads than she did. When I told her that I loved her and only wanted to spend as much time with her as I could she started crying and told me that she didn’t love me. She stood there and asked me how she could possibly love a stranger.”

For a few moments Glenn didn’t have a clue what to say. “Ouch. I bet that hit the target. But she was a kid; they’re good at hurting their parents. She probably didn’t mean it.”

Mark smiled sadly. “Oh, she meant every word. So I never visited her again, I was her dad and the last thing I wanted was to see her hurt. If me staying away stopped her hurting then it was worth it. I didn’t give up on her completely though. I kept in constant touch with Lanie and she kept me updated with everything, and I mean everything that happened to my daughter.” He pulled his wallet out of his pocket. “I have a few pictures if you want to see them. They should answer the whole ‘hump and a hairpiece’ question for you.”

Glenn sighed inwardly. Why hadn’t he kept his big mouth shut? Now he was going to have to look at someone else’s kiddie pictures … that had to be hell on earth. He thought about what Mark had just said. He doubted that Mark staying away from his daughter had stopped her hurting, if anything it had probably made her hurt even more. He held out his hand without taking his eyes off the road and felt Mark push a photo into it. He brought it up to look at it. “Cute baby.” He said quietly. He was lying, not about the cute part but to him all baby pictures looked alike. He took another photo. She looked about nine or ten in this one. A gangly little schoolgirl. “I’m assuming that she takes after her mother.” He smirked.

“You’re a funny guy Glenn.” Mark smiled. “But yes, luckily for her she does. Last one.” He said as he handed over another picture. “This one was taken a couple of years ago.”

Glenn lifted the photo up and cast it a cursory glance then did a classic double take. Where was the gangly little girl? He found himself wishing that they were in a well-lit place so he could take a proper look. From what he could see she was an extremely pretty girl. Shoulder length hair, huge eyes and large, bright smile for whoever took the picture.

Mark eyed Glenn and the way he was looking at the picture of his daughter. He knew exactly what he was thinking he wasn’t blind. He knew that his daughter had grown into an attractive woman. “Don’t even think about it Glenn.”

“Think about what?” Glenn asked with a fake confused expression.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” Mark laughed as he turned his attention back out to the road in front of them. “She’s a good girl. She deserves better than having a wrestler drooling over her.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the last number that called him. “She’s at her mother’s.” He set about returning the call.

-o0o-

Right now Tara was going through a box of her mother’s financial papers. She had already found a lot of surprising information. Evidence of checks from Mark to her mother, these were checks that had paid for her college tuition. So much for her mother’s story about a partial scholarship. She wiped at the tears that had been falling for the better part of the last half hour. She had found so many things in this box. Not just proof that Mark had been providing for her financially. She had found piles of letters that he had sent here asking about her, wanting to know what she was doing, making reference to things that she had done or pictures that he had received. All of this time she had believed that he had forgotten all about her … well, now she knew better. But why hadn’t he come to see her? She heard the phone ring somewhere in the distance but didn’t pay it much attention. The machine would get it, and then she heard the deep, masculine voice ring through the house and was instantly alert.

“Tara it’s Mark. I just got the news about your mother … I’m sorry sweetheart. I’ll miss her, she was a real lady.” He sighed. “Look, you obviously have my number, you probably won’t use it but if you need to talk you know how to get in touch. If you need me don’t hesitate to get in touch. I’ll drop everything if you need me.” He paused for a few moments as if wondering if he should say anything else. “I’ll be thinking of you baby.”

Tara sat in her cross-legged position on the floor of her mother’s bedroom still in shock that he had called her back, still shocked from the way that he had talked to her. He had sounded almost loving. More than anything else she wanted to pick up that phone, call him back and tell him she needed him … that she needed her daddy. But something stopped her. Wiping ineffectually at the tears again she went back to the job in hand.

CHAPTER 3

Mark shifted uncomfortably in the seat that he was sitting in. He hated being in this kind of situation. It wasn’t exactly formal but it was more official than he liked being. Instead of calling the attorney who was dealing with Lainie’s estate he had waited a week until the Federation were in town and had just headed over there. He had been lucky and the guy was able to see him almost immediately. Still that was one of the benefits of being a big, intimidating guy. He probably could have gotten in to see him no matter how many appointments the guy had.

“Ok Mr Callaway.” Bill said returning to the room. “Here’s the paperwork that I need you to sign.”

Mark looked up at the young man who looked thoroughly at home in the business setting. He would probably blend in well with the Shane McMahon’s of this world, he looked very corporate. A big fish in a small pond. “So what have I inherited?” He asked a little warily. In truth he had thought of this a lot since he had heard the news and couldn’t think of anything that Lainie might want to give him.

Bill smiled slightly. “It’s all right there in the paperwork Mr Callaway.” He handed him a pen. “Again, may I take this opportunity to tell you how sorry I am for your loss.”

“Thank you.” Mark muttered as he signed the papers that were in front of him. “I still can’t believe that she’s gone. I didn’t even know that Lainie was sick.”

Bill nodded. “It was very quick.” He said quietly. “One day she was feeling slightly off, a little sick. She went to the doctor who almost immediately referred her to hospital. They found the cancer while she was there. Three weeks later she was dead.”

Mark looked up at the young man in shock. “It was that quick?” He said and saw the other man nod. “God that was quick. How has Tara taken all of this? Is she coping with everything ok?”

“She’s coping.” Bill answered in surprise. He hadn’t known that this man knew Tara. “She doesn’t give much away. I have a feeling that no matter what she was feeling no one would know about it. She’s doing what she normally does, keeping her head down and not saying much.”

Mark nodded slowly. He had no idea why, he didn’t know what Tara was like, she was only his daughter after all. He sighed, as he looked the papers again. “Umm, nowhere in this paperwork does it say what I’ve inherited.”

“That’s the way that Elaine wanted it.” Bill grinned. “She wanted you to go to the house and pick it up.”

-o0o-

Tara rushed around the house stuffing things in her bag. She had gotten far too involved with her mother’s paperwork, now she could only hope that she wasn’t going to be late for work. That was when she realised that someone was knocking on the front door. “Oh god, any day but today.” She muttered under her breath as she hurried to the door and threw it open. “Yes.” She stopped talking abruptly any other words that she was going to say dying in her throat.

Mark looked at the young woman who had just opened the door to him. He couldn’t believe that she was his daughter and he couldn’t believe that he had let so many years go by without being in her presence. She definitely wasn’t a little girl anymore … no, she was a grown woman. A beautiful grown woman. “Hello Tara.” He said in a rough voice. He had absolutely no idea what else to say. Everything that he had been rehearsing on the way over here had fled his mind the moment that the door was opened.

Tara opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. It wasn’t everyday that you opened the door to find the father that you hadn’t seen in many years. “Mark.” She finally managed to squeak out. “What can I do for you?”

“You can invite me in.” He said quietly.

“Oh, oh of course how rude of me.” She stepped aside and watched as this veritable giant of a man walked into the house. If she wasn’t mistaken he looked very uncomfortable, he was probably anxious to do what he had to do and then get the hell out of there. When he didn’t volunteer any further information she looked at him questioningly. “So … what can I do for you?”

Mark just stood there and looked at her then realised that she was waiting for him to say something. “I went to see your mother’s attorney earlier. He told me that I had to come to the house to pick up … whatever it was that Lainie left me.” He felt so awkward saying that, it was if he was only here to see what was in it for him.

(Of course.) Tara thought. (It’s not as if you would come here for any other reason.) She shot him a tight smile. “It’s in the garage.” She grabbed the keys and headed back outside with Mark close on her heels. Wasting no time she opened the large garage door and walked inside. “There she is.”

“What a beauty.” Mark sighed as he walked over to the motorcycle. “Are you sure that Lainie left this for me?” He asked over his shoulder as he crouched down to take a closer look at it. It was a Harley in almost perfect condition.

Tara nodded. “Yes, she’s all yours. Mom knew how crazy you were about your bikes.”

“But why didn’t she leave it to you?” He asked without turning around. “This is a serious piece of machinery right here. A classic.”

“Mom knew how I feel about motorcycles.” She shrugged. “It would have been left here to rust if she had left it for me.”

Mark stood and faced her. “Your hair is wet.” He said as he reached out to touch a few of the chestnut strands. “It’s soaking wet.”

“Yeah, I know.” She said looking at her watch. “I’m running late for work. My shower was kind of rushed and I don’t have time to dry it right now.” She took a few steps back effectively pulling herself from his grasp.

“You’re going to work now?” He asked as he checked his own watch. “It’s after four in the afternoon.”

Tara laughed a little. “Mark, I’m a doctor. That isn’t exactly a nine to five gig you know.”

“Funny, I can remember saying something very similar to you a while ago.” He replied then cursed himself inwardly.

“Well, like I said if I don’t want to be late for work I have to head to the hospital now.” She said and tossed something towards him. “Those are the keys for the bike. If you could lock up the garage when you’re done, just shove the keys through the letter box.” Without saying another word she headed for her car.

“Tara, I didn’t mean that the way that it sounded.” Mark said but she didn’t turn she just kept striding towards her car. “Tara!” He stepped out of the garage just in time to watch her drive away.

CHAPTER 4

Tara pulled the can of diet coke from the vending machine and stretched lethargically. She really needed to get some decent sleep soon. Since her mother had died she had been spending too much time tossing and turning. She popped the tab on the cold drink and took a healthy swig hoping that she would have the time to drink this. It had been a busy night in the ER but fairly uneventful. She raised the can to her lips again only to find one of her colleagues looking at her when she lowered it again. “Don’t tell me … duty calls.”

Greg nodded his head and smiled. “Looks like we have a large group of walking wounded to attend to.” The two of them began to walk towards the desk. “Not sure what happened exactly but they came in together so …”

“A fight of some kind.” Tara sighed. “When will people ever learn that the only thing violence solves is doctors debt problems.” She grabbed a chart and headed over to curtain area number one. She swept the curtain aside, stepped in and pulled it closed after her. She eyed the large man sitting on the bed. “Hi there, I’m doctor Callaway. So how did this happen Mr …” She began to search the chart for a name.

“Just call me Glenn.” Glenn said as he eyed the young woman who had come to attend to him. He smiled, she was a definite hottie.

Tara approached him and swept some of the long hair back from his face gently, it was caked together with blood and she didn’t want it to pull at the long cut on his forehead. “Well Glenn, this is going to need a few stitches. You were going to tell me how it happened.”

“Was I?” He asked with a grin. “I stepped in to help break up a bar fight. Some friends and I went for a quiet drink and as always there was an idiot there who wanted to challenge us. Things got a little out of hand.” There was something about this woman that was so familiar, it was driving him nuts.

Tara went about cleaning his injury as he talked. “Why would anyone want to challenge a big guy like you?” She smiled. “Did he have a death wish or something?”

Glenn laughed. “Well he didn’t challenge me exactly, he was giving one of my buddies a lot of hassle. You see, we’re professional wrestlers and sometimes if we go out to a bar we find some local yahoo who wants to prove how tough he is by taking a few swings at us.”

The smile had frozen on her face when he said what he did for a living. “This might sting a little.” She said as she numbed the area around the cut on his forehead. “Why do you go out to bars if this always happens"

“We were trying to cheer up a friend.” Glenn continued though he had noticed that her smile had faltered at some point during his story. “He had some bad news recently and then something happened today that put him in a lousy mood. Besides we should be able to go anywhere we want no matter what we do for a living. We shouldn’t have to stay locked away just in case someone decides to prove how macho he is.”

She shrugged. “That’s true I suppose.” She finished up the last few stitches. “Ok, that’s you done. Don’t let me see you back here again … Glenn.” She pulled back the curtain and almost walked into someone who was standing on the other side. “Oh, I’m sorry … Mark.” She stared at him for a moment before regaining her senses. “Excuse me, I have work to do.” Then she stepped around him and disappeared.

“Hey, no fair!” Glenn said with a fake pout. “I saw her first.”

Mark’s head snapped around to look at him. “Lay one finger on her and I’ll break every bone in your body pal. That’s my daughter.”

-o0o-

Tara replaced the chart and picked up another one. Her heart was pounding so hard she was sure that it was about to beat its way right out of her chest. She smiled a little to herself – that wasn’t a very medical way to put things. This was just like her luck to have an ER full of bar brawling wrestlers. She dropped her eyes to the name on the chart and headed off to deal with this Mr Levesque. She was determined to handle this patient with utmost professionalism. The quicker she dealt with these guys, the quicker she could get rid of them … including Mark. Sweeping back the curtain she stepped inside with her eyes on the chart. “Hi, I’m Dr Callaway, Mr Levesque. Now what can I do for you?” She looked at the man sitting glumly on the bed. He wasn’t looking at her he was too busy looking down at his hand, which, granted didn’t exactly look too pretty right at this moment. She pulled a tray table over in front of him and then sat on the other side of it. She didn’t think that he had even realised that she was there yet … perhaps he was suffering from a head injury of some kind. “Mr Levesque … if you want me to help you I need to see your hand.” She said tilting her head into his line of vision.

Paul jumped a little, he hadn’t even realised that there was anyone else in here with him. That said so much for his observational skills. He had been so consumed with this injury. Just his dumb luck, he had done all of that work to get back from a career threatening injury then it took two seconds in a bar fight to injure himself again. “Sorry.” He mumbled as he put his hand on the tray table. “Was kind of in a world of my own there.” He watched as the young woman manipulated his hand a little and winced several times.

Tara looked at the man sitting in front of her. She didn’t think that he had been drinking at all so she was especially surprised that he had become involved in what had happened in the bar. “I don’t think that anything’s broken but we’ll send you along to x-ray just to make sure. I’m pretty sure that it will need a couple of stitches though but it shouldn’t be anything too serious.” She grabbed a few things and placed them on the table. “Once I have it cleaned up I’ll know what it needs.” She shot him a smile. “This might be a little uncomfortable.” She told him as she slid a hand under his and used the other to start cleaning it up.

Paul let out a sigh of relief. Now that he pretty much knew that his hand wasn’t broken it was as if a weight had been lifted from him. A few stitches, he could work with a few stitches – that was definitely doable. He felt the slight burning sensation as she cleaned the blood from his knuckles and the back of his hand. He wasn’t used to this kind of treatment he realised and almost laughed out loud. Whenever they got hurt in the ring they were patched up with the minimum of fuss but this woman was being extremely gentle with him. It was nice – he liked it. He watched as she kept her head bent slightly over his injury. “Thanks.” He finally said. “I was kind of out of it for a minute there.” When she lifted her head to look at him with concern shining from her eyes he realised that maybe wasn’t the best way to word something in a hospital. “No I didn’t mean it like that.” He laughed slightly. “I thought that my hand might be broken and …”

“You thought that it might stop you working.” She finished for him with a shake of her head.

He looked at her in surprise. “Exactly, how did you know that I was going to say that?”

“Well there’s a few of your friends in here being treated and they all have a similar attitude to yours.” Tara said economically as she finished cleaning the wounds on his hand. “Besides I know that wrestlers seem to have this unbelievable desire to get in the ring and get mangled.” She finished, thinking about how when she was a little girl Mark used to come to visit her with all kinds of injuries. It had terrified her that he did something that hurt him and she had always been frightened that one day he wouldn’t be able to come and visit her. Then it had made her angry when he didn’t seem to realise why she would get so upset with him.

Paul laughed out loud. “Never quite heard it put like that before but no, it’s not the desire to get mangled that keeps us doing this night in and night out. It’s all about knowing that you’re entertaining those people. Knowing that you are putting on the best match that you are capable of … being the best at what you do.”

She looked at him with doubt in her eyes, she didn’t get it at all but she would nod and smile like the professional that she was. “Ok.” She grabbed his chart. “Now you are going to x-ray Mr Levesque.”

“Paul.” He told her with an easy smile. He didn’t know why it meant so much to him that this woman understood what he was talking about but it did. He stood and followed her out of the room to the elevator.

“Go up one floor and take a right when you get out of the elevator.” She told him with her doctor’s smile firmly in place. “Once you’ve had your x-rays taken I want you to come back down here and someone down here will stitch those cuts up for you Mr Levesque.” She said as he stepped onto the elevator.

“Paul. By the way I didn’t get your name, you must have told me when I was mired in self pity.” He said.

Tara rolled her eyes a little. “My name is Dr Callaway, Mr Levesque.” She added pointedly just before the doors closed between them. She headed back towards the desk where she discovered that everything was pretty much in hand. She sagged against it tiredly and rubbed her hand over her face. More than anything else right now she wanted to get some sleep.

“Why don’t you try and get some sleep?” Greg asked appearing at her side suddenly. “Everything seems to be pretty much in hand here.”

She turned to face her friend with a real smile on her face. “Are you sure?” She watched as he nodded. “I love you in a special way buddy.” She laughed as she headed for an empty room.

Mark sat quietly in the waiting room watching all of this go on. When he had seen Tara looking so tired it had torn at something in him and he had almost approached her to see if she was ok then that other guy had appeared and they had smiled and laughed about something that he couldn’t hear. Mark had found himself smiling too. That laughter had been real not forced, he had almost been able to see the little girl that he had known once.

-o0o-

“Tara, get up.” Greg barked around the door. “We have a trauma on its way. They’re expected to be here in the next five minutes.”

She hadn’t been asleep so leapt up in seconds. She spent a minute or so wiping at her eyes, she had been crying again, god she was so pathetic. When she burst through that door into the trauma room though she was all business. “What have we got?” She asked as she headed over to the table.

“Young woman shot twice at point blank range.” Someone began to call out. “The bullets appear to have entered the shoulder and chest. Only one exit wound. Has been unconscious since it happened.”

Tara looked at the woman on the table as she worked on her. She really was young. “Was this gang related?” She asked as they began to pump blood into her.

“No it was domestic.” The paramedic said just before he left the trauma room. “Her husband was the one who shot her. He called for the ambulance then took off. The police were looking for him the last I heard.”

“Ok, thanks Eddie.” Tara called after him lifting her eyes briefly to watch him go. What she saw almost made her jump out of her skin. Mark was standing just outside the trauma room watching what was going on inside. Forcing her attention back to the patient she tried to steel herself against the knowledge that he was watching her. “I think we’re going to have to open her up.” She said as she noted the rapidly declining bodily responses.” She heard some kind of clamouring and carrying on going on outside the room … she couldn’t afford to get distracted at this point. “Mel, can you see what’s going on out there and find out if they need a hand.” Then nurse nodded and scurried from the trauma room as Tara began to cut. She was so fixed on what she was doing that she didn’t even hear Mel come back in to the room.

“Um, Dr Callaway.” Mel began. “I think we have a problem.”

“What’s that Mel?” She asked then stopped dead as she found herself staring at a young man with a gun in his hand. The gun was pointing right at her.

CHAPTER 5

Tara tried her best to push down all the fear that she could feel rising in her body threatening to choke her. She turned back to the patient and continued working on her. “Does someone want to get rid of the guy with the gun?” She said as nonchalantly as she could. “God, she’s a mess. We’ll need the rib spreaders.”

“Hey lady, I’m the one in charge here!” The young gunman almost screamed at her as he crossed the room and waved the gun practically in her face. “I’m the one with the gun and I’m the one sticking it in your face.”

She raised her eyes to him for a few seconds amazed at how young he appeared, she returned her attention to the woman on the table. “I’m glad that you brought that up.” She said as casually as she could in the circumstances. “Would you mind losing the very dangerous weapon?” She stepped back slightly as other members of the medical staff brought in the rib spreaders and attempted to work around the bizarre situation.

The gunman looked at the doctor as if she was the craziest person that he’d ever met in his life. He pressed the gun right against her forehead. “This doesn’t leave my hand … not until you stop trying to save that bitch.” He said threateningly.

“I’m afraid that I can’t do that but then you knew that would by my answer … can you give me a name. I have a real problem with having to call you Mr Gunman.” She answered calmly as she tried to keep an eye on the monitors around the room. If they didn’t get in there and take care of this bleed as soon as possible she knew that they would lose this patient.

He cast her a scathing look. “You can call me … Dave.” He answered pulling the gun back a little.

“Well Dave, I’m assuming that you know my patient?” Tara asked breathing a little easier without the cold steel pressing against her face. “You wouldn’t be her husband by any chance?” She watched as he looked down at what was essentially a dying woman with nothing in his eyes but contempt and hatred, he nodded. “Well, how about you leave and let us get on with the job of trying to help her?”

“No.” Dave said coldly.

She manoeuvred the rib spreaders in place and began to open the young woman’s chest. She figured if she kept talking that maybe he wouldn’t notice that she was still working away. “Or you could lose the gun and stay here if that would work better for you.” She saw him shake his head vigorously and felt anger well up in her. Out of the corner of her eye she could see security edging their way into the room. Oh, this was so not good. She had a feeling that someone was going to get badly hurt here. “How about I kick you in the ass so hard that for the rest of your life you’ll be wearing it as a hat?” She said as a desperate last-ditch effort to keep his attention riveted on her.

“Oh yeah! I’d like to see you try bitch!” Dave yelled as he charged towards her the gun raised.

-o0o-

Outside in the waiting room Mark was freaking out big time. It was taking all of Glenn’s strength to hold him back. When this situation had first arisen security had moved everyone back here out of harm’s way. “Get off me!” Mark growled at his friend as he tried and tried to push him away. “I have to get back there. I have to help her Glenn.”

“Let those people do their job Mark.” Glenn said through clenched teeth, as he held on tight. “She’ll be ok.”

Mark shot him an incredulous look. “How can you say that?” He asked. “There she was almost up to her elbows in that woman’s chest when some maniac walks in waving a gun! There is no way that Tara’s working here after today. The security here is a joke.”

“It’s a hospital Mark. Who would expect a gunman to just walk in off the street?” Glenn tried to reason with him. “Besides she’s a grown woman, you can’t tell her what to do.”

Mark arched a brow. “Just watch me.” He said shoving at Glenn one last time. That was when the gunshot rang out clearly.

-o0o-

“I’m fine, I’m fine. Get off me, stop fussing.” Tara protested as Greg helped her up off the floor. She looked around the room. “How’s everyone else?”

Greg just looked at her in disbelief and rolled her eyes. “Everyone else is fine.” He touched the back of her head gently. “At least no one else is bleeding. You are going to have one hell of a goose egg there in a few hours.” He grinned. Everyone else moved about the room as if nothing had happened. Another doctor had stepped in to take over the trauma and things began to move like a well-oiled machine again. “C’mon. Let’s get you fixed up.” He led her across the room and into the hallway.

“But my patient…” She started to grumble.

“Will be just fine without you.” Greg finished for her. “You know that it’s been an age since I did stitches … I hope I haven’t lost my touch.” He deadpanned.

Mark had finally managed to get past Glenn and skidded to a halt alongside them, he caught her by the arms. “Tara, are you all right?” He asked her frantically as he pulled her into a tight embrace. “My god, I was so scared baby.”

She fought her way out of his arms pushing him away. “I’ll tell you what I told him.” She said pointing to Greg. “Get off me and stop fussing!” She finished angrily and let her friend lead her to a quiet corner and sit her down. Mark followed and Glenn trailed after him reluctant to let his friend out of his sight.

Glenn was laughing out loud as he watched Mark cringe and wince repeatedly while his daughter was patched up. “Mark, you’ve seen guys take stitches hundreds of times.”

Mark turned to his friend with a disbelieving look. “This time it’s a little different pal.” He replied. “This time it’s my daughter that’s being worked on.” He didn’t miss the look of surprise on the doctor’s face. “Yes that’s right pal, she’s my daughter. You shouldn’t be working here Tara; I don’t like the idea of you being in these kinds of dangerous situations.

Tara sighed. “Mark, I’m a doctor ok, it’s what I do. I work in the ER of a city hospital. Do you think this was the first time that I’ve had a gun pulled on me or … or a knife flashed in my face.” She looked at him and watched the colour drain from his face with satisfaction. “For Christ’s sake I was even stabbed last year. But you deal with it, you learn to cope and you move on.”

“You were stabbed?” Glenn asked quietly before Mark could ask what would probably be the same question.

She locked eyes with the man that she had been stitching up just a short while ago. “Yes I was. End of subject.” She said in a voice that meant that she was not to be argued with. “Are we nearly done here?”

“Yes, all done.” Greg said as he dabbed at the stitches on the back of his friend’s head. “By the way Miss Callaway you were an excellent patient. I think that deserves a lollipop.”

She rolled her eyes and laughed, she stopped abruptly when it caused a flash of pain to explode in her skull. “Shut up wiseass.”

“Wiseass, you have the nerve to call me wiseass.” Greg laughed. “After that ass kicking crack that you gave to Dave.”

“Yeah, well he was holding a gun in my face at the time. I think I was entitled.” She said quietly as she closed her eyes.

Mark looked at his daughter as she closed her eyes in her too pale face. He stood and held out his hand. “I’m taking you home.” He told her quietly.

Tara nodded, agreeing without a word. She was too tired to argue right now. “Let me get my stuff.” She disappeared into another room leaving the others to wait for her.

Paul approached the others with a big smile on his face. “So my hand is definitely not broken and I only needed seven stitches.” He laughed. “Not only was I a brave little soldier but I can still work.”

Glenn and Mark just turned their heads to look at him incredulously.

“What?” Paul asked. “What?” He finally began to look around him. “Why am I getting the feeling that I’ve missed something here?”

CHAPTER 6

When the car pulled up outside her mother’s house the last thing that Tara wanted to do was invite them in but felt after they had seen her home safely she didn’t have much option. “So, do you guys want to come in for a coffee or something?” She asked half-heartedly not missing Mark’s look of surprise as she did so. “The place is a bit of a mess though. I’m still going through mom’s stuff.” Just the mere casual mention of her mother made her heart ache a little.

“Yeah, we’ll come in for a little while.” Mark answered, this was the first olive branch that she had held out to him and he wasn’t prepared to let the moment pass him by.

Tara climbed out of the back of the car and headed towards the front door, digging around for her keys as she did so. Unlocking the door she walked inside leaving the door open for the others following her. Going straight into the kitchen she began to get things ready for coffee.

The three men made their way to the house. “Is this wise?” Paul asked. “We should probably be back at the hotel by now snoozing. After all we do have a long day of promo work and a show tomorrow.”

Glenn elbowed him in the ribs making him shut up almost instantly. “Give the guy a break Paul.” He said gesturing to Mark who was walking ahead of them. “He hasn’t seen his daughter for years and when he finally does things don’t go too well. This is the chance that he’s been waiting for.”

“I still can’t believe that she’s his daughter man.” Paul said shaking his head a little as they walked through the front door. “Luckily for her she must take after her mother.” He tilted his head a little so he could see Tara flitting back and forth in the kitchen, without thinking he let out a low whistle only for Glenn to nudge him hard in the ribs again.

“And if he catches you doing that you’ll be a dead man.” He whispered. “From here on in just consider her completely untouchable.” He didn’t add that he was having much the same thoughts as Paul and it pissed him off a little that someone else thought of Tara that way.

-o0o-

Mark walked into the living room and felt memories assail him from all sides. It was very Lainie. The room reminded him so much of her – it was just like her. Warm, welcoming and comfortable. There were pictures liberally dotted all around the room and on the walls; he walked a little closer so he could look at them. Of course the majority of them were of Tara, a few of them he’d seen but most he hadn’t. They ranged from baby pictures right to the present day. Suddenly his eye was caught by one picture in particular. It was of him and his daughter, she could only have been about three or four, he was holding her balanced on his hip and they were both laughing towards the camera. He couldn’t remember it being taken at all. He couldn’t resist reaching out and touching it gently, tracing her happy features.

“Just make yourselves at home.” Tara called from the kitchen.

“Need a hand with anything?”

She whirled around quickly to find Paul lounging against the doorframe looking for the entire world as if he belonged right there. She gave him a small smile. “With your hand Mr Levesque I don’t think that you should be doing much right now.”

“What’s with all of this Mr Levesque crap?” He asked with a frown. “You seem to have no problem calling Glenn by his given name yet you insist on being all formal with me. How many times do I have to tell you to call me Paul? Are you trying to tell me something?”

She turned around and leaned against the countertop, looking at him. “Hmm, paranoid much Mr Levesque?” She added the last part just for fun, since she knew that it bothered him so much it seemed a shame not to use it. “It’s professionalism isn’t it? The last time I spoke to you was in a work environment and I called you Mr Levesque, sometimes it’s just a little difficult to make the switch over.” She shrugged. “I’m sure I’ll manage it eventually although by then it won’t matter because you will all be gone and I’ll never see you again. Unless you get into another bar fight here that is.”

“What makes you think that you’ll never see us again?” He asked genuinely interested. “Surely you’ll be coming to the show tomorrow, see your old dad in action and some of the guys have their families travelling with them from time to time.”

Tara rolled her eyes. “I have a pretty pressing schedule Mr Levesque. I can’t just drop everything to traipse after a travelling circus.” (Not that Mark would ever ask me anyway.) She added silently. (He probably can’t wait to get out of here now.)

“Travelling circus, huh?” Paul said with a smile. “You’ve never seen one of our shows have you?”

“Nope.” She told him as she began to put things on a tray. “I’ve never felt inclined to watch. Wrestling is a sore point for me.” She lifted the tray and headed into the living room knowing that Paul was right behind her. She put it down on the coffee table and sat on the couch feeling awkward. Maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea; they had nothing in common and nothing to talk to each other about.

Mark turned from the pictures on the wall just in time to see Paul about to sit down next to Tara on the couch and frowned. He wasn’t having that. He crossed the room in record time and sat exactly where Paul had been aiming for giving him a look that begged a challenge. Paul backed off quickly and sat in an easy chair.

Glenn sat silently taking all of this in and tried not to laugh. He couldn’t believe that Paul had been dumb enough to try and sit on the couch. He had been smart enough to not even attempt it. He looked around the room and took in the comfortable, family oriented way that it looked. “I thought you said the place was a mess?” He asked.

Tara looked around with a smile. “It is. Between going through my mom’s stuff and trying to move my stuff back in – well it’s been a little hectic and I’m not the world’s best housekeeper.”

“You’re moving back in?” Mark asked a little surprised.

“Yeah.” She said with a shrug of her shoulders. “After all mom left me the house and it just seemed wrong to sell it and keep on living in my tiny apartment. So I put my place up for sale and moved back home. It’s a little big for me but … that’s ok.”

Mark just nodded, for some reason he was glad that she wasn’t selling the house. Whenever he thought of her he imagined her in this house. If he closed his eyes he could almost imagine what it would be like in a few years filled with the laughter of her own children … it wouldn’t be too big for her then. Then it would be just right.

-o0o-

Tara didn’t know if it was because everything that had happened over the past weeks was finally catching up with her or because of having other people in the house with her again but she could suddenly feel a wave of tiredness wash over her. She wondered if tonight she would be able to get some sleep tonight at last. Fighting to keep her eyes open she tried to keep her attention focused on the conversation that was going on around her about their schedule – it did sound a little punishing. She just wanted nothing more than to go to bed but the polite person inside her wouldn’t allow her to chase these men off. It would be rude to just stand up and announce that she wanted to go to bed now so would they all just get the hell out of her living room.

Mark was watching her out of the corner of his eye; he had been doing it all night. He still couldn’t believe that he was sitting in his daughter’s house drinking coffee. He noted the drooping eyelids and the way that her body sagged to the side slightly. (Poor kid, she’s dead on her feet.) He thought to himself as he tried to concentrate on what was being said around him. Finally he caught Glenn’s eye and made a gesture towards the door with his head. Glenn being Glenn merely nodded and headed over there.

“Are we leaving?” Paul asked a little surprised

Mark just looked at him and smiled, sometimes he wondered if that guy was even aware of what was going on around him at times. He pointed at his daughter who was now leaning back against the couch with her eyes closed. Paul nodded and headed for the door with Mark following him.

“Pity.” Paul said quietly. “We didn’t even get to say goodbye.” He smiled at Glenn who shook his head and couldn’t help but smile back.

Mark opened the front door. “I’ll do that for you.” He announced. “I’m going to stay with her. After all she did suffer a head injury, she might need something in the night.”

Glenn quickly spoke before Paul could say anything. “Ok pal. We’ll see you tomorrow some time then. Goodnight.” He strode towards the car leaving Paul to follow him.

“Tell Tara that Mr Levesque said goodnight and that it was nice meeting her.” Paul called over his shoulder and got into the passenger side of the car.

Mark closed and locked the front door and headed back into the living room. He stood by the couch looking down at his daughter and felt so at peace that it surprised him. He briefly thought about moving her upstairs to her bed but quickly dismissed that idea. She looked so comfortable where she was right now. He went to her and adjusted her position from sitting to lying down on the couch. Pulling the throw that she had lying on the back of the couch he draped it over her freezing slightly when she moved around a little but when she didn’t wake up he relaxed. Leaning over her slightly he stroked her face and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Goodnight baby.” He whispered softly and smiled as he headed over to an armchair to get comfortable.