Breakdown 4-13-23 #1
{{ Thursday, March 30
Edmonton, AB
Rogers Place }}
Breakdown hasn't even started yet and it's already been a trying day.
Heath's doctor called me in the morning, it was mid-day at home, due to time zones. They had run some tests and concluded that Heath was ready to try coming out of sedation, and then if that gave no complications, to remove the breathing tube. The whole process takes a few hours, to try one thing, watch for complications, try the next, then monitor that. They wanted my consent to go ahead. I asked them why didn't they just ask Dom. They did, but they wanted us both to agree. Of course I said yes, and asked them to update me.
I then called Dom. The show was going live at the correct time for TV based on eastern time, even though that's early afternoon where I am. I told him as long as he doesn't see me on TV, he can call me with an update.
I have just got to the arena, walking in right behind Liz. There's a buzz in the hallways already. It's not exactly excitement.... maybe apprehension? A lot of people are not happy about this match. Me? I don't really like the idea of an iron man battle royal, but unlike others, I'm not going to rant about it, or refuse to participate. I'm a champion and that comes with certain expectations and responsibilities. I know the medical staff will take excellent care of my son and only proceed if they are completely sure it's safe.
Liz and I get to our locker room, and I close the door. On the way here, I told her about the doctor's phonecall this morning.
“So, right before we left the hotel, Dom texted me and said he came off sedation very well. Recognized him and everything. Smiled as much as he could.”
“Oh, that's wonderful.”
“So, they are removing the tube.. probably right about now. They'll keep a close watch on him the rest of the night, but they expect everything to go well. If so... he could be home in a week.” I want to smile and dance, but I don't want to celebrate too soon.
“It will happen. I'm manifesting that for you.”
“Thanks babe. I will be so happy when all of this is over and he's healthy again. It's such a strange thing to have happened, you know?”
Liz nods. “Strange, indeed. And you still have no idea where he contracted the bacteria from?”
“Not for certain, no. We just assume it had to be at the park. I wonder if I could somehow get the dirt there tested?' I shake my head to myself. “Nevermind, that doesn't matter now. What matters is Heath getting well.”
“You're right. And he will. I know it.”
Liz gives me a smile, and pulls me into a hug. I try to let the embrace squeeze out all of my anxiety and release it into the ether. It only works a little. I pull away with a smile.
“I needed that. Okay, let's get changed. I think we have an hour before belltime.”
Liz agrees and we start unzipping our bags to get our gear out.
* * * * * * * * * *
It's almost time. Liz and I are dressed out and not far down the hallway from gorilla, ready to go. I hear Breakdown's opening music from the arena. Liz is doing stretches, and I'm bouncing back and forth on my feet a little, every nerve on edge, for a dozen reasons. We hear the bell. Liz turns to me and smiles.
“You ready?”
“I think so.”
“Let's give it a minute and pick our spot.” She gestures to a monitor, suggesting that we watch and wait for a good moment to run out. I nod, and we step over to the monitor. Before I can see much at all, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn and it's Jaina.
“Hey Jay.”
She hands me my phone. I had asked her to hold it in case Dom called. I frown at her.
“It's Dom.”
“Is it...?” I just shake my head. I couldn't make myself ask 'good or bad.'
“I don't know.”
“Thanks.” I stare down at the phone in my hand. A loud cheer reminds me that I'm at a live show and I won't be able to hear anything here. “Liz... I have to take this call, it's Dom. I'll-”
“Go. Locker room. I'll soften them up for you.”
I grin, then walk off as I put the phone to my ear. “Baby?”
“Bree... finally. I couldn't hear anything but noise for a moment. Jaina said you were about to walk out?”
“Yeah, Liz and I were about ten feet from the curtain. What's wrong? Something has to be wrong if you're calling now.”
“Well ~~~~. It's not ~~~~~ but it's kind ~~ ~~ous.” There's robotic static. Damn arena signal!
“Wait... I can barely hear you, let me get to the locker room.”
“~~~~~~~”
Ugh. I run to my locker room and shut the door. “Dom? Can you hear me?”
“Yeah, I hear you fine. You?”
“Oh that's much better. I heard robotics for a bit. Now what's wrong?” I sit on the bench against the wall, preparing myself for the worst. I swear my heart is literally hitting my sternum.
“As I tried to say, it's not critical, but it's a little serious.”
“Okay...”
“Well, they took the tube out a few hours ago, and things seemed to be going well. I sent Nora home as I'm staying the night. Heath was awake and trying to babble to me.” I smile to myself, wishing I had been there to see that. “He went back to sleep, which they told me he'd do off and on, while the sedation medication made its way through his system. So, I went down to the nurses station to ask them to order up some dinner. I didn't want to call from the room and wake him. They agreed, and when I got back to the room.... all the monitors were blinking. Like the day they put the tube in. I went right back into the hall, but they were already coming.”
“Oh my God....” I put my hand over my chest to try to calm my racing heart.
“Oxygen had dropped again and he'd passed out. They politely shooed me out, saying something about reintubating. And I called you.”
“So this just happened?”
“Yeah. Not five minutes ago.”
“Why did you have to leave? We were there when-”
“I'm not sure, and I wasn't going to argue. I'm sitting in the waiting area near the nurses station right now.”
“Oh my God. Baby. Just when we thought he could come home soon.” I felt relieved that Heath wasn't close to death, but devastated at the setback.
“I know. It was so strange, he was doing so well, and then all of a sudden... not.”
“Is that normal?”
“The nurse who followed me out said it is. It's almost impossible to see the breathing deteriorate until the oxygen levels drop. Just like before. But he didn't even have the little oxygen mask, so it dropped pretty dramatically.”
I sigh, leaning against the wall. I can hear the noise from the ongoing match. I vowed that I wouldn't leave here empty handed yet I'm sitting in my locker room instead of going out there to fight for what I came in here with. But suddenly.... it doesn't matter. Heath isn't going to know any better when I get home if I'm still a champion or not. He won't care. He'll just be happy to see Momma. If he's awake.
“I don't guess they told you how long he'd be back on it?”
“No, that's all she told me before she went back in to assist.” A pause and I nearly say something but, “Hang on... didn't Breakdown start? Aren't you technically in match right now?”
“Technically, yes. But I don't care. I'm not getting off this phone until they are done and go out there and tell you what's going on. There is no championship more important than our son.” I hear another loud crowd reaction. I don't care.
“I understand that Bree, but there isn't anything you can do for him sitting there on the phone. You should-”
“No! Do you really think I could concentrate on fighting not knowing if he's going to be okay?”
“He will. The doctor and nurses are doing their jobs. You said yourself, you need to do yours.”
Ugh. He watched my promo. “I know what I said, but-”
“But... nothing. You have a title to keep.”
“I can get it back. There's automatic rematches. I don't want to be anywhere else but right here, waiting on news.”
Dom sighs. “Okay. If that's what you want.”
“It is. Has no one come out of his room yet?”
“Not yet. It's only been a few minutes.” I sigh hard. I hate waiting. “Tell you what, let me distract you a little. I spoke to Lisa earlier.”
“Oh? About the TV show?”
“Yeah. They want to start pre-production at the beginning of May, and filming in June.”
I scoff. “They want to start filming an action show, in New Orleans, in June? Are they crazy?”
“That's what I said. Lisa said she told them the same thing. But they're pretty adamant. Paramount wants it done in time to drop for winter.”
“Well... at least you're used to the heat by now. I feel sorry for the other actors.”
Dom chuckles a little. “It'll be interesting, to say the least.”
“So, what do you have to do for pre-production?” In the back of my mind I know I'm just asking anything to keep Dom on the phone and keep myself from stressing. Another loud reaction rattles the arena, and I would swear I hear noise in the hallway outside my locker room. I don't dare get up to look, though.
“Uh, wardrobe testing, make myself look how they want, pretty much the same as a film.”
“Right, I remember now. I-” A loud bang comes from the hallway. I yelp. “What the fuck?!”
“What?”
“I don't know, a loud noise. I guess people are fighting everywhere in here.”
“Is Liz okay?”
“I don't know... I don't have a monitor in here. Can't you put the show on in there?”
“I don't see a TV in this waiting room... wait, a doctor is coming.”
“Oh... put me on speaker.”
I hear rustling, and then the background noise changes. “Alright, you're on. And here's Dr. Babin. My wife is on speaker, Doc.”
“Hello Ms. Lancaster.”
“Hi. What's going on?”
“Okay. We've re-sedated Heath and got the breathing tube back in. But... we've discovered something else, that I think might have exacerbated the breathing issues. There is an infection at the feeding tube insertion site.”
“What? How does that happen?” Dom sounds angry.
“And no one saw this before now?”
“It's fairly common, more than you'd expect. And it can develop quickly as well. It doesn't look too serious, but we're taking him to surgery to clean it out.”
“Surgery?” My heart starts beating hard again.
“Don't be alarmed, Ms. Lancaster. It's just the most sterile area of the hospital to perform the cleaning procedure. It's not technically surgery. We'll just remove the tube, scrape or cut away the infected skin area, replace the tube, and administer antibiotics.”
I make myself exhale slowly to calm down. “Okay. That sounds easy enough.”
“It's very simple, since we found the infection early. Mr. Teller, either I or a nurse will come out and let you know once the procedure is done. It should be about an hour or so.”
“Thanks.”
“Thank you.”
I hear a small click, and then Dom – he turned the speaker off. “Okay, Dr. Babin left. Do you still want to stay on the phone, or....?”
“I mean, I'd like to. Unless... oh. You probably want to call your mom and Dave and everyone, huh?”
“Yeah... but not if you're not gonna be okay.”
I take a deep breath. What was I gonna do, make small talk for an hour? “No... I'll be okay. He said it would take an hour or so. Keeping you from talking to your family isn't going to do anything. I'm gonna go find Liz. Maybe it's not too late to salvage something out of this match.”
“Alright. Focus on your job now. Kick ass. I'll call you back when I hear something. If you're still busy and can't answer, I'll text it.”
“Okay. I'll try to focus on my job.”
“Try hard.”
“For you.” A pause. I smile, and I'm sure he is too. “I love you.”
“Love you too, cakes.”
The call ends, and I just stare at the phone screen. When the call screen fades, my wallpaper appears – a close up of Dom holding Heath, both smiling. My world, everything I live and breathe for. I hear more noise both in the hallway and from the crowd. That crowd... the third thing I live and breathe for.
I have to find Liz.
I stuff my phone back into my bag and take a few deep breaths. The entire conversation took a little less than ten minutes, if my phone can be believed, but it feels like an hour. I sit back against the wall again, counting while I breathe. My heart is still racing and my head feels weird. I can't go out there and look for Liz and try to fight, well... everyone, like this. I need to calm down first.
* * * * * * * * * *
By the time I got myself calm, heart and breathing normal, Breakdown was nearly half over. The noises I'd heard in the hallway were gone. Now it was time to find Liz. I leave my locker room and look around. No one. I go down the hallway a bit, and hear some ruckus. I start walking faster but by the time I get to where the sounds were coming from, no one is there. Hm. I keep going, towards where production is set up and gorilla. When I get to near the spot Liz and I were standing when Jaina brought me my phone... I see her. Liz, upset, her eyes wide, as she paces back and forth. I start to go towards her, but Jaina stops me.
“Aunt Bree... you might want to let her settle down. She's been on a tear.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just.... going after anyone and everyone. I think she's trying to prove something, or... I don't know.”
“Well I can't let her go on like that, she's going to hurt herself.”
“Wait... what did Dom want? Is Heath okay?”
“Uh... not really. But he will be.”
“Oh no... can I call him?”
“Go ahead. But Jay... don't say anything to anyone, okay?”
“Got it.”
Jaina walks off and I turn back to Liz. Time to get control of this. I walk over to her and grab her.
“Look... I....”
“Stop. You need to stop this. You're spiraling. You went out there earlier and just went after everyone. I know... James got to you. But you're not alone!” As soon as Jaina said it looked like Liz was trying to prove something, I knew it had to be about James. He left, refused to participate in this.
“I... and you're here. You're not defending your title. You're helping me...”
An hour ago not worrying about my title would have been unthinkable. I didn't want to come here after leaving my son behind for nothing. But it doesn't matter now. It's probably too late to win anything, much less remain Adrenaline Champion.
“I don't mind! I have a title rematch for the Adrenaline Championship. The World Tag Team Championships... we have a shot at that. That's not gonna change no matter what.” Liz looks at me like I grew a second nose. I get it. It's opposite everything I've said in the last few days. “Me watching my friend losing it... that's what I care about.” That and my son, but I wasn't going to distract her with that right now. Liz takes a few breaths, then nods.
“I can't keep letting you down.”
“You're not. If we need to focus on you tonight, then we will. We'll go and find a quiet place, we'll talk. Get your mind off it.” And mine, too. Although from a different topic. Liz though shakes her head.
“No... no... what I want... we're making sure you walk out here at least still the Adrenaline Champion.”
I hear the crowd roar, and just then realize we are being filmed. Fantastic. Well, can't let the fans down.
“Then... let's finally have our first tag match and show what we can do.”
“Not too late?”
“Half the show to go. Lot's of time.” I'm not sure I fully believe that as I say it, but sometimes little white lies are okay if it's in service of boosting a friend's confidence. Liz nods at me, I nod back, and we walk off down the hallway, looking for where to start.
* * * * * * * * * *
Breakdown is over. Liz and I did not save my Adrenaline Championship. That's Syren's now, if you can imagine. Josh Hudson is World Champion, we'll never hear the end of that. Owen took the US, so they just traded. Selena kept her Tag Title... except she has to share it with Ace Marshall. I'm too tired and emotionally wrung out to laugh at that right now, but I'm sure I will. As for me? I'm not leaving Breakdown empty handed after all. My pinfall count earned me the Television Championship. Part of me is happy that I managed to keep my word to myself after not fighting for half the match, but another part of me wonders what I could have done if I hadn't taken so long to clear my head after speaking to Dom and hearing what was going on with my son. Maybe I could have kept the Adrenaline. Or something else.
Walking back into my hotel room, I shake all of that from my mind. The 'what if' game never has a winner. I throw my bag down and dig my phone out – I don't know if Dom tried to call or text, because my phone's battery died. I couldn't find Jaina to ask if she heard from him, so I hurriedly plug my phone in and wait for it to get enough power to turn on. I jiggle my leg as I sit on the edge of the bed, waiting.
“Come on, come on.” Finally... 2%. It'll turn on. I hold down power, watch the start up graphics... then all my missed texts come through. I open Dom's thread. Five messages.
[“Tried calling a bunch. Guess you went to fight.”]
[“Said I'd update in text so... Heath is stable now. They had to clean more out of tube hole than thought. Did that, then inserted it into a new location.”]
[“Took longer than expected.”]
[“Saw the show is over, guess your phone died from me calling so much. Congrats, you did so well!”]
[“Oh shit, they're saying the TV gave you Supreme, did you know? Call me when you can. ILY”]
I stare at that last one. What? I hit dial. Dom answers almost immediately.
“Hey champ.”
Dom explained to me everything that happened with Heath. I'm glad I missed all those calls because I would have been worried sick. Instead, I was earning a title I've never held before, and as Dom's text said... becoming a Supreme Champion. That was never even on my radar, but now that it's happened? I'm kinda proud of it.
I'm not going home to my son empty handed after all.