He felt incredibly exhausted and disoriented.  Where the hell was he?  And then it hit him - he was in the hospital.  He'd come back here for Amy and had stayed in another room to get some rest.

"I'm so sorry to have to disturb you, Mr. Copeland," came a semi-familiar voice, and he realized it was the same nurse from earlier that night.  "But your girlfriend needs you!"

"What?  What happened?"  He bolted up from the bed, following the woman in his socks, not bothering to put his shoes or shirt back on.

"She had a terrible nightmare.  I'm afraid she woke up screaming and crying.  I'm surprised you didn't hear her."

"I was sound asleep," the blond man replied, mentally cursing himself for that.  He should have been alert enough to have heard the redhead's cries.  Damn it, she needed him - which made his earlier decision that much more difficult - beyond the fact that he loved her and she loved him.

Now in Amy's room, at her bedside, the tall Canadian leaned over the railing around the bed.

"Angel...sweetie, I'm here..."

The redhead's eyes were open but seemed not to be focused on anything in particular.  She turned her head to meet his eyes, and Adam blinked at the glare of the light in the room, his eyes feeling grainy.  He knew he hadn't gotten all that much sleep.

"Adam...?" the diva said softly, her tone plaintive.  "You weren't there..."

The blond man winced, damning himself again, though he thought she'd meant that hadn't been there at her bedside.  How could he know she was really referrig to the horrible dream, in which he'd vanished like a ghost, only to be replaced by Paul Levesque?

"I'm sorry, baby," he said softly, reaching out and placing one hand against her cheek and gently stroking it.  "Are you okay?"

"He became you..." she whispered, and the blond man gave her a confused look, not knowing what on earth she was talking about.

"What?"  His voice was soft and gentle, his green eyes almost caressing in their gaze.

"I was dreaming...I saw you, and I tried to run after you," she breathed, her eyes shifting a bit to her right as she spoke.

Adam gazed at her with tender concern and reached out with his free hand to caress her cheek.

"A-And then you disappeared!" the diva cried, sounding far more like a child than a grown woman.  "And then I s-saw...him..."

"Levesque?"

Amy nodded and blinked back fresh tears.

"Oh, angel...It was only a dream," the Canadian said softly.  He pulled her against him in a gentle hug.  "I told you - I'm not going to let him touch you again - I promise."  No, he thought as his green eyes turned hard as they fixed on some unseen sight far away, I'll sooner kill him myself than give him the chance to hurt you again...

The redhead clung to him, her chin resting on his strong shoulder.  Adam unhappily noted that she was shaking slightly.  Damn that Levesque to hell!  As long as he'd known Amy, she had always been one of the strongest, fearless people he knew - and now, because of that psycho bastard, she'd been reduced to this.  He had to teach that man a lesson - put him in his place - once and for all.  With or without his "benefactor," Mr. McMahon, Paul Levesque had to be stopped.

While he continued to hold and soothe the upset redhead, Adam began to devise a plan on how to accomplish just that.