A Rose Without a Thorn


Adam raked his hand through his long hair as he paced back and forth in the hospital waiting room.

He was feeling nervous as hell.  He'd brought the redhead to the emergency room just under an hour earlier, and he had yet to receive word on her condition.

Damn it... He'd been in the emergency room with Amy earlier, seated at her bedise as they'd waited for a doctor to check on her.  Finally, when one had come over for that, he'd been told to wait out here.

Adam couldn't sit still, so he'd opted instead to get up and pace.

He supposed he was making the other people in the waiting room nervous - but damn it, he didn't care.  Besides, he couldn't help it.

"Mr. Copeland?"

The tall blond man looked up at the sound of the voice, noticing the doctor who'd come to examine Amy.  He walked directly over to the man, relieved.

"How is she?"

"She's lucky she's not in worse shape than she is," said the physician, whose name Adam saw from the name tag pinned on his long white coat, was Dr. John Winters.  "She has some contusions, as you obviously know, and we had to put some stitches on the laceration on her side."

"Oh, God..." the blond man muttered, lifting his hand to his mouth.

"She's quite traumatized," Dr. Winters said.  "Given what she's endured, that's not surprising."  His gaze hardened as he continued to look at Adam.  "I would suggest you get yourself some help, Mr. Copeland - before you end up killing her."

The Canadian's eyes widened as he realized that the man thought he had brutalized Amy.

"Doctor, you don't understand... I'm not the one who did that to her...I'm not her boyfriend."

Winters' expression changed somewhat as he continued to regard the young man.  "You're not her boyfriend?"

"No - I'm just a friend.  I saw her bleeding earlier tonight, and she was obviously in pain.  That was when I brought her here," he explained.

"I'm terribly sorry," the physician apologized.  "Miss Dumas would not speak a word.  I just assumed..."

Adam shook his head.  "That's all right...and I know - she wouldn't say anything to me, either.  But I know who did that to her..."  His green eyes narrowed slightly as he thought about Chris Jericho.  Damn him to hell!

"I would suggest Amy press charges against the person who beat her.  As I tried to explain while administering to her, a lot of women in her predicament end up a lot worse than she is right now."

The tall Canadian nodded, his eyes serious, his mouth gone dry.  "I...I know.  I'll...try to talk to her.  Maybe her friend Stacy can help convince her," he added.  "She went to a female friend last night," he explained.  "I was returning to my hotel room and saw her going into Stacy's room.  I assume she stayed there."

"Well, if you and this Stacy can help her, that would be a very good thing.  She needs all the friends and support she can get right now."

Adam nodded again and ran a hand through his long blond hair.

"I'll help her in any way I can," he promised.

















Part 8

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