Roman watched the action in the ring from ringside. Seth was taking on Daniel Bryan again. It was back and forth for a while until Bryan caught an opening and began kicking Seth. Hard. Roman could hear each kick as it made impact to his best friend's chest. Each kick harder. Bryan wound up for his finishing kick and his foot collided squarely into Seth's heart. He went down. Bryan got the three count and won. The cried went wild but allRoman noticed was that Seth stayed down. Roman climbed into the ring and kneeled down over his team mate. It didn't look like Seth was breathing. Roman put his hand on Seth's chest right as he took a gasping breath and regained consciousness. He looked down at his partner. He could see sheer pain in the dark brown eyes.

"My chest hurts," the younger man gasped, breathless. Roman nodded and motioned for Doc Sampson right seconds before Seth passed out again. This time Roman could hear Seth stop breathing. He yelled for the medics again and gently pressed his fingertips to Seth's neck. He panicked when he couldn't feel Seth's pulse. Roman immediately began CPR on his fallen best friend, willing the heart beneath his hands to beat again. The arena was empty except for the medics checking out Bryan and now finally hurrying to the ring. Roman stepped out of the way as one medic grabbed the defibrillator and shocked Seth's heart once, twice. The third time Seth gasped and rolled away from the medic, clutching his chest. Roman pulled him into his arms and cradled him. The doctor called for an ambulance. They needed to figure out why Seth had basically died on them. Bryan was held back from questioning and admonished for not aiming his kick correctly. A furious Stephanie McMahon suspended him as the ambulance carrying Seth, Roman by his side, out of the arena. Seth looked up at Roman from the stretcher.

"Thanks man. You probably saved my life."

"No. The doctors did that. Just don't scare me like that. You stopped breathing on me twice." Seth grabbed Roman's hand, taking in the comfort it provided.

The emergency room doctors told Roman that when Bryan hit that last kick, he directly kicked Seth in the heart, bruising it. Seth would be out of action for a few days while the injured muscle healed. They released Seth with the clear orders to go back to the hotel and rest. Roman drove his best friend back and helped him out of his clothes. Roman took noticed of the nasty bruise on Seth's chest. Seth felt Roman's eyes on him as he settled into the bed.

"I'm okay. just a bit banged up. So stop worrying." Roman half smiled before walking over and ruffling Seth's messy hair. He sat down and pulled the blankets over him, tucking the Iowan in.

"You know I love you right kid?"

Seth smiled and wished the Samoan good night before closing his eyes. Roman finally fell asleep in his own bed when he saw that Seth was sound asleep

After dreaming that his friend died, Roman got out of bed and walked over to the other And sat down next to the youngest member of their group. Seth was sleeping peacefully on his back. He looked ten years younger and so calm. Roman softly rested his hand on Seth's chest. Seth's heart beat steadily against his palm. Finally relaxing again Roman headed back to bed himself.

"I love you man." Seth was out cold and didn't hear him, and Roman fell asleep before he saw Seth smile in his sleep.

/

Seth woke up feeling like hell, like he'd been sat on by an elephant. His chest hurt. He groaned and laid back down. His partner noticed his wakefulness and sat down on his bed. Roman looked at Seth's bare injured chest and saw that the bruise was worse. Seth saw the concerned look on Roman's usually stoic face.

"Not so bad." Seth tried to reassure his partner. Roman shook his head.

"I nearly lost you last night. Bryan damn near killed you. You stopped breathing twice. Your heart stopped and they had to shock you three times to bring you back. Remember? And now thanks to that idiot you are out of action for a week or more while your bruised heart heals."

"What does that mean. How can my heart be bruised?" He tilted his head and looked up at roman.

"It means that Bryan kicked you hard enough to do serious damage. The doctor told me that the part of your heart that is bruised is also weak. If it beats too hard or or too fast the muscle can expand and balloon out and burst. And you would be dead. I could still lose my best friend. And that scares the hell outta me."

As he spoke (which was not normal for him to talk that much at one time), his hand drifted to rest on Seth's chest. Seth nodded apologetically and moved over to lean against Roman. He would take it easy and not do too much for Roman's sake if not his own. He wanted to keep living. Roman moved so that they both would be more comfortable.

They stayed like that for a while and Roman wrapped his arms around the younger and Seth rested his head on Roman's warm chest. It was what the stupidly brave might call cuddling. There was just something immensely comforting about being si close to him. Seth listened for a moment to Roman's steady heartbeat and breathing. the combination made one interesting and calming lullaby and his eyes drifted closed. He was hurt in more ways than his heart and was sore and tired. And Roman made a great teddy bear. Just don't tell him thaT.

Roman decided to let Seth sleep on him for a few hours and grabbed the remote off the nightstand to catch up on Haven. Seth had gotten him addicted on the show. He chuckled and thought about how his and Seth's friendship mirrored Nathan and Duke's. Almost to the letter. At least Seth's extracurricular activities were all legal.