~ Tales of a Trainer ~
Author's Note – This is a one-shot for 'SezPunk'. It was promised a long time ago and I'm so sorry it's taken this long! Thanks for being patient and I hope you like it!
Warnings - Strong language
Disclaimer - I own no-one but Lily in this story. This is merely a work of fiction; it all came from my brain. At no point do I suggest this story reflects reality, it's entirely made-up.
~ Tales of a Trainer ~
Lily watched carefully as head WWE medic Bill Jenning pulled off his surgical gloves with a snap and tossed them into the medical waste bag beside him. Lily assisted him in cleaning up the blood and disposing of any used needles from the stitches.
"All done" he announced as the superstar currently laid out on the table opened his eyes. Their current visitor was none other than CM Punk who smiled gratefully. Punk had become a regular lately, his storyline with Brock Lesnar responsible.
"Thanks Bill, bet you're getting sick of putting me back together huh?" the tattooed wrestler joked.
His current girlfriend Amy 'Lita' Dumas sat beside the table, her dog Kenz on her lap and Punk's hoody over her arm.
"In the wars a lot lately aren't you?" Amy smiled, rubbing Punk's leg affectionately.
"Well be careful, you're not in your twenties anymore" Bill teased.
"I'm not dead yet" Punk grinned.
"Take care of those stitches" Bill reminded him.
"I'll make sure he's looked after" Amy smiled, gathering up his things as he jumped down from the table.
Lily had a couple of minutes to make sure everything was clean and ready for the steady stream of casualties they'd have over the course of the evening.
Their next visitors arrived shortly after Punk and Amy had departed.
Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose appeared, supporting a groggy-looking Seth Rollins.
Lilly wiped the table down and laid out another set of sterile equipment for Bill.
"Banged your noggin again Rollins?" Bill asked.
"Of course he did" Ambrose rolled his eyes.
"You wanna give him a concussion exam?" Bill asked Lily.
Lily was 25 and fresh out of med school. She was a pocket-sized 5 ft 2 with natural red hair, blue eyes and fair skin. She was only a trainee and while she appreciated Bill's efforts in giving her chances to learn, she was always nervous. In this line of work, when people were hurt and exhausted, there was no room for error. If you didn't get it right, you'd know about it.
Nodding with a confidence she wasn't feeling, she pulled on a pair of gloves and gave Seth a sheepish smile. The big man was sat on the edge of the table, his friends looking on. She took the light and held his head steady as she checked his pupils. She asked him the standard questions and he performed a short computerised test.
"You're fine. No concussions" she smiled. Bill gave her a wink, confirming her diagnosis.
"Just make sure someone keeps an eye on him overnight. If he gets any worse or he's sick give the out-of-hours doctor a call" Bill added, handing the emergency contact details to Roman.
"Thanks" Seth mumbled, holding an ice pack to his head.
"Yeah, thanks" Roman added, helping Seth off the table.
Lily felt her cheeks flush when Dean flashed a wink her way.
She'd only been on the job for two weeks so far, but she'd already realised how fascinating it was. The fleeting moments she saw of each superstar and their lives were telling. But one factor was always present – the support each of them had. Be it wives or girlfriends like Punk had, there to make sure they were okay after a match, or colleagues like Seth had. She'd noticed pretty quickly how close they were. The WWE was like a close-knit family, and so often Lily had been witness to the laughing, joking and ribbing of the talent by people who cared while their injuries were attended to. It was a hugely important support network when these guys were on the road, away from home so many days a year.
And this was exactly why a particular shift after a Friday evening house show stood out for Lily. They'd been rushed off their feet all night, tending to lots of little problems around the arena as well as some fan incidents. But as they were winding down and packing up, Ryback limped through the door.
Another thing Lily had realised quickly was that as frightening as some superstars were on TV, a lot of them were sweethearts in reality. Ryan was one of those.
"Sorry to come in so late guys…I've just fucked up my knee"
Lily had seen quite a lot of Ryan around backstage and he was always laughing and upbeat. But as soon as he walked in she could see he was upset. It wasn't uncommon for the talent to be distressed at the thought of missing any time in the ring, and that was why Lily was immediately saddened by Ryan's lack of company. He didn't seem to have made many friends in the company, a lot of people resenting his early push and stereotypical 'meathead' appearance. He'd ruffled a few feathers early on including a very public backstage fight with Brock Lesnar, so people kept their distance. It was sad to see the big man on his own so often, and especially now when he was clearly in so much pain.
"Lily can you handle this? There's an incident in the parking lot I need to handle" Bill asked of her.
"Of course" she nodded to him.
"I have my phone if you need me" Bill winked, leaving the pair alone.
"It's probably nothing…just gimme some painkillers or something" Ryan mumbled.
"It looks pretty swollen, how did it happen?" she asked, crouching down to manipulate the joint a little. He hissed and jerked away in pain. "Sorry" she apologised.
"Stiff shot from Orton" he sighed.
Lily wasn't totally oblivious to the backstage politics, but she didn't understand the system as well as Bill.
"Did you tell anyone? He shouldn't hurt you surely?" she asked.
Ryan let out a laugh. "Orton's one of the golden boys. I've got enough heat backstage without pissing him off too"
"He didn't apologise?" she frowned.
"No" he shook his head. "Nor would I expect him to. I'm still considered a rookie. You gotta take the shit to be here" he shrugged.
Lily gave him a sympathetic smile and got to work examining his leg. It didn't look good. She knew he was aware that it was bad, he was just in denial.
"I'm sorry Ryan…but you need to have that x-rayed" she told him gingerly.
"Fuck" he swore. "Can I just have some painkillers and an ice pack? I don't want to sit in the emergency room all night; I wanna go back to my hotel room and sleep"
"I'm really sorry" she sighed. "You need to get it looked at. Until they know if there's any serious damage, you shouldn't be in the ring"
He put his head in his hands and Lily stepped back, giving him some space. The silence in the room was deafening and she felt her palms sweating. He was upset, and she wished now more than ever that he had someone who knew him to support him.
"You can't drive with your knee like that…is there anyone who can take you?" she asked.
He didn't reply. Clearly the answer was no.
She heaved out a sigh, ready to offer to drive him there herself. After all, he was absolutely distraught and if she didn't have to maintain professionalism, she'd have hugged him already. But before she could offer her own assistance, the door opened slowly.
Lily frowned when Kaitlyn smiled sheepishly and entered the room.
"I came to check on him…" she admitted, biting her lip nervously.
Ryan raised his head, surprise clear on his face. Lily couldn't help but smile widely at the interaction.
Kaitlyn frowned worriedly. "What's wrong?" she asked him.
"Knee" he told her quietly.
Lily set about packing up all the equipment while they had their moment. She was eavesdropping though, and it warmed her heart.
Kaitlyn put a comforting hand on his arm and shuffled up next to him. Lily caught some brief whispering, before she saw Kaitlyn plant a kiss on Ryan's head.
"Come on then big man, I'll drive you to the hospital and keep you awake long enough to get you fixed up" Kaitlyn smiled.
Ryan was decidedly less upset now and he thanked Lily as he followed the pretty diva out of the room and towards the parking lot. Lily smiled to herself. It broke her heart seeing him alone, so knowing he had a companion at least for tonight to get him through this was heart warming.
"Why are you buzzing around me like some annoying fucking mosquito" Punk huffed as Cena sat on the table opposite him.
"I thought my charming good looks and vivacious personality would cheer you up" John laughed as Lily filled in the paperwork to clear them both for Summerslam.
"Or make me want to carve my face off" Punk rolled his eyes.
"Charming isn't he?" John smiled at Lily.
"Always" she laughed.
"But he loves me really. That's why he tolerates me" John nudged Punk in the ribs.
"You're an asshole. A loveable one. But an asshole nonetheless" Punk groaned.
Lily finished up the forms and had Punk and John sign them before she had to move on to the next pair. Lesnar, Bryan, Ambrose, RVD and Big Show filtered through before Bill took over and it was time for her to take a break. As she left the building, she saw a sight that made her smile again. Ryan and Kaitlyn headed inside, hand in hand. As they parted for their separate locker rooms, he leaned down to press a kiss to her lips.
Even Ryback had his happy ending.