And (cherrycokerocks) wrote in longest_sunset, @ 2008-05-28 18:08:00 |
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Current mood: | busy |
Fic: Beautiful Lie (A.J Styles/Karen Angle, PG-13, 2/?)
Fic: Beautiful Lie
Author: And
Pairings: A.J Styles/Karen Angle, Karen Angle/Kurt Angle, Kurt Angle/Christy Hemme, Christian Cage/Gail Kim, Chris Jericho/Trish Stratus, Edge/Lita.
Rating: PG-13 for now.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, all belongs to TNA and themselves.
Summary: When Karen loses fives years of her memory she wakes up to find her life has totally changed. She’s got a new job and is involved in a storyline with another man but it’s only a storyline or is it?
Spoilers: Impact 22nd May 2008.
Warnings: None.
Author’s notes: I got the idea for this plot after reading Remember Me? By Sophie Kinsella. Semi AU as Kurt and Karen don’t have any kids in this. Also for the sake of the story, Kurt hasn’t really hurt his neck again, it’s just a TNA storyline. Anything else and I’ll let you know.
Tampa General Hospital, Tampa, Florida, May 17, 2008
Karen had been waiting for an answer to her question for at least the last two minutes and she wasn’t sure the mystery man in front of her was going to speak anytime soon. His brow was furrowed and he looked totally confused. Suddenly a smile broke out on his face, “Oh ha, ha! You almost got me. Who are you? That’s a good one but you shouldn’t try and rib me when you’re in the hospital.”
“Excuse me? Rib you?” Was this guy for real? “Tell me who you are right now or I’m calling for security.”
The man’s face fell, “You seriously don’t know who I am?”
Karen was starting to get frustrated, “No! Now are you going to tell me or not?”
“Allen,” the man replied quietly. “My name is Allen.”
“Allen what?” Karen asked cautiously.
“Allen Jones. What happened to you? Why don’t you remember me?”
Karen frowned, the man seemed to be in serious distress after he realised she had no idea who he was. “The doctor said,” She coughed, her throat was dry. “Oh, excuse me.”
“Let me get you some water,” A.J said. Before Karen could blink he was around the other side of the bed, filling her glass from the water jug on the cabinet. “Here, this should help.”
Karen accepted the glass from him and drank for a moment, “Thank you.”
A.J gave her a shy smile, “You’re welcome.”
The brunette cleared her throat before continuing, “The doctor thinks I have retrograde amnesia. I can’t remember anything from the past five years.”
“Five years? Oh shit … I mean shoot. I apologise for my language. That just sorta slipped out. Does Kurt know about this? Is he here?”
“Yes he knows and yes he’s here. He went outside to make a phone call.” Allen’s use of Kurt’s first name put Karen’s mind at ease a little. Hopefully he wouldn’t turn out to be some crazed stalker or something. “You know Kurt too?”
“Yeah, we work together. We all work together for TNA. You don’t remember any of that?”
Karen shook her head, “Not a thing. She watched the man’s expression change again. Now he was looking distraught.
“This is just so awful. I’m so sorry this has happened to you. Is there anything I can do for you? Anything you need? Something I can get you?”
Karen was kind of taken aback by his thoughtfulness. Kurt hadn’t asked her if he could do anything for her. “Not right now but thanks for the offer. Kurt should be back any minute …” she trailed off as Kurt walked into the room.
“A.J? I wasn’t expecting to see you here so quickly.”
“Wait a minute, you’re A.J?” Karen asked.
“Yeah … do you remember something?”
Karen felt two pairs of eyes on her, expectantly waiting for an answer, “No, your name is on a card. I was reading it just before you walked in. I thought you said your name was Allen.” She paused for a second before she realised. “Allen Jones … A.J. Right.”
“A.J Styles is my ring name. Nearly everybody calls me A.J or Styles. Anyways, I just stopped by to see how you were and to drop off the flowers from me and Christian.”
“That’s good of you man, I appreciate it,” Kurt replied before Karen could say anything.
“No problem. Is there anybody you want me to call? Cornette maybe or Jeff? I could tell them what’s happened.”
“Thanks for the offer but I already called Jarrett when I was outside. I have to call him later with an update.”
“Right … well I guess I should leave you to it if there’s nothing I can do. I hope you’re feeling better real soon, Karen.” He bent down and kissed her cheek quickly. “You take good care of her, man,” he said to Kurt.
“I will. I’ll call you later, A.J. Thanks for coming.”
“Bye.”
Karen watched as A.J hurriedly left the room. Kurt picked up the flowers that A.J had left on the chair.
“Nice flowers.”
“Yeah, I actually thought they were from you. The poor guy had no idea I didn’t know who he was.”
Kurt avoided eye contract with his wife, “I didn’t even think about flowers. Sorry.”
“Doesn’t matter. The important thing is that you’re here.”
“Slight problem with that …I’m supposed to leave for a promotional tour of Japan tonight.”
“What?” Karen couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Can’t you tell Vince to send somebody else?”
“I don’t work for Vince anymore. We both work for TNA.”
“Right, A.J mentioned that earlier.” TNA sounded familiar to Karen. She’d definitely hear the name before. It suddenly came back to her, “Jeff Jarrett’s wrestling company?”
“Yeah, it’s really going places now. Christian works there too.”
Karen started to feel overwhelmed. Her brain was trying to process too much information at the same time. She closed for eyes for a second and tried to focus on one thing. Kurt was going off to Japan for god only knows how long just when she needed him the most. That was just typical of Kurt. “Can’t they send somebody else?”
Kurt took hold of her hand, “Not really. I’ve already been advertised. It will only be for a couple of days. I’ll be back on Monday for the Impact tapings… that’s our tv show, by the way.”
Karen made a face, “I don’t care if it’s just for a couple of days Kurt. I really need you. Do you have any idea how scared I am right now? I’ve lost the last five years of my life … maybe forever.”
Kurt looked away again. “I know you’re scared honey but you’re a really strong person. If anybody can get over this, it’s you. I’ll be there for you, I promise.”
“You will?”
“Absolutely … just as soon as I get back from Japan.”
The brunette snatched her hand from his, “Whatever Kurt, you just better hope nothing else happens to me while you’re gone.”
The former TNA heavyweight champion nodded, “Nothing else is going to happen to you, Karen.”
Doctor Yelland had returned later that morning to explain more to Karen about her condition. According to him, the memory loss may or may not be permanent at the moment it was too soon to tell. Kurt had left for his trip to Japan just after lunch. Karen still couldn’t quite believe that he’d gone in the end. But on second thoughts, this was Kurt she was talking about. He always put work first and her second. She usually didn’t mind but this was different, “Damn you, Kurt.”
It was a little after 3 pm when the door opened and a familiar looking blond haired man walked into her room. He was dressed in a pair of black jeans and black polo shirt, “You up for a visitor?”
Karen’s jaw dropped, “For you? Always. Oh my gosh, look at your hair.”
The Canadian’s hands instantly went to his hair, “What’s wrong with it?”
“It’s so short but I love it.”
Jay looked puzzled for a second and seemed to realise, “The amnesia ...You don’t remember me cutting my hair.”
“When did you do it?”
“May 2003.”
“Damn it, the last thing I remember is Wrestlemania 19. Mostly the after party at that crappy bar.”
“Right, that’s the night you fell down those steps. Adam and Chris found you unconscious in the rain.”
“Exactly,” Karen said excitedly. “That’s the very last thing I remember … Wait, Adam and Chris found me? Oh how embarrassing.”
Jay smiled, “Let’s just say you didn’t live it down for a while and we’ll leave it at that.” He sat down on the chair besides the cabinet. “I see you got the card.”
“Yes, thank you and I got the flowers.”
“Flowers? What flowers?”
Karen eyed him suspiciously, “The flowers that you and A.J sent me.”
Jay made a face and then suddenly twigged, “Oh those flowers. Glad you liked them.”
The brunette wasn’t convinced in the slightest, “You had nothing to do with them, did you?”
“Nope. Did A.J tell you they were from me too?”
“Not exactly. That’s what he told Kurt. He didn’t mention your name until he was talking to Kurt.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. He’s pretty freaked out by this whole amnesia thing though. He stopped by my place earlier … he’s convinced you hate him or something.”
“I don’t even remember him. How can he think that?”
“Well you guys are pretty tight these days. It’s like he’s lost his best friend overnight.”
“He’s my best friend?” Karen asked.
“Oh yeah. You’re like joined at the hip.”
“You’re joking right?”
The blond man shook his head, “I’m being deadly serious. He’s your best friend. But enough about A.J. So, where’s Kurt, I thought he would have been here.”
“He’s gone to Japan,” Karen said bitterly.
“Oh right the promotional trip. I thought he would have blown that off with you being in the hospital.”
“You would think that wouldn’t you but no, not Kurt. He’s gone.”
Jay was about to reply when his phone beeped in his pocket. He pulled it out and read the message he’d just received. Instantly a huge smile appeared on his face.
“And what are you looking so happy about?”
“Oh nothing,” Jay said coyly.
“Oh nothing my ass! Spill it Reso.”
“It’s nothing just a text from Gail. We’re kinda living together now. You remember Gail right? She was just about to be called up to the main roster after Wrestlemania 19.”
“Gail ..” Karen thought for a moment, the name certainly sounded familiar to her. “Gail Kim? You and Gail Kim?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s great news. I only talked to her a couple of times but she seemed like a nice girl. I’m really happy for ya.”
“Thanks.”
“Does Gail work for TNA too?”
Jay nodded, “She certainly does. She was the first ever TNA Women’s champion. But enough about us. When can you get out of here?”
“Hopefully tomorrow. Apart from the amnesia and being a bit sore there’s nothing really wrong with me so …”
“Want me to pick you up?” Jay asked.
“Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to put you through any trouble.”
The Canadian smiled, “It’s no trouble at all and besides what kind of friend would I be if I abandoned you in your time of need?”
“You mean like Kurt?” Karen asked sarcastically.
“Didn’t mean to bring that up …sorry.”
“It’s not your fault my husband puts his career before me.” Karen said sadly. She still couldn’t believe he’d gone to Japan and left her.
“It couldn’t really be helped and I would have …”
Anger flashed in the brunette’s eyes, “Don’t you dare say that you would have done the same thing because we both know you wouldn’t have.”
“Okay maybe not but it’s just how Kurt is. He doesn’t mean anything by it.” Jay reasoned.
Karen rolled her eyes, “Trust me, I know.”
“Well I guess I better get going. They told me not to stay too long because you needed your rest. I’ll check with the nurse about what time you’ll be released tomorrow and I’ll pick you up then. How does that sound?”
She smiled, “That sound perfect. Thanks Jay,” Karen said with fake enthusiasm.
He rubbed her arm gently, “Don’t mention it. I’ll see you tomorrow, Mrs Angle.” He stood up from the chair and turned to leave.
“I’m looking forward to it Mr Reso.” As she watched him walk towards the door, Karen managed to fight off the urge to cry until he’d left the room. Silent tears rolled down her face, there was no mistaking it, she felt well and truly miserable and had never felt so alone in all her life.