Shane Helms snuck a look at
Jaylynn from the corner of his eye. She was sitting in the
passenger seat, staring out the side window, seemingly lost in
thought. Shane had a million things that he wanted to tell her,
that he wanted to ask her, but all the words were stuck in his
throat.
The sight of her bruised face,
still slightly swollen, made him sick. Not from the image but
the fact that he hadn't been able to protect her. Most of the
bruises were covered by carefully applied makeup. A pair of
sunglasses hid her black eyes. The jacket covered up the bruises
on her arms and the others were hidden under clothes.
"Vince McMahon is going to have me
appear on Confediental." Jaylynn spoke, still staring out the
window. "oh yeah, What for?" Shane asked.
"He wants to do a story on what
happened." she spoke quietly. "You mean, what happened between
you and McMahon?" Shane asked, trying to concentrate on not
driving into the opposite lane.
"Yeah. He thinks that its the best
way to deal with it. To turn it into a Stone Cold episode. That
the fans will want to know the truth." Jaylynn told him. Shane
reached over and squeezed her hand. Jaylynn pulled it away
gently. "Are you going to be okay with that?" he asked, trying
to hide the hurt in his voice.
"Yeah, I'll be just fine. I can do
this." Jaylynn said, and Shane had to wonder if she was talking
to him or herself. "Are you sure?" he asked.
"yeah, I'll be okay. I'm more
worried about what it'll do to Shane though." Jaylynn said,
speaking of McMahon. Helms had to fight the urge to keep from
running his car into the ditch in anger. Before he could speak,
Jaylynn spoke. "I know you don't understand. So go ahead and get
angry. Yell, curse, hit me. Just get on with it." Jaylynn
whispered, still not looking away from the side window.
"you know Jaylynn, not every man
will hit you when he's mad." Shane told her. Jaylynn gave a
short, bitter laugh. "Won't they?"
With a jerk of the wheel, Shane
pulled the car over onto the shoulder of the road. Jaylynn
unsnapped her seatbelt and looked as if she might take off
running. Her wide brown eyes were watching him, waiting for him
to strike out at her. Instead, he pulled her to him as gently as
he could without hurting her. He held her for a few moments and
he felt Jaylynn's tears soak through his t-shirt.
Finally she pulled away, but not
before he laid a quick kiss on the top of her head. It was so
brief that she wasn't sure what it had been. "We better get back
on the road. We are going to be late." She said, wiping tears
from her cheeks. Shane nodded and turned back onto the highway.
"you know...you didn't deserve
this." Shane finally spoke. Jaylynn didn't speak and Shane
continued. "And you don't have to be worried about McMahon. He
is the one who did this to you." Shane pointed out.
"It's not that simple. I loved
him. Part of me still does. I don't trust people easily, but I
actually trusted him. I felt like I was safe with him. And to
find out that I wasn't safe...that he was my danger....I don't
even know what I feel or think. I just want to pretend it never
happened. But it did happen and now I have to figure out a way
to deal with it. And I don't know how. I loved him, shane. And i
Just can't bring myself to hate him like everyone thinks i
Should." Jaylynn spoke, once again looking out the side window.
Shane didn't say anything, just
kept driving the miles away. Wondering if he should tell her
that he to has felt those conflicting emotions.