January 21st 2021 – 4:17PM – Not Recording
The Johnson Residence – Baltimore, Maryland

“Adina! Your dad will be here in a few minutes, make sure you’re ready!”

I yell down the hall as I grab a shirt, folding it as I stuff it into my overnight bag. Adina’s heading off with JD, and I’m headed over to Ken’s after she leaves.

“I’m ready!”

She finally retorts, her little voice echoing down the hall. I nod my head and continue packing a few more things. I’m excited to get out of here and see him, it’s been a few days. Talking to him over the phone is one thing, but being with him is much, much better.

I hear a knock at the door just as I walk out of the bedroom, and instantly I feel a touch of annoyance. Since Ken, I’ve started realizing more and more how wrong I’ve been with every other choice I’ve made in men.

“He’s here Mommy!”

“Yeah, yeah.. Sweetie.  I know.”

I mumble. JD’s not a bad guy, sometimes. I just, I don’t know. I don’t really want to deal with the potential comments he’s bound to make. He’s made no qualms about not liking any man I’ve been with other than him.

I roll my eyes and open the front door, finding him standing there with his arms crossed.

“Well you look thrilled.”

I say, letting my bag drop to the floor beside the door.

“Going somewhere?”

I give him a look and shake my head.

“None of your business. Adina? Come on, get out here!”

“Kenny boy, huh?”

He replies, a chuckle escaping his lips as I turn in just enough time to see his eyes looking me up and down. I can’t stop the sigh as it escapes my lips.

“Like I said… none of your business John Dustin.”

JD puts his hands up.

“Chill out Kyra.”

I open my mouth to say something but like clockwork, I hear those familiar, destructive little footfalls as Adina runs up behind me.

“Hey baby girl, you ready?”

She looks up at me and then at her dad, nodding.

“Uh huh.”

“Okay well, I-“

My phone interrupts me, and I pull it out of my pocket – finding an unfamiliar number on the caller-ID. Typically I’d ignore calls like these but something in my gut is telling me to answer.

“I gotta take this.”

I lean down and give Adina a kiss on her head.

“I love you, baby girl. Be good.”

I give JD a nod as he reaches out and takes Adina’s bag and her hand, giving me a wink in return as I answer the phone – rolling my eyes once more as I shut the door behind me.

“Hello?”

An unfamiliar voice comes through the phone.

“Hello, is this Ms. Johnson?”

Something about the man’s voice carries a sense of authority, as well as a sense of urgency.

“…Yeah? Who is this?”

“This is Dr. Sunal Makadia. I am with the cardiology department of Lifebridge Health.”

“Okay…”

I reply, still no closer to figuring out why I’m getting this phone call.

“The reason I am calling is because you are listed as the emergency contact for our patient, Mr. Kenneth Davison.”

“Ken?”

Suddenly my heart feels like it’s about to jump straight out of my chest.

“What about Ken?!“

I manage to squeak out, almost scared of the answer I’m going to get. What if something happened to him? I don’t know what I’d do.

I – I can’t bear the thought.

“The reason I am calling you is because Mr. Davison was sent to the emergency room by his primary physician. While running our tests, we discovered that he is having issues with cardiological arrhythmia. What that means is that Mr. Davison is suffering from an irregular heartbeat. It is probably nothing to worry about, but until we get the records from his previous cardiologist, we need to hold him here for further testing to make certain that the arrhythmia is not harmful.”

And if my heart wasn’t racing before, it sure is now. I obviously knew that Ken had a heart attack, but I didn’t really think much of it.

Until now.

“I.. I..”

I don’t know what to say. What do I say? I’ve never been in this position before.

“T-thank you for calling me.. I, um, is he “

“I think he is going to be fine, but without having all the information, we have to watch to be certain.”

I run my hand over my head as I bring myself back into the house, lowering myself down onto the sofa, nodding my head as if I were sitting right there in front of this doctor.

“I-I understand.”

I whisper, blinking back tears.

But in reality, I don’t. I don’t understand at all. I’ve never felt this way before.

“W-What hospital is Ken in?”

I ask, getting up to grab my purse. Maybe I can just go there and–

“He’s at Sinai, ma’am – But due to COVID procedures, no visitors are allowed into the building. My apologies.”

Stopping at the front door again, I briefly contemplate putting my fist through it. I’d forgotten that. Now what in the fuck am I going to do?

“Yeah, I knew that.”

“Okay, well Miss Johnson – Do you have any other questions for me?”

I raise my eyebrows.

Oh, I have plenty of questions, Doctor… I just don’t know how to fucking ask them. Finally, I just shake my head in defeat.

“No, if I have any other questions… I’ll just call the hospital.”

 

Four days later in the parking lot of Sinai Hospital:

“Christ.”

I mutter to myself, staring up at the building – my eyes going from window to window, stopping on the one I believe is Ken’s. Do I know for sure? Fuck no. Do I hate being out here while he’s in there all hooked up to machines and shit? Damn straight I do.

This is horrible.

Honestly? I feel like a crazy person. I’ve been sitting here longer and longer over the last few days because I’ve found myself unable to focus on much else since finding out Ken was admitted. Granted I’ve spoken to him, I know he’s okay. But this nagging feeling in the back of my mind wonders if he is.

Like I said, horrible.

“And now I’m fucking talking to myself. Great.”

I shake my head as my phone starts ringing again, showing JD’s name on the screen.

“Wonderful.”

Adina’s there, I tell myself as I accept the video call – only to see JD’s smug face on the screen.

“Wow.”

He says right off the bat, his eyes widening and his eyebrows arching.

“What?”

“You look like hell.”

That’s when I decide to take a look at myself and… He’s not wrong. My hair is a mess, my eyes look like two black holes are trying to suck them in from below. I’ve never been one to give much of a shit about the way I look – But even I have to draw a line somewhere.

I try to smooth my hair down a bit, hoping to not look like the crazy person I feel like when I look back into the mirror.

“Please tell me my kid wants to talk to me and you can go away now.”

“Did Kenny Boy finally leave? Remember our deal, I can get baby girl packed up and we can–”

I put my hand up and shake my head.

“You really don’t know how to let go, do you? For fucks sake. Just put Adina on.”

As was expected, he sighs and shakes his head.

“Your loss.”

“I know what comes with that whole package and trust me – Not that big of a loss.”

I spit back at him as he gives the phone over to Adina.

“Hey, baby girl!”

“Hi, mommy.. Where you at?”

I shrug my shoulders and look around the car, and up at the hospital.

“In my car. What’re you and daddy doing?”

Her little face contorts into her thinking face as she either contemplates why I’m sitting in my car or her answer to what she and JD are doing.

“Why you in your car?”

“I’m.. Um. Well, I’m sitting at a hospital because Ken is sick and mommy can’t go in and visit him right now.”

I hear a disgusted sigh in the background that gives me that warm, fuzzy feeling as Adina’s eyes widen.

“Is he gonna get all better?”

I put on my best smile and nod my head.

“Yeah, he’s gonna be fine, sweetie. The doctors are taking good care of him.”

“I’m gonna draw him a picture, mommy.”

“That’s great, he’ll love that sw–”

As quickly as she came, she was gone again – Before I could even finish the sentence. And much to my dismay, JD’s face winds up on my screen again.

“So, sick, huh?”

“I’m not having this conversation with you, John.  It’s none of your business.”

He chuckles, which makes me want to drive over to his place and knock his fucking teeth out.

“Well, if something happens…”

I narrow my eyes at him.

“You know what? I’m sitting here in my car, staring at a hospital that I can’t get into because the man I love is in there. And you know what it’s made me realize? That the way I feel right now? The fear, the sadness… The worry? I never felt any of that when something happened to you. I never felt that way when something happened to Jake or Jack either. So while you’re fucking hanging onto something that’ll never be again – I’m here realizing what real love is. Ken… He’s it. Adina is the only good thing I got from you, John. So get over it and get over yourself.”

As I spoke, his face went from that smug smirk to a scowl. He opens his mouth to reply but I shake my head.

“Not interested, John.”

And I hang up the phone. Damn that felt good.

But all too soon, that feeling of vindication goes away as the hospital building comes back into view and I remember that Ken’s in there and I can’t see him. I never felt like this before.. Like I’m actually missing something important… Or someone, rather. I thought I was invested before – but if this is what being invested in a relationship is really like?

Then I have never been more invested in something than I am in this.

After a few minutes of letting that settle in, I pull up Ken’s contact information on my phone and climb out of the car – Hoping that he’s not having tests done or anything else. Just in case, I send a text: -Look Outside-, and I wait. Watching the windows to see which one opens.

There are a lot of windows and I’m gonna feel pretty stupid if I don’t find the one that he looks out of. But out of the corner of my eye I see a curtain move and I look over to see him standing in the window – And like a lovesick moron, I wave.

I fucking wave.

What is this man doing to me?

And what am I going to do if he’s not able to be my partner at 105?  I know that’s not really the most important thing right now… But God damn if my mind isn’t going everywhere while I’m staring up at him, realizing that I don’t know when I’m gonna get to hold him again.  I don’t really wanna fight alongside just anyone.  Not anymore. 

Fuck. 

“I miss you…” 

 

A few days before Chaos 105:

The scene opens in Kyra Johnson’s living room, the woman herself seated cross-legged on the sofa wearing a Ken Davison shirt, a bottle of beer in her hand, and a less than amused look on her face.  

“Admittedly I’m not quite sure what Ken and I are getting ourselves into this week.  All I know is I’m not all into that whole cult thing.  But the funny part is, ya’ll are ominous as fuck.  But it’s like you’re being ominous for the sake of being ominous.. And that’s just, well, kinda pitiful if you ask me.”

She smirks as she takes a sip from the bottle. 

“I’ve been wrong before.  But I just have a hard time taking people like you guys seriously.  I mean have you seen your names?  Incubus?  Succubus?  Come the fuck on.  Really?“

She shakes her head. 

“Like, here I am wondering if ya’ll are going to try to get into bed with Ken and I – Which would not go over well.  I mean, I guess you guys were just going for something badass, and you’re not really trying to fuck as many people as possible and insert a little demon into them.  But then again, this is Carnage and I really wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case either.  I’ve got enough demons, you know?  Don’t really need to inherit any from either of you.”

She shrugs her shoulders. 

“I’m sorry.  Maybe I’m just being a bitch.  That’s not really a huge surprise either, though.  I guess you’re doing something right though since you won the number one contendership for the tag titles.. so congratulations?  Yeah, congratulations.”

Kyra looks around the room for a moment, an awkward silence filling the room. 

“But you see, Inky and Sucky – You might have a shot at those belts, and you might even think you’ve got a chance of winning.  Hell, maybe you do.  Maybe you can freak the Rock Lobsters out enough to throw them off their game.  Crazier things have happened.  But that’s not what this week is about.  The way I see it, you’re going out there in a few days to prove that you deserve that place as the challengers to Axton and Jon and you’ve gotta beat the most recent World and Ultraviolent champs to do it.”

She smiles. 

“As for Ken and I?  Well, we’re gonna be coming out there to show you, and everyone else that we’re coming for those belts.  And with our combined resume’s, that should be a given – But Ken and I, we like making sure everyone knows what we already know to be true.  We might not be the contenders yet, but we will be.”

Kyra takes another sip and places the bottle on the table, leaning towards the camera. 

“So, have fun being creepy and cringy.  And make the most of your moment in the spotlight because I think we all know, you’ve got bigger fish to fry than the tag titles, am I right?  I sure hope you don’t shit the bed at Act of Defiance because a certain group of someone’s distract you, because that would be a shame.   Not my business though, so I’ll just leave it at that.”

She looks down, pushing her long brunette hair out of her face as she continues.  

“You’re big and you’re bad, I get it.  As embarrassing as it is, I used to be like that too.  Not a member of a cult or whatever in the hell you guys call it – But I handled myself in much the same way as ya’ll do now.  Just remember though, if you gotta tell us how big and mean you are – Or if you gotta tell us why we should fear your very existence… It’s just not true.  And hell, I shared a bed with Lord Voldemort himself, what the fuck do I have to be scared of?   I was gonna marry the son of a bitch at one point.  I’ve walked through the valley of the shadow of death and after that?  You two are just a bunch of bitches who think they’re as threatening as living the rest of my life as Mrs. Voldemort.”

She chuckles.

“But I digress.  The only other thing I can say is this… Prove me wrong.  Come out there and make my pay for my words.  Show me what ‘the institute’ is all about and make me rethink my choice in words.  And if you can’t?  That’s okay too.  I don’t mind being right.”

With that, Kyra winks and the picture cuts out.