Determined...

January 11, 2012
Brain Trauma Unit, Shea Medical Center (Scottsdale, AZ)

Scene opens on a dimly lit patient room on the 4th floor of the Shea Medical Center. We see Lance Invictus lying in bed. Lance’s slight groaning and moving notify Ian Elms, who is sitting a few feet away reading a book, that his friend is coming out of his sedation. Ian puts the book down and stands by Lance’s side, literally waiting for him to come to. Ian’s hand hovers over the button to alert medical personnel that Lance needs medical attention, but Ian resists the temptation hoping to get a word in with Lance before he’s whisked away for testing. More groans come from Lance, some almost doubling as words in some language around the world. With each groan, Lance begins to sound more and more like a human being vice a new born baby. 

Ian: Lance, everything is ok.

Ian places his hand on Lance’s shoulder as he reassures him.

Lance: Where – Where am I?

And like that, Lance speaks his first words since being on the receiving end of a swinging sledgehammer at the previous edition of Ravage. 

Ian: You’re at Shea Medical Center in Scottsdale.

Lance: Why? 

Ian: You were injured in your last match and there was some head trauma that needed to be attended to.

Lance doesn’t seem to remember the attack by Jayson King.

Lance: When in my match did I receive this bad of head trauma? I remember walking down the hallway in Phoenix, then competing against Sucio and tapping out. From there, it’s kind of a blur.

Ian: That’s because you suffered some amnesia related to the attack perpetrated on you by Jayson King. The attack gave you some form of amnesia; I forget what kind of amnes—

*SWOOSH!*

Doctor: That would be retrograde amnesia, Lance. 

Before Ian could finish his sentence, the door to Lance’s room slides open and the doctor finishes it for him. Good for Ian though, he didn’t know how he could keep up this charade for much longer. 

Ian: I don’t know how you do it Doctor, I mean speaking to Lance just know was a pain in the rear, but you speak to dozens of amnesia patients a day.

Doctor: Here’s a little secret.

He pulls Ian in closer.

Doctor: I screw with the patients sometimes.

Ian chuckles a little, but then realizes what the doctor said and shakes his head in disgust.  The Doctor turns his attention to Lance and begins to give him a cursory exam.

Doctor: It’s nice to see you’ve come to Lance. We gave you some pretty heavy sedatives as well as some sleeping pills. Obviously all within legal limits, but you were out longer than any of us expected.

Lance: Maybe I was tired…

The doctor wraps up his exam by checking Lance’s eyes with a flashlight.

Doctor: That could be the case, but like any patient who is in receipt of bad head trauma in our facility, we will need to run some tests to make sure all your faculties are still present.

The Doctor motions for a nurse to bring in a wheelchair and then helps Lance from his bed into said wheelchair.

Doctor: Ian, unfortunately, you’re not able to accompany him for these tests, however, it shouldn’t be more than an hour.

Ian shrugs his shoulders apathetically.

Ian: I’m not missing anything I’d want to see anyway. 

Ian pat’s Lance on the shoulders as he is wheeled out of the room. Scene transitions to a few hours later when Lance is wheeled back into the room with the Doctor so kindly pushing the wheelchair. Lance gets helped up onto the bed as the Doctor begins to inform Ian of his test results.

Doctor: Lance did pretty well after waking up from what equaled a short term coma, but nevertheless, his physical faculties are generally where a man of his stature would expect them, but mentally, he’s not quite where he should be. 

Ian: Why’s that? 

Doctor: This likely can be attributed to the concussion he received and the damage it likely caused. Now, I don’t expect Lance to be a vegetable, but it’s unlikely he’ll be what he was for a few weeks or until the concussion symptoms subside. Even when you look at the Sidney Crosby situation, it could go on for over a year. We’ll test him again multiple times over the next few days to make sure he’s making gains in the right direction.

Ian nods.

Ian: Well, thanks Doc, please keep me abreast of any issues you encounter with Lance.

The two part ways, but as the Doctor leaves the room, Ian’s phone rings. It shares a common area code as the WWX Home Office, so this should be interesting. Ian thumbs open his cell and answers.

Ian: Hello?

---

Ian: This is him.

---

Ian: Ok, I’ll let him know.

Ian hangs up and deposits his cell phone in his pocket. Ian turns his attention to the Lance who is fully attentive to what is going on around him.

Ian: Good news and bad news. Good news is that you’ve got a match at the next Ravage if you’re medically able to wrestle. Bad news is that it will be your Semi-Final Match and you’ll be facing Lost Soul and Krimzon Blaze.

Lance appears to be slightly happy, but the choice of opponents makes him believe that WWX does not want him to succeed in the Invitational and would prefer one of their old stalwarts to defeat him and go on to win the right to fight for the championship.

Lance: Well, that is a good news/bad news situation.

Ian shrugs his shoulders apathetically. A food cart comes in for Lance’s lunch as the scene fades out.

January 14, 2012
Shea Medical Center (Scottsdale, AZ)

Scene reopens in the same dimly lit where we previously saw Lance and Ian, although Lance is sleeping while Ian is flipping through a magazine. *SWOOSH!* The Doctor returns with a few pieces of paper in his hands. He flips through a few pages looking quickly at a couple of things before approaching Ian.

Doctor: So, after yesterday’s tests, it’s still unlikely that we’ll be able to clear Lance for in-ring activity on the 16th. 

Ian: Is there anything we can do to get him into the ring?

Doctor: Short of him meeting his neurological benchmarks during his next test, he’ll be here for a few more days at the minimum.

Ian: When can we get him tested again?

The Doctor checks his clipboard and flips a few pieces of paper around.

Doctor: Looks as if we can get him in tomorrow afternoon.

Ian: That sounds good. It’ll give us enough time to pass the test and hopefully travel to Biloxi.

Doctor: We’ll see you then.

Ian sits back and stares off in the distance thinking about how the next few days are going to lay out.

January 15, 2012
Shea Medical Center (Scottsdale, AZ)

Scene reopens to a conversing Lance and Ian in the same room we’ve grown accustomed to them being in.

Ian: Rumor is that 2 seconds after Wikipedia went black, the Kardashian sisters went down on it.

The joke elicits a hearty laugh from Lance who appears to be in the best shape he has been in since the attack. Lance has been kept abreast on his need to pass his neurological tests in order to be cleared for in-ring action on Ravage. He claims he’ll pass the test, but if he doesn’t, he’ll just march out of Shea Medical Center against medical advice and hope that the WWX isn’t notified of it.

Lance: So, when am I scheduled for my tests?

Ian (looking at watch): In about 20 minutes or so. Listen, I need to stress to you how important it is that you pass this test. Your shot at advancing is dependent on being of sound mind.

Lance: You tell me this like I’m not aware of what I need to accomplish. Believe me; I’m all caught up, except for the alleged attack on me. That still is a little bit fuzzy, but I won’t worry about it for now if it’s the only issue I have. I just hope that will come back to me sooner rather than later.

Ian: I don’t think that Ranger will give you another chance to redeem yourself if you’re unable to make it to the match.

Lance: Agreed, this match is more important to me than it is to Lost Soul or Krimzon Blaze. Hell, just being able to face two living legends will be tough enough, but in a handicap match and injured, it’s just plain impossible. However, it doesn’t mean I won’t try.

Ian nods in approval. He’s finally seeing that Lance is coming back around mentally as compared to where he was previously.

Lance: Hell, Lost Soul is too concerned about losing a title he has held multiple times vice working towards wearing a title he’s never held in the IWA Championship. No disrespect to him, but he needs to focus more energy on me and not trying to sneak one in on Krimzon Blaze, Eastin or any other fool who holds the IWA Championship when he desires it. He, like other people, needs to follow the proper protocol and take it step by step. Unfortunately for him, his next step is facing me and we’ll see how he’ll respond. 

Lance takes a sip of water.

Lance: Blaze appears to be focused slightly more on things in front of him than Soul, but he’s still not entirely focused on what he should be, me. Yes, he’s concerned about his partner, Lost Soul, who apparently he is an unspoken ally with, but still not friends. He also seems concerned that Ranger may be manipulating the process of crowning a #1 contender for his title and in the process wearing him down so the winner has an easier time in the ring against him. 

The time for Lance’s test draws near as he spots the Doctor milling around in the hallway.

Lance: Regardless, any damage I do during this match will skyrocket my stock in this company and put me closer to nipping the heels of Krimzon and Lost Soul, so they both need to maintain situational awareness. I’m going to come at them hard; pinfalls against them will make my resume look a hell of a lot better, guaranteed. 

*SWOOSH*

The Doctor comes into the room.

Doctor: It’s time Lance.

Lance nods solemnly as he gets into the wheelchair next to his bed. Lance gets wheeled out of his room and a few yards down the hallway to what appears to be a high-tech facility. The Doctor attaches a variety of wires to different parts of Lance’s head and heart in order to get a good reading of what his body is going through. Before the testing can even begin, Lance is already sweating, licking his lips constantly and focusing hard on the task at hand.

Doctor: Here we go…

Lance begins to sweat more as a few auditory tests take place followed by a few sight related tests on a nearby screen. Invictus still appears as if he’s still working hard as sweat beads continue to slide down the features of his face. Lance moves to a few hand coordination related exercises and finishes with memorization related tests. Once Lance is finished, the Doctor motions for a nurse to come in.

Doctor: Miss, could you please take Lance back to his room?

Nurse: Sure thing.

Before Lance leaves, he sneaks in a question.

Lance: How’d I do doc?

Doctor: It’s hard to tell at this point Lance, we’ll know more in a little while. You appear tired, you should take a nap.

Lance shrugs off the non answer and is wheeled out of the room. After Lance is out of the room, the Doctor turns to his assistant and talks to her.

Doctor: You know that’s the only time I’ve ever seen someone work so hard to control something that they do not have control over.

Assistant: I guess he’s hoping to pass the tests through sheer determination.

Doctor: I guess so…

Fade to black.