Into The Deep End - A Roman Reigns Story

35

The next day...

It was meant to be a perfectly normal morning.

Sasha got up at the usual time. Took a shower, got dressed and got T.K. and Mia ready for school like always. She picked up the mail dropped at her front door, then did whatever needed to be done around the apartment. Joe was still in her bed and she left him there for a well-deserved lie-in. The plan was for the two of them to just lay around and relax until it was time for her evening shift at the Grill, then Joe would drop her off at work before driving home. That was the plan. A normal, peaceful day. But she knew the second she found him slumped on her bathroom floor, that all of that was about to change in a big, drastic way.

The sight of her boyfriend laying in a fetal position on the cold tiled ground sent shockwaves through Sasha's entire being. "Baby!" She rushed over and dropped to her knees beside him. "Are you okay? What happened?"

His only response was a pained groan, his face scrunched up in agony with his muscular arms still wound around his midsection. She tried to get him to sit up. "Babe, what happened? What's wrong? Is it your stomach?" she inquired, noticing how he kept clutching at that body part. Maybe it was just the side effects of yesterday's party. There'd been a lot to eat after all.

Joe started to say something but he slapped a hand over his mouth instead. Suddenly he pushed away from Sasha, and she watched in utter shock as he lunged for the toilet and buried his head in it. Then she heard the sound of vomiting.

"Jesus, Joe!" She leaned over him and quickly gathered his hair away from his face as he emptied the contents of his stomach, rubbing his back until he was done. He heaved his body away from the toilet and sat back on the floor, grimacing in pain as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Sasha was exponentially worried now. She flushed the toilet and pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. "Wow, you're burnin' up. Maybe you've got a stomach bug."

Joe shook his head. "It's not just a stomach bug. There's a big-ass lump in my groin area and I don't know where the hell it came from. Tried to take a piss but I can't...hurts like hell...like my insides are tryin' to break through my stomach." He hugged himself, his breaths heavy and labored. "It's killin' me."

"Let me see." She managed to untangle his arms, and underneath his shirt a noticeable bulge protruded from his pelvis area. She raised his shirt, and that was all she needed to see. "Oh my god. I'm calling 911." She rushed into the bedroom to get Joe's iPhone and returned, squatting down in front of him as she typed in his password, then dialed the three digits with trembling fingers. The operator answered her call, and taking down all the information Sasha provided, promised to have an ambulance at her address in ten minutes.

"Call Doc," Joe wheezed, "Doctor Sampson. He's our ringside physician and he's in town. He needs to know."

"Okay." Finding his name on the phone, Sasha dialed the number, relieved when he picked up right away.

"Hello?"

"H-hi, Doctor Sampson? I'm Sasha, Joe's girlfriend," she stammered, unable to hear herself over her heart pounding in her ears. "It's Joe. His groin area feels swollen and he's in a lot of pain."

"Have you called 911?" Doctor Sampson asked.

"Yes, right before I called you. They're on their way."

"What other symptoms does he have?"

She looked over at Joe, sitting with his back against the shower stall and gritting his teeth. "He's got a fever and he vomited. He says he tried to use the toilet a couple of minutes ago but he couldn't because of the pain in his groin." Sasha bit her lip. "Doctor, what's wrong with him?" She swallowed hard.