Turn It Up

A Light In The Dark

Being concerned with how the next day would play out was something that Pam didn't realize how hard it would really be to do in the dark about everything. Both Fergal and Mercedes had gone radio silent and there was no word backstage on if they both were seriously injured or not..Mercedes had to indeed drop the title just as Paul warned her about a week or so ago; and now she was beginning to worry about Fergal a little more than before. Primarily due to the fact that Fergal was..silent. Again. And usually that meant something bad had gone down that she just was either too blind to see, or something she caused. Pam paced around her hotel, without knowing where Fergal was she was forced to get her own. He hadn't answered any of her calls nor did he answer a single text. If he was taken to a medical facility, she should know about it, right? I mean she only dates the guy, how can she be left in the dark about something that is kind of super duper serious. She battled back tears as RAW approached and she literally was scouring the dirt sheets to see if there was news on him, or her..Nothing yet. It was beginning to be apparent the word out on the street is that Fergal did something really bad to his shoulder and he was going to be forced to vacate the title on RAW. Pam refused to believe it, she would have been told that by..SOMEBODY at this point; Mercedes with her back issues was forced to drop her belt as well..Which also totally blew. It was just bad place, bad time for her historic title win and reign that was now over. Pam didn't exactly care if she had lost her rematch at Takeover, there were far too many other issues as opposed to wins or losses at this stage in the game. Pam was restless, she was eager, nervous, anxious, terrified, she had no idea what to expect from the rest of her day. She finally let her weak body collapse onto the bed and she just lay there, her phone began to ring, she frantically looked over at it to see if was either Fergal or Mercedes, but..it was Leah..She was so defeated by it no being either of them she just dropped her phone and let her body fall back onto the bed.

Meanwhile; Mercedes felt horrible. It felt like her whole world was turned upside down at random. She didn't think that the company felt her injury was bad enough to make her..literally forfeit the title so soon..It was far too soon..There were so many things that she wanted to do still as champion..But it looks like that won't be happening right now. She had no idea what to expect, sitting on the table in the medical area of the arena, she looked over to the other one and saw Fergal's arm/shoulder being tended to very gingerly, "Fergal?" She had no idea about his injury, she did hear his music play the night before indicating his victory, "Congrats on the title..But what the hell did you do to yourself??" He looked over at her, "Well, funny story. Colby decided to buckle bomb me against the barricade.." He wasn't too biter over the accident..It was in fact the sport of professional wrestling, injuries were literally a part of the deal here. "Went to brace myself, popped my shoulder out..Apparently it's just a minor tear, but..I am losing this..already.." He glanced over at the new, bright red RAW title and hung his head low. Mercedes felt super bad about this, here she was being all upset and irritated with having to drop hers after a few weeks, and Fergal JUST LITERALLY walked away with his, and the FIRST one.. and was already being forced to vacate it..As the doctor gave Mercedes the nod, she got off of the table and hobbled gingerly over to Fergal, she hung her head low before weakly hugging his good side. "I'm really sorry dude..Like you have no idea how sorry I am.." Mercedes hid her face, otherwise..she'd cry.

Fergal didn't exactly expect that from the on screen 'Boss'. Off of television, she was a mushy gummy bear. She just was, for some reason her on screen character was the polar opposite of how she was outside of the ring. She cried all the time, she was super emotional and sensitive. She borderline was about to cry as she apologized to Fergal for something she didn't have a single thing to do with. Fergal hugged back as best as he could, "Hey..you ain't gotta be sorry for nothin'..You didn't pop my shoulder outta place.." She didn't speak all too well, she didn't wanna cry and talking would absolutely start the waterworks real quick. Fergal's hand rested on the middle of her back, with exactly no pressure being applied. He wasn't dumb, he knew of her nagging back problems and he was definitely not about to aggravate them by pushing down on her back. He finally had the courage to break the hug just for a moment or two. "How are you? I haven't gotten the chance to really ask..Is your back okay? How bad is it really?" She slowly lifted her head and backed up a bit, she then shrugged her little shoulders a bit and looked away then around the room, "It..I mean it hurts, really badly. I can't lie about that at all..Ashley dumping me on my head didn't exactly help me out if you know what I mean...I just can't believe we both just got our shot and here we are having to be told 'Oh you're too banged up, you gotta drop it as soon as possible.' I just.." Mercedes got a little bit of an angry look on her face, she was borderline pissed off that this had to happen to them this soon into a new day of Monday Night RAW, and WWE as a whole.. Fergal had to put the brakes on this quickly, he recognized her anger and resentment, "Hey hey..It was an accident. Nobody meant to do anything like that. At all. Not Ashley, not Colby, not anyone..Alright?" Fergal had to put his foot down and attempt to quell her petty anger. Mercedes rolled her eyes and tossed her head back, her pink hair fell behind her shoulders a little more and more as she didn't say anything for a moment or two.

"Yes dad." She then looked back at him and giggled quietly, she had to be a smart ass in a situation like this. Let's be a hundred percent honest here, there was no way that both of them were emotionally stable, but her being a bit snarky to him was just confirmation that she was okay, she was just upset and trying to make light of the whole entire situation. Fergal smiled a little bit and lightly laughed as the doctor was now finished making sure he was okay enough to even move around a little bit. Tonight was going to be hard, for Mercedes it was the first day in a few weeks without her title..For Fergal? It was the night his extraordinarily short title reign came to an abrupt end. A tightening feeling began to wrap what felt like tendrils around his weak heart. The events of the entire weekend were beginning to catch up to him..From Pam not acknowledging him in the audience at NXT, to his injury and literal dropping of the title, it all felt..fast. He felt a dark cloud begin to hover over him as Mercedes pulled out her phone to see twenty missed text messages and five calls from Pam. She turned around and faced away from Fergal to give Pam a call. It was at this moment that Fergal felt his heart tighten immensely, there was an indescribable amount of pressure building, manifesting itself on his chest..Like he was being sat on. He felt tears build in his eyes as he couldn't begin to understand..just..what he did so wrong to be given the world, only to have it taken right from his hands. "Hello? Pam? Hey, no..no no hun hey, calm down. I'm right here. I didn't die..Surprise." Mercedes began to leave the room, as she opened the door, she turned around to see Fergal was beginning to visibly break down.."Fergal? Wait, no, dude don't do all of that..Don't..Pam, talk to Fergal, please." Mercedes bolted over to him..

Fergal took the phone weakly, there was no fighting his emotions back now. He felt a rush of bad vibes course through his body straight up to his head, where it came out of his eyes in the form of warm tears. Mercedes sat him back down on the table and rubbed his back lightly, she was going to cry too now. Goddamn it, this was exactly what didn't need to happen tonight. He still had to go out there and actually hand the title over. "H-hello." His voice shook, it was weak and cracked a million times in one word. "Babe..oh god are you okay? Are you hurt? I saw rumors..and got.." He interrupted her and was a little..confused. "Did you not see the match? On what happened?" Fergal's voice was filled with bad energy, it was just not an okay time to be him. He wasn't too sure she even watched his own match last night, and Pam felt exactly like she was put on the spot, she had no good answer that she felt was not gonna be enough to satiate his frustration, "I..Babe. I wanted to see it, so badly you know that. But Mercedes was hurt, I had to be there for her." That sentence, one little sentence and Fergal handed the phone back over to Mercedes and hung his head low, "Hey, where are you going?" Mercedes watched as he slowly walked away with his head hung as low as she was trying to get something, anything out of him before he left the room. At the last moment, he turned his head slightly, "I'm going to vacate my title.." With those words, Mercedes knew that something crazy bad had just occurred right in front of her.."Fergal, no wait.." He didn't listen, he walked out of the doctor's area and left. Mercedes felt responsible before she even put her phone back to her ear..She finally did of course, "I-I don't know what just happened, Pam. I'm sorry..He just.." Pam interrupted her and felt entirely responsible for what just happened with him. Fergal was hurt inside and out. He didn't understand how or why he felt like he was just..Not good enough for her, not enough for her to be proud of and want to prioritize all the time. Perhaps he was expecting too much, and would cool down eventually. "Don't feel guilty Mercedes..just..Just look out for him..Make sure he doesn't implode..this is my fault anyways.."

RAW had already begun, it was no shock that to the rest of the locker room it was a somber, quiet tone. For they knew that their champion had to announce he was too banged up to be their champion. Fergal was nowhere to be found, the show carried on and the slide of his upcoming vacating the title was coming up, nobody in the audience was cheering, all of them collectively boo'd. Nobody wanted to see him go, I mean come on now. He JUST got there..and now was going to be put on the shelf..for who knows how long at this point. Pam sat on the edge of the bed, feeling so bad about all of this, she not only can't help Mercedes, but she can't help the love of her life either. She just wanted to apologize and give him the warmest of hugs, and make sure he knows..Everything will be okay. It was time. Fergal walked out on the stage and got a roar out of the crowd to that he never expected. The tears were all dried up from before. He had to keep his composure. He somberly walked down the ramp, flashing his smile to the world to let them know it is gonna work out. After he was forced to hand the title over, he felt like a piece of him was also removed with it. A piece of his heart that was ripped right out of his chest..He couldn't look back as he walked up the ramp..Due to storyline; Colby had to come out and be cocky..Even he had a sad look on his face when he exchanged glances with Fergal. This night truly was a disaster and a half. From two top stars going down with injury, to Pam's internal struggle to be happy..There was absolutely a dark cloud above everyone right now.