Her Authority

eleven

*trigger warning: SH scars*
Marina exited gorilla after her match with Paige. Her nose bled as she was escorted to the doctor at the arena. She pulled her arm away as someone reached over to help her. Seth caught up with her and guided her over so that she could tilt her head back to stop the bleeding. Paige had elbowed her too hard which resulted in Marina leaving the match with a bloody nose. Seth helped Marina up onto the table in the doctor's office. He handed her a tissue and looked at his hands which were covered in her blood.

"Sorry," she said nasally.

Seth assured her it was fine. She adjusted her top and waited with Seth in the room. Seth held her hand and anxiously tapped his foot on the ground. She felt her hair falling down from its high ponytail. It started to bother her which Seth noticed.

"I'll fix it for you," he walked around the table and took her hair down.

The doctor walked in as Seth finished putting her hair up in a bun. He made his way back over to her side and folded his arms in front of his chest. The doctor moved the tissue from her nose and started looking at her nose.

"She, uh," Seth scrambled in his brain for the correct words, "got hit pretty hard with an elbow."

"Luckily," the doctor shone a light in her nose, "it doesn't seem to be broken."

"Great," Marina chuckled, "no time off."

Seth smiled as she reached for his hand. He held her hand as the doctor grabbed some tissue. He handed it to her and she stuck it up her nose.

"You should be fine but don't hesitate to let someone know if it bleeds more," the doctor high fived her.

Seth and Marina left the room and headed to their dressing room. She hugged Seth's torso as they walked. He opened the door for them and she sat on the couch. Seth walked over to the sink and got a towel wet. He rung the towel out and made his way over to her. Seth cleaned all the blood off of her. She smiled at the kindness that Seth was showing to her.

"Thank you, Lopez," she took the towel from him and started cleaning the blood off of his hands.

"Props to you for going through to the finish," Seth patted her leg before joining her on the couch.

"It didn't even hurt," she shrugged off the pain.

Marina threw the towel to the sink and tightened her bun. Seth put his hair into a bun as well before looking at Marina.

She looked at him before turning her attention towards his phone. It lit up from a notification and she handed it to him without looking at what it was. He looked at it groaned and turned his phone off. Marina slowly got up from the couch and over to the restroom. She looked into the mirror and laughed at her reflection. Her laughter echoed in the restroom. Marina looked over at Seth who was angrily texting on his phone. Marina walked out of the restroom and to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to let Saraya know that I am okay," she fumbled over her words.

"Okay," Seth looked back down at his phone.

Marina slipped out of the room and walked down the hallway only to collide with the person she was looking for. Paige knocked Marina to the ground. After repeatedly apologizing, Paige helped Marina up and onto a crate. The two of them looked at each other before laughing profusely at what had just happened.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes," Marina brushed off the dust from her tights, "I'm fine it was just a bump."

"I meant your nose," Paige handed Marina the glasses that she wore out to the ring.

"Yeah," Marina placed the glasses on top of her head, "it should be fine. I was actually just going to come and talk to you."

"Thank god," Paige let out a sigh of relief, "I thought you'd be mad at me."

"It happens all the time and anyway," Marina assured the brit, "I've been through worse."

"What's on your mind?"

"Lopez has been acting weird tonight," Marina fiddled with her fishnets, "and not weird like normal."

"I noticed that," Paige added, pointing in the direction of catering, "he was on his phone a lot earlier before our match."

Marina took the tissue out of her nostril, "the only time he wasn't looking at his phone, was when he helped me."

Paige handed Marina another tissue, "I mean he's usually on his phone, but he seemed angry at something."

"I don't know," Marina unraveled her black tape, "I just wish he was easier to read. Maybe it's because I am approaching this like a new friendship or something, but the bastard is hard to understand."

"And you are usually pretty good at reading people," Paige looked down at Marina's wrists, "congrats on being 2 years clean."

Marina smiled, "thanks, it's been a journey, but I am enjoying falling in love with life again."

Paige and Marina continued to talk about life as they sat on the crates. Marina talked about how she had been dealing with her mental health and how she'd been getting to know Seth better. She really enjoyed talking to him and learning more about him. It had been such a long time since she opened up to someone about what she had been through. Eventually, Seth rounded the corner and found the two.

"There you are Collins," Seth leaned up against the crate, "we gotta leave soon."

"Okay," Marina turned to Paige and hugged her, "thanks for the talk."

Seth helped Marina off of the box and the two walked back to their dressing room. Marina walked behind Seth. Her head was spinning with questions and theories. She stopped in the middle of the hallway which caught Seth by surprise. He turned around and furrowed his brows.

"Mav?" Seth approached the brunette, "are you alright?"

Marina snapped herself out of it, "yeah sorry, I just have a lot on my mind."

"Okay," he slung his arm around her shoulder to help support her, "well, let's get out of here so you can rest."

"I'm fine," she shrugged him off, "let's just get out of here."

Marina let herself into the dressing room and Seth stood there confused in the hallway. He leaned against the wall and waited for Marina to finish gathering her things. Part of him worried that she was catching on to what he had gotten himself in to.