A Hard Night's Rest [For Daaharu]

Carmen would never, in a million years, admit it out loud, but whenever she got some praise out of Lorenza, she valued it like a little treasure. Maybe because it was so rare to earn from the Tigress. In all her career, Carmen certainly never saw her compliment anyone else. Something about her approval was just so very satisfying, and she couldn't quite put a finger on it.

"Oh, you want me in the ring, again? Best two out of three?" Carmen put up a front, but she really didn't want to face Lorenza again - not in the ring, anyway. If it came down to a split twice, it would probably happen three times. They simply meshed together too well as fighters, and if there was a difference between them, it wasn't something a judge could tell from his booth, and it wouldn't show up in thirty minutes.

Still, though, she had to put up a front. No matter how much it was gnawing at her. "We'll see. And when it happens, I'll have all sorts of new things to batter you around with." She shook her head around, giving Lorenza a little burn from the friction.

She glanced Reiko's way, keeping her voice low, too, the vibrations rumbling both of their heads. Carmen had to steady her feet to keep from getting pushed back. "Depends on what she wants, doesn't it?"

Lorenza sort of surprised herself when she mentioned how, next time, the Dempsey Roll wouldnâ€t be effective against her. This second match was supposed to be the be-all, end-all for the two of them, the match that would settle all of their accounts. But it had been just as inconclusive as the first. While it had resolved a great deal for Lorenza, a whole new crop of introspective questions had grown up in its wake. Most of these questions she could probably handle just by talking with Carmen. But she still had an itch to get into the ring with Carmen again. Maybe…

“You could say best two out of three,” Lorenza replied. “But next time, itâ€ll be different. No split decision. Iâ€ll knock you the fuck out, Carmen!” In a way, they would have a clean slate again if they were to fight a third time. They each had one win by split decision, and neither meant too much—the decisions were so close that they were essentially draws.

Lorenza smirked and rubbed her forehead back and forth against Carmenâ€s, retaliating for the friction burn Carmen had given her by giving the Puerto Rican boxer one in retaliation. She glanced over at Reiko. The nurse seemed to have managed to regain some of her composure, now that the two boxers had been together for several minutes and were not yet beating each other to death. “Yeah, whatever she wants,” Lorenza agreed, looking back into Carmenâ€s eyes. “I say she wants me.”

"'I'll knock you the fuck out, Carmen!'" She was getting pretty good at her Lorenza Saldano impression, just the right bass in her voice, the necessary tone. "You keep saying that, over and over, but it's not like Dorothy and her ruby slippers, sorry to say. Maybe go to church, pray on it, because the only way you're knocking me out is with divine intervention."

She couldn't hide a little jump in her step when Lorenza confirmed there would be a next time, though. Shades of her same giddy smile from the promo were showing, she could feel some of the excitement building up. She didn't even know what the match would be or when they would have it, but she knew one thing without a doubt: It would be worth the wait.

She pulled back, rubbing her forehead as she turned to Reiko. Just like before, it would come down to a decision, a pivotal moment where they were both judged and found their victory in the hands of a single person making a call. "Well?"

Reiko had a soft smile as she walked over to Carmen, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You're a sweet girl, Ms. Rodriguez." Ah. Going on last names. Not a good sign. "Really." She leaned forward and gave her a peck on the cheek. "But..."

Reiko moved away and went over to Lorenza, pulling her in for a smoldering kiss, reaching around to caress her cleverly exposed backside. Carmen just signed, leaning back against the frame. "It was the ass shot, wasn't it? Should have led with that."

Carmenâ€s impression of her was amusing, Lorenza had to admit. It was pretty accurate, too, something which Lorenza attributed to the fact that their voices were not very different to begin with. She was just barely able to stifle a chortle as her rival mocked her words. “Yeah, yeah, I know. But you know what? You keep thinking it wonâ€t ever happen, because sometime it will, and wonâ€t you be surprised, hermana?”

She smirked as Carmen pulled away, then turned to Reiko to hear what the nurseâ€s decision would be. Lorenza honestly felt as if she had lost the war of words with Carmen—at the most, it was a wash. She watched Reiko walk over to Carmen, fully expecting the nurse to choose her. Lorenza prepared to accept her loss graciously. She was a little surprised, then, when Reikoâ€s lips only touched Carmenâ€s cheek, and the nurse turned around, approaching her, grabbing her shoulders, and giving her a long, hot kiss.

“Mmph,” Lorenza grunted, licking her lips as Reiko pulled away. She looked from the nurse to Carmen and back. She smiled.

Down the hall, there began an attention-grabbing electronic bleating. Reiko swiveled and looked up at the clock on the wall. Both its hands were pointing straight up. “Oh, gosh,” the nurse mumbled. She turned back to the two boxers. “Thatâ€s the end of my shift. The night shift will be coming in any minute now…” She looked from Lorenza to Carmen and back. “I could get in trouble if the two of you are up and about when she gets here. Youâ€re supposed to be resting. Would it be too much to ask if…”

Lorenza waved a hand. “No, no. I get it. Iâ€ll lay down.” She started back into her room, then winced as she took the first step. Something felt wrong there.

“Let me help you,” Reiko said, laying a hand on Lorenzaâ€s shoulder.

Lorenza looked into the nurseâ€s eyes, then glanced over to Carmen, leaning on the doorframe of her own room. “Help Carmen first,” Lorenza insisted, grabbing onto her own doorframe for support as the nurse went to help her rival.

Carmen watched as the two kissed, more than a little jealous. The fling she had with Kurohime was dynamite, but that was months ago and it could only tide her for so long. She needed a girl back in her life. Just...someone. A relationship would be great. She'd always wanted one back when she was boxing, and she thought wrestling would be just as demanding, but she'd come across plenty of wrestlers who had girlfriends. Boyfriends. A few even had both, it seemed. Why not her?

Carmen just stuck her tongue out as Lorenza glanced her way. "Whatever, I still say your kiss isn't anything to write home about."

As much as Carmen would have loved to debate the finer points of Lorenza's admittedly succulent lips, time was against them. Midnight came and with it, Reiko's shift was over, ending their game for the night...unless the night shift was just as frisky. Even if they were, though, Carmen was getting a bit tired. There were plenty of skirts to chase, no need to lose sleep over it.

She gave Lorenza a respectful nod as Reiko helped her back inside, easing her onto the bed. "Sorry." She gave a soft smile as Carmen made her way up and started to pull the covers up. "If it means anything, it was a tough choice."

"You don't have to explain anything." She closed her eyes as Reiko tucked her in like a little child at bedtime. "All's fair. If Lorenza can lose with grace, so can I." She opened a single eye, just to wink her way. "Take care of yourself getting home, Reiko."

"I will." She backed out, waving every step of the way. "And don't let me hear about you getting in trouble with the night shift, okay? Promise?"

"Promise." She closed her eye again and started to drift off...

Lorenza waited in the hallway, feeling the specter of much-needed sleep beginning to draw nearer and nearer to her. The last few hours had been exhausting. First, the match. Then, a restless hour or two being checked into the hospital and bandaged up. Finally, another exciting encounter with Carmen, one which resulted in quite the heart-pounding kiss between Lorenza and the nurse Reiko.

She was tired. Her eyelids felt heavy. She waited a little impatiently as Reiko settled Carmen in. When the nurse came back out into the hallway and helped Lorenza back into her room, though, the boxer was sure to put on a smile for the woman.

“Oof!” Lorenza grunted, as she fell back into her bed. Reiko would pull the covers up over her and tuck her in. Lorenza fidgeted, then looked up at Reiko curiously. “Hey…why did you choose me, eh?”

Reiko grinned and winked at her. “Oh…thatâ€s a secret,” she replied.

Lorenza paused for a second to consider that answer, then shook her head. “No, no,” she muttered. “No, I think I know. You are an ass girl, arenâ€t you? You really must be. I didnâ€t think you were one at the beginning of the night, but…” She smirked and shrugged. Reiko blushed a little, which made Lorenza laugh.

“Good night, Lorenza. Sleep well!” Reiko said, bending over to quickly peck Lorenza on the lips a second time. Then, just like that, she would head out the door, and she would be gone. In the end, her choice didnâ€t amount to much. Even though Lorenza had won, she hadnâ€t had any time to reap the spoils of her victory. Maybe, when she was healed, she could track Reiko down…but would it be worth it? Lorenza wasnâ€t sure.

Meanwhile, as Carmen and Lorenza were getting comfortable in their beds, the night shift nurse was just walking into the building…

The hospital was a strange place at night. Sleeping in a strange bed always was to begin with, but something about doing it there was just disturbing, and it wasn't doing wonders for Carmen's beauty sleep.

She would drift off,fade away, then wake up again after a few minutes. Each time, she would forget where she was for a few seconds, until her memory caught up and the cycle began anew. It wasn't comfortable. The angle was wrong. The silence bore into her like a drill. If she couldn't hook up with Reiko, her body's message was quite clear - get out. Now.

For what had to the fourth, maybe fifth time, Carmen sat up in her bed, awakening by the deafening quiet. Her nerves, probably, and her body was far too driven. Easy enough to take care of, though.

She reached over and hit the call button. She might as well get acquainted with the night shirt nurses, too. "Hello? Can you hear me on this?"

Despite the fact that she had won the contest over Reiko, Lorenza felt sort of like a loser. She had had Reiko to herself for all of two minutes before the nurse had had to go home for the evening. She got two kisses, and that was that. It had felt relatively anticlimactic following the epic battle which had preceded it. Now she was bored, and more than a little lonely.

Well, there was nothing to do except sleep. Not that it would be easy in this cold, sterile hospital, even if she was dead tired following the dayâ€s exhausting events. Lorenza would settle down into bed, take a deep breath, and close her eyes, ready for a restless night of sleep. As she began to drift off, she wondered whether Carmen was having as much trouble sleeping as she was.

Meanwhile, at the nurseâ€s station towards the front of the wing of the hospital, a soft buzzer sounded, followed by Carmenâ€s voice, crackling slightly through the intercom system. Nadya Zolnerowich, the only nurse on duty for the night shift on this particular evening, glanced down, paused for a second, then hit the button on the desk that opened the channel. “Yes,” she replied slowly. “I can hear you.”

Carmen was more than a little surprised when what sounded like a Russian voice called back to her. The AFW was pretty multicultural, obviously, but outside she rarely saw too many foreigners - at least not ones holding down steady jobs. This one sounded like she was a long, long ways from home.

"Uh, yeah." She reached over and started picking apart her sandwich. "Having some trouble getting to sleep, over here - you guys got any medicine I could take? Nyquil, stuff like that?"

She still hated asking for help like this, but she figured it was time to get over it. This was what her insurance paid for, after all. Might as well get the most out of it.

Nadya tapped her fingers on the desk, the wheels in her head turning as the patient on the other end of the intercom connection explained her problem and asked about medicine. Judging by the womanâ€s accent, she was a Spanish speaker—Nadya was not knowledgeable enough to discern which country she might have come from. If her mastery of English was any indication, she might be a naturalized American. Nadya didnâ€t know. Actually, she didnâ€t really care, either. All she needed to know was whether or not the woman was the sort of patient she enjoyed.

“Ve have medicine, yes,” Nadya replied. “Nyquil, you say. Something like that. I will bring it to you.” Nadya stood up from behind the desk. As she headed towards the main medicine cabinet in one of the backrooms inaccessible to patients, she passed by the outgoing Reiko, who smiled and waved familiarly to Nadya.

“Have a good night,” Reiko said as they passed.

Nadya nodded to the Japanese nurse in recognition. After they passed each other, she would look over her shoulder at her coworker. Reiko was cute, but Nadya had never tried anything with her. She knew that the risks of such an action far outweighed the benefits.

A few minutes later, she would enter Carmenâ€s room carrying several small white pills in one hand and a glass of water in the other. She set them down on the table beside the bed, looking down with serious red eyes on the boxer. “Are you feeling bad?” she asked.