Beep. Beep. Beep
A voice. It belongs to Gravedigger.
“I fell into it. It wasn’t a choice of mine; I didn’t run away from home or succumb to desires and urges that led me astray.
I wasn’t the only one who fell into it. Others did too.”
“We’re going to need to intubate him. He’s drowning in his own blood.”
“I was drowning in it for the longest time. You know? Every now and again, it’d pull me under. Those days when I was cold and hungry; sometimes I’d long for those days. The days when I was being abused and beaten, I’d never have wished them on anyone. It begs the question, doesn’t it? Why would I do that to your mom?
Because I had to. Don’t you get it, CJ? I had to.”
Beep. Beep. Beep
“He has a stable rhythm. We’ll see how the damage is when he wakes up.”
“It’s all I’ve known for as long as I’ve known anything. Whenever someone else would enter my world, I’d do whatever it took to survive. Sometimes, to stop myself from drowning, I’d grasp on to them and stay afloat.
Other times, I’d pull them under and tread them down, just so I wouldn’t drown. In many ways, that’s why I brutalised your mother, CJ.
Because deep down in my heart, I’m afraid that what’s beneath me will give way and I’ll start floundering once again.”
Beep. Beep. Beep
“We’ll just need to wait for him to wake up.”
“But it wasn’t for naught; it was never for naught. All those people who entered my world of terror, they all drowned. They all fell to the wayside, their bodies counted on my soul as recognition of what I needed to do to survive.
And I did. I survived.
I kept treading that water, time and time again, fiercely slamming my feet into it with as much might as I could muster. Every time something came my way, whether abuse, pain, torment or hunger, I bit down as hard as I could and fought.”
Gravediggers voice trails off a little bit. It weakens.
“Eventually, I turned that water into ice, CJ. I created a foundation for myself to be able to climb out of whatever mess I fell into.
At Bad Blood, I can see the exit of my horror and the entry to something new; something better. That OSW World Heavyweight Championship will make every body on my conscience, including your mothers, make sense.
I’ve spent my entire life struggling. I’ve spent my entire life turning water into ice so that I could escape this life I fell into. Your life will be another causality of my survival. That Championship will be the culmination of everything I’ve done to get there. Every soul I’ve taken. Every person I’ve drowned so that I wouldn’t have to. You may have put me back under water momentarily.. drowning in my own blood..”
Gasp.
Suddenly, Gravedigger awakens in the hospital. His head is bandaged, and his heart is pounding. Tombstone sits by his bedside.
He looks at the machine that beeps beside him and smiles.
“But I’m not drowning anymore.”