Post by Vespertine on Jul 21, 2022 20:27:05 GMT -5
Place: A doctor’s office somewhere in Daly City, Ca (the city below San Francisco, Ca.)
(We come up a doctor’s examination room. It has all the medical charts and the curtains and the medical terminology books and dates and calendars of a regular doctors room. The camera pans around and we see a woman in white coat and dressed in black pleated skirt,and a blue polo shirt. She has dark haired and is dark eyed. Her medical degrees and where she got them from can be seen on the wall behind her. One says: “UCLA School of Medicine”. Another one says “San Francisco University School of Medicine.”. She is currently examining Vespertine who is laying on the table in black panties and a black sports bra. She has on white bandages on her stomach and shoulder which indicates she took quite a beating at the last PPV. She lays straight on the table and as we watch the doctor untapes the bandage from her sides and stomach and probes them with his fingers. When she comes to a sore spot, Vespertine winces in pain. She puts both hands on her sides and feels some more. She comes upon what seems a very sore spot when she yelps a little bit.)
Doc: That hurts? More than the others?
V: Yes.
(she feels around and gently goes back to probe the same spot.)
Doc: I think I can feel it. Either your rib is broken or it is very bruised.
V: You don’t know?
Doc: Not until we take some X-rays.
V: What about feeling it right now?
Doc: Well you winced in other spots and you cried out in that one particular spot which tells me that maybe the rib is broken there.
(She takes her legs wand softly slowly exercises them and feels them up to her upper thigh down to her shins. She goes up and down her legs being careful not to feel in her private spots. Vespertine winces at some areas but is fine in others.)
Doc: What kind of match was it this time? Not another cage match or Hell in a Cell?
Ves: Well.... no. It was two regular matches, and one extreme match. I think it also has something to do with heat stroke and a scorpion sting.
Doc: Say what now? Where you when heat stroke happened?
Ves: Hiking in the middle of the Sonoran Desert. Triple digit heat but took plenty of water.
Doc: And you did this alone?
Ves: No. No. I was with my boyfriend. We had both wet down our outfits, I took a camelpack with water. We wet our head rags but for me, I guess it wasn't enough. We decided we wanted to hike a bit before we took in the festival.
Doc: Hmmmm.. And what's this about a scorpion?
Ves: Well when I collapsed from heat stroke, I wasn't watching where I was going and almost fell on a scorpion. The scorpion must not have liked the fact that I almost fell on it so it stung me for good measure.
Doc: Did you feel it?
Ves: I was stroking from heat and hallucinating. I felt a tiny prick but thought that was a side effect of heat stroke. Luckily for me, my boyfriend was there, saw it, and decided to carry me back the two miles to camp.
Doc: I swear your stories get more intriguing and scary every time you come in here. How far was the nearest town?
Ves: Not far. Wrestlestock, where I was supposed to wrestle was 2 miles away. We had hiked 10 miles out and 8 back when it happened. Wrestlestock had set up a emergency desert center for cases of heat stroke and exhaustion out in 100 degree temperatures. They had a standby on deck for venom related cases like mine. The last time that happened at Wrestlestock was over 10 years ago. They said almost all the venom was out of my system but I get these little twinges that makes me think that it's still in there.
Doc: Ok, before we get on to that. Tell me about your match.
V: Matches. As in three.
Doc: All regular.
Ves: First one yes. second one, definitely not. I had to wrestle a horror movie monster to get closer to a flag to even remotely get the chance to get the Chaos Division title. And then an extreme, fca, impromptu match. So, second match, phase 2, we were slipping on ice trying to get to a flag. I didn't win. Did you know ice is hard when you fall on it.
Doc: Yes. I did. But that would'nt cause your bruised ribs if just standing. So how did that happen to your ribs?
Ves: (sheepishly) I uh.... jumped off a rafter to land on the stomach of a woman that was laying on a picnic bench.
Doc: A wooden picnic bench? (Ves nods) In triple digit heat? (nods again) You know wrestling tables have give (nods again) Picnic benches don't.
Ves: I am aware of that now. I wasn't when I launched. I bounced off her stomach onto the seat onto the dirt. Plus it could've been the fall 25 feet from a 20 foot ladder.
Doc: What? How? What?
Ves: Third match. We set up a 20 foot ladder in the ring. From the ring to the floor was 5 feet. She tipped the ladder on me and I fell a good long way on to dirt ground below rolling and crashing into the barricade. Oh then there was the dog. I think his name was Cujo?
Doc: Same match?
Ves: No, one match before. It wasn't me battling the dog but he got distracted by me and I had to fend off both the chainsaw wielding baddie and the big bad dog. Oh, could've been my first match. I did a 650 splash into the ring and did a suicide plancha to outside it.
Doc: I swear to god, I'm always at a loss for words with what you put yourself though. Ves, I worry about how long you can last doing this. I’ve treated you now going on 10 years. In the past 6 I knew you wrestled and I have seen you at your worst. You even came in when your face was broken. You had all these different kind of matches but I never seen you this bad and never have I ever seen scorpion stings or heat stroke from wrestling. How many painkillers did you say you were currently taking?
V: 2 or 3 every 4 or 5 hours. For the venom, they IV drip lined me and then gave me blood thinners so I could wrestle in 2 days.
Doc: A normal person takes 2 painkillers twice a day. So after the scorpion sting, how long between that and when you started your first match.
V: It was two days. A day for the heat stroke effects to wear off but because I had heat stroke and then got stung, they put me on sedatives to rest for 2 days before my first match.
Doc: So why the blood thinners?
V: So usually when venom enters a victim's bloodstream, it takes from a few days to a week to get it all out. I didn't have that luxury. So the doc who was helping me, put me on blood thinners to make my blood go faster and get the venom out quicker. (she shrugs) I don't know the specifics, I'm not a doctor or a trainer. But I wanted to be in tip top shape for my first match.
Doc: Did you win?
V: Fortunately yes. Didn't my second round. But then I was also in the falls count anywhere Chaos division going through districts, horror movies, icy racetracks and dodging race cars and killer dogs and chainsaw wielding maniacs.
Doc: So... four matches altogether.
V: Yes. (counts on fingers, comes to a figure, nods, and grins) Maths. It's hard for me.
Doc: So it would seem.
(She puts her leg down gently and goes up to Vespertine's face and brings a flashlight out and inspects her eye. We can see it has a little bit of blood around the edges.)
Doc: Are you not sleeping well?
Ves: I haven't slept like that in years. Sedatives are very helpful.
Doc: Why do your eyes have a little blood around the edges?
Ves: OH! That's the itching I feel. Probably when I rolled around in the dirt, I got a little dirt in my eyes and can't seem to get it out. But I feel real good. So whenever they put up the next card. I'm there.
Doc Sharon Smith: Seriously? In your condition you want to wrestle so soon. Let's break it down: heat stroke, venom sting, wrestling on ice, dirt, and wood. Falling off a ladder, launching off a tent rafter, landing on a picnic table, sedatives, pain killers, IV drip lines. I think that covers it. You know, usually people say after that: "you know I'm going to slow down and maybe take a year off. You know from burnout."
(She goes to sit at the chair at her desk and writes some notes in it. Vespertine sits up and turns to hang her feet over the side of the exam table.)
V: I do, Sharon, ah Doctor Smith. I may not be 100% healthy but I can still perform. A little bleeding and some bruises are not enough to stop me. There are titles I want to go after, people I want to face, new moves I want to try in the ring.
Doc: Is that all you really care about? Isn't your life worth something? Isn't your career worth something?
V: Well this IS my career. I mean if you are asking if I care about my family or my friends or hobbies the answer is yes. I love my family. We aren’t close but I still love them. I love my babies, Kenji and Geisha. I love my friends J Chung, Kimmora, Lucy and Gail, I love my boyfriend, James. I love my bandmates and their significant others. But everyone has a career and this is mine. And you’ve been in sports medicine all your life. You know the risks athletes take when something is on the line. What’s the motto? No pain, no gain. If I don’t go out there and show them that after all I’ve been through at Wrestlestock that I can’t go out and perform again and go after a title if not a win, than you know how I’ll be viewed. As a failure. I don’t like failing. I'll be viewed as a weak little woman and I'm not. I'm really not.
(she winces in pain and holds her side when she gets worked up.)
Doc: Understood. But there are times when athletes such as yourself have to step back and view the situation differently. Even view the road differently. Maybe its not your time and the hospital trip was telling you that.
(Vespertine sighs and slumps her shoulders and from that she looks like she ages 100 years. She just looks at the doctor.)
V: Doc, how many times have you and I had this conversation. And every time I proved you wrong even after I had that triple threat buried alive match.
(she lays back on the table and puts her feet up.)
V: I have been doing this for 7 years now. I tell everyone that and I feel like I’m a broken record. I don’t think I should retire. I think my greatest moments in wrestling are not behind me, I think they are just beginning. I tell everyone how it feels like to have a title around your waist. how it feels to be the best, to be at the top of the totem pole, to have beaten everyone in a federation and come out with a title. To gain the respect and admiration from your peers because of what you do, how you perform and how well you stand toe to toe with the best of them or even show how far you are willing to go to get what you want. I'm not a quitter.
Doc: Soccer and football and volleyball are-
V: No, Dr. Smith. They aren’t the same. With those sports you get victories. Sure, you go all the way and get a championship but you’re with a team and with that team you have to share championships, titles and accolades, which means the trophy, the title or the accolade isn’t yours alone. In wrestling, the work is all you, there is no I in team, in fact there is no team and if you fail, you fail yourself. I hate failing. Means I didn’t do something right and because of that, everyone looks down on you. The whole locker room looks down you. People think you are worthless because you fail time after time. You don't get respect or admiration if you fail.
Doc: And look at you now. Do you call this failure? I would, but any more matches and weekends like that and you won’t have a career or a body left. (She pauses) Now, I need to take some X-rays and then I want you to spend overnight in the hospital to get some good much needed rest.
V: Doc, I can’t do that.
Doc: And why not?
V: Because I'm fine. I'm standing and walking. What didn't kill me, made me stronger. Plus I have a street race to get to in San Jose.
Doc: Uh, yeah, those are different muscles you use. Break and bruise those, and you may never come back. (puts up a hand) No! Don’t argue. I want you to go down to Radiology and get yourself checked, then go to the Seton Medical Foreign Substances Center across the street. There I want you to check in. Then and only then, you may go home. But rest. A lot. And long.
V: How long?
Doc: Say 2 or 3 days. I want you to get some rest. You look like your 85 years old and I know you are only 31. Wait here. I need to get the papers to fill out for the X rays.
(She gets up and goes out of the room. Ves lays on her back staring the ceiling talking to herself.)
V: I’m going to be somebody in UGWC. I have failed to make my mark upon this federation. It is time I started. Bandages or not, bruises or not. If I’m in pain and I look bad, I wonder how bad Elf or Caldwell is. I think she took the brunt of everything I threw at her. I don’t know though. I have to do something. That last match in the Chaos Division made me look like the laughingstock of UGWC. In my eyes what happened made me look like a failure. That’s not me. I’m NOT a failure. I AM a contender. I don’t want that pain I endured at Wrestlestock to go to waste. And whoever has that title or any title for that matter, when I get back, I will go right after them. They will feel death by diva and they will know what it means when I say: Dying is a day worth living for. Pain is not an option. I will get a title. I will be a legend in UGWC. I will become famous and I WILL make my mark on this federation. I WILL gain the respect from the roster.
(There is a knock on the door and a second or so later Dr.Smith comes in. She sits down at her desk and puts some finishing touches on the paper work. When she is done, she stands up and walks over to Vespertine. vespertine struggles to sit up on the bed and after a minute of doing that she finally gets up. Dr. Smith looks at her with a bemused expression on her face.)
V: Yes, I know. Get some rest.
(She jumps lightly onto the floor and slips on some flip flops to walk to the radiology room with. Ves stops and looks at her and again Dr. Smith is looking at her amused.)
V: What?
Doc: You gonna dress? Radiology is all the way across the hospital.
V: Sure. I guess. I mean I've been in front of people with a lot less on.
Doc: At least put a gown on or something. Here is the paperwork to get your X rays done. Good luck.
(she hobbles and limps to pick up her hoodie and yoga pants to put them on, grabs her purse and then goes for the door.)
V: Thank you doc.
Doc: Take care, Vespertine. I want you to get some rest and feel better. In a week, maybe we can continue the conversation.
(Vespertine goes out the door and closes it behind her.)
V (talking to herself) Yeah, I’m going to be back in wrestling sooner than you know.
(She smiles wickedly and turns the corner to the lobby area)
Date/Time: July 20th, 2022, 2PM
"Aftermath of a busy week and weekend."
(We come up a doctor’s examination room. It has all the medical charts and the curtains and the medical terminology books and dates and calendars of a regular doctors room. The camera pans around and we see a woman in white coat and dressed in black pleated skirt,and a blue polo shirt. She has dark haired and is dark eyed. Her medical degrees and where she got them from can be seen on the wall behind her. One says: “UCLA School of Medicine”. Another one says “San Francisco University School of Medicine.”. She is currently examining Vespertine who is laying on the table in black panties and a black sports bra. She has on white bandages on her stomach and shoulder which indicates she took quite a beating at the last PPV. She lays straight on the table and as we watch the doctor untapes the bandage from her sides and stomach and probes them with his fingers. When she comes to a sore spot, Vespertine winces in pain. She puts both hands on her sides and feels some more. She comes upon what seems a very sore spot when she yelps a little bit.)
Doc: That hurts? More than the others?
V: Yes.
(she feels around and gently goes back to probe the same spot.)
Doc: I think I can feel it. Either your rib is broken or it is very bruised.
V: You don’t know?
Doc: Not until we take some X-rays.
V: What about feeling it right now?
Doc: Well you winced in other spots and you cried out in that one particular spot which tells me that maybe the rib is broken there.
(She takes her legs wand softly slowly exercises them and feels them up to her upper thigh down to her shins. She goes up and down her legs being careful not to feel in her private spots. Vespertine winces at some areas but is fine in others.)
Doc: What kind of match was it this time? Not another cage match or Hell in a Cell?
Ves: Well.... no. It was two regular matches, and one extreme match. I think it also has something to do with heat stroke and a scorpion sting.
Doc: Say what now? Where you when heat stroke happened?
Ves: Hiking in the middle of the Sonoran Desert. Triple digit heat but took plenty of water.
Doc: And you did this alone?
Ves: No. No. I was with my boyfriend. We had both wet down our outfits, I took a camelpack with water. We wet our head rags but for me, I guess it wasn't enough. We decided we wanted to hike a bit before we took in the festival.
Doc: Hmmmm.. And what's this about a scorpion?
Ves: Well when I collapsed from heat stroke, I wasn't watching where I was going and almost fell on a scorpion. The scorpion must not have liked the fact that I almost fell on it so it stung me for good measure.
Doc: Did you feel it?
Ves: I was stroking from heat and hallucinating. I felt a tiny prick but thought that was a side effect of heat stroke. Luckily for me, my boyfriend was there, saw it, and decided to carry me back the two miles to camp.
Doc: I swear your stories get more intriguing and scary every time you come in here. How far was the nearest town?
Ves: Not far. Wrestlestock, where I was supposed to wrestle was 2 miles away. We had hiked 10 miles out and 8 back when it happened. Wrestlestock had set up a emergency desert center for cases of heat stroke and exhaustion out in 100 degree temperatures. They had a standby on deck for venom related cases like mine. The last time that happened at Wrestlestock was over 10 years ago. They said almost all the venom was out of my system but I get these little twinges that makes me think that it's still in there.
Doc: Ok, before we get on to that. Tell me about your match.
V: Matches. As in three.
Doc: All regular.
Ves: First one yes. second one, definitely not. I had to wrestle a horror movie monster to get closer to a flag to even remotely get the chance to get the Chaos Division title. And then an extreme, fca, impromptu match. So, second match, phase 2, we were slipping on ice trying to get to a flag. I didn't win. Did you know ice is hard when you fall on it.
Doc: Yes. I did. But that would'nt cause your bruised ribs if just standing. So how did that happen to your ribs?
Ves: (sheepishly) I uh.... jumped off a rafter to land on the stomach of a woman that was laying on a picnic bench.
Doc: A wooden picnic bench? (Ves nods) In triple digit heat? (nods again) You know wrestling tables have give (nods again) Picnic benches don't.
Ves: I am aware of that now. I wasn't when I launched. I bounced off her stomach onto the seat onto the dirt. Plus it could've been the fall 25 feet from a 20 foot ladder.
Doc: What? How? What?
Ves: Third match. We set up a 20 foot ladder in the ring. From the ring to the floor was 5 feet. She tipped the ladder on me and I fell a good long way on to dirt ground below rolling and crashing into the barricade. Oh then there was the dog. I think his name was Cujo?
Doc: Same match?
Ves: No, one match before. It wasn't me battling the dog but he got distracted by me and I had to fend off both the chainsaw wielding baddie and the big bad dog. Oh, could've been my first match. I did a 650 splash into the ring and did a suicide plancha to outside it.
Doc: I swear to god, I'm always at a loss for words with what you put yourself though. Ves, I worry about how long you can last doing this. I’ve treated you now going on 10 years. In the past 6 I knew you wrestled and I have seen you at your worst. You even came in when your face was broken. You had all these different kind of matches but I never seen you this bad and never have I ever seen scorpion stings or heat stroke from wrestling. How many painkillers did you say you were currently taking?
V: 2 or 3 every 4 or 5 hours. For the venom, they IV drip lined me and then gave me blood thinners so I could wrestle in 2 days.
Doc: A normal person takes 2 painkillers twice a day. So after the scorpion sting, how long between that and when you started your first match.
V: It was two days. A day for the heat stroke effects to wear off but because I had heat stroke and then got stung, they put me on sedatives to rest for 2 days before my first match.
Doc: So why the blood thinners?
V: So usually when venom enters a victim's bloodstream, it takes from a few days to a week to get it all out. I didn't have that luxury. So the doc who was helping me, put me on blood thinners to make my blood go faster and get the venom out quicker. (she shrugs) I don't know the specifics, I'm not a doctor or a trainer. But I wanted to be in tip top shape for my first match.
Doc: Did you win?
V: Fortunately yes. Didn't my second round. But then I was also in the falls count anywhere Chaos division going through districts, horror movies, icy racetracks and dodging race cars and killer dogs and chainsaw wielding maniacs.
Doc: So... four matches altogether.
V: Yes. (counts on fingers, comes to a figure, nods, and grins) Maths. It's hard for me.
Doc: So it would seem.
(She puts her leg down gently and goes up to Vespertine's face and brings a flashlight out and inspects her eye. We can see it has a little bit of blood around the edges.)
Doc: Are you not sleeping well?
Ves: I haven't slept like that in years. Sedatives are very helpful.
Doc: Why do your eyes have a little blood around the edges?
Ves: OH! That's the itching I feel. Probably when I rolled around in the dirt, I got a little dirt in my eyes and can't seem to get it out. But I feel real good. So whenever they put up the next card. I'm there.
Doc Sharon Smith: Seriously? In your condition you want to wrestle so soon. Let's break it down: heat stroke, venom sting, wrestling on ice, dirt, and wood. Falling off a ladder, launching off a tent rafter, landing on a picnic table, sedatives, pain killers, IV drip lines. I think that covers it. You know, usually people say after that: "you know I'm going to slow down and maybe take a year off. You know from burnout."
(She goes to sit at the chair at her desk and writes some notes in it. Vespertine sits up and turns to hang her feet over the side of the exam table.)
V: I do, Sharon, ah Doctor Smith. I may not be 100% healthy but I can still perform. A little bleeding and some bruises are not enough to stop me. There are titles I want to go after, people I want to face, new moves I want to try in the ring.
Doc: Is that all you really care about? Isn't your life worth something? Isn't your career worth something?
V: Well this IS my career. I mean if you are asking if I care about my family or my friends or hobbies the answer is yes. I love my family. We aren’t close but I still love them. I love my babies, Kenji and Geisha. I love my friends J Chung, Kimmora, Lucy and Gail, I love my boyfriend, James. I love my bandmates and their significant others. But everyone has a career and this is mine. And you’ve been in sports medicine all your life. You know the risks athletes take when something is on the line. What’s the motto? No pain, no gain. If I don’t go out there and show them that after all I’ve been through at Wrestlestock that I can’t go out and perform again and go after a title if not a win, than you know how I’ll be viewed. As a failure. I don’t like failing. I'll be viewed as a weak little woman and I'm not. I'm really not.
(she winces in pain and holds her side when she gets worked up.)
Doc: Understood. But there are times when athletes such as yourself have to step back and view the situation differently. Even view the road differently. Maybe its not your time and the hospital trip was telling you that.
(Vespertine sighs and slumps her shoulders and from that she looks like she ages 100 years. She just looks at the doctor.)
V: Doc, how many times have you and I had this conversation. And every time I proved you wrong even after I had that triple threat buried alive match.
(she lays back on the table and puts her feet up.)
V: I have been doing this for 7 years now. I tell everyone that and I feel like I’m a broken record. I don’t think I should retire. I think my greatest moments in wrestling are not behind me, I think they are just beginning. I tell everyone how it feels like to have a title around your waist. how it feels to be the best, to be at the top of the totem pole, to have beaten everyone in a federation and come out with a title. To gain the respect and admiration from your peers because of what you do, how you perform and how well you stand toe to toe with the best of them or even show how far you are willing to go to get what you want. I'm not a quitter.
Doc: Soccer and football and volleyball are-
V: No, Dr. Smith. They aren’t the same. With those sports you get victories. Sure, you go all the way and get a championship but you’re with a team and with that team you have to share championships, titles and accolades, which means the trophy, the title or the accolade isn’t yours alone. In wrestling, the work is all you, there is no I in team, in fact there is no team and if you fail, you fail yourself. I hate failing. Means I didn’t do something right and because of that, everyone looks down on you. The whole locker room looks down you. People think you are worthless because you fail time after time. You don't get respect or admiration if you fail.
Doc: And look at you now. Do you call this failure? I would, but any more matches and weekends like that and you won’t have a career or a body left. (She pauses) Now, I need to take some X-rays and then I want you to spend overnight in the hospital to get some good much needed rest.
V: Doc, I can’t do that.
Doc: And why not?
V: Because I'm fine. I'm standing and walking. What didn't kill me, made me stronger. Plus I have a street race to get to in San Jose.
Doc: Uh, yeah, those are different muscles you use. Break and bruise those, and you may never come back. (puts up a hand) No! Don’t argue. I want you to go down to Radiology and get yourself checked, then go to the Seton Medical Foreign Substances Center across the street. There I want you to check in. Then and only then, you may go home. But rest. A lot. And long.
V: How long?
Doc: Say 2 or 3 days. I want you to get some rest. You look like your 85 years old and I know you are only 31. Wait here. I need to get the papers to fill out for the X rays.
(She gets up and goes out of the room. Ves lays on her back staring the ceiling talking to herself.)
V: I’m going to be somebody in UGWC. I have failed to make my mark upon this federation. It is time I started. Bandages or not, bruises or not. If I’m in pain and I look bad, I wonder how bad Elf or Caldwell is. I think she took the brunt of everything I threw at her. I don’t know though. I have to do something. That last match in the Chaos Division made me look like the laughingstock of UGWC. In my eyes what happened made me look like a failure. That’s not me. I’m NOT a failure. I AM a contender. I don’t want that pain I endured at Wrestlestock to go to waste. And whoever has that title or any title for that matter, when I get back, I will go right after them. They will feel death by diva and they will know what it means when I say: Dying is a day worth living for. Pain is not an option. I will get a title. I will be a legend in UGWC. I will become famous and I WILL make my mark on this federation. I WILL gain the respect from the roster.
(There is a knock on the door and a second or so later Dr.Smith comes in. She sits down at her desk and puts some finishing touches on the paper work. When she is done, she stands up and walks over to Vespertine. vespertine struggles to sit up on the bed and after a minute of doing that she finally gets up. Dr. Smith looks at her with a bemused expression on her face.)
V: Yes, I know. Get some rest.
(She jumps lightly onto the floor and slips on some flip flops to walk to the radiology room with. Ves stops and looks at her and again Dr. Smith is looking at her amused.)
V: What?
Doc: You gonna dress? Radiology is all the way across the hospital.
V: Sure. I guess. I mean I've been in front of people with a lot less on.
Doc: At least put a gown on or something. Here is the paperwork to get your X rays done. Good luck.
(she hobbles and limps to pick up her hoodie and yoga pants to put them on, grabs her purse and then goes for the door.)
V: Thank you doc.
Doc: Take care, Vespertine. I want you to get some rest and feel better. In a week, maybe we can continue the conversation.
(Vespertine goes out the door and closes it behind her.)
V (talking to herself) Yeah, I’m going to be back in wrestling sooner than you know.
(She smiles wickedly and turns the corner to the lobby area)