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Posted by Jeremy Branson
on August 28, 2026, 11:20 am
Blacksburge, VA – LewisGale Hospital Montgomery – The Morning After Art of War
His consciousness awoke first. He was aware that he’d been asleep, but struggled to open his eyes that had evidently crusted shut. His hand raised to his face rubbing crumbs from the corners of my eyes, but he felt constricted. He took a breath in filling his lungs with air, then swallowed wincing at the dryness of his throat. Suddenly he felt all the sensations of his body slowly awakening. Tingles and numbness turned into dull aches and throbs. Beeps and boops echoed around him, alongside the patter of footsteps, and the sounds of muffled speech.
The room was dim as he opened his eyes, the fluorescent lights of the hallway just outside still too bright and he shut his eyes again. The initial tingles turned to increasing soreness, numbness turned into hammering stabs of pain. He then remembered coming to the hospital….flashes blasted in his mind…
“Mr. Branson, remain calm!”
“He’s going to hurt himself!”
“We’re going to have to sedate him!”
Everything after did not exist in his memory. What remained was the realization of why he was here, and alone in this room, in this relatively quiet place he was forced to face what happened last night. He remembered Matt reaching ringside and is screaming his name, slamming his hand against the acrylic structure. He remembered the crowd cheering him and as Maniac grabbed him up and send him to the mat with a third “Fatality.” He wasn’t sure he felt it though. As he lay there he saw Matt frantic on the outside, and heard the cracking sounds as he bashed the vent of the structure with a steel chair. The crowd went ballistic when he got inside and he knew from the sounds and the bounce of the canvas that Matt was tearing Maniac apart.
He remembers sitting up seeing Matt’s chest heave, and sweat drip and seeing a bloodied Maniac on the mat. Matt looked at him and he took his hand helping him up in his daze. They stand there for a moment, staring into one another’s eyes until Matt took him by the head and planted a kiss on him thumb tacks, blood, sweat and all. He was riddled with cuts, and thumbtacks pierced his skin all over but he felt nothing but Matt’s love. His firm but delicate tongue dancing with his.
When they pulled apart he knew they were one, one body, one mind, and together they would end the nightmare that Maniac had started. Matt grabbed Maniac by the arm and dragged him to the center of the ring and pulled him up holding his arms behind him. His leg dangles loose beneath him, only standing by Matts grip on him. He looked pathetic and weak, was finally getting what he deserved but he wasn’t finished with him.
He still raged at Maniac. He still wanted him to feel just a portion of the suffering he’d caused and he looked at him then reached down grabbing a handful of thumbtacks before grabbing him by the hair as hard as he could and rammed them into his mouth. Maniac gagged and tried to spit but he nearly shoved his whole hand in his mouth. He felt Maniac’s teeth scrape and tear at the skin on his hand but he didn’t care. Then he punched him hard in the stomach forcing him to swallow. He told him “Choke on your fuking career!”
Maniac choked, blood spewing from his mouth and the crowd was still chanting “Holy Shit” as he grabbed him and hit him with his “Cranial Constellation." Matt looks at him again and told him “You’ve earned this babe…this is your moment!” He kisses him once and gestured to Maniac on the mat. He remembered the love and pride in Matt’s face then turned to Maniac for the pin and then there was pain. His body had seized as if in a delayed reaction and he looked down to see a foot between his legs. Someone ripped at his arm and shoved something in his mouth. The his hair was yanked hard and all he remembered then was watching the arena turn upside down as he was flipped in the air and hit the mat.
He didn’t know how much time had passed, but he heard Maniac’s music playing when he came around. He wasn’t even sure where he was but there was a guy in a EMT uniform kneeling over him saying something about…. “slow” and “don’t rush!” He was too disoriented to understand, he just wanted Matt. He needed Matt. He was wondering where Matt was, everything would be ok, if he could just get to Matt. He didn’t want this man’s help, he wanted Matt and he tried to sit up but his neck was in so much pain trailing down his back he couldn’t move. A numbness had shot down through his arm he couldn’t explain and he remembered calling out for Matt. he
There was the guy again, putting something on his neck, and guiding him back into a prone position telling him don’t move and something about lots of blood being loss. He remembered calling out for Matt again and as the adrenaline wore off he began to feel all of the underlying conditions his body was in. He felt hundreds of pricks across his body, the numbness in his neck, his aching scrotum. It was starting to come back to him. He was here…in the ring. It was Art of War and he was fighting Maniac. Matt came and helped beat the shit out of him and then………..and then……….and then…….
He turned his head and saw his armband on the mat. It’s been ripped from his arm and torn in half. He was still confused and wondering where Matt was as he reached for the armband and the moment he touched it, it was like a magic spell had awakened his conscious. He knew. He knew who kicked him in the groin. He knew who ripped the armband off and shoved it in his mouth. He knew who grabbing him so hard by the hair he had to have some missing. He knew who turned him inside out and crushed him into the canvas. He knew it was Matt.
Fresh tears instantly blurred his vision as he sat up, suddenly his physical pain completely disappearing behind an overwhelming and unimaginable depth of despair. He pulled an IV line from his arm and swatted the IV stand. The metal pole clanged to the floor drawing immediate attention as two nurses rushed into the room.
(Nurse #1): Oh My God!
(Nurse #2): I’ll get Dr. Peterson.
One nurse darted from the room, the other hand her hands up relaxed and calm in front her.
(Nurse #1): Mr. Branson, please…you have to stay in bed.
He could hear her, but couldn’t even see her. His vision was as if he were looking through a waterfall. His chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath and then an agonizing wail burst from his chest as he hit the floor to his knees. If he could see her, he’d see the look of empathy on her face. Her heart ached for him. He’d been the talk of the hospital since he came in last night and they all wanted to do everything the could for him. The floor was cold but he didn’t care. His body, his mind was so agitated he felt as if he were about to explode. Then another voice, a familiar voiced pierced the space.
(??????): What the…..?
Sarah Callahan stood in the doorway of his room, seeing the scene unfold before her and quickly connecting the dots.
(Sarah): Move!
She brushed past the nurse and dropped to her knees right alongside Jeremy and grabbed him in her arms.
(Sarah): I know…….I know baby boy…..I know….I know…..
She cradled and rocked him as he moaned like a little child. Drool dripped from his open mouth as he struggled to find words.
(Jeremy): It hurts!
Sarah buried her face into his shoulder so he couldn’t see her cry. Her tears running down her face onto the back of his hospital gown.
(Sarah): I know!
The nurse stepped back, and as the doctor came to the room he too saw the scenario before him and gestured to his team that they’d give them a moment. Jeremy just wailed, his entire world turned upside down as the scene fades to black.
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