Page 55 of Protecting Jess

She gathered that strength close and took a deep breath, ready to reveal everything that had happened to her, and not just recent events. “I was at the wine bar with Kaley. We were sitting outside. The table was close to the barrier. We were celebrating my promotion to principal dancer at Baxter. Kaley went inside to get some more drinks and I was reading through the email again, looking at the contract. I wasn’t paying much attention to what was going on around me. Next thing I know, there’s a searing pain in my shoulder. I think it was more shock than anything that had me passing out. I woke up briefly in the ER, but they took me to surgery. Now here I am, and you’re here.”

Her mom was now gripping her dad’s bicep, the whites of her knuckles showing. “Who would do such a thing? And why?” she whispered.

“You were made principal dancer?” Finn asked at the same time.

Jess nodded as a wave of weariness swept over her. “I was.”

Dad pressed his lips to her cheek. “Sleep, sweetheart. We’ll be here when you wake up.”

This time, she couldn’t even nod. She just let her eyes drift shut and she floated into a dreamless sleep.

Eighteen

Finn stood a few feet away, letting Slick and Aunt Poppy stay by Jess’s side. So far, they hadn’t asked him what he was doing with Jess and why it had been him calling them and not someone else.

There was no way they’d missed how he’d been clutching her hand when they’d rushed into her room. Nor the way he’d kissed her forehead when Jess first regained consciousness.

It was as though they accepted his presence in Jess’s room.

A light tap sounded, and the door opened.

“Mom? Dad?” As Finn had suspected, his parents had made the trip as well. Not only would they have been there for Jess, but they would’ve also been there for him, Aunt Poppy, and Slick.

His mom rushed over, her glitter eyeliner catching the overhead light.

He smiled in spite of the worry still deep in his whole body. The day Cerise Spelling stopped wearing anything glitter related was a day he didn’t want to think about.

“Honey!” She wrapped him up in a tight hug, and he returned it, squeezing her tightly.

His dad clapped a hand on his shoulder, and he sighed, not realizing how much he needed his parents. How much he missed them.

Finn pulled away from his mom’s hold and took a step back. Immediately, his dad was at her side, tucking her close to him.

“What are you guys doing here?” he asked.

“You didn’t think we wouldn’t come and have you go through this alone, did you?” his mom admonished. “When we arranged for the jet for Poppy, Slick and the kids, we arranged one for your father, sister and I, too.”

“I can’t believe you’re here, Cerise, but I’m glad.” Aunt Poppy smiled, her eyes glistening with tears. “You left Primmy with Sawyer and Paula in the waiting room?”

“Yep, they’re sitting with Jess and Finn’s friends.”

Finn had no doubt that Oak and Kaley would make sure his sister and Jess’s brother and sister didn’t get into any trouble. Knowing Oak he was probably at the vending machine getting them food and drinks.

“You’re all too loud,” Jess mumbled, but clear enough for everyone in the room to understand.

“Sorry, sweetie. How are you?” His mom rushed over to her side and went straight into nurse mode, looking at the IV drip while her fingers wrapped around Jess’s wrist, checking her pulse.

“Sore,” Jess responded, her gaze searching the room until it locked on his.

In two strides, Finn was at her side, his hand clutching at the one his mom was still holding.

“How sore? What’s your pain level on a scale of one being bearable to ten, being unbearable?” Seemed he couldn’t take his medical training out of him, either.

Chuckles sounded and he looked up to find everyone in the room smiling indulgently.

“What? It’s not like y’all weren’t thinking the same thing since everyone, apart from Aunt Poppy, has had some sort of medical training.”

His mom was a nurse, his dad a former paramedic, and now a volunteer firefighter. Slick had been a firefighter for years before switching to being part of the firefighter academy, and he would’ve done medical courses over the years as well.

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