Page 57 of Protecting Jess

The doctor smiled at her sympathetically. “As I said, it could be sooner, but there was some damage to the muscle and tendons. That’s going to take some time to heal. It depends on how much work you put in as well. If you do the work, you could be back dancing in less than nine months.”

Nine months was too long. Even three months was too much for Jess. She loved her career. Dance was a part of her soul. She’d been dancing since before he met her when she was eight.

Not to mention, Jess said she’d just been promoted to lead dancer. Her being away from the company for a considerable length of time could be the death knell of her career. No way would they wait for her to get better.

“We’ll get you sitting up in a couple of hours, and then tomorrow, you can meet with a physical therapist and sort out a plan. You won’t be able to start any type of therapy until the damage from the knife wound is healed.”

Jess nodded, but her throat bobbed up and down, as though she was holding back the tears he could see shining in her eyes.

The doctor gave her uninjured arm a squeeze before walking out.

Finn was at her side a heartbeat later, leaning down to hold her. Her body shook as the sobs she’d been holding back burst out.

There was nothing he could say that would make her feel better. Or make the situation better. He wasn’t the one whose career was disintegrating in front of them.

Slowly, her sobs quieted down until only the occasional shudder wracked her small frame.

God, Finn wished he’d been with her. He would’ve seen the person coming at her. Would’ve seen the malicious intent in their eyes, and he could have prevented this from ever happening to her.

God complex much? Get over yourself, Spelling.

His inner voice sounded like one of the former SEALs who’d been part of his BUD/S training. A tough man, but at the end of the day, he’d been proud that Finn had gotten through Hell Week. He’d been right to yell at him to make Finn dig deep to get through the torture of his training.

How arrogant of him to think that he could’ve prevented this? It might’ve been him who’d been stabbed. No amount of training made him invincible. What Finn had to do now was provide Jess with the support she needed to get through her recovery and physical therapy.

“I’m sorry, popsicle.” He leaned back and brushed his thumb over the tear tracks down her cheek.

“Everything was falling into place. I was going to be the lead dancer. I was going to have everything I’ve trained for, and now it’s going to be ripped away. Given to someone else. Why does this always happen to me?” Jess’s face was red and her slight form shaking from the emotion she was holding in.

To some people, it might sound like she was having a massive pity party, but Finn understood what this opportunity had meant to her. Who was he to judge how Jess reacted in this moment?

“I don’t know. But I will get to the bottom of it.” In all the chaos of finding out about Jess and getting to her side as soon as possible, he hadn’t thought about the next steps.

He needed to call Tex and ask if he could use his skills to tap into camera feeds around the wine bar.

“You’re going to have to talk to the police. There’s no way you can’t. A detective was here earlier and asked me to call him when you woke up.”

“I know, but maybe tomorrow. I’m still so tired.” Jess’s eyes drifted shut, but then snapped open again. “Oh my God...Kaley! Where is she?”

Finn grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “She’s fine. She’s with Oak. He came to the hospital. He insisted on taking her home, because she was hanging by a thread. I’ll message him and let him know that you’re awake and Kaley can come and see you. I don’t think the nurse will allow many visitors tonight.” He finished with a wink, hoping to lighten the situation.

A small smile ghosted over Jess’s face. “Yeah, the nurse was a bit of a tyrant. And that sounds good about Kaley. I hope she doesn’t have nightmares about what happened to me. I couldn’t bear it if she did.”

“I think Oak will stay with her. He’s a good one.”

“If he’s like you, then yes, he is.” She shifted and winced. “I wonder if the tyrant nurse will come back and give me some pain meds.”

“I’m sure if you sweet-talk her, she will.”

She laughed, then grimaced. “Damn. Even laughing hurts.”

“It will get better.”

“I know. I just don’t have the time to be sidelined for so long. I may as well kiss my career goodbye.”

“No. I’m not going to let you think that. You’re going to come back from this far stronger than you were before,” Finn said.

“I hope so.”

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