As much as I wish otherwise, I do not own John Cena or any other entity associated with WWE. I can only claim property rights of OC.

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This is just great! First his shoulder fell apart, now his hearing was going. He was pretty sure he hadn't just heard the words, "This shirt has got to come off." The words echoed in his brain. He turned his head slightly, looking at Abby. She stood there, still as a statue, waiting. When he didn't respond Abby nodded slightly. "I know it's uncomfortable but I really should get a look at that shoulder. " Uncomfortable? Hell, he paraded around half-dressed nearly 300 days a year! He couldn't count the number of matches he'd had shirtless. All of a sudden he was worried about pulling the blue cotton over his head? That didn't make sense. John whipped the shirt over his head and let it drop to his side.

Abby took a step closer. She reached toward him, fingertips barely coming into contact. She ran her finger along the puckered line of the scar. Each pass pressed a little more firmly than the last. John forced himself to be still as she placed her left hand on the back of his shoulder and pressed the heel of her right hand against the front. John tried not to jump out of his skin at the contact. Her touch was gentle, her hands softer than anything the could think of. He kept his eyes focused on the wall in front of him, noticing again the pink roses. He counted them slowly as Abby continue to press her hands to his shoulder. Exactly 13 roses. He knew for sure because he had counted them twice.

"Resist me"

DO WHAT????? John bolted from the table as if he had been burned. Abby's eyes were round with surprise. They stood there, staring at each other for a heartbeat.

"I'm so sorry!" Abby's hand reached toward him again. "You should have told me it was too painful" John couldn't catch his breath! Holy shit! She seriously thought she had hurt him. Well, she had caused him pain but it sure as hell wasn't by pressing on the shoulder. John shook his head slowly. Vince had been right all along. Coming here had been a mistake! A REALLY HUGE MISTAKE!

"Look, I appreciate you trying to help but it's not going to work." The words tasted bitter as he said them. "I thought this was a good thing but ..." John reached for his shirt and jerked it over his head. He heard himself sputtering like an idiot as he turned toward the door.

Abby waited until he was almost to the door before she spoke, "We can make this better. Your shoulder, I mean. If you want your life back, we can do this"

Damn!!! She went there – straight to the heart. She said the only words he had wanted to hear for so long. Somebody was willing to help get his life back together. How could he just walk out now? She didn't mean to be so damned attractive. Maybe this would get easier in time.

Abby took a step toward him and smiled. "I really think I can help you." She nodded and motioned for him to come back into the room. "There is a considerable amount of scar tissue and that's what's keeping your range so limited. You would have benefited from more intense therapy post surgery." John leaned back against the table and let her continue. "There really isn't a way to reduce the AMOUNT of scarring but we can work on making the tissue more pliable. With the right combination of exercises and retraining, you'll be back to where you were in a few months, nine months tops."

John's eyes locked on hers. Months to recovery? Not years? Not "indefinite"? "Are you serious?"

Abby nodded "I'm not going to lie to you. It's going to be painful and it's going to take a lot of commitment but I feel really good about this."