A few days later…

"Just one at a time." Finn says, carefully guiding Amanda to the couch as Bayley, the Doctor, Elmira, Sami, Joe, Enzo and Cass followed them into the apartment.

"Tiny, you okay?" Enzo asks.

"Enzo, that's the millionth time you've asked me. If I wasn't okay, they wouldn't have let me leave the hospital." Amanda says once she was on the couch.

"Yeah, I think we're gonna drive her mad." Enzo says, Finn taking Amanda upstairs.

Amanda looked in the mirror in the room, hesitating a bit as she reached for the bandages over her eye and nose even though she had been given the okay to take them off sometimes.

"What if I look in that mirror and see myself as a monster?" Amanda asks quietly, remembering the aftermath of Joey Mercury's injury from Armageddon 2006 as Finn rubbed his left hand up and down her back.

"You're not a monster, Mandy. You never could be." Finn says in a comforting tone.

Amanda carefully pulled the bandages off… and looked up, the reddish purple bruise taking up half of her face but her nose wasn't bent and her eye was held together.

"See? The bruises will fade… you're still the same beautiful girl." Finn says, Amanda smiling slightly.

"You always know what to say to make me feel better…" Amanda says as the two hugged.

After getting cleaned off, Amanda was once again in pajamas and sat down next to Finn as the Doctor checked on them.

"Hey… everyone going stir crazy?" Amanda says, giving the Doctor a slightly lopsided smile.

"About you, always." The Doctor says.

"They usually do… whenever one of us gets hurt." Amanda says, lightly rubbing the right side of her mouth when it ached.

Downstairs, Elmira was struggling to stay awake as she saw the worried look on Sami's face.

"She seems to be holding up okay… but what if that's just an act? What if she's not letting us see how she's really feeling? I did that after my shoulder injury." Sami says.

"Processing it takes time… she seems to be holding up okay." Elmira says before the Doctor, Finn and Amanda headed downstairs, Sami and Amanda hugging.

Amanda dozed off later, Finn lightly brushing her hair away from her face and once again seeing the bruises that matched Joe's fist, which made his anger towards Joe resurface… but he wouldn't act on it and rubbed Amanda's right side when she stirred fitfully in her sleep before seeing a text from his brother Conor.

'Saw what happened. How's your friend holding up?'

'She's asleep now… she seems to be holding up okay so far.' Finn replied.

'I'm surprised she was conscious after that punch. You didn't go and kill him, did you?' Conor replies.

'I'm sorely tempted to… she's so damn little, he could've seriously hurt her.' Finn replied, Amanda's sleepy eyes looking at him.

"Conor saw it happen?" Amanda asks through a sleepy yawn, sitting up after Finn locked his right arm around her back.

Amanda curled up closer to Finn, who brought his left arm around her too after her arms instinctively wrapped around him.

"Yes… and he's wondering if I've gone and killed Joe." Finn says, kissing Amanda on her forehead before they stretched out on the couch.

"After what happened… I can't blame him for wondering that." Amanda says as she turned to where she was on her left side, Finn's arms wrapping around her and him holding her to his side.

The two talked for a bit after Amanda started to relax more, Amanda stretching her right leg out and lining it up with Finn's left leg after he rested his left hand on her right side and the two letting quiet laughs out at their actions as his hand rested on her lower back.

She didn't mind it… she was used to Seth as well as other male friends like Enzo and Baron touching her like that, every friendship in this business had a certain intimacy to it.

Amanda had fallen asleep at some point… and Finn took her upstairs, tucking her into his bed.

Finn stretched out next to Amanda, brushing her hair out of her face.

'Joe went too far… could've killed her if he had hit her harder.' Finn thought, closing his sleepy blue eyes after a while.

Amanda's perspective…

"Get off of him, Joe! Stop, you'll kill him!" I yell, trying to pry Joe off of Finn… I somehow manage to but that's when Joe hits me.

And it doesn't stop at one… he's hitting me repeatedly even as I'm on the ground and screaming, frantically trying to protect my head… I don't want another head injury or seizure happening to me.

"Let him choke you like you're tied to his headboard, think you can get away with that?! You killed what's left of your innocence, Mandy!" Joe yelled, him being pulled off of me by a bruised and bleeding Finn, who crouches down and presses his forehead to mine, his hands cupping my face like he usually does.

Joe isn't done yet though… but before I can warn Finn, both of our heads are smacked together and we lose consciousness...

"Mandy… Mandy, it's okay!"

My eyes snap open, tears trailing down my face and my heart beating too fast… before I nestle my head into Finn's torso and let it out, his hand rubbing up and down my back.

"Shh… it's okay, it's okay, let it all out." Finn whispers, kissing the top of my head as his arms wrapped around me and we hang onto each other.

I was reliving it… but it wasn't just one punch in my nightmare, there were countless of them… and then Joe turned his rage onto Finn.

That's what scared me the most, thinking that Joe was gonna kill him for that… I'm still shaking when I tilt my head up and look at Finn, who brushes my tears away.

"I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere, Mandy… you're safe. It's not happening again." Finn whispered as my head settled back onto his torso and I hear his heart beating strongly under the skin.

There was a time when I wouldn't wake up screaming from a nightmare… but it seems like it was a lifetime ago.