October 2, 2007

John cringed as he felt the needle slide beneath his skin. While he had never been the type to complain about pain, he hadn't prepared for the stinging sensation. In fact, he never had an IV in his arm and now, at thirty years old, it marked the first occasion.

Oh, goody.

"Mr. Cena," a blonde nurse in her late forties smiled at him as she placed medical tape over his wrist where the needle met his skin.

He looked up at her with cloudy blue eyes.

"Dr. Andrews will be in to speak with you in a few minutes. Afterwards, we're going to give you the anesthesia and you'll be in surgery a short while later," she explained.

"Thanks," he nodded as she left the room.

The last time he had a surgery explained to him, it was Jessica's back in 2005 and he remembered just how much hell had followed.

John shook his head at the thought and looked down at his left hand, where he was hooked up to the IV.

A lot had changed since then.

"John," Dr. Andrews addressed him as he entered the room. "Long time no see. You remember what we talked about yesterday. I can't say that I'll give you a six-pack of beer in your IV to knock you out, I'll need more than that. I think we'll put in a keg. You're definitely a heavier drinker than your girlfriend."

"Dr. Andrews…" John shook his head. "She's not my girlfriend anymore."

"Right, sorry," he apologized. "It's hard to get used to."

"Tell me about it," John snorted.

"Anyway, we'll get that keg of beer in your IV and then I'll see you later, alright?"

"Sure," John replied with a nod and watched as the doctor retreated from the room.

*

Slowly, the beeping of his heart monitor crept back into his mind, followed by the rest of the sounds in the room.

He felt dizzy. He felt weak. He felt numb.

Someone was holding onto his hand, but in his weary state, he chalked it up to a nurse taking his pulse.

"Maybe they did put a keg of beer in my IV," he mused groggily, his eyes still struggling to open as he caught a flash of caramel hair.

"I think that would bring your blood to an alcohol level that would put even Amy Winehouse to shame… then again, that's probably anatomically impossible, seeing as you'd kill yourself before you ever came to realize it."

John's eyes finally pried themselves open and he stared up into a pair of hazel eyes.

"Jessica?"

Noticing his vision was still blurry, she smiled warmly, "Yeah. It's me."

"How…?" he asked her, confusion in his sapphire eyes.

"Doesn't matter," Jessica shook her head simply and gave his hand a light squeeze. "All that matters is that I'm here, right?"

"I just… I just didn't think you'd be here," he shrugged and stared down at their intertwined fingers. "I mean, you were in Australia."

"John," she shook her head lightly, her loose blonde waves swaying with her, "Did you really think that when I heard, I wouldn't come running."

"I don't know. I guess," he replied, still looking down at his right hand, firmly within her left.

"You guessed wrong," she arched an eyebrow at him.

"How was your flight?" John asked her, finally looking up and making eye contact.

She sighed, "Long."

"How long?"

"Put it this way," Jessica began with a laugh, "From the time you arrived in Birmingham on Tuesday morning, until you went into surgery three and a half hours ago, I was in the air."

"That's a long time," he chuckled lightly and looked back down again.

For a few moments, they sat there in complete silence. The truth was that they hadn't seen each other in a month and there were so many words dancing on their tongues, waiting to be spoken, but a hospital room was not the place to do so.

John ran his thumb lightly over the diamond band of her left finger.

"John, I…"

"You know," he cut her off. "I don't think that I ever truly understood the commitment that went along with this ring. Well, until today, anyway."

"I really wanted you to be there, John…"

"Me too," he nodded. "Your father just really needed me this month, the whole angle with my dad and all."

"I understand," Jessica nodded, as well. "If anyone understands that, it's me. I just wanted to tell you that it's okay. It's okay for you to have priorities, John. I just had to go away for a little while, take a break. I mean, how long have I been wrestling non-stop…"

John shook his head, "No, Jess. This isn't the time or place. I'm on too many painkillers to be coherent right now," he added with a chuckle.

"Right…" she trailed off into silence.

"Come home with me."

"What?" she eyed him. "You're insane."

"You've got your suitcases, right?" John asked her, to which she nodded. "Fly down to Tampa with me. We'll pick up where we left off."

"We left off with a fight," Jessica informed him.

"Then we'll resolve it."

"Jesus Christ, John," she rubbed her tan cheek. "It's not that easy."

"You and I were never easy…" he trailed off with a knowing smile.

"It was always Liz," they added in unison, laughing at their own antics.

"So what do you say?" John asked her.

Jessica exhaled deeply, "I can take a few days. Why are you so hopped up to get me to Tampa, anyway?"

"I get to wake up like I did today," he replied with a shrug.

She leaned in closer to his bed, her forearms now resting on her thighs, "And how is that?"

"To your face," he answered. "I haven't for a while… and I… I just missed being with you, you know?"

She nodded, "I'm sorry."

"Jess, don't be, okay? You have a great career and I'd never want you to throw it away on me."

She nodded silently and stared down at her engagement ring. Only second in beauty to her wedding band, solely because it solidified her commitment to her husband, the diamonds sparkled in the fluorescent lights of the hospital.

John was the first to break the silence, "So what are you going to tell him?"

"Tell who?"

"Don't you play coy with me. You know exactly who I'm talking about."

A thin smile crept across her porcelain face, "I'll just tell him that there's somewhere else I need to be right now."

"Why does that sound so familiar?" John asked with a quizzical look on his face.

"Because you said it to me eleven years ago."

"Ah," He became slightly embarrassed. "I remember that now. It's the painkillers, I swear."

"I know, John. I remember how that was. Two years ago isn't so far in the past."

"It's amazing how little we knew then," he shook his head, the right scorner of his mouth curled upwards. "Who thought we'd end up this way?"

"Apparently, everyone but us," she laughed and stood up to open the blinds.

"Yeah, probably," John laughed, as well. "You should call Dwayne and let him know what your plans are."

"He's my co-star, not my father. I don't have to answer to him," she stated firmly. "I'm more concerned about you than any filming commitments I may have," she added, sitting back down at his bedside.

John reached for both of her hands this time and took them in his own, an IV in his left, a heart monitor on his right.

Once again, he ran his thumb over her ring, this time, the engagement ring.

"It is beautiful," John smiled longingly at her. "It matches its owner."

"Ehem…" a man cleared his throat from the doorway. "Good afternoon, Mr. Cena."

"Doctor Andrews," he nodded once and let go of Jessica's hands before pushing himself up with his left hand. "How'd I do?"

"Just fine," Andrews smiled and glanced down at his chart. "I must admit, however, I think I did the better job."

"I should think so," Jessica stated bluntly.

"Ah, Jessica," Andrews sighed, still reading over the papers before him, "How is that knee of yours holding up?"

"You did a great job, no pain whatsoever… and it's held up great in the ring."

"Good to hear. Well, John," the doctor with now-grey temples began, placing his clipboard under his arm, "I'm going to be sending you to a physical therapist in a few minutes, so just relax until then. Jessica, you're more than welcome to come, as well. She'll show you some stuff for you to make sure he does back in Tampa."

She nodded succinctly, "I'll be there."

"Good," Dr. Andrews replied and headed for the door. "You know, Cena," he turned around and stared at the younger man. "You have an amazing girlfriend."

"No," John shook his head and brought her hand to his lips. "I have an amazing wife."