The results of the MRI scan that Paul had been given seemed to be taking forever to arrive. He did not know how long it was supposed to take but as he lay alone in a room on a hospital bed with his right leg elevated and throbbing painfully he told himself that surely he should have heard something by now. The scan itself had taken a lot longer than he had expected. He did not know exactly how long but it must have been well over half an hour. He was mildly encouraged that the pain was a lot less overwhelming than it had been as he lay on the floor at ringside a few hours earlier. At least it felt like a few hours, it was all a bit of a blur in his head.

Thankfully he had managed to largely avoid Stephanie McMahon fussing around him and acting concerned by getting into the ambulance as quickly as he could whilst fending off her questions. Would the woman not just take a hint? She was his fuck doll and nothing more and she needed to accept it. Certainly she was not his girlfriend for god's sake.

He closed his eyes and tried and failed to get some rest. The pain may have reduced but he still could not sleep with it. Suddenly he heard Chris Amann's familiar voice, "H? You awake buddy?"

Paul had expected someone from the hospital to come to him with the test results but apparently Chris had dealt with them directly and had the news himself. Paul opened his eyes and grunted, "Yeah, what's the verdict?"

Sitting down in the chair next to the bed Chris said calmly, "Not the best case but nothing like the worst either. You have a grade two sprain with a partial tear of the medial collateral ligament."

Quickly Paul asked, "Partial tear? How long is recovery from something like this?"

"To resume training probably something like six to eight weeks, back in the ring in maybe two and a half months, more likely three."

Paul sighed and shook his head sadly, "Three fucking months. I didn't even do anything wrong. Damn it."

Sympathetically Chris said, "Knees can be like that. You can twist one badly and get away with it or you can just catch one wrong as you did and this is what happens. At least there is no complete tear, that would have meant surgery and three times as long on the shelf."

"Thanks Chris. So what now?"

"We'll have someone come to your place when you're ready to start physiotherapy. Until then all you can do is rest it. For the first two days you need to keep it elevated and ice it four times a day. You must rest it, if you don't the recovery will take a lot longer."

Paul assured him, "I'll do as I'm told don't worry. Thanks again."

Chris smiled, "You're welcome. I'm going to head off now. Uh... there's a woman outside waiting to see you."

Unable to see who it was as the blinds at the window were closed Paul said, "Not Molinaro?"

Chris laughed, "You're joking right? I bet she's halfway home by now. I've got to go call her now, joy of joys. Stephanie McMahon is out there."

Paul sighed, "Oh god."

With a slap on Paul's shoulder as he stood Chris said, "Give the girl a break. I wish I had someone that hot wanting to play nurse for me. I'd sign up for a knee sprain right now."

"I just don't want it, the hassle I mean. Women in general, they're just bad news."

Still grinning Chris said, "It's your life but I think you're mad. Shall I send her away for you?"

Paul shook his head in resignation, "No, send her in. I'll have to spell it out to her myself."

"Go easy on her huh? She seems like a nice girl." With that Chris walked out of the room. Thirty seconds later Stephanie walked in dressed in jeans and a black coat. She had a worried look on her face but Paul still found her beautiful. She said full of concern, "Oh God. Is it as bad as it looks?"

She sat down next to Paul without asking permission as he said, "Stephanie I don't mean to be critical but you need to get better at picking up on people's signals. I don't want you fussing around me like you're my girlfriend or some shit. Could you please just leave me alone?"

Stephanie looked a little hurt and confused as she said, "This is about Trish isn't it? You're afraid to..."

Forcefully Paul ordered, "Just take the hint! Go away."

Figuring that Paul was in a lot of pain and not thinking clearly Stephanie hurriedly did as he asked and left the room. She was worried about him. How would he manage on his own with an injury like this? She knew he was not living with Trish any more, everyone knew that. As she walked out of the hospital she decided that she was determined to make him face up to the feelings that he had for her and she was also determined that he was not going to go through this recovery process alone. She would be there for him and she would help him. The only problem was that she did not have his address or his phone number. Time to get creative.

She briefly considered that maybe she was becoming a stalker but she thought that this was impossible as firstly they had had sex multiple times and secondly she had seen in Paul's eyes that he had feelings for her. She had seen it for sure.

Thursday afternoon was as boring as the previous two days had been for Paul. He was at home lying on the couch watching daytime TV. He wore shorts and his right knee was heavily bandaged. Lying here was all he could do all day as the injury needed to be rested completely. Chris could not have been clearer on that. At least the pain was bearable. Not pleasant but bearable.

As he idly flicked through the channels on the TV he wondered how people managed to get shows this crap commissioned for TV. People actually paid them money to make this garbage? This was when the doorbell rang. He was not expecting anyone so he assumed it was some salesman or similar bullshit that he had no interest in and ignored it. After a minute whoever it was tried again, pressing the doorbell twice in quick succession.

With a growl of frustration Paul awkwardly stood and used his crutches to make his way to the door. As he opened it his eyes widened in surprise and he asked, "What the hell are you doing here?"

Stephanie McMahon stood on his doorstep with a smile on her face, "Don't sound too pleased to see me will you? How's the knee?"

"How did you even know where I live? And how did you get here?"

Still smiling Stephanie said, "I'm not saying how I found out and I only live a half hour away."

Paul sighed, "Your family live near... forget it, of course they do. Just my luck."

"I don't live with my family but yes they do live close by. Are you going to let me in?"

Reluctantly Paul said, "You're not going to go away until I do are you?"

"No."

Without saying anything else Paul turned and walked slowly back into the open plan condo leaving Stephanie to enter and close the door. As she followed him in she said, "You didn't answer me, how's the knee?"

Settling back onto the couch Paul said irritably, "How do you think it is? It hurts."

The next thing he heard from near the kitchen area was, "Look at this place. Have you even cleaned it since you moved in?"

Instinctively Paul was on the defensive as he looked at her and demanded, "What's wrong with it?"

Stephanie ran a finger along the breakfast bar between the kitchen and the living area and it came away dusty. She said with a raised eyebrow, "Seriously?"

Paul looked back to the TV without responding. Now where was she going? She was in the kitchen area. She was opening his cupboards and his refrigerator. Was she for real? Next he heard, "Do you eat the dust too? You have no food."

Rubbing a frustrated hand over his face Paul said, "If I want my mother around here I'll call her."

Stephanie had walked back over to him and she demanded, "Give me money."

The irritation returned to his voice, "I'm not giving you money. What are you talking about?"

"You are giving me money and tomorrow I'm going to get you groceries and cleaning supplies and I'm going to clean this shit hole up for you."

This was the first time Paul had heard Stephanie swear outside of sex and it helped to make him cave in, "Fine. You want to do my shopping that's fine. You want to clean my condo that's fine too but it's not going to change anything and neither is stalking me. We are not going to be a couple, not now, not ever. Okay?"

Stephanie said sweetly, "Okay. Money."

"My wallet is on the breakfast bar."

Stephanie walked over and emptied it of cash and teased, "I could run away with this now and you couldn't catch me."

Paul said, "Honestly I wish you would. I'd consider the price to be cheap."

This brought a giggle from Stephanie and she said, "You're mean. Do you want a coffee or something?"

"I think I'm out," Paul mumbled, realising that he really did need someone to do some grocery shopping for him.

Stephanie laughed, "I'll get out of here and leave you to... whatever that garbage is that you're watching. I'll see you tomorrow. Keep that knee rested."

With that she left and as the door closed behind her Paul could not help a hint of a smile. The girl was persistent that was for sure and in a way she amused him. If nothing else he was getting his shopping and cleaning done for free and that could not be a bad thing.

Outside the condo Stephanie got into her beat up Ford and drove away with a smile on her face. She had heard it in Paul's voice as he had made his joke about her taking the money and running. He was warming up to her and his true feelings were coming through. Deep down he felt the same way about her that she did about him. It might be a longer process than she had first thought but she was prepared to put the time into winning him over. It would happen eventually, she was certain of that. She had the perfect opportunity to work on him as he was not going anywhere for the next few weeks.

A/N: Okay guys this almost clears me out of pre written updates. Hopefully I feel in the mood to write next week or the next update for this story could be all from me until after the holidays. We'll see how it goes :)