Chapter 20

Finn locked Damian against the turnbuckle and punched his head restlessly until the referee stopped him. He then threw the Puerto Rican to the mat and stomped him on the chest, screaming and gesticulating. Liv grabbed Mina's head to smash it against the comment table, making her bleed even more and distracting Finn from his opponent. Damian took advantage of the situation and kicked him in the chin, throwing him on the mat but didn't try to cover him, too focused on the girls fighting outside of the ring. Mina was in a bad position with her nose and her eyebrow bleeding heavily, staining her face and throat red. Liv had lied, he new it, but was still scared that she might hurt his beloved one even more if he didn't do as told for this match. He thought that maybe if Mina was forced to leave the WWE, Liv would have no way to hurt her. She would remain safe, that was what mattered the most to him, even if it meant not seeing her often. Finn got up and brought him back to earth with a Pelé Kick before being pulled out of the ring by Liv.

- "What are you waiting for baby? Just get rid of him already" Liv yelled at Damian, understanding the doubt and hesitation in him. "Or say goodbye to your beloved one"

She didn't have the time to act as told that Rhea, Dom and JD came running out of the locker room to separate the two women, making sure no fights happened outside of the ring.

Damian screamed of rage and powerlessness and grabbed Finn's head to smash it on the mat, knocking him out enough to give him his Broken Arrow. He kept punching and kicking him, until he felt it was the good moment to cover him and end this madness of a match. The referee hit the mat for one, two but the third one never came, Mina had jumped on them both to break the pin. She gave Damian a murderous look.

- "If you wanted me to leave WWE, you could just have asked" she said calmly. "But I will never let you or anyone else choose for me!"

She helped Finn to get up and went back in her corner, Liv coming to scold Damian giving them time to catch their breath.

- "You're bleeding, lass, better get checked before fighting." Finn said.

- "Not with this bitch around. Tag me in bear" Mina demanded.

- "Are you sure?" he asked.

- "If she wants me to go back to Hell, I'll bring her bitch ass with me!" she said, anger lighting her emerald eyes.

He had never seen her that mad. He felt a shiver running up his spine, the Mina he had in front of him was scary and decided to beat Liv out. He obeyed her and tagged her in, letting her enter the ring to face Liv. She didn't wait for the blond wrestler to start the fight and grabbed her shoulders to give her kicks in the stomach. When Liv finally collapsed, she ran in the ropes to gain speed and spear her in the upper body. She was so focused on her fight that she didn't see Finn smiling in surprise or cheering for her. But Damian did, he saw his best friend smile at the woman he loved and yell out for her. He saw Mina's anger being lit up towards Liv, she didn't try to do perfect moves or even safe attacks. She was playing the game the way Liv did. "When did she learn to spear like that?" He wanted to speak, to go to her, take her in his arms and calm her. Her distorted face made him feel unease, the sweet, soft, smiling, loving Mina had turned into a pure hatred monster driven by violence and anger. He saw Liv stop her and give her a DDT before kicking her in the ribs. Mina grabbed her leg and curled her body all around it, making Liv losing balance and fall on the mat, suffering all the punches the seamstress could give her.

- "Come on baby girl! You got this" Finn yelled.

- "Who are you calling baby girl?" Damian asked, leaving his corner to go to Finn's.

He grabbed Finn by the shoulders and tossed him on the ground. Jealousy driving his mind, he punched Finn like if it was a pub fight. Strangely, nobody came to stop him, their friends were just watching.

- "How dare you calling her baby girl in front of me?!" He screamed.

He attacked Finn restlessly, tossing him against the steel stairs, across the comments table, giving him high kicks and punching his jaw until he finally collapsed next to the ring apron. Once again, no one moved. "They are just here to protect Mina."

- "Because someone has to make her feel supported" Finn struggled to say.

- "It's not your job to protect and support her, it's mine!" He said before grabbing his throat for a chokeslam.

He lifted his friend in the air, ready to throw him hard on the ground but was distracted by Mina's voice getting closer to him. He turned his head in her direction and saw her diving on him from the third rope to make him release Finn. She landed on him, making him lose balance, he grabbed her and let himself fall on the ground to sell the move safely.

- "Don't you dare to hurt him. I'll stay in WWE whether you like it or not" she said, trying to catch her breath.

- "She will hurt you, I want you to go because I want you to be safe, because I love you" he said, tears running down his cheeks.

- "I accepted this match because I loved you, and because all of you are my friends. I won't let her win, may I end up injured or not, I'll fight for myself." She said while getting up slowly. "You made your choice, let me make mine."

She climbed back in the ring before the referee could count to ten, which would have led to her disqualification. She didn't notice Liv was waiting for her from the third rope, ready to give her a Moon Sault. She just had the time to protect her head and get ready for the impact, but instead she felt a strong push and landed further, safe from Liv's assault. Finn had pushed her to take the Moon Sault. Seizing the opportunity while Liv was laying down on the mat, Mina rushed on her to cover her, the referee's hand hit the mat for one, two, Liv resisted and broke the pin. Taking advantage of Mina's surprise, the blond wrestler took her head and made her stand up. She threw the short woman in the turnbuckles, slamming her head on it again and again, until blood started to drip on the mat. Mina escaped thanks to Rhea climbing next to Liv and proceeded to run in the ropes to gain speed to try another spear on Liv but was caught by the blond woman. She felt being lifted in the air and heard Finn yelling, then a terrible pain hit her back, making her scream.

Damian was stunned, everything went too fast. He saw Mina running in the ropes like she had done earlier for her spear, Liv removing her knee braces to show hard shelled knee protectors and then give the seamstress a devastating backstabber, hitting her at the bottom of her back with the hard shells, making her body arch in a way it shouldn't. Mina's scream of pain was horrible. He heard Finn call for medical assistance and saw Liv lifting Mina's leg for the pin. "You damn dirty bitch". Before the referee could count to three, he put Mina's leg on the rope and call the referee for his attention. The pin was suspended, and Liv attacked Damian for his betrayal. She was screaming on him and slapping him as hard as she could, threatening to kill Mina now that Damian had made his choice.

Finn went to check on Mina, who was still in pain on the mat.

- "Did I make us lose?" she asked with a small voice.

- "No baby girl, we are still on tracks" he said while holding her hand. "Can you move?"

- "A bit, I didn't know a backstabber could hurt that much" she said while trying to sit down.

The referee asked Finn to leave the mat as the match had to keep going. Liv stormed to Mina to pin her on place, knowing she would be unable to get up on her own, but mina rolled her legs around her lo lock her in a triangle. One of the advantages of being short is that any lock is more painful due to the low range of motion. Mina cried from pain, tears rolling on her cheeks, she tightened the lock even more, knowing this was her last chance to win that match. She felt her back cracking under the pressure she was putting on Liv.

- "Let me go!" Liv yelled. "You're not supposed to know how to do that".

- "Honey, I grew up in a farm, I've dealt with cows stronger and smarter than you" she replied, tightening the grip even more.

Mina screamed in pain but didn't let go, focusing on Finn and Damian encouraging her to keep going. She focused on their voice and tightened the lock again: "Come on baby girl! You can do it!", "Don't give up Love, you're winning!", "You're strong lass! Come on!" Then she heard the bell, she had won, Liv had given up, struggling to breathe. She loosened her grip and let her head and members fall on the mat. Her whole body was aching and her back felt on fire. Finn dashed towards her to help her get up and carried her on his shoulders as a sign of victory. He then put her down and raised her arm, joined by Damian, raising her other arm, this time, they took care to not to lift her from the ground.

Hunter's office was a mess after Liv received the letter saying she was fired from WWE due to harassment, dangerous behaviour and attempting to hurt a colleague. She had smashed everything she could reach before getting stopped by the security. Hunter was relieved, he had wanted to get rid of Liv a long time ago but couldn't find a way to do it without proofs of her behaviour. He left his office to go to the medical area where Mina was checked up for her back. The whole Judgment Day was here with a sad face, they got rid of Liv but the doctor and nurses were not confident about Mina's back; plus, Damian and Finn were avoiding each other.

- "How are you doing?" Hunter asked.

- "Could be better, Boss" she answered.

The doctors had advised her to go to the hospital to get a CT scan and to get her back treated as soon as possible. Finn and JD were helping her walking to the car when liv came running behind them with a chair and rushed towards Mina. Thankfully Rhea had the reflex to throw herself in the way, avoiding a catastrophe. She grabbed Liv by the collar and slapped her until the security came to escort her outside. Mina was screaming in pain as the chair accidentally hit her back. Unable to standup she started panicking and was brought to an ambulance. Damian wanted to climb with her, but Dom and Rhea stopped him.

- "Let Finn go with her" Rhea said. "How can you help her if you are scared of hospitals?"

- "Don't worry lad, I'll take care of her and keep you updated" Finn said before climbing in the ambulance.

The next day Mina was authorized to leave the hospital with a wheelchair. Hunter had promised her that the best WWE doctors would do their best to heal her back even if she chose to never wrestle again. Finn was pushing her wheelchair to the car, Damian was walking next to her, looking at his feet.

When they had reached the hospital, Finn was waiting outside of Mina's room while she was having a discussion with the doctor. They had heard her crying before the doctor went out to tell them what was happening.

- "Does she have any family that can help her?" he asked.

- "She doesn't" Damian had answered. "She only has us." "And I ruined everything."

- "Well one of you should stay with her at home for a couple weeks. She will need help with most basic activities. She has two cracked vertebras. Fortunately, nothing is broken but she might have after-effects her whole life." He had said before leaving and going to see another patient.

Finn had been the first one to enter her room to hug her carefully. She had cried in his arms for several minutes before looking at Damian with a murderous gaze.

- "You took her as a side piece to protect me huh? What a success!" she spat at him.

- "He did what he thought would be the best" Dom said. "He didn't know she would actually try to injure you."

- "Let him try to fix his mistake." Rhea tempered.

- "I'll let him try, if he can heal my back and make sure I would be able to run in the fields again." Mina had answered with anger. If Damian had let Finn win or stopped Liv from the beginning, she would be able to celebrate today.

Damian had burst out in tears and had left the room, followed by Dom.

When Mina was sited in the car, Dom went to give back the wheelchair the hospital had let them borrow to go faster to the car. During her recovery she would just have to wear an orthopaedic corset to maintain her back. Even if Damian wanted to be the one to assist her at home, Mina had refused and they all decided that Finn would be the one to stay with her at his house, easier for her than her apartment. The Irish man was driving, with Mina on the passenger seat, the other ones had decided to go to her apartment to gather some of her things to bring to Finn's.

- "I'll stay a seamstress for WWE" Mina said. "I don't know about the ring yet."

- "You don't have to choose now lass, focus on getting better" he answered softly.

Once they were there, Finn gave her a tour and got the guest room ready for her. He got a coffee running when the doorbell rang. He opened to see Damian, JD, Rhea and Dom bringing a suitcase and several other stuff, like a sewing machine, drawing materials and others. Mina was smiling at her friends' kindness; they were everything for her. That was why a betrayal hurt so much. She still couldn't look at Damian without crying. They all gathered in the living room, sharing coffee and playing video games for the rest of the day.

The days went too slowly for Mina, she needed Finn's help for almost everything, getting up, sitting down, plugging and unplugging her sewing machine, getting dressed and, more humiliating, having her shower. At the beginning she didn't know how to do to avoid any awkward situation, but Finn stayed serious and never looked at what he was not supposed to. Then she became more and more at her ease with him and didn't care anymore if he was present in the bathroom or not. She enjoyed his softness and the childish way he had to tease her, blowing bubbles at her face or covering her head with bubble hats. They shared a lot of sweet moments together. To thank him she proceeded to sew him a new ring gear, and other things he might need. Sometimes Damian would come to Finn's place to see her, each time he was looking sadder, and it was breaking her heart. When she was able to move by herself, Finn went back to work. Hunter had asked her if she agreed to expose the love storyline Liv had started and she had agreed. She didn't watch RAW on TV, she didn't want to see Damian, but she knew she had to get back to work at some point. Curiously, when she came back, all the wrestlers came to welcome her with warm hugs and gifts, except Damian, who stayed far away from her. They all praised her for the quality of her match, arguing that no one could ever believe she had started wrestling just months ago.

Days became weeks, weeks became months, autumn, the season of Mina's birthday, was already back in Florida, where she was working on new attires. She had stayed almost one month at Finn's place. None of them wanting her to leave even if she was already feeling better. She was feeling good with him, everything seemed so natural and smooth, there was no embarrassment between them and no tension. They never kissed or had sex, just sharing hugs and sometimes the couch when both were falling deep asleep while watching a movie. With time, the other wrestlers had succeeded to change her decision about not wrestling anymore, using her attraction for fighting and their own puppy eyes. They got her to come back to light training first, with the doctor's agreement, then for some sparing in the ring. She had to admit that Becky's puppy eyes were extremely persuasive, by opposition to Randy's, that were somewhere between terrifying and ridiculous.

Damian would look at her for every training session, walk close to her workshop during every show, but was unable to go and open his heart to her. He knew she was still mad at him, and she had every reason to be. Sometimes he would go to her apartment with flowers, cookies or other gifts to ask her to forgive him; each time he ended up ringing at her door, panicking and leaving the present in front of the door. Each time she would come to see him the day after to thank him, looking at him in the eyes, and he would be unable to tell her how he truly felt. She had noticed he was more and more depressed; he had lost weight; his eyes were dull, and he didn't had fun in the ring anymore. Sometimes, when nobody was looking, he would take the leather clover in his hands and cry. He was mad at himself for making Mina suffer, meaning he had broken his promise to never harm her. Rhea and Dom had tried to give him advice on how to behave with Mina, the flowers were their idea. They kept harassing him, telling him to go to talk to her and tell her how much he loved her, earing again and again about how he freaked out and went back. JD didn't want to be part of it, noticing how well things were going between Finn and Mina. He was sure she would be happier with the smiling Irish man even if this one had always refused to talk about it.

One day, however, Damian was walking close to the workshop, listening to Mina's voice, she was singing "Poison" by Alice Cooper. He remembered the day they met, this song was playing in her shop when she appeared in front of them, small, fragile, skinny but already so fascinating and strong-willed. Without even thinking or noticing it, he was already in the workshop, his voice joining hers, like if his body had moved without the permission of his brain. Mina raised her head from her work to look at him, singing along with his deep voice, looking at her with dull eyes, already dry from crying so much. When the song ended, they stared at each other, not knowing what to say or do.

- "Mina… I-I'm so sorry I shouldn't bother you" he said.

- "You are not bothering me" she answered.

- "Can I sing with you?" he asked, hope suddenly appearing in his eyes

- "Sure" she said, both embarrassed at the situation and happy to get to do their favourite activity again.

It seemed to both of them that it has been forever since the last time they had sung together. It was good to share this moment together again, Damian was full of hope and remorse, but Mina kept feeling distant and suspicious. After all, if he truly loved her, why did he fight against Finn, why did he betray her when he could have ended the match earlier and avoid her getting badly injured? Something was broken within her and even if she still loved him, she was unable to tell if this could be repaired one day.