She is not bad

Chapter 67 : Some visits

A few days later, Jane managed to make some progress. She was still not talking and not going out of her bedroom, but she wasn't hiding under it anymore and was looking more into people's eyes, even if it was still hard for her. At least, Cassandra could sit next to her in her bed, and the woman was glad she could do it. She was spending some time with her niece, making her do the exercises for her legs and arms. But the aunt thought that, maybe, Jane would like to see someone else than her. So, she sent a message to Mallory to know if she could come here to visit her.

In the middle of the afternoon, Mallory finally arrived at the apartment. The blonde girl was excited and stressing at the same time. She was happy to finally see Jane, but she was stressing she could do something bad and hurt her best friend. Cassandra told her that Jane wasn't talking at all. The blonde girl felt sad for her friend. She nodded before following Cassandra. The woman opened the door and told Jane who was there. The brunette, who was sitting in her bed, had a light surprised expression. The only visits she had were people to watch her, it was new for her to see her friend again after prison. Mallory shyly approached the bed while Cassandra was letting the two girls alone.

- "Um...Can I?" the blonde girl asked.

Jane moved the blanket and nodded. Mallory sat next to Jane, her two hands on her round belly. The blonde girl didn't know what to say. Jane seemed so different; it was hard to watch. And she had wide dark rings under her eyes.

- "You look exhausted. Do you sleep?"

Jane shrugged.

- "I know what they did to you in prison...If...If I could go back in time and force this girl to confess to her lies, I would."

Jane looked down and nodded. She didn't know what she was feeling. She was trying to be happy, she loved Mallory, and her presence meant a lot for her, but she was feeling so empty inside that it was hard to feel something positive.

- "Do you wanna touch?" Mallory proposed.

Jane wide opened her eyes and looked away, not expecting that. She lightly raised her hand in direction of Mallory's belly, not sure to be really allowed to do it. The blonde girl gently grabbed her hand and placed it on her belly. Jane didn't feel anything until she felt something hitting her. She quickly removed her hand like the belly was on fire with wide opened eyes. Mallory had an amused sigh before saying:

- "Don't worry. It's the baby kicking. It's...it's a girl."

Jane nodded. Even if she didn't smile, Mallory saw that her facial expression relaxed. It was the closest thing to a smile. She searched her bag and took off the prints of her last two sonograms to show them to Jane. This time, Jane felt something. Knowing that her friend was carrying a living baby inside her was touching her. She thought it was beautiful And, for the first time, she wanted to live long enough to see little Mallory growing up. The brunette leaned and placed her head on Mallory's shoulder, still looking at the sonograms. The blonde girl didn't dare hugging her friend, but she still placed her head on hers, happy to have her moment with Jane.

Later in the day, Beverly decided to visit Jane too. She came with Max who was curious to see where Jane was living. The aunt happily let the two girls enter. Max was feeling embarrassed. She didn't really come here with the goal to see Jane. She just accompanied Bev.

- "You can see her if you want. I think she is happy to see her friends. But, one after another. I don't want her to feel pressured by too many people around her," the aunt said.

- "Sure, no problem," Bev smiled. "Um, do you mind if I go first?"

- "No, of course not," Max reassured.

Bev softly smiled to her friend before going to Jane's bedroom. When she opened the door, Jane was laying down in her bed. She barely reacted when Bev entered. The redhead knew Jane wouldn't move; Cassandra told her. She was too happy anyway. Seeing Jane alive was a relief for her. She sat next to Jane's head and noticed the Teddy bear in Jane's right hand. The poor Mr. Bear was all darned. At least he was in one piece.

- "I'm happy to see you," Bev said. "I...I missed you a lot...It's different without you. I feel like you're one of the persons I can count on the most. If you were okay, you would tell me that you're an asshole and that no one can count on you, but it wouldn't be true. Since I know you, I mean, the real you, I know I can count on you. I've always been on your side. I've always known you were innocent...I'm sorry, you probably don't wanna talk about it, but I wanted you to know."

The redhead tried to talk to her about school and things like that, but she was sure it was bringing back bad memories to the brunette, so she stopped. She remained quiet, lost in her thoughts, Jane looking at her with soft eyes. She was wondering what the brunette had in her mind. She was probably waiting for her to leave, or she was listening to what she was saying. Bev would never know. The redhead gently caressed Jane's cheek before leaving the room. Max was still there with Cassandra.

- "You can go see her if you want," Bev said.

- "Oh, uh...I, I don't know if it's a good idea...Maybe she had enough for today..." Max shyly answered.

- "Don't worry, you won't bother her," Cassandra smiled.

- "I guess I can see her a few minutes."

Max went to Jane's room, closed the door, and stayed near it, like if she wanted to be sure to be able to run away when she needed. The only thing she wanted to do right now was to run in her arms and told her how much she was missing her. But she couldn't. Jane didn't seem happy to see her, and she couldn't blame her. She treated her like a piece of shit after she had the courage to share her feelings for her.

- "I'm sorry for what I told you when you told me...when you told me you were having feelings for me...I told you it was too late...it was all bullshits, I was just stupid and scared that things could go wrong between us...I guess...I guess you're my only one too...but now you hate me, and it's fair. I wish you the best."

Max preferred leaving the room before beginning to cry in front of Jane who was suffering way more than her. The brunette felt her heart breaking. Maybe she should have tried to reassure her or to tell her she wasn't hating her. But she couldn't. She still wasn't ready to talk. But now she had another motivation to heal correctly. She wanted to do everything correctly, now.