Truth Comes Second (Revised)

Chapter 2: JULIE

 The faint glow of the television filled the room. Hunter was in my arms sleeping. Lina was struggling to stay awake while she was flipping through the channels. A stack of pillows was behind my back. A collection of tubes and wires left my body.

"What is this?" Lina asked, stopping on a news channel.

A woman with her hair pulled back into a tight bun and a mic in her hand was standing in front of the hospital. The story of Carrie and I was circulating around the country. People wanted to know about the two girls that survived the "unimaginable".

Kenny, the nurse, had been coming in and out of my room all day with vases of flowers. Strangers had been sending them to me as an apology. Carrie had been lying to the media, so everyone thinks that Jimmy had been torturing me. If I had the strength to, I would have smashed every vase that was brought in.

"You are literally on every channel," Lina said. "You're pretty much famous."

"Turn it off," I said. "I don't want to see it."

Hearing the lies being spread about my family made my chest tighten and my heart ache. Carrie had to withstand the horrors of Tommy, so I can understand why she is upset. Jimmy loved me. He was the only one to love me, and now he is gone.

Lina turned off the television. She set the remote on the nightstand. She sighed as she got off of the chair. She went over to the window and looked down at the parking lot. She crossed her arms before looking over her shoulder at me.

"The news reporters are still outside the front door," Lina said. "They really want to talk to you."

Kenny and Lina had been acting as my security and keeping reporters out of my room. Carrie was down the hall, and reporters had been in and out of her room all day for the past week. They would try to sneak into my room to ask me questions, and Lina would yell and push them out.

"No one cared about me when I was a stripper," I said. "Why should they care now?"

Lina came over and sat down on my bed. She rested her hand on my knee. She cocked her head to the side and gave me a soft smile.

"Remember when that psychiatrist talked to you?" she asked.

I let out a deep breath and rolled my eyes. A doctor has been coming to visit me every day to talk about Stockholm Syndrome and brainwashing with me. It was all ridiculous. They did not understand how Jimmy only meant to protect me. I tried explaining it to Lina too, but she never wanted to listen.

"I am not crazy," I said.

"I never said that you are crazy," she said. "I only think that these guys took advantage of you."

"They were protecting me."

"From what?"

"You work in that club. You know how awful we are treated by people."

Lina tucked strands of her dark hair behind her ears. She broke eye contact and looked down at her hand on my knee.

"I don't want to go back to that club," I said.

"You don't have to," Lina said. "There are other jobs."

"Who is going to hire me? I have no education and my only job experience is being a stripper. I have Hunter to take care of now. I need to make enough for us both to survive, and I can only do that at the club."

"I am telling you that there are other things you can do and make just as much money."

"Then why do you still work there?"

Lina scowled. I shifted Hunter's weight in my arms as my hand throbbed. I had gone through two different surgeries to try and repair the damage that Tommy did to my hand and my thigh. I was on painkillers around the clock, but I was still in agony.

"I am trying to help you," Lina said. "You don't have to be rude."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I don't mean to be rude. I am just stressed."

"I know," she said. "I don't know what you are going through, but I just want to help."

"Thank you."

I shifted Hunter in my arms again and Lina shook her head. She held her arms out toward me.

"Give me Hunter," she said. "I can see you are in pain."

I leaned down and kissed Hunter's head before passing him over to Lina. She smiled as she looked down at Hunter and rocked him in her arms. I winced as I pushed myself up so that I was sitting higher.

"It's crazy to think that I also met Charles," Lina said. "If I answered his questions differently it could have been me that was kidnapped."

Kidnapped.

I hated that word. I still believed that Charles had saved me. He saw that I needed a family and he gave me Jimmy. Now my family was broken and it was just Hunter and me.

I wondered if Jimmy was with Tommy. I was curious if Tommy survived the gunshot wound. Where did they go? Are they going to start fresh? Was Jimmy going to find another wife?

Jimmy would never do that to me. He loved Hunter and I and was going to find a way for us all to be together.

"I should go to sleep soon," I said.

"I'll let you rest, Jules," Lina said.

My heart pounded when I heard that nickname. Flashbacks of Tommy taunting me filled my mind. It was as if I could still feel his hands assaulting my body. I crossed my arms over my chest and shivered. The terror did not ease from my chest. His sickening smirk was all that he could see.

"Julie, are you okay?" she asked.

"Never call me Jules again," I said.

She raised a brow.

"Okay," she said. "I'll head out so that you can get some sleep."

--

The back of someone's knuckles brushed against my cheek. My eyes fluttered open. A bright light was behind the figure in front of me so all I could see was the silhouette. I took in a sharp breath and my nose filled with the sweat of dirt and soap.

It was Jimmy.

I reached out to touch his face. His hand shot out and grabbed my wrist.

"Where's Hunter?" he asked.

"He's in the crib," I said.

He let go of my wrist and walked over to the crib. I struggled to push myself up higher on the bed. His back was to me, and he reached down to pick up Hunter. The moonlight filled the room, and he was no longer a silhouette.

He spun around and I gasped.

It wasn't Jimmy.

It was Tommy.

"Give me my baby!" I screamed.

"Jules, don't worry," he said. "I am going to fix everything."

He grabbed Hunter's head, and with a sharp jerk, he snapped my baby's neck. The loud crack rang in my ears. I struggled to get out of bed. The fiery pain ran up my leg and tears watered my eyes. I struggled to breathe as I tried to get to Hunter.

--

A gasped as I bolted up in bed. Cold sweat drenched my thin gown. I wiped it off of my forehead with the back of my hand. My heart was pounding in my chest. I craned my neck to look into the crib and see Hunter sleeping peacefully.

I sighed as I laid back down on the bed. I ran my hand along the sheet, wishing that Jimmy was lying next to me.