starting over

chapter 17

Annies POV

It was the day of judes appointment finally i enjoyed spending time with him but it was also very boring and demanding but what did I expect from a blind jude i got up half an hour early again and washed and then spent about five minutes waking up jude before he finally got up and ate a banana that I had to cut up and spoon feed him before we could finally leave for the hospital we spent two and a half hours there before we could finally leave he was told he would be fine but for the next week hw would have to wear sunglasses if he was in the smallest bit of sun at all.
"do you want to go somewhere for lunch? My treat after all you did look after me"
"yeah sure, where?"
"up to you"
"bobs?"
"yeah, let's go"
When we arrive at bobs diner he leads me into a booth and we both order fries and a beef burger.
"here" he says passing me some takeaway ketchup sachets.
"why do I need these, they have some right there" I say pointing to the plastic tomato containing ketchup.
"it's really bad in here they got good food just bad sauce"
"really?"
"yeah, look around no one else is using ketchup"
"I suppose is it really that bad?"
"yes don't ever try it"
"okay thanks" I say just as our food arrives i squirting open the ketchup and smother my burger in it with a little at the side of the dish. While we're walking back to the apartment it starts pouring down and we have ti sprint for ten minutes half way through jude picks me up and gives me a piggy back the rest if the way when we're back i get straight into the shower and jude decides to just relax on the sofa too tired to actually get a shower.

Judes POV

After watching about ten minutes of the big bang theory the phone starts ringing.
"hello?"
"where's jane" an angry woman's voice says into the phone.
"erm... Sorry there's no one called Jane that lives here" it's not a complete lie, she's called Annie now.
"don't fucking lie to me you little bastard she isn't well and needs us right now i dont care about the lieshe told you because she will do anything to get her way"
"stop ok? She does not need you she now has me and unlike you she trusts me and i won't ever hurt you you don't deserve to be apart of her life that's the reason she moved away she's happy now and i won't let you ruin it"
"so she is living with you she had lied to you ok she's not well I bet she's never told you about the things she did"
"I'm nit going to listen to your lies do you not realise how much of an impact you've already had on her?"
"she is mentally unstable she tried to get social services involved saying we emotionally abused her we didnt we were great parents and I won't leave our relationship like this"
"what relationship? She hates you and you hate her so don't ever phone this number again or you will have problems"
"I can have you evicted do you really want to lose your home just so she doesn't have to have one conversation with me?"
"yes because i care about her"
"if she cared about you she would have told you that she was addicted to drugs aswell and she was a thief and so much more"
"exactly she's done some bad things but we both know why and i won't turn her away just because of some bad choices so fuck off and stay out of her life"
"I'm dying ok? I have a few months left and I don't want her to feel guilty for not having a relationship with me before I die that's how I care about her she was depressed and selfharming and i dont want her to get like that again"
"she won't as long as she stays here"
"just fucking put her on"
"I'll ask her first and tell her your dying ok?"
"no grab that little whore and put the phone to her ear now" She screams down the line.
"listen jane does not need you in her life and it's her choice i will tell her but it's up to her and i won't force anything on her ok?"
"jude, who is that?" i hear Annies voice behind me i can tell she's terrified.
"your mum" I mouth she gasps and storms forward and rips the phone from my hand before walking out onto the balcony and closing the doors it doesn't help though I still hear the conversation.
"no sally your not i would have been notified i told the doctor that and ive heard nothing ive moved on from lying which I only did to protect myself but your the same hypocritical woman that made me move away from everyone i cared about and cared about me"
"they did stop don't call this number ever again i won't ever forgive you or David so just stop"
"you did what? How could you your still running my life why can't you just let me be happy the court told you to stay away but you didn't liste And then you threatened me and that's why I moved don't ever contact me again or i will report you" I hear her scream before she breaks down into tears and sits on her knees on the balcony in the rain crying, i run out to her and sit beside her with my arm around her and hold her for a while she cries onto my chest for what seems like hours and when i look back into the kitchen at the clock i see we've been like this for two hours she calms down and i tilt her head up so she is looking into my eyes.
"I won't let her get you Annie"
"she won't stop" she says her voice is weak and defeated it breaks at the end of her short sentence and the tears continue rolling but she doesn't cry again.
"and neither will i but you have to tell me if she was lying or not about you being addicted and being a thief"
"it's true but i was desperate i was addicted to coc and i did shoplift but thats all behind me now I'm sorry I never thought you would find out about everything"
"what about the court?"
"she tried to make me move back in but I won the trial and git a restraining order against her but she didn't stop she stalked me and my friends and that's why i moved she never left me alone"
"she can't hurt you, not when I'm here I promise" she rests her head on my chest and i carry her into bed i lie with her all night and tonight i have the nightmare,
I am going through a huge fancy mansion it's very clean and white and everything is silent i hear high pitched screams and i follow them into a small dark room with concrete floors and walls and one small high window there's no furniture but a small thin girl with long brown hair hanging carelessly around her pale face her pink lips are shaking and her eyes are red and bloodshot with wet tears still rolling Down her cheeks her knees are up against her chest and she has her arms wrapped around her body she is crying silently and suddenly I hear the woman's voice from the phone screaming random things that I didn't understand they seemed to make her cry harder but when i got closer to her body she got smaller and moved further along the room further away from me leaving a trail of blood and that's when i notice the deep cuts right up her wrists.
I wake up sweating with my boxers and hair sticking to me Annie wakes up and looks at me wide eyes the same eyes that the little girl had in my nightmare i immediately pull her into me and she rubs my back in a comforting way after a few minutes she pulls away and tucks my hair back and looks me in the eyes.
"are you ok? What happened?" she asks full of concern.
"I erm... Had a nightmare" I say ashamed.
"what was it?"
"I think it was you it was a young girl locked away and your mum was screaming stuff that made you cry harder and when i tried to get close you moved away and you had deep cuts up your wrist that bled out and then I woke up"
"please don't worry about me like that"
"I'm sorry I can't help it"
"I care about you and i dont want you to be hurt because of me please just think about how happy I am now"
"ok, but you still have to talk to me ok?"
"yes"
I pull her into my arms again before lying down and going back to sleep.