Jennie
Everything around Jennie was dull and seemed to be moving in slow motion. Nothing felt real and she was struggling to do anything except fill and empty her lungs. She was numb - empty, unable to function properly or shed any more tears.
It had been two days since she'd found her father's body and she was still in shock, complete and utter shock. Eating was out of the question despite Lisa's constant pleading. Her appetite was gone and her stomach rolled and churned at the thought of any kind of food. She sat in the hotel suite drinking her third electrolyte drink, staring at the floor while Lisa showered, lost in her own thoughts.
A freshly showered Lisa appeared with her hair still wet and a concerned look on her face as she crouched down in front of Jennie. "How are we doing with this?" Lisa asked, lifting the drink to see how much she'd consumed. Letting out a sigh of disappointment when she realised Jennie had only taken a sip or two in the past couple of hours, Lisa stood and took a seat next to her on the bed. "Baby you've got to eat something... I'm begging you."
Before she could respond, the beeping sound of the hotel room door as it was being opened hit Jennie's ears, causing her to jump and clutch Lisa's muscular arm.
"It's us Bug - Jin and Marcus." Jin announced loudly knowing how terrified she'd become of the outside world at the moment.
Jin had been an absolute rock over the past few days. He hadn't really broken down or showed any emotion except anger, pure undiluted hatred and anger. He and Marcus had spent most of the day at the police station, trying to convince the detective to investigate further. The police had reported her father and Dara's death as a murder suicide and the media was attempting to spin it as depression from losing the election.
Marcus and Jin met with the detective multiple times over the past few days pointing out the many holes in that theory. The biggest hole being the absence of the bodyguards and a muddy footprint that was found in the carpet in her father's study. But despite evidence to the contrary, it was reported as a murder suicide and therefore a closed case, which infuriated Jin and Jennie.
"Hey Doc, you mind taking a look at Jin's hand real quick?" Marcus asked, peeking his head around the corner. Lisa and Jennie exchanged quick glances before they both headed into the adjoining room.
"What's wrong with Jin's hand?" Jennie asked as she walked around the small couch where he was sitting. Her eyes immediately shot down to Jin's swollen, bloodied knuckles. She had a moment of déjà vu from the nights Jin had come home bruised and beaten after a fight, needing her to ice and bandage his hands and face. "What happened?" Jennie gasped as she knelt down in front of Jin, who was hanging his head, refusing to look Jennie in the eyes.
"Go easy on him Doll, we ran into the security guards that abandoned your dad outside the police station." Grabbing the sides of Jin's face, Jennie lifted his head so she could inspect any of the bruises or cuts that he might be concealing. She tilted his head back and forth with her eyes darting around his face, searching for injuries.
"You think I let either of those assholes land a punch, Bug?" Jin asked with a slight smirk, shrugging his face from her grasp. Jennie knew fighting was Jin's outlet, and as much as she hated it, she understood especially under the circumstances. Hell, she might have reacted the same way if she'd have been there.
"Well... then I'll say the same thing I've always said when you came home from a fight." Jennie lovingly cupped the side of Jin's face and brought his gaze to meet hers. "I hate that you were fighting... but did you win?" Jennie's mouth tugged into the slightest smile at her words and Jin knew all was forgiven and that she understood completely.
"Of course I fucking won." Jin said with a cocky grin.
"I had to intervene, but only to keep Jin from killing them. The man can fight. He'd give Jackson a run for his money for sure." Marcus added with a mixture of surprise and pride.
"No shit?" Lisa said as he took a seat next to Jin, ready to inspect his hands.
"They are still sticking to their bullshit story?" Lisa asked.
"Yup, still say that they were on the grounds when it happened, but down by the gate instead of in the house. Even got one of the grounds security to confirm their stories." Marcus grumbled.
There was no way that they were at the gates. The group had gone over the events of that day over and over. They didn't see a soul down at the gates, in fact the grounds and house were void of all security... void of all life.
"Probably lined his fucking pockets to get him to cover for them." Jin snarled as he allowed Lisa to lift and inspect his swollen hand.
"Jennie would you mind going to get my med bag from the other room?" Lisa asked softly. Doing as Lisa asked, Jennie left the room to get the bag, but could hear every bit of conversation that was going on behind her.
"I still can't get her to fucking eat." Lisa said quietly in a defeated tone.
I'm just not hungry and sitting down for a meal makes my stomach turn and knot up.
"We may have found a solution to that... well hopefully." Marcus said.
I doubt it.
"I'm desperate, man. Any plan you've got, I'm willing to try it."
"Mina wants you to call her." Marcus added.
Mina is a part of this plan?
Jennie returned with Lisa's bag and watched her rummage through it for a cold pack. She cracked it over her knee and rubbed it back and forth to activate it then handed it to Jin. "Nothing that needs stitches, just superficial and bruised." Lisa said, giving Jin a smile and a reassuring slap on the back.
As soon as she got Jin set up, Jennie watched Lisa pull her phone from her pocket and head out to the small balcony of the hotel suite. "Got to make a quick phone call, Jennie girl. I'll be right out here." she said giving her a kiss on the forehead as she passed Jennie.
Finding a reason to move closer to the doors so she could hear, Jennie pretended to be digging in her bag for something as she eavesdropped. Luckily for her, Lisa was a lot of things, but quiet wasn't one of them.
"Not good Mina. I can't get her to fucking eat. It's been two days."
Jennie could hear the high pitched sound of Mina's voice, but couldn't make out exactly what she was saying. Taking a step closer, Jennie stood behind the curtain so she could hear the other end of the conversation.
"How is she doing emotionally?" Mina asked.
"She's terrified." Lisa said with pain in her voice.
"Of what?"
"Of the whole damn world Mina. Richard's funeral is less than two days away, but Jennie is terrified to leave the hotel room. I'm at a loss. I don't know how to fix this Mina." Lisa was desperate and it gutted Jennie. She hated that her pain was causing Lisa so much unease, but she didn't know how to make it stop.
"She talked to me a little bit last night and made a tiny bit of progress. We talked about a movie on Netflix that we wanted to see and I got at least one laugh out of her. Let's focus on baby steps for now. In fact that's part of my plan for tonight. I need you to call me back when you guys are ready for bed - we are all going to have a movie night." Mina said happily.
"I'm willing to try anything at this point - even a movie night." Lisa said with a light-hearted sigh.
"She doesn't belong there Lisa, not in a place where she's terrified to go outside. She belongs here with you... with us... bring her home Lisa." Mina said with sincerity in her voice that made Jennie's eyes sting with tears that she knew wouldn't fall.
Home? Did Mina just call California my home?
Jennie stood there and internalised Mina's words and quickly realised that Mina didn't mean that California was Jennie's home, she meant that Lisa and the team was her home.
Home is wherever Lisa is...
