Truth Comes Second

A Quick Stop

Author's Note: Sorry it was brought to my attention that this chapter was missing. Don't know why that happened.

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Jimmy's POV:

Tommy gritted his teeth as Lindsay sat on the edge of the bed. She had a pair of tweezers and a wad of paper towel bunched up in her hand. The sweat was shining against Tommy's skin as Lindsay dug into his wound and tried to pull out the bullet. Tommy's screams echoed through the room.

"I'm sorry!" Lindsay told him as she pulled the tweezers out of his leg.

"I thought you would know how to do this," I said.

Lindsay looked over at me. Her pale face was splattered with blood.

"I dropped out of nursing after my first year," she told me. "I was never taught how to remove a bullet."

"Why'd you even shoot him?" I heard Gabe say behind me.

He had Theo balanced on his hip. I wished I had brought Hunter with me. I could hear his cries coming from Tommy's room, but I left him in the house. If Julie woke up, she'd be all alone in the hospital. Hunter needed to be with her.

I shook my head. I couldn't think like that. Julie had to be alive.

"Maybe Tommy should tell you that," I said.

"I already told," he said through his teeth. "She attacked me first!"

"She weighs like a hundred pounds! You had to stab her?"

Tommy screamed even louder and there was a faint click against the ground. Theo held his hands up against his ears and then shoved his thumb in his mouth.

"I got it," Lindsay told him.

Tommy let out a deep breath and fell back on the bed. He panted for air as Lindsay took out a bottle of rubbing alcohol.

"This is going to sting a bit," she told him.

"Just do it quick," he said.

Tommy tried to hold back his cries, but he couldn't. He gripped the sheets on the bed and thrashed his head from side to side. I struggled to stop my lips from curling into a smile. I wanted to kill him, but I couldn't. This was the next best thing.

"Jim, can I talk to you?" Gabe asked me.

"Yeah," I said.

I watched Tommy for as long as I could before I left the room. Gabe was across the hall putting Theo down in his bed. He closed the door and then went down the stairs and I followed him into the kitchen. Gabe opened up the fridge and pulled out a bottle and popped the cap off. I saw when he brought it up to his lips that it was beer. We were always told to never drink alcohol.

"You two can't stay here," he told me. "I can't believe you'd call an ambulance to your house."

"I couldn't let Julie die," I said.

"You're supposed to be protecting her. This should have never happened."

"I know it shouldn't have. Tommy was killing her when I had to go into town."

Gabe shook his head before taking another gulp of his beer. I pushed the sleeves of my shirt up. Tommy's whines from upstairs had stopped.

"You're my cousin," Gabe said. "We need to look out for each other, but I have my own family to take care of. You know that the police probably searched your house. You know they went into the basement. When was the last time you cleaned it out?"

"It had been awhile."

If they had gone in the basement there would definitely be a search for us. Between the piles of bones, blood splattered over the walls and floor, and the table we'd strap them down to when they'd fight against us, I hated cleaning, and I'd never make Julie go down there.

The police must be questioning her. I trust her. She is good. I know she would never tell the police about the meat or the killing.

"Was I supposed to let her die?" I asked Gabe.

"No, but you shouldn't have had them come to the house. You should have dropped her off on the hospital steps," he said.

"I was afraid to move her. Imagine it was Lindsay."

Gabe's eyes dropped to the ground and he nodded his head. He drained the rest of his beer and threw it into the sink.

"Where's Hunter?" he asked.

"I left him with Julie."

"You know you'll never see them again, right?"

I felt my heart drop into my stomach.

"We'll head out early in the morning," I told him. "If we get caught we won't say anything about the rest of the family. Don't worry."

"I trust you, Jim," Gabe said. "I hope to see you later."

"Tommy and I will get a house and start again."

Lindsay came down the steps wiping her hands on a towel. Blood trailed up her arms and was splattered across her face.

"I cleaned it up," she told me.

"How's he doing?" I asked.

"He's in a lot of pain."

"Good."
Lindsay slipped her arms around Gabe's waist and rested her head against his chest. He rubbed her back with his hand. I was never going to have a tender moment with Julie like that again.

"I'll go up and talk to him," I said. "We'll try not to wake you when we leave."

"We will be up by the time you leave," Gabe said.

"Goodnight, Jimmy. And good luck," Lindsay told me.

"Thanks," I said. "And thanks for taking care of Tommy. Have nice night."

They nodded their heads and I headed up the stairs. Tommy was sprawled out across the bed. His calf was bandaged up and he was still panting. He looked up at me when the door clicked shut.

"I hope you're happy," I said.

"Yeah, I'm having the time of my life here," Tommy said wryly.

I sat down on the bed next to Tommy's. I pulled off my shirt and lied down, not bothering to get changed. An alarm clock sat on the nightstand separating our beds. I picked it up and set the alarm for four a.m. I turned off the lamp and flooded the room with darkness.

"I'll be okay after a few days," he told me.

"You better get healing fast," I said. "We're heading back out in five hours."

"What?" Tommy asked. "No. Why are we leaving?"

"We can't stay. We're risking Gabe's family."

"Where do you plan on going?"

"Not sure yet."

Tommy collapsed back onto the bed. I pushed the collection of small pillows off of the bed and lied down. I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind, but I knew I needed to think. Tommy and I need to leave, but where to? We needed a new place to live, but I had no idea how to buy a house. Hopefully, I could find an abandoned one somewhere.

It wouldn't be the same house. It would never be filled with the delicious smell of Julie's cooking. Her beautiful laugh and singing would never ring through the halls. I would never be able to climb into bed with my family again. I'd never be able to kiss her soft lips.

"Tommy," I said breaking the silence. "If Julie's dead, I'm going to kill you."