Escaping Fox River | Prison Break [On Hold]

Chapter 16

"Don't kill me. I'm not gonna hurt you." A voice whispered, just as I was about to throw my head back and bash it against the person's face. The hand let go of me and I turned around, relief flooding my chest when I saw who it was.

"John, don't ever do that again. You almost gave me a heart attack." I hissed at Abruzzi, unlocking my car. He chuckled and watched as I packed up the items I bought.

"I'm sorry, darling. I just didn't trust you to not hit before I spoke." I pursed my lips and cocked my head.

"Yeah, sounds like me." I slid in the driver's seat and looked up at him. He looked pretty rough and I wondered what he was doing on this side of town, especially so close to where me ad LJ were. "What's up?" I asked. Abruzzi ran a hand down his stubbly jaw and looked away for a second.

"I, uh, need a place to crash for the night--just for the night-- and I was wondering if you-"

"Come on." I said. He frowned.

"Excuse me?" I waved my hand for him to hop in.

"You're in luck. I just got a place for the night. I can get you a room and some clothes that I just got." His eyes lit up and he jogged over to the passenger seat.

"Thank you. I owe you one." I shook my head and started the car, driving towards the motel.

"Don't worry about it, really. We all need all the help we can get. These cops aren't playing when it comes to catching us. It's already almost been a week, so I bet they're getting really antsy." I told him. I pulled up to the motel and by then, it was five in the morning and I was exhausted, even though I slept in the car earlier.

"Where's Michael and Sink?" Abruzzi asked as we got out the car. I grabbed some stuff for all of us and gestured for him to follow me.

"We got separated a few days ago. I got captured and then found out that my son was alive, so I rescued him and now we're running from the people who had him too." I explained. John's eyes widened.

"Your son is alive?" he asked and I nodded, a foreign feeling weighing on my chest. I was still getting used to the fact that my son was alive after all these months of me thinking he was dead. We walked in the motel and John hid his face from Greg as I paid for another room for him. After walking to our rooms, I turned to him.

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to knock." I was about to go in my room, when a thought came to mind. "How are you gonna get to where you need to go tomorrow?" I asked. Abruzzi shrugged.

"I'll find a way." I handed him the spare clothes I bought and he took them without a problem.

"Why don't you ride with me and LJ until I get you close enough to where you need to be?" He opened his mouth to protest, but I stopped him. "You'll be able to be with your family quicker than you thought." I added and he sighed.

"Fine." he grumbled, putting a hand on his doorknob. "I don't like owing people." I rolled my eyes and opened my door.

"John, you don't owe me anything. Think of it as a..." I paused to think of a word. "...gift. A gift. That's what this is. After all, if you hadn't given me a job back in prison, who knows how things would've been for me in there." Abruzzi ran a hand down his face and nodded.

"Get some sleep, my dear." Was all he said before entering his room. I sighed and walked in my room, firmly closing and locking the door behind me.

"Who were you talking to?" I stopped myself from jumping at the sound of LJ's voice. I looked over at him and saw that he had taken a shower, a towel still wrapped around the bottom half of him. He was sitting on the bed, eyes full of curiosity.

"Uh, just a friend." I answered vaguely, taking off my shoes. My feet were hurting and I really needed to just lie down, after I took a hot shower. LJ narrowed his eyes, not liking my answer.

"What friend?"

"LJ-"

"Mom." I rolled my eyes up to the ceiling at his stubbornness.

"I swear you are exactly like your father." I whispered, mostly to myself. I tossed him some clothes to change into and took some out for me. "It was one of the guys I escaped with. He needed somewhere to stay, so I bought him a room for the night. He's gonna be riding with us until I can get him close enough to his family."

"Really, Mom? We're already on the run. The last thing we need is an extra person slowing us down." I sat down on the bed opposite of him and turned to face him.

"He's not going to slow us down. Plus, he could probably protect us." LJ scoffed.

"Who is it?"

"John Abruzzi." LJ's jaw dropped.

"The mob boss? Mom, are you serious? Out of all the people, him?" His voice went high at the end.

"LJ, you won't understand-"

"Oh, I understand that he's a danger to the both of us." His face started to turn red, so I knew he was getting angry. I ran my fingers through my hair.

"He helped me out in prison and if it wasn't for him, I probably wouldn't be here, so why don't you just-"

"I don't care what he did! He's-"

"LJ-" I interrupted him, but he kept ranting.

"...probably going to kill us the first chance he gets and when he does-"

"Lincoln!" I yelled, standing up. LJ snapped his mouth shut and I felt my heart accelerate when I did that. I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose, taking a deep breath to calm myself down. "I'm sorry, I just--" I went and sat next to him on his bed and cupped his face with my hands.

"Mom, I'm sor-"

"Shh. It's okay, baby. I'm just stressed right now and I'm trying to do everything I can to keep us safe and I don't want anything to happen to you ever again, okay?" LJ nodded and his eyes started to well up. "Come here." He scooted to me and wrapped his arms around me, burying his face in my chest. I didn't realize he was crying until I felt his shoulders moving.

I didn't say anything because I knew no words would be able to comfort him. All of what he has been through so far is something that no child should ever go through. I threaded my fingers through his now clean hair and rested my chin on top his head, closing my eyes. We stayed like that for a while, until his sobs subsided and turned into sniffles. After a while, I felt him pull back and I let him go.

"You good?" I asked quietly and he nodded, wiping his face. "Alright, I'm gonna go shower and you try and get some sleep, okay?"

"Okay." LJ responded. I ruffled his hair and slid off the bed, taking my clothes with me. After closing the door softly, I stripped down, and hopped in the shower.

"Oh my god." I groaned as the hot water relaxed my tense muscles and washed all the dirt and grime off of me. I stayed in there for like an hour before getting out and I needed to get some sleep because it was already seven in the morning. I got dressed in the clothes that I was going to leave in and walked out into the bedroom.

LJ was sound asleep, wearing the clothes I gave him. I tossed the old clothes I had and walked over to him, brushing his hair off his face. My chest squeezed at the sight, old memories of him sleeping as a child flooding my brain. I bent down and pressed a soft, lingering kiss on his forehead before turning and getting in the other bed.

Closing my eyes, the last thing I thought about was protecting my son, no matter who or what got in my way. I was not losing him again.