General Hospital Rewrite Part One

November 22nd 2016 Part 1

7:23 a.m.
     Jodie stands in front of the mirror and stares at herself. She lifts her shirt to reveal the fresh cut over the already healed scar. She lets her shirt fall back to its original position and moves her head to see the long scar cutting through her hair. When she looks at her hands she still sees the blood staining them.

9:40 a.m.
     "I don't know if I do this." Jodie says. Alexis wraps her arms around her. "Jo, you'll be fine." Alexis says. "And court starts in five minutes. You have no choice." Diane says. "I'm gonna have to be in the same room as him." Jo realizes. "He's not gonna touch you. He'll have cops keeping him from doing anything. When this is done, you'll never even have to think about him again." Alexis promises. "Last time, last time he called me a whore, he told the court I liked it. He's gonna say it again. I know he is." She worries. "We know, you'll just have to ignore it."
     "What if I let it get to me?" She asks. "We've gone over this a thousand times. You'll be fine Jodie." Alexis assures her. "Jodie, you know what's gonna give you the strength to not crack?" Diane asks. "What?" Jo replies. "Spite. Just know, you can put him away, forever maybe." Diane tells her. This brings a smile to Jo's face. Julian walks over. "How you feeling?" he asks Jo. "Better." She tells him. He smiles and looks at Alexis. "And you?" he asks. "As good as I can be." She says. He tilts his head. "We'll talk later." She tells him.
     He nods and sits down. The door opens and Jodie watches and Benson is brought in and sat at the table across from her. He looks over at her and smiles but his lawyer quickly regains his attention. Jodie looks at Alexis and Diane. They both give her reassuring nods. She relaxes and sits between them. Court starts and Benson's lawyer get up first and rambles on some stuff about how he recuperated in prison. When Benson finally takes the stand he keeps his eyes away from Jodie. "Mr. Jameson, what were you doing in the woods on the afternoon of November 10th 2016?"
     "I was taking a walk to clear my head. Its been hard adjusting to life outside and I needed some time alone." he answers. "Did you know how close you were to the residence of Jodie Miller?" he asks. "No I didn't." he lies. "If you had, would you still have walked there?" the lawyer asks. "I would not have." he shakes his head. Jo's blood boils. He asks more questions, making sure not to grill him too hard. When he finally sits back down, Diane gets a look on her face. A look says she's ready for this.
     "Mr. Jameson, we just need you to state some facts. Now is it true that as an adolescent you were frequently arrested for hurting your girlfriend and sister?" she asks. "Yes that's true." he answers. "Is it also true that this is the second time you've attacked Jodie Miller?" she asks. "I did not attack Jodie Miller." he says. "Ever?" she asks. "In 2012, I did sexually assault her. I spent four years in prison for it and I've since become better. I'm not a bad anymore." he claims. "So raping and stabbing a twelve year old girl doesn't make you a bad man?"
     "Objection!" Benson's lawyer calls. The judge ignores him and Diane continues to rip into him. Alexis holds Jo's hand under the table to comfort her. "Do you have anything else you think you should tell us?" Diane asks him. He looks over at Jodie. "She knows her part in this." he states. All eyes land on Jodie. She looks down at her hands. "What does he mean?" Alexis asks quietly. "I don't know." She admits. Time passes and Jo, reluctantly, takes the stand. Diane walks up to the stand. "Did he attack you?"
     "Yes." She answers. "Why were you walking home?" she asks. "I didn't have a ride. Everyone was busy and I decided to walk home. I walk I'd done, dozens of times." She says. "Did he use the knife to threaten you?" she asks. "He did. He held the knife and threatened if I did anything, he'd hurt me." She says. Diane asks more questions, painting Jodie as a victim. When Benson's lawyer comes to ask questions, she can feel her hands start to shake and the tension raise. He starts to ask questions and increasingly gets more invasive.
     Her eyes well with tears and she starts choking on her words. "You don't really wanna know what happened to me, do you?" she asks. "What really happened? What happened was you attacked my client and claimed rape." he says. "You wanna know what really happened?" she asks. "Enlighten us." he barks, clearly no longer concerned with proving his client's innocence.

November 10th 2016
3:32 p.m.
     Jo walks through the woods, crunching leaves under her feet. She gets another message and stops to open it. *New Message From: Alex<3* She opens it and smiles. She hears some leaves crunch behind her so she turns. Her heart starts to pound, this felt all too familiar. She spins in a circle, scanning her surroundings. A squirrel runs up a tree. She sighs with relief, laughing she keeps walking. Another crack of a leaf makes her stop again, the cold November air mixed with the creepy silence makes her shiver.
     She stops dead in the middle of a clearing. She knew she'd heard something. She turns and the face of her fears stared back at her. "Miss me Jodie?" Benson asks. Her blood runs cold, leaving her standing in a situation she'd seen again and again in her nightmares. The shock and horror leaves her standing still as he approaches her. The afternoon sun glistens off the blade of the knife. "Waller is dead, no one's making you do this." She pleas. "I'm not doing this for Waller. Four years I spent in that Hellhole. Four long, painful years."
     "You deserved life in that Hell." She retorts, getting some grounds of confidence. She wasn't that same little girl he'd attacked last time. As he takes another step she turns to run but the weight of her backpack and uneven terrain causes her to stumble and fall to the ground. Benson grabs the strap on her backpack and pulls her up. She wiggled free of her jacket and backpack, before she briefly hits the ground before getting to her knees and going to stand. In her moment of vulnerability he knocks her back to the ground and gets on top of her, stopping her from getting up. He presses the knife to her stomach.
     "Fighting did you no good last time." he laughs, letting his guard down long enough for her to writhe​ and squirm to a position she could kick. She screams in pain as the blade of the knife stabs into the muscle of her leg. Confused and distracted, Jodie manages to get out from under Benson, the knife still handle deep in her thigh. From the ground, he grabs the knife, pulling it out only to swing and rip her shirt, leaving a gash in her side. He stands and grabs the back of her head, pushing her to her knees. "Now you're gonna be a good girl?"
     "Never." She spits, jumping to headbutt him. He punches her and as she had for most of the fight, she fell to the ground, her head smashing against a rock. She opens her eyes to a blurry face above her. "No!" she screams, clawing at his face. He drops the knife and steps back, holding his cheek. "You little!" he yells. She gets the knife and points it at him. He takes a step back. "Come on kid, you don't gotta do this. You won." he says. "How does it feel?" she asks. "How does it feel to be at the other end of the blade? How does it feel to know your life is in my hands?" she demands, lunging forward and digging the knife into his stomach. She holds it for a second before pushing down.
     His blood runs down her hands. She pulls the knife out after he's gone limp and let's him fall to the ground. Staring at the knife and her blood covered hands, reality hits Jodie like a wave. The pain from her injuries blind her and, her hand still firmly on the knife, she runs as fast as her legs can carry her. The trees become unfamiliar as she keeps going in the wrong direction, unwilling to stop, knowing she wouldn't be able to start moving again. She hits the hill and the loose ground gives way under her, sliding her to the edge of the road. She uses the very hill that sent her falling to stand.
     Limping heavily, she attempts to cross the road. She falls and is barely able to sit up. The world spins and time starts to slip away. She opens her eyes to see the faces of Dante and Valerie. They keep their distance from her. She looks to her hand and sees the knife. She lets it fall to the ground and they move closer, helping her stand and getting her to the car. "What happened?" Dante asks. "Jodie, Jodie it's me, Dante. I'm Leo's big brother." he says. Valerie pushes him out of the way. "Jodie, I'm Valerie. We're gonna get you help okay?" she says softly. "Is someone else hurt?" Dante asks. She nods.
     "Clearing." She whimpers. He nods at Valerie and takes off, following the trail of blood and disturbed leaves. "I'm gonna need an ambulance or two." She starts into her radio, giving them more detail. The lines blur more and Valerie's voice gets farther away. Jo goes limp and falls into Valerie's arms.

To be continued...