Deadly Passion (Book 2)

Epilogue

"Welcome home, sweetheart." Rachael said once Janessa walked through the front door of her house.

Just then, the lights were flipped on and a few people jumped up yelling surprise!

Janessa giggled and welcomed the hugs from everyone. There was a huge cake on the kitchen counter and everyone had a flute of what looked like champagne. She smiled to herself as she felt the love emit from everyone around her. It was truly a weird feeling.

Her father, James, pulled her in for a hug where he placed a kiss atop her head. Clutching her necklace, Janessa smiled again.

"Thank you." She hugged him back.

"Janessa!" The voice of her best friend broke through and they separated.

She then saw him take Priscilla's hand and they walked towards the backyard by the pool. It was strange to see them together again but she wasn't too surprised. Sometimes death - or close death- brings people together for the better.

"Maria, please forgive me." Janessa pleaded as they hugged.

"You're the one that's supposed to forgive me! If only I wasn't so wrapped up in my phone!" Maria hugged her tighter.

"I'm so sorry." They both said in unison then laughed.

"I have so much to tell you." Maria started off. "First of all, your movie is premiering in a couple of months and let me tell you-"

"Actually, I'm thinking of taking a break from acting." She shrugged.

"But you can't!"

"I can, actually. I think I wanna go to college- far, far away from here."

"You will never be able to outrun your demons. You have a life here, a family and an awesome career; don't throw it all away." Maria held her hands as she pleaded.

"Fine, I'll stay- but I'm still taking a break and attending college!" She warned.

"As long as you promote this movie. I know how much it meant for you."

Janessa shrugged.

"Hey, Maria... have you heard anything about... Reese?" She couldn't help but ask. Once she woke up, nobody dared to talk about him let alone tell her what happened after he was arrested.

Maria glanced around before pulling Janessa along with her until they were in the driveway of the house. "He's been admitted to an institution. They said he was showing signs of a sociopath so they locked him up for treatment."

"For how long?"

"As long as they think he's sane enough to rejoin the world. They never convicted him for Jennifer's death... he was ruled out as being of unsound mind. They didn't charge him for what he did to us either." She looked down at the gravel at their feet.

Janessa exhaled but kept quiet. She didn't get a chance to grieve for Jennifer and her child nor did she get to grieve for her unborn child.

The other night at the hospital when she was fully awake in the early hours of the morning, her doctor Nancy Valdez, saw her sitting up in bed and came in to check on her.

"Please don't call my mother yet." She had said to her. "I just want some time to process."

"That's fine," Nancy said before pulling up a chair. "Do you have any questions or should I just lay it all on you?"

"Just lay it on me."

Nancy took a deep breath. "Well you were in a three month coma because of some head trauma you experienced. When you were brought in, you developed a very high fever from being out in the rain for hours- unconscious. After we ran some tests, we found out that you were developing symptoms of pneumonia..." She looked into Janessa's eyes before she said the last part.