Special Needs

Chapter 61: The Aftermath

Clive and Anne were beside themselves with worry by the time they showed up and understandably so. "Oh my darlings," Anne gushed upon seeing us safe and sound. She seemed to accomplish the impossible, gathering the two of us into her arms. "We leave for an afternoon and look what happens. I'm so sorry."

"Nothing you could have done, Mum," Harry assured her. "He was set on getting to us and he did."

"What happened?" She asked, sitting down with us with Clive hovering as close as possible, his eyes wide with concern.

"Um, well Jules was sleeping and I got a call from the front desk saying that there was a package for me. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have gone but I didn't know." He looked like he was about to tear up.

"It's fine, sweetheart," his mother reassured him. "You couldn't have possibly known it was him."

"So, when I got down there, Theodore was there with an envelope and I...I didn't know what to do. I started to turn back towards the room, but he lied and told me, 'Harry don't be afraid. I have something for you.' I'm sorry," he said again and I grabbed his hand. "He started to come closer and I asked what was in the envelope he was carrying. He got real close and stuck his hand inside; that's when I saw the gun."

"That son of a bitch!" Clive muttered loudly.

"I'm sorry," Harry said for the third time and started weeping.

"Harry, he's a liar and a thief. It's not your fault, okay?" I encouraged him, rubbing my hand up and down his quivering back.

When he collected himself, he said, "He whispered to me that if I didn't bring him back to my room, he was going to shoot everyone he saw."

"What the hell was the front desk staff doing at that point?" Clive demanded.

"There was only one person when I got there and she was on the phone. I could hear some other people in back but I didn't see how many people were there. None of them had any idea what was going on," Harry said, obviously still feeling very guilty. "I shouldn't have led him here, Jules," he said, sniffling. "I should have brought him somewhere else and just let him kill me."

"No, Baby, you did the right thing. We got him, didn't we?!" I said triumphantly.

"He almost killed you," Harry whispered.

"But he didn't," I insisted. "And you might not have been able to take him down by yourself after his gun jammed."

"Wait! What happened?" Anne asked.

I looked at her apologetically, not wanting to give her more fuel for the worry in her heart. "He had the gun pointed at my head and...." I swallowed a lump in my throat. "...And he pulled the trigger."

Anne gasped and Clive belted, "Oh my god!" I don't even think he was thinking clearly as he flew to me and encased me in his strong arms.

"So, yeah, if the gun had fired, I'd be dead," I said and it was when those words left my mouth that I realized how close I'd actually come to dying. I started to feel woozy, the room started spinning and my ears started ringing. "I...I don't feel good," I said and slumped over against Clive's chest.

The next thing I knew, Anne was patting my face with a cool washcloth while Harry cradled me with one arm and rubbed my arm with his other hand. "You okay, Jules?" He asked.

"I almost died," I whispered, somehow more shocked now than I had been when it happened.

"Here, drink this," Clive said, handing me a glass of ice water. I took a sip and tried to shake the fog out of my head.