Hallelujah

Silver Springs

Chapter Playlist: You Don't Have to Say You Love Me - Dusty Springfield; Silver Springs - Fleetwood Mac. (License is taken with musical time frames in this story because - let's face it - we don't really know how much time has past. I suspect a lot.)

Silver Springs

She left Frank and Shelley playing cards. She'd been sorely tempted to join them - despite Shelley's strong encouraging toward strip poker - but she had a delivery to make. Climbed the steps to the third floor, to personal chambers, a tray in hand. Mary Eunice's light bled from beneath her door at the end of the hall.

She passed the Monsignor's chambers on the way. His light was on as well. She tiptoed past. Knocked softly on Eunice's door. "Little Sister. It's me. I brought ya some dinner."

The door opened just a crack, and seeing that Jude was alone, Eunice let her in. "I'm sorry I ran earlier, Sister."

"It's fine." Jude set the tray on Eunice's desk. "I brought ya some soup. Shelley and Frank... helped me cook." She shook her head. "Like a mental patient and a bachelor. But...it's hard to keep good help these days."

Eunice lifted the lid on the soup tureen as if it was a holy relic. "Thank you, Sister. I - I can't remember the last time I ate something."

"Ya don't really have to anymore." Jude explained. She meandered to Eunice's modest bed and sat, leaving the chair for Eunice. "But I find I still enjoy food. It's comforting. Fills the soul, I guess."

Eunice tasted the soup with a shaking hand, tightly clutching the napkin in her lap. "Mmmmmm." Her eyes drifted shut. "Oh, Sister Jude...that feels so good."

Jude smiled. "Good. Eat. Does ya a world of good. And Eunice...I'm not Sister Jude, anymore." She gestured to the simple sundress and cotton flats she still wore. "As you can see. I'm Judy now. Or just Jude."

Eunice drank milk, wiped away the little moustache it left behind. "I don't know if I can ever call you that."

A shrug. "I don't suppose it matters. Call me whatevah ya like."

"I liked calling you Sister. Because...I'd never had a sister. And, I think you always treated me like one." She stirred soup thoughtfully. "Your little sister." She looked up. "Did you really love me?"

Jude felt a warmth spreading. It radiated from her chest down her arms. Tingled her fingertips. Maybe it was love. "Oh, yes, Mary Eunice. I - I suppose I should have said it. Instead of constantly terrifying you. Treating you like you were an idiot. I'm sorry for that."

"No, no, sister." Eunice insisted. "You tried to teach me. To make me tougher. To make me think. I needed that. If I'd had more of it, or listened more, maybe...maybe I could have fought harder for my own soul."

"You know, Eunice. I learned something about evil here at Briarcliff. Something I wish I could have known, told ya then. That no matter how strong ya are, it's always stronger. I was devastated when I knew the truth. When I knew that it had ya. I wish I could have..."

"You tried." Mary Eunice set aside her spoon. Came and sat beside Jude on her bed. "The Monsignor tried, too. Look what it won both of you." She looked down at her open palms on her lap. "When I think of what my hands have done, I want to cut them off."

Jude took one of the hands. The fingertips were calloused. She rubbed them. "What - what is this from, Eunice?"

"Beads. Prayers." Jude closed her eyes. The fingertips smoothed under her touch, warmed. Eunice gasped. "What did you..." Her wide eyes met Jude. "Like the touch of Christ."