branded // heathers // bruises original ending

ten // breathe deeply

When Veronica awoke a few hours later, she was not surprised to hear crying babies once more. But she was surprised to hear JD's low voice.

"I'm going as fast as I can." He was telling them, as if that would help. "Veronica," He called to her loudly.

"I'm up," She said back.

"I think they're hungry. I changed both of their diapers and they're still crying." He added, sounding very exhausted.

"Give them to me please," She told him and he did as such. She began to feed her twins again as JD sat beside her. "You know there's this thing called breast pumps, we can get one and get some bottles so they can eat if I'm asleep."

"We'll pick it up tomorrow." He told her, resting his head on her shoulder.

"What time is it?" She asked, trying to ignore the fact that her twins were hurting her as she fed them.

"Quarter to eight." He replied.

"Do you want to sleep more before we go shopping?" She asked him.

"Probably." He answered, taking a twin from Veronica and placing her in the bassinet. "And by probably I mean definitely." He joked, causing Veronica to crack a smile as he took the other twin.

Minutes passed by once more as the twins went back to sleep. As did Veronica and JD.

The months passed with JD and Veronica staying in hotels with baby twins. They still didn't sleep through the night. One morning, instead of the crying, they woke to loud banging at the door of the hotel room.

"Fuck." JD muttered as he got up. Veronica was still sleeping soundly, as were their daughters. When he opened the door, a pissed off Alexander Walsh was there.

"You're under arrest." Alexander said.

"I'm aware." JD remarked. "What took you so long? Not as skilled as you like to admit?" He asked.

"No, we just had to figure out your pattern." Alexander replied, cuffing JD as Veronica woke up.

"What the hell?" She asked groggily when Julia was at the side of the bed.

"How did he get you here?" Julia asked Veronica as JD was already being led outside to the cop car.

"He knocked me out. I had the babies that night." Veronica told her. "You're not going to take them, right?" She asked, scared at the concept of losing them.

"No, Veronica. We just need to get you all to a hospital and get you home." Julia said.

"What about JD?" Veronica asked.

"He's being taken to the station right now. You're not going home with him this time." Julia explained.

Her and Veronica grabbed the twins and put them into their car seats, starting to take them outside. Veronica went back inside to pack all their stuff up before leaving again.

"Can we just go home?" Veronica asked, getting into the car Julia was driving.

"He's very clearly been hitting you, Veronica. You need to be checked at the hospital. So do your daughters, we have to make sure they're healthy." Julia told her.

"They are healthy." Veronica argued. But Julia ignored her and continued driving to the hospital.

At the hospital, Veronica watched as her twins were caught up on their vaccines and legally born. She mumbled the times of her daughters' births and wrote their names on the birth certificates. She rolled her eyes as they said her babies were too small. She replied with the fact that they were premature twins. She got checked out once more, wincing as the doctor looked at every bruise.

"You don't have any broken bones this time." Julia told Veronica. "Just about forty bruises in various stages of healing. Your lip is also split." She added.

"Can we go home now?" Veronica asked, she didn't speak of the bruises her husband had left on her.

"They want to monitor you overnight." Julia said, leaving out that this was her insistence. JD was already on the way back to Ohio, if the cars got too close, he could get Veronica and their daughters again.

"I don't care. I want to go home." Veronica argued. "Get a doctor in here and let me get released."

Julia did as Veronica said, listened as she argued with the doctor that she and her daughters were healthy despite the bruises on Veronica and JD's refusal to give them medical care. After she continued to argue, they obliged. Julia let them into her car and started to drive them to Ohio, hoping that Jason Dean wouldn't escape again.