It was quiet and dark when Rose finally woke. It was totally black, in fact, which made her panic until she realized that her eyes were shut.
She carefully opened them, taking in her surroundings. She was on a hospital bed in a small ward, lit by glowing yellow lights. It was eight o'clock at night, said a small clock on the nightstand.
Her arm was wrapped securely in a plaster cast, along with bandages on most of the rest of her body. An IV was dripping into the crook of her arm.
As her body slowly woke up, she became aware of the aching. Her entire body seemed to be a big bruise. How was that possible?
Beside that point, how did she get here? What had happened to Jimmy, who was apparently guilty of murder? What had happened in general? Was Jimmy arrested? Was she okay?
A light snore brought her back to the room. Rose looked to the chair beside her bed. There was her mum, fast asleep, obviously completely exhausted from sitting near Rose for who knows how long.
Rose sighed and settled her body more comfortably against the uncomfortable bed. She tried to make sense of everything.
The slight movement and rustling of the sheets caused Jackie to sit bolt upright. "Rose!"
"I'm fine." Rose whispered.
"You're awake!" Jackie rushed to the side of the bed. "Thank God!"
"How long was I out?" Rose asked. The first of a lot of questions.
"Just less than two days." Jackie explained. "The police found you."
"How did everything happen?" Rose asked. "I don't remember anything."
"Of course not." Jackie patted her arm. "The police followed Jimmy home from where he was buying drugs, and they arrested him as he tried to run. They went in the house to find evidence, and you were lying on the floor, unconscious, with a broken arm. They called the ambulance, and found out who you were, then found me."
Rose nodded. But something didn't make sense. "Jimmy came home and told me he- oh my god- he told me he murdered someone- a man named Jack!"
Jackie blanched. "He what?"
Rose relayed the story. "I heard the police outside, but he threw me on the ground and stomped on my arm. I guess that must have been when I blacked out."
Jackie reached for her hand. "You should tell the investigator that. Now that you're awake they'll be coming round to ask you some questions."
Rose sighed. She knew this was going to happen. She wished it wasn't under these circumstances though.
"When?"
Jackie waved her hand. "Tomorrow, probably. You're going to be here for awhile. You have the broken arm, obviously, but you actually have a cracked rib- two in fact- and you have bruises all over you. And you're undernourished."
Rose hadn't quite guessed that much. She made a small noise of surprise.
Jackie nodded. "You're going to heal up just fine. The doctor was going to come in and see you when you woke up, though."
Sure enough, the door to the small room opened, and a tall, skinny man with floppy black curls walked in. He pulled up the round stool in the room up next to the bed.
"Hullo Rose" The doctor smiled. "I'm Doctor Holmes. Are you feeling okay?"
Rose cocked an eyebrow. "I feel like I was run over by a truck."
The doctor huffed out a laugh. "We can always administer more painkillers. Just tell me if you need them."
Rose nodded. That wasn't really necessary.
Doctor Holmes stood up. "I'm
just going to look over your injuries to see how you're doing, okay?"
Rose nodded. She was starting to feel extremely exhausted.
But the adrenal spike and the feeling of utter terror as the doctor carefully undid her hospital gown woke her up straightaway.
She brought her knees up to her chin, burying her face in them. It was inexplicable. But for some reason, she was totally terrified of him touching her. Her body refused to listen to her mind.
The doctor carefully backed away. "Right." he wrote something down on his clipboard. "We thought this might have happened."
Jackie reached out to comfort Rose. "What happened?"
The doctor frowned in sympathy. "This happens often to victims of rape and domestic violence. They often become afraid of other men touching them."
Jackie rubbed Rose's back. "How long will it last?"
The doctor shrugged. "It depends on the person. Some cases, the fear stays with them their entire lives. Other times, they can easily get over it, although it takes time."
Jackie nodded, and tried to look brave, as she stroked Rose's huddled form.
"I'll send in the female doctor." Doctor Holmes made a carefully hasty retreat.
"It's okay Rose." Jackie murmured. "He's gone now. Nothing to worry about."
Rose once again laid flat on the bed. Her eyes sparkled with tears. "Is that true?" she asked her mother. "Am I wrecked for life?"
"Of course not." Jackie reassured her. "We Tyler women are the strongest around. We always bounce back."
Rose nodded. She hoped against hope that her mother was right. She couldn't go through life with an irrational fear of men.
What else had Jimmy destroyed for her? She supposed she was going to have to wait and find out as the details revealed themselves.
Jackie squeezed her hand. "You should sleep, sweetheart."
Rose nodded. But she had to say something first. "Okay. But mum?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry."
Jackie looked perplexed. "For what?"
The tears started to fall. "For not believing you about Jimmy. For making you let me go live with him."
Tears started to sparkle in Jackie's eyes now. "Sweetheart, you don't have to worry about that. I should have known better than to let you convince me. I am the mother, after all."
"Still." Rose insisted. "It was my fault."
"No, it was both of ours." Jackie sighed. "Now you need to sleep. But I accept your apology. Really."
Rose smiled. "Okay. Good night. I love you.
"Love you too." Jackie held Rose's hand until she fell asleep.
A/N I don't know how I'm doing with all the updating~ but hopefully it's okay. Keep enjoying the story! Thanks a million for all those reviews and favourites and alerts!
Again, the amount of people who are reading this is totally mind-blowing. Just looking in my email and seeing all those gives me a mood lift.