Damage Limitation
Once things had calmed down, Grace went to the kitchen and returned with a first aid kit and a bowl, "Jess some of those wounds look infected, I need to clean them up and dress them for you."
"They're fine Grace."
"No they're not, take your top off please?" Jess looked at Peter sat in the arm chair, "You can keep you pyjama top over your front, I just need to get to the wounds" Grace poured an iodine solution into a bowl and put on some gloves, she dipped some cotton wool into the liquid, Jess turned around to reveal some wounds on her back, and as Grace dabbed them with iodine she nearly jumped through the roof.
"Argh, for fucks sake Grace, that really hurts" she stood up and walked away keeping her top over her front half.
"Oy, mind your language" Grace said to her, "And sit down, you bloody big baby."
"No way, that hurts like hell." She replied whilst hopping around and trying to get her hand up her back to wipe it off
"It has to be done Jess."
"No Grace, you're not putting any more of that on me."
Peter looked at Grace, and she nodded at him, he stood up and approached Jess, "Come here" he said gently, he put his arms around her, and then held her tightly so she couldn't move.
Grace stood up and continued to dab the iodine on her injuries, she again screamed, "argh, Grace don't, that really hurts, argh." She squirmed in his arms trying to break free from his grip.
"Jess shut up, you'll wake the baby up."
"No I won't shut up until you stop."
"Turn around I need to look at the front."
"No, get off me." Peter turned her around, holding her still again, as Grace looked at some bite marks on her neck. "Argh" she cried out again, this time the shouts of pain turned into tears, and she started to cry as Grace continued.
"Stop it Jess, stop crying." Peter said whilst holding her still.
"Well stop bloody torturing me then." She said through sobs, her top falling away from her skin and leaving her top half naked, she tried to grab for it but couldn't reach.
"Leave it, it doesn't matter, I can't see anything anyway." looking away to save her blushes
Once Grace had finished cleaning the wounds on her torso, she let Jess put her top back on, "Just your arms to go." Jess walked away.
"No way, I've had enough; I don't want any more of that stuff on me."
"Jess come here?" Peter grabbed hold of her, he put his arms around her again, and told her to put her arms around him so that they were behind his back, "Okay Grace start when you're ready." Jess sobbed into his shirt the entire time Grace was cleaning her arms, she had to remove some grit and dirt from the self-harm injuries using some tweezers, and Jess screamed as she did so, she cleaned them with the iodine, along with the restraint marks on her wrists, and then bandaged her arms to keep them clean, once she'd finished, Peter continued to hold her until she stopped crying, rubbing his hand on her back, and trying to soothe her, "It's all finished now okay, it's all done."
Once she'd calmed down again, Grace gave her some pain killers, and she lay down on the sofa and drifted off to sleep. Grace knew it must have been bloody painful, putting iodine on open sores, but she had to do it, to get them clean, they could see a doctor on Monday, but they needed to look after her over the weekend, and it was a case of being cruel to be kind.
Grace sat with her on the sofa until she was asleep, then she got up and sat with Peter in an arm chair, sitting on his lap, loving the feeling of being in his arms, without the stress of worrying about Jess that they had been living with for the last five weeks. They sat and chatted quietly, so as not to wake her up, their hands linked together, talking about the future and where they went from here, they knew Jess would have to go to a sexual health clinic, she had no idea who she'd had sex with, or whether they had taken precautions, she could have any manor of infection, she could also be pregnant again, and they needed to get things sorted as soon as possible.
By the time Jess woke up again, Grace was sat alone in the chair feeding Zoe, Jess looked over to her and smiled, "It suits you Grace."
"What does?"
"Motherhood."
Grace smiled at her "Are you okay with this? Us playing happy families with the little girl you gave birth to."
"Yeah, how's she doing?"
"Really well, she's put on 2lbs in weight; the midwife says she's doing really well."
"How's Boyd coping with fatherhood?"
"It was a bit tough on him to start with, he wouldn't pick her up for the first few days, but he got over it, when Emma died Peter had been the one who'd put her down to sleep, he blamed himself, even though it was nothing to do with him. But now she's a little daddy's girl, aren't you" Grace said smiling at Zoe whilst she was sucking on her bottle.
"She looks well."
"Jess I know it's changing the subject, but I need to talk to you about something."
"I've told you everything Grace."
"It's not that, I want you to go to a sexual health clinic, you need to be tested for STI's, and you also need to take a pregnancy test."
"What if I don't want to go?"
"Why wouldn't you?" Jess didn't reply, "Untreated infections can cause serious health problems Jess, it's better to get them treated now."
"But I may not have anything."
"You have no idea whether anyone you had sex with used a condom, the chances are that they didn't, which leaves you at risk of infection and or pregnancy, you need to be sensible about this" she again didn't answer. "What's the problem?"
"I don't want to be examined." She said quietly
"What?"
"I don't want to be examined Grace."
"You mean intimately?"
"Yes."
"It's just a swab Jess, it takes a few minutes."
"I can't."
"Jess you've had a baby, you were examined then."
"Not until I was in labour, and by then I was on enough gas and air to lift a hot air balloon off the ground."
"What about all the appointments you had before then?"
"I never went to them; I couldn't bare someone touching me like that."
"You need to get over it Jess, this is important, it's for your health, you've been working as a prostitute."
"That's not fair Grace, I was being drugged and used, and I wasn't capable of making a decision."
"You could have come home Jess."
"Thanks, that really helps." Jess got up from the sofa and walked through to the kitchen, Grace followed her, continuing to feed Zoe as she did so.
"I'm just trying to make you see sense; you need to take responsibility for this. It's a simple test that could prevent a lot of problems in the future." For the first time Grace actually shouted at her
Jess looked stunned, "I'm scared Grace." She shouted back at her.
"I know, and I'm sorry, I just want you to see sense, you can't just ignore things and hope that they will go away, they won't, it will just get worse, and it's no different from having a smear test."
"I've never had a smear test either."
"I'll come with you, it will be okay." Grace put Zoe's bottle down as it was empty; she moved the baby up onto her shoulder and pulled Jess into a hug.
Jess slept on the sofa that night, it was where she felt comfortable, but she was woken up at around 3am, when Peter came downstairs to get a drink, he was wearing his pyjama bottoms and a t-shirt, something he only did when Jess was living with them, he usually slept in the nude, and wasn't shy about walking around naked if it was just him and Grace.
Jess followed him into the kitchen, "Hey you okay?" She asked him
"Yeah, just wanted a drink, I think I'm getting a cold, I've got a bloody sore throat. You okay?"
"Yeah, I just wondered what the noise was."
Peter poured himself an orange juice, "You want one?" he said shaking the carton at her
"Nah I'm okay thanks."
He sat at the kitchen table and indicated for her to sit down with him, "How are your sores?"
"Not too bad, they still hurt a bit."
"Yeah but it's for your own good, you don't want them getting any worse."
"Yeah I know." She said, her voice sounding tearful, as he looked at her he could see tears trickling down her face, "Sorry, I'm just a bit all over the place."
Peter reached over to her and placed his hand on the back of her neck affectionately, he pulled her head to his shoulder to comfort her, Jess looked up at him as he did so, under the table she moved her hand to his groin area whilst leaning forward and kissing him.
Peter jumped up and away from the table instantly, "What the bloody hell are you doing?"
Jess looked at him confused "What?"
"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" he said raising his voice.
"I'm sorry I just misread the signals."
"What signals, Jess, you're like a daughter to me, I also happen to be happily married, very happily married." Jess went to speak again, but he put his hand up to stop her, and walked away from her.
