Disclamier: I own everything you don't recognize…. Yadda yadda yadda
You fought Me Once But Not Again, Let Me Feel Your Heavy Hand- Breaking Benjamin
Jack waited untill he heard the door click then let out a heavy sigh. He didn't think that Spot would actually fall for the idea, seeing as he was always stubborn and pig headed when it came to things like this. Plus, he never thought he would leave Gem's side once they started talking again. But, he had obviously thought wrong, and had mentally kicked himself as he walked away from the conversation last night, and was knew stuck "baby-sitting" when he really should be making money. He thought Spot was just over reacting when it came to Lanie. Sure, Jack had seen the bottles in the cabinet, and he had seen Gem out drink most of the boys in the Lodging House, but it didn't mean she should be locked in a room until Spot decided to let her out. It didn't seem fair.
He lazily walked around the apartment for a few minutes, looking at the dishes piled in the sink, and the stray newspaper littered all around. Finally he made his way down the hall, gently reaching into his pocket and grasping the key that Spot had handed him before he left.
"Don't let her out Jack," was all he said before slipping through the door and leaving. He said they had gotten into a fight, but was not clear on what it was about, and that Lanie was in a bad mood.
"Well I would be in a bad mood too if I had been locked in a room for four days," Jack thought to himself as he slipped the key into the lock and turned it gently. He turned the knob and pushed it open.
The room was dark. Newspapers were positioned in front of the windows like curtains to block the sun. Glass shards littered the floor, along with half broken bottles, and the room reeked of whiskey. Jack looked to the bed to see Lanie curled into a tiny ball sleeping peacefully.
"Really was some fight if the room looks like this," Jack thought while standing against the door way watching Lanie sleep. It reminded him of the first day she showed up at the Lodging House, the day after the drowning.
"BOYS! WAKE UP! I NEED HELP!" Kloppman screamed, as he ran in and out of the washroom into the bunkroom holding towels in his hands.
Jack was the first to lift his head up from his pillow and yelled grumpily to the old man, "You're crazy, leave us alone, we got more time to sleep."
Kloppman stopped running for a second and approached Jack, still holding a bundle of towels in his hands. He leaned over and whispered into Jack's ear, "Gem's downstairs, Daisy drowned last night."
Jack shot up like a bullet and jumped from his bed, he grabbed some towels from Kloppman and headed down the stairs stopping short at his first sight of Lanie. She sat on the stool in front of the sign in desk and stared straight ahead of her. He lips were quivering and blue from the cold. Her clothes were soaked to her skin, and hair dripping creating a puddle around her. She wasn't crying, wasn't moving, just sitting and staring. The image gave Jack the chills.
Finally Jack got the courage to walk over to her. He wrapped a towel around her shoulders, then placed one on her lap.
She looked scary, almost like a ghost, he couldn't get up enough nerve to ask her what had happened so the pair waited in silence for Kloppman to come. He could hear her teeth chattering, and saw her body begin to shake from the chills, but felt powerless to help her. This was the only time Jack had seen Gem unable to help herself.
Finally footsteps were heard coming down the stairs, and Kloppman appreared with a few more towels, and some spare clothes.
"Move Jack," he said while pushing the boy out of the way.
"What happened to her?" Jack finally whispered.
"I think she's in shock. She didn't say much when she came in, just that she needed a place to stay, and when I asked her about Daisy, she whispered that she had drowned. Then she sat down, and hasn't moved yet. Just keeps staring at the wall. The girl is crazy for walking here all the way from Brooklyn in weather like this."
Jack shook his head, "How could this happen?" He thought to himself. He knew Spot had the answers…that is, if Spot even knew if Gem was gone. He made a mental note to send someone over to Brooklyn to tell Spot she was here.
With his attention turned back to the pair in front of him, he watched as Kloppman dried her hair, and the rest of her body before stepping back and handing the girl the clothes that he had brought down with him. She took them in her hands but made no effort to move.
"Go change Gem, you'll catch a cold," Kloppman said, encouraging the girl to move. Gem stayed where she was however, still staring at the wall, although her lips were no longer quivering.
Kloppman tried once again, but was met with great resistance from the tiny girl. He leaned into Jack and whispered into his ear, "You try, she might listen to you."
Jack shrugged his shoulders then took a step forward and knelt infront on the girl. Her eyes still looked straight, and he reached up to her face and forced her to look at him.
"Lanie, you need to go get changed. You're soaking wet."
The girl shook her head out of his grasp and finally spoke, "I killed her Jack, it's all my fault," was all she said before slipping from the bench and into Jack's arm sobbing into his chest, and there was nothing that Jack could do except hold her until she cried herself to sleep.
Once her crying had decreased and only the whimpers were consistent, Jack carried the small girl into the back room and left, allowing Kloppman to change her clothes before calling him back into the room and telling him to carry her to one of the spare beds upstairs. Jack nodded in understanding and carried the girl through the room and up the stairs and placing her on the bed farthest away from the rest of the sleeping boys. He placed her gently onto the bed, and sat on the edge, watching her whimper in her sleep and cry with no tears…
Screaming drifted down from the upstairs apartment and made Jack emerge from his memory. He sighed and stared at Lanie for a few more seconds before turning to leave when something caught his eye. In the corner, something red. He tip-toed towards it, and without having to lean down to see he knew what it was.
He quickly shot around and stared that the girl sleeping. He took a few more steps towards the bad and looked over at her. Blood, on the sheets. He turned her over and that's when he saw it. Her wrists, she had slit her wrists.
Without even thinking he ran for the bathroom and grabbed two wash cloths from the basin and ran back into the bedroom wrapping her wrists.
"What are you doing Lanie? Why did you do this?" He said aloud. There was no answer.
He held pressure on the slices for a few seconds before noticing that he blood was seeping through the wash clothes. He wrapped them tighter, then reached up and smacked her face a few times to see if she would wake up. There was nothing, no movement at all.
"God Damn you Lanie…what the hell is wrong with you?" He said while picking her up and running from the bedroom with her. He knew she needed to get to a hospital, god only knows how much blood she had lost.
He ran through the apartment building with her, and when he finally reached the sidewalk outside, he pushed his way through the crowd, screaming at people to move out of the way.
He knew time was of the essence, and felt like he was running faster then he had ever run. He didn't think he was going to make it, and each time he looked down at her, he left as if her breathing was becoming more and more shallow, "Hold on Lanie…Just a few more blocks, and we'll be there…" He told her, not sure if he was reassuring her or himself.
Finally, about a block away from the hospital he noticed Boots standing on a corner selling his papers. As he ran passed him, he caught Boots eyes, and yelled, "Stay there, don't more," while rounding the corner and running the half a block to the hospital.
Upon entering he hitched Lanie up a bit higher into his arms and rushed to the nurse's station, "She…Slit…Wrists..." He said while gasping for air. The rest was blurry, nurses rushing around, towels being switched, Lanie being taken out of his arms, the next thing he remembered was a nurse yelling at him while she was rushing down the hall, "What's her name?"
He shook his head, "Lanie, Lanie Dowlson," He yelled back and then watched her nurse disappear. Then he turned and walked back through the front doors of the hospital. He began walking back to Boots and lit a cigarette on his way to calm his nerves.
Boots still stood on the corner apprehensvily tapping his foot against the pavement. As soon as he saw Jack round the corner and rushed over to him, "What happened?"
Jack shook his head and took a few drags from his cigarette before answering. Then he waved Boots closer, and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You need to listen very carefully, you hear me?"
The younger boy nodded his head with understanding. Then Jack continued.
"You need to run to Brooklyn, find Spot, and tell him this… you need to listen good now, okay Boots?"
Once again the younger boy nodded his head.
"You can't mess this up Boots, you gotta tell him this exactly like I am telling it to you now. Okay?"
"Okay Cowboy. What's going on?"
Jack took another drag before answering, "Tell him Lanie is in the hospital, she slit her wrists. Tell him I am with her, and that she is with the doctors, but he needs to get here are soon as possible. Then bring him here. Okay? You need to tell this to Spot, not one of his boys. You need to demand to speak with him. Okay?"
Boots shook his head once again.
"Okay, go," Jack demanded, and the boy took off, and left like he was flying instead of running.
Jack watched him go until he had disappeared, and then leaned against the wall of the building behind him and finished his cigarette, wishing that the wall would swallow him .
Finally, he pushed himself off, and began to short walk back to the hospital, glad that he was already there, because when Spot heard the news, he was sure he was going to need some doctors.
A.N.- Okay, I think this will be my last flashback chapter for awhile. I need to leave some
Questions unanswered. Anyway, thank you guys soooo much for the reviews! You are the absolute best EVER! Keep them coming!