Chapter 21
A loud crash echoed throughout Jack's room as his lunch tray fell to the floor, splattering food everywhere. Sam jumped from her seat to help Jack as the seizure took hold of him, trying desperately to keep him from falling out of his wheelchair though he was buckled in. The seizure only lasted two minutes, but to Sam it was nothing short of an eternity. She gently cradled Jack's head against her chest as she hit the panic button near the dining table of his room, taking comfort in the gentle snores emanating from him.
"What's wrong, Sam?" Janet said as she rushed into the room. She had been working on Jack's chart at the nurse's station when the signal went off for Jack's room.
"We were eating and he started having a seizure," Sam replied in an emotionally tight voice.
Janet busied herself checking Jack over to make sure he didn't have any food in his mouth and was breathing okay. When she was satisfied that he was okay, she put a comforting hand on Sam's. "He seems to be alright. Would you help me get him onto the bed so we can change his clothes? Then he can sleep it off."
Sam nodded, then pushed Jack's wheelchair over to his bed. Once there, Janet knelt down in front of him and placed a soft hand on his cheek. "Jack? Come on, time to wake up?" Janet said consolingly.
Slowly, Jack's eyes opened and looked blearily at Janet. He looked lost and confused. "Mmmwwaahhs," It was all that Jack could manage. His voice was strained and his speech slurred.
Quickly and easily, Janet and Sam unbuckled Jack and lifted him up onto his bed. Janet held him upright while Sam stripped off his t-shirt.
"What?" Janet asked when Sam stopped short and gasped.
"Look at that bruising on his ribs!" she exclaimed.
Janet tightened her hold on Jack and looked up to where Sam was pointing, gasping herself at the dotted bruising on Jack's ribs and shoulders.
"What could have happened?" Sam asked, sickened at the sight.
Janet peered at them extensively. "I don't know, but they look like finger marks. As if someone was pinching him or something," Janet replied still examining the marks.
"But who?" Sam asked, mulling over in her mind who all had been around Jack that would hurt him.
"I don't know, but one way or another we are going to find out!" Janet said seriously, anger dripping from her words. How the hell could anyone hurt a brain injured person? she thought.
After changing Jack's t-shirt, they set to work changing his pants and noticed that his knees also had the same pattern of bruising. Both women felt sick to their stomachs. How could this have gone on without anyone noticing?
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General Hammond slammed his fist on his desk and stood with an angry huff, causing Sam and Janet to jump. He about blew a head gasket when Sam and Janet had informed of their suspicions that Jack has been abused by an unknown person. Hadn't Jack been through enough? Now some son of a bitch was abusing a nearly defenseless man. "Do either of you have any idea who could be doing this?" he asked, anger dripping from his words.
"No, Sir. The only people that have been near Jack is the staff at the hospital and us," Janet replied in a perplexed tone. "But, Sam has noticed that Jack gets nervous when that night nurse Daphne is around him."
"I don't suppose that Jack can tell us if she is the one who has been hurting him?" Hammond asked.
"No, I've asked him who hurt him and all he says is that he doesn't know," Sam answered sadly.
"Is it possible that he does remember and is afraid to say?" the still fuming General asked.
"Yes, Sir, it is. From the amount of bruising, I'd say that it's been happening quite frequently. If an event repeatedly happens, Jack will remember it. He may be saying that he doesn't remember out of fear of more abuse or he's been threatened not to tell, but, honestly, with Jack's impairments, it's really hard to say for sure," Janet informed them, all the while thinking to herself that it was more likely that Jack was afraid to tell.
"I'm going to have a talk with Sergeant Siler and see if he can rig up a hidden security camera in Jack's room. We're going to get whoever is doing this and find out why," Hammond vowed.
Afer a quick call was placed to Siler and the Sergeant confirmed that he could rig the camera, Janet, George, and Sam began formulating a plan.
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Janet sat in her office in the company of George Hammond and two Security Forces, watching Sam give Jack a kiss goodnight. Sergeant Siler had wired the hidden camera in Jack's room to a monitor in Janet's office. The camera, cleverly disguised as teddy bear dressed in hockey garb, kept a watchful eye over Jack's entire room. Sam winked at the camera before walking out of the room, leaving Jack at his desk practicing his writing. Five minutes later, Sam joined them in Janet's office.
At ten o'clock on the dot, Daphne strolled into Jack's room. Everyone leaned over in their chairs, watching intently as the nurse took a hold of the handles on Jack's wheelchair and pushed him toward the bed. Tears welled in Sam's eyes when she saw Jack begin to tremble at the sight of the evil woman.
"Well, retard, I hear you're going home in a few days," Daphne said, then dug the knuckle of her index finger into the tip of Jack's nose. "I can't say that I'll miss ya, but, the only thing that bothers me is that you aren't going to the morgue. Though, that could easily be arranged. There are still a few days here to go yet."
Daphne knew that she was supposed to help Jack to the bathroom, but she didn't give a shit. He could piss himself for all she cared. Soon, he wouldn't be her problem, and if she had her way, with a little more time, he wouldn't be anybody's problem.
With a wicked grin, Daphne undid Jack's lap buckle and got behind his chair again. She lifted up on the back with a sharp jerk, tipping the chair forward and sending Jack sprawling to the floor. He cried out and screeched in pain as he crumbled, no doubt in agony from his achy hips and legs.
She feigned a concerned gasp. "Oh, Jack! What did you do? You went and fell out of your chair!" The terrible woman cackled and crouched down by Jack as he tried to cringe away from her, sobbing. It delighted Daphne even more to see the urine stain spreading down the front of Jack's sweatpants. "Oh, you fucking retard! You've pissed your pants, too."
"Wh-why... you... hur-hurtin'... m-m-me?" Jack asked in a scared and confused voice.
"Because you fucking ruined my life, you stupid son of a bitch! You should've died back on that damned planet like you were supposed to," Daphne barked at him, her voice hissing with rage.
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Sam and Janet watched with horrified expressions as the shocking scene unfolded. Seeing Jack hit the floor with a hard thud was it, they'd had enough! They raced out of the office with the two Security Forces in tow. They rushed into Jack's room just as Daphne had her claws ready to sink into Jack's arm.
"Get the hell away from him!" Janet yelled angrily.
Daphne spun around with a shocked expression pasted on her face, only to have it knocked off by Sam's fist slamming into her jaw.
"What the hell? I..." Daphne stammered, rubbing her smarting jaw.
"You're going to have to be more careful, nurse. Slipping and hurting yourself like that," Janet said in a condescending tone.
The two Security Forces grabbed Daphne's arms, pulling them behind her back to cuff them. After an approving nod from Sam, they began to lead the abusive nurse out of Jack's room.
"He fell and I was just trying to help him!" Daphne shouted back over her shoulder as she was lead down the hall.
Sam glared toward the door briefly before turning her attention back to Jack.
"Let's get him up off of the floor and then we can get him cleaned up," Janet said and gently rubbed Jack's arm. "Are you okay, Jack?"
"I hurt-ed. I p-p-eed mine pants," Jack replied sadly. "I sorries."
"You have no reason to be sorry, Jack. I'm the one who is sorry. I should have come sooner to help you," she said, then gave him a chaste kiss.
Carefully, Sam and Janet lifted Jack up onto his bed. Both worked quickly and easily to get him cleaned up. When they completed their ministrations, Janet left the room to get Jack some pain medication. Sam curled up on the bed beside Jack, lovingly massaging his arm and talking softly to calm him.
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Julie smiled as she watched Jack diligently practice his handwriting. Although, it was a struggle for him, he persevered and now could write in his journal himself with prompting as to what to write.
His hand trembled slightly as he gripped the large primary pencil and slowly scrawled a short sentence about his therapy session in his log book. Jack laid the pencil down on the desk and looked up at Julie,his mouth turned into a wide smile. The script was similar to that of a third grader, large and squiggly, but it was a huge accomplishment for Jack. "I did it! Cn't wait to tell Sam 'n Andy," Jack said proudly.
"Yes, Jack, you did it. I'm very proud of you and so will Sam and Andy," Julie replied. "Now, how about you start getting washed up for lunch?"
"Yeah," Jack replied reluctantly. He still had a hard time switching his attention from one activity to another.
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"Dad, you have to pay attention. You won't get better if ya don't practice," Andy said as he tried to redirect Jack's attention back to the notebook. Andy was helping his father practice his reading and writing at the dining table in Jack's room, but Jack's attention was on Sam. He watched as she folded his clothes and put them neatly into the suitcase.
"Why she doin' dat?" Jack asked, his eyes not leaving Sam.
"Mom's just packin' your stuff cause you're goin' home tomorrow," Andy replied.
"I go home?" Jack asked, looking at Andy in obvious confusion.
"Yeah, don't ya remember?"
Before Jack could answer, a knock came from the door. The door swung open to admit Janet and Cassie into the room. Sam laid the last pair of Jack's sweatpants into the suitcase then turned to smile at their friends. "Hey, guys," Sam greeted.
"Hi, Sam. I came to get Andy," Cassie replied then she turned her attention to Jack. "Hey, Uncle Jack."
A big smile spread across Jack's lips and his eyes widened with delight. "Hi, Casssie!"
"Andy, get your stuff gathered up," Sam said as she walked over toward the table.
"Aw, Mom. Do I hafta go?" Andy whined.
"Yes, you do. You have school tomorrow and your Dad is going home."
"Okay," Andy replied reluctantly. He was glad that his dad was finally going home, but he didn't want to leave him. He reached over and lovingly patted his father's bony hand before he stood to go put his things in his backpack.
Jack watched forlornly as Andy put his tablet and reading book in his backpack, then zipped it shut. Had he done something wrong that his son was leaving? His head began to hurt, a dull ache in the back of his head was spreading into a thunderous thump throughout his skull. Flashes of brightly colored lights flashed behind his eyelids as his hands flew up to his head, a screech escaped his lips as the pain escalated.
"Mom, something's wrong with Dad!" Andy yelled when he saw his father digging his fists into the sides of his head and his face scrunched in pain.
"Jack? What's wrong?" Sam asked as she rushed to him and rubbed his back. Her only reply was a long, drawn out moan.
"He's having a migraine," Janet said placing a gentle hand on Jack's shoulder. "I'll go and get his medicine. Hold on, Jack."
Sam continued to rub Jack's back until Janet returned and gave him his medication. Cassie hugged Andy to her as Jack's moans slowly began to quiet down.
"Ya feel better now, Daddy?" Andy asked.
"Y-y-e-a-a, Jack replied sleepily.
"Let's get you to your bed so you can lay down and get some rest," Janet said then pushed Jack's wheelchair over to his bed.
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An hour after Andy and Cassie had left, Jack was still asleep. He always slept for at least an hour and a half after he had a migraine or a seizure. Janet and Sam sat at the table, signing the forms needed to enroll Jack at the Oak Hill Center's adult rehabilitation program. It was a program specially designed for adults with a severe traumatic brain injury. Jack was to begin the program the day after his discharge and continue it until his evaluation after three months. After the papers were signed, Janet gave Jack a quick check up without waking him and then she left for the night.
Sam curled up on the couch and began to write in Jack's journal, stopping periodically to check on Jack. She wrote for a while before she fell asleep.