Chapter Nine: Jude's Blood
On day seventeen, Jen gets the green light from the doctors to go home, with the recommendation to move around as much as possible, but avoiding loads, and especially being careful with her still-healing ribs.
"Ah, don't worry, Doctor, it's hard to forget, when every time you try to take a slightly deeper breath you're in pain like Julius Caesar on the Ides of March!", Jen jokes from her chair across the physician's desk.
The doctor is intent on signing her discharge papers, nodding absently at the joke. He closes the chart and hands it to Jen along with an orange colored pill bottle.
"Thanks, but I'd rather not take stuff that's too strong, I think I'll rely on some ibuprofen if the pain really gets unbearable", Jen says declining the medication.
"They're not painkillers, Mrs. Harding, they're calcium and vitamin D supplements", the man specifies filling out another document, "A couple of pills in the morning along with breakfast will be enough"
Judy casts a concerned look at Jen and gently places a hand on her knee, aware that the woman is fuming with anger. The blonde turns toward her feigning nonchalance, but her livid face expresses a murderous desire. Judy grabs the bottle hastily thanking the doctor.
"Here's the insurance check", the man in white coat smiles kindly, unaware that his life is still in serious danger.
The brunette drags Jen out of the office, struggling more and more to maintain a serious demeanor, she can almost see smoke coming out of Jen's nose and ears.
"Let's go guys," Jen waves her sons towards the exit as she places an arm around Judy's shoulders for help. "Give me that fucking bottle," she orders sourly.
"Jen", Judy admonishes her. "Come on Jude", the blonde insists. "No, I'm not giving it to you, okay? I know it would end up in that bucket over there", she explains as they walk, "And I don't feel like having to rummage through it to get it back", she justifies. Jen rolls her eyes, defeated.
"In ten days I'm going to show that quack my fucking menopause! Let's see the look on his face when I wiggle a fucking used tampon in front of his snout!", Judy bursts out laughing imagining the scene, knowing full well that Jen would be fully capable of enacting it. But then she hears her snicker softly with a grimace of pain.
"You're ridiculous Jen", she tells her softly looking into her eyes, "But I fuckin' luv ya", she adds smiling.
The blonde responds with a relaxed smile, she tightens her grip on her shoulders and leans down to rest her forehead on hers. "I fuckin' luv ya too", she whispers leaving her a light kiss on the tip of her nose.
—
"Judy, why didn't you just drive through the center! It's 11:30 in the morning, not rush hour! This way it will take us twice as long to get home!", Charlie complains from the back seat.
Jen is about to give her son a thumbs up, lowering the back of her seat even further, but just as she's about to open her mouth, the brunette speaks.
"The downtown driveway is full of bumps and dips because of the pine tree roots, Charlie. I don't think your mom's back and ribs would be all that pleased", Jen turns to look at her, touched. This woman keeps fucking surprising her all the time. It would never have occurred to her such a caring thought!
She reaches out and places a hand on her knee, waiting for her to turn around and with an adoring look mimes a smiling "Thank you" to her. Judy responds with a radiant smile and squeezes her hand, intertwining their fingers together.
Little Henry sinks an elbow into his brother's ribs and looks up at him with happy eyes and a wide smile. The eldest rolls his eyes, feigning annoyance, and snorts a laugh.
-Mission accomplished! You're a genius, Char!-, he thinks, imagining giving himself a big pat on the shoulders, proud of himself. He had almost felt it coming, the acid criticism from his dumb mom. Better to anticipate her, he had imagined the reason for that alternative route.
—
The stairs are such a chore, that for the first three days, Jen and Judy decide by mutual agreement, -well almost, let's say Jen gives in to Judy's insistence-, that it's best for the blonde to settle in the guest house and for fear of bumping into her during the night and not leaving the kids alone, Judy will sleep in the main room.
They find themselves chatting on the phone like they used to, late into the night, waiting for sleep to win out over one of them, which is usually Jen.
After the first night, in which the blonde struggled with the pillows to be able to find a position comfortable enough to rest, the woman makes a decision.
"Hey Jude, come here a minute", she calls her one morning from the kitchen counter, after the kids have left for school and the brunette is intent on pouring her second cup of coffee. She approaches Jen, who moves her laptop to allow her to see the site she's browsing.
"Oh, are you going to change the bed?" she asks, offering her the steaming cup of coffee from which she has just sipped its contents.
"Why not? The mattress is already a few years old and is starting to give to my back problems, and with these fucking ribs, resting long stretches is really hell. I was thinking maybe with one of these nets that lifts up and a super tech mattress… what do you say?", she takes a sip of coffee as she watches Judy nod and her glasses fog up. Judy takes them off, wipes the lenses with an edge of her dress, places them back on her nose and leaves a quick kiss on the tip.
"Yeah, why not? Let me contribute though", the other exclaims raising a finger to emphasize the concept.
"Ah no way!", Jen protests shaking her head.
"Oh… okay… got it. Well, I'll just go back to sleeping in the guest house then", Judy teases her pretending to be upset.
"What?", the blonde exclaims holding her by the arm as she tries to pull away. "Hey come here, where are you going?", she chuckles drawing her to herself. She lifts both her arms until having them laced behind her neck and places her own hands on Judy's hips. Judy raises an eyebrow, expectantly.
"All right, smartass!", she surrenders, rolling her eyes. "Okay, yeah, you're right, our bed, our shopping", she declares looking at her adoringly. Judy thanks her by placing a gentle, soft kiss on her lips.
"And it's not just for my back, you know that, right?", whispers Jen between her lips. Getting rid of the bed she's shared with her husband for years and having a new one all for themselves is kind of like adding value and importance to what they're becoming together.
"Of course I do, baby", Judy answers her still lingering between kisses. "Are you ready to wash up?", she asks her then, returning to the morning's schedule.
"Yes. Let me complete my order and I'll join you!"
—
The idea of putting a stool inside the shower allowed Jen to wash up without the brunette's help. Jen is grateful to her for respecting her time.
Judy knows how hard it is for her to overcome certain traumas. Years of collecting rejections from a husband who couldn't stand his revulsion at her body would have made anyone feel crappy. The idea that Ted would rather risk seeing her dead but with her boobs than alive by his side makes her blood boil in her veins.
Jen knows she has nothing to fear from Judy. But it's hard to move past the trauma, even if it's Judy. But almost more than that, there's the idea of having her see her naked as a matter of need. She doesn't fucking want the first time she shows herself naked to the woman she's in love with just be because she needs help with her own fucking personal hygiene!
But Judy seems to understand and share this thought, and fortunately Jen is agile enough by now to be able to get dressed, undressed and washed without her help, as long as she has a chair and everything she needs on hand. So Judy makes sure she has the guest house bathroom ready with everything she needs.
The one exception, hair care, Jen loves to have her hair dried and combed by Judy, and Judy loves to get involved in this activity. With Jen sitting astride a chair, elbows resting on the back in the front, and her sitting in the back on the edge of the bed, the first half of their mornings always go by way too fast.
The morning the new bed for the main room arrives, Judy receives a call from a number unknown to her.
"Oh, good morning Detective!", she gives Jen a crooked look, mimicking Perez's name.
"No, we've been home for a few days now and Jen's pretty good, she's recovering quickly", as she speaks into the phone, she maintains eye contact with the blonde and smiles at her for reassurance, Perez's tone seems calm.
"Oh, of course, thanks for the information, see you soon Detective", Judy hands the phone to Jen, signaling her that Perez would like to have a word with her. She fearfully takes the device and holds it up to her ear, greeting the detective in the most relaxed tone she is capable of.
"Oh, okay. No, no. Look Detective, we've been through a rough time, my family and I just want to move on. Who the fuck cares, we're alive, thank goodness. We just want to be together and safe", a long silence hovers in the air before Jen finally thanks and says goodbye to the policewoman and ends the call.
Jen instinctively hugs Judy and lets out a resounding, painful sigh of relief. "Days ago they found Steve. They pinned the murder on the Greeks. The case is closed", she whispers in her ear as the two workers in the room exchange a look of understanding. Judy is glad Jen's is turned the other side and didn't see them, otherwise she would have for sure say something rude. For a second she's reminded of that loser's poor figure at the wedding party they had crashed in the Antelope Valley.
"Oh my God, excuse me?! Do you see that we're in the middle of something here? Does it look like my friend wants to fucking dance? Read the room, fucko!"
"Oh, God, thank goodness!", Judy exhales relieved clutching Jen a little too forcefully. Jen grimaces in pain but doesn't complain, reaching for one of the woman's arms and loosening her grip gently.
"Sorry, I was thoughtless", the other comments realizing only then the oversight.
"She also told me that there is no clue about the person responsible for our accident", the blonde adds uninterestedly.
"Yes, she told me as I answered, you did well to clarify our position. Screw the asshole, fuck him, right?"
"Judy… watch your language, you sound like me!", Jen jokes making her laugh out loud.
—
"Sangue di Giuda?", Jen casts a doubtful look at Judy.
"Yeah, you know, my friend Sergio, he's Italian, he came to visit me a while ago and brought me this amazing wine! They make it in an area in lower Lombardy, south of the Po River. It's a dessert wine, specifically, and so I thought it would be perfect with your cherry tart, Judy! It means Jude's Blood, how funny, isn't it?", Karen chirps at the threshold of the entrance door.
"Oh, thanks for the thought Karen! We can't wait to taste it!", Judy raises her voice to overpower the "ew" that escapes the blonde's mouth at the Jude's Blood translation.
"You know what, Karen? Next time Judy makes her famous cherry pie, we'll call you and we'll enjoy it together, how's that?", Jen cuts in while faking a beaming smile.
"Okay! I'm counting on it! Welcome home, girls! See you soon!", the neighbor greets them contentedly walking away before Jen slams the door in her face as her usual.
"Did you mean it?", Judy asks amazed at Jen's suggestion.
"Of course not!", the blonde jokes winking at her.
"Who the fuck could think of calling their wine Jude's Blood?", she comments exuberantly.
"Come on, let's go make our awesome bed! I'm not going to sleep without you in the guest house anymore!", she urges her taking her hand and facing the stairs, no longer inaccessible to her legs.