Julia woke up in a panic and in lots of pain. In her nightmare she had relieved the event of the pervious day all over again. She looked around her room foolishly as if the monster from the nightmare had followed her into reality. Julia knew he was out in the world somewhere but she prayed that she never had to see the man again.
Julia crawled out of bed and walked to the window. Pulling the curtains apart, Julia was blinded by the sun as it poured into the room. Once again she adjusted she looked up and down the street to assure herself that no man was standing across the street.
Julia then turned away from the window and crossed the room to the private bathroom that had been built when her folks moved in. Just like every morning, she turned on the shower before looking at herself in the mirror.
When she did look at herself in the mirror, Julia was startled to see that she looked like death. Once the steam started to come from the shower, Julia stripped the pyjama's she had changed into the night before and stepped into the shower, careful not to get her wound wet.
During the entire shower, Julia kept her wound out of the water stream and settled with just cleaning the area around the wound. Once the rest of her body had been washed, Julia got out of the shower and turned off the water. She looked at the clock on top of the toilet and realised that she had been in the shower for the better part of thirty minutes.
Julia dried herself off and looked at her shoulder in the mirror. She wasn't surprised to find the bandage wet, and knew that she would have to change the bandage to keep an infection from starting. She exited the bathroom, once she had pulled on her robe and jumped when out of the corner of her eye she saw Alex standing in the door.
"God Al," Julia said, placing a hand on her heart.
"Sorry Jules, I didn't mean to scare you. I came to check on you and I heard the shower going," said Alex.
"It's alright. I just didn't expect anyone to be in my room. It's just as much my fault as it is yours. It also doesn't help that I had a bad dream about what happened to me and Kim yesterday" Julia said.
"Did the shower help?"
"Yeah, but don't worry. I'm going to change the bandage. It's not that wet but I'm not going to risk it."
"I'm not worried Julies. I know how you feel. I hate when the doctor tells you not to get your stitches yet and the only thing you want is to have a shower. I always wait until Ty leaves before slipping into a bath" said Alex.
"Has David called yet? Has Kim woken up?" Julia asked.
"Yeah, Kim's awake, but she's in and out, so David said that she would be up for visitors in the evening. I know you want to see her, so I'll take you over" Alex said.
Julia sat down on the bed, suddenly feeling really tired, and her arm was throbbing again. She turned to Alex and asked "Would you mind helping me change the bandages?"
"Sure" Alex said as she grabbed the First Aid kit off the dresser and walked over to Julia.
"Thanks" Julia said.
Alex didn't say anything but just went about changing the bandages. After that Julia took another pain killer and with the help of Alex climbed into the bed and went back to sleep.
Three hours later, Julia woke up again. She felt a lot better and Julia believed it might be because she didn't have a nightmare again. She got up and pulled on a pair of jeans and a tank top. She then headed downstairs to the kitchen.
As she walked through the house, Julia realised that the house was really quiet. In the kitchen Julia found Alex sitting reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee. Julia walked over to the fridge, pulled out a bottle of water, although she really wanted a beer, and walked over to the stove where she put a pot of water on the stove. She reached above the stove and pulled out a box of noodles.
Suddenly the back door burst open and Michael and Joey came running in. Michael saw Julia and instantly stopped on the spot.
"Mom?"
"Yes honey?"
And with a smile on his face he walked over and threw his arms around Julia.
"Mr. Doherty says you were hurt last night" Michael said.
"I was, but I'm fine now. I just have to take some medicine and stay home for two weeks" Julia replied.
"I told him you were alright Ms. Fitzgerald, but he wanted to see for himself. Dad took us out to the park to play catch so that you could sleep" said Joey.
"That was very nice of him" Julia said.
"Mom, I'm hungry. When is dinner going to be ready?" Michael asked.
"I just put on the noodles and I thought I would make lasagne tonight. So it's going to be a while. If you want something to snack on I'll make you guys some popcorn" Julia said.
"Thanks Mom," Michael said
"Thanks Ms. Fitzgerald" said Joey.
"No problem. Why don't you guys go upstairs and I'll bring it up when it's ready" said Julia.
"Thanks" Michael said and the boys headed upstairs.
Julia watched the boys leave and headed upstairs, then turned around and got the popcorn started. She found it hard to move around and do such simple things as taking glasses out of the cupboard with only one arm. This was definitely going to take some getting use to.
The doorbell rang, and Julia jumped.
"Are you alright?" Alex asked.
"Yeah, just a bit jumpy. Could you answer the door for me? I'm going to finish the popcorn for the boys," Julia said.
"Sure," Alex said and headed to the front door.
Julia put the popcorn into the microwave, entered the time, and then pressed start to get the microwave going. Julia then returned to the stove and checked on the water. It was just heating up. So she then walked back over to the fridge and pulled out a jug of Kool-Aid. She then poured it into the glasses for the boys.
That's how Jimmy found her. Standing at the counter pouring Kool-aid into glasses. He didn't think that she could look more attractive then standing there in barefoot, a pair or worn jeans and a tank top. His eyes roamed her body, taking in what he could see. However his eyes stopped on the part of the bandage that could be seen.
The microwave beeped alerting Julia and Jimmy to the fact that the popcorn was done. Julia took the popcorn out and poured it into a big bowl. She then walked over to the fridge and pulled out a thing of butter.
"Kim doesn't like Joey to have extra butter on his popcorn," Jimmy said, almost as if he read her mind.
Julia jumped and turned around to face Jimmy. Her hand automatically placed on her heart as if it would stop it from racing.
"Are you and Alex trying to give me a heart attack? You would think after what I was through yesterday you would let me know when you are around me," Julia said.
"I'm sorry Julia" Jimmy replied, "You're right."
"Well since you are here, you can take up the popcorn and the drinks to the boys" said Julia.
"Sure," replied Jimmy, as he picked up the items from the counter and left the room. Five minutes later when he came back, he said, "Something smells delicious."
"She went to get ready for work," said Jimmy as he walked over to the stove, "What are you making?"
"I guess I forgot that you guys still have to work. God I wish I could be out there with you guys" said Julia.
"Just take it easy, Julia and you'll be back in no time. Not like Kim, who probably as a good two months before she's back at work. She will have to go through physio therapy," said Jimmy.
"Is Kim awake?"
"I called David after changing before coming back over, he says that she's been in and out all day. And that's to be expected since she had surgery early this morning," said Jimmy.
Julia looked off into space. She felt bad for being able to walk away with a shoulder wound when Kim had a much more serious wound.
Noticing the look of sadness on Julia's face, Jimmy said, "I told David that I would bring you buy tomorrow when I take Joey in. She's been asking for both of you."
"I should go see her," Julia said as she pulled a thing of ground beef from the fridge.
"Wait until tomorrow to see her, Julia. She'll be awake more tomorrow and that will make the visit more worth it," Jimmy said.
Julia turned to look at Jimmy. Why couldn't he understand her need to see Kim, she asked herself.
Suddenly the doorbell rang again, and Julia jumped. Immediately she hated herself for having that reaction.
"Would you please answer that Jimmy?" Julia asked as she turned to the stove. She put the noodles in the water and started the frying pan for the ground beef. She then brought out the other ingredients she needed and started on the rest of the lasagne.
The doorbell rang again and Julia said, "Please Jimmy?"
"Sure Julia" Jimmy said and moved towards the front door.
When Jimmy opened the front door, he was surprised to see Sully and Davis standing there.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Jimmy asked.
"We're here to talk to Julia. We need to get a statement about what happened yesterday," Davis said.
"Is Julia awake?" Sully asked.
"Yeah, she's in the kitchen making dinner for Michael and Joey," said Jimmy, "Come in and I'll show you the way."
Davis and Sully stepped inside the apartment building and waited for Jimmy to close the door, before following him into the kitchen.
"Julia?" Jimmy said, as he entered into the kitchen.
"Yeah" she replied as she turned around to look at Jimmy and was surprised to see Davis and Sully there as well. "Hey guys" she said by way of greeting.
"Hey" Davis replied.
"What can I do for you?"
"We're sorry to do this but we need a statement from you about what happened yesterday," Sully said.
"You guys were there. You know what happened?" said Julia.
"It's protocol Julia."
"Yeah I know?" Julia said as she turned around and continued making dinner.
When she hadn't spoken for a while, Davis asked "Julia?"
"Yeah?" said Julia without looking up. "It had been a quiet night, Kim and I were …" she took a deep breath "we were at the house. The squad was asleep upstairs; Doc and Carlos were out driving the streets. They were due back to switch with us. We received the call from dispatch a little after midnight and responded immediately. Bosco and Yokas met us at the bus and they walked us up to the crime scene. We saw four bodies covered up by white sheets. We were lead into the back room where the baby was. The baby had a superficial cut to its leg from where something must have grazed it. We patched the baby up and I carried her out of the apartment. We had been warn upon arrival that they hadn't caught the suspect yet, so Bosco took one end of the gurney and Kim the other. Yokas behind her, I was behind Yokas and Sully and Davis followed me. We were just reaching the stairs, in fact Bosco and Kim had started down when a shot rang out. I immediately turned my back to where I thought the shot came from, holding the child to my left shoulder. I don't know what happened next but another shot was fired, just as I moved the baby to my right shoulder. Pain shot through me and I realized I had been hit." Julia took another breath "Yokas and Sully got me out of the building at which point I found out that Kim had been injured. Sully and Yokas took me and the baby to the hospital where we received medical attention."
"Is that everything you remember?" Sully asked.
"Yes" Julia replied, this whole time never turning to look at the officers, but concentrating on the food in front of her.
"Thanks Julia. Thanks to you the baby is fine and now in a safe house. And we just want to let you know that we picked up the man this morning. He apparently wasn't please with the fact that the mother had kept the baby. He's confessed." Sully said.
Julia took a deep breath and let it go in a sigh of relief, after which she said, "Thank you for letting me know."
"We're just glad that you are alright, Julia," said Davis.
"Would you guys like to stay for dinner? There is more than enough," Julia asked.
"No thank you, Julia, but thanks for the offer. I might get Alex to pick some up tomorrow, if you don't mind?" Davis said.
"No, that's great," said Julia as she finished putting the dish together and placed in into the oven.
"Why don't I show you guys out," said Jimmy.
"No that's all right, we'll show ourselves out. Have a good night, Julia, and Jimmy we'll see you when you're on," said Sully as they left the kitchen.
Jimmy turned around to watch them go, and the turned back to Julia to see her crying. He instantly moved to her side and pulled her into his arms, while she continued to cry.
Jimmy didn't leave until Melissa, the babysitter showed up, and made sure that Julia had taken more medicine and was back in bed asleep. He noticed that since Sully and Davis had told her that the guy that shot her was captured, that Julia relaxed a lot. And that helped Jimmy go to work that night. He knew that she was all right for now but he wasn't so sure about when she returned to work. She just prayed that she would be okay. "Where did Alex disappear too?" Julia asked.