Chapter 11:
Demetrius and Bobby had noticed Sue leave abruptly without saying anything. It wasn't like her. Unsure of what had just happened; Bobby went over to her desk and saw the papers.
"Oh shoot. D we have to find her." Bobby said frantically. Memories of the last time Sue had fled the bullpen started to flood into his mind.
"What do you mean?" D asked with concern.
"These papers – they were on Tara's desk for her to file and put into the computer. Ted told me not to let Sue see them – they're all about Greg and James. Tara must have left them out by accident last night when she was working late, and Sue must have picked them up when she was grabbing her stuff off Tara's desk." Bobby swore under his breath.
"She couldn't have gone far. Bobby – run to the parking lot, see if her car's still there. I'll look around here, see if anyone saw her." They both left quickly searching around. The building was pretty empty as it was still early on a dull Wednesday morning. D spotted a woman walking towards the elevators.
"Excuse me miss? Have you seen a woman around here – blond hair, past her shoulders, about this tall?" She nodded.
"Yeah – funny you're asking. I just noticed a woman, I thin her name was Sara, or Sue or something. She looked pretty upset. Went into the boardroom." D nodded.
"Thanks so much."
"Your welcome." Demetrius rushed to the boardroom. The door was closed; he opened it slowly to see Sue sitting against the wall sobbing. He started to go over to her, as she hadn't yet noticed him come in. Suddenly his phone rang.
"D – Her car is still here." Bobby said worriedly.
"I know Bobby – I found her, she's in the boardroom." D answered.
"I'll be right there." D put his phone back in his pocket and touched Sue's shoulder gently. She looked up – her face covered with tears, eyes red from crying. She had her arms wrapped protectively around her stomach. Demetrius slid down next to her and put his arm around her shoulders and let her cry.
A few minutes later, Bobby burst into the boardroom. He knelt down in front of Sue, whose sobs had subsided slightly. D just looked at Bobby and instantly they knew what each other was thinking.
"Are you okay?" Bobby asked her quietly when she finally had stopped crying. She nodded.
"I'm sorry." She managed to get out.
"There's nothing to be sorry about. Do you want to talk about it?" D asked, as her eyes glistened with tears.
"I saw some papers. One's about Greg and James. It wasn't so much that I saw their names; it was when I saw what James had been charged for. No one told me he had been accused of rape 7 years ago, but let free because the victim withdrew all charges."
"Sue, you we're doing so well getting better. We knew that it was a struggle trying to get over what they did, especially with the baby. We didn't want to upset you. It wasn't something you needed to know." She nodded. Tears continued to flow down her rosy cheeks. She said quietly to them both,
"I think it was James, who, you know. I remembered something a few minutes ago from when he took me." D and Bobby looked at each other. Everyone had suspected that it had been James who had raped Sue. Greg had talked about how he didn't have enough time alone with her to have fun, and how James would for him. Plus, with James' record, they assumed that it was him but didn't want to press Sue for a DNA test, now that it didn't matter because Jack would be a father to the baby. They wanted to let her get on with life, not torture her about her baby's biological father.
"What did you remember Sue?" D asked. He knew it was important for her to talk out her feelings. Her therapist had told Jack that she was supposed to tell someone when she was feeling anything about what happened, so as to not bottle it in. She was doing so well getting over it all, especially with the wedding coming.
"In the hospital I told you, Bobby, that before you guys had busted into the warehouse James had come in and given me a different pill that wasn't the sleeping pill they had given me a couple times before. At first I didn't remember the time between taking the pill and passing out, but I had a flashback when I read the court order in the bullpen. It was James. And he was…" she started to cry again. Bobby and D felt furious but knew they had to contain their anger for Sue's sake.
"Did he take advantage of you?" Sue nodded. Bobby took her hand in his.
"Maybe you should go home Sue, take the rest of the day off. Maybe seeing your therapist wouldn't hurt either. Talk about what happened."
"No. I'm okay. I think I know what I need to do to get over this all." D looked at her, confused at what she meant.
"I think I need to go to the jail and see them for myself." She said firmly. "I've been thinking about it for awhile,"
"Sue…I don't think…" Bobby started.
"I need to see that they're in there for good. I need to see that they can't get out. I need to go in there and forgive them so this doesn't hang over my head the rest of my life. I can't go around forever hoping not to see the names Greg or James so I won't be sick and relive all the memories." They sat in silence. They knew that there was no way they would convince Sue to change her mind. They also knew that Jack would never allow his fiancée to go to the jail where her captors were imprisoned.
"What about the baby? Would you tell him?" Bobby asked. Sue shook her head.
"I don't care – neither of them if the father of my baby. Jack is." At least that was something they could all agree on.
"Maybe we should call Jack. Sue you shouldn't be this upset – it's not good for you or for the baby. Maybe he can come home today. And you should go home and rest." D said as they started to stand up, D and Bobby both helping Sue.
"No – please don't call Jack. I'm fine, honest. I can't let this ruin my life any longer. I'll talk to Jack when he gets home, and hopefully convince him not to tell my parents. The last thing I want is my parents to find out about this episode. Promise you won't tell anyone. Please? Let me talk to Jack but no one else needs to know" D looked at Bobby, unsure of what to do. Sue looked at them both determinedly, her teary eyes begging for their silence.
"But you promise to tell Jack?" She nodded.
"Okay. But then at lunch time you go home and take the rest of the day off."
"Deal. Thanks guys. I'm sorry again for this."
"Sue, its okay to be upset about what happened. It was horrible – just know we're here for you." She nodded. The three of them left to return to the bullpen. Sue made a stop at the ladies room to fix her face before the rest of the team arrived. Bobby went straight to her desk and collected the papers that weren't hers and returned them to Tara's desk. He sat down in his own desk, wondering why life was sometimes so difficult.
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Sue was thrilled to pick up Jack the next day. Wednesday night had been full of nightmares, and the morning had brought on her worst case of morning sickness yet. All day at work she had felt nauseous and wasn't able to keep anything down. Every time she looked up, she noticed either D or Bobby staring at her unnaturally pale face. She just smiled at them, trying to reassure them that she was okay but it looked like they didn't believe her. Sue knew in her mind that she needed to go to that prison, to put it all behind her but she also knew that Jack would never allow it. She would have to find some way to convince him. She couldn't wait until he got back, knowing that in a few hours he would be with her, and in a few months, he could chase away her nightmares. Just being with him always helped. She thought about the wedding in 2 months and couldn't help but smile. Not even Greg or James could ruin that thought.
Sue left work a bit early to pick up Jack. Levi loved the airport. He was busy sniffing around and looking at all the people. No matter how bad her past two days were, she couldn't keep the smile off her face when she saw her fiancé. Jack rushed over to her and kissed and hugged her for what seemed like forever, ignoring everyone bustling around them.
"You look pale, are you okay?" he asked with concern.
"I'm okay, I'm just happy you're home."
"Let me just get my luggage, then you want to go back to my place for dinner?" Jack asked, knowing that something wasn't right.
"Let's go back to your place, but I don't think I can eat. My stomach has been upset all day." They headed to her car. Jack insisted on driving, so Sue could close her eyes for the drive home. They arrived at Jacks place. He dropped his luggage off in his room and they cuddled up on the couch, just happy to be in each others company. They sat in silence for awhile. Jack thought maybe Sue had fallen asleep until she turned around.
"I really missed you." She said quietly.
"I know. Me too. Tell me what's wrong." He asked. She braced herself, and told him the whole story about the papers. Jack looked angry.
"Tara should have never left those papers out!" he exclaimed furiously.
"Jack, it's not her fault. She had been working late the night before and I grabbed them with my stuff thinking it was mine. It doesn't matter anyways; I can't have this haunting us for the rest of our lives." He looked into her sad eyes, which made his heart melt. She always had a way of calming him.
"What are we going to do?" She hesitated.
"Jack. I want to go to the prison and see them. I need to know that their behind bars – I need to see it myself. And I need to forgive them, or else this is going to haunt me the rest of my life."
"No way Sue. I can't let you go there. If you got this upset just seeing their names, what could happen to you if you see them? I won't risk anything happening to you or our baby."
"Jack – I need to do this. At least think about it, okay? It wouldn't happen until after my parents are gone anyways. Speaking of that, please don't tell them about this. You know my mom; she would just worry needlessly and fuss."
"Fine, I won't tell them but then you have to promise you won't even think about going to the prison alone without telling me first."
"I promise." She snuggled back into his arms, the happiest place she could think of. She already felt better knowing Jack was close by.
"We have an appointment with the realtor on Sunday." Jack announced on a happier note.
"Really?" Sue said excitedly. "Then my parents can come see it too. My dad is good with knowing if we're getting a good deal."
"I know, that's why I made it for when they were here, I thought maybe they would like to see it first too, so they feel apart of things. After all I am stealing their daughter." Sue grinned. "How did the wedding planning go?"
"Great actually! I got my dress, the bridesmaid dresses and all our shoes and jewelry." Jack smiled.
"When can I see the dress?" She smacked him playfully.
"December 22nd. Nice try bucko. The bridesmaid dresses are blue. Really pretty. I'm thinking all white flowers – roses, mini calla lilies and cattleya orchids." Jack looked completely confused. Sue just laughed. "Don't worry I'll take care of the flowers."
"We still need book a place for the wedding and reception." Jack said, deep in thought about where their wedding should be.
"Well, Wedding should be in a church. What about the church downtown, close to work? It's really nice?" Jack nodded.
"Sounds good – I'll give them a call see if their available. What about the reception?" Sue sat and though for awhile. "What about Slappy's?" Jack suggested, "They have great food?" Sue shot him a look, but after a few seconds of pretending to be angry started to laugh.
"Yeah – that's a great thing to have on an invitation to a wedding – reception at Slappy's." The discussed the possibilities awhile longer and came up with some nice restaurants or hotels to call. Soon Sue began to fall asleep and they decided to call it a night. Jack was happy to be home, his soon to be wife and baby safe. The thought of Sue going to the prison bugged him, but deep down inside he knew where she was coming from. Deciding to put aside the thoughts for now, Jack drifted into a deep sleep.