A/N: Despite popular theory, I have not abandoned the story... it's still got a long way to go. School is finally out for the summer for me, soI can get back to writing a little more regularly. Thanks to everyone (bookworm0408, burninsecretskept, jackjackio, Tommy4eva, Duddley111, frozenfireheart, iamthatplace, Adrienne, KayKay2007, Sarah Jo, and bodukefan) for reviewing the last chapter.
So after the 3 weeks of not writing anything, I have to get back into the swing of things. Please tell me how I'm doing (goodor bad) by reviewing after you finish reading. :) Thanks in advance.
Jude nursed her third apple martini, but the martinis were not her first alcoholic beverages of the night since she had had a couple glasses of red wine with her dinner. She sat on the outskirts of the little support group that had formed for her. She fidgeted uneasily, looking around the room at Francesca to Sadie to her mother to Portia to Kat, and then back to Francesca.
"I'm fine," she grimaced, downing the contents of her glass.
"Jude…honey. You're not fine," Portia exclaimed.
"You've been throwing yourself into your work even more than usual, and if you're not at work you're here, locked up in your house," Sadie sighed, frustrated that Jude was getting into her previous habits of withdrawing from her friends and family.
"I'm fine," she reiterated, imitating a smile. See I'm smiling. I'm happy…kind of. She glanced around the room at the blank and disbelieving faces staring back at her.
"The sooner you talk about this, the sooner we'll get out of your house…" Francesca theorized, naming off all the good things that would happen… if Jude would just stop trying to act so tough and tell them how she was feeling. "The sooner you'll feel better."
"Or," Jude groaned, making the journey back to the small bar in the corner of her living room for another apple martini. The group slowly migrated around her once again. "I could kick all of your asses out of here…"
"Excuse you?" Victoria exclaimed, from the couch in the living room.
"Except you mom," she corrected, laughing bitterly as she searched for the bottle of apple schnapps. She ran her fingers through her hair as she began to grow frustrated. "Where the hell is the bottle of schnapps?"
Portia sitting on a bar stool, stood up and circled behind the bar, "I'll fix you up." she offered, patting her arm. Jude sighed, heavily, and took the now vacated stool in between Sadie and Francesca.
"Thanks," she mumbled, as Portia handed over her refilled martini glass.
"Not a problem…"
Jude sipped, her beverage gingerly, peeking over the rim of glass to see if everyone was still staring at her. "I'm seriously going to kick all of you out. If you don't back up…and let me breathe…" she said, calmly, but her blood was boiling.
"We've let you sulk enough for the time being. It's time for intervention," Kat said, looking around the room for support.
"Kat's right," Francesca replied, raising her glass and clinking it together with Sadie and Portia's. Jude shrugged apathetically, but had to admit she was glad that she had people that cared that much to give up their Saturday night trying to cheer her up.
"Don't you dare move," she threatened them, as she hopped off her stool, and returned to the sofa beside her mom.
"Are you sure there's nothing you want to talk about Jude," Victoria asked, quietly. "There has to be something you want us to do."
"There's nothing you can do," Jude breathed, throwing her head back against the sofa. "There's not a damn thing anyone can do! Unless you can rewind time back the last 2 years and half…unless you can do that—just leave me the hell alone okay?" she barked, tears falling freely from her eyes. "I mean I went out to dinner with you all like I promised…a therapy session was never in the mix."
She downed the content of her glass, and marched back towards the bar. This time she just took the entire bottle of vodka and forgot about the glass. She took a swig from the bottle and immediately settled into a fit of coughing. "I would like to scream right now…" she nodded, mater-of-factly. "Where's a soundproof studio when you need one, uh?" she mumbled, before taking another swig.
She laughed, and took the bottle back to the living room with her, and flopped back on the couch beside her mom. "How can he not remember the day that I can't forget? It just plays over and over and over again in my head," she smiled genuinely, as she remembered. "It was just so perfect…I've never felt that before. I'm never going to feel that again. And he—he can't remember? But yet he remembers Diane--" she trailed off.
"We could fly to United States and toilet paper her house, if it would make you feel better," Kat grinned, vacating her bar stool and taking a seat beside her on the couch.
"She's not worth that long of a flight," Jude sniffled.
"You're right," Kat smiled, weakly, as she tucked Jude's hair behind her ears.
"It would be worth if we keyed her car too though," Portia smirked, walking back into the living room.
"And dyed her little poodle," Sadie suggested, following at Portia's heels.
Jude smiled, and shrugged. "I have frequent flyer miles to spend."
They all laughed quietly, relieving some of the tension in the room as they did so.
"What am I going to do?" Jude asked to no one in particular.
After a moment of silence and a several blank stares, Victoria replied, rubbing her back. "Just be his friend…until he's ready for the other thing…if it's still there."
They all nodded in agreement, Jude shook her head slowly. "That's going to be so hard…"
"No, it won't," Sadie replied, "You guys started out as friends right? Same concept."
No it's not. Jude shook her head, and took another sip from the bottle, before her mom snatched it from her and replaced it with a glass.
"But you can't just stop living…again. That's unhealthy," Sadie put in, her motherly tone seeping out.
"You need to get laid," Kat blurted out, earning curious glances from everyone. "What? Not releasing sexual frustrations is unhealthy too."
They all continued to look at her for a few more seconds before changing the subject.
"But anyway," Portia began. "I agree with Vic…Just be there for him for the time being."
Jude sighed, and held her glass out to her mom to refill. I can do that…just be his friend.
A couple of weeks had passed and Tommy had made a lot of progress with his walking from a walker to a crutch and now to a cane.
"I think I'm ready to get out of here," he blurted out absentmindedly.
"I'm not finished massaging your hamstrings yet," Helga, his physical therapist, objected.
"No. I mean out of here. Out of this hospital."
"You're not ready to live on your own again," Helga opposed, shaking her head slowly. "You just barely walking again."
"I'm going to go stir crazy in here," he sighed, "I'm ready to start living again…to start being a real man again."
Helga nodded.
And I'm tired of getting people's sympathetic and understanding nods.
"I don't think--"
"It's really not your decision," he snapped, rather rudely. And of them telling me what's good for me…
"Excuse me," Helga growled right back.
"I'm sorry," he sighed.
"Real men…" she started, waving off his apology. "Need help too."
"You don't understand." So don't pretend.
"Whatever," she rolled her eyes, standing from our kneeling position at his feet. "You need to discuss your plans with Dr. Williamson."
Or not.
"I was planning on it," he nodded, standing slowly and reaching for his cane.
"Here let me get that," Helga said hopping over to get it for him.
"No," he interjected, but she was already handing it to him. "I got it--" he finished, weakly, snatching the cane from her and walking out the room.
As he walked back to his own room, he stopped off at the lobby, grabbing more magazines from off an end table.
He tried to resume his new hobby of reading once he got back to his recliner, by the window, but he couldn't focus on words as his eyes kept drifting to the bay window on the other side of the room.
"Such a beautiful day out," he murmured, standing up and snatching up the phone before instinctively dialing a number.
"Hello, unless this is important hang up right now," Jude answered.
"It's pretty important," Tommy laughed, at her greeting.
"Ahh. Mr. Quincy? Would that you be you?" Jude asked.
"Yes."
"And what can I do for you today," she asked, propping her feet up on her desk, momentarily pausing her work.
"Are you do anything today?"
"Well define anything please."
"Lunch. Doing anything for lunch today?"
Not anymore.
"You feeling the need for tacos again Quincy?"
"Nah, I was thinking about you kidnapping me actually."
"Kidnapping uh?" Jude laughed. Bondage included? "I'll see what I can do, okay? How does noon-ish sound?"
"Perfecto."
"Until then," she smiled, hanging up.
"Now…this is what I needed," Tommy sighed, throwing the wrapper from his hotdog away.
"The hotdog?" Jude smirked, as they continued to walk around the park, avoiding the power-walkers and the mothers with strollers who zoomed by them every once in a while.
"No. I'm talking about the whole kidnapping thing," Tommy sighed, staring up at her as she climbed on the edge of the fountain in the center of the park. "I am eternally in your debt."
"I'm charging interest then," Jude laughed, as she teetered along the edge.
Tommy laughed along with her good-naturedly, "I'm serious girl. I was going insane in that hospital."
They slowly walked around the circumference of the fountain in a comfortable silence. "I was thinking about signing out of the hospital."
Jude stopped walking along the edge of the fountain and jumped down and sat beside him. "You ready for that?"
God, not her too. Tommy sighed, irritably, "Yes, I'm ready,"
"Okay then," Jude shrugged, crossing her legs. "You're aware that you're house is being rented out?"
"I vaguely remember Kwest mentioning that to me," Tommy sighed. "Three months left on the people's lease right?"
"Yeah," Jude nodded, sipping her bottle of water.
"I'll get a little condo or something," he thought aloud.
"Are you planning to live on your own?" Jude asked, pointedly. After his silence, she automatically assumed that he hadn't even gotten that far in his plan. "Well if you were to—you know check out of there you'd probably need to get a private nurse or something…"
I don't need a fucking private nurse.
"I'm sure I could manage on my own," he said, calmly, seething inside.
"I don't think that's a good idea Tommy," Jude replied, shaking her head wearily.
"I didn't ask you," Tommy gnarled.
Jude glared at him angrily for a split second, before her face instantly softened, and she exhaled. "You're right, you didn't."
Tommy stared at her, unblinkingly. How can she just let me snap at her like that and not put me back in my place? This is so infuriating. I hate everyone treating me like I'm about to break—like I'm so damn fragile. Okay. Fine. I'm going to milk this a while until she finally snaps.
"I'm ready to go now," Tommy said, getting up. "Drive me to the storage facility where some of my things are being held," he looked at back at Jude who was still sitting in her previous seat in a daze. "Now." He added, walking off towards the parking lot.
Jude closed her mouth, standing and trotting after him. She easily caught up with him before he reached the car. Jude walked around to the side of the car, opening her door and sitting down in the driver's seat. Tommy bent down at the waist and tapped on the window. He motioned for her to open the door open for him.
She looked at him like he was insane for a millisecond before unbuckling her seatbelt and trudging back around the passenger's side and opening the door for him. Once he was situated inside she made a point of slamming the door. He watched her as she fumed around back to her side of the car, muttering obscenities beneath her breath the whole entire time.
Tommy grinned, satisfied that he was clearly striking up some unpleasant behavior from her. He wiped his satisfied grin off his face, as Jude opened the driver's door again. "What to you so long? You're acting like you're the one who just learned how to walk a week ago."
Jude scowled at him a second, before inserting the key into the ignition and putting the car into gear.
"You need to be a little easier on the clutch girl," he critiqued. "How long have you been driving.
Jude rolled her eyes, putting on her sunglasses, and turned up the radio, loudly.
Tommy faced out the window, smiling. How much can she take of that?