Chapter 12.
The next morning Jessie slowly woke up, she opened her eyes and saw the sun shining through the window. She glanced over at the clock and saw that it was after 11 in the morning. She had slept really late. She got up and picked out some clothes to wear, after that she went and showered.
After her shower Jessie made her way downstairs. She heard the TV going and the guys making quiet outbursts every few seconds. She walked to the living room and saw that the guys were watching a football game. It was St. Louis Rams vs. Georgia Bulldogs. She was noticed right away by Randy who was turned saying something to Maven "hey sweetie finally decide to get up today?" he said smiling brightly at her. She nodded, still a bit tired, and sat down on the couch in between Randy and Maven.
"Good game?" she asked Randy, receiving a sour look from him. She laughed and turned toward Mark knowing that he was from Atlanta and probably had a different opinion.
"It's the greatest" Mark said" Georgia's ahead by 40 points. St. Louis is playing like shi...crap today."
"Everyone's allowed to have an off day aren't they" Randy asked indignantly. He turned to Jessie and said "I made food earlier, I have it in the oven keeping warm, do you want me to get it for you or can you handle it?"
"I think I can get it" Jessie said not wanting to interrupt the game watching even though it was currently on a commercial. She got up off the couch and made her way to the kitchen. She got a pot holder and opened the oven door; she stuck her hand inside and grabbed the plate of food using the pot holder. When she started to bring her hand out she bumped the top of the oven and burned her hand. She let out a scream and dropped the plate which fell on the floor and shattered, spilling food all over.
The guys heard her scream and raced into the kitchen. They saw what happened and each went to do a different task; Randy went to her side to check her hand and see how bad it was, Maven went to get a washcloth and fill it with ice, and Mark set about picking up the broken plate and food that was all over the floor.
"It hurts" Jessie told Randy pitifully, she had never been burned before and her hand was really hurting her. He led her over to the kitchen table and sat down and sat her on his lap. He gently grabbed the wrist of the hand she had burned and turned it over. It had turned a bright red color and was peeling a bit. He didn't know if it would need medical attention so he waited on Mark who had been through the whole burn thing 5 times with his own son already.
"It doesn't look too bad" Mark said when he had finished cleaning up and came over to look. Maven who had finally found a washcloth and filled it with ice and wet it handed Randy the towel and he held it carefully on Jessie's hand. Jessie was still in pain and hadn't said much since the two words she uttered earlier. "Babydoll does it hurt a lot" Mark said brushing her hair back and wiping the tears from her eyes gently. Jessie nodded her head and more tears escaped down her cheek. Maven found some Advil and handed her the pills along with a coke. She took them with difficulty with one hand and put the can on the table.
"I can make some more food if you want sweetie" Randy said looking at Jessie. She shook her head.
"Not hungry anymore, I'm going to go start on finishing my room" with that she walked upstairs. The guys didn't know what to do so they just let her be. They got the kitchen back in order and went to go finish watching what was left of the game.
Jessie got up to the room and opened the door, the paint smell smacked her in the face again but she ignored it and walked in. She touched a small part of the wall to make sure it was dry. Once she was satisfied it was dry she opened the paint cans. She started out by taking the yellow and doing all kinds of shapes and sizes and kinds of stars all over. She got up on the ladder that had been left in there and did the ceiling too. Once she had that done she looked on the can and saw that it took 30 minutes to dry. She went to her dad's room and got a book she had gotten at the mall and started reading it. She got engrossed in it. It was about a teenage boy who was into all sorts of criminal activity and his parents were none the wiser, he had a bodyguard that followed him around.
When she finished half the book she looked at the clock and saw that an hour had passed. She marked her place and got up to go back to the room. She touched one of the latest stars she had painted and saw that it was dry. She got the other colors and began tracing around the stars and making lines of movement behind them to make it look like they were traveling around the galaxy. She finished the whole room in under a half hour. When she was putting the last lid on the last paint can she heard someone come in the room and inhale a sharp breath. She turned around and saw Randy standing there looking around the room with a look of amazement on his face.
"Wow" he said finally "sweetie this is...amazing. It looks nothing like I pictured it. It's better...way better. You have a lot of talent." Jessie muttered a thanks and stood there awkwardly, she didn't take compliments well. "Anyways I came up to tell you that we were gonna head out and get something to eat. I'm getting kinda tired of takeout and don't feel like cooking" Jessie nodded her head and followed Randy downstairs.
Maven and Mark were standing by the door ready to go when they got there. "Oh guys when we get back you have to go see Jessie's room it looks awesomely cool" Randy said like an excited kid at Christmas time. The two laughed at him and said they would. It was decided that they'd go to Legal Seafood. Jessie had never heard of it but the guys raved over it so she went along with it. She loved seafood and could find something she'd eat on the menu. They got to the restaurant and were immediately seated. Apparently they came here when they were in town and the owner knew them well.
Jessie looked over the menu and her eyes bugged out. They had everything she could imagine. She decided on getting a Sampler Platter. It came with fried fish fillet, popcorn shrimp, calamari, butterfly shrimp, stuffed crab, and lobster tails. It made her mouth water. She got it with a sweet iced tea. The guys got steak and beer. She rolled her eyes when they ordered. She couldn't believe they drove an hour to a seafood place, only to get steak. Surprisingly the food came fast. Jessie happily started chomping down on her food, it was a little difficult eating with one hand but she managed. Randy, Maven, and Mark started talking "shop" so Jessie let her mind wander and looked around the restaurant. She saw a bunch of "original" things that you'd see at a seafood restaurant. There was large white rope looped around the walls, the stirring wheel of an old fishing boat, various fish mounted on plaques, and a large shark over the front door. While looking at the shark she saw a person she didn't expect to see.
Josh was leaned over the podium flirting with the hostess, she giggled a bit and grabbed a menu showing him to a seat, on the way to the place she was showing him to sit he glanced over at Jessie. When he saw that she was looking at him he grabbed his crotch and mouthed 'all for you' and made some lewd gesture with his tongue. She shivered and turned toward the guys, hoping they didn't notice. They were still engrossed in conversation. Randy all of a sudden let out a burp, he covered his mouth embarrassedly and looked toward Jessie, a sheepish look on his face.
"Sorry sweetie" he said. She shrugged and took a big gulp of tea. She waited a few minutes and then let out a burp that was bigger than Randy's. Mark and Maven and Randy looked at her with looks of shock on their faces then all of a sudden they busted out into raucous laughter.
"Babydoll" Mark said in between laughter "you are one of a kind".
"Thanks" Jessie said smiling charmingly and pushing her plate back. Her eyes were bigger than her stomach and she couldn't finish all the food. She ate most of it though. She was tired kinda so she laid her head on Randy's shoulder. He smiled at her and kissed her forehead. She closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.
She was awoken sometime later by Randy whispering in her ear "sweetie its time to go" he said. She opened her eyes and looked, bleary-eyed, at Randy. He laughed at her and helped her stand up. Jessie sluggishly followed Randy, Mark and Maven out to the car. She got into the backseat as Randy rode shotgun and Maven drove which of course put Mark in the backseat with her. She was beginning to feel comfortable around Mark; he had a calming effect on her that previously only Randy and John had.
"Sweetie" Randy said looking at her in the back seat "we were thinking about going for a quick workout tonight do you have some place in mind you want to go while we do that?"
"Can I just go with you" she asked "I'm just kinda burned out on the mall". Plus she didn't want to run into Josh there again. She was still sore from the last encounter and she was afraid of him now. Randy nodded in confirmation and Maven continued on to the gym.
They got there before Jessie knew it. Jessie followed them inside having never been there before. The guys made their way to various pieces of equipment and Jessie sat herself down on a stationary bike deciding to try it out, it would give her something to do. After a few minutes of being on the bike Jessie actually found herself starting to have fun. The endorphins were being released into her body and giving Jessie a natural high.
All of a sudden the tea she had drank at dinner decided that it wanted to come out of her body. She went over to where Randy was flirting with two girls to tell him she was going to the bathroom. She decided to have a little fun. "Dad" she said walking up to Randy and tugging on his arm "I'm going to the bathroom" she watched Randy's eyes get wide and tried not to laugh. She noticed the girls get disgusted looks on their face and walk off.
"Girls" Randy said "wait she isn't my daughter I swear. Come back. Come on." Randy turned to her with a sour look on his face "of course you know this means war" he said dryly. She chuckled and went to the bathroom. She walked in and went into a stall to do her business. She noticed that she was the only one in there and it gave her an eerie feeling but she didn't dwell on it.
She came out of the stall and a hand wrapped around her mouth. A voice came right at her ear "don't fucking scream or I will kill you". Jessie's heart started beating at an alarming rate. She was turned around and looked right into the maniacal eyes of Josh. Gone were the beautiful oceans she got lost in upon meeting him replaced with a storm swirling around. "Didn't think I'd be here did you? Got news for ya beautiful, I've been followin' ya. Yea I knew where you were the entire time since after our first meeting at the mall. So who's the guys you been around with? You banging them too?" Josh shook Jessie a bit violently and grabbed her tighter "I saw the initial two but there's two more. Damn I picked a slut to be my girl who'd a thought. Well I guess I have to teach you a lesson." with that said he ripped her shirt in two and started unbuttoning her pants. Jessie closed her eyes and waited for the pain. It didn't come though. She felt Josh rip away from her.
She opened her eyes and saw Randy beating Josh. They were on the floor and Randy was on top of Josh wailing away at him while Josh feebly tried to block the blows. She closed her eyes back and slid to the floor. She felt someone touch her arm and she screamed. She knew it was Josh; he had come back for her. She continued to scream. If she had opened her eyes she would have saw Mark there and not Josh. "NO" she screamed "NO! DADDY I WANT MY DADDY DADDY!" she continued to scream for John while Mark thought about what to do. Maven had called the police and successfully pulled a furious Randy off of Josh who was unconscious on the floor.
Mark tried to get Jessie to calm down but it was for naught. She wouldn't open her eyes. He had to get her out of there but he didn't know how. Finally he decided to just pick her up and carry her out. It wasn't easy, she was kicking and screaming but he managed to get her to the car. He sat with her in the back, holding her tightly to him so she wouldn't be exposed to the world. He sat with her while the police got statements from all of the people involved, they left Mark alone though because 1) he didn't look like he was in the mood for anybody but dealing with Jessie and 2) they didn't want to cause Jessie any further anguish. They'd get Mark's statement later on.
Finally Randy and Maven were let go when it was determined Randy wasn't at any fault. They walked back over to the car and got in. "Ok now lets take her to the hospital to get her injuries checked" Randy said in a deathly calm voice even though you could tell by his face that he was trying very hard to control his temper. When Jessie heard this she started struggling against Mark.
"NO" she said "NO, DADDY! I WANT MY DADDY" she started hysterically crying almost to the point of hyperventilation. Mark looked helplessly at Randy and Maven as he tried to calm Jessie down.
"Head home" Randy told Maven "I'll call John when we get there its obvious she won't go without him here" Randy seemed defeated. He stared out the window silently as Maven drove toward the house. They got home and Randy got Jessie into the house. She seemed a bit calmer when he led her in then when she was carried by Mark. The reason Jessie was so calm was because she knew it was Randy. She smelled his cologne. It was her haven she knew when she smelled it she was ok.
Randy led her inside and sat her on the couch. He sat with her a few minutes to make sure she was ok. Once he was sure she was he looked over at Mark "I'm gonna go call John now so he can get back at a respectable time, since he's only one state over it shouldn't take him long" when Randy moved to get up Jessie started panicking again. Mark sat with her to calm her down but it didn't work. She just didn't feel the security with him that she did with Randy and that she would with John. Randy ignored what was going on, as hard as it was to him not to go back and take Jessie back in his arms, and stepped into the kitchen to call John. He took a deep breath and dialed the number trying to ignore Jessie's increasing volume. He hoped John didn't hear her; he didn't want John to panic on his way back. John picked up on the first ring.
"Yo Orton. Miss me so much that you hadda call me just to hear my voice?" John joked, it sounded like he was on a post show high. Randy hated to ruin it but he knew he had to tell John.
"John uh dude you need to come home" Randy said solemnly. John was silent on the other end for a few minutes. Randy almost thought he had been disconnected.
"What's wrong?" John asked "Is it Jessie?"
"Dude just get home soon" Randy said not wanting to get into it over the phone.
"RANDY" John all but screamed "Is there something wrong with my babygirl". Randy could hear the panic in John's voice and got tears in his eyes. He sent a silent prayer up that John would get home safe.
"Yes" Randy said before hanging up the phone. Before he got the off button pushed Jessie let out a scream of 'DADDY' from the living room and he prayed John didn't hear it. He pushed the off button and slumped down on the floor, crying silent tears over the pain and anguish of the little girl in the next room.
John was in his hotel room throwing his things into his suitcase. He couldn't think of anything but what was wrong with his babygirl. He had to keep wiping the tears from his eyes, because he couldn't see. He called Vince McMahon earlier and explained things, Vince told him to go ahead home and offered John the WWE private jet so he didn't have to drive hours. After John was packed he called a cab and signed out of the room by phone. He walked to the lobby and saw the cab waiting on him. He got in and directed the driver to take him to the airport.
Once he was at the airport he went to the terminal that Vince told him to go to. He had to show ID to a guard at the gate but then he was taken directly on the plane. He sat down and buckled up and within minutes the plane took off.
During the flight, John's thoughts centered on Jessie. He went through his mind about what could have happened to her. He couldn't think of a thing and it made him frustrated as hell. 'I shoulda been there' he thought to himself 'I'm a bad dad; I wasn't there for my babygirl. I wasn't there when she needed me'. John broke down in a fit of tears as this thought passed through his mind. He cried all the way back to Boston.
Once the pilot made the announcement that they were in Boston John dried his tears. Once the plane stopped he hurried off of it and through the airport. He hailed a cab and told it to take him to West Newbury. The driver's eyes widened but he agreed. John once again let his thoughts wander during the cab ride. All he could think of was what a bad father he was and how he let his little girl down. He didn't cry this time; his macho manly instincts wouldn't let him cry in front of the cab driver. Soon they pulled up to the house. John jumped out of the cab and handed the driver $200 telling him to keep the change.
Randy heard the car door to the cab shut and started outside. He had gotten Jessie to a fitful sleep and didn't want John coming in all flustered and possibly upset her again. He met John in the yard and grabbed his arm as he tried to get by him.
"Orton if you don't let go of my arm and let me go to my babygirl you will be laid out on the ground" John said through gritted teeth. Randy was kind of shocked because he had never seen John so mad 'I guess that's what it takes to get John pissed off, threaten his family'.
"John I want to tell you what happened and let you have a chance to vent before you go in there to her. I just got her reasonably calm and reasonably asleep, for the moment anyway" John pulled his arm out of Randy's grasp and plumped down on the ground, a defeated posture. He looked up at Randy, tears filling his eyes.
"What happened to my little girl" he asked, choking on his words a bit. Randy sighed and sat down beside John. He looked at the grass a bit before speaking.
"Well first of all she somehow met up with that Josh Springer guy whose been profiled on the news" Randy said and John looked up at him in shock.
"You mean the serial rapist? The one who goes around raping women repeatedly and then killing them" John asked Randy, frightened of the answer. Randy nodded his head and John paled "oh my God in Heaven".
"Yea I know. I walked in on them in the girl's bathroom at the gym. She had been in there a while and I was getting worried. So I went up to the door and was about to knock when I heard a male voice say 'Well I guess I have to teach you a lesson' and I rushed in and saw..." Randy wasn't sure if he could go on. Reliving it was bringing him pain that he had never experienced emotionally.
"What Randy you saw what" John said looking over at Randy. Randy shook his head tears in his eyes "man tell me what did you see" John said grabbing Randy's arm and making him look at him.
"I saw Josh standing in front of Jessie, her shirt was torn down the middle and her pants were unbuttoned. He was groping her and she was crying...he had a gun tucked into the back of his pants...I didn't think I just rushed in and started beating the shit outta the fucker. All that was on my mind was getting him away from Jessie and keeping him from hurting her more" Randy stared off into space when he said this, unfocused, thoughts on the events.
John looked over at Randy with an amazed look "you risked your own life to save my daughter...damn...man I know this has never came from me but thank you and I love you man...you...your the greatest thank you for saving my little girls life even though you knew you coulda died".
Randy shrugged "hey what can I say I think of her as a little sister and I would do anything for her and you're welcome and I love you too and I love that little girl of yours too" Randy leaned over and he and John shared a hug. They weren't caring about images, masculinity, it was just two friends sharing their love for one another and showing they care for the other "by the way she hasn't been to the hospital yet she didn't want to go without you there".
They broke apart when a shrill scream erupted from the house "DADDY I WANT DADDY". John looked wide eyed and sprinted to the house faster than Jessie Owens ever dreamed. He thudded through the door and looked wildly around for Jessie. When Jessie heard the door open she looked toward it. When she saw John come through it she jumped on top of the back of the couch and jumped into his arms. John was shocked and almost knocked over but he used his leg muscles and kept his balance and he held Jessie in his arms. She started crying as soon as she felt her daddy's arms around her.
"Its ok babygirl daddy's here he's here. I promise babygirl, I'mma take care of you, and it's gonna be ok." Jessie nodded her head which was against his neck. John went and sat down on the couch with Jessie. "Babygirl now that daddy's here will you let him take you to the hospital so you can get checked out for injuries or whatever".
"Yes but daddy..."Jessie said tearing up and breaking off her sentence.
"Yea babygirl what is it" John said stroking her cheek with his finger.
"I'm scared. Will you stay with me the entire time" she asked, her bottom lip trembling. Randy who had been sitting on the other end of the couch had to turn his head so that no one would see the tears in his eyes. He couldn't believe how vulnerable and scared Jessie had sounded and it broke his heart, Mark and Maven had similar reactions.
"Of course babygirl. Wild horses couldn't keep me away" Jessie hugged him and pulled away. When she did John noticed that she still had on the torn shirt "babygirl come upstairs with daddy and get another shirt I don't want to take you all that way in those rags".
"Ok daddy...daddy can I wear one of your shirts?" Jessie said walking with John upstairs. He smiled at her and nodded.
"Sure why not but it'll be a bit big cause I'm way bigger than you" he gave her a small squeeze and she smiled back at him.
"That's ok" she said. John walked into his room and over to his closet to get Jessie a shirt.
"Daddy" Jessie called to him "can I wear this one" John turned around and saw Jessie holding up the shirt he had worn on the day that they shopped for her room supplies. He gave her a questioning look.
"Babygirl it's dirty. I wore it the other day." He noticed her shrug and hold on to the shirt.
"It smells like you though" she said. John sighed knowing that it was a losing battle and wasn't important anyway. He walked over to her and helped her take off her torn shirt and put the other one on. When she was exposed he noticed bruises all over her back, arms, and stomach. His blood boiled when he saw them but he kept his emotions under control for Jessie's sake.