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Title: I Been Through This
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Any recognizable characters and/or places belong to Annie Proulx. No profit is being made.

Jack stared out the window and steadily drove towards his destination. Francine continued to sniffle next to him, while Junior's tears flowed quietly. The only noise in the car was the rustle of fabric as the girl dressed herself.

"Jack," she finally spoke, her voice thick with shame, "where're we goin'?"

"To the hospital."

Junior's face took on a look of shock, "Why're we goin' there? Look it me, I ain't hurt, er nothin'."

"I know yeh ain't, we're goin' a see yer Dad."

"What? No, Jack, you cain't tell 'im, he'll kill Monroe."

"An' that's jus' what oughta be done, sick..." Jack trailed off before he used words the devil refused. He pulled over onto the side of the rode and put his face in his hands, hot tears rolling off the tip of his nose. "Junior, Francie, what happened, yeh know this ain't yer fault?" Jack knew the feeling all to well. Guilt, shame, fear. Wondering what one had done to ask for this.

"We know," their false, sugar voices lied sweetly to him. They wanted him to believe that they figured this wasn't their fault.

"Don' lie ta me," he said quietly, not wanting to scare the girls. He was amazed they would willingly be in a truck with a man, let alone start a conversation with him. He rubbed the tears off his face, and turned to them, sucking in breath. "Look, I know how yeh feel, I...I been through this." He couldn't believe what he just said. He had never planned on telling anyone but Ennis what had happened, and here he was, volunteering the information up for grabs.

"I don't think – wait, what'd you say, Jack?"

He blushed, shook his head. Why had he said that? The girls wouldn't want to hear that. "I jus' meant, I can figure what yer goin' through."

"OK..." Junior knew there was more, he could hear it in her voice, he was just thankful she was leaving it for now.

"K, jus' ta be nice, I'm gonna take ya'll home tanight, but that don't mean we ain't gonna tell yer daddy. Got it?" He looked sternly at the shaken girls before him. The nodded quietly and he started the truck again, pulling onto the road and driving them home.

---------

Jack hadn't made breakfast in a long time. He couldn't remember the last time he had made it. But it was ok, the food wasn't too burnt, and Junior seemed to appreciate the coffee to sooth her headache, still there from last night. She rubbed her temples lightly while sitting down at the table.

"Where's Francine?" Jack asked quietly, dishing some canary yellow eggs onto a chipped, stone plate.

"Still in bed. Cried 'erself ta sleep last night."

"I heard." Jack frowned. He had not been eavesdropping, but the young child's cries were easily heard from his makeshift bed in the living room. He had tried to block them out, but nothing had worked. He had wanted her to have her privacy, but he couldn't figure out how to dampen the sobs.

Junior just nodded, sipped her black coffee and forked some eggs into her mouth. "Yeh know," Jack sat across from her, his own breakfast in front of him, "yer a lot like yer Daddy."

"Mama tell me that a lot." The girl mumbled through forkfuls of eggs and bacon. She smiled sheepishly, chugged the rest of her coffee, and stood. "I wanna go to town today, buy some new clothes, and see Daddy. Got somethin' I wanna ask 'im."

"Junior, I dunno if we have the money fer-"

"I got my own money fer clothes. I jus' need you to drive me 'n' Francine. Will you?"

"Of course." He grinned and looked back to his plate before hearing her shuffle to the bathroom.

------

Ennis shifted nervously in his wheelchair. He was supposed to go home soon, he could feel it. He wasn't going home today, but he was meeting with Jack, Francine and Junior. Jack had called him two hours ago to say they were coming to town, and would come to the hospital, too, he just wasn't sure when.

He stared through the plastic flowers on the window sill out to the street. He wasn't sure what street it was, or where it lead, but few cars went past him on it. The few that did drove quite slowly. "Mr. Del Mar?"

He started at the low voice, it frightened him from his thoughts, shallow as they were. "Yes?"

"We have your release papers here, we believe your condition is stable enough that you can go home tomorrow. Do you have someone you can call to pick you up?"

"Uh..yeah, well, he's comin' ta see me taday, so, I cain' let 'im know when he gets here."

"Great, I'll leave them here. Just buzz Mary if you need any help, or when you're done filling them out."

"Ok." Ennis turned himself back around, and stared once again passed the fake tulips.

Thanks for all your reviews! It's great to know my writing evoked such emotion, I'm sorry if I bothered any of you by making Monroe a meany, but I hadn't seen it anywhere else (at least not to that extent) so I thought I'd do it. Hope you can forgive me!

dreamcatcher33: Sorry the ending was flat! I've had a problem with endings since I can remember, hope this one suites you better. I'm glad there's an OMG factor to the writing, I'm glad it gets to you.

Valandil Eluch: I can't tell you if Jack killed him, because that would ruin the rest of the fic. You'll just HAVE to keep reading. :)

w84u: Thanks for mentioning Jack's parental ways, no one else did, and it was actual intended to be a main focal point in the chapter. Glad you noticed it :D

Pip3: Yes, crazy and crazy go together. I assume all the swearing meant you enjoyed that chapter? I hope so...

PreppieKhmerGal: Love the Twist, huh? Well, there's definitly more where that came from. ;)

YouthAwareness: Oh yes, me and my suprises! One around every corner. Don't worry, the girls come out unscathed. Glad you enjoyed the chapter.

hvnsent37: Thanks for the review! It's always great to get a new reviewer:D I would love it if you continued to read, but please, don't sit too long at the computer focussing on my fic, you may get a back ache laughs I'm glad you enjoyed, please keep me posted on how you like the rest :D