Note: The unknown character can be whoever you want. I plan to leave him unknown. Mysterious. But I do think he is someone who believes in protecting the innocent by any means possible regardless of the law and in this story he will not be prosecuted for "saving" Julie. He may pop back up with consequences for having a gun on school grounds but I am not sure of the law of this in Texas and I know they have gun carry laws but I would assume it is illegal like it is in my southern US state (Georgia). I think I will just leave him out for the rest of the story and you can imagine him as you wish.

Also… I'm trying to tie this up with maybe one or two more chapters, but may have some ideas for a sequel with more Tulie. I'm just not sure yet. Plus I dunno if anyone is interested in that. Well here is the next chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 27:

11 weeks later.

In the last 11 weeks Julie has struggled. A lot.

She got her stitches out of her wrist and a week after JD's death she had a hard, plaster cast put on her wrist for 8 -10 weeks. It was healing appropriately for this injury she was told.

Five days after his death, Joe had a small funeral for his son. He attended along with his lawyer. No one else attended. Not a soul.

Julie had two therapy sessions a week starting the Monday after JD's death. Mondays and Thursdays. She would go after school and either Tim or her dad would pick her up after practice.

Julie and Tim had been talking or seeing each other daily. Even on weekends they would just chat on the phone for hours. Her parents were on board with their "friendship" but asked them to let them know before they were dating.

Julie felt they already were dating but Tim said if they didn't go anywhere but her house it wasn't dating. Physically it had just been hugs, kisses and some small touches. Tim was being respectful and Julie wasn't ready yet.

Monday:

Today she had a doctor appointment to get her cast off at 1:40 and then her regular therapy session at 3. Her mom was taking her since she had to leave school early.

"Jules? You okay?" Tim asked at lunch.

She came back to reality.

"Yeah sorry, I zoned out thinking about getting this cast off." She tried to smile.

The others at the table (Lois, Tyra, and Landry) didn't notice the effort but Tim did.

He pulled her close and kissed her cheek.

"It's okay to be nervous." He whispered.

At 8 weeks with the cast she had gone in to get it taken off and they removed the cast and did an x-ray only to tell her it wasn't ready yet and the bones haven't healed fully, they re-casted it and sent her home. Now it had been 10 weeks with this thing and she was ready to move on.

After 12 weeks of this whole nightmare she simply wanted to move on and not have any reminders of that night. Her physical reminders were all gone now except this cast. Her bruises had all healed weeks ago and her ribs no longer ached. She just wanted this cast off and put behind her. Her emotional reminders were ingrained in her mind so that was more for the therapy sessions. Even after all this time she wondered what JD was going to say when he started with "You make me feel…" She just couldn't get it out of her brain when she thought of him.

She sighed. "I'm okay. I just want it off."

"I know."

The rest of lunch went quickly and soon it was 1:20 and her mom was calling her to the office to check out for her appointment.

The appointment went much as the last one. They checked in, got the cast taken off, had an x-ray and were told to wait for the results.

Julie gently rubbed the skin where the small white scar lived with her other hand. She had noticed 2 weeks ago that it was actually very small. Only about 2 inches long and very pale which blended with her skin. If you weren't looking for it, you would never know. She was thankful for that.

The doctor knocked.

"Come in." Julie and Tami said together. They smiled at each other.

"Hello again Tami and Julie!"

"Hey doctor, Good news?" Julie asked.

"Yes, it can stay off."

Julie smiled but then frowned when she noticed he had a box in his hands.

"What's that?"

"This is your wrist brace."

"My what?!" Julie shrieked staring at the black brace he pulled out of the box.

"Oh… calm down… It's just for a week or so. Your wrist is going to be a little delicate so you'll need to wear the brace when you aren't doing PT."

"Doing what?" Julie asked again.

"PT… um… Physical therapy… you have to strengthen the muscles that haven't been used these last 12 weeks. "

Tami could tell Julie was about to either cry or yell.

"Um… When will she have the PT? At home can she take the brace off?"

The doctor scratched his head and then pulled out a paper from her file with all the information on it and handed it to Tami.

"Julie, you will know when you need the brace. Your wrist will feel heavy and begin to hurt if you over do it."

Julie nodded and allowed the doctor to put the brace on and show her how to buckle the Velcro straps.

They left and headed back out to the parking lot. Her therapist's office was only one building over and it was surprisingly already 2:45.

"Julie Hun, Are you alright?"

"Yes mom… I just didn't know about a brace or physical therapy. I just thought after the cast it's healed and I'm back to normal."

Normal. Huh.

"Normal? Jules… I don't think anything is going back to normal." She stressed.

"Well I want it to!" She yelled.

Tami raised her eyebrows.

"Sorry mom, I'm just tired of being reminded of what happened. In therapy we've discussed moving on but how do I do that with constant physical reminders?"

Tami stopped walking and put her hand on her daughters shoulder.

"Julie, you just have to try. I can't say I know exactly how you are feeling and that's a big reason I like you seeing your therapist but it will get easier. In a year you will be planning to go to college and you'll be away from this town and that alone will make it easier."

Julie shrugged. She didn't want her mom to know but she thought going to college would be an amazing fix for this but she was terrified someone else might hurt her and she was terrified Tim wouldn't be with her and it left a whole new wave of concerns.

At her therapy appointment she discussed this with the doctor.

She wanted to talk to Tim about it but it is his senior year now and he is just starting to think about college himself. Her father had gotten him a couple of tryouts and scouts had been at nearly every game for him and Smash.

It was already past regular season. The team made it to the playoffs and was on a likely track for state. She knew, even if Tim didn't say it, that he was going to be leaving her pretty soon.

She sighed as she got in her mother's car to head home.

"How was your session?" Tami asked.

"Fine. Like always."

Julie wondered if she and Tim would make it but she knew she had to get over her trauma first. If she and Tim were meant to be then they would be. Already for the last 12 weeks she had gained a protector and best friend. If he just stayed her best friend she would be happy… except that she was falling for him, hard.

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