Chapter 10

Jody's house in Sioux Falls.

40 minutes later.

Sam carried a still sleeping Charlie through the front door to Jody's house. "Thank you so much for this Jody." Sam said.

"No problem. After what happened at the hospital it's probably best we lay low here for a while. An APB has already been put out for her and it would be tough to explain everything that happened at the hospital with Charlie going full on Linda Blair." Jody motioned for Sam to follow her upstairs. "We can put her in Claire's room. She's off with Alex roadtripping it to a Queen of the Stone Age concert. They won't be back for a couple days."Jody explained.

Sam gently lay a sleeping Charlie down on the bed as Jody started grabbing clothes from Claire's drawers. Dean silently stood at the bedroom doorway looking awkward and unsure of what to do.

"Sam, I need you to fill some hot water bags under the kitchen sink with warm water." Jody told Sam. "We can use them to help keep her warm."

"Got it." Sam said before he hurriedly left the room.

"Dean, I got a bunch of blankets in the hall closet. I need you to grab a few." Jody said. He nodded relieved at having something to do even if it was just grabbing blankets. He disappeared for a minute before returning with an armful. "Thank you." She told Dean as she motioned him to where she wanted them to go. He put them down.

"Ok, now scram." She told him. "I gotta get Charlie out of this wet hospital gown and into some dry clothes."

Dean didn't budge.

"Dean.. " Jody said. She reached out and squeezed his arm gently. "Hey..you ok?"

Dean shook his head. "The look on her face tonight." Dean recalled. "Calling that child hers. She wanted to go back into that lake and be with them. And didn't give a damn that she had to drown in order to do it." Dean shook his head. "If we hadn't been there..."

Jody was quiet for a moment. "Grief makes you do crazy things sometimes. You know that." She said somberly. "And I get it. When my son.. " She paused getting her voice under control, "When my son died, it was like all of me died with him. I wanted to be with him so badly that for a moment I didn't care if it meant me dying too."

Dean looked back to Jody with great sympathy. "I'm so sorry Jody."

Jody nodded. "Me too."

"Thank you for being there for her. You saved her life." Dean told her. "I can never thank you enough for that." Dean told her. She smiled.

"Shes gonna be ok." She said.

"Yeah. I hope so." Dean nodded solemnly. "I'll be downstairs."

AN HOUR LATER

Jody managed to get Charlie changed and nestled underneath a few blankets with a couple warm water bags nestled beneath them. She had also managed to rebandage Charlie's wrists and stomach injuries in the process. Charlie had slept through the whole thing, but as Jody pulled at a section of blanket gently straightening it out she was startled when Charlie's eyes suddenly flickered open.

"Heyyyy...honey "Jody said in a soft sweet voice as she sat down beside her. "How are you feeling?"

It took a bit before Charlie answered. "It hurts." Charlie said as she pushed her head back into her pillow. Charlie's eyes furrowed. "Got any painkillers?"

"I do in fact. I'll get you some." Jody said as she stood up. "Those stab wounds are gonna be a pain for awhile. You just have to take it easy for a few weeks." Jody grabbed a glass of water and a bottle of pills from the nightstand beside the bed. When she turned back to Charlie she caught an unsettling look plastered on her face.

"How did you do it?" Charlie asked out of the blue, her voice wavering slightly.

"How did I do what?" Jody sat back down on the bed beside her still holding the pills and glass of water in her hands.

"Not turn into Jessica when you lost your son." Charlie said flatly. Jody blinked a few times. She wasn't prepared for the question and it kind of floored her. Charlie was quiet for a long while as she stared back at Jody.

Jody opened and closed her mouth for a few moments before she realized no words were actually coming out.

"I remember pain." Charlie spoke. "The grief that she felt is the grief I felt. Grief I FEEL." Charlie emphasized. "Like it's my pain too. I feel like I lost a child too and I don't know how to deal with it." Charlie's eyes started to well with tears. She looked back up to Jody pleading for an answer.

Jody put down the glass and the pills on the little wooden night stand beside her. She then looked down at Charlie with great sadness in her heart. "Oh honey.."

To be continued...