It was 2am before JJ got back home. Fortunately for her, she just had severely bruised ribs, a bruised kidney, and a mild concussion. Closing the front door of the small townhouse behind her, she re-armed the alarm with her left hand, all the while holding her gun in the right. She carefully went from room to room, making sure that any sign of Will was gone. Looking up the stairs, she inhaled as deeply as she could without hurting herself, trying to brace for the short climb up. Letting the breath out slowly, she took the first step with more confidence than she felt. One, two, three…she counted each step as she traveled up. Going from room to room, closet to closet, she turned on every light, her gun pointed and at the ready as she cleared each room as if she were on a case. By the time she secured her home, all the doors and windows were bolted, blinds down, and every single light in the house was on. So much for cutting down on my electric bill the tired blonde thought to herself. Tonight she was going to allow herself to forget about that menial little detail and relish in the fact that she was alone. Away from Will and away from anyone else who may start to ask questions. As she reached her bedroom and looked at the tray and wilting petals still on her bed her mind immediately went back to the last few minutes that Will was in her home.
JJ had fallen from the top step to the bottom landing - 14 steep stairs. Dazed and sore, she had tried her best to get up before Will reached her. As she got to her hands and knees, trying to stand up, Will landed a kick to her midsection with his hard, worn, leather boots. JJ immediately fell to the floor again, cradling her abdomen and pulling her knees into her chest. As her forehead was down on the hard wood floor, Will brought the heel of his boot down on to her lower back. The Cajun immediately raised his right foot to stomp on her again, but headlights appeared in the bay windows in the front of the house. Will stopped, placing his foot on the ground next to JJ's face. Her right check resting on the cool floor, JJ was looking straight at the size 12 boot right next to her face. Bending down so that she was able to smell the alcohol on his breath, Will whispered into her ear, "I've got to go, but I'll be thinking of you." With that, he quickly walked out of the back door, the boot heels stomping loudly on the floor.
The agent had lain there for several minutes, listening for any sounds or any hint that Will was coming back in. After she was fairly certain he was gone, she slowly got to her hands and knees. She crawled to the edge of the couch and, using the arm for support, stood up. Waves of nausea and dizziness overcame her and she collapsed onto the soft blue couch.
Coming to a short while later and realizing that she needed medical attention but having no one that she could, or rather would, call she slowly sat up. The dizziness pervaded her every pore, but she knew the longer she sat there the harder it would be for her to move. The tired blonde stood, cradling her abdomen with her left hand, and climbed the steps to get her purse, keys, and gun. Determination was leading her every move, as she could no longer think and was refusing to feel.
JJ had driven about an hour away, to a small, out of the way 24 hour hospital/urgent care clinic. Using her middle name and paying with cash she had withdrawn on her way there, she was seen by the physician on call. After numerous x-rays, a urinalysis for her bruised kidneys, and a rather painful exam, she was sent home with pain pills and muscle relaxers, conveniently filled at their in-house pharmacy.
The visit, payments, and prescriptions were the easy part. Finding a way to explain a boot sized bruise on her back was the hard part. JJ had pled with the physician not to call the police. "I was mugged," she had said, "while I was out jogging. I didn't see anything and when the guy realized I didn't have a wallet or keys he got spooked by a sound in the bushes and ran off." The physician knew he couldn't report this particular type of assault without her consent, although he tried his best to convince her otherwise. After having had refused any more in-depth scans or an overnight stay for observation, the physician let her leave, only after she promised that she had someone she could stay with to observe her for any problems associated with the concussion. In for a penny in for a pound, she thought, as she agreed to stay with someone tonight.
The drive home had been painful and long. While she was glad she had driven the distance to an unknown facility, she was having a hard time catching her breath between her bruised ribs and her anxiety level. Get it together Jureau, she had told herself, you're in a locked car, going seventy miles an hour, he can't get to you. As soon as she pulled into her drive, and after waiting a few minutes to steady herself and unlock the safety on her gun, JJ was finally home.
So here she was. Several hours after she had first found herself in her own personal hell, JJ was alone and safe at home. Trying to cleanse everything about her assailant off of her and out of her room, JJ took all of the linens off of the bed; tray and petals included, and tossed them down the steps. She didn't have the energy or strength to carry them out of the house, but she was certainly going to do her best to get them as far away from her tonight as possible. After placing fresh linens on her bed, JJ took a quick hot shower. The hot water felt good on her aching, sore muscles but she was afraid to stay under the water too long, in case she couldn't hear someone coming. So, she turned the water off, got dressed in her most comfortable pajamas and sat straight up in her bed, gun in right hand and cell phone in her left.
That's the way JJ stayed until eight that morning. Her adrenaline from the previous night's attack had finally worn off and she was beginning to waver. She hadn't yet taken any of the prescribed pain medicines before now because she was afraid to fall asleep in the dark. Crazy, she knew, but she would just add it to her already growing list of irrational fears. Thankful that she had the weekend off and that no one would expect to hear from her until Monday morning, JJ got a cup of water from the sink, took the tiny pills that had promised to make it all go away and returned to the middle of her bed. Where she curled up into the fetal position and cried herself into oblivion.