Broken.
Scene Three.
The steady beep of the heart monitor actually put Janet at ease. It was constant, exactly what she needed to hear after barely hearing Eddie's heartbeat in the alley. She held his hand in the dim room, with the small amount of light highlighting Eddie's bruises and a gash across his temple. There were neat stitches across the right part of his head, where they had most likely gone in for surgery.
"I'm so sorry, Eddie," Janet sighed. "I don't know why this happened to you, but you need to get better." When she sadly realized he wouldn't respond, she continued. "I'll give you tonight to rest up, but I need you to be back with us tomorrow. I need you to be ok," she whispered. "God, look at your hands," she said, turning them over in her own and looking at his knuckles.
"What happened to you?"
At Sully's, Nick, Owen, and Ronnie stood with their arms crossed in front the bar, watching as Rooster started to rewind the tape.
"VHS? Do they even make those anymore?" Ronnie quipped.
"How else are you going to record stuff?" Rooster responded. "This may not be the most advanced of technology, but it should at least give us an answer."
As Rooster worked with the tape, Nick sighed.
"Who's going to tell Physical Phil?"
"We should both tell him," Owen said.
"He's not going to take it well."
"We can't not tell him."
"What about Ikey?"
"Who cares?"
"You don't think this is bigger than all that, Owen? You'd want to know, wouldn't you? If you were in his position?"
"If I were in his position, I wouldn't have slept with my wife—wait, that sounded weird. You know what I mean."
"By tomorrow, everyone is going to know anyway," Ronnie said.
"He's right, small town, big gossip. I'd be surprised if it didn't make the paper, even."
"Got it," Rooster spoke from behind the counter. He lifted the 13-inch television set onto the bar and faced it out. He ducked under the bar and hit play.
"It's just the street," Ronnie said.
"Yeah, well, give it a minute. What did you think it'd be?"
"I don't know, at least make it move a little."
"This system cost $79.99 on eBay, kid, what do you want from me?"
"Woah, woah, guys… there's Eddie." Nick points to the screen as they all squint to see the interaction.
"Who is that?" Owen asks, "It's kind of blurry."
The men witness four figures approach Eddie and it all becomes clear to Nick.
"That's Big Cat."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, those are his friends, Matt, Joe, and Bobby."
"You're right, that's definitely them." They watched the screen, but Nick turned away just as they started to attack Eddie.
"I can't watch this, turn it off."
"How could Big Cat do this? What kind of sick man could—"
"Owen, stop." Nick voiced and Owen and the group turned around, to find Janet and Hannah standing in the doorway, looking completely shocked.
"It was Ray?" She mustered in a hoarse voice.
"Hannah…"
"I want to see it."
"I don't think that's a good idea…" Nick started.
"I want to see it." She moved between the men toward the screen. "Rewind it, Rooster." He did what he was told and the image on the screen didn't lie. Janet stood behind the men, eyes cast to the ground, unable to watch. But Hannah witnessed the man she thought she loved commit an unspeakable crime. Her hand flew to her mouth and she squeezed her eyes shut.
"Ok, I've seen enough." Shaking her head she moved toward the door.
"Hannah, wait."
"I need to go take care of this," she said with determination.
"You said it yourself, don't go looking for a fight."
"I'm not. I'm calling the police."
