AuthorNote: The title of part two is And Carried Me Away, please give it a read if you enjoyed this story.
My Life Had Stood
Chapter 59:
-flashback-
"You're lying." He spat, glaring at the other man who laughed and nursed a bloody lip. His eyes narrowed and he grabbed the other man by the collar, shaking him. "That's all a lie!"
The man shook his head, grinning with malignant glee. "It's all in the autopsy report. The poison was injected into her stomach, and the puncture glued shut. There's no doubt it was deliberate."
"You're a lying s..."
x
"...Mr. Reid?"
William Reid awoke abruptly at the sound of his name and the gently shaking of his shoulder. Jet-lag exhaustion seemed to have finally kicked in, he realized, as he blinked away the remnants of slumber. His senses quickly focused on the hospital sounds and bright lights. He glanced up and saw Tara Lewis leaning above him and the chair he'd fallen asleep on.
"Mr. Reid, I got a call a short while ago that Rossi's and your son's plane landed and that they should get here within an half hour with Jemma." Lewis spoke, smiling briefly. "I was just about to wake and inform Alsie."
"Yes. All right...I...Els...Jem..." William drew in a breath as the memory of all that had happened returned as sleep withdrew.
"You should be there to meet Jemma too." Lewis continued, as the man got to his feet. She faltered briefly and bit her lip, her thoughts wrapped around one tidbit of information she hadn't shared. "Mr. Reid, there's...there's something about Jemma that I haven't mentioned. I wasn't sure how Alsie would take it and I didn't want to upset her more than she was already, so I didn't mention it, but..."
"What is it? Is Jemma all right? She's healthy, right?" William immediately tensed, his eyes darting over Lewis' face and body to not miss a single twitch or gesture. Having found out about Jemma and being unable to help bring her back, he'd looked up what had happened three years ago. It hadn't taken him long to find articles about the abduction and his thoughts kept straying to all the possible things that could've gone wrong.
"..." Lewis made a face as she mulled over what to say. "Jemma was given a preliminary check-up exam after being recovered and is currently healthy, physically and developmentally, but...she has severe hearing loss in both ears. There's no medical records on her, so we don't know why or how, but..."
"...she's deaf?" Alsie mumbled, her meek voice surprising both her father and the agent. Their eyes widened on sight of the four foot eight woman staring at them, her lips quivering though her hair shadowed her eyes. "Jemma is...my baby is..."
"Elsie, it's all right." William rushed to his daughter, practically pushing Lewis aside.
"...is it my fault? Was it...the abduction? Did something happen then...? Or did Linnet...?" Alsie trembled, while her father hesitated in front of her. He'd been about to hug her to comfort her but then remembered Dr. Freeman's warning. Instead he reached for Alsie's hands.
"Els..." William whispered, crouching so that he could see his daughter's face despite the height difference. His heart stopped as he heard the pain in his daughter's voice.
"...I peeked into his basement one night...he was there and there was a lady...she was tied up...bleeding from her ears...I don't..." Alsie's wide eyes stared at the floor unseeing, focused instead on a sudden memory. She took in a shuddering breath, her eyes growing moist as she attempted to not break down. "Please...tell me it wasn't...that he didn't hurt...Jem...that she's...because he..."
"The doctor found no indication that Jemma was abused by Linnet." Lewis reassured the petite woman, who trembled and barely looked up. She heard the woman sniffle and clear her throat. "Nor is there any indication that Jemma's hearing loss was caused by trauma from the abduction. She can speak fairly intelligibly for her age, so the doctor who examined her presumes her hearing loss started recently. There are no medical records on Jemma, and it's unlikely Linnet had her immunized, so the doctor thinks she may have come down with an illness some months ago that caused her hearing loss. At least that's what the M.E told Rossi and Reid."
William squeezed his daughter's hands, trying to reassure her when he noted the wetness of her cheeks. "It's all ri..."
"I should've remembered. Uhm...if I...if I'd remembered the abduction...if I'd remembered Linnet being the one...in the car...then Jemma..." Alsie swallowed, her eyes burning and stomach twisted into a knot. "...I'd have had her back sooner...maybe even James...he wouldn't have..."
"...none of it is your fault." William squeezed her hands in lieu of a hug, his thoughts lit with surprise at her last comment. He'd successfully avoided thinking about Jemma's father so far, not wanting to mull over that murky topic. It wasn't that he hadn't believed Rossi when the man said it was unlikely that James had forced Alsie, but rather his protectiveness of his daughter stopped him from accepting it fully.
"Alsie, um..." Lewis started to reply, caught less off-guard by Alsie's comment about James than William, but still surprised. The petite woman knew about James' crimes from the article about him and she didn't seem naive; so hearing Alsie suggest James wouldn't have committed his most recent crimes if Jemma hadn't been taken threw her. "James...he'd already attacked three women before he met you..."
William Reid glared at Lewis, having not known about that fact. It hadn't been mentioned in any of the articles he'd read. The agent didn't miss his glare, but was more focused on the look Alsie gave.
The petite woman's glower was indescribable in a single word. Her eyes were sharp and narrow, and her lips pressed into a thin line that betrayed nothing. Yet Lewis noticed it. It was brief, but she noticed the surprise in Alsie's eyes and the defensiveness, both which shifted into confusion before being hidden behind an expressionless glower.
Lewis wasn't sure but thought that Alsie had been about to say something in response, but had stopped herself. Before Lewis could question the other woman about it, the sound of an elevator dinging down the hall and then that of familiar voices, drew their attention.
"We're almost there, Jemma." Rossi spoke to the three year old, whom he carried in his arms, making sure she was looking at his lips so she knew what he was saying. He exited the elevator holding Jemma, Spencer next to him.
"Rossi, I..." Spencer mumbled, an envious glint in his eyes and tone. He reached for his niece, wanting to take her back into his arms.
"Kid, you got to hold and fuss over Jemma before and during the flight here." Rossi replied, eyebrows raised as he read the younger agent easily. He felt bemused. "As her grandfather, it's my turn to carry and fuss over Jemma."
"Yeah, but...I, um..." Spencer mumbled, a sad smile tugging at his lips. He gazed at Jemma in Rossi's arms, and tried to ignore the envy he felt, as well as the sense of bereft that gnawed at his stomach.
"S..."
A different feeling hit him suddenly, one that he couldn't quite describe except as an overwhelming relief and joy...and uncertainty. It was this last emotion that made him shift his gaze from Jemma and towards those who waited down the corridor. He realized quickly the truth behind what he felt the exact moment he saw Alsie. The look in her eyes and in her face a split second before she rushed forward held the same mix of emotions he'd just felt.
'Alsie...' He thought, as the woman - his sister - hurried forward, her eyes locked on the child Rossi held. On Jemma. He understood, without explanation or thought, what Alsie was feeling. He felt it too, and as Alsie reached for Jemma, he was more aware than ever that Alsie and he were twins, not just siblings.
"Jem...Jemma..." Alsie grabbed her daughter from Rossi and held her close, mumbling her name. Tears blurred her vision as she hugged her daughter, refusing to let the girl go for even a second. "My Jemma."
"...hmm, nnh. 'Eggo!" Jemma fidgeted, surprised and overwhelmed by being pulled so suddenly away from Rossi. It was strange being held so close and tightly by another, and she pouted not sure what had happened. Or who it was who grabbed her.
Alsie tensed at Jemma fighting against her, her stomach tightening at the rejection. It terrified her and hit her chest like a knife. She nearly trembled. Then she remembered what Lewis had said just moments before - Jemma had severe hearing loss in both ears.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Alsie loosened her arms wrapped around her daughter, allowing the girl to see her face. Her vision was blurry as she looked upon Jemma, her hands cupping the girl's cheeks both as a compromise to hugging and as a method to make sure Jemma saw her speak. "I..."
"She can read lips..." Alsie heard someone mumble, but was too distracted to place who. She swallowed back a sob threatening to escape, and took in a breath to steady her racing heart. It took a second longer for her brain to comprehend what the mumble had said, when it did she felt her lips twitch.
"Umhm. 'Eggo." Jemma pouted, staring at the stranger's face. Her deep brown eyes widened slightly at sight of the woman's wet cheeks. Curious, she reached out and touched Alsie's cheek. "Why 'ou cry?"
"You...you're my Jemma. My baby." Alsie stumbled over her words, struggling against just holding her daughter tightly. She didn't need an explanation - just seeing Jemma in Rossi's arms had been enough. Her maternal instinct just knew. Jemma, however, needed to be told. She gently touched her daughter's hand as it caressed her cheek. "...I...I'm Alsie...I'm your momma. I..."
"..." Jemma furrowed her eyebrows and puckered her lips together in thought. She'd been told by the dark haired man and the thin man, who had introduced themselves as her grandpa and uncle respectively, that they were bringing her to her momma. She'd also been told that papa Linnet had lied to her about being her papa, and that he'd taken her from her momma as a baby. Learning that she'd finally be able to meet her momma had excited her, but she was confused. "...'ou not dead? Pahpa say 'ou die."
Alsie's eyes widened, taken aback. It took a slight effort to understand her daughter's speech, which either dropped or oddly emphasized the consonants in favor of the vowel sounds. But she understood it quick enough to be thrown off by the word 'papa.'
"Hey." Spencer knelt down immediately, understanding Alsie's shock and confusion. He took her hand into his, to reassure her. "She means Greg Linnet, Alsie. Not..." He winced as the petite woman squeezed his hand painfully once he mentioned Linnet.
"...he..." Alsie clenched her teeth, her stomach knotting. "...that man isn't your father, Jemma. He's not. Don't..."
Jemma flinched at the sudden harshness to Alsie's tone of voice as well as the fury in her eyes. It confused and terrified her, and she felt overwhelmed. Her joy and excitement at getting to meet her momma, which had so far overpowered her separation anxiety for Linnet, suddenly waned. " 'e's pahpa! I wan' pahpa! Pahpa!"
Alsie froze when Jemma started screaming, and the three-year-old batted away the thirty-three-year old's arms. Her chest and stomach tensed, and it felt like a tidal wave just crashed over her. Her vision blurred and her head started throbbing, her stomach felt like it was being ripped open again as a flashback from three years ago filled her brain.
She was so overwhelmed that she didn't realize until she heard Spencer telling her to breathe slowly that she was hyperventilating. It was also that moment, after noticing that Jemma's screaming had stopped, that she realized what had seemed like seconds to her must've been minutes or longer.
"It's all right. Breathe." Spencer whispered soothingly, kneeling in front of Alsie. Behind him, down the corridor, Rossi once again held Jemma. The three-year-old stared at Alsie with wide eyes, terrified. "Just breathe." Spencer mumbled while Dr. Freeman and a few nurses came to help.
0
Elsewhere:
"Yeah, I know. I saw the articles." A woman, with burgundy hair dolled up in a large butterfly hair-clip, spoke into her cell phone. Her tone banal. The sound of her heels clacking on the parking garage pavement could be heard as she headed to her car. She paused walking briefly, listening to the other end's reply, surprised. "No. No, I won't comment. What you're hinting at is just not possible. It's not."
The beep of a car alarm being deactivated echoed in the parking garage as she approached the driver side of her car. She shook her head and got in, annoyed by the person on the other end of the call. An annoyed tsk sound escaped her lips, her tolerance waning.
"Look, he would've been no more than two when that incident took place." She chewed on her lip, close to hissing at her caller. "Besides, there was another identical case five years before the one you mentioned. The man would not even been born, maybe not even thought of by his parents. It's impossible, what you suggest."
The woman rolled her eyes as the words possession and reincarnation escaped her caller and entered her ears. She rubbed her brow and sat back in the driver's seat, shaking her head. It took all her remaining calm not to laugh derisively at the other person.
"Auntie, I love you, but you're wrong about a connection between those cases from almost forty years ago and those that man's son did." She sighed, not wanting to hang up but not wanting to continue the current conversation. Her eyes, a bright green, shot open at what her aunt said next. "I know that, okay? You don't think I want to catch the one who did that to her? You don't think I want to catch the monster who ruined my life before I was out of diapers? I loved her too, auntie. She was my mother."
The woman tensed, hissing a goodbye before hanging up. She tossed the phone onto the passenger seat before turning on the ignition. Before she got the engine to turn over, a large van drove up behind her car, blocking her in.
"What the hell?!" She cursed, the anger from her just ended conversation bursting forth. She quickly exited the car, furious at the driver of the van. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Move!"
She was nearly ready to kick the van when it drove off, the driver flipping her off as he continued on toward an empty parking space. Realizing belatedly that the van had merely paused in front of her vehicle while waiting for another car to vacate its space, she groaned.
"...stupid. Damn it." She mumbled and returned to her car, entering the driver side without pause. Not even glancing at the passenger seat until she was buckled in. Her eyes widened as she noticed her cell phone was no longer on the seat. "...What? Where did it...?"
A click from behind her drew her attention, her stomach clenching. Her cheeks lost all color as she peeked into her rear-view mirror and saw a man in the back seat, pointing a gun directly at the back of her head.
"We're going on a little trip. Drive." The man hissed, pushing the gun barrel up against the back of the woman's head. "And don't think I won't press the trigger."
The woman trembled.
A/N: End of the first part of My Life Had Stood. I have a lot planned for part two (titled: And Carried Me Away), one of which is delving into why James was taken as a newborn, as well as the reason behind Somerfield's experiments.