Chapter 19

Andy: I pulled up outside Jodi and John's house to pick them up for school. I beeped the horn and waited. No one came out. I thought Jodi must still be sleeping so I walked around the side of the house and to her bedroom window. I was surprised to see Bear still outside, tied up in the same place. I looked in the window. Jodi wasn't in her room and neither were the bags she had from camping. I felt sick with fear. I picked Bear up and put him in my car. I walked around the back of the house and peered in the kitchen window. John was laying on the kitchen floor. He was covered in blood. I could see their father sat on the sofa. Shit. I ducked down and walked back around the house. Jodi's warned me of her dad, he's dangerous. I couldn't risk going inside. I drove to Claire's house and explained everything. We phones the police and ambulance and met them round at their house.

Claire: The police broke the door down. The smell was unreal. John's father stood up when he saw the police. An officer ran over the arrest him while paramedics ran in the house. Three bodies lay on the floor. I couldn't tell if they were dead or alive. Everything happened so quickly. It was a blur to me.

Andy: One officer walked out with Jodi's dad and drove him off while the other called for backup. Jodi lay near her mother. I sat by her side and Claire did the same with John. The paramedics checked Jodi's pulse. I couldn't feel her breathing. They said her pulse was weak. John's was the same. Their mother was dead. The paramedics brought the stretchers in. The police officer guided Claire and I out of the house, even though we protested.

Claire: As Andy and I stood outside, the paramedics wheeled John and Jodi out of the house. John had a stab wound to his stomach. Jodi's face was all smashed up and bleeding. As they put John and Jodi into the ambulance, the backup police arrived. They put police tape around their house. Their home just became a crime scene.

Andy: I drove to the hospital with Claire. We ran into the emergency room but they wouldn't let us see them. We waited for around a couple of hours when a nurse came out and told us we could see John. They had no news on Jodi.

Claire: John was unconscious and hadn't been changed into a hospital gown yet. They told us that his stab wound wasn't too deep, it had been bandaged. John lay there, topless and in his bloodstained jeans. He had a huge dressing over his wound. I held his hand and gave him a kiss. Andy put his hand on my shoulder to comfort me. We were led out of the room again.

Andy: About two and a half hours later they came to talk to us about Jodi. She had a dislocated shoulder, a broken nose, a fractured jaw, 4 broken ribs, cuts on her arms, bruising all over but particularly around her neck and severe cigar burns on her arm. I started crying. I couldn't help it. It hurt me to think of her in all that pain. They finally let us see her. She was also unconscious. She lay there in a hospital gown. The blood had been cleaned off her face but the bruising and swelling was unreal. Her right arm was in a sling. The doctors had fitted metal wires into her mouth to help realign her jaw. She had small paper stitches and plasters on her arms and face. On her left arm, were three small dressings. They looked different to normal dressings so I assumed they were for the burns. It nearly broke me seeing her like this.

Claire: I phoned Brian and Allison to let them know what happened. They wanted to come and visit them but I told them to wait until they woke up. I phoned my parents and Andy phoned his. Both of our parents came to see how we were. They brought us clothes and also things for John and Jodi. Andy's parents took Bear to their house.

John woke up. Andy and I rushed in to see him. He was wired up to machines and connected to a drip. The nurse followed us in to monitor him.

"Princess? W-what.. Where am I?" He mumbled, confused.

"Hey it's okay. You're in hospital John." I replied.

"I think I remember. Wait, Jodi?! Where's Jodi?!" He tried to pull all of his wires off but the nurse calmed him down while I reassured him.

"Jodi's here too. Everything's going to be okay."

"Is she okay? Is she hurt?!" I looked at Andy. "C'mon! Sporto, what has he done to her?!" John was getting anxious.

"She uh, she's got a broken nose and a fractured jaw. And a couple broken ribs, and some cigar burns. Oh and a dislocated shoulder. But um, the doctors say she's going to be okay." Andy replied. I could tell it was hurting him to say it. John demanded to see Jodi. But first, social services and the police needed to speak to him. They spoke for around an hour, before they all left, followed by John in a wheelchair being pushed by the nurse. He was in pain but he hid it.

Andy: We took John to see Jodi. Claire stood next to John on one side of the bed, I said by the other side. John and I each held one of Jodi's hand. I could see his pain and I could tell he could see mine too.

John: I was discharged from hospital on the Wednesday morning. I couldn't go home; mom was dead, dad was locked up. Because I was 18 now, I couldn't go in foster care like Jodi could. Social services offered me a place in a youth hostel, but Claire's parents insisted that I stayed with them.

Claire and I went to get my stuff from my house so I could drop it into her house. We went back to the hospital. Jodi woke up yesterday morning. She's in a lot of pain but still being strong. She has to keep her arm in the sling for around a week or so, and the metal wires in her mouth should be able to come out in a month. She couldn't talk or eat properly. They found out yesterday that she was extremely close to having a collapsed lung, which is why it hurts so much for her to breath. I hated seeing her like this. It's all dad's fault. I hope he gets what's coming to him in prison.

Andy and Claire have been brilliant. Claire has helped me to get back on my feet; my stomach is healing nicely now and her support has got me through it. Andy has barely left Jodi's side. He loves her for sure. He helped me tell her about mom. I think she's still in shock about it. Mom had taken heroine and she choked on her sick while dad was beating the shit out of us. The funeral is next Thursday.