Shout out to Julie95! Chapter after chapter you've been a great source of support for me. Thank you for all your wonderful comments, they inspire me to keep going, when I'm not sure I should. You're the best! Thanks!
"What're you smilin' at?" Robert asked as Brian closed his phone and slipped it into his pocket. He was smiling like a kid in a candy store.
"Nothing," Brian said, still smiling. "I sent my mom flowers today...she was just saying thank you."
"Mama's boy." Robert teased.
"Damn right." Brian grinned. Being teased was a small price to pay to cover for Jessie and Joey. "You guys about done eating? How 'bout some pool?"
"I'm done. I could use some coffee though." Robert answered and waved the waitress over.
"John?" When John didn't answer, Brian knocked on the table in front of him. "Hey, Earth to John, you okay buddy?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm done." John answered, sounding distracted.
"Are you feeling okay? How's your leg?" Robert sensed his distraction and thought maybe he was in pain.
"I'm fine. My thigh's okay too, the Motrin helped. I'm sorry, I've just been thinking, that's all."
"About Jessie?"
John nodded. "About the nightmare mostly. Did she tell you about it?"
Robert shook his head. "No, we talked a little bit after her x-rays...we apologized...talked about Friday, but the nightmare never came up."
John sighed sadly. "I don't know how she does it...I've had my share of nightmares, but hers...that one...I couldn't do it. No way."
"That bad, huh?" Brian frowned.
"Yeah."
"Well then, let's get us a bottle of whiskey, three glasses and you can tell us about it." Robert put his hand on John's shoulder. "Don't keep all the worry to yourself, John, that's what we're here for."
John had to take two shots of whiskey before he could get started. Having had time to think about it, while waiting for the waitress to bring the whiskey and glasses, he decided that telling them about the nightmare might not be such a good idea after all. It was upsetting enough for him to hear it and he was sure telling it would be just as bad or worse because he had to deal with their reactions. He wasn't sure how Brian would react, but he knew Robert, and he knew, like John did, that years ago that dream could have very well been a reality. Also, the more he thought about it, his feelings for Patrick became conflicted and he did not want to go there again, but he did need to tell them. He needed someone else to hear it, so they could figure out what to do together. Taking a deep, calming breath he repeated everything Jessie had told him.
When he finished, he felt miserable. Robert, unsuccessfully trying to hide the tears that had welled up in his eyes, put his head in his hands and shook it in disbelief. Brian paled, his eyes wide and sad.
"Why? Why would she dream something like that? Dream about Patrick like that? I mean, I understand the way she dreams about Travis...but to dream that about Patrick...it's crazy! Shooting Sal like that...Sal? It doesn't make sense." Brian sat back in his chair, suddenly feeling sick to his stomach. "I don't understand." He shook his head. "I don't get it."
"She's carryin' around so much and she's burying it all..." John said quietly.
"What happened in that warehouse, John?" Robert looked up at him, his face a mask of fear and confusion.
John was startled by the question. Unable to look Robert in the eye, he looked down at the table and played with his napkin nervously. "I'm not sure...I don't...what do you mean?"
"Bobby, this probably isn't the place to talk about that," Brian told him. He could tell by John's actions that he was not ready to talk about what happened at the warehouse and he knew Robert was not paying attention to that.
Robert ignored him. "Why did Langston go after Patrick? It had to have come up once they got Patrick there. What did Sal do?"
"Jesus, what makes you think Sal did something? Bobby, c'mon you can't expect him-"
John sat there quietly, listening as Brian tried to keep Robert from continuing his line of questioning. Robert sounded determined though, so he continued to twist and pull at the napkin in front of him and spoke softly. "He tried to kill Langston...Sal...he tried to kill Langston...he probably thought he had...Patrick didn't know...Sal...he did it on his own."
"What!? Sal wouldn't kill anyone!" Brian almost shouted.
"Why?" Robert asked simply.
"When Jessie was staying with our Grandfather...when Patrick was in the hospital...Langston tried to..." John shifted in his chair. There was no turning back now, he had to tell them.
"Langston tried to do what?" Robert urged him on.
"He tried to...he tried to molest Jessie." John blurted out as quickly as he could.
"Son of a bitch...it just keeps getting worse." Brian poured himself and the others a shot, then downed his.
"Sal, you idiot..." Robert said barely loud enough for them to hear it. "How did Sal find out? Did Jessie tell him?"
"No. Jessie didn't even remember that anything happened until Langston brought it up. Apparently, Grandfather left her with Langston for the day and one of his other men walked in on him trying to...to do something to her and they told Sal about it when he picked her up. Patrick didn't know...he didn't know about any of it." John drank his shot, swallowing hard. "Langston didn't care...when he realized Patrick didn't know about it and Sal did it on his own...he didn't care. He killed all those people...and he was going to kill us too...it didn't matter."
Robert nodded and slid his shot over to John. He watched him drink it and then poured him another. "Sal must've thought it would have been too much for Patrick to deal with, it probably was, but he shouldn't have done it...not on his own." He looked back and forth between both men. "I understand why he did it though...I can't say that I blame him for it...I'm not sure I wouldn't have done the same thing."
"I can't believe he didn't tell you about it. Why wouldn't he have at least told you?"
"I don't know, Brian, I don't know. Things were so crazy then, we were crazy. We were trying to deal with everything and hold it, and everyone, together at the same time. What Langston tried to do probably put Sal at his tipping point...he was fiercely protective of Jessie while Patrick was in the hospital. Langston was a dead man the second after Sal knew had happened."
"But Langston didn't die."
"That's exactly why Sal shouldn't have done anything on his own. C'mon, you knew him, Brian, he was no killer...he probably choked at the end and left him to die, instead of finishing him off and making sure he was dead."
Brian nodded, poured himself a shot and drank it in one long gulp. "He really fucked things up, didn't he?" He asked sadly.
"His heart was in the right place...he made a mistake, a big one, but I don't feel any different about him because of it. The big horse's ass...I still love him." Robert poured himself a drink and held it up in salute. "To the big horse's ass, it's alright buddy, we still love you." He finished his drink and wiped at the tears that slipped from his eyes.
Again, John sat quietly, listening to them, and thinking, though his thoughts were becoming a little clouded from the whiskey. He thought about Sal and was both comforted and disturbed that he had loved Jessie so much that he had tried to kill for her. He tried to imagine what it took for him to do it, to actually go through with it, and he wondered if he had it. If he had what it took to protect someone at that level. To go to such an extreme sense of justice and kill someone in cold blood. He thought maybe he could, being the son of Patrick O'doyle, and he shook his head, not wanting to continue that particular thought.
Instead, his thoughts turned to Jessie and his head cleared for a minute, a realization dawning on him. "She's pissed off at the both of them." He told them and they stopped talking and looked at him. He looked up from the napkin, he still held in his hand, like a security blanket. "She's pissed off at Sal and Dad...that's what the nightmare was about...that's why she twisted Dad, made him like he was before...that's why she shot Sal."
"John-"
"No. Robert, think about it. She was there too...she knows what Sal did, what he tried to do...she knows he's the reason Langston killed everyone...that he's the reason Dad is dead."
"Langston is the reason they're dead, John, he was crazy."
"I know that and you know that, but Jessie doesn't see it that way. She told me herself...'everything comes back to me'...that's what she said. Don't you see? Sal did what he did for her and Langston did what he did because of Sal...shit, she blames herself...and Sal...and she feels guilty about blaming Sal..." John talked quickly and everything came out in one long sentence.
"John, slow down. Relax." Robert moved John's whiskey glass from in front of him and gave him a glass of water. "Here, buddy, drink this. I'm gonna order some coffee too." Robert waved the waitress over.
"It makes sense, Bobby...I think he's right. But, why is she pissed off at Patrick?" Brian asked John.
"I haven't figured that out yet." John slid his whiskey glass back in front of him and reached for the bottle.
"Hey, maybe you had enough, John, okay? Think about it, you'll want to take your meds later and you won't be able to if you drink too much. We'll have a cup of coffee, then go, okay?"
"Yeah, sure, you're right, Robert." John put the whiskey bottle down. "Sorry." He said, looking like a scolded puppy. He drank some more water.
"Nothing to be sorry about, John, okay? Nothing at all." Robert put his hand on John's shoulder. "Enough thinking for tonight, buddy...give your mind a rest."
John nodded. "Yeah...uh thanks...thanks, Robert."
Robert smiled at him. "Alright, let's have our coffee and get outta here."
They stayed in the shower until the water ran cold. Having had time to 'wash' one another playfully, make love, then wash each other again, by the time they were through Jessie and Joey were completely content and happy. Joey dressed quickly, barely drying himself off, causing his clothes stuck to him, and sat on the edge of the tub, waiting for Jessie. She glanced over at him, shook her head and laughed.
"Yeah, that worked...hurry up and get dressed, so no one will know you were wet." She peeled his damp shirt away from the skin of his shoulder. "Nice move Joe...really good idea."
Joey smiled up at her and pulled the towel she had wrapped around her, away. Standing up, he held her hand, pulled her to him, pressing her further into him with his other hand on the small of her back, and claimed her mouth with his. Minutes later, he pulled away slowly, placing short open mouth kisses around her mouth as he went.
"If you were planning on doing that, why'd you get dressed so fast?" She grinned happily and started to unbutton his shirt.
He held her hands, stopping her from undressing him. "I couldn't help it. You standing there, wet, in a towel was driving me crazy." He brought their hands down to their sides and gave her a quick kiss before letting her go. "I'm gonna wait outside, if I stay in here with you, we'll never get out of this room." He gave her another quick kiss, then left her to finish drying off and dress.
Joey was lying on the bed, t.v. remote in hand, flipping through channels when Jessie came out of the bathroom. She watched him, smiling. His hair was still damp from the shower and it fell in wet tufts on his head, making him look much younger. Brian, when he really wanted to bust Joey's chops, called him 'Jump Street', because he thought he looked like a young Johnny Depp, and she grinned, thinking that if Brian were here now, this would be one of those moments. 'Johnny Depp...hhmmm...can I be any luckier?'
He caught her looking at him, with a big goofy grin on her face, and he smiled. "See something you like, baby?" He waggled his eyebrows up and down.
"Nah," She said nonchalantly. "Not really." She laughed.
He laughed with her. "Jerk. There's nothing on, wanna watch a movie?"
Between the emotional events of the day and the activity in the shower, even though she had slept with the help of a sedative most of the day, Jessie was exhausted. She knew she would never last five minutes into any movie, then she remembered something.
"Hey, did you remember the Provigil?"
'Damn, I was hoping she forgot about that.' Joey sighed. "Yeah, I remembered."
"Where is it? I could use one if we're gonna watch a movie."
"Let's forget the movie then...sleep with me."
Jessie sat down on the bed. "Didn't we take care of that in there?" She grinned devilishly and nodded towards the bathroom. "And, what happened to you being afraid of being walked in on?"
"Yes, we did...but that's not what I meant." He took her hand, kissed the top of it and laid it on his chest. "I meant that we should actually sleep. I want you to sleep with me, so I know you've gotten some real rest before you start taking that stuff." He noticed her flinch when he suggested that they actually sleep and when she didn't say anything, he ran his hands through her damp curls. "Hey, it'll be okay...you'll be with me, I won't let anything happen." He moved his hand and brushed her cheek with his thumb. "I'll take care of you, Jess. I promise."
Sleeping was the last thing she wanted to do, but he had given her everything she needed earlier, so how could she say no to him. Jessie gave him a half-smile and nodded.
"I can't promise you I'll sleep, but I'll give it a try."
"Good enough." Joey slid over on the bed and patted the empty space next to him.
Jessie curled up next to him, put her arm around his waist and laid her head on his chest. Immediately, the soft thump of his heart beating sounded like a lullaby. After several minutes of silence, she looked up at him.
"Are you sure you just want to sleep?" She winked at him.
Joey laughed and kissed the top of her head. "You're something else, you know that." He rubbed her back in slow circles. "It'll be okay." He whispered.
More silence slipped by and she looked up at him again.
"How come you haven't asked me about before? When I wigged out?"
"I didn't want to put a damper on a great night. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten, we could talk about it another time."
She snuggled back into his chest and smiled into it. "Great huh?"
"When I'm with you, how could it not be?" He shook them both trying to stifle his laugh.
"Do you have any idea how lucky you are that it's been a few hours since we ate? You were so close to wearing my dinner, right now." They both laughed. "When I'm with you, how could it not be? Where in the world did that come from? Are you and Brian watching soap operas again?"
"Can't blame a guy for tryin'."
"Stop tryin'...please...and no more daytime t.v. for you, buddy."
They settled back down and this time, after a few moments, Joey broke the silence.
"Hey, can I ask you something?"
'I thought you said we'd talk about it another time?' Jessie asked him in her head, then asked him aloud. "Sure. What?"
"What do you think Patrick would have thought about us being together? Ya know, as a couple."
That was not the question Jessie was expecting and she didn't know what to say. "Uh..he liked you a lot...I don't think there would have been anything to worry about."
"That was a little vague...seriously, I want to know what you think. Would I have been fishing food or would have been okay with it?"
She started to give it some serious thought and immediately regretted it. In the middle of her thoughts, the voice of The-man-that-looked-like-her father slipped through...'I trusted him to look after my daughter...to be there when I couldn't and what does he do? He lays down with her and shakes my hand with the same hand he touches her with. Disrespecting son-of-a-bitch...I may just have to kill him...' She squeezed her eyes closed and tried to push the thought back to the dark place it came from.
Joey felt her shudder against him and he hugged her closer. "You cold?"
Not trusting her voice and not wanting to tell him what it really was that caused her chills, she nodded against him.
He reached down and pulled a blanket over her and held her close against him. "Better?"
"Much better." She closed her eyes and held him, concentrating on his heartbeat. "Dad always said all he ever wanted...was for me to be happy...and you make me happy, so I think he would have been okay with us being together. I think, maybe he would've been upset that we didn't tell him right away, but I think he would have understood. Yeah, I think Dad would have approved."
The smile that crossed his face practically split it in two."Thank you, for telling me that." He kissed the top of her head, then buried his hand in her hair. He ran his fingers through her thick curls while massaging her scalp slowly and he felt the tension quickly slip from her body as she melted against him. "I love you, Jessie."
"Love you too." She murmured sleepily.
Within minutes her breathing became the slow, steady breathing of sleep. Joey smiled, reveling in the sound of her, the feel of her against him, and continued to run his fingers through her hair until he drifted off as well.
Tbc...
