Family Comes First

Chapter 52: Maybe One Day

Jimmy slid his hands off me. I followed close behind him as he walked down the stairs. Charles was sitting at the dining room table. He had Hunter in his arms and was talking to him, but I could not understand what he was saying. Tommy was at the table too.

"I can take him," I said, reaching out my arms. Charles passed Hunter over and I cradled him in my arms. Jimmy kissed my cheek before leaving the house with Charles and Tommy.

I let out a shaky breath and tried to brace myself to see the state that Tommy left Carrie in. I carried Hunter up the creaky stairs and went down the hallway. Not a sound came from Tommy's room. My fingers curled around the cold door knob and I pushed the door open.

Carrie was lying on the bed among a mess of blankets. Her wrists were tied to the bed frame with rope. Her blonde hair was matted to her face. A piece of cloth was wrapped around her mouth and was gagging her. Her eyes grew wide when she saw me. She pulled against the restraints and winced.

"Don't hurt yourself," I said.

She settled down and I sat on the edge of the bed. Most of the dress I had given her was torn off. A few shreds of cloth were covering her naked body. A new collection of fresh bruises and cuts covered her skin. I placed Hunter down on the pillow beside her head. She turned her head to the side so that she could stare at him.

Her head shot back to look at me. I reached down and pulled away the gag. She took in a deep breath.

"Please, Julie," she begged. "Please, let me go."

"I can untie you," I said. "But Tommy told me that you have to stay in the room."

My fingers fiddled with the rope. The knots were tight and I struggled to get them undone. Carrie gasped out in pain as my fingers grazed along her raw skin.

"Julie, please," she said.

"We'll have some girl time," I said. "I am staying here with you."

I managed to loosen the knots and pulled them off of Carrie's sore wrists. She lowered her arms and tried to sit. She yelped out in pain, grabbed her stomach, and fell back down onto the bed.

She has a wound on her stomach.

My shaky hands grabbed her arms and pulled her hands off of her stomach. The fabric of her dress was soaked with blood. I peeled it back and Carrie grabbed my wrist.

"Don't," she said. "It really hurts."

"I just want to look at it," I said. "I want to clean it up for you so that it heals faster."

She let go of me and let me finish peeling back the fabric. A large wound covered her side. It was much deeper than I was expecting it to be. Tommy must have stabbed her.

"Can you watch Hunter for a second?" I asked her. "I need to run to my room quickly."

She nodded. I ran to the bathroom in my room. I needed to be quick to make sure that Carrie did not have time to crawl out of bed and leave the room. I pulled a bottle of rubbing alcohol out of the cupboard. I grabbed a package of gauze and a few towels.

When I got back to Tommy's room, Carrie was still lying on the bed. She was staring at Hunter. I sat back down on the edge of the bed.

"Keep talking to me so that this won't hurt," I said.

"What do you want me to say?" she asked.

I unscrewed the lid of the bottle and poured some of the alcohol onto the towel. I knew that this was going to hurt, but I could not tell her the truth. The pain was unbearable when Jimmy cleaned the wounds on my arms. I could not imagine what it was going to feel like to clean a stab wound.