Truth Comes Second

While I Sleep

Author's Note: MERRY FREAKIN CHRISTMAS GUYS!! 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jimmy's POV:

It was dark outside and Tommy still wasn't home. I knew I shouldn't have let him go. I shouldn't have given him money and the keys to Steve's car. It wouldn't shock me if he never came home.

I always had the news playing on the television. Other stories about the world played, but it always went back to being about Julie and Carrie. Julie was still in St-Agatha, but they've let Carrie out. It wouldn't be surprised if Tommy was out trying to find Carrie.

I had pushed the coffee table in front of the couch over to the side of the room. Being stuck in the house all day was driving me crazy. I had dropped to the floor and began doing push-ups. I had to burn off all of the energy that I had built up.

It was past midnight when I heard the door creak open. Tommy hobbled into the kitchen with his arms full of plastic bags. I grabbed them from him and placed them on top of the counter. Tommy settled himself down into a chair and stretched out his wounded leg.

"What took you so long?" I asked him as I pulled the food out of the bags.

"Sorry, I can't move very fast," Tommy said wryly.

"It still shouldn't have taken you a few hours."

"Well, I don't know where stores are in this town."

I shrugged my shoulders, not in the mood to argue. He had bought enough food that he didn't have an excuse to leave for at least a month.

Carrie's POV:

I struggled to do up the zipper on the back of my dress. Once I finally managed to, I fastened a necklace around my neck. I ran my fingers through my hair.

I ran down the stairs. I always kept my heels by the door. My Dad used to get furious when he'd trip over them when he got home from work. My heart jumped in my chest when I got into the kitchen.

Tommy was standing behind the counter. He had a knife from the block in his hand. The tip was against the counter and he was spinning it around. His lips curled into a smirk when he saw me. He had on a red buttoned up shirt and a black tie.

"I was wondering what was taking you so long," he told me.

"What are you doing here?" my shaky voice asked.

Tommy furrowed his eyebrows together. "What are you talking about? We both live here."

"No." I shook my head. "I hate you."

"I don't really like you either, but I have to put up with you."

I wanted to run away, but my feet seemed to be stuck to the floor. Tommy lifted the blade up off of the counter and started walking toward me.

"Take your dress off," he told me.

"No!" I screamed.

"Don't raise your voice at me."

Tommy reached out and grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward his body. I struggled against his grip, but it didn't stop him from unzipping my dress. I reached up and clawed at his face and neck. He slammed me tight against his chest with one arm.

Pain exploded in my shoulder and I screamed. Something wet trickled down my back and I looked up to see Tommy raising the knife. It was covered in blood.

--

"Carrie!"

My eyes flew open and I could see the outline of someone leaning over me. It was too dark to make out who it was. I pushed him away, terrified that it was Tommy.

He grabbed my wrists and held it against the bed. I was still struggling to catch my breath. My chest seemed to get tighter and tighter with every desperate gasp for air I took.

"Carrie, calm down," the voice said. "It's me. Jacob."

Relief washed over me as I realized who it was. I stopped fighting against him, and he let go of my wrists. I saw that he was kneeling against my bed. I flew up from the bed and wrapped my arms around his neck. I buried my face into his shirt and I started to cry. Jacob held onto my shoulders. I knew he was afraid to touch my back.

"It's okay," he kept reassuring me. He started petting my hair with one of his hands.

"It was awful," I sobbed. "I had a nightmare about Tommy."

"It's going to be okay. Tommy is never going to hurt you again."

Jacob held onto me until I was done crying. He carefully set me back down onto the bed and he pulled the blankets up and tucked me in.

"I don't want to go back to sleep," I told him.

"I'm going to be on the couch if you need me," he said.

"Can you just stay for a little bit?"

"Carrie, I really shouldn't."

"Please."

I could hear him let out a deep breath. He sat on the edge of the bed so that he was facing me. He took my hand in his and ran his thumb over my knuckles.

"I'll stay until you fall asleep," he told me.

Julie's POV:

I shivered as I felt a cold breeze blow against my legs. I opened up my eyes to see Tommy sitting on the edge of a bed. The room was dark and the walls seemed to be made of concrete, like we were down in a basement. I looked down at myself to see I was wearing a thin white nightgown.

"Jules," Tommy said. He slid his hands around my back and I could feel my head start to spin. He pulled me down onto his lap. I tried to push him off of me, but I couldn't seem to move my arms. I opened my mouth to scream, but no noise came out.

Tommy raised his hand and brought his finger up to my lips.

"Don't worry, Jules," he said. "You're all mine."

--

I woke up to feel the tears rolling down my cheek. I wiped them away hastily, hoping that I wasn't screaming. Kenny or one of the other nurses woke me up when I was making noise, so I doubted I did.

I threw the blankets off of me. I swung my good leg off of the bed and then I carefully moved my back leg over the edge. My thigh burned when my foot touched the cold ground, but I tried my best to ignore it. I had a tight grip on the bed railing as I slowly stood up. I copied the movements that Tess taught me to do in physiotherapy as I slowly made my way over to Hunter's crib.

He was still sleeping, so I was careful as I brought him over to my bed with me. I struggled to wiggle my way back onto the bed without waking Hunter. I threw the blankets back over me and kept Hunter curled up in my arms.

The sun began to flood through the blinds before Kenny started knocking on my doorframe. Hunter had already woken up and he was reaching up and pulling my hair.

"Did you get Hunter yourself?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said. "I walked over to the crib and picked him up myself."

"That's great." Kenny's lips listed up into a smile. "I'm going to help you pack up your stuff. You're being released from the hospital tonight."