Shawna's Story (A Johnny Cade Fanfiction) //CURRENTLY EDITING//

~14~

I stayed home nursing my husband's wounds for almost a week. I was in a catatonic state, I would cook, clean, and take care of Johnny. I didn't speak since I found him in the vacant lot, and I slept in the living room on the couch opposite of the one he was laying on. It started to worry my brothers.

“She hasn't spoken since, and I don't think she's been eating,” Soda said to Darry one night, as they watched me tend to Johnny's face. His face wasn't swollen anymore, but there were many bruises that were healing, and this large gash on the side of his face that started at his temple and stopped at his cheek. It may have been the worst injury I had ever seen him have. There was no way his parents did this to him, they beat him, but not bad enough to kill him, this was something else, by someone else.

“We need to do something. I talked to her doctor, she says this is her way of coping with what happened. I'm lookin' for ways to help with this, and I think I found a way. I just need to find a way to get her out of the house to show her,” Darry said.

“Leave that to me,” Soda said.

“Okay, get her outside tomorrow afternoon, I need to take her into town,” Darry said, quietly.

~~~~

“Hey, sis, how about we try to go get some groceries today,” Soda suggested. I looked up at him, then down at Johnny, then up at him again.

“He'll be alright, I'll keep an eye on him until ya get back, okay?” Soda said. I gave a small nod and changed into some clean clothes, before kissing Johnny's forehead, and heading outside, where Darry was waiting by his truck. I walked over to the truck and climbed into the passenger seat, putting on the seatbelt. I wanted to get this over with, so I could get back to Johnny. Darry got into the truck and started it up, before driving away from our house. Darry made sure to take a route into town that didn't pass the vacant lot, knowing that it would probably make me break down.

“You know we're worried about you, sis,” Darry said, as he drove. “Soda says you haven't been eatin' much, and you've been layin' on that couch for the past week. I know that you're worried about Johnny, but ya need to worry about yourself right now. You're still pregnant and need to make sure you and the baby both make it out of this healthy,” he said. I didn't say anything, I just listened to him talk. I knew that he was right, but I just didn't want to lose Johnny because I was focusing too much on myself. “I'm hopin' that where I'm takin' ya will help with that. I was able to talk to someone, and they were able to get me into this place. Usually, it takes months to even get an appointment here,” he said, parking the truck outside a building. He turned off the truck and climbed out of it. I was a little confused, but climbed out as well, this definitely wasn't the grocery store. Darry walked with me inside, keeping me close, as I looked around. He had me sit down in a chair, before walking up to the front desk to talk to the receptionist. She spoke with him, before giving me a look of pity, and getting on the phone with someone. Darry finished up his conversation with her, before sitting down with me. We waited for about half an hour, but for me, it felt like many hours. I couldn't sit still, my leg was shaking, and I was tapping the arm of the chair. I was so stressed out with being in this strange place without Johnny. A few more minutes passed, and a man left the back room with a dog on a leash. The dog was a big yellow Labrador retriever dog, wearing a black vest on it. I looked a bit surprised when they walked over to us.

“You must be Shawna,” the man said, looking down at me. He was an older man with a similar build to Darry's. He had black hair that was combed back neatly and hazel colored eyes. I looked up at him and nodded, before looking at the puppy. “This is Rocco, he's going to be your new friend. Would you like to pet him?” I looked over at Darry, who nodded at me.