Trauma - Hopper Fan fiction

4. The truth

Jamie woke up in complete darkness. She opened her eyes and shot up as she frantically looked around and saw nothing. She jumped out of bed and started feeling her surroundings. The sound of random items falling on the floor startled Jamie as she let out a shriek. Hopper shot up from the couch less than 50 feet away in the living room and ran towards his bedroom.

Hopper turned on the lights to find a panicked Jamie on the floor breathing rapidly. "Hey,hey shhh shhh.... you're okay. C'mon lets get you to the living room", Hopper said softly as he guided Jamie to the couch. Jamie sat on the couch unable to control her breathing.

"Hey, Hey. C'mon, Relax. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Deep breath in, and out. In.... and out".

Hopper didn't know that Jamie still suffered from panic attacks. To be fair, he didn't really know much about her now. He was pretty sure she still wasn't into those dumb boy bands she liked when she was 7. What he did know was that he was a hell of a lot better at dealing with Jamie's anxiety than Diane was. He and Jamie were were really close. She was his first born, and she was the ultimate daddy's girl. Although he has this tough cop chief of police demeanor, deep down inside he had a soft spot for his girls.

Jamie leaned her head against her dad's shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her. "Missed you", Jamie said quietly.

"Missed you too kid. More than you can ever imagine". Hopper got up and sat in the arm chair across from Jamie so that they were facing each other. "Ok kid, I know it's late, but we need to talk about what brought you here. Im not upset, I just need to know the truth", Hopper said as he leaned forward and rested his arms on his legs while staring into his daughters eyes.

Jamie sighed and nodded. She contemplated before speaking, and looked up to see that her dad was waiting for her to speak first. Jamie took in a deep breath, trying to speak without any tears forming. Her mind was going a mile a minute. Memories of the years of abuse, neglect, and self harm swarmed her brain all at once. It was overwhelming. She blinked as tears started to fall, and her breathing became shakier.

Hopper's heart sank. "What the fuck happened after I left?", he thought to himself. Sensing that Jamie was getting overwhelmed, he held her hand in his. "Baby Jai, it's okay. You can talk to me. I'm here to protect you."

Almost instantly, Jamie found the courage to speak. She missed when he called her that. She began to feel comfortable and realize that this was her dad she was talking to. This wasn't Diane, and it sure as hell wasn't David.

Hopper interupted and decided to ask the questions he wanted answers to. "Ok kid, what made you run away?, because I'm pretty sure that Diane isn't 100% on you being halfway across the country. By yourself. At 15 years old."

Jamie looked at her dad. How was he so sure? Ever since he left, she had no one to talk to. No one took the time out to see how SHE was doing after her sister died. All the attention was on her mom as she made her dad look like an asshole. Everything suddenly became to much for Jamie to handle by herself. Panick attacks, constant nightmares, seeing Sarah when she wasn't there, getting bullied, and constantly seeing new doctors. Could someone atleast get the child a God damned therapist?

Hopper looked at Jamie as he figured she was trying to sum up 5 years without her father in simple sentences without leaving out any major details. Words were too hard. Jamie decided that she could show him better than she could tell him.

Jamie went to the bathroom for better lighting and tied her hair up while she pulled her shirt off over her head, leaving the long sleeves still covering her arms. Hopper followed as he looked confused as his daughter stood there in her sports bra looking at his reflection in the mirror. He squatted down and examined her back, leaning in for a closer look. Jamie saw his face turn from white to red as he noticed the multiple bruises on her back. That was nothing. Jamie turned around so that she was facing her dad. Hopper's eyes grew wide in fear and anger at the sight of the purple bruise right below her collarbone. He went to touch it as Jamie winced and quickly grabbed his hand.

"No, dad.. It's... new.. from yesterday."

"From YESTERDAY?!", Hopper's voice got louder as he stood up hovering over Jamie. "How long has this been going on?! Why didn't you tell anyone? How come you didn't tell ME Jamie?!" Joyce had asked Hopper to keep his calm, but he couldn't. Not seeing his daughter's body like this. He couldn't believe that she didn't speak up about this. All this time he trusted Diane to care for their child. Jamie could've been with him this whole time. But wait...

"Who did this to you?", Hopper asked as he looked at Jamie and squinted his eyes.

Jamie was scared. She feared that she would eventually have to go back home to face David. She stared at her dad, helplessly. She hoped that he'd just figure it out so that she wouldn't have to speak about it anymore. Tears started pouring down her face as she stood there speechless.

Hopper realized what Jamie was doing. When she was scared, especially watching her sisters health decline in front of her, she became too afraid to speak. Afraid to say the wrong thing or ask the wrong question. She'd rather communicate non verbally and prefered yes or no questions so that she wouldn't have to force herself to think of an answer.

"Did mom do this to you", Hopper asked either way, fearing the answer.

Jamie looked down and shook her head. Hoppers face was on fire.

"Jamie. Did David put his hands on you?", Hopper awaited her answer as he clenched his teeth and held his breath.

"Yes."

That was it. Hopper grabbed his phone, a half empty pack of cigarettes, and headed outside as he slammed the door. He lit the cigarette as he punched the familiar numbers into his phone and hit dial. Hopper mumbled aggressively under his breath.

"Just you mother FUCKING wait!"