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(Definitely not edited)
EBONY
I awoke to an empty bed, and the outline of Jackons body on the sheets beside me, and instantly as I inhaled his scent, I remembered the kiss from last night, and a soft smile formed on my face.
I still couldnt believe Jackson had let me comfort him when he needed it. As he fell asleep, I traced his face, rememebering every curve and sharp point to his features, as he softly sighed against my hands. I wiped away the tears he didnt realize were falling, as I for once was actually content while I was with him and I hadnt once thought about what would happen when I left this hospital.
I just wanted to stay in that moment with him.
As I came out of my thoughts, I examined the room, looking for where Jackson could have gone. Then as a soft ache came to my abdomen I realized that I couldnt move much because of my still fresh wound. And as I let out a tense breath, I turned my head to the door as it opened, and as I expected for Jackson to walk in, that wasnt the case.
Instead it was two cops.
"Hey, your up thats amazing." The first cop that walked in said with a fake smile as I gulped, instantly feeling my heart stammer and my hands shake with anxiety.
My past experiences with the police caused this anxiety, and feeling of dread. The memory of the last time I was around police officers flooded my brain, as I remembered a teacher calling the police because she had seen the bruises on my skin in middle school. Everything at that moment seemed to be going downhill as they asked me questions, and I just cried and cried, not knowing whether or not I should have told them about everything Gale had been doing to me.
But then I remembered what Gale had said about having people on the inside of the system. And if I told the police, and one of them happened to be an acquaintance of Gales, I thought I would get a much worse punishment than a beating from him.
And after finding out about the Darwins connection to Gale from what Jerry had told me, I now realized just how Gale had people on the inside.
"How are you feeling Ebony." The officer asked me, as I gulped and struggled to answer him. I noticed the way the other officer who looked to be a foreign man, took notes of my behavior, and something within me felt like I had seen him before. But I didnt dwell much on it as my attention was brought back to the officer in front of me, as he told me his name.
"Well I am officer Wilkes, and the main reason me and my partner are here is because a taxi man called us to report that he had brought in a young black girl, with a gunshot wound." He looked up from his notes to me as I bit my cheek and waited for him to continue speaking.
"We've been trying to find you for a while now Ebony. And a couple of weeks back, your step father Gale called us to your home, to report you missing," As he said those words, I felt my heart stammer even more at the realization as to why there were police at Gales house when Markus shot it up. "There's also more news." He continued, turning as he grabbed a vanilla folder from his partner and then opened it, pulling out what looked like pictures.
"Since you've gone missing, alot has happened." He said, his face going from the once mischievous smirk it was to an almost accusing look as he dropped some images on my lap.
The images were grotesque. Crime scene photos of Gales death, his body without a head in the kitchen of my old home as blood surrounded him, and another dark set of crime scene photos of Jerrys death, along with mugshots of Markus.
I quickly looked away as I felt sick.
"Now without the head of this individual, and because whomever did this to them also burned their fingertips with acid, and did some other pretty gruesome things to this man to make sure we couldnt identify who it might be, we can only assume it is your step father Gale Anthony." He waited for a reaction from me of any sort, as I just gulped, knowing I wouldnt be able to fake empathy for the man that abused me for years. Even though a couple of weeks ago, it pained me to have him dead, it was not that I would miss him.
It was because Jackson had his blood on his hands now. And the fact that police officers were here right now questioning me about this situation at the moment, was the main reason why I was so upset with Jackson killing Gale.
"We know this is him because this mans body was found in your old home, and it matches the build and body of the Gale Anthony my partner here knows very well." Officer Wilkes pointed over his shoulder at his partner, as I then noticed the way he looked at me.
And I remembered his face then. He was one of the men that had hurt me along with his friend that Jackson killed the day he took me from Gale. And as the medicine was beginning to wear off and I was coming back to my full senses, I felt my abdomen begin to ache in a now burning pain as dread filled my stomach.
"On the other hand, this man right here has been in our records for decades as one of our top most wanted men in the state. Jerry Crewmen." He pointed at the photo of Jerry as I kept my eyes focused on his, blinking to hide the tears. "Along with this man who has been missing for years ." He averted his attention to Markus' mugshot then as I felt my eyes water even more, and my throat close at all this information.
They were going to take me to jail. Or worse, his partner would get a hold of me someway somehow and end up abusing me just like Gale had done for years.
"Ebony, we are not accusing you of doing any of this. But what we need from you, is to tell us who this person is." Officer Wilkes dropped one last photo on my lap, as I felt my hands shake even more as the same image that Jerry and I had looked over of Gales killer sat on my legs.
And as I picked up the image, examining it, I knew I couldn't just give him up like that. Who knows what would happen if Jackson just stepped back into this room, and they took him away from me.
"Im sorry b-b-but," I let out a deep breath as I felt myself begin to stutter as I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath before opening them as I said, "I don't know who this is." I then cast my eyes up to Officer Wilkes as I tried to keep my eye contact with him stable.
And just as I felt the tension rise in the room, the door opened and as I looked towards it, Jackson stepped into the room as I nearly let out a shocked gasp.
"Hello there young man, are you of kin to Ebony?" Officer Wilkes asked, as I knew deep down that he knew that Jackson and I were nowhere near related.
And as Officer Wilkes stepped forward and extended his hand to Jackson, Jackson only looked down at it and then looked back up to Officer Wilkes as he shook his head no. "I'm her boyfriend, and if you'd excuse me I'd like to be with her right now." Jackson said, not even waiting for Officer Wilkes to move out of the way as he pushed past him and I noticed the way that the foreign man eyed Jackson, as Jackson did the same to him.
With maybe just a tad bit more intimidation in his eyes, as I knew he also remembered him.
"I see she is getting better with her condition, since she was shot." Officer Wilkes says, with a sharp voice as Jackson comes and sits down on the side of the bed beside me, as he pulls me up and lays my head on his shoulder, running his hand up and down my arm.
"I'd hope so. I couldn't imagine losing her so quick." Jackson says, looking down at me as I look deep into his eyes, hoping that what he was saying was partly truth, and not just a cover up for Wilkes and his partner.
Then Wilkes opens a notepad and taps his pen against the blank page, as Jackson turns back to Wilkes. "Could I get your name young man." He asks, as Jackson quickly answers. "Jackson." And I notice the way Wilkes clutches his pen, then asks "And last?" He says, but Jackson only sits up now, crossing his arms and titling his head.
"I'm pretty sure you already know." He says, eyeing officer Wilkes as the other man looks at me.
"Well Jackson, you definitely are a criminal in our database. And if we wanted too, we could arrest you right now for a couple of charges-"
"But you can't arrest me without solid evidence." I knew Jackson was getting angry with these men. And I didn't want him to say or do anything that could get him either arrested or hurt right now.
So I brushed my fingers along his arm, looking at him as I felt him relax under my touch, but he continued to have a stare off with Wilkes.
"Evidence or not, I know a guilty criminal when I see one." Wilkes said, as I watched his whole sarcastic demeanor change to one of complete accusation and almost hatred towards Jackson.
"Is that why you arrest random black men on the street when you just feel like it?" Jackson said, catching me off guard, as I gulped and tried to calm him even more, but I knew there was something far more deeper than just a casual irritation between these two.
Jackson knew something about this man, as did Officer Wilkes with Jackson.
Then as an intense silence drifted over everyone in the room, Wilkes partner tapped him on the arm and whispered something to him, as Wilkes nodded.
"If you'd excuse us, we will have to finish this investigation later." Wilkes said, grabbing his jacket off of the bed, and beginning to walk out as he still continued to glare at Jackson, and Jackson didn't have a problem glaring back at him as both he and his partner left the room, before saying one final thing.
"A killer is a killer, no matter the motive." And with those words, Wilkes and his partner left the room and closed the door behind them.
"Yeah, he of all people would know." Jackson said, as he got up from the bed, grabbing the images from off of my lap and walked around the bed to the small trash can as he threw them in there, before making his way to the drawers underneath the tv, and opening the top drawer as he pulled out a bag of clothes.
"Jackson what are you doing?" I asked, as I noticed the way he quickly moved, ripping the bag open and spilling the clothes onto the floor as I noticed that they were mine.
"Getting us out of here before they find anything to arrest me on." He came towards me then, pulling away the sheet as I felt an instant chill run over my exposed legs.
"Sit up, we've got to hurry." I began to sit up, but the pain in my abdomen was still slightly unbearable as the medicine in my system began to wear off and I hissed at the pain.
"Here, I got you." Jackson said, gently bringing his arms under my arms as he pulled me up, and to the edge of the bed as my feet dangled off the side of it.
Then he brought his hands around my back and began to unbotton the cotton hospital gown. "J-Jackson wait." I said, stopping him as he got to the last button at the base of my back, and I felt his cold hands brush against my skin and a shiver went up my spine.
As I stared at Jackson, the gown hanging loose on my shoulders now, almost exposing my bare upper body to him, I gulped and said what I needed to say. "I-I'd like to do this myself, please." I whispered, looking down at my hands almost ashamed to say it, as I felt Jackson's finger under my chin, as he tilted my head up to his and as I looked into his eyes, I felt him come closer and finally plant his soft lips on mine, before pulling away with a nod.
"It's fine. I'll be right here if you need my help." He said, giving me a small smile as he turned around and grabbed the clothes off of the floor, and came back to me, setting them beside me on the bed.
Then he stepped away and turned around, pulling out his phone and looking out the window with brief glances as I took that as my time to try and get my clothes on.
As I hesitantly slipped the hospital gown all the way off, I felt an instant chill come over me as I glanced down at the large bandage on my stomach.
The small splotch of blood on the bandage slightly worried me, but I didn't dwell on it any longer as I grabbed my underwear, first putting that on, then sliding on my leggings, and with a few huffs and puffs I finally got those on.
Then as I looked at my shirt, I felt a sharp pain in my chest as it still had small splotches of my washed out blood on it. And all I could do was stare at it, as images of when I got shot and Jerry's death went on like a movie in my mind. Along with the brutal images of Gales death.
Then the words of Officer Wilkes repeated over and over, as I felt my hands begin to form sweat and my knees weaken.
'A killer is a killer, no matter the motive.'
"Ebony." I looked up as Jackson now stood before me, his hands coming up to my cheeks as he made me look fully at him. "I looked over for one second, and you looked like you were stuck in a daze." He says, as I gulp and look back down at the shirt in my hands as I blinked away the images and shook my head.
"I-I was just-" Before I could finish what I said, Jackson looked down at the shirt too, and let out a sigh. "This." He whispered, taking the shirt from my hands and walking around the bed to the trashcan as he dropped it in, and came back over to me as he took his sweater off.
"Put this on." He said, taking a step closer as I didn't bother objecting as I lifted my arms, as best as I could and he slid the sweater on over me, leaving him in only a black shirt.
I also noticed the way he looked at my stomach and the bloodied bandage. His eyes held anger while his jaw stayed clenched, and when the sweater finally covered the wound, he still had that look on his face as I took a step closer and ran my finger along his jaw.
"I'm fine." I said, hoping that those two words would make the look on his face go away. And it did for a second, but then he let out a sigh and grabbed my hand. "Let's go." He said, as we walked to the door and he looked out, making sure there was no one out there.
And when he turned around to me, he looked me over and then reached over me as he pulled the hood on over my head, and then softly planted a kiss on my forehead before pulling away and not even saying a word as he pulled me out of the room and into the hall.
We quickly made our way to the stairwell, not even bothering to wait for the elevator, and when Jackson pushed opened the door, I heard from down the hall some yelling that involved my name.
"She's gone!" A male voice said, as my eyes widened and when I looked over my shoulder the man and I locked eyes. "There! She's in the stairwell!" He shouted, pointing at me as Jackson pulled me into the stairwell and we practically flew down the stairs.
Because of the adrenaline that was running through my veins, I couldn't feel the burning pain from my wound that I normally would. When we finally made it to the bottom floor of the hospital, and opened the doors as we began to run out, everything went left as we came face to face with Officer Wilkes, Gales man, and both of their pistols.
"Well well well, guess we've got our evidence now." Wilkes said, smirking at Jackson as he aimed the gun right at his head, and his partner aimed the gun right at me.
"Move that gun away from her." Jackson growled, his eyes never even leaving Wilkes as I knew he was talking to his partner, but his partner didn't even blink an eye as he kept the gun pointed right at me and stared at me with a dark smirk.
And as I looked at him, and then down the literal barrel of the gun, the man then finally spoke. "Sorry partner." And as he said those words, I heard a gunshot and I instantly closed my eyes as I prepared myself for the impact.
And when I instead felt myself being jerked to the right, I popped open my eyes to see Officer Wilkes drop to the ground with blood gushing out of his neck and his partner running after us with a smoking gun.
He shot him. He killed his own partner. This man really was a killer just as Gale had said.
Once we finally got to the doors of the hospital, Jackson pushed us through and several gunshots fired around us as the guy tried to shoot us.
When we made it out of the doors safely, we ran to a black Jeep and as the doors opened for us, Jackson yanked me in front of him and practically threw me into the car before he jumped in beside me, and we sped off before the door even closed as what sounded like more bullets hit what I hoped were the bullet proof windows of the car.
"Holy shit." Jackson said, letting out deep breaths as I did the same, and just as I breathed in, I hissed at the pain in my abdomen, finally feeling the burn.
Jackson quickly turned his attention from his own exasperation to me, and he began to examine me with concern. "What's wrong, where are you hurting." He asked, sliding closer to me across the seat as I pointed at my abdomen, and looked up to the front as I locked eyes with Markus.
"She got hit again or something?" Markus said, gripping the steering wheel as I saw the way his knuckles turned a pasty white with every turn he made.
"Your bandage is soaked." He said, lifting my shirt higher as I let out a shaky breath at the the feel of his warm hand on my stomach. "W-what are we gonna d-do." I asked, as Jackson turned from me and reached across the passenger seat to grab something from out of the small latch in front of the seat.
And when he sat back down with a small medical box in his hands, I let out another shaky breath. "Don't fret, I'll be as gentle as I can." He said, as he began to remove the bandaid, and just that simple peeling action was painful as I gripped the edge of the seat from the burning pain.
"I'm sorry." He whispered, in a voice that was as low as I'd ever heard from him. It was barely heard by me, and as he looked up at me briefly with those words, it was confirmed that he said it and obviously only wanted me to hear it.
As he finally removed the bandage completely, and I felt a breeze across my abdomen, I started to look down at the wound to see just how bad it was. "Don't look." Jackson said, tilting my head up to the ceiling of the car as I thought about ignoring him, and getting a look.
But I knew that would only worry me more. And the pain would seemingly be greater if I just stared at the wound while he did whatever he had to fix it.
"I have to clean it again." He whispered, as I continued to let out labored breaths as I felt his large warm hand on my stomach, grazing over the wound.
"Slow down Markus." Jackson said, as I felt the car slow down slightly. And then as I leaned my head back on the window, preparing myself for the stinging sensation of the peroxide, I felt a hand slip into mine.
"I'm ready when you are." Jackson said, as I let out a shaky breath and then nodded. "Okay." I said, as I felt a final squeeze from him, and then immediately afterwards he poured the peroxide on my stomach.
The burn was intense. So intense that as I tried to remove my hand from Jackson's to cover my mouth with the scream that came through me, I instead nearly kicked Jackson away from me as he didn't let my hand go.
"Breathe Ebony, it'll only be for a few more seconds." Jackson said, as I looked down at him with tears in my eyes, and took his words into count. Breathing in and out, with deep breaths, as I began to feel the sting calm down.
I should've been used to this, from the many times I had to help myself after Gales abuse.
But it's been awhile since I've had such an injury that hurt this bad. And as I began to think about it, it was like a part of me still felt like I was with Gale, even though he was gone.
"I bandaged it up for now." Jackson spoke, as I opened my eyes and looked down at him. Giving him a small but shaky smile, as I sighed and nodded. "Thank you."
Whilest we drove, I lay my head on Jackson's shoulder. I didn't know where we were going, until we pulled up to an apartment building, and Markus parked the familiar car before quickly hopping out.
Jackson helped me out on his side, holding onto me gently as he began to carry me out of the car, but I stopped him with a pat to his chest. "I'm fine. I can walk." I said, as he nodded and I noticed the way his jaw twitched, before putting me down on my wobbly legs.
We made our way into the building, and up to the top floor. Jackson stayed extra close to me, and as I looked around the place, I realized that this apartment building was vacant.
No one lived here. And that alone made me feel a little iffy.
When we finally made it to the top floor we all stepped off, me last of course as Jackson grabbed my hand from behind him and we walked down to a door with the number 301. Markus pulled out a key, and unlocked the door as he stepped in, and Jackson and I went in behind him.
"I don't have much, but feel free to use anything you want." Markus said, turning around to me as he stared right at me and said, "Except for my computer."
I nodded quickly, almost hiding myself behind Jackson as Jackson squeezed my hand and led me into the kitchen. "You hungry?" He asked, and just as I began to shake my head no, he was already reaching for bread and peanut butter and jelly.
I watched him prepare the meal, before drifting my eyes off to elsewhere, and looking around Markus' apartment. I noticed the fact that the pictures on the walls were flipped around, and the wallpaper on the walls was peeling off.
It was an almost grotesque feel that surrounded me, and when I looked over to where Markus was, typing away on his laptop, I saw a picture of Paris on his computer, and immediately my body began to feel like it was on fire. But I didn't want to be annoying and tell Jackson that, or ask any questions about it.
"Come on." Jackson walked to the table with a paper plate in his hand, and two sandwiches stacked on top of each other.
He pulled out a chair for me, as I sat down before he did the same and sat across from me, while setting the plate on the table.
He grabbed his sandwich from the top, beginning to eat it as I just stared at the plate. I couldn't bring myself to eat, I didn't even feel hungry after what I had just saw and just recently had gone through.
And Jackson of course noticed it, as he set his sandwich down, then reached across the table for my hand as I pulled it away in shock, as I was daydreaming.
"I-I'm sorry." I said, looking up at him as he shook his head and pushed the plate towards me. "I need for you to eat. And stop worrying." His voice was serious, as I bit my cheek, and spoke up.
"J-Jackson, I can't help but feel l-like-"
"We need to talk." Markus popped up behind me, almost making my heart come barreling out of my chest as I jumped in my seat, and turned around looking up at him as he stared at Jackson.
"About..." Jackson said, bringing my attention back to him, as he looked at me and then at the plate of food, obviously still wanting me to eat the sandwich.
"Paris." Markus said, as I didn't even flinch at the name, but instead froze when I heard the other name mentioned. "And David."
At that name I began to hyperventilate. I felt my lungs cave in as Flashbacks of Jerry's death, and the memory of getting shot flooded my brain.
"Ebony." Jackson jumped from out of his chair, and came to me, turning my head to him as I felt his hands on my face, and a part of me began to calm down.
"Breathe." Jackson said, as I did as I was told by him, finally feeling myself calmed all the way down.
"How are you feeling." Jackson asked, as I gulped, and answered with a sigh. "Tired." I said, as he nodded and stood me up, then grabbed me from under my legs and began to carry me to a door. "Jackson-"
"Don't." He said, looking at me briefly before opening the door, and stepping into a room with a small bed.
He set me down on it, and left immediately. Before returning shortly after with the same plate of food. Just a smaller portion on it, and a cup of water.
"I'm serious about you eating." He said, sitting down on the floor beside the bed as I lay down and watched him break the sandwich apart, then brought his hand to my mouth.
I knew what he wanted for me to do, and as I opened my mouth, and he set the piece of bread, and peanut butter and jelly in my mouth, I felt my tongue react to the taste in a good way.
I closed my mouth, as he pulled his hand away and began to break apart another piece while I ate the most recent one.
Silence surrounded us for a few moments as he only fed me, and ate what was left after I began to just take small nibbles. "You said you were tired, I'll leave you to rest up." He said, getting up from the floor as he leaned down towards me, and kissed my forehead, softly, as a flashback of what I used to have as a child flashed behind my eyelids for a second when I closed my eyes. And when I opened them, it was Jackson I saw standing before me.
I leaned up and pulled him closer to me. "Thank you." I said, genuinely, as I looked between both of his eyes, and finally sealed my words with a soft kiss as he sighed against my lips when I felt his hands come around my back and run them along my spine.
"Rest up. I'll be back soon to check on you." He pulled away from me, as I watched him walk to the door. He put his hand on the doorknob, and turned it but didn't open the door as he just stared at the knob.
Before I could ask if everything was okay with him, he opened the door and stepped out as I watched the door close behind him.
I turned on my side with a sigh, facing the wall as I pondered on my thoughts. A lot has happened today, and in general. But as I tried to sort through it all, I found myself drifting off and my eyes struggling to stay open.
I'd let sleep take me peacefully this one time. For what I would not have expected was coming next, and that would keep me up all night.
—-
OOP a little foreshadowing there?! I mean I guessss you could say all things are going 'well'???
But on some real ish, I wanna talk to you guys and get info. Some criticism, and real help regarding IIT. Now, as of recently I've been feeling like this story is being dragged all the way outtttt.
Like I've mentioned so many characters, and POOF they're all gone now. We haven't seen Paris in who knows how long, Merci is gone out the picture (for now) David done left to travel to Jamaica before coming back to probably kill a BIH, the Darwin's out here chillaxing on creep island and ish.
Lmfao. I crack myself up. All that up there is mad lies okay. But true shit tho, I have a plan for this story, and what I want to do. But there's a lot of shit that has to happen between then and that plan takes action, and I feel like it'll be too early to do that to y'all.
OH! And also, aren't y'all tired of these grimy ass hospital scenes? I know I am, even though I keep putting Ebony back in the hospital. It's honestly annoying asf when I end up leaving y'all on a cliffhanger, and the next minute she's in the hospital. Like whaaaaa?
But anywhos, leave me some feedback on what I can improve on. If any of you are as tired as I am of seeing and hearing the same shit over and over (so a BIH can fix it) and if your still enjoying this story?
Much love, and also please show support by voting, and sharing my story with your peoples.
- Ellipticall 🌿
(As you should already know, if you ain't knew, this chapter was deffo not edited)