Chapter 14; Revelations,
"Gabe, there's a jar of mixed herbs sitting on the counter by the stove, get a pan and fill it with water and pour the herbs into it and set it on the stove to boil please" Brianna spoke as she cut away Jack's shirt.
Sam entered the room just as Brianna was pulling the material away from Jacks body. She gasped, blood was stained on her chest and still flowed from the wound. Riddick did not turn around when he heard Sam gasp, he already knew what he would see soon enough.
"Samantha there's a bottle in the bathroom cabinet that has an eyedropper in it. Please bring it to me" Brianna said. Sam quickly left to retrieve it.
"Gabe I'm going to have the remove the knife and I need your help" she told him.
He turned around and nodded. As he approached the table he shook as he looked at Jack. Brianna had wiped away a lot of the excess blood but the wound was still nasty. Jack's skin had paled and sweat was now pouring from her brow. Sam returned with the bottle and handed it to her mother.
"Ok tip her head back some and open her mouth, I'm going to put some drops in it and then we have to make sure she swallows it" she told Riddick.
He nodded and slipped his hand behind Jack's head. Her neck and hair was soaked with sweat, he tilted her back slightly and opened her mouth. Brianna administered a few droppers full of the liquid and then Riddick massaged Jacks throat easing the medicines down it.
"I gave her some valerian, its a natural relaxer, it'll help dull some of the pain and her movement. Now I'm going to pull the knife out. Sam I want you to get those towels and be ready. There's going to be a lot of blood flow right after", Sam nodded and grabbed the towels.
Brianna got the pot off the stove that Riddick had put to boil. She poured some of the liquid into a basin and filled another basin with water. She got some thread and a needle then went back to the table.
"She'll most likely jerk and scream, I'll need to you help keep her as still as possible and soothe her" Brianna spoke. Riddick nodded and laid his hands on Jacks shoulder. Sam shook as she watched her mom slowly take hold of the knife.
Brianna firmly gripped the weapon and slowly started pulling it out. It resisted at first then started to slide out of the girls' flesh. Jack started to thrash as she felt the knife leaving her body.
"It's ok baby, it'll be over in a minute. I promise. Just hold still" Riddick spoke to her as he restrained her arms from moving. Jack then started screaming, it was almost more than he could take. He wanted to scream from it, watching her body jerk about in pain and to hear the agony in her cries. For me, she's going through this for me... wondered through his mind.
When the knife was out Sam instantly put a towel over the wound catching the blood. She applied pressure trying to keep it from bleeding too much. Jack screamed again trying to jerk up. Riddick held her down whispering in her ear. Sam's heart went out to him, she knew how hard it must be for him to witness this. Brianna motioned for Sam to move aside. She looked at Riddick and nodded her head, he gripped Jacks shoulders tightly. Brianna then poured some of the liquid into the wound. Jack screamed and pushed against Riddick.
"Jack calm down. I know it hurts but it'll help" he told her. She still screamed and thrashed against him. He moved behind her head and wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her arms to him.
Brianna poured some more of the mixture Riddick had fixed into the wound. The skin bubbled up from it burning the infection out. Jacks body shook as she screamed from the pain. Riddick eyes were welled up with tears as he tried to calm her.
"Sam bring me the other bottle from the cabinet" Brianna said. She grabbed a towel and dipped it into the water. She carefully wiped the wound and applied more pressure to it in hopes to lessen the bleeding. Sam handed her mother the bottle.
"Jack, Jack I need you to open your mouth and swallow this" she told her. Jack was still screaming and tossing about.
"Jack, Brianna needs to give you something. Please open your mouth and take it" Riddick said into her ear. Jack opened her mouth and Brianna poured the contents of the bottle into it. Jack swallowed and continue to shake.
"I gave her a sedative, it'll take a few minutes to take affect but it should calm her down and perhaps let her sleep" Brianna said. She then looked at Riddick. "The knife pierced a few large veins and I'm going to have to cauterize them to prevent internal bleeding" she told him.
His face almost seemed to pale a bit Sam noticed, but he nodded and gripped Jacks body even tighter. Brianna took Sam's hand and put it on the towel she was pressing against the wound. Sam applied the proper amount of pressure as her mother walked over to the stove. She had placed an iron rod into the flame heating it, she picked it up and poured something over it to sterilize it and returned to them. She looked at Riddick and he nodded.
"Sam hold her feet and legs down and keep her steady" Riddick said to her. She nodded and quickly grabbed into Jacks calves.
Brianna removed the towel and quick put the hot tip of the rod into the wound. Jack shot up screaming, Riddick gripped her body struggling to hold her down. She kicked her legs and Sam had to throw her full body weight onto Jacks legs to keep her down.
As the rod burnt the end of the veins she screamed out "It hurts! It hurts! Get it out of me"!
"Jack we have to do this" Brianna said to her.
"NO, No stop it!" she screamed.
Brianna removed the rod from Jacks shoulder and she dropped back down on the table. Brianna quickly pout a towel back over the wound and reached for the needle she'd set aside. It was already threaded and ready to go. She let the girls father go ahead and soothe and try to calm her a bit before she went to work stitching the wound.
"It's ok Jack, it's over just close your eyes and try to rest" he told her.
"I'm sorry" Jack rasped back to him.
"What?" Riddick asked her.
"I'm sorry that I disobeyed but I couldn't let that knife get you," she said.
"Shhh, it's ok honey. It's over, we can't change it" he said all emotional.
"I was afraid that if it did I'd lose you" she told him. He closed his
eyes for
a moment trying to calm himself.
"Jack you aren't going to lose me" he said.
"Am I going to....." and she left it at that.
"No I'm not losing you either, you hear me? You're going to get well and heal from this, you let yourself rest ok. Brianna needs to stitch the wound up, it may hurt a bit but just close your eyes and focus on something else ok" he said. She nodded and closed her eyes.
Carefully Brianna went to work at stitching the wound closed. It was that large or jagged but it was important to be precise in it or the tissue wouldn't heal correctly. Jacks jaw twitched when she felt the needle piercing into her skin but she held still and focused on something else like Riddick told her.
"Johns" she had heard him say when he'd bent to pick her up. What did he mean Johns? Johns is dead, he died on that God forsaken planet she thought to herself.
And what had overcome Dillion? She had been enjoying the evening picking berries and talking with him, he had a million crazy stories to tell about his family and Jack enjoyed hearing them. She felt like she had a normal siblings type relationship for once. Then suddenly Dillion in mid sentence kinda choked and stumbled to the ground. Then before she knew it, he was gasping for air. By the time she reached where he was he was striking out at the air and flinging his body around, she screamed out at him. And next thing she knew Riddick and Sam where there. Then he'd gone into some trance and she and Riddick concentrated on reaching him mentally to bring him out of it. He came out of it lunging at Riddick, screaming that he was going to kill him because he had fed him alive to something. It all made no sense what so ever to her. She struggled trying to figure it out but her mind and body were both exhausted. She let herself slip into sleep.
Brianna finished and noticed Jack had fallen asleep. "The sedative has
taken affect. It should let her sleep for the next few hours. All we can
do is wait
then, I think she'll be ok. We just have to keep the wound clean and covered
and give her things to keep from any internal infections starting" Brianna
said.
She then carried things over to the sink. Sam followed her to help clean things up. "I noticed that was Dillions' knife I pulled out of Jacks shoulder, it's the smaller one he keeps strapped to his ankle in case he gets into trouble while he's out in the woods" Brianna said. Sam nodded.
"Care to explain?" she said looking over at Sam.
"I don't really know what happened. Gabe and I were out walking looking for them " Sam said being sure to call him by the appropriate name.
"All of the sudden he said Jack was in trouble, that She was afraid, he could sense it. Then we heard screaming and shot off in the direction of it. When we got to them Jack was holding Dillion and he was gasping and choking. She said he had been talking then suddenly fell choking and swinging at something she couldn't see. I called to him trying to bring him out of it. Suddenly he started bleeding, wounds started appearing around his throat and neck and on his back. I told him not to give in, whatever it was it wasn't real unless he let it be".
Sam finished telling her mother about it and how when Dillion came out of the trance he lunged at Riddick screaming he was going to kill him.
"Then suddenly he fell to his knees, none of us really knew what was happening. Then suddenly he drew his arm back aiming the knife towards Gabe and Jack jumped in front of it" Sam finished near tears.
"Dillion's been having visions or something I think. He'll cry out at night and when I get to him he'll already be calming himself down. He tells me he's had a nightmare and that's all. The first time or two I thought nothing of it, then last week I found a trace of blood on his shorts when I washed them. After he'd gone to sleep I checked him over for cuts and scrapes but found none. When Daniel was here the other evening Dillion was outside playing and started screaming. We both ran outside and he was shaking but starting to calm down. He told us he thought he'd seen an animal coming out of the woods at him but it must have been his imagination" Brianna told her.
"Why didn't you call me, I told you to call me if something started" Sam said.
"I didn't know what to do, I didn't even know for sure of what was going on. For all I know he could have been having nightmares and something outside could have spooked him. I fight with the same paranoia as you Sam and I didn't want to have to be uprooted and running again" she told her daughter. Sam sighed knowing her mother was right.
"Daniel was curious about Dillions behavior though, he said Dillion had had a few strange episodes during baseball practices before" and Sam's head shot up. I'll kill him if he comes near us again she thought.
Brianna looked at her daughter "Don't worry about it now dear, there's nothing we can do at the moment" she said. Brianna looked over to where Riddick was still sitting next to Jack. He was holding her hand and watching her.
"Gabe" Brianna spoke laying a hand on his shoulder.
"Thank you" he said to her.
"No need to thank me, your daughter was a joy for the few minutes I got to speak with her. I just did what any normal person would do" she told him.
"But still I thank you, I'm indebted to you a great deal. She means more to me than my own life, I still can't shake that she's suffering now because she put herself in harms way for me" he said.
"She loves you. More than likely my guess is she did it without thinking. Her brain registered that you could be hurt and she did what she could to prevent it" Brianna said.
"I'm the father though, I'm suppose to protect her" he said.
"Life has funny ways of revealing things to us Gabe, somewhere down the road you'll see why this had to happen. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason" she told him. He nodded his head at her.
"There's nothing more you can do for Jack right now but to let her rest. You should rest some yourself, when she wakes up she'll need you more than ever" Brianna told him.
"I was told that someone down the road from you had a boarding room that they would rent out, I guess I should go see about getting it" he said standing up.
"Don't think of it, you two will stay here. Jack shouldn't be moved around much and it'd be easier for me to treat her here where all my things are right at hand" she said.
"I could get a room for just myself then" he said.
"You are a vital part of Jack's recovery, she needs you here. You'll both stay with us and I won't hear anything more about it" she told him.
"You're a generous woman," he said.
"Naw, I just enjoy a full house, it feels pretty empty around here most of the time" she said smiling at him.
He returned her smile, "I think I'm gonna walk around outside a bit. Try to clear my head" he told. She nodded and then went over to check on Jack.
Riddick wondered around outside aimlessly thinking.
"Johns, I don't know how and I don't know why but I know that he was in
the boy. The cut abroad his back was identical to Johns and his threats
sounded like they would have come from him" Riddick thought to himself.
Why though? I mean why now and here and why Dillion? He tried to make sense
of it and find the link to it. I swear to God when I figure this out he'll
pay! He took too much away from in life and he almost took away Jack Riddick
thought.
Why did she do it? That knife couldn't have hurt me that much he thought. He remembered again where it had struck Jack, factor in his height difference from her and he knew the knife would have cut into his heart. "If it got to me, I would have noticed it a second later and dodged it" he thought. But Jack wasn't going to risk that, she flung herself in front of him. Risking ones life for another was no small thing and Riddick knew it. He thought again abut Carolyn. She could have gotten on that skiff with the others and taken off. From as far back as Riddick was lagged he could have been dead but still she went back, she wouldn't leave him until she knew for sure. She found him and he was wounded and still took his weight on herself dragging him back to the skiff and ultimately lost her life for him.
"Damn it why didn't she just get on the fucking skiff and take off. Why did she come back? I wasn't exactly worth saving. For all she knew I could have boarded that craft and killed them all" he said out loud to himself.
"She knew you wouldn't" Sam said. He spun around to find Sam standing behind him.
"I must be slipping," he said meaning how he hadn't sensed her there before she spoke.
"I think it's acceptable for anyone to be a little off guard after going through what you did" she said approaching him.
He tossed his head back laughing "In these situations is when I was most at guard and at my best" he told her.
"No it isn't," she said.
"What the fuck do you know. When pain and misery were around I was at my best. Death is something I know more about than anything. It doesn't affect me the same as other people" he said to her.
"It does when it happens to someone you love" she told him.
"You might be able to thrive and stay on guard around it but its a different story when the life that's at stake is one that you care about" she said.
"You have no idea what this is like or about," he said sitting down.
"I think I might surprise you there," she said sitting next to him.
"I heard you say the name Johns back in the woods" she commented. He looked over at her. "You said it under your breath but I heard it, I also heard the menace in your voice" she said looking at him.
"I guess you'll be putting that down on your reports about me," he said.
"Riddick damn it, forget the fucking reports and evaluations ok. I am for now, this has nothing to do with them. It's something that's affecting you and me as well and I want to know what the fuck is going on. Now factor in Jacks knee jerk reaction even in her state of distress when she heard you say that name and it pretty much tells there's a story there, now what the fuck is it," she said.
"Johns is a man I guess you could say I knew, he was a merc that was constantly on my ass from before I was in Slam and on my ass everytime I escaped" he said.
"I know" she told him.
"I guess you probably do, you said you'd been reading about me since college or something and I figure his name must have come up in that information quite often. You also said you'd read the files and reports on the crash of Hunter-Gratzner so I'm sure you know that he was the one who had me on board that fucking craft taking me back to Slam to collect his handsome reward" he sneered.
"What you probably don't know about Johns is what a gutless spineless fuck he was. A blue eyed devil" Riddick said remembering his assumption of Johns. He shook his head. "Anyway the reports may show his technical side but I knew his human side. He may not have been a criminal but his fucked mind was sicker than some murders I've met" Riddick growled.
"I know, Johns wasn't worth the oxygen he breathed" she said with conviction. Riddick turned and looked at her.
"You say you wrote papers about me, and were convinced that they had me pegged wrong. That you knew inside I wasn't the heartless psychopath they wrote me out to be". She nodded.
"You didn't know me Samantha. Before that crash I was somebody else, part of that man still lives inside me" he said.
"What happened on that planet?" she asked him.
"Not so fast, I'm not done yet, you may have known a lot about me but what I heard in your voice was pure disgust and it was aimed towards Johns, now I can sympathize because I hated the man but I've never known anyone else to think anything but good of him. He was quite the decorated Merc so my question is why don't you share the opinion of the others about him" he finished.
"I don't think they really knew him well or saw everything he did, that's why they made a good judgment of him," she said.
"You know for a fact that I did commit those crimes, yet you still had some sort of compassion or understanding for me. Most people would find it hard to believe someone could think well of a man such as myself but not be able to utter up some respect or understanding for Johns, even the ones that didn't know him. I mean at least he wasn't a murder. So how is it you think they judged me too harshly and him too kindly?"
"I think Johns was a worthless waste of time and planet space" she said.
"I do too, but why do you? No one else did, not even people that knew him personally" Riddick said.
"Because they didn't know grow up with him and know the monster that lived inside" she said evenly.
Chapter 15; Baby Blues
Riddick's eyes shot over at her. "What did you say?" he asked her.
"I said the people who thought well of him didn't know him. They didn't grow up with him and see the monster that lived inside" she said looking at him.
Riddick was stunned trying to comprehend everything she said. "You mean..." he started to say and she nodded.
"Yes I knew Johns, probably better than anyone else. He and I both lived on a settlement on this planet not more than a days travel from here. From the time we were young there was something about him that wasn't quite right" she said.
"Sam honey there's someone on the phone for you" her mother called out to them.
"Alright mom I'm on my way" she said standing.
Riddick stood and followed her in the house. Brianna had moved Jack onto the couch and put a cool cloth on her forehead.
"Hello this is Sam" he heard her say picking up the phone. He walked over to Jack and laid his hand on her body. He could feel the heat radiate from her.
"She's running a fever but it's not to high" Brianna told him. He nodded and looked up at her.
"I'm giving her a mixture of herbs every hour, it'll help bring down the fever and ward of any internal infections" she said.
"How does it look to you?" he asked.
"I think she'll pull through just fine as long as we don't let any infection set in and we keep her fever down. She'll have to stay still and not move much for a few days and after that any movement will still need to be minimal, can't risk her tearing in tissue around the wound or we will be in trouble" Brianna said. He nodded in agreement. She could see the pain in his face.
"She's a strong girl Gabe and she'll pull through, she doesn't strike me as the type who give up easily to anything" she told him.
"She wouldn't, Jack is defiant as hell. Always laughing at the odds and usually proving them wrong" he said.
Brianna could hear the love and admiration in his voice and it touched her. It wasn't common for a man to have that much love for someone much less show it. But it was there between these two, the evidence of it on Riddicks face and Brianna had heard it in Jack's voice.
She laid a hand on his shoulder, "She's very beautiful Gabe, you're a handsome man yourself and I imagine her mother was stunning" Brianna said. Riddick drew in a breath, the sudden realization that this woman had no clue has to who he was or what was going on.
"I see your strong spirit and bravery, Jack came by her fighter instinct naturally. My guess is she'll pull through this unscathed and quicker than we expect" she said.
"Thank you, I'm not the brave one though" he said.
"Nonsense" Brianna told him.
"What?! What?!" they heard Samantha shout in the next room."Louis this sounds nothing like you what the fuck are you talking about" she said into the phone.
"Wait a minute you mean to tell you that you got an anonymous tip telling you that I had a client of mine at my private office around 6am in the morning two days ago" she growled. "Louis, number one if it was at my private office then it has absolutely nothing to do with you, it's my own private client. Number two we both know that if this person knew it was a client of mine and not just a friend then the person really isn't that anonymous. You just don't want to hand their name out to me" she said.
"It was Browning" Louis said on the other end of the phone.
"What?" she said lowly.
"Browning phoned me and asked to get together for lunch, he said he had stopped by your office to ask you something and after he left he went across the street for coffee and he then saw you come out with a client that you had been assigned through our company. He also said when he had spoken to you in your office he hadn't seen the person anywhere in sight and you looked like you had just thrown on your clothes in a hurry" Louis finished.
"So don't bullshit me Louis. What the accusation really is here, is that I slept with a client whom I had been assigned through your firm and you're investigating it now" She said hotly.
"Now Sam I didn't say that and I haven't said anything to anyone, I wanted to speak with you first about it. You know how I feel about Browning myself but it is my responsibility to make sure all my ducks are in line" he said.
"And given the nature of this case and the fact that the client that you were seen with is now there with you and you're working on his case only at our facilities there, makes the situation very murky" he said.
"What do you want me to say to you Louis?" she asked.
"I want you to tell me your story and you know I'll believe you Sam" he told her.
"Fine this is my story, I had a personal situation arise here with my family and one that I still do not wish to discuss. When I knew I'd be taking leave I called and dispensed my pending cases to the guys at work, you already know that. I then called and asked Mr. Bryce to come down to my office because I felt I should explain to him that I was no longer on his case and why. It was important to me to tell him and to not have a shmuck call him and say your current psychologist has dropped your case and it'll be a few days before we find someone to re-assign you to. It's important for me to handle everything in my cases person to person even if it's when I'm dropping one" she said.
"I agree it's good business practice and the courteous way to be" Louis said.
"So Mr. Bryce came down and I explained to him I had a personal situation I had to leave and take care of, that I had tried to get a continuance or extension so I could remain on his case but that I was denied it. So I apologize for my manor in this matter and told him I wished him well on his case and we both left at the same time. The reason I may have appeared disheveled is because all of that happened with in an hours span. I had been working all night at my office and I was still in my work out clothes with my hair pinned back. At 6am in the morning, unless one is on their way to work, I don't think their clothing and appearance can be expected to be top notch" she said.
"I agree Sam and I believe you, you knew that I would. I had to call and ask though because you're aware enough to know Browning will make a stink about it and I needed to have all my bases covered for when that happens. I am curious to know how things are going with Mr. Bryce and his case now that he's there" Louis asked?
"Well I haven't gotten the paper work on it yet. Mr. Bryce said when he had contacted everyone seeing if he'd be allowed to come here to continue his evaluations and sessions, that they told him they'd transfer all that to me" she said.
"Yes I'm the one who ordered all the files and paper work on him and the case to be sent there, it should be there in the morning. If it's not let me know and I'll find out what the hold up is" he told her.
"Ok Louis and I'm sorry for my candor in this, it just pisses me off how David Browning has to stick his nose in everything thing I do" she said.
"Yes I agree. He is quite the asshole, but don't worry about this Sam, I'll take care of the situation. I'll expect some reports on how things are going with the case in a week or two" he said.
"No problem, and sir may I ask you something off the record?" She said.
"Sure" he told her.
"Ok I was quite surprised when they denied a continuance or en extension to me right off on this case, it's common knowledge that the courts usually don't give a damn about custody battles. They said they couldn't allow me any extra time though on this case because it was important to keep it on schedule and not delay it any" she said.
"Now I found that interesting, most of the time cases like this never even go to court. Most of the time the parties involved come to some kind of a mutual agreement because the courts don't want to waste their time and money on what they think to be a petty case. But here not only are they going to court but they want it kept on schedule and are very picky about it. I just wondered what your thoughts on it were?" she asked him.
"I too notice that things seem to be different with this case, there's something to it although I'm not quite sure what it is. They were very adamant that you be the one who evaluated and counseled Mr. Bryce in it though" Louis told her.
"They were?" she said shocked.
"Yep they wanted you on the case and no one else" he told her.
"It's all very peculiar" she said and he agreed.
"Keep your nose to the wind Sam, something is there I'm sure of it. I just don't know what it is" he said.
"Ok Louis, well I'll be sending off some of my reports in a week or so after I get to work" she said.
"Will do Sam, take care" he said and they both hung up.
Sam turned around after hanging up the phone and saw Riddick sitting at
the table watching her.
"Can we go for a walk?" she said. He nodded and stood.
"I just want to go check on Dillion first" she told Him.
He followed her back to the room she'd taken Dillion to. She walked over to the bed and knelt beside it and stroked the boys brownish red hair. It was matted a bit with a mixture of sweat and dried blood. There were bits of dried blood on his skin and clothes. What happened to you out there she thought to herself. He was breathing peacefully and seemed lost in his dreams. She ran her finger down his cheek and kissed his forehead before standing to leave. Riddick witnessed the act. He too was intrigued about Dillion and about the close relationship Sam had with her brother. They walked outside and down the road a bit in silence.
"I suppose you heard my telephone conversation?" she said.
He nodded and spoke "What is going on?"
"My little buddy Browning evidently saw you and I leave my office at the same time and felt the need to tell my boss. He also included that he hadn't seen you anywhere in the room with me when he was talking to me and that it looked like my clothes had been tossed on hurriedly" she told him.
"But I told Louis that I had asked you to come down to the office so I could tell you in person that I wasn't going to be on your case anymore and he believed me, he detests Browning as much as I do" she said.
"There's more to it though" he said.
"Yes there is, there's something about your case that has a lot of people curious. Courts and company's don't waste their time with this shit" she said and he nodded. He knew it was true.
"So Louis said to keep my nose to the wind about it, but well seeing as my relationship with you has already surpassed what it's suppose to, I already know that there's something else here. My concern is do they? Riddick sighed deeply and closed his eyes.
"There's no promise that they know anything Riddick, they could just be curious about something" she told him quickly.
"The point being I can't risk them finding out anything besides what they already know" he said. She opened her mouth to speak but he shook his head at her.
"Lets not talk about it anymore alright, there's other things to be discussed" he said.
"I want to know about Johns" he said to her.
She nodded, "Johns and I grew up together as I told you before. We're about the same age he's a couple years older I suppose, anyhow he and I were pretty good friends. Daniel and him and myself were the three misfits and did a lot of stuff together. As we got older though Johns just didn't seem to keep it together that well" she said sighing.
"What do you mean keep it together?" Riddick asked.
"He became violent at the drop of a hat and sometimes it'd be so much we'd wonder if he would ever get the rage out of his eyes" she said. "When certain issues arose and things happen Johns left, Daniel and I were left there and we always wondered what had happened to him during the time he was gone" she said.