Chapter 3
"Dad beat mom tonight. She's in the hospital. The police are still
looking
for him."
Wordlessly, Zac grabbed her hand, and ran up the stairs.
Grabbing
Tay's keys, he yelled up the stairs that someone needed to take him to
the
hospital. Alarmed, his mom appeared and asked what was wrong. Zac
quickly
spilled out only the necessary information as he was heading out to the
garage, his mother following closely behind.
"I'm sure everything is going to turn out fine, Jen. Shh...honey. Don't
cry,
It's all gonna be okay." She said quietly, stroking her hair, as her
face was
pressed against Zacs' shoulder. Diana unlocked the doors and Zac got in
the
backseat with Jen and held her hand.
"You know it's gonna be okay. Your mom will be fine. And your dad will
be put
somewhere where he will never do this to anyone again. Everything will
turn
out. I promise."
They all rode to the hosptial in complete silence, with the exception
of
Jen's occasional sniffling. When they got there, Diana parked the car
in the
Emergency Room entryway and let Zac and Jen out. Immediately Jen
recognized
the smell of the hosptial. It scared her a little, thinking about all
the
times when she was little, coming in here to get stitches and casts for
broken bones. She remembered especially the fear she had felt. Now she
felt
it again, only this time it wasn't just a few stitches or a broken
bone, it
was a life. For her mothers life. She walked over to the counter.
"Can I help you miss?" The lady asked her. Jen noticed her sharp,
strict
granny glasses, and her hair was pulled back into a tight, professional
bun.
She looked over her glasses and raised an eyebrow as she waited for an
answer
from Jens tearstained face.
"My mom- she came in a little while ago. My dad...he hit her. I don't
know
what happened or where she is..."
"Jen?" Tylers voice echoed through the halls as he called her name. Jen
ran
over to him with Zac following close behind.
"What happened? Where is she? Is she okay? Where is dad?" A million
questions
raced through her mind as she tried to keep up with Tyler, who was
briskly
walking down a long hallway.
"Dad's in jail, where he belongs. And I am going to make SURE that the
bastard never sees you or mom again. Why didn't you tell me what he
did?"
Jens face fell. She felt so guilty looking at Tylers hurt face.
"I'm sorry." She whispered quietly. "I honestly never meant to hurt
you. It's
just that I was afraid that you would say something to dad, and then he
would
hit you too." She was sobbing by now, and Zac's arm slid around her
shoulder.
Tyler sighed and continued down the hall.
"I guess I can understand that, but still, you should have told me. I'm
always here for you." He stopped in front of a room, and Jen could hear
beeps
and whirs from inside.
"Mom is doing okay. She's probably asleep right now, because the
painkillers
were really knocking her out. Dad hit her in the face pretty hard, and
he
knocked her over into the counter. She sprained her ankle, and she has
a
pretty nasty gash on her forehead. She's gonna be a mass of walking
bruises
for the next few days. So be prepared when you see her." Jen nodded and
followed him into the room, and gasped at her mothers appearance. Her
beautiful face was a huge purple bruise, and there was a gash about the
length of her finger across the forehead, and the blood was seeping
through
the bandages. Her ankle was wrapped tightly, and she could see that her
toes
were also a dark shade of purple. Rage like she had never known welled
up
with in Jen, and she just clenched her teeth and whispered "That
bastard."
Her mother was sleeping softly, and when Zac suggested they go for a
walk,
Jen took him up on it.
"I can't understand how a guy as lucky as my dad is can be so evil. He
has
everything, a beautiful wife, 4 kids, a good job, a nice house, a nice
car.
Everything most other guys dream of having. Why is this happening? How
could
he do this?" Zac just held her as her sobs tore through her. He
couldn't come
up with any answer but "It's gonna be okay. Everything will be okay."
"Zac? Jen? Whats going on?" Dianas troubled face appeared at the end of
the
hallway.
"She's gonna be okay mom. She's just one big bruise for the time being.
The
pain killers knocked her out, so for right now, she's sleeping. Tyler
stayed
back there. Jen, you wanna go back?" Zac asked her softly. Jen nodded,
and
Diana followed the two back to the room. Tyler was holding their
mothers hand
and looked up when they came in.
"Mom? Jen's here with Zac and Diana."
"Jen?" Jen walked over and took her mothers other hand.
"Hi mom. How are you feeling?"
"Well, pretty terrible. Jen, I'm so sorry that I ever doubted you. You
were
right, he will never change. I guess it just had to happen to me. I'm
so glad
you have Zac and these other sensible people in your life who aren't
living
in a fantasy world like I was. I'm so sorry sweetie." Her face was now
wet
with tears, contrasting evidently with the purpleness of her face.
"Oh mom, it's okay. You were in denial because you didn't want to
believe it.
Neither did I. But it's true. It will never go away unless we take
legal
action. I don't want to live in fear anymore. Now we don't have to.
This is
the last straw. He can never have anything to do with this family ever
again." Jen said firmly.
"I know sweetie. Where's Savanna and Mandi?" Referring to her two
younger
sisters. Jen looked at Tyler, who shook his head.
"Mom, Savanna's out with Jared, and we can't seem to reach her. Mandi
is
staying over at Kristins, remember? I called her mom, and she said
she'd tell
her in the morning. She was already asleep, and I didn't want to wake
her. So
I'm gonna go get her in the morning." She nodded and yawned.
"Mom, do you want us to leave for awhile so you can sleep? We can go
out to
the lobby. We'll be okay." Jen offered.
"I suppose, if you want to." Her mother answered in between a few
yawns.
"Okay Sharon. We'll be back in a little while. Is there anyone you want
us to
call? Your parents? Any other friends or family?" Diana asked from
behind
Jen.
"Yes. My parents and my sister Shelby. And Roni's mom." She told Jen.
Diana
nodded and headed out the door. The others waved and followed her.
"I can call my grandparents and Roni." Jen offered.
"Okay, I'll call your aunt Shelby if you can find me the number." Diana
said,
heading toward the pay phones.
"Jen, do you want anything to eat?" Zac asked her sympathetically.
"Yeah, an orange juice would actually be really nice right now. Thanks
babe."
She began flipping through the pages of the phone book looking for her
aunts
phone number while Zac took orders from his mom and Tyler.
"Aha! I found it. Thanks so much for all this Diana." Jen said,
pointing to
the number for Lance and Shelby McNally.
"No problem sweetie. It's nothing." She smiled and picked up the phone.
Jen
walked over to the next payphone and dug in her pocket for some change.
Pulling out a quarter and a dime, she dropped it into the machine and
dialed
Roni's number by heart.
"Hello?" Roni answered.
"Hey, it's me."
"Okay, then why does it say on the Caller ID you're at the hospital?
What's
up?"
"We are at the hospital. Ya know how I told you that my dad hit me last
night?"
"Oh my lord. What happened? Are you okay?"
"Well, kinda. I'm fine. But my mom isn't. She was admitted earlier
tonight
because my dad beat her. She asked me to call you and tell you guys."
"Oh gawd. Is she okay?"
"Well, yeah. She's gonna be fine, just a big bruise for a few weeks.
And she
sprained her ankle, and she has a big gash on her forehead. But other
than
that, I guess she's okay."
"Oh my gosh. Where is your dad?"
"He's in jail at the moment, from what Tyler said. And thats where he's
gonna
stay if I have anything to do about it."
"Hang on, I'll go get my mom and tell her. She'll want to know."
"Okay." Jen waited while she heard Roni run upstairs and yell for her
mom.
She looked over at Diana, who was calmly explaining who she was to Jens
aunt.
"No, I'm Jens boyfriends mother. She was over at our house when Tyler
called
and told us what happened...."
"Jen?" A frantic voice came through the phone.
"Yeah. Hi Susan."
"How is your mom doing?"
"Well, she's okay for right now. She's sleeping, and she asked that we
call
you and let you know what happened."
"Oh my lord, I just can't believe this is happening. It's so crazy. I
never
knew your dad was like that..."
"It's okay Susan, mom was in denial too. She kept telling me he was
sorry
after he would beat me, but then it happened to her..." Jen stopped
short as
Zac handed her a bottle of orange juice. Thanks. She mouthed to Zac, he
nodded and smiled. She unscrewed the cap and took a long swig of juice.
"Okay, well me and Roni will be right over. Where are you guys, so we
know
where to meet you."
"Umm...we're in the lobby on the third floor." Jen was grateful to have
Roni
on her way.
"Okay, see you in a few minutes. Bye." Jen hung up the phone and took
another
sip of juice. She sat down with the phone book and began looking for
her
grandparents phone number.
"Hi, Grandma?" Jen asked as she heard a tired voice answer the phone.
"Yes, Jen? Why are you calling us this late? What's going on?" Her
grandmother sounded worried.
"Well, it's actually really important. Mom's in the hospital." Jen
heard a
gasp on the other end of the phone and continued, "She's okay and
everything,
but she has a laceration on her forhead and she sprained her ankle. Dad
beat
her earlier tonight." Jen heard another sharp gasp on the other end of
the
phone.
"Me and Grandpa will be right there." And she hung up with a click. Jen
put
the phone back in the reciever and walked over to sit by Zac.
"What did they say?" He asked gently.
"Well, they're all on their way. Grandma seemed really worried. OH NO!
I
fogot to tell Grandma where we were. I'll have to go down and wait for
them."
Jen got up, and Zac followed her. They went down to the front lobby and
sat in a loveseat and waited. Zac grabbed her hand and held on tight.
Suddenly, a blue sports car pulled up in front of the door.
"Zac?" Her voice trembled with fear seeing the car. She was cut off
when her dad got out of the car and ran into the lobby. Jen squeezed Zacs hand
tight and Zac scooted forward on the seat to shelter her.
"Jen. Where is your mother?" He asked fiercely.