Chapter 11
Justin ran as fast as he could out of the hotel and into the alley. He looked up and down it but there was no sign of her. He turned and ran hoping he would find her but knew the odds were very slim that she was still even there.
Relief flooded him when he saw her. She was laying only a few feet away from him in her bra and shorts. She had blood all over her and he could see that her hands were tied tightly together. She didn’t move or even blink when her approached her. His stomach did a flip flop. Was she dead?
He ran to her side and put his fingers to her neck. She still had a pulse. She was alive, but barely. Her lips had turned a strange shade of purple, her face was pale, and her skin had a blue tint to it from the cold.
“Brianna? Hey Brianna? Can you hear me?” he asked through the tears flooding his eyes. The knot in his throat was making it hard for him to breath. She blinked very slowly and her eyes looked to him.
“Oh thank God. You’re… You’re alright now Brianna. I promise, everything will be ok hunny…” he told her, more to calm himself than her. She shivered suddenly and looked away.
“Ok… Ok… I-I’m…” He swallowed hard and tried to choke the words out.
“I’m going to get you help ok? You just gotta stay awake for me ok?” He looked around and grabbed his hoody that was thrown next to her. He covered her up as much as he could and slowly picked her up. She didn’t respond in any way. Her head rolled to the side with her face tucked next to his bicep. The right side of her face was up so he could see where some of the blood was coming from. His thoughts flooded back to her fall in the bedroom. He had done that. He watched as a drop of blood fell into her eyes. It teared up and she blinked it away. She turned her head the other way to keep the blood from her eyes. He took a deep breath and looked away.
The hotel finally came into view but he couldn’t run with her in his arms. He got to the door but he needed his key to get in. He couldn’t put her down to get the key out of is back pocket. He searched the hallway and couldn’t help the sense of dread that came over him when he realized that security should be guarding this door. A little girl about five years old emerged from her room a few doors down and spotted the two. She ran down and opened the door.
“Is she ok?”
“Yes. Thank you for opening the door.”
“Do you need help?” Justin kept rushing down the hall, the little girl at his feet.
“No thank you.” He got on the elevator. “Thanks again.” It seemed to take forever to get to their floor. He looked her over and felt the anger rise in him. His teeth clenched tightly. The elevator dinged and he stepped through it. The uneasy feeling returned when he saw there was also no security by the elevator. He started off towards his room.
“Justin Timberlake! Where the hell have you been!” Rob screamed. His mouth dropped when he rushed past him.
“Get Johnny and Tim.” Rob nodded and jogged down the hallway. He ran to Jc and Melinda’s door and kicked it.
“Melinda! Jc! Get up now!” He saw Brianna wince from his screams. “Oh sorry hunny…
Jc slowly opened the door. “Justin do you know how much trouble… Oh my God…”
Melinda showed up next to him. “What happened?”
“I need your help. Mel, get my key out of my back pocket and open the door. She did as she was told.
“Jc, get lots of towels.” He nodded and went back into his room.
Justin kicked the bathroom door open and placed Brianna gently in the tub. He pulled the bloody hoody off and threw it aside. Melinda gasped when she saw the blood all over her and Justin. She backed away from them, her hand covering her mouth.
“Melinda, I need your help. Don’t freak out on me!”
“But Justin… I-“
“Please Mel, I need you,” he begged. She nodded slowly.
“Wet some towels…” he said softly. He examined the wire and her hands but it was impossible to get it off. Jc slammed on the door and Melinda answered it. He threw the towels on the counter and went over to Justin.
“Oh my God…” he breathed.
“Find a knife or a pair of scissors Jc.” He didn’t move. “NOW!” He nodded and backed slowly away from the bathroom. Melinda handed him a few towels and started to clean the blood out of her hair and find where the cut was. Brianna groaned and tried to push their hands away.
“Calm down Bri. We’re just trying to help you…” Justin whispered. “Stay awake for me. Hey Bri? Open your eyes. You need to stay awake for me ok?” Her eyes fluttered open but she didn’t respond.
Justin got to work on her stomach, trying to clear off as much blood as he could. His teeth clenched when he saw the bruises scattered across her tanned stomach. He took another towel and wrapped it around it to try and stop the blood. He moved around Melinda to take a closer look at her head.
“Try and get her wrists untied.” She nodded and carefully picked her hands up. Brianna scratched at the wire but only succeeded in making it bleed more. Melinda felt like she was going to puke as she tried to untie the wire cutting deep into her friend’s wrists.
“Justin, I-I can’t!” Brianna squirmed and continued to try and get her hands free. Melinda held her fingers lightly so she couldn’t do any more damage to herself. She looked to Justin who now had most of her face cleaned and had covered the big cut up with the gauze she had been using on her head from her first cut. They heard Rob open the door.
“Clean off what you can, I’ll go get some clothes.” He left the bathroom and closed the door behind him.
“Where is she?” Johnny asked as he rushed in.
“Mel’s helping her change. Did you call an ambulance?” Justin questioned as he rifled through his bag.
“Got it covered. Tim’s calling his friend right now. He’s a doctor and only lives a few minutes away. Hospitals will be too busy tonight.”
Justin went into the bathroom and gave her a button down shirt and a pair of sweatpants. “Try and get her dressed…” He left and paced back in forth in front of the door.
“Is that blood yours?” Rob asked.
“No… It’s hers…” he said absently. His eyes floated to his hand and he remembered the incident with the wall. “Well, most of it.”
“What happened?”
Justin ignored the question and banged on the bathroom door, leaving a big bloody stain on it. “Mel! What’s going on?!”
Melinda trembled when she slowly took her jean shorts off. They weren’t even zipped up, just hanging loosely on her waist. Realization hit her and she knew that he didn’t just beat her up. She took a deep breath to try and calm her nerves before she wrapped a clean towel around her waist and called to Justin.
“I need your help!” He went in and looked everything over. Her wet and bloody clothes were in the corner along with the towels. Brianna was still in the tub but only in the shirt.
“I can’t get her to stand up, it’s like she can’t hear me or something… Why is she so wet?” She yelled in frustration. Justin kneeled next to her. Her eyes were closed again.
“Brianna? Brianna can you hear me? Open your eyes hunny, you have to stay awake on us!” She didn’t respond. “Brianna!” Her eyes slowly opened half way. He sighed in relief and lifted her up. She tried to push him away but she was too weak to affect him. Melinda slipped the pants on and let the towel drop. He laid her down on the outside of the tub.
“Hand me that shower head so I can clean the blood out of her hair,” he ordered. Melinda gave it to him and wrapped a towel around her shoulders. He ran the warm water through her damp hair, ridding it of the dry blood. After squeezing it out and towel drying it, Justin carefully picked her up and carried her into the room to put her on the bed, Melinda following with some clean towels.
They were immediately rushed by everyone. Justin lifted her shirt up a little and held a new towel to it while Melinda held one to her head. Jc knocked on the door feverishly. Rob opened it and he ran over to them with a pocket knife. Justin took it from him. He carefully cut the wire away from her hands. It was thick and took a while before it broke away. The wire had cut through her wrists and she winced when he pulled it away from her skin. She didn’t move her hands after they were freed; they just fell to her stomach, the dried blood mixing with the fresh blood on her stomach. Melinda gagged and gave the towel to Jc before she ran to the bathroom. Justin felt a little nauseous himself but he pushed it away. He carefully wiped away the blood then wrapped more gauze around it to keep the blood from getting over herself again.
She was shivering from the cold. Her lips were returning to their normal color but her skin was still freezing. Rob covered her with a blanket as much as he could without it getting in the way. The bleeding had started to slow down but hadn’t stopped completely.
“Everyone back up!” Tim made his way through with an older man behind him.
“Excuse me young man,” he pushed Justin aside and pulled out his bag to get his stuff ready. “Oh my…”
“This is Dr. Bellows,” Tim explained. “He’s my friend from college. He was just on his way home from the hospital and was nice enough to stop here first.”
The doctor smiled. “I see you took pretty good care of her. No need for a trip to the hospital from what I see so far, it’s way to busy in the emergency room tonight anyway.” He examined Brianna over and pulled the towel off her stomach.
“Wow. Someone want to tell me what happened?” Everyone looked at Justin. He was holding his bleeding his hand to his chest.
“Justin, what happened to your hand?!”
“And why are you so wet?”
“Why was Brianna all wet?”
“What the hell happened?!” He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. He looked at his hand one more time before he grabbed his bag and went into the bathroom.
“I’m guessing he doesn’t want to say just yet…” the doctor mumbled as he continued on with his work. Justin emerged in fresh clothes and white bandages around his hand just as the doctor was pouring a clear liquid onto a towel. Justin pulled a chair up opposite to him. He had already bandaged around her wrists.
“Brianna? Can you hear me?” She looked in his direction. “Ok, this is going to sting a little.” He looked to Rob and nodded to her legs. Rob understood and sat at the foot of the bed. Justin moved closer and helped hold her steady. The doctor touched the cloth to her stomach gently. Her whole body tensed and her eyes squeezed shut in pain then they widened. She cried out softly and tired to push his hands away but Jc grabbed her arms. It took all four men to keep her down.
“Stop!” She shouted, it was the first time she spoke since Justin found her.
“Shhh…” Dr. Bellows whispered. “Only a little longer…”
She tried to pull her arms and legs free and kept shaking her head. Justin held on tightly. “Stop! Please don’t do this… I promise I’ll sit still! Please…” She looked at Justin. “Please…”
He bit his lip. “She hates being held down.”
“Only a little longer,” Dr. Bellows responded, wiping more blood away and pouring more of the liquid on a clean part of the towel.
Brianna glared at Justin. “Let me go! I’m not letting you do this to me again!” She screamed. Everyone was a little taken aback but the doctor seemed like he didn’t notice. Her expression quickly changed from anger to pleading. “Please… Just leave me alone Alex…”
“Alex?”
Brianna squeezed her eyes shut again. Although they were holding her down, they could still feel her whole body shaking beneath them. When she opened her eyes, Justin thought he saw some potential tears. Dr. Bellows quickly bandaged her stomach up.
“Let her go,” he ordered, pulling his hand away.
The second their hands left her, she curled up into a ball on her side. She was still shaking uncontrollably and Justin even heard her sniffle. Her back was to the doctor but the cut on her head was facing up so he could work on it. He touched her cheek gently. “She’s burning up…” he mumbled to himself.
“She had stitches?” he asked suddenly.
“Yes,” Justin answered.
“How?”
“She fell.”
“She cut it open again. I have to cut those stitches before I can work on it. Who does she trust the most here?” All eyes again went to Justin.
“I guess that’s me.”
Dr. Bellows turned his attention back to Brianna. “Brianna? I know you’re hurting but I need your help. We’re going to sit you up ok?” She nodded. He and Justin helped her into a sitting position.
“Sit behind her,” the doctor instructed. Justin did as he was told. “Just wrap your arms around her ok? Try to keep her from moving and keep her warm while you’re at it, this may take awhile.”
Brianna was still shaking. She struggled against him and tried to get free but he held her arms tightly. He put his head on her shoulder so he could whisper in her ear.
“Brianna? Can you hear me?”
“Stop…”
“I can’t. Please just calm down ok?”
“No! Let me go!” She shook her head away from the doctor. Justin held both of her arms with one of his and used the other to hold her jaw to keep her head steady. She screamed and started kicked her legs. “Justin! Help!”
“Shhh…” he whispered. “I’m right here.”
“No!” Her voice lowered, “No… He’ll be here… He’ll save me… You-you just wait…” she said unsurely. Justin paused for a second and the rest of the room was shockingly quiet.
“Brianna, I’m right here… You’re ok now, I promise.”
“No…” she whispered. “Don’t...” He could hear her voice break. She slowed down a little and shook her head a few more times. “He’ll come…” her head fell back onto his shoulder in defeat. She pushed his hands away one last time but then gave up and let him hold her. He rubbed her arms to keep them warm as the doctor started back on her head again once she had calmed down. She winced when he cut the stitches but stayed amazingly still the rest of the time. It only took him a little more than ten minutes because the best he could do was butterfly stitch it with what he had brought with him.
“All done,” Dr. Bellows announced. Brianna made no attempt to move.
“Is she asleep?” Justin mouthed. Melinda moved closer to check. She was staring blankly into space but was defiantly not asleep.
“Hey Brianna?” Justin called. She didn’t answer. “Brianna?”
“Yes?” she asked, her voice barely audible even in the silent room.
“Everything is done now. I’m going to lay you down.”
“Bye Brianna,” Dr. Bellows said.
“Thank you…” she whispered.
He smiled and went into the hall followed by Johnny, Tim, and Rob.
Justin moved from behind her and laid her down. Melinda covered her with a blanket. He started to leave to go into the hall to see what was going on but she held on to his arm.
“Don’t go.”
“Brianna, I have to see what’s going on.”
She tried to sit up but got dizzy and fell back.
“Are you ok?”
“Fine. I’m fine,” she answered quickly.
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. Absutively, posilutely.” She laughed uneasily.
Justin stared at her strangely. “Uh… ok…. I’m going to go out in the hall ok?” She squeezed his arm tightly. “No!”
He jumped. Jc and Melinda exchanged glances.
He kneeled down beside the bed. “Brianna? What’s wrong?”
“Justin?” Tim called. “Can we see you out in the hall please?”
“Yeah, one-“
“No!” Brianna screamed. Tim raised his eyebrows at the two. “I’ll give you a few minutes.” Brianna grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer. “Don’t leave me alone…”
“You’re not alone. Melinda and Jc are right here.” He looked at them and they moved closer to the bed. “I’ll just be gone a few minutes.
Her breathing quickened and she looked almost scared to death that he was going to leave her.
She grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer. “Please… Please don’t leave me…” she begged. He opened his mouth to object but stopped. Her eyes watered up. She blinked slowly. A single ear broke from her eye and fell over. He watched its path down her cheek in amazement. He looked into her eyes and brushed the tear away with his thumb.
“Alright, I’ll stay.” She smiled meekly. He stood up and she tightened her hold on him.
“Jc, can you go find out what’s up? Tell them what’s uh… going on…” He nodded and left the room, Melinda following behind him. Justin moved to get a chair but she pulled him back. He laughed a little and reached for it again. He dragged it over without having to make her let go. He sat down next to her and held her hand, caressing it with his thumb. She sniffled and winced in pain as she tried to turn on her side so she could face him. She swallowed hard and tried to push the pain away.
“Do you want me to get you some aspirin or something?”
“No.”
“Are you sure? You like you’re-“
“I’m fine.”
He watched her eyes flutter close and listened closely as her breathing slowed a little. Jc came back in with Dr. Bellows.
“Justin?” He asked. He moved to get up but Brianna’s eyes opened and she squeezed his hand.
“Bri, I’m only going to talk to the doctor. You gotta let go.” She looked between him and the doctor but finally let his hand slip out. “I’ll be right over here.” She watched him closely as he walked across the room.
“What’s wrong with her?” Justin asked.
“I’m not a therapist but I’m gonna guess that it’s post traumatic stress disorder. It’s like she’s here, but it’s not her. People get it after they experience something horrible and this is the only way she could deal with it. Just let her do what she has to do.” Justin looked back at her. “She’s going to stop at the hospital tomorrow and I recommend the police. This is an obvious case of abuse, whether you want to tell us or not, she needs to let the proper authorities know what went on.”
Justin nodded. “Will do doctor. Thanks a lot.” They shook hands. Dr. Bellows handed him a bottle of pills.
“Make sure she takes two of these every four hours. It’ll take away some of the pain, at least until I can fix her up a little better tomorrow.”
“Ok, thanks again.”
The doctor nodded and left the room to go talk to Tim and Johnny in the hall. Justin went back to Brianna.
“I’ll be right back,” Jc told Justin before he walked out into the hall.
“How ya doin’ kid?” She didn’t answer, just reached for his hand. He smiled and sat down. He took two pills from the bottle and handed them to her along with the water Jc and put on the side of the bed.
“I don’t want them.”
He looked at her strangely. “Why not? They’re going to make you feel better.”
She handed them back to him. “I feel fine.”
He sighed deeply. “You need to take them.”
“No, I don’t. You can’t make me.”
“I know I can’t make you, but will you do it? For me? Please?”
She bit her lip, debating it in her head but she finally reached out to take them. She swallowed them quickly and opened her mouth to show she swallowed them.
“Thank you,” he said as he covered her up with more blankets. “Goodnight Brianna.”
“Night Justin…” she mumbled.
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