Chapter 43
 

Making their way into the house, Justin walked with his arm protectively around Kerrigan as he guided her through the house.  They hadn’t gotten to far when they heard the loud clamoring of feet rushing in another room and then suddenly Kerrigan’s Mother and Father appeared.

Mrs. Wallace rushed over to her daughter’s side and immediately began looking her over.  When Kerrigan broke down and began sobbing, Mrs. Wallace began whispering words of comfort for only her daughter’s ears.

She then turned to Justin.  “Can I take her to your room since all of her stuff is gone?  She needs her rest and should be in bed.”

“Yeah, of course.” Justin nodded and then watched as Mrs. Wallace lead Kerrigan out of the room and up the stairs.

Once the girls were gone Justin turned to Mr. Wallace who still stood in the same spot.  The guys had told him how badly Kerrigan looked but it hadn’t really sunken in until he saw it with his own eyes.  He couldn’t believe that someone had done that to his baby girl.  That a man had violated her and beaten her the way he had.  Or that that man had been Cody.

He had thought a lot of Cody when he met him.  He seemed like such a nice young man and really appeared to genuinely care for his daughter.  But to see her in her current condition made Mr. Wallace want to run out and hunt the boy down like a wild animal.  No punishment was too strong as far as he was concerned.

“She looks horrible.” he uttered, glancing over to Justin and Trace.

“I know.” Justin replied, looking down a the floor.

“I can’t believe he did that to her.” Mr. Wallace added, his mind running away with him.

“Me either.  But trust me he’ll get his.” Justin promised.  And it was a promise he did intend to keep.

Mr. Wallace nodded his head, looking around the room for a brief moment before focusing back on the two young men standing before him.  “So what took you so long to get here?  When you called from the hospital you said you’d be here in like a half hour.”

“We had a few problems.” Justin said, then walked over to the sofa and sat down.  He didn’t really want to talk about it because he knew he’d get himself all upset again and right now he just wanted to focus on Kerrigan and not the anger he held inside.

“What kind of problems?” Mr. Wallace question when Justin didn’t elaborate.  He looked from Justin to Trace then back to Justin again, but Justin still said nothing.

Trace stepped forward.  “Maybe we should sit down and I’ll explain.  Justin’s, a lil’ shook up right now so he probably doesn’t want to talk about it.”

Mr. Wallace nodded and followed Trace over to the sofa.  Trace sat down at the other end of the sofa from Justin, while Mr. Wallace took a seat in the recliner.

“We had to stop and get gas on the way home from the hospital.  Kerrigan, asked J to go get her some ice cream and then Cody showed up and all hell broke loose.” Trace stated.  He couldn’t think of a better way to explain what had happened, so he just laid it out there the way it was.

“What do you mean Cody showed up?”

“He just showed up.  I don’t think he knew were going to be there, or that he was following us or anything like that he just happened to show up at the same place as us, unfortunately.” Trace shrugged.  “And well when he noticed J he must have realized Kerrigan was in the car and he was determined he was going to come over and talk to her.”

“He WHAT?” Mr. Wallace, questioned growing angry.  “He had the nerve to try to talk to her?”

“He tried.” Trace said.  “Justin, wouldn’t let him near the car.  Things got out of hand but Mike and Frank helped keep him restrained.  The people at the gas station called the cops and they showed up a few minutes later and arrested Cody.”

“Well, at least the bastard is behind bars.” Mr. Wallace surmised.

“Yeah.” Trace agreed, unsure of what else to say.

Mr. Wallace sat quietly for a moment and then spoke up again.  “How did Kerrigan react to seeing him?”

Trace looked down at his feet and sighed.  “She was upset.  Cody was trying to get to her and when he couldn’t he started yelling for her.  Telling her he loved her and he was sorry and he needed to talk to her.  She just got real upset but she didn’t say anything.  I was in the car with her the whole time.”

Mr. Wallace ran his hands over his face forcefully in frustration.  He was as lost as the boys were on what to do for his daughter and that was not how it should be in his eyes.  Kerrigan was his daughter and it was his job to protect her and look out for her.  It was his job as her Father to know how to make things better for her.  But he didn’t know, he had no clue whatsoever.

“Well, I’m just glad you two were there.  Thanks for looking out for her.” Mr. Wallace finally said.

“I’m not going to let him hurt her again, Mr. Wallace.” Justin spoke up.  “I’ll kill the bastard before he ever gets anywhere near her again.  I swear it.”

Mr. Wallace nodded.  He knew Justin meant every word, he could see the determination to keep Kerrigan safe in his eyes.  “I know you would, Justin.  I’m glad that Kerrigan has friends like you and Trace to look out for her.”

“We haven’t done a very good job so far though.” Trace muttered.

“Yeah, I mean look at her.  Maybe we’re not very good friends after all.” Justin agreed.

Both he and Trace had been blaming their selves for everything.  If only they had been more perceptive.  If only they would have followed their instincts.  There were so many “If Only’s” that they couldn’t keep count of them all.

“Now, I’m not gonna have any of that.” Mr. Wallace scolded them.  “I understand you two are upset.  I’m upset.  But you couldn’t have prevented this.  Kerrigan, is a stubborn girl and you both know that better than anyone.  If she didn’t come to you for help before and didn’t tell you about it you had no way of knowing.  So don’t blame yourselves for this.  It won’t change anything and it’ll just make you feel worse.  Right now we all need to concentrate on Kerrigan and helping her get through this.  The only person that should bear blame here is Cody.  He never should have put his hands on her like that.  He’s the one at fault.”

“I know but if…”

“Justin, stop it.  I told you, you’re not at fault.  Don’t beat yourself up.  You two were there when she needed you the most.  She called you and you rushed to her side.  If you hadn’t God only knows what would have happened.  Just be thankful that you were able to help then.  Don’t tear yourself down.  It won’t change a thing.”

“I know you’re right.” Justin agreed.  “But I can’t help but feeling like I could have done more.  I knew something wasn’t right with him.  I had a bad feeling about the jerk the whole time, but I just stood by and let it happen.”

“You couldn’t have know this was going to happen, Justin.  There’s no possible way you could have known.  So just leave those thoughts in the past.  Concentrate on the here and now and be the friend I know you are to my daughter.  Don’t worry about Cody.  Let the law deal with him.” Mr. Wallace stated.

“Well, the law better deal with him.” Trace muttered.  “Or else he’s gonna have a whole friggin’ pop group chasing his ass down.  Among other people.”

Mr. Wallace actually smiled at that statement.  It warmed his heart to know that the guys cared that much for his daughter.  It was statements like that, that reassured him as to why he trusted Kerrigan with the guys the way he did.  He knew they would never let anything happen to her if they could prevent it.  They were as protective of her as he was, if not more.

“Well, trust me I’ll be right along there with you if that happens to be the case.”

Trace smiled at Mr. Wallace.  “I know you would.”

“Are you going to be ok up here by yourself?” Mrs. Wallace asked as she finished tucking the sheets in around Kerrigan’s body.

She had escorted Kerrigan upstairs to Justin’s room and helped her change into a pair of boxer shorts and a t-shirt, after Kerrigan telling her she’d be more comfortable that way.

It was then that Mrs. Wallace got a good look at the damage Cody had done to her Daughter’s body.  She was black and blue everywhere and it broke her heart to see her Daughter like that.  But she said nothing about the bruises.  She didn’t want to upset Kerrigan anymore than she already was.

“I’ll be fine, Mom.  I just wanna sleep.” Kerrigan assured her.

“Ok, sweetie.  But if you need anything you just give out a holler.  There’s enough of us here I’m sure we’ll be able to get you whatever you want.”

Kerrigan gave her Mother the best smile she could muster and then sank deeper into the bed, looking for some kind of comfort.

Her body ached all over, but that pain was nothing compared to the pain she felt within her heart.  It literally felt as if someone had just ripped her heart out of her chest.  It felt so vacant.  It was simply indescribable in words.

“Ok, well I’m gonna go back downstairs.  Just holler if you need anything.” Mrs. Wallace said as she leaned in and kissed Kerrigan on her temple.

“I will.” Kerrigan replied softly.

Walking to the door, Mrs. Wallace stopped in the doorway and turned to get one last look at her Daughter.

Kerrigan was just laying in the bed, staring off into space.  Void of any real emotion on her face.  Mrs. Wallace was really concerned.  She’d never seen her Daughter like that in all her years.  She wasn’t sure what to say or do and that was the worst feeling in the world for her.

She just wanted to take Kerrigan inside herself and relieve her of all the pain and the memories that she was sure would forever haunt her.  But since that was impossible for her to do, she would do the only thing she could.

She would be there for her Daughter in whatever way she could.  She would listen if Kerrigan needed  her to listen.  She would cry with her if Kerrigan needed her to cry.  And she would keep praying that somehow Kerrigan would pull through this whole ordeal and be a stronger person because of it.

Taking one last look at her Daughter, Mrs. Wallace sighed and then closed the door behind her.