Author's Note: This is the first book I have finished. I can't thank all of you enough for reading and voting and commenting. Your support is the reason this book is finished. I'm going to edit it and try to fix it up. I hope you all enjoyed reading. I can't thank you all enough! :D

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A bright light burned my eyes. I opened my mouth and took a raspy breath. A vile taste filled my mouth. Each breath I took was tiring and felt as if a strip of fire was running down my chest.

"Miss. Miller?"

I turned my head and a pain rushed to the side of temple. A woman was sitting in a chair next to me. She was leaning forward with her elbows on her knees. Her dark hair was twisted into a bun. I noticed the word "Police" was written across her vest.

"How are you feeling?" she asked me.

I couldn't collect enough breath to answer. She noticed this.

"My name is Andrea," she told me. "Do you remember what happened to you?"

Tommy was on top of me. He was stabbing me. Picturing the knife made my leg and chest scream out in pain.

"We got an anonymous call," Andrea told me.

Anonymous call? Jimmy had come home early. There was that loud noise and then Tommy was on the ground. Jimmy must have shot them. They had a gun? How come I've never seen it?

"He said that you were in that house and severely injured," she explain. "The paramedics found you and another girl and a baby."

Hunter!

I opened my mouth to speak and my chest burned so much it made my eyes water. Andrea's eyes widened when she saw me struggling.

"Don't worry about them," she said. "Carolyn and Hunter are okay."

Carolyn? That must be Carrie. I never thought that her name could have been short for something.

"She told us Hunter is your baby. Is that true? We couldn't find a birth certificate," Andrea said.

"Yes," I croaked out.

"We also found out that you have been reported as a missing person. Is this true?"

Someone must have noticed I was gone. Probably Donovan since I never came back into work. Or maybe Lina got scared when I didn't come home that night.

I couldn't tell them about Jimmy. They'd hunt them down and arrest him. I couldn't let Jimmy spend the rest of his life behind bars because of me.

"No," I said.

"Okay," Andrea said giving me a smile. "I'm going to let you rest up. A detective will be talking to you soon. Let me go tell the nurse you're awake."

Andrea got up out of her chair and left the room. I looked around the room to realize I was in a hospital. The sun was pouring through the thin white drapes. The pale walls were bare and a faint beeping was beside me. I looked down at my chest to see a collection of wires running past my collar. An IV was suck in my hand and an oxygen tube was hooked over my ears.

I had to talk to a detective? Carrie must have told them about Charles kidnapping us. She probably told them all about the horrific things that Tommy had done to her. Thankfully, she knew nothing about the killings or the meat. I refused to tell them anything.

The nurse came into the room. He was short and had on a pair of dark blue scrubs. He held out the clipboard out in front of him and had a pen tucked in behind his ear. His dark skin and hair told me he was some form of Asian descent.

"Juliet Miller," he said, "you've gone through quite a lot. Dr. Peters wanted me to explain what happened to you. Do you remember much?"

"Yea," I said as he sat down in the chair Andrea was in.

"You were stabbed in the leg. There was minor tendon and muscle damage and after so physical therapy you'll be good as new. Your lungs are what we're concerned about."

Subconsciously, my hand went up to my chest.

"They were nicked by the knife," the nurse said, "but we were able to patch them up. Your chest will just feel really tight and breathing will be a bit of a struggle for a few weeks. We'll have you on strict bed rest until they heal a bit."

I squeezed my eyes shut. I was stuck in this bed for a few weeks. I wouldn't be able to see Hunter or Jimmy. Our family had been torn apart and all because of Tommy.

"Trust me, bed rest won't be that bad," the nurse said as he noticed my disappointment. "The girl you were with told the police everything that happened to her. It was released to the media and now you two are all over the news."

All over the news? I knew they'd be looking everywhere for Jimmy and Tommy. They probably tore apart the house and found Tommy's disturbing souvenirs. They'll assume they've killed people.

"My name is Kenny," the nurse told me. "Feel free to talk to me when you need to. It will be crazy and overwhelming with the media."

I felt the tears roll down my cheek. I was never going to be able to see Jimmy again. Everyone knows what I look like and they'll be watching my every move. I couldn't put Jimmy in that kind of danger.

"Your emergency contact is a Carolina Davies," Kenny said. "We've told her what has happened and she should be here soon."

Lina.

I remembered her telling me about Charles. I didn't know that when I sat down to talk to him that I discovered my true family. And once again, I'm lying in a hospital bed and somebody's telling me my family is gone.

"Would you like something to drink?" Kenny offered. "Maybe some water."

"Yeah." My dry throat was burning.

"No problem. I'll see if I can get your son in your room. I think you should be with him."

"Doctor, where is she?" I heard a woman call out.

A familiar face pushed her way into the doorframe. Her hair was a mess and she was wearing sweats, but I could recognize it was Lina. She ran to the side of my bed and got down onto her knees. Her cold fingers wrapped around my wrist.

"Oh my God, Julie," Lina said. "These last two years have been hell. You have no idea how much I worried about you."

She reached up to my face and wiped the tears off of my face. Her eyes began to water.

"You're safe now," she said. Her voice cracked and she reached up to stroke my hair.

I wanted to scream out in frustration. I didn't want to be here. I wanted to be in that house. It was the happiest I have ever been. All I had to worry about was cooking, cleaning and keeping Jimmy happy.

"You don't need to worry about those psychos anymore, Julie." Lina started crying even harder.

She was never going to understand. No one was ever going to understand how much I love Jimmy. estIn}|7'