Family Comes First

Chapter 26: Don't Do Anything Silly

 Something cold brushed against my cheek and my eyes slowly opened. There was an intense pain that spread across my temple. I was glad that the room was dark because my eyes watered and ached.

Jimmy was sitting on the edge of the bed. He had on his jacket. He must have already been outside working. Jimmy drugged me with enough of the medication so that I did not wake up to his alarm.

"Good morning, beautiful," he said.

I opened my mouth to speak, but it was so dry that I could not talk. I shifted my weight on the bed and I realized that my arms were stuck. I looked up to see that my arms were tied to the bed frame with rope. I gave my wrists a tug with all of the energy I could gather, but my hands went nowhere. My back was propped up with pillows.

Jimmy reached out and his cold fingers covered my hands.

"You'll only hurt yourself more," he said. "Are you thirsty?"

I nodded. I winced as the pain increased in my head.

Jimmy picked a glass of water up from the nightstand and brought it over to my lips. I struggled to drink from it. Some of the water ran onto my cheek and chin. I ignored it and greedily drank from it to relieve my parched mouth.

Once I was finished, he set the glass on the table. He gave me a soft smile and ran his fingers through my tangled mess of hair.

"You really scared me last night," he said.

I was fighting with my eyes to keep them open. It was like I was close to slipping into unconsciousness.

"I love you, Julie," he said. "Don't tell me that you are going to take yourself away from me like that again. So many girls have done that in this family before, and it leaves the men alone. I never want to lose you, so I have to make sure that you are not going to do anything silly while I'm outside."

I wanted to shake my head no. I want to scream and cry. I wanted to fight against the restraints. There was no strength in my body to do any of that. I could not even keep my eyes open as I began to fall asleep.

"Be a good girl and rest up," he said.

His lips pressed against my forehead was the last thing that I remembered before I fell back asleep.

When I woke up again, the pain in my shoulders became unbearable. The rest of my muscles ached, but it was nothing compared to my shoulders.

I looked up to see that my hands were still tied to the bed. I pulled on my wrists. The rope burned into my flesh and I yelped out in pain.

There was no point in fighting against the restraints. It would be a miracle if I managed to break free. Even if I did, I doubt that I would have the strength to get out of bed and walk. The doors were all locked anyways, so I would not be able to go far. Jimmy would find me crumpled on the floor somewhere and would be punished for trying to escape.

I stopped struggling and settled myself on the bed. I had to wiggle my weight around until I could find a comfy spot for my shoulders.

I looked over at Jimmy's clock. It was just past noon, and I groaned. They usually came in when it turned dark outside. I would be tied to this bed for another five or six hours.

The day was painstakingly long. I slept for a few more hours to try and pass the time. Every time I woke up I felt a little better. The pain in my head dulled to a manageable headache, and the only major pain was in my shoulders.

While I was awake, I could not stop thinking about Jimmy. My mind kept wanting to go back to the meat that I was eating, but I knew I had to avoid thinking about that. Any time I did, I could feel myself getting nauseous. I did not want to start vomiting and had to lie in it until Jimmy came inside.