* J *

Part Six: Chapter 31: Ends

Jeannie's POV

I could hear Jack come in at dawn. I heard him go into the bathroom and cut on the shower. After about twenty minutes I could feel his side of the bed dip down when he slid under the covers. Normally he spoons me with his arm across me. But he doesn't. He lays with his back to me. I wait until his breathing is deep and even to move. I gently and quietly get up and get dressed, careful not to wake up Jack. He was a very light sleeper. I quietly take his keys and quietly walk out the door.

It was a chilly morning. I get in the car and lower the sunvisor to try to block out the bright morning rays of sunlight that do little to warm me. I'm afraid Jack will wake up when the car cranks, but that's just a risk I'm gonna have to take today. So I crank the engine and waste no time backing out of the driveway. A few of Jack's clowns see me but don't think anything about it since Jack hasn't ordered them to stop me or anything.

I listen to the radio as I drive. The morning news was reporting on a string of murders of Falcone's men. They mention it being believed to be the work of the Red Hood. They mention a lot of murders involving mafia affiliates, over two hundred total in the last four months. I know my husband probably personally killed at least a quarter of them himself. Only a monster could do such. I try not to think about it as I was getting into morning rush hour traffic just before I reached downtown.

When I reached my destination I double checked the address. It was the right place but there was no sign to indicate what the place was. But when I worked up the nerve to get out of the car and go in, I knew I was at the correct place. I walk up to a sliding glass window.

A woman slides it open and gives me a smile. "Is this your first time here?" She asks me. I just nod. She quickly starts pulling out pages, forms for me to fill out. "Full these out, bring them back to me and we'll get you in the system."

I take the pages, which she puts on a clipboard for me with a pen at the top. I sit down with them and start filling them out. I can't help but look around at the other people sitting around. Not one single person looked happy. They all looked as if this was the last place they cared to be. I must say, a huge part of me felt the same way. But then, I suppose nobody is here under the best of circumstances.

I take the filled out paperwork, all fake information, and take it back up to the sliding glass window. I look up at a TV on the wall. It's talking about the advantages of planned parenthood. A topic that is a bit sensitive in nature to my current situation. I watch as names are called. I see the people go in and out as I wait for my own name to be called. It's a fairly long wait. I keep catching myself looking outside to see if one of Jack's men has tracked down the car.

Eventually someone walks out of a door and calls my fake name. I nervously stand and walk through the door she is holding open. She takes me to a small room. She hands me this thing that looks like a huge paper towel.

"Take off everything from the waist down and cover up with this, the doctor will be in in just a moment."

So I slowly undress from the waist down. I sit down and wait. I notice pictures of kittens on the ceiling above me. I can feel myself quivering with nervousness. My eyes go over a tray of medical devices laid out, ready to be used. I had no idea what to expect and I was really scared. I've never even known anyone I could ask about this sort of thing.

Minutes later the doctor walks into the room with a nurse as he reads my chart. "You're at nine weeks, is that correct?" He asks and never once looks at my face, he just continues to scan my paperwork.

"Yes," I say softly.

"Ok just lay back. Put your feet in the stirrups and scoot down all the way to the edge for me," he says and starts picking up things on the tray.