Second Chances

Tender stitches

Alanna learned the gruesome details of the child's murder after receiving the child's corpse. She was only 5 years old. The corpse was not complete. She was missing part of a leg and a hand. Due to the violence that her dad used to rip her apart.

The little girl's dad beat her to the point of breaking both clavicles. He pulled most of her hair off by dragging her. He r***d her multiple times, virginal and anal. Then he cut off her extremities with a chainsaw while she was still alive. The poor child slowly bled to death. A closed casket funeral was required, due to the state of the little girl's body.

Alanna couldn't begin to imagine what possessed the father to do such an atrocious thing. She felt horrible that the siblings and family wouldn't experience the closure of seeing the little girl one last time before saying their final goodbyes. Alanna decided to see for herself if there was really no other way. She opened the casket. She glimpses at the pieces of the lifeless child and it was enough to turn her stomach. She turned her face away just in time to avoid throwing up on what was left of the little girl. It was horrific, but Alanna forces herself to take a second look at the child's body. The little girl's extremities were mangled badly but her sweet face only had some bruises and a little cut on the lips, nothing that a little makeup wouldn't fix. Alanna thought that there was hope for an open casket funeral. She called the little girl's aunt and asked for permission to temper with the corps. She explained that she was going to do whatever it took to give them an open casket funeral. The aunt granted permission.

Alanna asked Carol to call the makeup artist and explain the situation. She cleaned up the mess she made and headed out to the store. When Alanna got back, the makeup artist was already there. She had just seen the little girl's body. The makeup artist asked Alanna, "What are you planning to do? She is in very bad shape." Alanna lifted the bags in her hands and exclaimed, "We are making a doll." Carol and the makeup artist looked at her confused. Alanna explained that they were going to build the missing part with cloth and fill it up with poly-fil just like a doll. She took out of the bag a lace, beautiful christening white long-sleeves, long dress. Carol gasped, "That is beautiful." "She is going to look like an angel", exclaimed the makeup artist, caressing the delicate dress.

The three of them work together, making a bodysuit that holds the little girl's body together. They stuff the gaps to make her body look whole again. Then they dressed her up in a beautiful dress. They decided to place the little girl's hand on her side to cover up the fact that one of her hands was a cloth glove. They stood back and admired how beautiful she looked. Then the makeup artist worked on covering her bruises.

Carol walked in with a framed picture of the little girl that had just been delivered for the funeral. They compared the picture to the lifeless child and noticed that the lack of hair was very noticeable. The little girl's hair texture was similar to Alanna's hair. The ladies decided to dye Alanna's hair lighter to match the little girl's color. Then they cut Alanna's hair and made a wig for the little girl.

They worked fast. It was going to take a few hours for the makeup artist to put together the wig, so Carol rushed to the pharmacy next door and picked up a semi-permanent hair dye. They dye Alanna's hair in her office. After thirty minutes, Alanna washed her hair in the sink of her bathroom. When she heard a knock on the emergency back door of her office. She wondered who it could be because Homeless Bob was the only one who knocked at her door and he had picked up his food already. Alanna asked, "Who is it?" A broken voice answered, "Jack".

Alanna opens the door to find a uniformed, swollen eye, broken-down Jack. She took him in her arms and helped him inside. She helped him sit on the sofa and stood in front of him, holding him against her chest. He wrapped his arm around her and laid his head on her breast. They embrace quietly. Carol and the makeup artist walk into the office not knowing Jack was there. Alanna kisses his head and stepping away she whispers to him, "let me take care of this and I'm all yours". She sat on one of the chairs in front of her desk. Carol divided Alanna's hair into small ponytails and the makeup artist cut them off. Jack looked at them confused. That is when he realized that Alanna had changed her hair color. Carol looked at Jack and, holding the cut-out ponytail, explained, "We are making a wig". Jacked looked more confused. The ladies left and Alanna told them, "see you tomorrow. I'll lock up Carol."

Alanna focuses her attention back on Jack. She asked him, "did you eat something?" He lowered his face and shook it from side to side slowly. Alanna took her purse and grabbed his hand. "Come on, I'm taking you home with me." Jack moved as she guided him. Alanna took him to her car and drove home. His phone did not stop ringing. "Are you going to answer?" she asked, pointing at his phone in his pocket. Jack shuck his head. Alanna holds his hand on the way home.

Alanna took him inside her house. She took his belt and gun off, placed it on a chair, then unbuttoned his shirt and took it off. She placed it on the chair. The shirt had dry blood on it. She sat him on the couch, pulled his feet up and removed his shoes. She stood in front of him and embraced him. He held on to her waist tightly and pressed his head on her stomach. He began subbing. Alanna stroked his hair gently as tears ran down her eyes. They held each other for a while. Then Alanna held Jack's face up. She cleaned his tears and kissed him on his head. He looked at her and cleaned her tears. Alanna whispered, "You need to eat." She moved away, holding his hand until it dropped. Alanna had lived a traumatic event before and remembers not eating in days. She ended up in the hospital for dehydration. She didn't want that to happen to Jack, so she was determined to have him eat something.

Alanna went into the kitchen and prepared some quick shrimp pasta. She served him a plate and gave it to him. Jack said thank you, but he just sat and stared at the food. Alanna took the plate away from him. She sat at the coffee table in front of him with the plate in her hand. She smiled and said, "I know you like this, and I need you to eat." She spooned to feed him some food. He ate a little bit but couldn't finish the whole plate. Alanna then places the plate on the side table and hugs him. She whispered into his ear, "thank you for eating. I know that you have been through a traumatic experience, but I don't want you to get sick." Jack moved his hands up her back and held her tight.

After holding Jack for a while, Alanna took his hand and took him up the stairs. He followed her to her room where he stood motionless as she took his clothing off. She took her clothes off and stayed in her undergarments. She then took him to her bathroom and helped him shower. Tears poured out of his eyes while she scrubbed his back. Once she noticed that he was crying, she hugged him. He presses his naked body against her. Alanna felt him getting aroused. He kissed her neck. Then he whispered, "I'm sorry." He bolted out of the shower and grabbed a towel. Alanna rushed after him and hugged him from behind. He grabbed her hands and kissed them. Alanna took him to her bed in the middle of the room and asked him to rest. She gave him a sleeping pill and a cup of water. She helped him get into bed, covered him with a blanket and laid next to him, hugging him. After he finally went to sleep, she took his clothes to a twenty-four-hour dry cleaner and purchased him underwear, undershirts, and sleeping pants.

She returned home to dress him with the underwear and pants. She took a shower and laid next to him. Jack woke up at dawn. He watched Alanna sleep for a little bit. He tenderly fixes her hair behind her ear and covers her up with a blanket. He wonders around the house and finds a door that leads to the basement. He walks in and discovers that Alanna has her own gym, in her basement. "That's how she stays so fit", he talks to himself. He is feeling more himself but he still can't erase the image of the little girl from his head. He decides to work out. He takes his pants off and uses the equipment quietly to avoid waking Alanna up.

Alanna wakes up startled by her phone loudly ringing. With everything that happened, she forgot to turn the volume off. Carol was calling her. Alanna answers a little sleepy, "Good morning. Is everything okay?" Carol asked her about Jack. She said that everybody was looking for him and she remembers seeing him at her office. Alanna looked at the empty pillow next to her. Jack wasn't next to her anymore as she told Carol that she was going to see if she found him.

Alanna scanned her room looking for Jack. Then she heard a distant noise. She went looking for the noise and found jack in her gym exercising. " You found my gym?", Alanna exclaimed, relieved. Jack was startled by her voice. He walked to her smiling. "You have a nice setting here", he said as he hugged her, and whispered, "thank you" into her ear. She smiled and said, "it has been my pleasure, but here you need to tell people that you are alive". She scolded him, handing him his phone. He sat on the weight bench holding the phone between his legs. He lifted his head with tears in his eyes, and told Alanna, "I'm not ready." Alanna grabbed his phone, caresses his face and told him, "It is OK." Tell me what to write and to whom. I'll text them for you." Jack told her to text his mom and his daughter. The same message; "I'm fine. Just needed some time. I will talk to you soon. I love you." Then he asked Alanna to text his Lieutenant that he would be taking a few days off.

Alanna could clearly tell that Jack wasn't okay. She hugged him. His naked back, sweaty and slippery, reminded her of having him on top of her sweaty after making love. Her hands slipped through his back, bumping into each muscle. She then remembers what he was going through and switched her focus to helping Jack again. Then she asked him if she could work out with him. The couple worked out until they were both soaked in sweat. Then Alanna left to take a shower.

Alanna walked out of the shower and was surprised by a food aroma. The aroma made her hungry. She dressed up in a hurry and met Jack in the kitchen. He had prepared breakfast and was waiting for her with the table set up for her. He made sunny side up eggs, bacon, toast and he squeezed some fresh orange juice. "Can't he be more perfect?", Alanna thought as she looked at the almost naked man in her kitchen looking at her. His muscles looked more defined, glistening because of the light sweat. His bright sky-blue eyes set on her. He was a dream. Jack grabbed her hand and took her to the table. He pulled out a chair for her. Then he holds her shoulders from behind and tells her, "eat up." Jack left to take a bath and Alanna ate her breakfast. She cleaned up and left Jack a note on the table before she left.

Alanna picked up Jack’s uniform from the cleaners, then headed to the funeral home. In half an hour the little girl's family would walk in the door, and Alanna wanted to make sure that she was going to look good enough for an open casket funeral. She didn't want to inform the family of the change until she was certain that the little girl was good enough to be viewed.

Alanna rushed into the funeral home, barely saying hi to Carol, and she entered the room where the little girl was going to be viewed. She was shocked. She couldn't believe it. From the door, the little girl looked perfect. She looked like she was sleeping. The white dress on the pastel bedding gave her a peaceful look. As Alanna walked closer to the coffin, she noticed that the makeup artist not only did a beautiful job with the wig, she also decorated her little head with a flower tiara. The little girl looked adorable.

Tears poor Alanna's face, "Now you look like the angel you are". She walked to Carol and padded her shoulder, "She looks perfect, I'm going to call the family to inform them that they will be able to view her from an open casket." Alanna then stopped for a second, "We should add music. Lullabies playing softly will tone down the morbid environment." Carol agrees, excited. She rushed to add the music to the room. Alanna called the family. She organized things and asked Carol to take over because she had to leave.

Back at the house, Jack had read Alanna's note and went back to bed as she requested. He felt asleep waiting for her. Alanna arrived home with Jack’s uniform in a laundry bag. She took it to her room. In her room she found Jack sleeping on his stomach without a shirt, wearing only a pair of underwear. His underwear, tight to his body, outlined his bottom nicely. His broad back was naked, tempting her. She took her heels off and hung the uniform on a hook in her closet. When she turned around towards the bed, Alanna found Jack awake. He called her over to bed. She took off her shirt and pants and put an oversize T-shirt over her undergarments.

Jack grabbed her and pulled her into bed. He held her tight from behind and dug his face into her hair. Alanna asked, "how are you feeling today?" Jack took his face out of her hair and moved away from her, letting her turn around to face him. "I'm feeling better thanks to you", he said with a smile. They lay on their tummy on the bed facing each other. Alanna smiled at him and Jack caressed her face. He moved his hand down her back. Then he placed both hands under his head, lifting his head a little. He set his eyes on the floor.

Jack's eyes became red and filled with tears. He began to talk about the crime scene, "It was horrific. There was blood all over the place." He stopped and took a deep breath. Alanna moved closer and wrapped her arm around his back. Jack continued, "There was a pile of blood on the sofa and the little girl's broken panties laid on the floor next to the sofa. The floor had strains of hair in bunches and trails of blood." He stopped and looked at Alanna with tears running down his face." Alanna placed her head on his shoulder weeping. Jack put his face down on his pillow and cried.

They felt asleep crying. Alanna woke up in the middle of the night. When she saw the time, she went downstairs to order some dinner. Jack followed her downstairs shortly after she finished ordering dinner. He looked out the window and sighs, "Is it that late? I need to get going." "You know that you can stay here for as long as you like" Alanna interrupted. He embraced her and spoke in her ear, "Thank you but I can't keep hiding." Alanna agreed, "Okay but before you go, I want to take you somewhere." Jack and Alanna ate the food and then dressed up.

They headed to the funeral home to pick up Jack's car. Once there, Alanna asked him to come with her. He knew the little girl's body was there. He was afraid to see it again, but he followed Alanna anyway. Alanna turned on the in the room. The lullabies began to play softly. Jack grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Alanna guided him down the aisle. At the end of the room, a closed small white coffin surrounded by flowers and a big framed picture of a beautiful little girl with a big smile. Alanna let go of his hand and asked him if he was ready. He nodded, and his eyes teared up. Alanna opens the top part of the coffin. Jack stared at the little girl in her beautiful lace gown. He looked at Alanna and said in a shaky voice, "She looks like she is sleeping." Alanna wraps an arm around Jack's waist and presses her face against his chest. Jack placed his arm around her and they both stared at the little girl quietly.

Jack spoke to the little girl, "I should have done something, I should have protected you. I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't find proof." He paused, cleaned his tears with his free hand and continued talking to the little girl, "I'm sorry I failed you." Alanna held him tighter. Jack had answered a domestic violence call from the little girl's house the night before. He noticed the mom had a swollen eye and her dad was agitated. When he asked if there was anyone else in the house, the mom told him that their daughter was in her grandma's house. Jack wasn't convinced but they didn't permit him to search the house. He needed to come back with a warrant. The lady refused to press charges, so Jack had to leave. He was worried about a child living in that house, so he contacted children's services. Alanna turned to him, grabbed his face with both hands. Then she whispered in a broken voice, "This wasn't your fault. All you can do is make sure that Baster pays for what he has done." Jack grabbed Alanna, pulled her closer, said, "Thank you" and kissed her.

Jack realized what he was doing and let Alanna go. He cleaned up his tears and said, "I'm so sorry." They both dismissed the kiss as a reaction to a very emotional moment.

They closed the funeral home and Alanna drove Jack to the back of the funeral home where he had left his car. They got out of the car. Alanna asked him, "Do you feel better?" Jack grabbed her hands and looked into her eyes. Then in a low voice, he said, " Yes, that is just what I needed. Thank you." He then pulled Alanna over by the arms and hugged her. He looked at her eyes and got closer to kiss her again. He realized what he was doing and pulled back. He shouted “I'm sorry" as he rushed to his car. Jack drove away and left her standing next to her car confused.

Alanna went home to find her house feeling empty. She found Jack's shirt on her bed. She grabbed the shirt and pressed it against her nose. She smelled the shirt for a little bit before she noticed what she was doing. Alanna held the shirt in front of her. She stared at the shirt concerned. She missed Jack.