https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7Nu8DKJopA<span class="mu-g">PICKING UP THE PIECES</span>
<span class="mu-g">JANE MARIE DUPONT</span>
Things haven’t been easy lately, but you think it’s starting to get better. You called the number Roland left you, some desk cop called Amir, and asked him about Candy. He didn’t sugarcoat it, told you that she was roughed up and traumatized but safe and recovering at Saint Januarius Medical in downtown. Despite that… Awkward situation where you made an ass of yourself with Roland earlier, you felt good. Happy that Candy was safe, and that you, in your own small way, were instrumental in saving Candy’s life. That night you cancel your appointment with Jacob, one of your usuals, and get an early night in. Surprisingly, you sleep well.
The next morning you head straight to Saint J’s to see Candy, and when the nurse at the desk leads you to her room, you nearly faint when you see her. She’s… Those Popov <span class="mu-s">bastards</span> beat her bloody, her whole face swollen and bruised purple and green, with seething red marks all around her neck. When you walk over and hold her hand, try as you might, you can’t hold back the flood of tears. Damn this city…
<span class="mu-s">Goddamn this city.</span>
Without realizing it, several drops of your tears fall down on Candy’s face, and you’re shocked when Candy’s hand goes from limp to gripping yours, <span class="mu-s">hard.</span>
Her left eye squints open, the other too swollen to open at all, and when her eye finds you, she smiles and you see that several of her front teeth have been knocked out. “...Is that you, Jane? Don’t cry… You should… You should see the other guy...”
At that your tears turn to laughter, and you thank God that there’s at least two good people in this damned city. You weren’t there to keep her from getting kidnapped, but you swear to God you will be there for her now. You’ll help her with picking up the pieces of her life now, if it’s the last thing you do.
If it’s the last <span class="mu-s">fucking</span> thing you do.
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