James tilted his head back and let the hot water assault his face in order to wash away all of the sweat and strain from his workout. The shower felt so good and it seemed to cleanse both body and mind. Water mixed with soap ran down his sculpted muscular physique and onto the tiled floor. While he was not a killer like Wraith, he had done everything he could to keep himself in top physical condition. He was stronger than most men and had managed to keep his belly from going soft like a lot of men his age. One of Jennifer's favorite things to do was run her hands up and down his stomach and talk about how he had missed his calling as an underwear model.
Thinking of her brought him back to reality. He felt so bad that she had been put through her ordeal. If it had not been for Wraith interfering, there was no telling how badly she would have been hurt before the psychotic bitch finally killed her. As it was, Jennifer was pretty cut up and it would be a while before she would be ready for very much physical activity. Once again he cursed himself for not being there. He had all of this muscle, but it had been utterly useless in protecting the one that he loved. The only reason he had let himself leave her side in order to workout was because she had two armed policemen keeping watch over her at all times now.
It seemed like a case of too little too late though. James did not think that Jennifer would be attacked again at the hospital. He did not know what the reasoning was for Wraith to stop the execution, but whatever it was; he hoped that she would not be targeted again. If, for any reason, Wraith did decide to kill her after all, he would probably wait until she was home from the hospital, which according to the doctors would be the next day. She had been pretty cut up, but she was no longer really serious enough to warrant a hospital bed. Mentally, who knew when she would be okay?
James finished his shower and stepped out into the men's locker room at Crossroads Gym off of Horizon Drive. He had been working out at this facility for years, and yet he still felt it slightly awkward to walk naked through the locker room like many of the men did. It was not that he felt inferior to the wrinkled old men that seemed quite content to sit on the benches with their stuff hanging out for lengthy periods of time, it was just that he had never really been comfortable with public nudity. Sure, it was only men in there, but he still was not an exhibitionist and did not like the thought of other men looking at his balls. Once there had even been an openly gay man changing at the same time and this had made him very uncomfortable. He would have preferred for it to be a woman with the way the eyes had rolled over his body.
He quickly wrapped a towel around himself before he even opened his locker. With this makeshift clothing, he felt much more at ease. He went about his usual post workout routine. He applied his deodorant and grabbed his razor. James had found that his facial hair grew at a much quicker pace than he cared for. It seemed he always had stubble that made his face rough and scratchy. Jennifer did not like it when he would rub it on her neck. She said it gave her goose bumps. With that in mind, he went to the mirror and shaved as quickly as he could without cutting himself. He was going to go see her when he got dressed and he wanted to be nice and presentable.
The razor was for more than that, though. He also used it to keep his head free from all stubble. He did not know why he kept shaving his head like this. He had only started doing it because it was his way of showing support to his mother. She was no longer suffering from cancer, so his continued practice of this seemed to be unnecessary. James couldn't bring himself to stop though. It was like he was keeping her alive in his mind by doing this. Maybe eventually he could finally let go and allow his hair to grow back, but not today. Not when the rest of his life seemed to be in pieces.
James finished his routine in front of the mirror and got dressed quickly in order to get back to the hospital as soon as he could. He still felt somewhat guilty for leaving her, but he had really needed this. Working out had always been a nice outlet for him to vent his frustrations. It was as if he could pour all of his emotions into his muscles and then exercise the demons by burning them out. After the last few days, he really had needed an outlet. Now that he felt a little better, he would be in a better position to give Jennifer the support that she needed.
He walked out of the locker room whistling a tune from Ramstein. James waved goodnight to the girl working the front counter and received a shy giggle and wave in return. Girls like her bothered him. Always giggly and immature. He knew that she ogled his body and it made him uncomfortable. While he had always liked to keep fit, he had never liked being viewed as a piece of meat. That was one of the great things about Jennifer. She liked his body, sure, but she valued him as a person first and foremost. And she had a brain in her head. She was not all giggly and airheaded like this bimbo.
He got into the car that the insurance agency had provided him with and headed back to the hospital. James could not help but smile a little to himself. Clearly Wraith had taken away his car in order to prevent him from being mobile, but that inconvenience had been short lived. Unlike a serial killer, James had easily purchased insurance to deal with just such a thing, and his monthly payments had turned out to pay off for him. The little Honda was not exactly what James would want to drive on a permanent basis, but it worked for now. If for nothing else, it served as a great way for him to extend a middle finger in Wraith's direction.
James parked the Honda in the hospital parking lot and went in. When he made it to Jennifer's room, he nodded at the two policemen and went in. Not too surprisingly she was sleeping. She had slept a lot since the ordeal. James hoped that eventually all that rest would help her to mend both mentally and emotionally. Jennifer tossed and turned a little and a small whimper escaped her lips. The sound broke his heart. No doubt she was reliving the nightmare of thinking she was going to be cut into little pieces until she finally succumbed to death.
James sat down beside her bed and rested his face in his hands. He wished there was something he could do to make it all just go away, but he did not know how to do that. This was no doubt the darkness he had been aware of. This man Wraith had been coming for him for a long time even though neither man had known it until recently. James' biggest fear was that whatever it was it would find some way of hurting Jennifer and it turned out that he had been right on the money. If only he had known, he would never have talked to her like he did when they first met. He would not have confided in her and let her confide in him. He would not have let her fall in love with him.
He could not imagine what his life would have been like without her in it, but he would rather have had that be the case than allow himself to be the catalyst of her demise. Jennifer moaned and her hand shot up in a defensive manoeuvre. This jolt brought her out of her sleep and she opened her eyes in terror, scanning the room for her attacker. James put his hand on her raised arm and she looked at him, first in alarm, and then in recognition.
"Hey." James said quietly, trying to reassure her with the sound of his voice.
"Hey, there." Jennifer replied hoarsely. "How is my knight in shining armor?"
"Scared and concerned." James answered honestly.
"Don't worry about me." Jennifer said. "I have two cops waiting for anybody to try something. I am worried about you. Who is going to protect you from this creep or any more of his friends?"
"I will be okay as long as you are okay." James said. "Without you I have nothing to live for. It just scares me to think that all of this seems to be so easy for him and the police seem to be inept at finding him."
"Sweeny is a smart man." Jennifer told him. "I think he will find your tormentor."
"I hope so." James said. "I already lost my mom to this freak. I would die if I lost you. You need to rest some more. The doctor thinks you will be able to come home tomorrow, so you need to get your sleep. I will be right here."
"Good." Jennifer said as she closed her eyes. "I can sleep better knowing that my savior is here with me."