Who: Jo Harvelle and closed What: Jo tries to deal When: After this Where: Her apartment Warnings: Some angst Status: Narrative; Complete
When she finally made it back to her apartment, the first thing Jo did was go to the bathroom and vomit, again. She'd already done that twice on her walk back, and was amazed to discover there was still something in her stomach. After flushing the toilet, she stood slowly and moved in front of the mirror to study herself for a long moment. Dried blood flaked off her cheek from where her hand must have touched it, and her hair was streaked with red and brown in some places. It was nearly enough to make her sick again. She wondered just how different she was, now. Could she ever come back from something like that?
Slowly she turned away and began to strip, dropping the now-filthy clothing in a pile in a corner. She moved over to the shower and leaned in, turning the hot water on all the way up. She stepped in and pulled the shower curtain across, lifting her head into the spray and shutting her eyes as her body gave a shudder. She just stood there for about five minutes, then finally picked up a washcloth and began to scrub at her skin, trying to get all the dried blood off of her face and hands. She scrubbed until her skin stung from the water and what ran down the drain was no longer red. When all physical evidence was gone, she swayed for a moment, then sank to the floor of the tub and wrapped her arms around her knees, burying her head to sob.
She stayed there until the water started to turn lukewarm. By then she had cried herself out-she hoped-and reached over to turn off the water. Slowly, Jo stood again and got out. Within ten minutes she had dried off and gotten dressed, and headed out to the bar she had met Adam at that one time, determined to get drunk and try to forget.