Two story updates within two days?! Whaaaaat??
This one was finished, and I couldn't wait to post it...
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Jo's heart was in her throat as she sped through the sleeping town of Charming in her little rental car, desperately in need to get to her brother. Kenny was the one who called her. Days after it'd happened. He'd apologized for the delay, but he apparently had his hands full with Evie. From what she could understand, most of the grown-ups were wrapped up in the emotion of the situation that they hadn't paid much attention to the younger generation. Kenny had been near sobbing over the phone, telling her that his dad was not okay. That Juan was devastated and no one had been able to help him. She'd booked the first plane ticket she could find, threw some clothes in a bag, and headed straight to California.

It was still early in the morning, and it seemed as if the small town was just starting to wake up. After hearing about all the shit that had gone down in Charming, it was strange to be there now. She caught a glimpse of a large gated compound with a big reaper hanging on the gate of it. The only reason she recognized it was because of the research she'd done into the Sons of Anarchy motorcycle club when Dino had found out her brother was a part of it. It was an impressive compound, and she found she was a little curious about what lay beyond the gates.

She pulled into St. Thomas hospital, not surprised by the empty parking lot. When Kenny had called her, she'd told him she'd meet him at their rental house, and then go with them to the hospital once it was time for visiting hours. He'd told her to go straight to the hospital instead; apparently, their family was exempt from visiting hours and could come and go as they pleased. That worried her slightly. Where was Evie in all this? Was someone making sure the little girl was taken care of? That she had some sort of understanding of what was happening? It didn't really seem like it.

She walked into the hospital through the emergency room as instructed. After telling the nurse who she was there to see, she gave her the room number and waved her back. There wasn't much movement in the hallways. No one paid her any attention as she approached the room at the end of the hall. The small little window in the door was covered, the door closed. Her hand hovered over the handle for a moment; what was she going to find when she opened the door? Taking in a deep breath, she pushed open the door. What she saw inside broke her heart. Angela was laid out in the big hospital bed, hooked up to all sorts of shit. Juan was sitting beside her, her hand in his, his eyes on her face. He blinked slowly, and a tear slid down his cheek.

He looked awful. His hair was a greasy mess as if he hadn't showered in days. His shoulders were sagging with the weight of the world. She stepped inside, closing the door gently behind her. "Oh Wonka," she murmured, catching his attention. He wiped quickly at his eyes, looking shocked to see her standing there. She crossed the room towards him. "Came as soon as I heard. Are you all..."

To her surprise, he jumped to his feet and wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her neck as he'd done when he was a child. She held onto him tightly as he began to sob, his tears hot on her skin. She rubbed her hand down his back, turning to kiss his temple. "It's okay, bro. Let it all out. I got you."

She didn't know how long she'd held him for, but he finally pulled away, sniffling slightly and wiping at his eyes. "Sorry, I just..." He shook his head, swallowing hard as he looked over at his wife. "She's...I dunno what to do, Jojo. I don't know..."

"How are the twins?" she asked trying to get him to think of something else.

He stared at her with wide, wet eyes and shrugged before sinking down into the chair again. "They were early, and she was...bleeding. A lot. So much blood, and now she's like this...and they don't know if she'll wake up, but she might wake up, and I have to be here if she does. I have to..."

She saw him starting to work himself up again and rubbed a hand over his shoulder. "Okay, okay. It's okay. We're gonna figure it all out, Wonka. Promise. Where's Evie and Ken?"

"I dunno. At the rental, I think, or at our old place or Chloe's," he rasped, swiping a hand over his face. "I don't want Monk to see her like this."

"Have you seen Evie?" she asked, brow furrowed together. Juan didn't answer her, he looked back at Angela and shrugged a shoulder. She didn't like the sound of that. Poor Evie had to be so scared, and here was her father, avoiding everyone. Hyper-fixated on his wife. He was so wrapped up in his grief that he'd pushed away his family. His kids. That was unacceptable. "Juan Carlos, have you seen your kids?"

"They're fine," he murmured softly.

"No, they're not," a rough voice said from the door. Jo glanced over at the voice, taking in the menacing figure in the doorway. He was tall, bald and covered in tattoos. The scowl on his face was downright scary, but his eyes were very familiar. This had to be Angela's cousin. She'd heard all sorts of stories about him, though she'd never met him. She nodded her greeting to him, and he replied with a curt nod. He jerked his head towards the door. "Got a minute?"

Jo nodded again, glancing at her brother one more time. He was staring at Angela, completely unaffected by the exchange. "You must be Happy," Jo said with a little smile once they were out of the room. "Heard a lot about you. I'm Jo, Won...I mean, Juice's, sister."

He nodded in response. "Thanks for comin'. Idiot needs you. Hasn't moved from there."

"Yeah, Ken mentioned that. Has he seen Evie at all?" she asked, already concerned about the answer.

"No," he answered, shaking his head. "She's at my aunt's place, sometimes my...Chloe's house. Idiot doesn't want her to go inside there, but that's scarin' her more. She don't really get what's happenin'."

Evie wasn't a dumb kid. She had to know something was going on. As soon as she could, she'd bring Evie to the hospital and explain things to her. "And the twins?"

"Hasn't seen 'em. Won't even name 'em since she was s'posed to."

Anger swept through Jo. That was unacceptable. She understood Angela was not doing well but to abandon his children like that wasn't right. "Yeah, that's changing now," she stated before throwing open the door to the room. Juan's head shot up in surprise. "Juan Carlos Ortiz, get your ass out of the chair and go see your kids!"

He seemed to consider her statement before he shook his head. "No, I'm good," he said softly before turning back to Angela.

Happy walked over to him, grabbing him by the arm and hauling him out of the chair. "Not askin'. Get up, get your shit together, and go see your kids. 'cause this shit you're doin' right here, would piss her the hell off. Get the fuck up and let's go."

It broke Jo's heart to see the way her brother fought against the taller man, struggling and trying to get away, all but throwing fists. "No! I gotta be here when she wakes up! I can't leave her!"

"She's not going to wake up," another voice stated as an older woman walked into the room. The men stopped fighting and stood straight up as if the nurse was a drill sergeant. "Not now, anyway. She has medicine keeping her asleep. She needs the time to heal. Now go, Juancito. See the babies, they're precious. Give me a moment with my daughter, please."

Jo looked at the older woman for a brief moment, vaguely noting the family resemblance to Angela. Juan sighed in defeat, swallowing hard as he approached the bed once more, leaning over to kiss Angela's forehead. "I'll be right back, baby," he murmured, gingerly touching her cheek. "Love you."

He hesitated before Happy grabbed his arm and practically dragged him towards the door. Jo stayed behind, nodding to the older woman. "You're Angela's mom?"

"Graciela," she replied with a soft smile. "You must be Juancito's sister."

She nodded quickly. "Jo," she answered, extending her hand for the other woman to shake. "Thanks for taking care of my brother."

"He's family. Family takes care of each other," the older woman said before pulling Jo in for a hug. "I'm glad you're here. He needs you."

Tear pricked the corner of Jo's eyes; she'd spent so much time away from her brother. So many years where she couldn't be there when he needed her that it was strange to think he needed her now. But he did. She could feel it in the way he'd clung to her, the relief on his face when she first walked in. "Yeah, yeah he does," she murmured, sniffling a little. She was grateful Kenny had called. Grateful she was able to be there for her brother for once, something she hadn't been able to do since they were kids. She glanced at Angela taking in a deep breath and reaching for her hand. "Keep on restin', Ang. I got him. He'll be okay."

~'~'~'~

Juice let Happy drag him towards the small NICU in the hospital feeling the same way he did every time the prison guards escorted him away from Angela after visiting hours when he was inside. He wanted to go back to her, wanted to stay there at her side just like she'd stood beside him for so long. He didn't want her to wake up in that cold hospital bed alone. He knew Happy wasn't going to let him go anywhere but to see his kids, though. Not now that Jo had practically given him permission to force him out of the room. Everyone else had handled him with kid gloves, too sad for him to make him move from Angela's bedside. He knew Happy had been dying to get him out of there, Chloe too, but none of them had the guts to yell at him the way his sister had. He wasn't sure if he loved her for that or resented her for taking him away from his wife.

Happy opened the door, shoving him inside with a heavy hand on his shoulder. Chloe was there, standing between two incubators. He could just barely see his twins wriggling around inside of them. They looked so incredibly tiny in the big plastic toasters. Bigger than Abel had been but not by much. He could feel Happy hovering behind him, waiting for him to bolt. He wasn't going to lie; he wanted to. Wanted to run back to Angela, make sure she was still breathing. She was going to be okay, she had to be okay.

"Nurses gave 'em nicknames," Happy stated, breaking into his thoughts. "Girl's Rocky, boy's Manny. 's tradition to name 'em after boxers or some shit. Unless you got names for 'em."

"No," he murmured softly. He wasn't going to name them. Naming them meant Angela wasn't going to get better. That she wasn't going to wake up and be able to name them herself. That wasn't happening. She was going to wake up and give them whatever names she'd been cooking up for months now. "Angel is namin' 'em."

"Fine," Happy replied, shoving him forward again. "Go on. Chloe says they can hear ya."

Slowly, he walked a little closer. Tears rose to his eyes the second he laid eyes on his newest babies. They were both hooked up to just as much medical shit as their mother. A small little pink hat was on the girl's head, blue on the boy's. Angela would've hated that shit. Would've wanted purple and green or some shit like that. "Hey bugs," he croaked, setting a hand on each little plastic toaster. He looked in at the little girl, wriggling around in there. Her skin was a beautiful caramel color, dark hair peeking out from beneath her little hat. Her nose, though tiny, was familiar, same with the perfect shape of her small lips. She was her mother's miniature, and it hurt just too look at her. "Hey pretty girl."

He turned to look at his son, who had the same coloring. Juice could see more of his own features on his son. The shape of his nose, at the very least. "Hey sweet boy," he murmured, wondering if he could touch them in some way.

"They're cute, huh?" Chloe said pulling a chair over. As if reading his thoughts, she said, "If you wash your hands, you can stick 'em in there. Give 'em a little skin to skin love. Premies are supposed to do better with skin to skin from a parent."

The idea of being able to touch his babies made his heart ache. "Okay," he murmured, moving over to the sink. He washed his hands, scrubbing his fingers thoroughly with a little plastic brush Chloe had given him. When he was done, he sat on the chair between them unsure of what to do next.

She opened the little round windows on each side of the toasters and gestured to them. "Have at it," she told him with a soft, sympathetic smile. "Evie's been talkin' their little ears off, so they're used to noise. She loves her buggos."

Tears filled his eyes at the thought of his first baby girl talking to his latest additions. Angela would've loved that. He leaned in towards Manny's incubator first, nudging his finger into Manny's little hand. "Hey Pac-Man," he murmured, his heart sputtering as his little fingers squeezed around his finger, his head turning towards him. "How you doin', little buddy?"

Chloe giggled softly, nodding towards the other incubator. "Rocky's goin' crazy. She recognizes your voice. Think she's gonna be more of a daddy's girl than Eves."

Juice raised his eyebrows in surprise as he turned towards his other baby. The little girl inside was kicking her legs and waving her arms about, dark brown eyes open. "Not ignoring you, baby girl," he said, stretching his other hand towards her. "You look just like your Mama, bug. I love you both so much 'n' Mama does too, okay? She's not here, but she loves you so much. She'll be here soon. Promise."

Tears filled his eyes as he looked between his beautiful twins. Had Angela gotten to see them before she'd gone into surgery? Had they seen her? Did they know how much she loved them? "Chlo, do you think...do you think she got to see them?"

The look on her face told him the answer; no, she didn't get to see them. "She was probably already under anesthesia, but she'll see them soon."

"Right, right," he rasped, stroking the top of his daughter's little hand with his thumb. He swallowed hard, "I hope so."

Chloe squeezed his shoulder, catching his attention as she nodded towards the door. Evie was in the window, propped on Jasmine's hip. She was pointing at the babies as she talked to Jasmine. He swore his eldest daughter looked older than she had the last time he'd seen her. The door opened, and Evie made a beeline for him. "Daddy!" she exclaimed, throwing herself at him.

He caught her easily, lifting her onto his lap and nuzzling his nose into her neck. The familiar smell of her baby perfume was immensely comforting as was the feel of her little arms wrapped around him. "Hi Monk," he murmured, fighting back tears. He'd abandoned his little girl, his new babies, his son, let his grief pull him under. They didn't deserve that. He was going to be better. Happy was right; Angela would be pissed if she could see what he'd been doing. "How you doin'?"

Evie pulled away just slightly, studying his face with her pretty brown eyes, the same color as his. "Good, Daddy. I see Mama?"

He balked at the question. It was a reminder of her mother that he hadn't been prepared for. He didn't know how to answer that. How did he explain that her mom might not be coming back? "I um...I..." he stammered, feeling a little helpless.

"Mama's sleepin' right now. Let her rest," Chloe chimed in helpfully.

"But she wake up?" Evie asked, eyes wide.

This time Chloe hesitated, her hazel eyes growing a little glassy. A lump formed in Juice's throat and he swallowed hard. "Yes," Jo's voice came from the doorway. Evie looked up, jumping off of her father's lap and sprinting at her aunt. Jo caught her easily, laughing as she swooped her off her feet. "There's my girl! How 'bout we go see Mama, huh? We're gonna be really quiet 'cause she's sleeping, but we can talk to her. Just like the bugs, okay?"

Juice watched them walk away, feeling his heart sink. Happy followed after them as if he didn't quite trust Jo just yet. He turned to stare at his baby girl, finding her dark eyes staring right back at him. Angela's eyes. "Is...is that okay? For Monk to see her...like that?"

Chloe didn't look so sure as she sat in a free chair besides Manny. "I dunno. Jo has kids. 'm sure she has good judgement."

He swallowed hard as he nodded, putting his hand back into the little toaster to stroke over his daughter's head. "Are they okay? Lotta shit hooked up to 'em."

"They're okay. Just a little too early, so we're making sure they've got the same support they would've gotten with Ang. Told Evie they were cooking a little longer. She got a kick outta that," Chloe explained simply, setting her hand on Manny's incubator. He winced; she was too little to be dealing with such heavy things. Again, Chloe seemed to understand. "She's little, but she's not dumb, Juice. She's actually pretty damn smart for her age. Think not knowing scares her more."

Juice nodded slowly; that was something she got from Angela. They both needed an explanation for everything. He swore his daughter's favorite word was why. "Cooking longer," he repeated with a soft chuckle. "Feel like I don't know anythin'."

"It's only been a few days," she assured him with a sympathetic smile. "She should start breathin' on her own soon, then we'll wean her off the sedation shit, and she'll wake up. Wake up and be pissed you haven't showered or shaved."

He smirked at the little dig, running a hand through his hair. He frowned at how oily it had gotten in the two days he hadn't washed. "Yeah, should do that, I guess."

"I'll get your shit from the rental. Ang has a shower in her room. You don't have to leave her to go."

Juice nodded, shoulders sagging in relief. He was so grateful to have Chloe on their side. "Thanks."

"Your sister is a force to be reckoned with. Can see why she and Ang get along so well."

"Yeah," he agreed softly. Angela and Jo had become fast friends in Texas. He'd often find them laughing over a glass of wine on their back porch. He loved listening to their happy chatter, even if it was sometimes at his expense. His sister had, once again, become such a big part of his life, and he regretted ever pushing her away. "Glad she's here."

Chloe stared at Manny wriggling around in his little incubator. "We'll get through this, Juice. I know we will. Whatever happens, you're not alone here. You got a big family supporting you and the kiddos."

That familiar lump rose back in his throat, tears springing in his eyes. He knew he had a big family backing him. He never doubted it, but it still didn't drive away the ache in his heart. Angela needed to be there too. The twins needed to know her. To love her. She needed to be there to help them and Evie and even Kenny grow up. He was useless to them without her.

~'~'~'~'~'~

Happy walked a few steps behind Jo and Evie, listening as Evie babbled away at her Aunt. He didn't know why he felt the need to follow after Jo; he knew that she was Juice's sister, that Angela trusted her, yet he still wanted to be there for Evie to make sure she was okay when she was finally faced with seeing her mother. Jo stopped in front of the door, and he stopped beside her. "All right, we're gonna go in and visit Mama, but we gotta be gentle, okay? She might look a little scary right now, but she's gonna be okay. She's just sleeping."

"She has tubes like Nana Lena?" Evie asked touching her nose.

"Yeah, brat," he answered, knowing Jo didn't know what the hell she was talking about. "In her nose and mouth."

The little girl's brown eyes widened in shock, a little bit of fear in them. Jo took it in stride, nuzzling her nose against Evie's cheek. "It's a little scary, but they're all for good things, baby girl. They're helping her, okay?"

Evie glanced at Happy for confirmation, and he nodded. Evie nodded with him before looking at the door. "We go?" she asked, reaching towards the door.

"Yeah, baby girl. We go," Jo agreed, taking in a deep breath. "Gonna walk slowly, and if you're scared, we can come back another time, okay?"

"Okay Auntie Jojo," Evie replied, softly. Happy watched her move her little arm around her aunt's shoulders, holding tightly to her shirt.

Jo slowly opened the door, taking a step inside and moving so he could come in with them. "Mama?" Evie's voice shook just a little, and Jo stopped walking.

Evie reached out her hand to Happy, and he stepped in closer to her. She grabbed at the front of his shirt when he was close enough, tugging slightly. He took her from Jo's arms, easily settling her on his hip. Jo rubbed a hand over her back in a soothing motion and said, "She's sleeping, remember? She can hear you, but she can't talk back. Want to go closer?"

The little girl nodded, so Happy took a few steps in until he was at the side of her bed. Evie squirmed a little bit, but he held strong. "I got you, brat. You're good. You wanna go?"

"No, I hold hand," she said instead, holding her hand to her mom and trying to wriggle away. He sat her down on the edge of the bed, and Evie grabbed her mom's hand. Evie played with her fingers for a moment, touching each sparkly purple painted nail. "Hi Mama. I meet-ed the buggos. They're so cute! Bobo says they have pretend names 'til you wake up and then they get real ones."

Happy watched as Evie continued babbling, seemingly unbothered by the lack of response. Then he saw it. It was minimal, and he almost didn't notice it. Angela's hand twitched. Just a small little movement of her fingers that Evie was holding. Evie didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary, but he saw it for what it was; a sign of hope. She was still in there. Still alive. Ready to come back at any moment. He caught Jo's eye, noticing she was smiling widely, the same smile as Juice and Evie. She knew it too. Happy felt like he could breathe again for the first time in days. His kid was going to come back to them. She was going to be all right.

~'~'~'~'~'~
I swear I won't drag this on for much longer!!
I've got most of the next chapter written just a few details to iron out!
Please let me know what you think!!!
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