*James*

I hate to admit it but I kind of feel bad for Nate. God knows I understand how the man feels right now. He lost Julia just like I did. Granted I never asked her to marry me like he did but the pain is the same type of pain. I also hate to admit that of all the people in the world for Julia to choose, I'm glad she chose Paul. He's a good man of integrity and will take care of Julia the way I can't. Paul is ready to settle down now and has made it known by becoming Julia's full-time bodyguard at the Avalon. He's not only dedicating his life to his job, but he's also dedicating his life to her and that is commendable.

But this puts me in a very odd position. Julia is currently MY full-time caretaker. We fucking sleep in the same damn bed so she can watch over me in case I have a seizure. Do I get the boot now? Will her attention be more towards Paul now. I'm stuck here for a full six months. I don't have a choice in the matter. 

And are things going to be awkward between us? They never were before when she was with Nate but with me .... or with me but then with Nate. Hell, she has had sex with me in Nate's recliner with him right next to us in his bed. The girl has no boundaries.

These are the things I think about while sitting out in the yard.

Aside from Mike who is sleeping, the rest of us sit out to the backyard while Nate talks to Julia in her room. Trevor, Paul, Jonah, me and Mags who has taken a liking to the doctor. She sits by his side enjoying him better her head. None of us bring up the situation hover over us and Paul remains silent. That is, until Julia comes outside looking very distraught. Trevor notices her first.

"Are you ok??" Trevor walks to Julia.

"Moretti, what happened?" Paul immediately stands up.

"I- I can't do this." Julia looks to be in the middle of some sort of nervous breakdown. "I can't breathe."

"Shit. She's having a panic attack." Trevor sees the signs and sits her down. she's hyperventilating and crying and shaking all at the same time. Paul sits next to her while Jonah goes inside to find Nate. But moments later he comes out looking just as panicky as Julia.

"He's not here!" Jonah blurts out.

"Oh God, what have I done, Paul?!" 

"Julia, what happened?" Jonah asks.

"I- I had to give him his ring back. It's not mine to have!" She wails and Paul hugs her. Shit. She gave him back the engagement ring? This is the real deal.

Jonah looks over to see the gate that leads to the back lot. He rushes over and unlatches it, looking around the parking lot. I fumble to grab Maggie's collar though she doesn't exactly make a run for it, lazy dog.

"Shit. Ren's car is gone." Jonah announces.

"Where would he go?" I ask, though I think I have a feeling I know exactly where Hollan went. I hope I'm wrong.

"He was so upset, Paul. I've never seen him so upset. Not like that!" Julia is now sobbing and coughing and clearly a mess over this. "What have I done?"

"Let's get her inside to calm down before she throws up or something." Jonah walks Julia inside while Paul tries to call Nate. I follow Jonah and sit next to Julia, rubbing her back in hopes to calm her down a little.

Trevor pours Julia a glass of water. "Try to take deep breaths." 

"He turned his phone off." Paul comes inside, clearly distraught now.

"So call Ren." Jonah suggests. "Julia, what did Nate say before he left?"

"He freaked out. Said he wasn't ready to let me go. I left the room. I couldn't take seeing him cry like that."

"That's not how this was supposed to go. He was coming here to let you both know it's ok." Jonah says.

"I don't have Ren's number. Trisha does." Paul throws his hands up in defeat. "She's not going to pick up if she sees it's me calling. I've tried."

"What the hell happened?" Mike sits up in bed now, looks towards us in the kitchen.

"She's having a panic attack." Trevor answers.

"I know I'm fucking having a fucking panic attack! I fucked everything up!" Julia yells, making Maggie start barking, then suddenly swipes the glass of water right off the table. Glass shatters all over the floor and Julia quickly kneels down to clean it up. But she's still in panic mode, crying and having trouble controlling her breathing.

"Julia, take a breath." Trevor kneels down to Julia's level. Shit. She is slicing up her hand while trying to clean the glass. Blood is now gushing from her left hand, and a big piece of glass is embedded in her palm.

"Hey, STOP! Let it go." Trevor demands.

"Julia." Paul tries to get her attention, but Julia is having one of her manic episodes. She looks around at all our distraught faces then down at her hand full of shattered glass.

"FUCK!" She lets go of the pile of glass. "I didn't mean to-"

It's pure chaos in the kitchen. Everyone is around Julia, even Mike now. Jonah is on the phone talking to who I assume to be Jeremy, and I stare at Julia, in a bit of shock at how quickly she spiraled out of control. But this time, she also quickly snapped out of it as well which she has never done before. She's healing. Or trying to.

"You need to get down here." Jonah says to whoever he is talking to. "With a first aid kit. Sutures. You need to have a suture kit in it."

"I'm sorry!" Julia cries and begins trying to clean up more glass.

"Babe, leave it!" I try to kick the broken glass away from her, knowing I can't pick up the pieces. "Stop, Julia."

The chaos continues. It was Jeremy that was called. He arrives within minutes, out of breath like he ran the whole way here. In one hand he holds the big white medical box, in the other the familiar prescription bottle. No. Tell me they aren't going to try to sedate her again. That prick is always trying to sedate her!

"Jesus." He looks down at the blood then back up at Julia. He takes her hand to check out her cut, being careful not to touch the shard of glass puncturing her skin. I can tell he doesn't know how to physically treat this medically. He's a damn therapist, not a surgeon.

"Don't give me anything."

"Julia, you have a shard of glass in your hand. We need to get it out but you're in the middle of a manic episode."

"Don't you dare fucking give me anything." Julia scorns. "Pull it out."

"Julia..."

"DON'T GIVE ME ANYTHING!"  She screams in Jeremy's face.

"Grab the dog, Mike." I say under my breath. He does as I say and takes Maggie gently by her collar, following me back outside, closing the door behind us.

"Damn!" Mike sits down at the patio a bit flustered making me realize maybe he has never seen Julia in this light before. It can be a bit scary if you're not used to it. I don't know if I will ever be used to it to be honest.

"Mags, stop. You're ok, girl." 

I sit on the grass and my dog hops right in my lap. "You're getting too big to do this." I chuckle, glad to have access to the backyard. Me and Julia looked up things on home confinement and some people can only roam around in a home about 750 sq. feet. That would mean no outdoor access unless stated in the documents. I'm blessed to have the entire Avalon and outside as well. I will never take that for granted.

*****

*Trisha*

"Oh, James's sister, Gwen, asked if we could stop by his house to grab his mail for him. She was supposed to swing by today, but I guess his mom isn't have a good day." Casey looks down at her text message and I become a bit jealous. Is everyone close to James's family but me? Even though we dated?

"Unless you weren't planning on ever going to the Avalon for the rest of your life." 

Nate is right. Casey has no filter just like her doppelgänger, Julia.

"Obviously, I'll go sooner or later. Only to visit James. He's my friend and I enjoy his company." I flip through the channels finding nothing to watch on TV.

"I can take you to James's house today if you'd like." Evan offers from the dining room table.

I mean... I wasn't PLANNING on going to The Avalon today of all days. What would I even say to Paul? He literally broke up with me over the fucking phone like a middle school child. Granted he was full of emotion and bared his soul to me during that call, making me hate him less. Someone once told me you can't control who you fall in love with. Ick. I think it may even have been Donovan during one of our brief therapy sessions. I cringe just thinking of that bastard now.

"FINE." I huff. "We can go whenever."

Casey smiles at me with a little nod. "It'll be fine. You and Paul were friends before anything." She can read my mind.

"Yeah, maybe."

"Think Nate would mind if we drove the Mercedes?" Evan looks at the basket of keys.

"If you want to stay on the Nate Hollan payroll, I'd advise again that one, Scofield." I raise my brows at the man. I'm not kidding, either. That right there is Nate's pride and joy.

"Fine." Evan huffs, mimicking me. "Let's do this. I'm bored."

It doesn't take long to get to James's cute little bungalow. When we pull up to the vacant home, I notice the girls have either kept up with the lawn or hired someone else to because his grass is neat and flower beds are perfect. He would be happy to see this. The Benz may be Nate's pride and joy, but James takes pride in this little house, and it pains me to know he can't live here right now......or maybe ever at this rate. Not unless he hires a full-time nurse to live with him. Julia signed herself up to the Avalon. I can't imagine James would want to continue living there after his house arrest is over with. Especially with Paul and Julia together now.

I jump out to grab his mail from the cute matching blue mailbox and realize he has quite a bit going on in there. Maybe the girls only come by once or twice a week to tend to his home.  While trying to grab the stack of letters, bills and flyers, I drop a few pieces of mail, one that stands alone and grabs my attention.

"What the....." 

 It's a regular plain white envelope but it was not sent through the mail. There's no postage stamp and only the name "Gallo" is scribbled on the front. No address or anything. What else is odd is the envelope hasn't been sealed shut and when I pick it up, I notice there is a photo sticking out. Now I'm not one to snoop and know it's illegal to open someone else's mail but I didn't do that. This literally fell out like this. 

What catches my eye is the photo. It's just a print, making me think whoever took this picture, took it from their phone and printed out the photo on regular copy paper. It's not the photo that is so alarming to me.

It's the handwritten caption below the photo.

*******