*James*

"Everything is stable. Blood pressure is good. No fever, though we'll continue to keep her on antibiotics for now. Oxygen level is perfect." Jeremy pulls the cuff off Julia. "It's going to take time. Everyone reacts to the medication differently."

"Bullshit, this has nothing to do with the sedative and you know it." Nate is getting frustrated and letting Jeremy know it. We're ALL getting frustrated to be totally honest here. I may not be a mental health specialist, but I've been going to therapy long enough in my life to know this isn't working out for Julia. Not the Avalon, not Jeremy as her doctor. None of it.

"Nate." Paul reminds Nate we need to watch what we say here. I crouch down and pet Maggie, who gets nervous when people yell. Nate is now yelling.

"Well, look at her, Paul! She's been in shock all day! I'm done with his bullshit excuses. Everyone in this room knows the truth." 

Jeremy ignores us all and continues to jot down Julia's vitals in the chart.

"Bad enough you're her doctor, but you fucking live here. She can't get away-"

"NATE!" Paul scolds Nate and he stops talking.

"I need air." Nate storms out of the room.

"He needs to control his outbursts. We have enough patients here." Jeremy says.

"Is that some kind of threat??" I stand up and glare at the doctor. If anyone needs to control themselves, it's this guy. 

"No, Mr. Gallo. He is already a Partial Program patient here anyway."  Jeremy's pager goes off. "Shit. That's Nate's sister." The doctor grumbles and hurries out of the room.

"Wonderful." Paul lets out a loud sigh.

"No wonder Nate has heart attacks."  I walk over to Julia who has shut down and brush her hair away from her face.

"I need to pee." Julia turns around to look at Paul. Because Paul would have to be the one to help her

"I've got her. C'mon Moretti. Donovan isn't here. He's busy. You're ok." He says and begins to help Julia up out of bed.

"We're gonna go home soon, ok Mags?" I sit on the floor with my dog, and she lays her head on my lap. "Aww, you're being such a good girl. You know that? Next time I'll leave you with Mommy." 

This is too much bickering for my dog. Too much for me. Why can't everything just go the way they were when I first met Julia? She was so different back then. Now I feel like I don't even know her anymore. I mean, I do. Of course I do. But she's really having a hard time with life lately. I can't blame her. It's just a lot.

Paul helps Julia out of bed and right when she stands up, she passes out.

"Oh Shit!" I jump up and we both grab her quickly. 

"Jesus, Moretti."  Paul lays her back on the bed.  "James. Go get a nurse in here." He demands and I run out of the room to find someone. I grab the first person I see and bring her to Julia's room.

"She's severely dehydrated." The nurse says as she checks passed out Julia's vitals.

"She was trying to get up to use the bathroom." I add.

"I see that." The nurse looks over Julia whose sweatpants are all wet. Poor thing didn't make it to the bathroom. She passed out and then lost control of her bladder.  Julia comes to and sits up a little, then looks down at her lap, horrified that she wet herself. I know exactly how she feels from when I have seizures. When you come to and realize you are that of a potty training two-year-old. It's humiliating.

"It's ok babe. We'll get you cleaned up." I pat her shoulder, and she leans her head on my arm but doesn't say anything.

"Ok, everyone out so we can assess her." The nurse says as another one walks in. Both Me and Paul wait neat the entrance to give the nurses room and see Nate coming closer, clearly flustered still.

"Christ. What is going on here today?!" Nate comes into the room and sees two nurses taking care of Julia.

"She passed out when she got up to use the restroom. Didn't make it." One of the nurses say. Julia just lays there staring at the wall.

"Is no one else concerned about her mental status right now?? None if this throws up a red flag?!" Nate has had it. Whatever happened with his sister was enough to stress him out to the max. Jeremy is right behind him.

"What happened?" Jeremy asks, somewhat out of breath, like he ran here the minute he got Cara settled. The nurses both tell him the same thing they told Nate, and I hear him sigh in frustration.

"Should we put the IV back in to hydrate her?" He asks one of the nurses.

"She keeps pulling it out. Her arms and wrists are pretty black and blue from it all." Nurse Sarah responds first.

"She can't pull it out if she's in restraints."

"NO!" Nate yells. "No more restraints. I will stay here and make sure she doesn't pull her IV out. But I swear to fucking God, you asshole. If you put her back in those restraints-"

"Relax." Jeremy interrupts. "Get her to eat and drink a little and we won't have to go down that road. I'll come back in an hour and see her progress and we will make a decision then. I need to have a therapy session with your sister to talk about your parents. You are welcome to join if you feel the need to ta-"

"Theres nothing to say." Nate pauses. "My dad is dead, and my mother is dead to me." Nate ends the conversation there. Me and Paul share a look but say nothing.

"C'mon Jules. Let's get you in the shower and clean you up. Donovan, get her clean clothes. I don't pay all this money for her to sit in her own filth." Nate snaps at the doctor.

"She's going to pass out again if she stands up, Nate." Jeremy says.

"Then bring her a fucking wheelchair for chrissakes!"

"You need to calm down." Paul walks over to the desk and grabs a plastic tote that has toiletries in it and hands it to Nate.

"Clean clothes. Wheelchair. Now I need to go deal with your sister." Jeremy wheels the chair in and quickly leaves the room.

I pick up Julia and she wraps her arms around me. Tears stream down her face and I get a pit in my stomach just seeing her like this.

"It's ok, sweetie." I kiss her forehead and frown.

"Down the hall." Paul points to where there's a bathroom with a shower. Nate wheels Julia down the hall and I kneel back down and pet Maggie again.

"I feel like everything is a hundred times worse with her today." I begin and Paul nods in agreement.

"Today is not a good day. Hey, you don't need to stay if this is too much for you Gallo. We all get it. You've been in hospitals long enough as it is this year. I can call Trish to pick you up whenever you are ready, ok?" Paul offers.

"Yeah. Maybe. I'll stay at least till she is out of the shower. Maybe she will feel better by then."

"I should call Trish and update her. I'll facetime her so you can talk to her too." Paul pulls out his phone from his back pocket and leans it up against the nightstand lamp so we can both see the camera. I pull a chair over to where he is and wait for Trisha to answer. A nurse comes in with a tray of food for Julia to eat for when she returns. Yeah, she's not going to eat a third of this plate.

"Well, if it isn't Hotstuff number one AND two. What's the lucky occasion?" Trisha smirks. She's down at the gym of Nate's apartment complex sitting on the bench. You can tell she just got off the treadmill and is now doing her weights. "How's everyone doing over there in the loony bin?"

Paul laughs a little at that. Trisha has a way of making light of pretty much anything. I love that about her. She always finds a way you make you smile...even when..yes.. you're in a mental facility.

"Oh, you're missing all the fun today! Both Julia AND Cara are giving Hollan a hard time." I start and Trisha rolls her eyes.

"Jesus, Cara too?  Ridiculous. This is the type of stuff that will give Nate a heart attack. Are you guys staying there all day?"

"I don't think I'm gonna. I can only handle so much of this place, you know?" I admit but Trisha doesn't judge me. She understands.

"I don't blame you there sexy. Well, listen. You guys let me know if you need anything or if anyone needs rides. I can have Ren come get you."

"Trisha, you really need to tackle this whole driving thing again." Paul chimes in and Trisha looks down and picks at her nails. She is still having a hard time being behind the wheel since the car crash. I feel awful. I'm the one who caused the crash and now look, Trisha can't even drive without having a panic attack because of me.

"Bite me, Paul." She smirks and he rolls his eyes at her.

"I may take you up on that ride offer if you don't mind." I say and Trisha nods.

 " You got it. Give me fifteen minutes and I'll have the driver swing by, Paul, keep me posted on everything ok?"

Both Paul and I nod and say goodbye.

"She's really still not driving yet?" I frown.

"I'm going to push her and get her back on the road. She just has to get over that initial fear." Paul says right as Nate wheels Julia back in. He helps her in bed, but she rolls over and curls up into a ball.

"Jules. You need to eat. He's coming back in here soon and is going to put you in restraints if this food isn't gone." He reminds her.

We hear a slight whimper out of Julia that breaks us all. She turns around, hugging her body but says nothing.

"This is ridiculous. She's not going to eat on demand. Especially with Donovan demanding it." Paul grabs the bag of chips, the banana and wraps up half her sandwich in a napkin. We watch him shove the food into the desk drawer. "She'll eat later. Julia, take a bite out of the sandwich."

Paul sits Julia up and sits down next to her. "Hurry, before he comes in. You're not going in restraints, ok? Just pretend to eat a little." He puts the sandwich in her hand and Julia listens to him. She actually begins eating the sandwich right as Jeremy comes in.

Jeremy studies the tray and then watches Julia eat the sandwich and he raises his eyebrows.

"Wow. Good job, Julia." He writes down her food intake in her chart and gives her a slight nod. "Big improvement already." After he leaves the room, we all look at each other in relief. Julia lays right back down.

"Good call, Paul. I don't care if we have to do this shit all night. Whatever gets her discharged quickly."

I sit on the bed next to Julia and lean down and kiss her cheek. "I'm gonna go home for a little while if that's ok. I have to feed Maggie and stuff. Is that fine?" I whisper in her ear, and she gives me a little nod.  "Hang in there ok? Love you." I get no response, so I stand up feeling helpless.

Before I need to say or remind anyone of anything, Nate picks up the dog's leash and puts it in my hand, making sure I have a good grip before letting go. He smiles when he sees I can do it.

"Remember what I said before. You are more than welcome to come back to the fucking commune we got going on." He offers again.

"Thanks. I just have to muster up the courage to tell my crazy sisters first. I don't know how they will react."  I let out an exaggerated sigh and see myself out of the Avalon.

It's a nice day so we wait outside in the garden for my ride. I can tell Maggie is happy to be out of the Avalon. She's back to wagging her talk and sniffing grass and doing all her quirky dog things she does.

Ren pulls up in the big SUV and Trisha gets out, still in her workout clothes. A hot pink oversized sweatshirt that hangs off her shoulders and tight black leggings. She looks good. She always does. Even right after working out.

I see why everyone has a thing for Trisha Banks.

"Hey James The Receptionist and his sidekick Maggie. Lets get out of here. This place gives me the creeps." She says and takes my free hand that's not holding the leash. "Look at you walking your own dog. Wow!" Trisha sounds just as excited as I was when Nate noticed. I love that. These are my people. They get me. Just like Trisha buckled me into the car without a thought and took the leash, making sure the dog was in and all set.

*******

*Trisha*

James looks so tired. This shit with Julia is really weighing on everyone heavily.

"So, I have one more favor to ask of you." James looks over to me while we drive away from the Avalon. "Can you NOT bring me back to my mom's right now? Anywhere but there."

"Of course. We can hang out together. It's been long overdue anyways. But can I ask, why? Did something happen??" I study the man's adorable face and see his eyes sadden more.

"I just... all of this is so much. Never mind Julia, my mom isn't doing well, now Katie. My sisters don't really know how to take care of me so I have to remind them every single fricken second of the day what I can and can't do and when I need help. It-it's just depressing. I need a break." James stammers and I nod.

"Wanna come back to my apartment with me? I don't want to go alone but I know I have a shitload of mail to go through and want to make sure the place is still standing."

James lets out a huge sigh of relief knowing he doesn't have to go home yet.

"Yeeesss. Thank you." He smiles brightly at me. I give Ren the directions to my complex and we head over there.  The first time James was at my place was when Dave Brennan came in drunk at 9am and decided to assault me. James and Paul had to call the police. The last time James was at my place was after I had my miscarriage to try and cheer me up. Let's hope this experience is a good one.

I'm not nervous because I don't feel like I'm alone. James may not be able to button or zip his jeans, but he can protect me if Dave were to ever come over. That much I know. James is now a trained bodyguard. I tell Ren to be on call and I will let him know when we need him to get us and give him cash for her services. (Thanks Nate)

"Do you want me to go in first and check out the place to make sure it is ok before you enter?" James can tell I'm a little nervous by the way my hands shake while unlocking the door.

"Actually, that would be a great idea. Thank you." I hold Maggie back while James does a quick run through of my place and then returns with a smile.

"You don't share Nate's OCD do you?" He smirks.

"Please tell me you didn't open up my closet." Oh great, James is gonna see what an unorganized person I am with my stuff. I'm VERY organized for work but at home...wellll. Not so much. I shove clothes and shoes wherever and all my closets are a complete mess.

"I thought it was the bathroom." He laughs and nudges me a little as I walk in. "I kinda like that. You're a mess. I'm kinda a mess too."

"You? Your house is always clean." I close the door behind me and throw the keys on the small table next to the door.

"Thanks to my sisters." He shrugs.

"Hey, are you hungry? I'm thinking of door dashing some food. Nate's treat. As always." I plop down on the couch and begin scrolling through my phone for doordash menus.

"Sounds good to me."

We order my favorite- Chinese food. And I even doordash a small grocery trip. Dogfood for Maggie so James doesn't have to rush home. And a six pack of beer. I don't drink but I know James and Paul both like beer so keep it in my house for them. James seems really comfortable with me and I like that about him. He's so easy to talk to.

I help him with his food since Chinese food certainly isn't the easiest meal to eat but James does great. Actually, he's improving in a lot of areas, and it's noticed.

"Oh, come on. She doesn't know that's the guy that drugged her drink? Seriously?" James rolls his eyes while we watch an episode of Law-and-Order SVU on the couch while feeding our faces. "And that, my friend, is why you don't leave your drink on the table in bars."

"Right? Now look. She gets to spend the rest of her night in that guy's big white unmarked van." I laugh at James who talks to the TV and spills a spoonful of rice. "Maggie is really benefiting from you and your coordination, Mr. Gallo."

We watch Maggie quickly vacuum up the mess with her mouth and I scruff up her hair.

"Sorry." James says like I would ever care about a few pieces of fallen rice.

"For what?" 

"I fumble a little more when I get tired."

"Anndd........how is that new news to me? I don't care about that stuff James. You know that." I rub his back and help him put more rice on his spoon for him. He leans over and continues eating over his plate.

"Right. Yeah. I'm starting to get used to always having to explain my shortcomings to my sisters. I forget you already know."

"You're really having a hard time with them caring for you huh?" I don't even realize I am still rubbing his back but don't stop. It looks like it relaxes him. I put his bottle of beer in his hand and wait for his grip to be tight before letting go. He takes a sip and nods.

"Yeah. Just little stuff. Like that. I didn't have to ask you to help me with my drink or my food. Don't get me wrong. My sisters are all a huge blessing to me. I-"

"James." I stop him there and brush his hair away from his forehead. "You don't have to explain that to me. I get it. You know I do." My hand falls from his hair and rests on his cheek. My thumb gently strokes the stubble and I'm suddenly feeling all sorts of things. This is the first time James and I have been alone in a while. A long while.  My eyes drop to his lips as he puts his utensil down and turns to me a little more. Our eyes lock and my heart begins to race. It races because I want this. It's James. What's not to love about James?

And we never DID finish what we started before the accident. We could have been something together. Who knows? But our world got turned upside-down in the matter of five minutes and hasn't been the same since.

"Hey." He says in almost a whisper.

"Hey..." 

James leans in slowly and my eyes fall back down to his perfect lips.

He nudges his nose with mine a little before our lips meet softly. A rush of warmth spreads through me. James lifts both hands and cups my face, leaning into the kiss more. His lips are soft, and the kiss is warm and tender and perfect. It's like everything is background noise now. The tv seems quieter. The room feels warmer, and we are comfortable together.

Everything about this moment feels perfect.

The way he alternates from my top to bottom lip perfectly. The way his thumbs stroke my cheeks while he holds my face. Even the faint taste of his beer is perfect. I thread my fingers into his hair and pull him in more.  I part my lips, and his tongue gently touches mine, sending sparks and goosebumps and fireworks exploding through me all at once. 

I pull James more and our kissing picks up in pace. Its needy and longing and sweet...

And over. 

My phone rings on the table, jolting us both back into reality as the kiss leaves us both flustered and breathless. James sits up straighter and pulls me with him so I can get to my phone.

"Shit. It's Nate. I need to take this." I sigh.

"Of course."

*******