*James*

I can't believe this is what my life has come down to. I don't mean to be so depressing to be around but c'mon! Where is my break in life?

 I have a one-night stand, don't find out I'm going to be a dad till weeks before the girl gives birth then fucking ditches us. I raise a medical child who I fall absolutely in love with, who doesn't survive and dies on Christmas eve.  I have a shit father who tortures his family even as adults. Fall in love and get her ripped away from me by some billionaire, kill a man with my car, go into a coma and come out half a man and now I'm facing time in prison. 

God...I'm trying to be faithful here. I really am. But you've GOT to cut me some slack.

Today is no better. My speech is off, my concentration is off, and my coordination is shit. And I'm supposed to be put together for this meeting with the lawyer on top of it all.

Well, I'm not. 

I'm a nervous wreck is what I am, and it shows.

Addison calmly sips her coffee in Nate's living room while we have a meeting.

"We- as in me and Colton West- had our pretrial conference." Addison says.

"What is a pretrial conference?" I haven't a clue what any of this means.

"It's when the judge meets with the lawyers to evaluate the trial, review evidence and hope to negotiate a settlement. If a settlement is reached, then you wouldn't have to move forward with the trial." She explains. "A settlement wasn't reached so we need to proceed with the scheduled trial. Colton wants to win and his client, Nadine Jones, wants justice for her uncle."

"Justice! James didn't murder the guy. They were involved in a fucking car accident." Nate starts pacing and looks over to me. He can tell I'm about to burst into tears. "So, what exactly happens at a trial?"

"Well," Addison shifts in her seat. "The prosecution and defense present their evidence. The prosecution will show pictures of the accident. It will be hard to look at, James. West will paint a picture of the horrific scene that killed Mr. Jones. Then we call witnesses and make our arguments. My argument will be that you don't belong in prison for this. My evidence will be how you are an honest man who made an honest mistake. A mistake that resulted in a coma and permanent disability. My witnesses will be all the people you love to paint a picture of what an outstanding citizen you are, as well as how medically you cannot physically serve time with the 24/7 care you need."

"Ok..." Nate continues pacing.

"They will say the law is the law. A man died because of reckless driving. And under the law that would be up to two years in prison. Non-gross vehicular manslaughter is a charge that occurs with a driver acts with ordinary negligence, such as inattention or carelessness, and causes a fatal accident. You ran a red light. You were inattentive."

"From working my ass off with back-to-back shifts at the Marriott. I wasn't drinking or anything like that!" I exclaim. The only did I did wrong was try to pay my fucking bills.

"Right. But they are seeking punishment that is equal to the crime. James, they are seeking to cause suffering to the wrongdoer that is equal to the suffering they caused with their actions. In this case, taking the life of Nadine's beloved uncle. I'm going to fight back by asking why, if Nadine was so close to her uncle, did she wait so long to come forward? Why didn't she have a proper service for her uncle? If she loves him so much why in the ten years Malcolm was your driver, did he NEVER mention his niece. There are no social media posts, no pictures of the two of them together, no Happy Birthdays. These are the things you do and say when you are someone's close uncle. If she's just looking for money, great. We'll give her money. But jail time?"

"Yeah, but will th-that be a strong enough case?" I stutter.

"No, Mr. Gallo. It will not. Which is why I am then going to highlight your disability from the crash. You are already paying your time. A lifetime being disabled. Colton will most likely say, that's not enough. Because you can no longer drive, taking away your license wouldn't be a punishment. Nadine will want more. But I will fight. I will bring up how if you were to go to prison the cost to the state to accommodate you medically and meet your requirements will be above and beyond anything the state of California can afford. Best case scenario, you'll have a hefty lump sum of financial compensation go to Nadine to pay for her emotional stress of losing a loved one. Maybe be on home confinement and have to wear an ankle monitoring device or something."

"And the worst case?" 

"Time in prison along with financial compensation."

My stomach ties in a knot. Home confinement doesn't bother me so long as I have a nurse to care for me, but prison? I can't survive prison. I can't even survive living on my own without help. How the hell do they expect me to survive in prison? Can't they see this was all an accident? I never meant to hurt anyone!

I bow my head and cry. 

This is a nightmare.

"Hey, we're going to figure this out, ok James?" Nate sits down next to me and puts a hand on my shoulder. "I will do whatever it takes to keep your out of jail."

"Unfortunately, this one is out of your hands, Mr. Hollan. Nadine Jones wants more than money. She wants justice to be served."

******

*Trisha*

It's rare for Paul to need to vent but when he does, he seems to call me. I don't mind. I never do. But one thing I can't fix is Julia Moretti and I think Paul realizes he's got his work cut out for him here.

James wants nothing to do with my help today, so I go down to the gym and walk on the treadmill while Paul talks.

"They had to sedate her. Again."

Oh brother.

"What did she do now?" I slow down the treadmill so I can talk easily.

"It all stems from the trial. She feels useless. She can't be there for James, and she doesn't think it's fair he's having to fight for his freedom. Then it triggered something with her son's car accident and how he died and shit."

"She's got a lot of triggers, that one."

"Trish..." Paul says in a reprimanding tone.

"Sorry. I'm being insensitive. But there is just so much going on around here we can't be worrying about Moretti like this."

"I have a feeling you don't worry about her enough." Paul snaps and puts me in my place over the phone. I feel heat rise to my cheeks. "She worked really hard to get sober."

"Is Nate aware of this news?" I turn the conversation over, fumble with the buttons on the treadmill and pull the plug on my workout.

"Yeah, he's going to need a new phone."

"God damn that man-child." I huff. Good thing I already have a new one for him on the charger for times like these. "That kid needs to grow up or start throwing pillows instead of cell phones."

"He must have talked to Jonah at some point because he showed up and calmed him down."

So THAT'S why Jonah was in such a rush to leave the apartment a little while ago. I knew he was talking to Nate but didn't know he was going to the Avalon.

"So where is Nate now??"

"Visiting his sister."

"Jesus. He's going to have a heart attack before he leaves the building."

"How's James?" Paul asks and I hear the concern in his voice. James is a friend to him. James is a friend to everyone.

"He had a tough time with eating. Casey was the one he finally let help him. He wants nothing to do with me. Then after he went to bed to take a nap." I frown.

"He's just frustrated, Trish. That's all it is." Paul can tell I'm overthinking things, but it doesn't stop me from feeling hurt by how James is pushing me away. "Ok, I gotta go. Just wanted to give you the latest update."

"Thanks Paulie." I hang up with a sigh and head upstairs. Casey is baking...cupcakes? I have a feeling when she gets stressed, she bakes. It's like that blonde girl Izzy from Greys Anatomy who baked a shitload of desserts whenever she was stressed out.

"You tryna fatten us all up?" I steal the cupcake she is frosting right out of her hand and take a bite. She laughs at that.

"How the heck do you stay so thin? God, you're just like Jonah." Casey picks up another vanilla cupcake and begins covering it with pink frosting.

"Did you hear about Julia?" I ask with a mouthful of food. Casey's eyes widen and she looks over towards the couch. 

Shit. 

James is awake. He's sitting on the couch with the dog and his head whips around when he hears Julia's name.

"What about Julia?"

Casey drops her shoulders and gives me a "Seriously?" look.

"Sorry. I didn't know." I whisper and walk over to the couch.

"Her bipolar got the best of her. They had to sedate her again." I sit down next to James and he stares ahead at nothing. "Nothing you need to worry about, ok? She's in good hands."

"She's in the hands of her rapist, Trisha. How can you not  be worried for her?"

God, today is NOT my day.

******