*James*

"You are healing up well, Mr. Gallo." Dr. Giovanni is pleased with my progress. After my last seizure the doctor wanted to see me to run some further tests. Today Casey brought me.

"Do you think I will ever be back to normal?" I have to ask this. Usually, Dr. Giovanni is always a positive person, never worrying about anything, telling me it all takes time. But today he looks up from my chart with sympathetic eyes. That last seizure did something. It made the doctor no longer assure everything is fine or for me to not worry. No longer telling me it all takes time.

"You've come a long way, James. It can take up to a full year for brain injuries to heal. But you need to be prepared if a year, two years, five years go by, and you are still the same as today. This may be as far healed as you will get. But you just don't know. Everyone thought you would never wake up out of the coma and you are here with me now. Talking. Walking. Comprehending things."

"Bu-but this could be as far as it goes?" My eyes fill with tears. "Is there anything more I can do to guarantee I will fully heal??"

The doctor sighs, knowing the answer. "You should be very proud of yourself and the hard work you've put into your recovery. You are a miracle, son. Most do not pull through the way you did."

I nod and wipe my eyes with my hand. I need to see the blessings for what they are. The doctor is right. I can talk and walk and understand things. But I will always have seizures, always have coordination issues, always fumble with my words like that of a stroke patient. I will always need full time care and the doctor can see how torn up I am about this.

"Keep doing your PT exercises. Keep working on your coordination and speech therapy. Don't give up hope. Mr. Gallo, if anyone will surprise us with a full recovery, it will be you, sir."

*****

"I know it wasn't your best appointment, but don't let this ruin your day, ok?" Casey says while driving us home. "The doctor is right. If anyone is going to fully recover it's going to be you."

"Yeah. But what if I don't?" I wipe my eyes again.

"Then you don't. Then you be grateful that the only things wrong with you are minor things. You aren't paralyzed in a wheelchair. You're not blind or deaf. Like he said, you can walk and talk and comprehend things, James- that is huge." Casey takes my hand and squeezes it while keeping her eyes on the road. "I'm proud of how much you've recovered. You don't miss one day of your PT exercises. You are always trying to work on your coordination. I'm proud of you, James. You should be proud of you too."

I take Casey's words to heart and think of this as a true blessing. God gave me this life to live and I'm going to live it to its fullest. I could have easily become a paraplegic or brain dead. I'm not. I can stand on my own two feet. I can read and could probably write if I had the hand coordination. And I'm here. I'm alive.

Today is a good day.

*****

*Trisha*

When Paul isn't with Julia, he is with me. When he heard I talked to Dave a while back when I was waiting for James and Casey in the Avalon parking lot, he went right into bodyguard mode again. So, just like old times, I drag him with me to run errands.

"You could be sleeping right now or relaxing, old man." I say as I purposely walk into Victoria's Secret just to embarrass Paul. I sift through some sexy lingerie. James seems to be a visual person, like Nate, so some new little sets are in order.

"I won't relax knowing you're out here alone and he is still in L.A." Paul shakes his head at one of the lacy sets I pick up.

"Go with the red." He grumbles.

"Are you helping me shop for LINGERIE Mr. Rossi?" I laugh. 

My phone rings and I see its Jonah. Jonah would never call me unless there was a medical problem. Nate or James.

"Shit. C'mon." I grab Paul's hand and walk out of the store and back into the main lobby of the busy mall.

"Jonah. Is everything ok??" I find a bench and Paul and I sit down.

"Not really. Nate told me to call you. He wants you back at the apartment right away." Jonah's voice sounds panicked. Jonah never panics.

"Jonah. What's going on?" I look at Paul while Jonah talks. "Ok. We're on our way."

"What's happening, Trisha?" Paul asks.

"We need to go home."

******

"Guys, sit down. You'll need to sit down for this." Jonah looks at both me and Paul, but my eyes are on Nate.

"Okay.... what did you do now, Nate?"  I sit down. "Please tell me you didn't do something stupid."

"Trish.... shut up." Nate hands Paul a document. He glances at it and then stands up so I can't see it.

"Fuck." The bodyguard grumbles. He paces back and forth while reading the document in his head. "FUCK! Where did you get this?"

"Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on? What is that?" I glare at Paul who looks down at me with sympathetic eyes. Whatever that paper says it's something terrible.

"Kendall came over this morning. The sheriff hand delivered it to her." Jonah begins.

"The Sherrif?"  I bolt up to grab the paper, but Paul turns away, still reading it.

"Sit down." He says sternly.

"Fuck off. Let me see the letter." I grab the paper from Paul and begin to see what the hell everyone is talking about.

Wait.

This is...

Wait... James Gallo. 

Charged with Reckless Driving.

"WHAT?!"  I shriek and breakfast travels up my throat sending me running to the bathroom to throw up. 

I make it just in time and get sick in the toilet. Jonah comes in and kneels down next to me. I lean back against the tub and stare straight ahead.

"Trish..."

"That document..." I turn to Jonah. "That document said..."

"I know."

"But..." I begin to cry.

"I know." Jonah repeats.

"Does James know about this yet?" I stand and tie my hair back in a ponytail before I start splashing water on my face.

"No. Not yet."

"Trisha, you need to pull it together before James and Casey come home." Paul taps on the bathroom door. "They are on their way." 

*****

*James*

 Casey buzzes into Nate's apartment but when the elevator door opens, Maggie refuses to get out. She stands right in front of me and begins to bark.

"Mags, move, you big baby. I can't get by." I laugh at my crazy pup. I look up and lock eyes with Nate, immediately knowing something is wrong. 

"Seriously, Maggie. Go. C'mon.... " I clap my hands, and Maggie finally gets out of the elevator. "What's gotten into you today?"

"What's wrong?" Casey asks Nate.

"Why don't we wait for Jonah, ok?"  Nate's voice cracks and now we know something is really wrong. We both sit down, and my dog jumps up onto the couch, putting her head on my thigh.

"God, you're needy today." I smirk down at my spoiled brat of a dog and scruff her ears. Trisha comes out of the bathroom, and you can clearly tell she has been crying.

"Are you feeling ok??" Casey sees Trisha's watery eyes and puffy lips. She doesn't respond but rushes my way and throws her arms around me.

"Ok. um. Hi." I laugh but Trisha starts crying.

"You know what? I'm going to take her in the other room." Paul hands Jonah a piece of mail. He grabs Trisha's arm and pulls her gently and walks her into Nate's room.

"Guys, what's happening??" I ask.

"Your sister came by this morning." Nate looks at me with sympathetic eyes. Oh no. My mother.

"Which one? Is my mom fine? Katie?" I need to know what's going on now. Jonah pats my shoulder. 

"You need to read this certified letter, James." Jonah holds up the paper so I can read it, and I feel Casey leaning into me a little to see the letter as well.

What the fuck is this?

State of California...Summons... Notice to appear in court... Reckless Driving... death of Malcolm Jones.

I look up at Nate and tears fill my eyes. I'm being charged with reckless driving.

That's all I remember.

The sudden stress made me have a seizure. A bad one.

*****

*Trisha*

I pace Nate's room in tears while Paul stands at the door.

"Paul, let me go out there. I need to be with him." I mutter and stop walking to look up at the bodyguard.

"Wait for them to tell James first, ok?" 

"Paul... That said reckless driving..." I can barely see through my tears. "That said..."

"I know what it said." He puts his big bodyguard hands on my shoulders.

"But..." I feel him pull me in for a hug and I wrap my arms around his waist, putting my head down as my tears drop to the floor. This is really happening. James has been summoned to court because of Malcolm's death. It's been months. Why the hell would they open an investigation now?

Nate opens the door, comes in and closes it behind him.

"Nate... what's going to happen??" I ask and watch Nate sit on his bed. I do the same and sit next to him as Paul exits the room.

"I need you to snap out it ok?" Nate puts a hand on my knee and looks into my blurry eyes. "We will cry later. Right now, I need you to get to work. We need the best and I mean, the FUCKING best lawyer in L.A. ok? Can you find out who that is? I don't care the cost. If we don't win this case James could get jail time."

"SERIOUSLY? He wasn't driving drunk. He didn't do this on purpose! He was put in a motherfucking COMA from this-"

"TRISHA! I need you to focus with me. Look up the BEST lawyer. Call around. Ask other celebrities. Figure it out. Please.  Can you do that for me?"

I nod. Nate is right. We will cry later. Right now, I need to get to work.

******

*James*

It's been a few days and not one of us have gotten any sleep. I had not one, but two seizures triggered by the stress. I cried all night that first night. ALL night. I'm scared. I'm nervous. I've never done anything wrong in my life and now face charges that could possibly send me to prison. 

Somehow this news got leaked out. Our faces are, once again, all over the internet, all over the news on TV, everywhere. I'm extra shaky this morning, barely able to hold my coffee cup.

"Here, let me hold it for you." Casey holds the cup steady for me to take a sip.

"Has anyone told Julia?" I ask, seeing her face on the TV screen.

"No. She probably already knows though. She's in the safest place though. They will help her. We need to focus on you right now." Trisha sits next to me with her breakfast. She looks exhausted. She spent two days searching for the best lawyer and was able to get an appointment with her today. We are ALL on edge this morning.

Addison Landry is exactly what we expected. An extremely smart, put together celebrity lawyer who has yet to lose a case in her career. She's expensive but Nate is willing to pay, and I am beyond grateful for that. Without him I would have had to get one of those free lawyers and it wouldn't end well for me.

"Mr. Hollan, nice to meet you. Sorry it has to be under these circumstances." Addison's Jamaican accent fills the room.

"Miss Landry... have a seat."

"Please, Addison. Beautiful home you have." She sits down and Nate introduces us all. We all look pale, lifeless and nervous, to be expected.

"Can I get you anything? Tea, coffee?" Trisha asks nervously ringing her hands like Julia does.

"No, thank you. Let's get right down to it."" The lawyer pulls out a folder and opens it, then begins reading off a document.

"Ok, Mr. Gallo." She looks across the couch to where I'm sitting. I'm already on the brink of tears and the lawyer can tell. "A conviction for reckless driving under California Vehicle Code 23013 can result in the following. A fine of up to $5000.00. Driving privilege suspension for up to 60 days. Up to 90 days in county jail or all of the above."

"County Jail?!" Paul blurts out and Addison looks irritated at the interruption.

"As I was saying. Penalties can be enhanced if another person was injured or killed. In cases of serious bodily injury or death, the driver may face more serious criminal charges, such as vehicular manslaughter."

 Manslaughter?

I burst into tears. Maggie starts barking so Casey, who is also now crying, takes the dog down the hall into Nate's room.

"Right now, our focus needs to be on keeping Mr. Gallo from being sent to prison. I assume money is not a factor in this case?" Addison turns to Nate.

"I will pay whatever the fine is as well as for your services."

"Nadine Jones, Malcolm's niece, is out for the money. From what I have already researched, she was not close to her uncle. There is no mention of him on any social media sites, no photos of them together, not so much as a happy birthday mentioned. Malcolm's brother died of a heart attack months before the accident so I can only assume Ms. Jones is fishing for money to help pay for the funeral costs for her father. I dug a little deeper to find out, due to lack of family still alive and the inability to locate Malcolm's niece. Malcolm did not have funeral services of his own."

"If she just wants money. I will give her money." Nate responds.

"Yes, but if the judge sees fit, James could go to prison. We need to be aware of this possibility."

"He can't go to jail. There has to be another option for him. James is disabled due to injuries from the accident. He had a major brain bleed, requiring brain surgery and was in a coma for an extended amount of time. His brain is still healing, has seizures and his physical disabilities require him to have a nurse and medical dog at all times." Jonah chimes in for the medical portion of this.

There's a long pause where Addision stares at me with sympathy before she shakes her head.

"This is awful." She says candidly. "I'm really sorry, James. I'm aware this was an accident from being overtired. This wasn't driving while intoxicated or a malicious act and the case would probably have been closed. I do know the ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act requires prisons to provide reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. However, prison officials can limit accommodations if they impose an undue financial and administrative burden or if the disabled inmate's participation poses a significant health and safety risk. You may face challenges while incarcerated. We could use this to our advantage. It would be more expensive for the state to send you to prison than for you to dish out a fine." Addison explains. "But Nadine Jones may want more. She may want you to serve time as a punishment."

*****

After the attorney leaves, I bury my head in my hands.

"It was a mistake." My voice cracks and I feel Nate's hand on my shoulder. "I never meant to hurt anyone. I would never-" I can't even finish my sentence through my sobbing.

"We know. We all know that, James. I'm going to figure this out, ok? The judge will see you for who you are. An outstanding citizen who has never done anything wrong. This was all an accident. I will pay whatever fines, I will do whatever needs to be done, ok Gallo?"

"Nate, Julia knows." Jonah comes out of the bedroom holding his phone. "Jeremy just called. I think you need to bring James to see her."

Shit. She knows? The last thing I'd ever want is to stress Julia out more. I begin to cry harder but try to pull myself together. "Ok. C'mon Mags." My voice is higher pitched as I try to hold in my emotion.

I cry the entire way to The Avalon. Maybe once I get there, I will have nothing left and will be calmer for Julia.

"Sir, right this way." A nurse looks at me with empathy. My face is all over the news. My eyes are blurry and swollen so much it's hard not to notice. And I'm still fucking crying.

Julia is in her room, under her covers, shutting down. I'm not surprised. To be honest, I wish I could do that right about now. Just shut down. Shut my brain off completely. Not deal with anything that's happening.

Maggie jumps up on the bed and begins licking Julia's face.

"Hi." I stand in the doorway and the second Julia sees me she bolts up out of her bed and wraps her arms around me.

"I'm so scared, Julia. I'm so fucking scared." I cry. I'm more than scared. I'm petrified. I bury my face in the crook of her neck and sob. I feel like I can no longer hold myself up and Julia senses it right away. She sits me down on the bed with her next to me and puts her hands on my face. "We're going to figure this out, ok? Nate will know what to do. Trisha will know. They'll get you a real good lawyer, I'm sure of it."

Julia kisses me.

"What if they send me to prison? I- I- I won't have anyone to he-help me!" I stutter.

"They won't send you to prison, ok? If they do, I will do something to land myself right in the same cell as you. I will take care of you. I will help you."

"I don't think it wo-works like that."

"Aww. C'mere," Julia assumes the position, leaning back against the wall and gestures for me to lay down with my head in her lap. I do so and she is surprisingly very calm as she runs her fingers through my hair to calm me down.

Eventually I do calm down. Julia doesn't ask me questions. She doesn't bring anything up. She simple sits here with my head in her lap and calms me down.

Julia calms me down and I finally fall asleep for the first time in days.

******

I slept the entire night and wake up with Julia wrapped around my body. Her head is resting on my chest, and her tears are already falling.

"Hey babe, cryin' already?" I tuck my chin in to see Julia, feeling my own tears start to build.

Before Julia answers, Nate's British voice echoes through the apartment.

"You can't be fucking serious right now. No way. It's not happening, do you hear me? Figure it out, Trisha!"

We hear the familiar throw of the cell phone and Paul telling Nate to calm down. Typical Hollan.

"Good morning." I smirk and Julia rolls her eyes at Nate's temper tantrum.

"Good morning." She cuddles up to me and I let out a sigh. But I can feel her heart beating so fast already.

"Your heart is racing, babe."

"As is yours..."

"I'm so scared." I stare up at the ceiling with watery eyes.

I've never been in trouble with the law before. I've never even been in a courtroom before, never mind a prison. If this lawyer doesn't win, I lose. I lose my freedom. I lose my life. 

******