She heard the shrill sound of her cell phone screaming for her attention. Blindly, she reached out from under the covers to snatch it off the nightstand, mumbling curse words until she answered it with a groggy "What?"
"Oh Jules, honey I'm so sorry to wake you," Barbara Russell's voice echoed in her ear "but I just thought you should know, D.B was hurt this evening."
Instantly Julie felt wide awake. She sat up in bed, heart racing as if she had just woken up from one of her nightmares but this was real.
"What do you mean hurt?" she demanded to know.
"He was shot outside the Cyber division," Barbara said "but it's all right, he's gonna be o.k, they got him stabilized and he just needs to recover here in D.C for a few weeks."
But Julie's nerves were still on edge. She couldn't shake images of Russell out of her head. How bad were his injuries? Was Barbara not telling her the whole story? She had to find out for herself.
"Are you there in D.C?" Julie asked.
"Yes dear, Maya, Charlie and Katie are here too," Barbara said.
"I'm getting a flight." Julie said yanking back the covers and stumbling out of bed over to her computer "I'll be there as soon as I can."
In the groggy state of having just woken up, Julie searched for flights online that would get her to D.C by morning. When she finally found one, she booked it then immediately started packing. She threw a few articles of clothing into a small carry on backpack along with her credentials and other personal items. After a quick shower and a change of clothes, she dragged the backpack and her purse into the living room of her condo, grabbing her keys and stopping at the bookshelf to snatch one last item before gathering up her belongings and bolting out the door.
It was still a bit chilly by the time she landed in D.C and got a cab to the hospital near the Cyber division headquarters in Quantico. Barbara had texted her the hospital address when she knew she was coming. Julie didn't even bother to get a hotel she just dragged all her stuff through the lobby, asked for directions to the floor and room Russell was on, also provided by Barbara, and thanked the nurse who guided her there.
Julie braced herself for what she might see when she opened that door. She hated hospitals and felt her nerves on edge as she stood here listening to the sounds of machines keeping people alive, the paging system above her head, the clink of metal rods from the ceiling as curtains were pulled shut for privacy and the hum of the air conditioner. It all made her stomach churn unpleasantly as her mind was fixated on memories of her time in the hospital last March. As she realized today's date was also March, she felt a weight drop into her stomach at the irony. But he was o.k, according to Barbara, so she gently knocked on the door, surprised at how fast it swung open seconds later.
"Oh Jules, you made it," Barbara greeted her with a tight hug.
"Yeah," Julie said stealing a glance over her shoulder at the bed behind her "how is he?"
"Sleeping," Barbara said "pain killers, doctor's orders."
And Julie knew that only stubborn, health conscious D.B would turn down pain meds after being shot. Julie looked to the right and saw Maya holding Katie in her lap and Charlie hovering nearby. She offered hugs to them both and waved at Katie who looked exhausted and had probably been here all night.
"Thanks for being here," Maya said "I know he'll love to see you when he wakes up."
"I couldn't stand it, staying in Vegas while he's here hurting," Julie said "and he spent so much time at the hospital when I was in a coma, gotta return the favor."
She finally glanced at the bed where Russell lay looking peaceful but hooked up to a few machines dispensing pain medication. They all stood in silence watching over him until Barbara said "Charlie, girls, lets go get some food from the cafeteria." Maya, Charlie and Katie followed her out of the room leaving Julie alone with Russell.
Once they had gone, Julie sank down in the chair closest to the bed and quietly pulled it closer to the bed so she could curl up cross legged in it.
"You scared me," she whispered to him "you promised this little trip was just to help Avery and you'd be back soon, but look where we are."
She choked back a sob and continued "Now I know how you felt when I was stuck here last year,"
She sniffled and wiped the tears that were falling faster than she anticipated. Her emotions had been on over drive since the coma and the slightest stress could cause her to burst into tears and this was one of those moments. Unfortunately, her sniffling was louder than she thought and Russell started to wake up. When his eyes met hers, all he had to offer her was a weak chuckle as he said "So this is what hell is like."
"Stop that," Julie said sternly, unappreciative of his humor in this tense moment.
"What are you doing here Jules?" Russell asked.
"I'm here to see you," she said "Barbara called and said you were hurt, I had to see you, and I got the first flight."
She was stumbling over her words, the fear beginning to leave her and only a slight pang of worry remaining. Her hands were shaking as she reached out to hold his.
"Are you o.k.?" she asked "can I get you anything?"
"I'm fine Jules," he insisted trying to ease her fears but she was the queen of "I'm fines" and knew he was probably lying to spare her any more pain. "Did Barbara and the kids go back to the hotel?"
"No, the cafeteria," Julie said "are you hungry, did you want food, I can go get them and-
She rose from the chair intending to chase them down and put in an order of food for him but a pressure on her wrist made her stop and turn. Russell had grabbed her arm and was gently trying to pull her back, wanting her to stay.
"Relax Jules," he said "I'm not on deaths door."
As usual, he had gotten to the real issue bothering her. She sank back down into the chair, knees trembling like they always did when she was scared as she mumbled "I thought you were, that phone call, Barbara's voice, it was scary."
She hated admitting that to him, but after years of friendship, she knew she could.
"I know," he soothed "it is scary, and after all you just went through with Winthrop, but hey, listen, the team was right there after it happened, Avery and Nelson and everyone and they got me here quick, doctors got the bullet out no trouble, now I get an extra vacation here until I'm well enough to fly back to Vegas, that's it Jules."
She nodded but hung her head, feeling ashamed for being so emotional in front of him.
"Is that what it was like last year?" she dared to ask now "you know, when I was- out."
He knew she meant the coma and his constant vigil by her bedside.
"Yeah, yeah it was," Russell told her "but that was a lot worse than getting shot Jules."
She looked at him with teary eyes, unsure how to argue with him about who had the worst injuries and said instead "I have something for you."
She sank down onto the floor where she left her travel bag, dug around in it and pulled out the book she had snatched off the shelf at her condo before leaving.
"Sara said you read to me when I was in the coma," Julie began, clutching the book to her chest "thought I'd return the favor, if that's o.k?"
"Of course Jules," he said emotionally touched by her kind gesture.
He watched her maneuver back into the chair, curling up in it, propping the book open on her knees and turning to the first page.
"It's "Go Set A Watchman" she informed him "sequel to "To Kill A Mockingbird" Sara recommended it."
"Of course she did," Russell said smiling, knowing how intelligent and drawn to books Sara was.
Julie cleared her throat to start reading but paused, piercing him with watery eyes as she sniffled and asked timidly "Promise me you won't scare me like this again?"
The way she looked at him in this moment, so frail and unsure, broke his heart. It showed just how big her heart was and how much she cared not just for him but everyone around her.
"I promise Jules," he said.
With that as reassurance, she began to read, softly and slow, calm and comforting, the first chapter of the book, her gently tone lulling him back to sleep.
A/N: I chose to have Russell still be with Barbara and living in Vegas but doing a consultation for Avery when he was shot. On Cyber he had already been there for months but this flowed nicely with the timeline's of my other stories and I wanted to capture what Julie would feel and experience as she received the news, processed it and finally went to see him.