Chapter 11 – Memories

A/N: Hey guys! I'm taking a little break from homework to get this chapter written. This storyline is dwindling down, and the next chapter will be very, very long, so I'm not sure when I'll get that ready for you guys. But either way, thanks for being so patient!

2004 – JAMES

As I was driving home from Miles's house, a zillion thoughts were racing through my head. I could feel the pain in my chest as the other me held Juliet over the gaping magnetic hole. I felt that raging fear, and yet, I never experienced that in my life. How could I remember these things so vividly? For the first time ever I also felt some sort of hatred towards the beach. I'd never felt that in my entire life, and yet, as I was driving home, I was glad to be getting as far away from it as possible.

Driving all that way—it kinda put me in a daze. I had so much on my mind that I don't even really remember the drive. At some point you get so used to turning left here, and right there, that you don't even really realize that you're home until you stop the car.

The lights were turned out, which I half expected. I didn't know if maybe Juliet was asleep, so I was as quiet as possible when I entered the house. After a few minutes of looking around, I realized no one was there.

Normally, our neighbors Rose and Bernard watch David when Juliet's out, so I gave them a call to see if they knew where she went. It was ten o'clock.

"Hello?" Rose answered.

"Hey Rose, it's James. Juliet there?"

"No, honey, she um… she went out for a bit. David's here with us."

Huh… out where?

"Oh okay, I'll be over in a sec to get him. Do you know where she mighta gone to?" I asked hopefully, though I highly doubted she'd tell me even if she did know. That woman was highly temperamental, 'specially with me.

"No, sorry dear, I don't. I'll have David pack up his things though."

Yeah, thought so.

"Alright then, thanks Rose." And we hung up.

Damn damn damn. Where the hell could she be? She ain't at her sisters, she still lives in Miami. She wouldn't be at work, because it's probably locked up by now. Where the hell could she be?

Ah well, I thought. I'll get David and just wait for her to get home.

I walked outside, feeling the soft breeze and it reminded me of summer, in my weird memories. An island, I guess it was? Jules and I would (would we?) sit outside on the porch drinkin' vodka and lemonade and we'd make jokes about all the weird people wearing them ugly jumpsuits (why were they all wearing jumpsuits?)

I hated feeling so damn confused.

David opened up the door to Rose and Bernard's before I'd even made it onto the porch. He waved good-bye to the couple who were now like family to him, and then trotted down the stairs to meet me.

"Hey champ, how was stayin' with Rose and Bernard?" I asked tentatively. I didn't know if he was still mad at me or not for forgetting about him.

"It was fun." He walked ahead slightly, and I knew he was still mad. He's just like his father, I guess.

"David, stop."

He whipped around. "What?"

I took a deep breath. "Look, I'm not perfect, alright? Yeah, I forgot. And yeah, I forget a lot of things, but that don't change how I feel about ya."

"Really? And how's that? Look, I've got a dad. I don't need another one."

Ouch.

I followed him into the house, before grabbing him by the shoulder. "David, would ya just listen to me for a damn second?"

He rolled his eyes as he turned to face me. "What, James." It scared me how much he resembled Juliet. His blue eyes went cold as ice. I knew there was something else going on.

"David, I think of ya like a son I never had. Yeah, you got a dad, and he ain't me, but ya know what? I've basically known you your whole life, and ya know I love ya. I do. And I felt really damn guilty for forgettin' to pick you up. I do. All I wanna do is be a good stepdad and I don't want you hatin' me over somethin' that I don't have any control over. I made a mistake, okay? I did. But I've been to every one of your concerts, and have you even told your dad about them?" David grimaced. "I do my best to be there for ya, and sometimes I screw up. But I don't want you to be mad at me forever over it."

David just stood there. Like a statue. Not saying a word. Juliet Jr…

"Okay. I see your point. I know you didn't mean to. And you're right. I didn't tell my dad. I'm afraid of what he'll think. But look, I've got to go practice. I've got the audition in a couple of days and I need to practice as much as I can spare."

"How are you gonna go to that if you're with your dad this weekend?"

"I don't know, I guess I'll figure it out, James."

"Okay then. Go on ahead. Are we good?"

He nodded.

"Okay then. Good." I sighed and turned to walk away towards the kitchen. I was gonna get the phone and call Juliet.

David started going up the stairs before he turned toward me and asked, "hey, by the way, where's mom at?"

Then, the phone rang in my hands.

"Hello? Yes, this is he. Uh huh. Wait, what? Yes he's here too. Okay, yeah, we're on our way."

My hands were shaking as I hung up the phone. I could feel the blood draining from my face, and all my extremities went numb. I could barely breathe, let alone move or speak.

"James, what happened! Who was that? What's wrong?" David shouted. I barely heard him. My heart was pounding in my ears, and all I could picture was our wedding day. She wore the most beautiful dress, and was so happy…

I used all my strength to gulp down some air and grab my keys. I grabbed his arm and dragged him to the car.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" David shouted, bringing me back to reality.

I got in the car, started the ignition, and when David sat down next to me, I peeled out of the driveway, tires screeching and all.

"David," I croaked. "Something's happened. I don't know what yet, but your mom's in the hospital. They'll tell us more when we get there."

Silence. The thirty-minute drive took us fifteen minutes. I was sweating so hard my hands occasionally slid down the wheel. David was wide-eyed in the front seat, not having said a word since we left the neighborhood. I knew it must be hard on him. Hell, I was slowly dying inside thinking of all the possible outcomes. But I knew she was gonna be fine. She had to be fine. Yeah, she HAD to be fine.

As soon as we ran into the ER, a young burly doctor came up to us and asked us who we were. I could barely speak, so David told him.

"Ah, you're Juliet's husband and son?" I nodded. "Follow me. We paged Dr. Shephard and he gave us the number to call to reach you. He is in with her now. She is stable, for now, but we need to keep her monitored at all times."

He led us to her room. I couldn't even look at her. She was black and blue, and her hair was coated with blood. She had tubes sticking out of her all over the place and yet… she looked like she was sleeping. I walked into the room, slowly. David ran up to his dad and Jack held him tight, sayin' things were gonna be just fine and that she was gonna get fixed up. Yeah. Jack and his empty fucking promises.

After the doc left, I asked Jack what happened. I could barely croak it out without feelin' tears well up in my eyes. I was shaking all over. I wanted to touch her, but see, Juliet's a light sleeper. She hates being woken up.

"It was an accident. She was out drinking I guess and was able to catch a cab. I don't know if she just had too much or maybe something else happened, but she passed out in the cab and the driver freaked out. He tried waking her up when he got to a stoplight and I guess someone wasn't paying attention because they ran right into them, on her side of the car. She wasn't wearing her seatbelt and got massive injuries because of it. James… the doctors said she was pregnant."

David immediately looked up at me, alarmed. I was stunned.

"Uh… wait. Was?"

"She still is. They were able to save the baby. But Juliet got pretty drunk. I doubt she would have done that had she known. Right…?"

Holy shit. "I don't know if she knew. She sure as shit didn't tell me about it."

"Well, I'm sorry you had to find out this way. And hey, she's going to be fine. We just need to make sure she can wake up. They can't tell anymore about her condition until she does."

David sat beside Juliet and took her hand. He started crying.

"Thanks for bein' with her, Jack. I'll take it from here." Jack nodded.

"I've gotta get back to work. David, if anything changes, or if you wanna talk, come find me okay?" David sniffed and said he would. Jack shook my hand and then left. I was at a loss.

She's pregnant. Did she know? Was that what she was trying to tell me? She wouldn't have had any drinks had she known… would she?

I sat down in the chair next to her bed. I tried hard to ignore the blood and the bruises and the wires and the beeping and the tube. Instead, I saw her, beautiful as ever, sleeping next to me after the first time we'd made love. She was embarrassed because she caught me watching her. She said she looked 20 years older in the mornings. I told her she looked 20 years younger. She was the absolute best thing that had ever happened to me, and I knew that that morning. I focused on that memory as best as I could before kissing her forehead, and saying one of my first prayers.

A/N: yeah, kinda short, I know, but im trying to get to the end now! I have a couple more left, and then itll be finished! Please review, they make my day. And next chapter probably wont be up for a while, because its gonna be a longggg one. : ) im excited for the ending though! Thanks for sticking with it!