Author's Note: So sorry it's taken so long! I've been battling a lot of migraines lately, one of which was a month long and kept me from doing much of anything with a computer. But I'm feeling better now and you're about to read the longest chapter I've ever written for anything! Plus I've already started on the next one!
Huge thank yous to wordsthinker and a Guest for their reviews of the last chapter! You guys keep me going!
Disclaimer: Sadly, Lost does not belong to me.
Please read and review! It makes me happy and helps me write faster knowing you guys are out there waiting to read it!
(And for James' new haircut - think Josh Holloway in Intelligence!)
Code Silver
Chapter 14
A couple hours later James and Juliet walked hand in hand out of the ER, both still high on the adrenaline from the situation, the rush of declaring their love for the first time, and in James' case some good painkillers. "You headed back to work?" He asked.
"Nope." She said. "No babies to deliver today and everything else can wait." She smiled and squeezed his hand. "I'm taking you home."
He smiled back before his brows furrowed. "Please tell me you didn't park a mile away." The hospital offered an underground parking garage for doctors, but Juliet often chose to park in one of the far employee lots instead. She claimed she needed the exercise. James thought she was crazy.
Juliet rolled her eyes. "I was running late today so I'm in the garage." They headed in that direction and she was thankful he wasn't trying to convince her to let him drive. His scans and x-rays were all normal, but he was leaving work with a concussion, ten stitches, a good dose of painkillers in his system, and the next three days off.
"So what are we going to do with all of this unexpected free time?" James waggled his eyebrows at Juliet and wrapped his arms around her waist as soon as she closed the door to his apartment.
She laughed and let him pull her close, entwining her arms around his neck. "You are resting." She said seriously, but still with a smile.
"I'm fine." He reminded her playfully.
Her eyes went to the line of stitches on the left side of his head and her smile faded. They were surrounded by red, angry skin in a patch of hair that looked nearly bald compared to the rest of his long locks. She didn't like to see him hurt, but she was thankful it wasn't more serious. She thought back to the excruciatingly long minutes when she'd thought he was dead. Her arms around him tightened and she rested her head on his chest.
James placed a kiss on the top of her head and rubbed his hands along her back. He knew she was right. He needed rest. And he was sure he'd likely feel like shit as soon as his meds wore off. He couldn't help but joke in serious situations and though he knew she'd turn him down, a part of him still hoped she'd take him up on his offer. He'd finally told her he loved her after weeks of keeping it to himself. He longed to prove how much he meant it.
"I love you." He said again instead.
She looked up and smiled. "I love you, too."
He brought his lips to hers in a passionate, but quick kiss. "How about a movie night?" He suggested.
She nodded. "I'll order the pizza."
Two hours and a large pepperoni later the ending credits started to roll. James and Juliet were on the couch. She leaned against him, her head on his shoulder and his arm around her. The remote sat on the arm of the couch on his other side and after going through the list of the movie's primary actors Juliet was confused. Why hadn't he said anything or at least stopped the movie?
"James?" She asked and looked up. He was fast asleep with his head resting against the back of the couch. He'd been awake not fifteen minutes before, asking her what she thought of the movie. If it had been any other night she would have laughed.
Instead, she got up carefully and turned off the TV. She gathered the pizza box and paper plates from the coffee table. With no real dishes to do she was done cleaning up a lot faster than she had hoped. She went back to the living room and watched his sleeping form. She knew she should wake him and send him to bed, but she wanted to let him sleep a while longer. He needed it.
She busied herself with laundry and unintentionally let her mind wander over the past twelve hours. It was the first time she'd been alone since the morning. Coworkers were in and out of James' room the whole time he was in the ER and while he was away for tests she gave updates to Rachel and arranged for the next day off with her bosses. Now, with only the sound of the washer and dryer to keep her company, her thoughts went to Edmund.
To say she'd been shocked to see him would have been an understatement and after that initial feeling wore off she was just angry, angry at him for waltzing back into her life when things had just started going well. It had been three years since he'd seen or spoken to her. Why now? Regardless, she was proud of the way she'd handled him and smiled at the memory of his face when she told him off. He definitely hadn't been expecting it. He was used to walking all over her and aside from the divorce he'd always gotten his way. She supposed he thought he could do it again. She wasn't about to let that happen, but seeing him again brought up old memories and old feelings. She'd wasted a good chunk of her life on him and she couldn't stand to think about the years she'd never get back and person she used to be, but her thoughts went there anyway as folded clothes in the bedroom.
"You ok, Blondie?" James' voice came from the bedroom doorway. Juliet snapped out of her reverie and looked at him, surprised to see him awake. "You been foldin' that same shirt fer about two minutes now." He said before walking into the room.
She looked down. His old LAPD t-shirt was wadded up from her subconscious folding, unfolding, and refolding. She let it drop to the bed. "How do you feel?" She asked him, avoiding the subject. She knew she needed to tell him about her day, but she had no idea how he'd take it. He'd once offered to run Edmund over with a bus. She didn't think he'd be too happy to learn about her ex's visit.
"Hurts, but I'm ok." He said honestly.
She took his hand. "Come on." She said and led him towards the bathroom. "We gotta put some cream on your head."
He was tempted to stop and make her tell him what she was thinking. There was something about her that just seemed off, more so than when she was worried about him earlier. She wasn't looking him in the eye and she never answered his question, but he followed and obediently let her rub the antibiotic ointment around his stitches.
Juliet put the cap on the tube and looked at him. "I saw Ed today." The words came out before she'd fully decided if she was going to say them or not. She couldn't keep a secret from him and she knew she needed to talk about it.
James was flabbergasted. His mouth hung open slightly and his eyebrows scrunched together. "What?" He said, wondering if his blow to the head had been worse than the doctors thought.
"He was in my office when I got back from my meeting." She sighed. "He was there when this happened." She pointed to his head. "At least it gave me an easy way to get rid of him." She gave a slight chuckle hoping to lighten the mood.
James' face hardened. He had heard her right. "What did he want?"
"He wants me to work for him." She said. "Well, really he just wants me to finish the research I did with Rachel." Tears started to form as she realized Edmund had tried to win her over at first with veiled insults and a little sweet talking, just like before. And she used to fall for it. Every time. She pushed past James needing out of the small confines of the bathroom.
He turned quickly and caught her arm. "You said no didn't you?" He couldn't help the edge that his voice had, the slight anger he knew she'd pick up on. He just couldn't stand the thought of that man near her.
"Of course I said no!" She barely managed to keep from yelling. She pulled away from him. "Do you really think I would do that to myself?" She asked. "To us?" The entirety of the day was weighing on her, from her boring meeting to Edmund to James' ordeal and for the second time that day she was unable to keep her tears at bay. They flowed slowly, streaking down her face, but this time she didn't bother with trying to stop them. "He was an ass today, just like he always was before. And I hate myself for letting him get away with it for so long that he'd think he could just walk in there today and pick up where he left off."
James closed the distance between them quickly and wrapped his arms around her. He was pissed at the man for suddenly reopening old wounds, but he pushed his anger to the side and held Juliet close. She didn't respond at first, overwhelmed with anger and embarrassment at letting Edmund get to her so fiercely after three years apart, but after a few seconds her arms unfolded from their place near her chest and snaked around James' midsection. "I love you." He said the first thing that came to mind. Eventually he pulled back enough to see her and used his thumbs to wipe away the remaining tears. "Did he hurt you?" He asked, his voice full of somber concern.
Juliet shook her head. She'd told him several times that Edmund never hit her, which was true, but James was never quite sure he believed her. "No." She said firmly. Her tears were gone and she felt better having gotten everything off her chest. She sighed and laid her head on his shoulder. She told him the rest of the story, everything that happened between finding him at her desk and sending him out the door. She got to the end and repeated the words she'd said to her ex-husband. "I said 'I want you out of my office and out of this hospital and I never want to see you again'."
He whistled. "That's my girl!" She laughed. "See, you're not the same Juliet you were with him." He said seriously. "You've changed. For the better. And he can't do anything anymore."
"I know." She said. "I just hate that I used to be such a doormat."
"Hey." His hands moved from her waist to cup her face. His eyes stared into hers. "It doesn't matter who you used to be. It made you who you are today." He reminded her. "A beautiful, strong, sexy woman with a nephew, a healthy sister, a job you love." His words elicited one of the largest smiles he'd ever seen on her. "And a damn fine boyfriend." He added with a smirk.
She laughed and smiled even wider before capturing his lips with hers. "I love you." She said against his mouth.
"Son of a bitch!"
Juliet sat up in bed. She wasn't sure what woke her up, but she knew it was loud. She looked around and realized James wasn't with her. A glance at the clock told her it was just after eight o'clock in the morning. "James?" She called questioningly.
She got mumbling from the bathroom as a reply, but thought she heard the words "in here". She found the door open and James staring at himself in the mirror. "What's the matter?" She asked.
"I look like a dumbass." He deadpanned.
"It's not that bad!" She countered.
He turned to face her fully and she noticed he'd tried to cut his hair, presumably to either hide the patch where his wound was or at least make it blend in. He'd only managed to make himself look completely ridiculous with his long hair on the right side and uneven locks on the left that fell somewhere between his ear and his chin. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, hoping they could somehow keep the laughter from coming out. "What did you do?" She asked, slight laughter coming out with each word.
"I was tryin' ta fix it." He said. He looked back in the mirror. "Now look at me." He waved his hands in frustration.
She stepped fully into the room and tried her best to kill the smile on her face as she examined him closer. She had him move his head this way and that, trying to find an angle that didn't look too bad and hopefully some advice on how to make it better. Finally, she gave up. "I can take you to the place I get my hair done. I'm sure someone there can do something."
"You actually think I'm goin' out in public like this?!" The pitch in his voice rose with each word as he considered the embarrassment.
Juliet couldn't hold it in any longer. She laughed and shrugged.
He glared at her. "Get outta here." He shooed her away. "I'm gonna fix it. Go make breakfast or somethin'." He turned his attention back to the mirror.
Two hours later he was sitting on a stool in the middle of Rachel's kitchen with a towel draped over his shoulders. "I'm not gonna end up lookin' like a three year old, am I?" He asked.
"If you don't shut up I'll cut it all off and you can be bald and look like you're seventy." Rachel waved the scissors in front of his face for emphasis, her voice much too serious for James' liking. His mouth snapped shut while Juliet tried to stifle a laugh from her position in the doorway.
After he'd completely butchered the other half of his hair Juliet had called her sister. Rachel had taken to cutting Julian's hair herself. Everything about the boy was growing like a weed and she got tired of taking him in for a hair cut every couple of weeks. Now, she circled James with a pair of scissors, clippers, and a comb.
Juliet was ready to watch the show, but a small voice called from the other end of the house. "Aunt Julie!" She gave James an encouraging smile before leaving him at the mercy of her sister. Fifteen minutes later she returned with Julian in tow just as Rachel was putting down her tools.
Rachel stood in front of James, blocking Juliet's view. "Well, Little Sis, you ready to see the new James?"
Juliet had no idea what he'd look like. She had a hard time picturing him without his trademark nearly shoulder length hair. She nodded.
Rachel stepped aside with little flourish. James looked up at Juliet with a hopeful, but nervous gaze. "She hasn't let me see it yet." He said.
Juliet stood and admired him for a few moments. The sides were short with his ears completely visible, a neatly trimmed side burn on each side framing them. The top was slightly longer and seemed to stick up slightly on its own in front still giving him somewhat of a 'bad boy' look. She grinned. "I love it." She said.
Before James could say anything or even move to get up and look at it himself Julian barreled towards him and clambered into his lap. James was taken by surprise, but helped him up with a smile. "I made you this." Julian exclaimed and shoved a folded piece of paper towards James' face.
'Get well soon' was written neatly on the cover, clearly by Juliet, but surrounded by multicolored doodles done by Julian. Inside was a messy, off centered, and slanted drawing done in multiple colors of crayon. James was pretty sure he could make out at least three people standing in grass with the sun shining above them. Large, wobbly letters spelled out 'Love Julian' across one side. "There's me." The boy pointed out excitedly. "And you and Aunt Julie and Mommy."
James grinned. "It's great, Bud!." Julian wrapped his arms around James as best he could. James squeezed him back and looked up at Juliet who thought her heart might explode at the sight in front of her. Since their trip to the zoo and talks about his childhood James had started feeling much more comfortable around children, especially Julian.
Julian pulled back abruptly. "Can I see it?" He asked, eyes wide.
James was confused at first, but then bent his head down so the boy could see his stitches.
"Whoa." Julian said, his pointer finger getting closer and closer to James' skin out of curiosity.
"Julian!" Rachel tried to stop him. "Don't touch! It might hurt."
James looked up and saw Julian's defeated expression. "It's ok." He said to Rachel. He looked to Julian. "You just have to be careful, ok?" Julian nodded. James bent his head down again and Julian ran his finger gingerly along the stitches.
"Did it hurt?" The boy asked.
James nodded. "Yeah, it did."
"Mommy said Aunt Julie wasn't coming home last night 'cause she had to take care of you."
"That's right." James said. "And she did a real good job at it, too." He looked to Juliet and grinned.
Rachel glanced at the clock. "Alright, Julian." She said. "We have to get ready to go or we'll be late getting to the park."
"I'm gonna go play with Gavin!" Julian told James excitedly as he hopped down to the floor.
"Sounds like fun." James encouraged, though he had no clue who Gavin was.
James and Juliet saw Julian and Rachel off before locking up and heading to the hospital to get his car. They spent the afternoon together and after making him promise to take it easy Juliet went home. She had dinner with her sister and nephew and spent the evening playing board games with Julian. She might have let him win more often than not, but she acted surprised every time his plastic pieces crossed the finish line first.
After Julian went to bed Juliet told Rachel about her run in with Edmund. The elder sister could've jumped for joy at hearing how Juliet handled him. She hugged her and told her how proud she was of her.
Juliet went to sleep that night thinking of James and wondering what the next day would hold.