Author: Scorching Reality
Title: Chapter Eleven – Guilty Until Proven Innocent
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters from The Fast and The Furious. They belong to Universal Studios. I am not receiving anything from writing this story. I wrote this solely so I could have something to do. Otherwise the other characters are MINE.
Summary: Allison has raced all over her life, but when she crashes after a win, she feels like she's lost her purpose in life. This is the story of what happened after the crash.
Pairing: Allison / Dom, Leon / Letty
Archive: Yes, just let me know so I can check it out.
Feedback: Always. Good, bad, whatever!

Chapter Eleven

Six months later and Allison was still in a coma. Lance's trial was drawing to a close and the prosecutors were saying their closing arguments. Dom sat next to Allison watching the trial on Court TV. The trial was getting national coverage. Dom sat back in his chair as he watched the jurors leave for deliberation. He sat yawned and ran a hand over his head. He scratched lightly at the stubble that was now on his head. He had been at the hospital for a week. Dom made a point of coming to the hospital everyday to check up on her at the slight chance that she may wake up. Dom decided he was going to rest for a little while. He stretched as far as he could out in the chair and he closed his eyes. It took a while, but he finally fell into a peaceful slumber. Dom awoke four hours later. He rolled over and faced Allison. His heart caught in his throat. He blinked several times before he stood up. She was lying there staring at him. A huge smile started to cross her face. Dom walked to her side and stared down at her. He rubbed his thumb on her forehead. Dom smiled slightly and tried to hold the tears back. He looked down at her. The bruises had disappeared from her face. All of her bones were healed. Several of the tubes had disappeared and the cervical collar and large tube were gone. However, she was still hooked up to a ventilator and had a large tub going down her throat so she could be fed.

Allison brought her hand up to cup his cheek. Dom put his hand on hers. His heart was jumping.

"I should get a nurse in here," he said holding her tighter.

She nodded and brought it back to her side. Dom backed up and walked to the door.

"Hey," he screamed. "She's awake."

He walked back to her side and she laughed. Doctors poured in from everywhere. They were all smiling. Dr. Lomarez stood beside her as Dom backed up. He gently pulled the tub out of her mouth. Allison gagged a little, but Dom was at her other side in a heartbeat.

"You okay?" he asked after the tube was out and the ventilator was off.

She nodded her head.

"Good to see you, Ms. Burgess. You gave us quite a scare. Six months is a very long time." Dr. Lomarez began to examine her. She sat still and waited patiently. Dom was staring at her as the doctor conducted his exam. His heart leapt in joy. She was awake and he could finally be with her.

Allison tried to ask something, but no sounds came.

"You won't be able to talk for a couple of days. Here," he said handing her a notepad and a pen, "use this for now. Your voice should be back by the end of the week. So for now you'll have to eat liquids. As for leaving the hospital..."

Dom glanced up at the TV. The jurors were coming back with their decision. The courtroom was silent. Dom turned up the TV and the room went silent as well.

The judge had a solemn look on his face. He took the sheet of paper from the bailiff and read it. He closed it and looked at the Lance.

"Will the defendant please rise?" the judge asked.

Slowly, everybody at Lance's table stood up. The judge turned to face the jurors

"Madam Juror. On the count kidnapping, what say you?"

"Guilty," she replied.

A rush of relief flooded the courtroom.

"On the count of assault, what say you?"

"Guilty."

"On the count of rape, what say you?"

"Guilty."

"On the count of attempted murder, what say you?"

"Guilty," she replied, almost having to yell over the growing noise that flooded the courtroom.

The whole courtroom cheered as well as the hospital room.

The judged hit his mallet against the stand.

"Order. Order," he said as the courtroom hushed.

"This just in Ms. Burgess has woken up. Jurors, I will see you next week for sentencing. Bailiff, take Mr. Tran to holding."

The courtroom cheered. Dom could see Letty, Leon, Jesse, and Vince in the front row. He smiled as he saw the bulge in Letty's stomach. She definitely was happy.

Dom turned to Allison who was smiling. She reached out for his hand. He held hers and walked closer to her.

"I'm so happy you're awake," he said leaning down to kiss her.

She smiled again and wrote on the sheet of paper, "You still owe me."

He stopped and looked at her. He smiled when he realized what she was talking about. That day at her house. He laughed and said, "Yes I do."

She looked up at him, her face looked serious.

"What?" he asked leaning forwards, concerned.

"I wanna go," she scribbled down.

"You want to leave the hospital?" he asked.

"No. I want to go to the sentencing. I want to tell him how six months of my life has been wasted," she wrote.

Dom smiled and nodded. "I'll arrange it with your doctor."

A week later Dom was helping Allison up to the stand. Seeing as she hadn't walked in six months, she was having a little trouble walking. He stood beside her as she spoke. He glanced at Lance. He could see the fear in his eyes.

He stared at Allison as she began to read her statement.

'God, she's beautiful,' he thought as she began to speak.

"I would like to tell the courtroom what it feels like to have six months of your life ripped from you. There's no explaining it. You feel confused and terrified at the same time. I sit back and think of all I could have done in those six months. What I could have become. But..." She paused she wiped a few tears from her cheek. "But that doesn't matter to you Lance. All that matters it the fact that you got to show me who was boss. You did. I sure as hell won't mess with you now," she said giving a slight laugh. "But there is one thing that I would like to tell you. . .the doctors say that I am six months pregnant."

Gasps rippled throughout the crowd. She looked over at Dom. Her face was sad. Dom's eyes were huge. He hadn't even noticed. But now that he knew it was obvious. Her stomach was pretty large.

'How come I didn't notice?' he asked himself. 'That's Tran's child. Will she keep it?'

Dom listened for the answers to his questions. Tran's eyes were as big as his.

"But I hope and pray that the jury will never let you near me or my child," she said.

Dom saw her look over at him yet again. She was near tears. She was still having a hard time dealing with what had happened to her. There was a silent plea coming from her eyes, begging him not to leave her side.

'I won't,' he thought, 'No one will ever hurt you again.'

Dom's heart soared. He would get to be a father. It didn't matter if it was his biologically. The kid would be brought up calling him dad. Dom smiled.

"I am here today to plead with the jury. Send him to jail for as long as you can. He took part of my life away from me. He emotionally and physical hurt me. Over and over again. The pain inside in horrifying. He had no right to do that to me. Don't let him come out in twenty years and let him hunt me down again...and finish the job he started. He has already lost it once. No telling what would happen if he was allowed to do it again. The next person may not be so lucky. I may not be so lucky. Inside all this pain, I have found a reason to live, but that doesn't me he can't take it from me. So I just want to say, please give him life in prison without the possibility of parole. He deserves it."

She ran a hand through her hair. It was past her shoulder blades.

"So please, I'm begging you. Send him away for life. Only then will I be able to rebuild my life."

"Thank you," the judge whispered to her as Allison cautiously stepped down.

Everybody in the courtroom stood up and gave her a standing applause. Of course excluding Tran's family and his table. Dom reached up and extending his hand. She took it and walked down the steps slowly. Everybody continued to clap, excluding the judge and jury. Dom helped her and she gave him a huge hug.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," she whispered into his ear.

"It's okay," he said. "I would have preferred to find out this way anyways," he said lying a bit, but either way he was happy.

She began to cry. She backed up and looked at him.

"What did I do to deserve you?" she asked.

Mascara ran down her cheeks. Memories off the night before she was attacked filled his mind.

He wiped it off and kissed her forehead. "You didn't have to do anything. You were just you."

She smiled and gave a light laugh.

"Order, Order!" the judge yelled, banging his mallet with each word.

The applause lowered and Dom helped her out of the courtroom.