"You miss Mommy, huh, Fifi?" Juice asked, lying on the couch yet again with Sofia laying on her stomach, her head raised so she could look at her Daddy's face, cooing and babbling. "I do to, baby. I do too..."
The fact that Denise was, on occasion, having seizures was enough to have Juice completely spooked, but it had only happened twice in the past few days. He'd only seen it once - and once had been enough to convince the hospital staff that Juice should never be in the room if it ever happened again. It killed him to be at home when Denise was in the hospital, but at the same time, he didn't want her to wake up and find out he'd been a letdown of a dad. It was the last thing he'd ever want.
He was busying himself with playing with his daughter - or rather, studying her, trying to get to know her the way Denise did, when suddenly, his phone rang. Securing Sofia with one arm, he reached for his phone with the other and answered.
"Juice - it's me. It's Brucey."
"Brucey," Juice said, sitting up suddenly and shifting Sofia in his arms so she was still positioned safely, craning his head as playfully tried to reach for the phone. "What are you callin' for? Isn't it your shift at the hospital -"
"Your ol' lady opened her eyes."
Juice froze, his mouth hanging open slightly. Denise was awake. She was alive. She had survived. Even if he knew nothing else about his wife's current condition, this was news worth knowing, and, as far as he cared, worth celebrating.
"I'm comin' right over with Fifi," Juice said urgently, getting to his feet. "Don't tell the rest of the club yet, Brucey. No telling or I'll never vote your ass into SAMCRO, a'right?"
Juice was, of course, not entirely serious - Brucey, among all of the prospects they'd had in SAMBAY, had been the one he'd felt most inclined to vote into the club. He shared a first name with Unser, his name being Wayne Gottheim. Juice, on his part, had been sure he'd heard him say Gotham when he introduced himself, immediately asking if it was "Gotham, like Bruce Wayne" - and so the name Brucey stuck. Brucey was, himself, a New Yorker by birth but a Texan by upbringing who still held doors and pulled out chairs, and constantly referred to Denise as "Ma'am" - something she was very vocal about hating. Brucey, of course, looked up to Juice more than any of the other club members, which many of them couldn't for the life of them understand. He followed Juice around, almost like a personal assistant - so much so that Denise at times referred to them as 'Juicy and Brucey'.
Sofia was the only thing that kept Juice going the speed limit the entire way to the hospital, and the only thing that kept him from leaping up the stairs three at a time - not the wisest idea while Sofia was in her baby carrier. He finally reached the hospital room and found Brucey standing outside the door waiting for him.
"The nurses and the doc are lookin' at her right now, but she's awake - talkin' a little bit," Brucey said, pale in the face and consciously wiping away the sheen of sweat on his forehead. "But man - I was there when she opened her eyes, it was... shit -"
"Language," Juice said, raising his eyebrows and covering his daughter's ears - Brucey snickered, seeing how quickly Juice had picked up his wife's habits in her absence. "So you did as I asked, right, Brucey? You didn't call the others?"
"Just Flick," Brucey nodded dutifully, looking genuinely pleased with himself. Flick and he had become good friends in the process of prospecting. Best friends even. "I didn't tell Jax or anyone else-"
"Did you tell Flick not to tell anyone?"
And at that, Brucey fell silent, his eyes widening - Juice's nostrils flared slightly, and he reached out to clap the prospect on the side of the head, hurrying into the room to see the two nurses and the doctor checking out his wife. They were glancing her over with penlights and stethoscopes until they finally seemed pleased with their assessments, and finally turned back to look at Juice with a smile.
"Your wife seems to be out of the woods," the physician said with a smile, walking over and gently patting his shoulder. "We'll give you a while with her. Just don't overwhelm her too much -"
"Baby?"
The small, slightly slurred voice coming from the bed had Juice jolted like he'd been struck by lightning, and the hospital staff bowed out quickly while Juice hurried over to the bed and sat next to her, staring at her in disbelief, clutching his daughter close. Denise, for her part, looked tired and thin in the hospital gown, but her eyes were alive and active, flitting back and forth between her husband and daughter.
"Oh my God," she said, her voice still garbled from the feeding tube still going down her throat since she hadn't been eating on her own. Tears immediately leapt to the young woman's eyes as she looked at her daughter. "Sofia, you're - you're okay -"
"Shh - don't cry," Juice said, reaching out and running a hand over his wife's hair, his gaze practically pasted on her. "You heard the doctors -"
"It was Gemma, " Denise said, shakily reaching up and placing her hand over Juice's as it rested on her cheek. "She - she -"
"I know. They got 'er, baby. I'm so sorry," Juice continued, shaking his head, feeling the weight of guilt settling on his shoulders yet again when he saw the pain in his wife's eyes now that she was awake. The fact that he hadn't been there to stop it was even more painful now. "Abel called 9-1-1 -"
"He saw that?" Denise asked, her eyes welling up even more. "Oh God..." Her voice trailed off, and she took in another slightly stronger breath but still not able to force herself to sit up yet. "I'm so sorry. I -"
They were interrupted with the sound of knocking, and they looked over to see Brucey peering his head inside looking incredible nervous.
"I'm really sorry," he said, reaching up and scratching the back of his head. "But they're downstairs -"
"They?" Juice asked, raising his eyebrows yet again - was this how everyone felt about him? Was this what it felt like, not being the screwup prospect. "Who's they?"
"Everybody, Ma'am," Brucey said, taking a step back from the doorway as though Juice's gaze was shooting knives in his direction. "What should I tell them?"
"Let them come up," Denise said hoarsely - hopefully. Juice turned around and glanced at her for a short moment before inhaling through his nostrils and looking back at Brucey.
"Whatever the lady wants," he nodded. Brucey's shoulders shrugged in relief, and he rushed over to tell the others what the Ortiz family had decided about having visitors.
In the last few minutes they had before everyone came upstairs, Juice turned back to his wife and took Sofia out of the carrier, holding her closer to Denise so she could place a kiss on her daughter's chubby, pink cheek. Juice, on the other hand, couldn't stop staring at his wife as though he was scared she was a mirage, an apparition, that this would all end up some kind of dream, the most painful dream he would ever need to wake up from. In that brief, quiet moment, she finally looked back at him with a small, tearful smile.
"So they called the whole club over just for me?" she said with a laugh that hardly sounded like a laugh at all, but rather a series of smalls puffs of air. Juice laughed as well and reached out, giving her hand a small squeeze.
"Aunt Deedee!"
The first person to come up the elevator to the room was heralded by the sound of a high-pitched voice and the rapid pattering of tennis shoes on the sterile hospital floor. Abel immediately appeared in the doorway, assuming his spot on the side of the bed opposite Juice just as Wendy followed, carrying Thomas in her arm.
"Deedee! Deedee!" Thomas cooed, reaching out with his hands and giggling in the woman's direction. "Deedee 'wake!"
"Yeah, she is," Wendy smiled, bringing him over closer to the bed. "You wanna say hi, baby?"
"Hi baby!"
Again, Denise managed a small laugh while Abel was busy clambering up onto his usual chair, plucking the many Get Well cards he had drawn for Denise off of her bedside table so he could show them to her.
"I heard you were my little superhero," Denise said fondly, finding the strength to reach up and stroke the side of Abel's hair gently, smiling at him. "You're so brave. My Superman, huh?"
At this, the burdened, pained expression that had plagued the little boy's angelic face ever since that fateful night melted away, replaced by a broad, toothy grin at the realization that his Aunt Deedee didn't feel like he had failed her. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek before hopping up off of his chair, leaving the cards he had made on her lap in bed. "I'm gonna go get Daddy!" Abel said happily, rushing out of the room. As he left, Wendy moved over to the bed, smiling at Denise while Juice helped get the head of the bed up higher so Denise could sit up slightly.
"He needed that. So much," Wendy said, reaching out with her free hand and squeezing Denise's. "It's been killing him ever since - well, you know."
"I'm sorry," Denise said with a sad smile, at a loss for anything else to say. "I really am."
"You can't be on your phone up here, I'm - oh. Mr. Teller, I'm sorry!"
The sound of a very surprised nurse in the hallway outside foreshadowed Jax's arrival a few moments before the fact, and as he walked in the door, he was visibly tucking his phone into his pocket with one hand while being dragged by Abel on the other.
"Deedee," he said fondly, moving over to the bed and kissing the side of the woman's hair before looking around at the IV pumps and the feeding tube she was still hooked up to. "Nice setup you got here," he smirked, eliciting a small, lopsided grin from the woman in the hospital bed.
"It really is," she smirked back. "I may never go back to solid food again. This is great."
"No solid foods?" Tig's voice came from the doorway. "Just what you need, to get more scrawny. Welcome back, Sleepin' Beauty."
"I don't think beauty's the word you're looking for," Denise said, starting to feel slightly tired but unwilling to turn anyone away as the began entering the room one by one. She knew she was a mess, but it didn't matter. Being back felt amazing. Juice felt a bit put out by the fact that everyone seemed to be edging in on the first few moments he had with his wife for what felt like an eternity, but he was distracted when Jax caught his eye and nodded for him to follow outside. Juice, who was still carrying Sofia, slipped away while Denise and the others sat around, listening to Abel read his many get well cards.
"What's goin' on?" Juice asked. Jax, however, was unable to answer right away. He shook his head before managing to look up from the floor.
"Dee can't know this - it'll be too much for her right now," he said dismally. "But that phone call was from Alvarez. Turns out his nephew just started working as a courier for the courthouse and he's got news about Gemma's case. She's getting released today -"
"What the -" Juice began, halting his use of expletives only because his daughter was still in his arms. "No. There's no way. She confessed -"
"Marks had a specialist do an evaluation. Expedited a deal," Jax said, his jaw clenching as he gulped audibly, shaking his head, visibly disturbed by the news. "She's being released to the custody of some shrink in Modesto on Marks' payroll."
Juice inhaled sharply again, looking away and only barely stopping himself from shaking. Did he truly deserve this? To have every bit of good news he received tainted because of Gemma? He held his daughter now almost like a security blanket while the little girl reached out, waving her tiny hand in the direction of Uncle Jackie, babbling happily.
"She's gonna get away with it," Juice said blankly, shaking his head. He had helped her get away with killing Tara, and now, she was going to get out of this too. His face paled, and he looked up at Jax almost pleadingly - the man guessed at what this meant, and he reached over to pull Sofia out of the baby carrier and hold her, which Juice backed into a chair in the hallway, burying his head in his hands.
"They're transporting her to Modesto this afternoon," Jax said sullenly. "And after that, who knows? All I know is Dee can't know this yet. She needs a while to get better."
"Yeah," Juice agreed, unable to look up from the ground in shame. He had messed everything up so badly. Denise had fought so hard to come back to them, and now, he had to bear the burden of knowing a secret that would hurt her even more.
Thankfully, they were again interrupted and Juice no longer had to dwell on these thoughts for the time being, as the elevator doors nearby opened to reveal one late arrival to the 'Welcome Back to the Land of the Living' party that the day had turned out to be. Nero Padilla stepped out of the elevator, marking his first time coming to the hospital to see Denise since the incident. He approached the two men and Sofia wordlessly, shaking his head.
"Word gets around fast," he explained simply.
"You skippin' town?" Jax asked.
"Wanted to," Nero said honestly, shaking his head. "But with things as they are, I can't leave Diosa the way it is. Not yet."
"Good," Jax nodded. "We need you, Nero. Help us stay good with the Mayans, they're the only friends we've got."
Nero nodded silently, and the lack of ability to speak for the time being had a clear reason - he wasn't going to bring up Gemma, out of respect for the fact that the daughter of the woman Gemma had just tried to kill was right there. And he cared about Denise, about Sofia - they mattered more for the time being, no matter how much he loved Gemma, how much he wanted answers.
"Can I head in? See how Chinita's holding up?" he asked, crossing his arms and shifting his weight. Jax looked to Juice, who nodded, and both men nodded towards the room.
"Gotta take a number, man. Abel's not diggin' the idea of lettin' anymore borrow his Aunt Deedee's attention."
Gemma left her holding cell with her head held high, despite the fact that the entire place was buzzing with whispers about her, theories about what she had done to get out, despite having tried to kill another SAMCRO ol' lady - if only they knew.
One of the deputies escorted her out and saw her into the back seat of the car clearly labeled as belonging to the facility she was being remanded to, but she felt know joy in knowing that she was getting out of being tried for her crimes. She had been overtaken with a deep kind of numbness, knowing what was happening to Abel. She could get over the guilt of what she'd done to Denise and Sofia, but the guilt of what her actions had done to her own grandson left her weary.
As the car pulled away and onto the open road, Gemma emerged from her own thoughts long enough to realize something: the driver of the escort car was wearing a wig. An ugly, clearly synthetic blonde wig. Realizing that Gemma was looking at her, the lady driver glanced at her rearview mirror and nodded slightly before removing her shades and wig.
"So you're in on this freakshow too, Sheriff?" Gemma asked, looking slightly impressed. Her impression of the woman in the driver's seat certainly had not been suggestive that she, of all people, would play a part in orchestrating Gemma's escape. Althea Jarry chuckled stiffly before putting her eyes back on the road.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures, Gemma," she stated simply, pressing her foot on the gas a little bit harder now that they were on a long, straight stretch of road. "Why else does anyone else sell their soul to August Marks? I'm more surprised to see you."
And Gemma knew precisely why this was a surprise - going to Marks meant betraying her son. But they didn't understand - she had to live. She was no good to anyone dead or in prison. And somehow, she was going to find her way back - she believed in her own abilities to set up dominoes so much, indeed, that she was sure she was the only one who could clean up this mess of a situation.
They still needed her, Gemma convinced herself. They had to need her.
A/N's
Well, the good news is, Denise is awake! She's not going to have an easy time of things, and she's waking up to an even bigger mess of a situation, but for now, the fact that she's out of the woods is worth celebrating. I'm hoping to have a few more chapters up before Christmas, but work and family stuff surrounding the holidays has been a little crazy.
I wanted to give a special shout-out to RhondaL who powered through and left me a ton of reviews, all in one go - started yesterday in On the Rocks and got all the way up to the current chapter of this story. I hope you're enjoying so far, and I hope not to keep any of you waiting too long for the next update!
The next chapter will be somewhat calm, with a little more of Denise's recovery and a fair few interesting conversations. Right now, we're in a little bit of a slow burn because it's so close to Christmas and I need to ease into the intense action (I'm still in the process of rewriting the chapters I lost). But rest assured, these chapters are needed so that all the pieces fall into place when the action ramps up!
Anyway, I'm (as always) so grateful that you all are reading and enjoying! I hope the story continues to keep you interested, even in these slow moments, and if you have any ideas or feedback, feel free to send them my way! I have the ending of this story planned out, but the part in the middle is slightly flexible so I might be able to work in a few events to tickle your fancy! But anyway, until next time! Cheers!