Chapter 24: The Blame Game

******Neptune Memorial Hospital********

After about two hours of waiting in the waiting room, they had finally said Jazmin could have visitors. She was in the ICU and only two visitors were allowed at a time. Weevil and Veronica went in first. Weevil still couldn't believe this had happened. She was hooked up to monitors and was lying there so still.

"She looks like she's just asleep," Veronica observed. She went over to her side and picked up her hand. "Like Sleeping Beauty."

Weevil walked over to the other side of the bed. He brushed back her hair and bent down to place a soft kiss on her lips. She didn't stir. "Not Sleeping Beauty. She's still in a coma," he said sourly. Then something caught his eye. He looked down at her face and frowned. "Look at her face. There's a bruise."

Veronica looked down. He was right. "We'll have to ask Mac about it. Maybe she knocked into something," Veronica said.

Weevil thought about it. "You know a few weeks ago she had a similar bruise on her face. She told me she'd been clumsy and ran into the door," Weevil said. They had put her in a hospital gown. When she'd arrived, she'd had on a long sleeve t-shirt. The hospital gown left her arms bare. Weevil grabbed her hand and moved her arm. What he saw made him see red. "Look at her damn arms, Veronica!"

Veronica's eyes widened in surprise as she saw the bruises. It looked like fingerprints. "Someone has grabbed her arm very roughly," she observed. She reached down and pushed the call button. A nurse soon appeared. "Do you know who changed her into this gown? We noticed some bruises on her arms and face. I was wondering if she had bruises anywhere else?"

Weevil looked equally sick and angry as he realized the implication. "Can we move her and check?" he asked.

The nurse nodded. "We did notice some other marks," the nurse admitted. She moved the sleeve of Jazmin's gown all the way up and revealed a rectangular shaped bruise. "She has a few like this on her back."

"Oh, my God!" Veronica said. "I'll be back. Logan has to see this."

She went into the waiting room. "Logan, come here. Quick!" she urged. He got up in concern at her expression.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I need you to go and look at Jazmin's bruises. Tell me if my suspicions are wrong. Please," Veronica said, her eyes filled with sorrow and wet with tears.

Logan was very alarmed and went into the room where Jazmin was while Veronica got out her phone to call her dad. He needed to be here.

Logan knew without having to look closely what had happened to Jazmin. The handprints on her arms and the belt mark were eerily familiar. Someone had roughly grabbed her and beat her. Weevil looked ready to explode. The nurse was raising the bed. She braced Jazmin's front with her hand. With her other hand, she pushed Jazmin forward and peeled back the back of the gown that was tied at the neck. Two large welts were visible on her back.

Logan and Weevil looked in grim silence. After the nurse had put the bed back down and gave them a sad smile, she left.

"Someone has taken a belt to her," Logan said. "I recognize the pattern very well."

"Belt? How? I just don't understand," Weevil said, perplexed and upset. What the hell was going on with his girlfriend? How could he have let this happen?

"It was my dear ole dad's weapon of choice," Logan said. "Veronica and I watched him take a belt once to a boyfriend of Trina's that was knocking her around."

Weevil thought Logan was trying to imply something. "I have never knocked her around!" he said angrily.

Logan held up a hand. "I didn't think you had, but someone is going to ask," he warned.

The two men left the room and headed back to the waiting room.

Parker and Piz had arrived—much to Duncan's annoyance. He didn't like witnessing her clinging to Piz. Parker got up when Weevil appeared. "Can I go see her?" she asked Weevil. He nodded. Holding onto Piz's hand for comfort, they went into the ICU room.

"What's going on?" Mac asked, noticing the grim faces. She directed her question to Veronica and looked pointedly at Logan and Weevil.

Wallace, Thea, Dick, and Duncan got up to hear the news. Logan gave Veronica a nod. It was what she thought. "Did Jazmin mention getting hurt to you?" she asked Mac.

Mac shook her head. "No. Why?" she asked.

"She's got a bruise on her face. Bruises on her arm like someone's grabbed her," Veronica said.

"And she's got welts on her back," Weevil finished.

"What?" Mac asked in shocked.

"What the hell have you been doing to her?" Duncan asked angrily, his question directed to Weevil. "First, I'm supposed to believe she cheated on you. And now someone's hurting her? What? Did you need to punish her for stepping out?"

Weevil took an angry step forward. Logan and Dick both quickly stepped between them. "Not the time or the place!" Logan warned.

"No, I haven't been hurting Jazmin! Say that again, and I'll give you a beating like you've never known!" Weevil warned. "I would never hurt her! Not for anything!"

Veronica glared at Duncan. "What's wrong with you, Duncan? Of course, it's not Weevil! Jazmin would never be with a man who manhandled her. Not after Joseph. You should know better," Veronica scolded.

"Well, what am I supposed to think?" Duncan said defensively. "She tried to kill herself. I suddenly hear she stepped out on Weevil, and now you tell me she's been beat?"

"Something's going on," Logan said with a frown. "This doesn't add up."

"She was really upset last week when I took her surfing," Dick said. "She didn't seem angry at Weevil. Only herself."

"She kept saying she hated herself," Weevil shared. "She said she had sex with a guy she hated and wished it had never happened."

They all looked at each other thinking. Before anyone could speculate, Keith Mars arrived. Veronica, Logan, and Weevil walked over to him to tell him what was happening.

Mac turned to Dick. "Why didn't I know, Dick? What's wrong with me? How could I be so self-centered?" she asked.

Dick frowned. He didn't like anyone insulting her, not even herself. "Self-centered? You're not self-centered!" he exclaimed.

"Dick, I live with her. I'm one of her closest friends, and I had no clue she was this upset, nor did I know she'd been hurt by someone," Mac said, her face stricken.

Thea and Wallace were listening. "You know the guy my mom was dating that summer I moved into the beach house was manhandling my mom. She didn't tell me about it and tried to lie when I noticed the bruise," Wallace recalled.

"That's not unusual when someone's being abused," Thea remarked. "My mom's a nurse and has mentioned seeing that more than once in the hospital that she works at."

"Why would Jazzie let anyone hurt her? She's got an insanely protective brother and a mega scary daddy," Dick questioned. "Not to mention her closest friend carries a Taser and isn't shy about using it."

"Uh, speaking of her dad," Mac said elbowing Dick. He looked and blanched as Jazmin and Jason's dad had walked in. His bodyguard stopped in the doorway behind him.

Sebastian Jaleno walked determinedly toward Veronica. "Where's my daughter? Is she okay?" he asked anxiously.

"She's in ICU," Veronica shared. She looked to her father for help because she had never had to tell a father this kind of news.

"Your daughter is in a coma," Keith told him. "Come. We'll go find her doctor."

"Oh, God! I feel sick," Mac said. "Her dad is going to blame me! He's going to flip when he finds everything out."

Not very far away, the man in question was trying hard to listen to what the doctor was telling him. The Sheriff had tried to tell him his baby swallowed a bottle of pills. Now the doctor was telling him she wasn't responding as well as he would like. They didn't get her stomach pumped early enough.

"I want to see my daughter. Now!" Sebastian ordered, interrupting the doctor.

Keith decided it would be better to prepare the man in case he noticed the bruises. "Sir, before you go to see her, I need to tell you something," Keith said.

Sebastian listened as the Sheriff told him about the bruises just discovered on his daughter. His daughter had called him to start the investigation. Keith assured him that he'd find out what was going on.

Sebastian felt his fear turn to a deep seeded rage. "Someone has been hurting my daughter?" he asked in a clipped voice.

Keith gave him a wary look. Here was a man with deadly, criminal connections whose daughter could die. Keith feared that this would not end well. "I don't have all the facts and won't until your daughter regains consciousness. But it appears that someone has."

Sebastian nodded. "I will go see her now," he said, dismissing the sheriff. Although he appreciated the novelty of having a law man actually want to help him for once, he could think only of his daughter. His sweet Jazmin. His perfect little angel. How did this happen? He walked into her room to find the roommate and her boyfriend there.

Mac wiped the tears from her eyes. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to see her. We'll go," Mac said. She and Dick left the man alone with his daughter. Neither were ready to have a conversation with the man.

Sebastian grabbed the chair and pulled it next to the bed. His eyes filled with tears as he looked at his precious baby girl. She had oxygen in her nose and an IV along with a heart monitor and other things he didn't know. He had tried to get his wife to come, but she hadn't believed anything was seriously wrong. He reached down and picked up his daughter's lifeless hand. He squeezed it and kissed it. "Ah, baby, what have you done?" he wondered aloud.

******Puerto Rico******

Jason pulled himself away from yet another one of Daisy's relatives. He had thought Italians had a lot of relatives. Since he'd arrived yesterday, he had met relative after relative. However, he was glad he came because the look on Daisy's face when he'd made his appearance yesterday had made everything else fade away. He had never really noticed how she lit up when he was around. Yesterday, when she'd been surrounded by family, he had been led into the room by her mother. When she saw him, her face was so open, so relieved, so happy that he had blinked at the transformation. Her reaction to his presence wasn't lost on her family either. They had taken turns grilling him and a few had given him subtle warnings to never hurt her. He had taken it all good-naturedly. He had a sister, so he understood where they were coming from.

After the service and dinner with her family, he pulled out his cell and turned it on. He blinked when he saw all the missed calls. He began to listen to his messages in growing horror. His sister was in the hospital. He couldn't believe it. His sister was in the hospital. The thought kept whirling around in his mind like an echo. It crashed over him like a dream, a nightmare—his worst. The last message Mac left said his sister was in a coma. He gripped the phone so tight that he heard a crack. Disbelief filled him.

The last message was from his dad. "Jason, you had better be on the next plane back to Neptune or you will regret it," his father threatened.

Jason blanched. He knew that he was already going to be regretting so much. His sister in a coma? He honestly couldn't wrap his mind around it. He sat down in an empty chair, his legs suddenly giving out. He'd only been gone a day. He didn't understand. What the hell had happened? Surely, this was a nightmare.

Daisy came over. "What's wrong?" she asked, seeing his face.

"I have to go back to Neptune. Jazmin's in the hospital. She's in a coma," Jason said, his face pale.

"What?" she asked in disbelief.

"I had a dozen missed calls on my phone. You probably have some, too," he said grimly.

"What happened?" Daisy asked.

"I don't know. Something about her taking some pills. I don't understand. I'm sorry. I'm going to have to go," he said.

"I'll go with you," Daisy said without hesitation. She and Jazmin may not get along, but she understood that his sister meant everything to him. He had been there for her today, and she would do the same for him.

He nodded, feeling grateful. "I'll call the airlines," he said.

"I'll go explain to my mom and family," Daisy said. She leaned down and gave him a kiss. "It's going to be okay."

He stood up and gave her a hug. He hoped so; he really did.

******Back in Neptune*******

Sebastian carefully walked back to the waiting room where his daughter's so-called friends were waiting. He had examined his daughter's body and the sight of her bruises brought him to a level of rage he hadn't been in since she'd lost her baby. Someone had driven her to this point.

"How are you going to play this?" Michael, his trusted friend and bodyguard asked.

"Someone is going to pay. If she dies, they will all pay," Sebastian said harshly. Gone was every trace of the teddy bear of a man that loved life and loved people. In his place was the man only his enemies and adversaries ever saw.

He stopped in the doorway of the waiting room. His children's friends were scattered around the room. The sheriff was talking to Eli. He'd get to him. First, he approached his daughter's roommates.

"I would like the two of you to explain to me how my daughter got to this point and no one called me. No one tried to help her," he accused.

Parker and Mac exchanged guilty looks. "We had no idea," Parker said.

"I wasn't home for a week. I was with Dick at his parents. Then this past week I've had some family drama. She never said a word," Mac said softly. Her eyes were tormented. She felt horrible as she recalled her last conversation with Jazmin. She'd been sharp with her. Had it been the final push?

Sebastian didn't care. These people were supposed to be his daughter's friends. "So you both are so self-involved that you can't be bothered to notice when your friend is being abused? When she is so miserable she wants to end her life? You're so busy that she can't turn to you?" he asked harshly.

For a moment no one spoke. Everyone on some level felt the man had a right to his anger. Finally, Veronica stepped up to him, her eyes filled with tears. "Last Monday, I lost my baby, so I think everyone was more focused on me," she shared. "I'm sorry. I did talk to her, though, this week and last week. I knew something was wrong and tried to get her to tell me. However, she lied to me. She actually made up a story about her cheating on Weevil. I had no real idea someone had hurt her." It was now clear to Veronica that Jazmin hadn't simply stepped out on Weevil. There was much more to the story.

At the mention of his daughter's boyfriend, his anger kicked up a notch. Before anyone could realize what he was going to do, he had Eli by his throat, slamming his head into the wall. "What did you do to her? I swear I will end your life if I find out you had anything to do with what has happened to her!" he yelled.

Keith and Logan moved to yank Sebastian off him but were intercepted by the bodyguard. Keith put his hand on his gun. "I don't think you need to interfere," Keith warned.

"You are supposed to love my daughter, cherish her. Yet she wants to die! Explain that to me!" he demanded angrily.

With a flick of his wrist, he threw Eli to the ground where he took a harsh breath, his hand on his throat.

"Mr. Jaleno, you need to calm down," Keith warned.

"Calm down? Were you calm when your daughter was in the hospital?" he asked. "But she wasn't in a coma. She wasn't ignored by all the people who are supposed to care about her and watch out for her!"

Eli slowly got to his feet. Logan reached out a hand to help him, but he ignored it. A part of him felt that he deserved every bit of the man's scorn and blame. His love hadn't been enough. His anger and jealousy had gotten the best of him on Thursday. He had said cruel things to her. She had felt so hurt and so alone that she decided swallowing a bottle of pills was preferable to telling him what was going on.

He faced her father. He wasn't going to hide from his part in this. "Sir, I love your daughter more than my own life! I would never hurt her or touch her in anger! I swear on my grandmother's life! I have spent the past three weeks trying to figure out what has been going on with her. I knew something was wrong as she was not acting at all like herself. I told Jason. I told Veronica. I begged her to talk to me. She had excuses that made sense. Then on Thursday she admitted she'd been with another man, but she wouldn't tell me who," Eli said. "Not that it excuses me because I am to blame. And I'll never forgive myself if she dies." He held Sebastian's gaze for a moment and then walked out of the waiting room.

Sebastian still wasn't satisfied. His eyes went around the room. "Get out! All of you! My daughter doesn't need friends like you in her life. Friends that are too busy or too uncaring or self-involved to notice when she's falling apart. Too busy to notice when someone is hurting her! I don't want you near her! Leave now!" he yelled, flashing his gaze at all of them.

Parker was sobbing and practically fled the room. Wallace and Thea followed her. Duncan frowned but followed suit. Dick looked scared and tugged on Mac's hand. He didn't need to be told twice. The man terrified him. Mac walked up to Sebastian.

"We love your daughter. We really do. We just didn't see. I don't think she wanted us to," Mac said, tears coursing down her cheeks. Then she let Dick lead her out of the room, his arm around her.

Veronica crossed her arms and gave Jazmin's father a determined look. "I am not going anywhere! And you can't make me!" she informed him. "Sorry if the loss of my baby distracted me. I am only human. But you can rest assured, I am going to find out what happened. Whoever's been hurting her will pay!"

"That's my job, Veronica. Not yours," Keith warned, giving her a pointed look. Then he looked at Sebastian. "I'm going to interview her teachers. See if anyone at school noticed anything between her and any of her classmates. When Jason arrives, I'll want to talk to him." He kissed Veronica on the cheek. "Don't push the man, sweetheart."

Logan took Veronica's hand. "Let's go get something to eat in the cafeteria," he suggested. He didn't like the look Mr. Jaleno was giving them and figured the man could use some space.

They walked out of the room and met Dick and Mac at the elevators. "We're going down to the cafeteria. You should join us. We need to figure out a timeline," Veronica said to them.

"We should leave. That man is scary!" Dick exclaimed. "I don't want to be killed and have my body disappear!"

Mac gave him a small smile. He never failed to make her smile. "He's not going to hurt us," she assured him.

"You don't know that, Mackie! He's a mobster! Haven't you watched The Godfather? Or Donnie Brasco?" Dick asked.

"He's not in Chicago, babe," Mac said. "Besides, movies exaggerate for dramatic effect." Dick didn't look very reassured.

They got into the elevator, and Veronica pushed the button to the first floor where the cafeteria was located.

"Would you be saying that if Jazmin dies?" Dick asked.

Veronica slapped his arm hard. "Don't say that!" she yelled.

"Ow! Logan, control your woman!" Dick complained rubbing his arm.

"Control your mouth," Logan replied without missing a beat.

"I refuse to believe God would be so cruel!" Veronica said vehemently. "Haven't I lost enough? Haven't all of us?"

Logan put his arm around her and hugged her to him. They both had. He prayed that if God was listening, He'd not take another person Veronica loved. He wasn't sure she'd survive it with her heart intact.

*******Chapter End*******

I know this story is heavy on the angst, but I hope it's kept you entertained. Before you judge Sebastian too harshly for his reaction, put yourself in his shoes.