Seize Control

Two more days in the hospital and Juliette was far beyond ready to go home. The discharge papers had already been signed so the only thing she was waiting for was her mother to return to the hospital with some clothes for her to wear home. She had given the nurse a list of what she wanted and had her give it to Gemma.

The nurses didn't question why Juliette spoke to them but not to her own family. They all knew it probably had something to do with the reason why she was in the hospital to begin with, and they of course were right. She had grown close to a few of the nurses throughout her stay and the only thing she was dreading about going home was not having anyone to talk to.

It was Jax who finally walked into her hospital room and handed Juliette her bag. She stood up slowly from her bed and went into the bathroom to get dressed. It took her longer than she would have liked because she was only able to use one arm and her entire body was still extremely sore. She'd specifically requested her hoodie so that she could cover up the many bruises all over her arms. Unfortunately, nothing could be done to hide the even worse bruises that littered her entire face. The gash in her cheek was definitely going to leave a scar.

"Ready to go home?" he asked when she stepped out of the bathroom.

She nodded curtly without looking at him and Jax opened the door so that the nurse could come in pushing the wheelchair in front of her. Juliette gave her a look but she just chuckled, placing her hands on her hips. "It's hospital policy, Jules. Sit your ass down."

Juliette slowly eased herself down into the wheelchair and set her bag in her lap without any other protest. Jax was surprised at his sister- while she wasn't actually speaking to them in front of him, she was looking at and communicating with the nurses, but she would just sit there in a daze with the family. She gave a little smile and wave at the nurses around the nurses' station when they went by.

She immediately felt sick when she was rolled outside from the main doors and saw her black camaro sitting there waiting to take her home. The car was forever tainted with the horrendous memories of Silas's last moments and her kidnapping. She stood up from the wheelchair, allowing the nurse to hug her before she slid into the passenger seat of the car.

Silent tears rolled down her battered cheeks as they drove back to the Teller-Morrow house and Jax definitely noticed, but he didn't say anything for fear of upsetting her even more. He could guess that this car was going to cause nothing but pain for his sister now, after everything that had happened inside and near it.

Juliette didn't allow him to help her get out of the passenger seat when they arrived back at home. She swatted his hand away when he tried to help her up the staircase. She shut the door on him when she reached her bedroom.

Now that she was in the confines of her own room where she wouldn't be bothered, she slowly and very gently removed the sling on her left arm so that she could take off the red hoodie she was wearing. She stood in front of the mirror, finally getting the chance to get a good look at herself.

The gash on her cheek was still stitched up but she knew that the mark would be there forever. The formerly dark purple bruise surrounding her eye was now beginning to fade to a greenish blue and her split bottom lip was healing nicely. There was still a bandage covering the bullet wound in her shoulder but she could tell just by the pain she felt that it was still pretty gruesome. She lifted the bottom of her tank top to see both sides of her body completely littered with blue marks, from her ribs all the way down to her hips. Her shorts didn't do much to cover the hand-shaped bruises on her thighs either.

She sighed to herself as she walked away from the mirror and gently crawled into her bed. The painkillers she'd been prescribed tired her out more than helped her pain. She laid back against her pillows, not even bothering to turn on the tv or the stereo. She laid there in complete silence, just staring blankly at the ceiling, before she finally drifted off to sleep.

A soft knock on the door a few hours later jarred her from her nap and she slowly pulled herself into the sitting position as the door opened and Juice peeked his head inside the room. When he saw her sitting up, he entered the room with a plate of food and sat down on the edge of her bed. "Just thought I'd come check up on you now that you're back at home. Oh, and I stopped by the diner and got that special burger you like so much. Figured you'd like this after eating that shit hospital food."

She didn't look directly at him but she nodded and gave him a soft smile. "Thanks," she whispered, taking the plate from his hands. He stared at her shocked that she'd actually spoken, even if it was only one word.

"It's no problem. If you need anything, you can call me. Day or night."

She nodded again as she picked up a french fry and popped it into her mouth, thankful to have decent-tasting food after her stay in the hospital. These need ketchup, she thought after eating a few of them. She didn't realize that she was making a face until Juice grinned and reached into the pocket of his cut, pulling out a dozen packets of ketchup and setting them down on the bed in front of her. "I figured," he replied.

Juliette was surprised that he'd remembered not only her order at the diner, but also to bring extra ketchup. She didn't realize that for every little thing she remembered about him, he remembered a little something about her. She smiled as she opened the packets and squirted them out onto the pile of french fries on her plate before eating every last one. Normally, she would have waited for him to leave her alone before she ate her burger, but she had been eating hospital food for the past three days and absolutely nothing in the three days before that.

He watched her silently as she ate, genuinely feeling happy for the first time since she'd been found in that warehouse. Something as simple as her favorite meal from the Charming diner was enough to make her forget for a brief moment. She gave him a thankful smile when she'd finished her meal, but she still wouldn't lock eyes with him. "Thanks," she mumbled again.

It was hard for him to not stare at the countless bruises and cuts that covered her entire body as she sat there shifting under his gaze. He cleared his throat and put a smile on his face as he stood up from her bed. "Seriously. If you need anything."

He turned to leave the room and she kept her eyes focused on the reaper adorning his back as it walked back to the door. "Hey, Juice?" she called out softly.

Juice immediately whipped his head around, focusing his eyes on her. "Yeah?"

"I need to go to the cemetery."

He stared at her curiously for a long moment. "Are you sure? Jules, you just got out of the hospital this morning."

"I have to." Juliette attempted to get up without any further conversation and he rushed over to the side of her bed to help her stand, careful not to grab her where there was a lot of bruising. She let him help her down the stairs and out to her car, because she wouldn't be able to hold on to him on the back of his bike.

The drive to the cemetery was completely silent. Juliette was too busy thinking about what she was going to be doing and Juice was trying to bite his tongue so that he didn't say anything to upset her. He parked her car by the curb and helped her out of her side but she motioned for him to stay by the car while she walked over to the shaded area of the cemetery where the grave was noticeably freshly dug.

She walked up slowly, as if she might turn back any second. Somehow, there was already a dark gray headstone in place above the grave, even though the burial had only taken place a few days before. Dark red roses were spread out across the grave as well. She stared down at it, her blue eyes immediately filling up with tears.



She was so preoccupied staring at the headstone that she didn't hear the person who had walked up behind her until they spoke. "What are you doing here?" Juliette whipped her head around and found herself face to face with Silas's mother. She glared at the young girl as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You have no right, Juliette."

Juliette turned to face the woman completely and her eyes scanned briefly over the countless bruises and cuts that covered her body, especially her face, along with the cast and brace that covered her arm.

"You know, we told him that it was a bad idea being your friend. We said you'd be trouble. We knew that you and your clan of degenerates would end up causing him nothing but hurt. Look what you've done," she spat, looking down at her son's grave.

Juliette couldn't even think of any words to say to the woman in front of her, even if she wanted to. There was really nothing that could be said.

"You're just as responsible for killing him as the man who pulled the trigger. This is your fault, Juliette. You just couldn't leave him alone and now he's gone because of that. I hope you live with that guilt for the rest of your pathetic life." She raised her arm to point a finger back toward the camaro parked by the curb. "Get the hell away from my son!" she barked at the girl.

Juliette glanced back at the stone for a moment before looking back at his mother. "I'm sorry," she whispered pitifully before hurrying away from the woman.

Juice couldn't hear what the woman was saying, but he could tell that she was yelling. When Juliette started walking back toward him, tears streaming down her cheeks and struggling to catch her breath from how hard she was sobbing, he immediately became angry. "What did she say to you?" he demanded when she reached him.

"Nothing. Let's just go."

"Julie-"

"Her son is dead because of me, Juice!" she yelled at him, wiping her hand across her wet cheeks as she shook her head. "Just let her have this."

She climbed into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut. Juice wanted to disagree with her. He wanted to assure her that Silas's death wasn't her fault. It was the Club's fault because it was their business that had caused the whole thing. She had only been an innocent bystander. No, not even that.

She had been a victim.