*Julia*

"Cara Hollan."

I gasp when I hear the name. Nate's sister is the one who supplied Mike Maloney heroin? How is this even possible? She's stuck here just like everyone else. Does this mean she's using again?

James and Jeremy both look stunned. There are so many questions swirling around in my head but one thing I am certain of, by the look on Mike's face, he's telling the truth. He got his drugs from Nate's little sister.

"Shit, Mike. How?" Jeremy needs to sit down in the chair hearing this while I am frozen and speechless now.

"Her mother."

"WHAT?!" I blurt out, no longer speechless.

"Her mother sent a 'visitor'. I saw a syringe in her room a couple days ago. It was right after the guy left when visiting hours were over. She had just gotten high. I made her talk and well, you know... when you're high you talk..."

Oh my God. She's using again. I cover my mouth and begin to cry. James is the one to sit me down on a chair and rub my shoulders to calm me. This is going to break Nate.

"Rita has been dealing drugs to people in the Avalon?? Rita gave Cara Heroin?" I stammer. "HER MOTHER?"

"Julia, maybe you should step outside for a breather." Jeremy can tell I'm getting worked up.

"No." I snap.

"I was trying to put it out of my head. I wasn't going to bring it up or anything. But then she opened her drawer. She's got a stash. I....I tried to walk away." He covers his face.

"Nate needs to know what's going on." James chimes in. "He pays for his sister to be here. If she's not taking this seriously...."

"This explains why she has been so moody lately. She's back to using." I drag my hands down my face and Jeremy takes his glasses off, pinching the tension between his eyes.

"I'll text Nate now to set up a meeting face to face before I confront Cara. But we need to remove the drugs from her room." Jeremy puts his hand out, wanting me to give him back his phone. Which I do.

I have an awful pit in my stomach as I watch Jeremy text Nate.

"You need to let him know the meeting isn't about me. He's gonna think-"

"I know." Jeremy nods and sends the message. "Shit. What a mess. Take Michael back to your apartment to sober him up. If anyone sees him high I'm going to have to answer questions."

We all nod in agreement.

"Jeremy." I look at him with sincerity. "Thank you for not calling his parole officer."

"Yeah.... whatever." He waves me off knowing we now have a bigger problem. America's Heartthrob's little sister is shooting up Heroin. His phone buzzes and I wonder what Jeremy will tell Nate. Will he tell him through text first to give him a head's up?

But then, Jeremy reads whatever Nate texted him and all the color drains from his face.

"FUCK."

"What did he say??" James asks.

"Julia, why don't you take Michael to your room now. We can talk later."

"Bullshit. What did Nate say??" I demand an answer.

"His personal assistant responded." Jeremy holds his breath before continuing.

Trisha responded? Why the hell would Trisha respond?? Jeremy glances at his phone and then at me.

"It's already on the news. Rescue took Nate to the ER."

******

*Nate*

"Welcome back, Mr. Hollan." Nurse Melanie, a nurse I've had before, pulls her medical mask down for a moment and smiles warmly at me before pushing it back up. She keeps up the pace and follows the transportation nurse who is wheeling me up to the Presidential Suite that's ready for me. Trisha and everyone else were already sent up to the room while I went for an x-ray and EKG. Everything happened fast once the rescue came to my apartment.

Melanie opens the door I get wheeled in. The spacious "luxury" hospital room looks just like I remember it from last time. We spent MANY days in this room recovering from the car accident a few months ago. The hospital director thought it'd be best to just send me right up here so the place doesn't become a zoo, but the way Trisha is staring at her phone makes me think I'm already on the news.

"Ok, you know the drill. Let's get you into bed and start an IV. You're pretty dehydrated. Have you been sick long, Mr. Hollan?" Nurse Melanie asks after giving both Casey and Jonah hugs hello-Her old co-workers before I snatched them both to be my personal nurses.

"Two days ago I started with a cough. Then a fever yesterday." I answer and get up into the hospital bed. The transportation nurse leaves the wheelchair in my room thanks to me passing out twice already.

"We'll run some labs and see what the X-ray looks like."

"How was his EKG?" Jonah asks, needing more information.

"It could be better, but you have heart disease so it's to be expected."

Trisha grabs the remote and turns on the TV. Yep. Already made the news. I sigh. "How does this shit leak out so fast. I've been here less than two hours."

"You're America's Heartthrob. It never takes long for news to spread." Casey rolls her eyes. I remember the day I met Casey. She was a huge Nate Hollan fan. That has since died down since she has been living with me.

"Plan to be admitted for one to two days minimum. We want to make sure, if this is viral, we have a handle on it before sending you home." Nurse Melanie starts my IV and hooks me up to the monitor showing my heart rate, oxygen levels and then takes my temp.

"102." She sighs and writes it down in my chart. "There's so much going around right now. The flu. Covid. RSV. You name it. I suggest you all wear medical masks."

"Doesn't matter now. We've all been together in his apartment. If he has it, we all have it." Jonah reminds the nurse how we all live together.

"Suit yourselves." Melanie leaves the room so I can get settled.

I look up at the news and take a deep breath.

"Julia's going to find out from tv. Trish, can you text her?"

"Already did. Well..." Trisha and Jonah share a look and she stops herself.

Something is going on. That much I can tell from the look on Trisha's face. She's an awful liar. As is Casey who quickly turns away and busies herself with organizing the fucking fruit bowl. She grabs an apple and takes a huge bite. Casey can't talk if she's eating. She does this all the time.

"Spill it." I sit up more.

"Now's not really a great time. Let's focus on getting you back on your feet, ok?" Jonah knows I'm not going to give up until I know what's going on though.

"If there's something wrong with Jules I want to know." I snap.

"No, nothing. She's completely fine. It's that Michael Maloney guy." Trisha answers. One of my old bodyguards. My insider who watches over Julia for me when we can't be at the Avalon.

"Oh." I let out a sigh of relief. I could care less about what he does to be honest.

"He relapsed." Trisha continues cautiously.

"Ahh. That stinks. Been there done that. Wait. IN the AVALON? How the hell did he manage that one? Steal some pills off the cart or something?"

I notice Evan looks away. He either knows the bodyguard or doesn't want to be part of the drama.

"I'm going to make sure all security is where they need to be." Evan dismisses himself out of the room, knowing two security guards are already in the hall so he can leave.

"Sketchy kid." I laugh. "Donovan must be loving this. He can't stand Maloney."

Everyone remains quiet.

"Nate..." Trisha begins.

"Not the time." Jonah gives her a death look.

"He needs to know."

"I need to know what?! That the kid will probably go to jail now? Yeah. Whatever. It's sad and all. He was a phenomenal bodyguard, that much I remember. But Julia will get over it." I shrug not really understanding why they are both being weird right now.

Jonah can tell I'm going to keep asking questions and his shoulders drop. He shares another slight look to both Trisha AND Casey who takes another bite of her apple and looks away. Is she... is she fucking crying or are her eyes just watery?

"Nate. Listen. The doctor wanted to have a meeting with you in person but that's obviously not going to happen-" Jonah begins and I raise a brow at the nurse.

"If Julia is fine, what the hell does Mike Maloney falling off the wagon have to do with me?"

"He shot up heroin."

"Again... he's a heroin addict. I'm not surprised. How the hell did he gets THAT into the facility?" I scoff a little, still not taking this as seriously as everyone else is.

But the air in the room becomes thick. There's more to the story. I can sense it. "That motherfucker better not have given anything to Julia or my sister. I swear to God I will kill the bastard."

It's Trisha who wipes a tear from her eye.

"Mike got the drugs from Cara." Her voice is small and my blood pressure monitor begins to beep.

"That's not possible." My voice cracks. There's a mistake. Cara has been clean for a good six months now. And anyway, she doesn't leave the Avalon. There's no way.

"It is possible." Trisha frowns. "When you have Rita as your mother."

"WHAT?!" I bolt out of the bed, which results in ripping my IV right out of my hand.

Then... the room turns black and I fall down.

*******

*Julia*

I walk the five minutes down the hall. Past the Rec Room that shows Nate's face on TV. I walk to Cara's empty room. Everyone is in session. There's no one in the halls. I'm silent the entire time. Everyone follows behind me, including Dr. Tremont now. Me and James watch the two doctors and Mike enter Cara's room. Mike is no longer high and trembling now, fully aware of the mistake he made and how he is ratting out a fellow patient.

James and I both look at each other while standing in the doorway. Neither of us have ever been high before- not like this. I don't even know what heroin looks like! But then, Mike opens up Cara's top drawer and pulls out a bunch of T-shirts. He has to turn away, unable to physically look at his addiction and tears run down the bodyguard's face. He knows he fucked up. He walks out and attempts to pass James and I but instead, I wrap my arms around him. Mike buries his face in the crook of my neck and cries. He's coming down from the drug. Coming down hard.

While hugging Mike and letting him cry, I look over his shoulder and watch the two doctors. Jeremy shakes his head and pulls out a ziplock sandwich bag with a good amount of white powder.

"Fuck." He mutters and pulls out three syringes, a metal spoon and a lighter. Rita gave her the whole fucking set up. Trevor holds a plastic grocery bag open while Jeremy puts the contents in. I don't know what will happen to the product or supplies, but it will need to be removed from the facility.

"Walk him down to your apartment, please." Jeremy says solemnly, quickly walking out of the room with the bag.

"You did the right thing, Mike." Trevor nods.

I lead the way down the hall in silence. I think I'm in shock. This is too much for one day. Nate in the ER, his sister using again, Mike slipping up. It's too much. Once we finally reach my apartment I knock on the door. Paul answers right away and lets us in. He looks at me with sympathy, scrambling to shut off the news on the TV but then furrows his brows when Mike and Trevor walk in. I sit Mike down on the recliner and he buries his face in his hands. Maggie gets up and lays at the man's feet. I silently retrieve a bottle of water and hand it to Mike.

"What's going on?" Paul asks.

I shake my head and sit down on the couch. Trevor is the one to tell Paul everything. Paul thinks of Cara like his own little sister, so I'm not surprised when he stares at the doctor with a blank face before removing himself. He goes to the bathroom and closes the door for privacy.

"I'm going to get you back on your feet, ok?" I lean over and rub Mike's back before looking up at Trevor. "Any news on Nate?"

"Dr. Donovan has been in contact with Mr. Hollan's personal assistant. Don't listen to the news, they don't know anything." Trevor begins. "Sounds like he may just have the flu but was dehydrated. That's why they called a rescue."

"Oh." I feel a sense of relieve. Nothing to do with Nate's heart. I knew he was under the weather and also knew Ren had the flu. I nod slightly and look up at James now.

"I'll get the coffee going and make everyone something to eat. You didn't get to eat much earlier." I start but then head to the bathroom to check on Paul first. I tap on the door but then slowly open it enough to squeeze in, closing it behind me.

Paul is sitting on the closed toilet seat covering his face with his big bodyguard hands. I have a feeling he has helped Nate to get Cara sobered up over the years. This one major setback hurts. It's rare to see Paul like this. It's heart wrenching actually.

I say nothing. There's nothing to say. Instead I walk over and stand in front of him. The second I rub the man's shoulder he throws his arms around my waist and buries his head against my stomach. My eyes widen. I'm not used to this. Not from Paul. I thread my fingers through his hair with both hands and hold his head against me. This feels strange. Paul rarely shows emotion. He certainly doesn't let ME of all people comfort him. But he's still human. I think about that for a second then close my eyes and soften up to Paul, holding him and rubbing his back.

"This can't be for real." Paul mutters into my shirt.

"I know." I continue to hold the bodyguard and look up, trying to hold in my own tears. "I'll help her detox. I'm a pro now."

And I am. If anyone can help Cara with this it's me.

"I should have been checking her visitor logs." Paul is blaming himself?!

I kneel down in front of him and hold his face in my hands. Tears run down his cheeks. The Hollans mean a lot to him. Family. Nate and Cara- they are family to Paul.

"No. Look at me. Don't you go down that road, Paulie." I shake my head but can tell he is feeling like this is his fault. "You are not in charge of Cara. You aren't here for her. Nate hired you to watch me. No one else. Ok?"

I wipe the man's tears with my thumbs and throw my arms around his neck. Paul buries his face in my hair and squeezes me a little tighter. Any tighter and he may rupture organs. I embrace him and let him cry until the well runs dry. 

When Paul finally backs away he doesn't know how to act and rubs the back of his neck.

"Look at that. Tin man DOES have a heart." I joke to lighten up the atmosphere. "C'mon. I'll make everyone lunch." I pull Paul's arm and he stands up, now towering over me and we walk out of the bathroom together.

While I make lunch my mind runs a mile a minute. I still can't believe I convinced Jeremy to give Mike a second chance. I reminded him that Mike is still a human. A human who, like me, makes mistakes. Jeremy actually listened to me. He didn't have to hear me out but he did. I fought and made a difference in someone else's life. There's this tiny spark in me that's proud of myself, even with all that is going on around me.

For the very first time I notice it. I realize- I'm healing. Either that or I'm still in shock because any other time I'd spiral out of control with all that's going on right now. Instead, I think of how Nate is in good hands in the hospital. Jonah and Casey will take care of him and help him recover from the flu. I'm going to take care of Mike and help him detox. I'm going to help Cara with her detox.

I'm going to take care of James AND Paul as well.

*******