*Nate*

Before James and Nadine take the stand, Addison calls up the next group of witnesses. First, Dr. Giovanni, who explains exactly what happened to James during impact. His brain injury, the surgery, coma, seizures, you name it. Then Jonah gets called up to the stand.

"Jonah Marshall. You are not only Nate Hollan's personal nurse but also care for James Gallo in Nate Hollan's apartment, correct?" Addison begins her usual pacing back and forth.

"Yes, ma'am." He says tiredly. It's been a long, drawn-out day and almost five pm now. I have a feeling we will be back here tomorrow morning to continue the trial at this rate.

"Walk us through a typical day caring for Mr. Gallo now." Addison leans against her table casually.

"Well, he usually wakes up around eight in the morning. He will need help getting dressed due to his coordination issues Dr. Giovanni explained earlier. He is unable to pull down or up his pants. He cannot button, unbutton or zipper jeans. Once he is dressed, he will head to the bathroom. I will need to unscrew the toothpaste for him as his fine motor skills are lacking. I put the toothpaste on his toothbrush and then attempt to put the toothbrush in his hand. Somedays his grip is good, other days not so much. A lot of the times I will have to brush his teeth for him, comb his hair, help him put his deodorant on. He needs help in the shower because he cannot grip a bar of soap or open a bottle of shampoo."

"What about his meals? Is Mr. Gallo able to feed himself, or let's say, pour himself a cup of coffee to hold like we all can in this room?" The lawyer asks.

"No ma'am, he cannot. Somedays if his coordination is well enough, he can hold a fork and get food to his mouth. Other days he needs to be fed by one of us." Jonah glances at James whose head is hung low in embarrassment. "But he does his PT exercises faithfully, sometimes multiple times a day even though he is only required to do them twice."

"But, like Dr. Giovanni explained, this may be as far as he recovers, regardless of how many times he does his coordination exercises, correct?"

"We are hopeful, but yes. That is a possibility." He answers.

"And the dog. He has a medical dog. Tell me more about that." She points to the golden retriever sitting next to James.

"Objection, your honor. Where are we going with this on the subject of the car accident?" Colton sighs, clearly irritated.

"Your honor, we need to be clear on James Gallo's abilities and disabilities from the accident. His dog plays a part in this."

"I'll allow. Proceed." Judge Capriotti waves his hand to continue.

"Tell me about Maggie." Addison says.

"Maggie is James's medical dog. She started off as a therapy dog for him to help him cope with the loss of his child. We noticed how in tune she is when there is something wrong with her owner. She can sense he is about to have a seizure before it happens. She can sense stress, physical pain, emotional pain. Not just towards her owner. But towards anyone. If Mr. Hollan is having a specifically hard day, she will lay near him and want his attention. If she senses James is about to have a seizure, she barks to alert us. She is a key component in his recovery to keep him safe."

"Very well. No further questions, your honor."

Here comes Cocky Fucking Colton ready to rock.

"Mr. Marshall. You said James cannot take care of his daily tasks, correct?"

"That is correct."

"If he cannot take care of himself, does that mean he cannot be responsible to take care of others?"

Jonah pauses and furrows his brows.

"Correct...."

"So, tell me, if James cannot be responsible to take care of others, why was he hired as one of Nate Hollan's personal bodyguards on his Around The World concert tour? An extremely famous celebrity who needs bodyguards to react fast, contain the crowd and make sure Nate Hollan is unharmed. How is James, who can't brush his own teeth, able to be employed as a bodyguard?"

Jonah looks at me, and then Addison, unsure how to answer.

"I mean, he can push people out of the way. He is a muscular man. You don't need much coordination to push."

"But is he qualified to be a bodyguard for someone of Nate Hollan's stature? If so, then he could handle himself just fine in let's say.... a prison."

"No, he couldn't. Not unless he had a nurse with him to help him with his daily needs."

"Yet he was employed by Nate Hollan himself. So, are you saying he was employed illegally then and not qualified for the position whatsoever?"

"Your honor!" Addison looks flustered. She no longer looks put together. Fuck. We're losing this case by the minute.

*******

*Julia*

"Answer the question, Mr. Marshall." The judge says and it echoes through my apartment. I haven't stopped crying, and it looks like I'm not about to any time soon.

"They're tricking him into saying shit!" I shake my head.

"It's what they do, Moretti." But Paul looks frustrated. We all know this is not the way we had hoped it would go. This Colton West asshole is good. Too good and it's showing. Addison suddenly looks nervous.

"Mr. Marshall..."

"No, I do not think James should be employed. He was hired so he could join Nate on tour and feel like he had a job." Jonah looks at James and drops his shoulders.

"So, he was hired illegally then."

"That is not my expertise sir. I deal with the medical portion of James Gallo's life." Jonah snaps back and it's the first time I've seen Jonah look truly irritated in a while.

"But if, let's say, Nate Hollan had a heart attack while on tour and James was the only bodyguard with him... since we all know Mr. Hollan's medical history thanks to his media attention. Would James be able to call 911 for Nate? "

The pause Jonah waits is too long, and it's noticed.

"No sir. He cannot maneuver a cell phone to dial phone numbers."

"Yet he was employed to be part of the security team."

"Your honor... how does THIS pertain to our case?" Addison bites and for the first time, Judge Capriotti is the one looking tired from these two lawyers running around each other in circles.

"No further questions." Colton smiles over at Addison. He got what he wanted. He got a rise out of her. He got under her skin.

"God this is frustrating." Jeremy takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes. We all sit in my living room glued to the TV, knowing now is the time James and Nadine will be called up. Instead, the judge calls both lawyers to approach the bench. No one can hear what they are saying but we notice the judge looks at his watch a few times.

Then a fucking reporter cuts in from outside the courtroom.

"And there you have it, folks. Day one of the Jones Vs. Gallo trial has ended unfinished. Hours of testimonies and back and forth banter between the lawyers have made this case an exceptionally frustrating one." 

You can hear in the background the bailiff shout "All Rise." Meaning the session is over for the day and the judge is exiting the room. The reporter looks back at the room full of people and then to the camera. "We will continue live coverage throughout the evening as well as tomorrow morning before the session resumes at 9am sharp."

Addison walks out with James first with security surrounding him and poor Maggie is back to looking petrified. Reporters swarm James and the lawyer looking for comments.

"Ms. Landry! Is the trial going as you expected, or do you agree it has taken a turn for the worst?" One man asks, sticking the microphone right up in her face.

"I think the trial went exceptionally well," She lies. "These are the things we have been preparing for." She fakes a smile and then proceeds to walk away with no further comment. James keeps his head down and remains silent. It breaks my heart to see him this way.

"Mr. Hollan! Mr. Hollan!" More reporters get into Nate's space now as Evan, other bodyguards and police escort him out. "Did you hire James Gallo illegally? Is Colton West right about James being able to hold down a job?"

"No comments. Thank you." Nate looks nervous. Like Colton West just opened a can of worms on him now and I can tell his brain is going a mile a minute. He will need to call his publicist and his own lawyers about this.

"What a fucking disaster." Paul mutes the TV and Mike shakes his head. But my eyes are still on the screen. I watch the defeated looking Trisha, Jonah and Casey leave, as well as three of James's five sisters exit.

"Julia. We should all eat something. You need to eat. I can order a few pizzas." Jeremy stands up to stretch. I pay no attention to him and head to my room, mentally drained. Jeremy doesn't push me on the eating, and I end up falling asleep for a little while.

When I wake up, James is lying in my bed fast asleep with the dog between us. I give James a little kiss on his cheek before getting out of bed. He is in casual clothes and looks so peaceful right now though I know he is anything but calm inside.

Everyone else is awake and talking in the main living area. Nate is on the phone and pacing. It sounds like he is talking to either his publicist or lawyer by his tone of voice. Everyone else is eating pizza with the news on mute. It's a houseful which I kind of like.

Nate notices me, puts his hand on his phone to mute himself for a quick second before coming over to me.

"Hey, doll. Go eat. I'll join you in a second." He whispers and kisses my forehead.

"Is James still sleeping?" Casey asks from the kitchen table before taking a bite of her pizza. I nod and turn to Jonah.

"What's going to happen? That lawyer didn't make James...or Nate look good."

"Addison assures us it will be fine, but she reamed into Nate after because she did not know about the bodyguard job." Jonah replies. I notice Jeremy is gone and let out a sigh of relief. Paul looks more relaxed as well. The other bodyguard, Evan, and Trisha both look half asleep on the living room couch.

"Was it really even a real job? James didn't fill out any paperwork. He can't even hold a pen. And did Nate actually give him a paycheck?? I think that lawyer is reaching a little, don't you?" I ask. Jonah puts a slice of pizza on my plate, and I have no trouble eating tonight. I still think I may have some residual effects from the strong sedative in my system.

"Good point. Nate is on the phone with his lawyer right now. So stressful." Jonah frowns and I feel my emotions creep up.

"He really can't go to prison, Jonah. He won't survive. There has to be other options."

*******