*Nate*

I feel bad, but I didn't sleep at Julia's last night. We have to be at the courthouse for 9am, and it would have been too rushed. She seemed to understand. I also think she still has some Ativan left in her system, making her very "chill."

Fortunately, my lawyer says I'm cleared from any illegal activity regarding hiring James as my bodyguard. The thing that saved me was the fact that no official paperwork was filled out or filed, and no money was exchanged

 in the form of paychecks. There is no documentation whatsoever and faxed me proof by no transactions to James himself on my bank statement. There's no paper trail. Whenever anyone needs anything, they just use my card. So, he has been well cared for in that department, but no money was deposited in his account from me. Paying off his mortgage goes straight to the house loan, not to James.

Unfortunately, none of us got a ton of sleep. While watching the news, James got himself all worked up and had another seizure. Jonah has been documenting it all and is going to bring his chart with us to show the judge. We aren't sure if it will help with the decision-making, but James can not be put in a stressful environment. I'm pretty fucking sure prison is a stressful environment.

"I-I don't know if I can go through with this." James stammers while Trisha helps him with breakfast. "Getting up on the st-stand and stuff."

"Just do your best, ok friend? The judge AND the jury will have compassion once they see how the accident has affected your health." Jonah pats James on the shoulder while walking by. I feel awful for Gallo. I can't imagine what it must be like to live in his body and now have to fight for his freedom on top of it.

"I'm going to take Maggie out for a long walk before we are cooped up in that building." Casey announces. It's barely seven thirty so she has plenty of time.

Reporters are already at the courthouse though and we know today will be just as hectic, if not more as yesterday.

*******

Colton West thought he had leverage on us, but it fell through, and reporters are having a field day with it. Not only did he try to try to get one up on me with the whole hiring James as a bodyguard deal, because it fell through, reporters and fans alike took over social media defending me. It all makes him look bad in the public eye.

On top of that, once Judge Capriotti reviews James's medical charts, which thank God for Jonah who documents EVERY FUCKING THING, He will limit James's time on the stand. Jonah even included dates and times of each seizure as well as what was going on at the time...whether James was in a particularly stressful environment, his mood was off or there was a stressful situation happening. Not only did he document everything, once a month he would fax over copies to James's neurologist to look over. I mean, I knew he was a good nurse and on top of things, but this went above and beyond, and I had no idea. So, there are dated documents now in the judge's hands on how stress triggers seizures for James.

Dr. Giovanni will remain in the courtroom to monitor James. If he (or Maggie) notice signs, James will be pulled off the stand for his own medical wellbeing and safety.

Colton West is NOT happy about that.

First up this morning, Nadine Jones. The victim's niece.

"Miss Jones. Can you tell us a little bit about your uncle?" Colton West begins.

"He was a wonderful man. A devoted husband who took care of his wife until she lost her battle with cancer for years. Uncle Mal was nice to everyone and had good work ethics. He died on the job, driving Mr. Hollan."

"So you want justice to be served, correct?'

"Yes, sir. My uncle would still be alive today if it weren't for James Gallo's decision to drive impaired."

Ugh, impaired? Really? She was coached well by Colton. West goes on a little more about Malcolm's character traits and asks her a few boring questions before it's cross examination time.

"Miss Jones," Addison doesn't waste any time. "How close were you to your uncle?"

"I mean, he's my uncle. I don't know. What does that have to do with anything?" She cocks a brow.

"Miss Jones, please answer the question. Were you or were you not close to your uncle?"

"Yes?" She says as a question, raising a few of the jurors' eyebrows.

"Do you wish him a happy birthday every year?" The lawyer asks.

"Sure. Um. Yes."

"Your honor?" Colton objects but it is overruled, and Addison is told to proceed but to get to the point.

"When is his birthday, Miss jones?" There's a pause that doesn't work to Nadine's advantage. She doesn't know the answer, does she? I know the answer because every year I have Trisha give him his bonus on his birthday. July 12th.

"I don't know the exact date."

"Winter, spring, summer or fall. When do you wish him a happy birthday? Someone close to their uncle who wishes him a happy birthday would know the answer to this." Addison continues.

"Winter."

"Mr. Hollan, can you tell us Mr. Jones's birthday?"

She turns to me and Colton looks baffled. Is this even allowed? The judge allows it. I stand up and smooth my tie.

"It's July 12th. Same day. Every year." I say and hear a few giggles behind me.

"Let the records show it is indeed July 12th. How is it that Mr. Jones's boss knows his birthday and you, as close as you are to Mr. Jones, not only didn't know the date, but you also didn't know the season!"

"I- I got confused. It's stressful being up here." Nadine suddenly looks nervous.

"Nadine. If you were so close to your uncle, why did it take you months to come forward as next of kin? As everyone in this courtroom knows well, because the accident involved well-known celebrity Nate Hollan, it has been talked about on the news widespread for months. From the moment it happened until this very day. Why did you wait?"

"I had lost my father around the same time. I was distraught and trying to get my life back together." Nadine looks over at her lawyer.

"But you were close to your uncle."

"Yes. I was." She nods.

"Yet you didn't have a wake, funeral, or any kind of service to pay respects to the deceased man..."

"Like I said, my father had died around the same time. I was busy preparing his wake and funeral."

"And we all know how expensive that can get, correct?" Addison is going somewhere with this, and we all know it.

"Very."

"Let the records show that Mr. Michael Jones, Malcolms brother, died three months AFTER Malcolm passed away. You had three months, Nadine. THREE FULL MONTHS before your father passed away. You weren't preparing your father's wake. You weren't distraught. But when your dad died the bills piled up. We have already established that Nate Hollan provides for Mr. Gallo financially. You are after Nate Hollan's money."

"OBJECTION!" Colton is now red in the face and Addison is gloating. Whether the objection is sustained or overruled, the jury heard what was implied, and the seed has been planted.

********

*Julia*

Of course, Jeremy would come back to my apartment to watch the trial. He claims he is here for my detox but so far, I have no symptoms. One good thing is he let my felon friend Mike Maloney join us as well.

Paul sits in the recliner with his cup of coffee after a long night dealing with me and my PTSD Night Terrors, so he is pretty tired. Mike looks to be ending his own detox and no longer shakes or gets sick, though the addiction still runs strong in his blood when I see him scratch his arm often, needing his fix. I know that feeling all too well. The feeling where you are crawling out of your own skin.

We are in the middle of a brief 15-minute recess after James's lawyer cross examined Nadine Jones and the reporters are all over it. Now everyone thinks Nadine is out for Nate's money. It still doesn't eliminate James from jail time, but any little thing helps.

I drive everyone crazy by pacing the living room and fidgeting with my hands.

"You should sit down while James is being questioned, Julia." Jeremy watches my anxiety slowly creep up by the minute. I do sit. I sit next to Mike on the couch but then bounce my knee nervously.

"Dude, really?" Mike puts a hand on my knee to stop me.

"Sorry. I can't help it."

"Moretti, maybe you shouldn't watch. Never mind Hollan, you're wound up so tight you're gonna give yourself a heart attack." Paul studies the look on my face and knows to shut the hell up.

My best friend is on trial right now. Of course I'm going to be wound up. The fact that it is being televised live for all to see makes it that much more stressful.

I pay no attention to anyone in the room when I see people filter back into the court room. James looks so nervous. I hate this. I hate everything about this!

"Your honor, we would like to call to the stand Mr. James Gallo."

My palms become sweaty, and I feel like I can't catch my breathe. Jeremy notices it and keeps his eyes on me. Maggie follows her owner but not into the stand. She sits right outside of it like the good girl she is and watches her owner. No one says anything and the judge allows it.

"Mr Gallo, as we all know, this is not a case of guilty or innocent. The collision happened. You ran a red light. A man died." Addison begins and my jaw drops.

"What the hell is she doing? Trying to make him look bad??" I burst.

"Those are the facts so let's get that out of the way and move on. Here we have a man, and outstanding member of our society who's only fault was working to hard. He was not drinking, not on drugs, not under the influence of anything that would impair him. He simply worked too many hours trying to provide for his family. A man who puts everyone else before himself all of the time. A man who," She pauses for dramatization, "is now physically disabled for the rest of his life. Mr. Gallo, do you remember anything from this accident?"

"No, ma'am. I don't" He frowns, and his voice sounds weak and nervous.

"So your intentions were not to inflict bodily harm on another person..."

"No. Of course not! I feel terrible that the man died." He looks at the judge who nods with empathy.

"So this wasn't a malicious act. This wasn't manslaughter." Addison looks at the jury. "This man was in a car ACCIDENT. One that has altered his life to the point he can no longer take care of himself. James Gallo will never be able to drive again. He may never be able to dress himself again or shower himself in privacy. He cannot turn a doorknob or use a cell phone and requires a medical dog along with 24/7 nursing care. This man does NOT belong in prison."

I sigh, feeling a little relieved with the turn she took. Addison goes on to ask James a bunch of boring questions on what he can and can't do before ending on a high note saying, once again, it was an accident from working too hard at his job and being overtired.

James looks overly nervous when it is cross examination time and Colton paces the room.

"People of the court. We are all familiar with laws and know we need to abide by them. We also know when a law is broken there are consequences. James Gallo, you got behind the wheel knowing you were tired, correct?"

"I mean. I'm al-always tired after my shift. I work overnights. I-"

"Yes or no Mr. Gallo." Colton snaps, not giving James he time he needs to process the information and speak.

"Yes. I knew I w-was tired."

"So you knew you were tired and made the conscious choice to get behind the wheel and drive. You weren't thinking of anyone else on the road or how your decision would affect others, were you?"

"Objection, Your honor. Speculation." Addison barks out.

"Sustained." The judge agrees with Addison.

"We have laws for a reason, BY LAW reckless driving resulting in death results in prison. That is the law. If we didn't follow through with consequences everyone would be out there driving, knowing they won't get punished. Drunk drivers. Drivers under the influence of drugs. Drivers too tired to stop at a red light of a busy intersection. It doesn't matter how the accident medically affected you. The law states if you are a reckless driver who killed a man, you go to jail. Isn't that correct, James?"

"Bu- but it was an accident." James stammers and tears fill up his eyes.

"He's stuttering more. Can't they see how nervous he is?! He never meant to hurt anyone." I cry and it's Paul to sit me back down and hold both my hands as the trial continues.

"And accidents happen. You're right, sir. That doesn't bring Mr. Jones back though, does it?"

James stares at the man but doesn't focus on him. The camera zooms in on James more. Oh no.

"No..." I say under my breath seeing this happen before.

Maggie starts barking up a storm, but James doesn't respond.

"Oh shit." Jonah's voice bellows through the courtroom. "He's having an Absence Seizure!"

********

*Nate*

Fuck! I knew this would happen!

Jonah is quick on his feet and bolts to the front to grab James before he falls over while Dr. Giovanni makes his way up to the front of the room. Guards contain the crowd and James's sisters are now all crying, as the jury and the lawyers all look in shock. It's complete mayhem.

"This is too much stress for him!" I snap at Colton West and Evan stands in my way. "Look what you're doing to him!!"

I want to punch the bastard across his cocky fucking face but that will just put my sorry ass in jail. The dog doesn't stop barking until Jonah is able to get James to the floor on his side. The entire courtroom is evacuated except for the core group. Casey, me, James, Jonah and the doctor, Evan, the lawyers and the judge. Even the jury was forced to leave, and all video has been paused.

"What is an absent seizure?" Addison asks while Jonah and Dr. Giovanni hold James in place until he comes to.

"Its symptoms are different than a clonic seizure which is what James usually has. This one is harder to notice which could result in more damage if his dog hadn't alerted us. The only signs the person would show is staring off and slight muscle twitching." The doctor looks down at James with so much sympathy when he noticed the loss of bladder function. The judge notices right away as well.

"Court is adjourned for today. We will try again tomorrow." Judge Capriotti kneels down and pets Maggie. "Good job." He says to the dog.

"WHAT?!" Colton West is not happy.

James comes out of his seizure unharmed but confused. Me and Jonah sit him up and I quickly take my suit jacket off to tie around his waist. Bad enough he just had a fucking seizure in front of the whole world, they don't need to see that he wet himself because of it.

"You heard me. Tomorrow morning, 9am. This was too much for Mr. Gallo. He needs to go home, get cleaned up and rest. Have some compassion here." He glares at the lawyer.

This isn't about winning a fucking case right now.

This is about the health of a human being!

**********