Illicit Affairs (Andy Barber x OC)

15 - Aftermath

Andy didn't look at Neal as he sat at the lone table in the middle of the room, the jury listening intensively as everything was laid out. The decision as to whether Laurie Barber should be indicted still unclear. Questions were being fired at him. Neal had picked up a lot of tips from him, and Andy had to give it to him. He was ruthless, but he was also a complete asshole.

Seven months...

They'd been the longest of his life. Jacob still lay in a coma with no telling as to when he may wake and just what state he'd be in. Laurie was recovering slowly, having been in intensive care for some time.

Andy had gone to see her, but he found he had nothing to say.

How could he? It was clear enough from the accident report that nothing had been wrong with the car. No one else was involved. She'd called both Joanna and the therapist that Jacob had seen but they had been disconnected by her before either had answered.

She'd tried to kill them and Andy could never forgive her for that.

Laurie had expressed her regret to him. Worried that Jacob would hate her when he finally woke up. Andy didn't blame him if their son did. No amount of therapy could ever take away the fact that Laurie had crashed on purpose, and yet still she hadn't told him about the conversation she and Jacob had before it. There must have been something that had been said. She couldn't have just woken up that morning and decided that day she was going to try and kill them both?

"I just want my family back."

They would never be the same again. They would never be a family. Not after everything they'd been through. 

She'd torn them apart, but at the same time Andy had taken some of the responsibility in terms of the affair. Would things have been different if Laurie hadn't known about Rose? If their affair had never happened?

Perhaps. But perhaps not.

He couldn't change the past and he didn't want to when it came down to that. 

Andy had spent many days by his sons bedside, just talking to him about trivial things, such as the weather, how this Christmas he'd be sure to get Jake something extra special. How when he finally got out from hospital they'd leave just as planned. "You gotta work with me here bud." He'd sighed as the only reply came from the various beeping and whirring of machines that were wired up to Jacob. "The sooner you wake the sooner we can get outta here. Your mom will never come near you again. I promise."

He would never let anyone hurt him again. Jacob had been through enough.

"Come on Andy, tell the truth...doesn't Jake deserve justice?" Neal now asked as he loomed over him with his manipulative tone, something that he usually used when trying to extract the truth from whoever he had on the stand. "And what about Rose?"

"Don't you dare bring her into this." Andy spat.

Neal sighed. "But she was involved too, I mean, she was visited by your wife on the same day she fell down the stairs and lost her baby. Your baby if I may confirm?"

"No you may not." Andy growled.

How the fuck did he even know that? Had Lynn told him? She was the only person that had known as far as Andy knew. At least Rose had listened to him and hadn't come to the hearing, something that she'd wanted to do in order to show her support. He'd talked her out of it and was now glad he'd done so. Neal had no right bringing her up as well as the child that they'd lost. 

"Bit of a coincidence though isn't it? That happening and then just the next day the accident occurs? She made calls, she wanted to confess something. So I'm going to ask you again...do you think that Laurie intended to kill herself and Jacob?" Neal now asked.

Andy looked up at him with a glare. Where his eyes used to shine there were dark circles from lack of sleep. Red rimmed from the hours he'd sat awake, a bottle of whiskey to hand contemplating everything. Yet still he had no answers.

Absolutely nothing.

"Think of Jacob, Andy. Never mind about Rose – I'll lay off that one as it's your own business, but your son? He's still in a coma." Neal's voice sounded through the silence.

Andy bowed his head, resting his mouth against his fists that were clenched so tightly that the whites of his knuckles showed. Punching Neal would be the best feeling in the world, but at the same time he didn't want to go down for an assault charge.

He had to make a decision. Saving what little reputation his family had left and insisting that Laurie was innocent. Or just as Neal had put it, justice for Jake and the pain of enduring another trial all over again.

Andy was tired. He simply wanted this to just be over. It had been dragged out long enough in his view.

Finally he looked up.

He had his answer.

"Yes."

There was a low murmur around the courtroom until everyone was silenced. Neal now nodding to the judge. "There we have it." and turned to Andy. "Thank you Andy. You did the right thing."

"I didn't do it for your fucking ego boost, I did it for Jake, for Rose and for myself!"

Neal nodded and looked at him in his usual condescending way. He was talking to him like a child! "Like I said, the right thing. I think we're done here." He concluded.

The judge dismissed everyone, leaving the next stage of the process to be decided. Andy took his jacket from where it was slung over the back of his chair and walked out, leaving the court, and going to where he'd parked.

He felt drained of all energy that he'd had before he'd entered the room, but managed to somehow muster the strength to drive home as the evening moved in. Now he'd have to go through the stress of another trial once more, but he knew that he'd had to be truthful.

His wife was no longer his wife, and now he'd filed for divorce he hoped to just move on.