Smoke and Mirrors (DE)

30. Devil works hard, Rick works harder

Joseph stood in the corner of the dark hospital room watching Brandon lay lifelessly in the hospital bed. The lacerations on his face were almost all fully healed and the bruising had begun to fade away. His face and eyes were still very swollen and bloated from being in a vegetative state and there were an assortment of tubes and wires coming from out of his nose and mouth, nutritional IVs hooked up to every viable vein in his arms and hands. His body had lost a significant amount of weight and muscle mass from no longer being able to eat or move, he was now very frail and fragile— nothing but skin and bones.

The familiar sound of the hospital EKG beeped rhythmically intruding Joseph's thoughts. He hated that sound, much like when your alarm interrupts a good sleep— it was triggering because it reminded him of when Grace had gotten shot, notably one of the worst days of his life.

Though Joseph hadn't verbally expressed it, Brandon had been on his mind heavily since Dre told him what had happened. The feeling of guilt weighed heavily on his heart, Joseph was just very good at masking his true feelings and with so much going on in his business and personal life he hadn't had much time to let it bother him too badly.

Joseph and Grace had returned home from Miami last night, the trip had a significantly positive impact on their currently rocky relationship status. They'd had a couple of deep heartfelt talks and spent quality time with each other and things were starting to feel back to normal between the two, the wall of hostility no longer divided them. Joseph and Grace were back acting like two love drunk teens again, their bond felt tighter in a sense— Grace had even spent the night back in their home in the bed they share together for the first time in weeks after they landed.

The trip had even helped Grace realize she had her own issues that needed self reflection and it wasn't just Joseph that needed to work on things. Their relationship was different this time around than it was almost five years ago because there were no more secrets, but the truths of those secrets revealed carried heavy baggage. Four years ago Grace just knew Joseph to be this regular man that made good money off his trucking business and partial ownership of the nightclub he shared with Dre. Fast forward to the present day he'd become a notorious crime boss and was sending for Grace via private jet so she could sit on one hundred foot yachts at a dinner table with him and infamous cartel members and do things like spend $700,000 on jewelry just for fun.

The conversation she had with Amelia the other night at the jewelry auction was weighed heavily on Graces mind, but in a good way. She finally felt relief for some of the concerns that had been looming in the back of her mind since Joseph returned home. Joseph came home after his four year bid a different person, and learning about the real him from his own mouth was a hard pill to swallow, but Grace swallowed it because she loves him. 

Sometimes she still couldn't believe this was her life and silently struggled with the reality of it all but after speaking with Amelia she had a new outlook on it. Grace was beyond blessed, she lived the life most women could only dream of and is absolutely adored by the man she's so deeply in love with. Grace found comfort in Amelia's positive affirmations, because she knew if anyone understood and had experience it was her and Grace trusted her words.

" I'm going to let them do it tomorrow,"

Joseph jumped a little, startled by the fragile voice that sounded behind him as he thought he was alone looking over his shoulder to a small woman standing in the threshold of the hospital room door with a coffee in her hand, steam rising into the air. Part of the reason it had taken him so long to visit was because he was ashamed of himself, ashamed of his actions and he couldn't bare to stand before any of Brandon's family knowing this was his fault.

Dre was right, Joseph had taken out his aggression about his engagement being called off on Brandon. Though Brandon had already had punishment coming for the things he'd done leading up to that moment, he didn't deserve to be where he is now. That wasn't anybodys fault but Joseph's, not Tre nor Ziggy though they're the ones that physically put him there, but Joseph for not stopping it.