Spark in the Dark

Chapter 81

Shawn's tires lightly squealed as she pulled into the parking lot at Teller-Morrow Automotive. She had rushed out of the house so fast, she hadn't even taken off Juice's hoodie. It didn't matter that Gemma said it would be an hour, Shawn wanted to be there when they arrived. Shawn had every intention of throwing her arms around Juice, to hell with what anyone else thought. But her excitement to see them was soon shattered.

Shawn walked to the office after seeing Gemma through the window. Tara was there as well. Gemma stood and excused herself from Tara for a moment. She walked outside with Shawn and shut the office door.

"You and Juice? That still a thing?" Gemma asked.

"Yeah," Shawn answered honestly.

"I wasn't sure until this morning when you said we had to bail him out. I've wondered. It's been a long ass time."

"Well, the wait will be over soon. As soon as he gets here I'm-"

"That's why I'm out here," Gemma stopped her. "He's not coming here."

"What? What do you mean? What the hell happened?"

"I talked to Clay. Juice was shanked in jail. He's being transferred to St. Thomas," Gemma told her and Shawn turned to go back to her car. "What about your dad?"

"He's okay, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then I have to go," Shawn said and walked back to her car.

She drove straight to the hospital and asked someone at a desk where to find Juice. Shawn followed the nurse's directions and went over to the elevators where she impatiently pressed the call button multiple times. The elevator came and Shawn got on. She swore twice when she didn't think the elevator was moving fast enough.

Finally the doors opened and she could see what should be Juice's room. She walked over and glanced in. He was laying flat on his stomach with his face turned away from her. He wasn't wearing a shirt, so the bandage wrapped around his torso was visible.

"Are you here to visit the patient brought over from the jail?" A nurse asked Shawn.

Shawn turned to look at her. "Yes. Is that alright?"

"We medicated him as soon as he got here. He was in a lot of pain. He needs to rest."

"I wasn't planning on making him run a marathon. I just want to see him," Shawn explained.

"Go ahead," the nurse said after a moment. "He may be a little out of it from the drugs."

Shawn nodded and walked into his room. His eyes were closed and it looked to Shawn like he was asleep. She grabbed a chair that was there for visitors and pulled it closer to him. Juice opened his eyes slightly to see where the noise was coming from. He smiled when he saw Shawn, but she could see in his eyes how tired he was.

"Hey," Juice said sweetly. He tried to sit up and winced. Shawn gently touched his shoulder to stop him.

"Don't get up," Shawn said and Juice laid back down. She sat in the chair and lowered her head so her chin was resting on the bed. She didn't want Juice to have to strain to see her. Shawn rested her hand over his wrist and gently drew figure eights on the back of his hand. "I was so worried about you."

"I'm sorry," Juice apologized. Shawn could tell by the sound of his voice that the drugs the nurse had given him had taken effect. "You didn't need to worry about me."

"Really? Because first you were arrested and now you're in a hospital bed," Shawn reasoned.

"Good point."

"Are you in pain?"

Juice shook his head. "No. Whatever they gave me is helping."

"What happened?"

"We went to get Zobelle. He was supposed to be at some meeting with a bunch of white supremacist ex cons. Ended up being a Christian dinner."

"And this?" Shawn asked and moved her hand to gently touch his bandaged back.

Juice smirked. "I'm high, but I'm not that high."

"What's that even mean?" Shawn asked and smiled. Only Juice could be released from jail after being shanked and still find humor in what happened.

Juice just shook his head and changed the subject. "Is that my hoodie?"

"Yeah, I put it on when I got home from Cara Cara and didn't take it off after Gemma called to say you were getting out."

"Someone might see you in that. Actually, you sure you should be here?"

"Of course I should be here. I don't care if anyone sees me here or wearing your hoodie. I'm done hiding, Juice. I'm done worrying about how everyone else feels and I'm done letting all my past shit mess this up for us."

"I wish you had said that a month ago."

"I wish I had said that a year ago."

"That, too," Juice agreed. His eyelids were beginning to look heavier than ever.

"Why don't you get some sleep, okay? We can talk more about it when you're up to it."

Juice nodded and closed his eyes. "Stay 'til I fall asleep?"

Shawn smiled at his request. "Yeah, of course."