Fighting a New World

46

Carter's POV

I forced myself to take a deep breath as I waited for Jem's lawyer to make an appearance.

Ever since we got the news, everything has been set into motion.

Pretty much the second Jax got done crying I was pushed up front and Patrick recommended that we find a lawyer fast so that we could make a game plan before we were even called to court.

Since we didn't have any money and apparently this lawyer owed Jem a favor, we decided it would be best for us to use him, especially since Jem claimed he was one of the best in the state.

So now I sat here in a large office with a round table and couches along the wall. Ryder sat in my lap, my chin laying on his shoulder while Liam and Callum sat beside me, each of them holding one hand while their free hands tapped mindlessly on the table just to make some noise.

Patrick, Andrew, and Jem sat on the couch along the side of the wall. I'm not exactly sure why Jem was here though. I understood that Andrew was here to defuse anything. Patrick was here because I knew Jax would feel better that way.

I honestly think Jem was only here because this was his lawyer but I didn't have the energy to make him leave right now.

I hate that I flinch back as the door swings open while my hands tighten to grip my boyfriends harder.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting," the man apologized as he sat down in front of me. He was small and short like Seth but his eyes were unreadable like Liam's and Jem's and I didn't like that. "I was in a meeting and couldn't get away before now. My name is Reece. May I assume that you're Jax?"

He didn't give me time to answer before he was taking note pads and files out of his brief case and laying them on the table. I watched as he flipped to a free page in the book before writing Jax's name at the top and looking back up at me.

"Kinda of, I'm Carter. Jax is," I take a pause as I try to figure out the best way to say this. "Taking a break." I guess that was one way to say he was trying to not have a panic attack in the inner world. "I'll be the one taking care of it today."

Reece looked confused as he stared up at me.

"Jax and Carter have DID. They are apart of and are the most active members in their system," Andrew called out before leaning back against the couch.

Reece nodded but frowned slightly as he wrote that down.

"James told me a bit about the situation already and I'll be honest, this just got a little bit harder. In cases with mental illnesses like this, it can be hard to convince judges of the abuse."

"As if DID doesn't stem from childhood trauma," I scowled.

"Trauma doesn't always mean abuse like you two are accusing him of. It could be plenty of things that he and his lawyer can spin off and blame it on your mother since she isn't here to say what did or didn't happen."

My frown deepened at that while Liam's hand squeezed mine harder.

"Luckily, there are a few ways to get around that but before we get to that point we need to start with just a conversation. I know it will be hard but I need to know what happened while you were with him, as much as you're willing to tell me at least. The more the better."

I pushed down my panic as I pushed my lips into the back of Ryder's shoulder.

And to think I thought I was done breaking down over most of this.

"He was always violent but for the most part it was just to Jax's mom up until she left. When she did Jax started acting out at school and he got into a lot of fights. He got into a really bad one and as his punishment, his dad took him to an illegal fight and he won. Ever since then every time his dad was low on cash he made Jax fight and would make money off of betting whether or not he would win.