PAPER RINGS | jj maybank

44 | NO FAMILY CLUB

When no one answered, Sarah stood up, walking towards the boat.

"I'll come with you." Athena spoke.

"What!" JJ exclaimed. "No you won't."

"JJ, I need to go to the hospital." Athena stumbled forward slightly. "I'll be fine."

John B ran after Sarah as JJ held onto Athena.

"I'll come with you."

"JJ, my dad will end up coming to the hospital, okay and you can't be there when he does." Athena explained to him. "I'll be okay and I'll come right back after. I promise."

"Be safe." JJ told her, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

Athena walked over to Sarah, the two linking arms as they walked towards the HSM Pogue.

"You ready Sar?" Athena asked her quietly.

"As I'll ever be."

Athena and Sarah made their way towards the hospital, Sarah had agreed to stay outside and out of sight as Athena went in, the two going to their house after Athena had been checked out.

"What can I do you for?" The receptionist asked the girl.

"Um, I was shot and I tried to stitch it up..." Athena trailed off, the receptionist looking up at her pale face before calling a doctor over.

Athena sat on a hospital bed, the white in the room making her head hurt. The nurse was getting her some pain relief. The blonde stared at the wall in front of her when the door opened. She looked over to see her dad standing in the doorway.

"What happened Athena?" He questioned, sitting on the bed next to her.

"I was shot." Athena stated, shrugging.

"By who? I told you those pogues were dangerous." Ward shook his head.

"It was one of the pogues, dad!" Athena scoffed. "Rafe shot me. He practically raided the chateau."

"Rafe did this?" Ward asked her.

"Yes!"

"No he didn't." Ward told her firmly.

"Yes he did." Athena's eyebrows furrowed. 

"Athena, you need to stop blaming everything that happens on your brother." Ward told her.

"I haven't."

"So why haven't you come home? And why did you call him a monster?" Ward raised his eyebrows.

Athena scoffed once more. "I did not call him a monster. And I didn't come home because my house is full of murderers."

"We are not murderers." Ward stated.

"Yes you are, dad! You killed John B's dad, Rafe killed Peterkin, that's murder." Athena stared at his wide eyed as her father shook his head.

"We are your family -"

"No you're not!" Athena exclaimed. "The pogues are. JB is my family, Pope and Kie are my family, JJ is my family you are not!"

"We are, me, Rafe, Sarah, Wheezie and Rose are your family Athena, not them. And you need to realise that you need your family, you do not need your friends. And Rafe does not need to go to jail." Ward explained to her.

"I never said Rafe needed to go to jail, okay? There is something mentally wrong with Rafe. He needs help, dad. You need to get him help. He needs like therapy or something because jail isn't going to do anything for him." Athena's eyes filled with tears. "And I do not need you."