Chaos (Colby Brock)

128

"Ew." She and Jake said at the same time. "Harsh." Kat said with a laugh. "They don't like kids." I said as Jake chuckled.

"And you do?" He asked as I shrugged. "Not usually." I said then handed Juniper off to Devyn.

As soon as I did this, Juniper started to whimper and look at me with a pouted lip.

"Aw, she loves you." Stas said as I sighed. "I mean, she hasn't been taken care of by an adult in a long time. She also probably has some abandonment issues." I said then took her back from Devyn.

"Their mom really just abandoned them?" Kat asked as I nodded. "Yeah. That's why Julia needs to wake up." I said quietly then stood up and started bouncing the baby.

"What are the chances?" Kat asked quietly. "Small." I said then looked at Juniper.

"Okay. I need you to hang out with these girls. I can't hold you all day." I said causing Devyn to laugh.

"You can't talk to her like that." She said causing me to scrunch my brow with confusion. "Like what? A human?" I asked as she nodded.

"Yeah, she's a baby. You have to be sweet and gentle." She said causing me to raise my brows. "Who was she wanting to hang out with?" I asked with a chuckle.

"That's true." Tara said as I tried to hand Juniper off again. This time she let it happen and looked up at Devyn cautiously.

"See? Talking to her like an adult works." I said then grabbed my keys from my pocket. "Kat, are you coming?" I asked as she nodded.

"Yeah, I'm going." She said and walked up to me. "Watch the kids, get them anything they may need or want." I said to the others.

"Got it, boss." Jake said as Kat and I left. "So, how are you feeling?" Kat asked as I shook my head.

"I'm falling apart internally." I said and walked to the car.

"When you say her chances are small...how small?" She asked timidly. "She has 3 days to make progress before there's nothing we can do." I said, hating the words that were coming out of my mouth.

"What exactly happened?" Kat asked as I started driving. "Her dad was going to kill me but Julia jumped in front of the bullet." I said causing her to gasp.

"She lost so much blood and now her lungs aren't working on their own." I said quietly. "I can't believe she did that." Kat said as I nodded.

"Tell me about it." I said "I wish I could go back and not let her do it." I said and kept my eyes on the road.

"Then you'd be dead." She said as I nodded. "Being dead would feel better than the pain and guilt I'm feeling right now." I mumbled.

"She did it because she loves you." Kat said as I nodded.

I knew Julia loved me but I never expected her to take a bullet for me.

The poor girl hated guns and I made her be around them constantly. She was scared of them and still jumped in from of one for me.

I wish she didn't.

We stopped and grabbed some flowers before going to the office.

"Oh, Jules." Kat said and walked up to the bed. "We brought you some flowers, sweetheart. You just have to open your eyes to see them." I said and put the flowers on the table next to her bed.

"They're really pretty." Kat said and took her hand. "Your siblings are here. The girls are obsessed with Juniper." Kat said quietly.

"I think you would get a kick out of Colby taking care of them. It's so out of his element." She said with a laugh and looked at me.

"He misses you, so you gotta wake up for him." She said then looked back at Julia.

"My sadness is gonna start infecting people soon." I said and walked to the other side of the bed, taking Julia's other hand.

I looked at the rose that was tattooed on her wrist. It wasn't even fully healed yet it was so new.

It was only a couple weeks ago that we were sitting in the tattoo shop, getting her the tattoos she wanted.

The smile on her face was infectious. The way her cheeks pulled up to reveal the little dimples on each side of her mouth.

I wanted to go back to when that smile was here, instead of the permanent frown on her face now.

She looked so uncomfortable, the way the tube in her mouth stretched her skin. She was pale and unresponsive, the rosiness of her cheeks gone.

It wasn't fair that this is where she was now, when only a couple weeks ago she was happy.

I thought when I took her on that trip to Portland it would be the last time I saw her.

I knew Quill would kill me.

That was the whole reason I took her to Portland, so she could have her last memories with me be fond.

I wanted my last moments with her to be filled with her bright giggles and infectious smile.

Now my last moments with her would look like this.

Her laid in a hospital bed, looking like she was going to slip away at any moment.

I would have done anything to go back in time to avoid this.