Firefly

Chapter 8

Juice sat with Amelia tirelessly. He spoke with Clay and Jax, they gave him the okay to spend the time away from club, but he had to be on call and reachable. If they hadn't, he'd have a hard decision to make but he was ashamed to say he would have likely called Kelly to relieve him. It was Sunday evening, just under the twenty-four hour mark, when Tara walked in with a sad looking dinner for him.

"Hey." She smiled, touched by his commitment. "She'll be awake soon, she's fine, it's just a matter of working it out of her system." Taking the extra seat, she handed him the sandwich. "The longer she sleeps the better really, less time for her to endure the hangover from hell."

Despite how unappetizing it looked, Juice ate the entire sandwich and followed it with a bottle of warm water. He was starving. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. You're not a bad guy, Juice. Don't beat yourself up over this."

"Too late." He said sadly. "Thanks Tara."

"I'm heading home for the night but if you need me just give me a call."

Nodding as she left the room, Juice slunk back down in his chair to try for some sleep. It wouldn't be comfortable but it would get him through. Some hours later, he slowly began blink open as a pained groan hit his ears. Amelia was writhing in bed, her face screwed up in distress. Juice sat up, taking her hand in his, and immediately pressed the call button.

"Hey, hey, Amelia, it's okay."

"I'm dying." She moaned, her eyes shut tight. "Juicy, what the hell happened? I feel like death."

Juice smiled at that, for some reason it struck him as incredibly sweet. He didn't want to tell her anything of what happened, it was as if she was given a pass and by telling her he would only mar her sweet innocence. Stroking her hair to soothe her Juice started slowly.

"It's a long story." He whispered before chickening out and shutting his mouth.

She she finally opened her eyes, Amelia looked terrified. "Holy shit, am I in the hospital?"

"Yeah, sweetheart, you are. I brought you to Saint Thomas."

"Did we get in an accident?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" He asked, shocked she didn't at least remember the party.

"The lake." She said with a dreamy smile. "We were at the lake."

As he prepared to speak the nurse entered the room quietly. "How are you feeling Miss Shawcross?" She asked while checking Amelia's vitals.

"Like shit." She said matter-of-factly. "Can I get something? I'm nauseous, my head is pounding and my body feels like I was run over by a damn monster truck."

"I'll speak with your doctor, see what we can get you."

"Thank you." Juice said with a polite smile as the nurse excused herself. "The lake was Friday, Meels, it's Sunday night now, actually it's technically Monday morning."

"Monday?" She shot up and instantly regretted it. "Oh shit," she threw herself back down. "Juice what happened?"

"I was late to the party." There was so much guilt in his words that even in her state she could hear it. "Tyler drugged your drink, when I got there I found you in the bathroom. He was trying to..." He trailed off. "You're okay. He didn't hurt you."

"Wait." She looked at Juice, horrified and embarrassed, and tried to process the story he told her. "Tyler roofied me? He was going to...rape me?" Denial, immediately she began to deny it all. "He wouldn't do that. He's annoying but he's harmless."