Charming's Queen

78. Weak and Broken

"Lynne!"

Lynne stepped out from around the bar top after the panicked yell that came from her best friends mouth. Holding the baby taut to her chest, she looked over her shoulder as Grant rushed over as well, holding Lillia. They made their way to the door and Lynne was shocked at the scene.

Juice.

Juice was sitting against the railing of the porch, visibly worn out and in pain.

"I'm fucking hallucinating right now - we all are." Lynne shrieked. "He's dead! Flatlined at the scene!"

"I feel like I'm about to flatline after all that walking, so if you could let me in... maybe give me a hand up-" Juice spoke weakly, looking up at his best friend who was holding some unknown baby and the woman he recognized as Megan. He noticed the man, but didn't recall meeting him and he didn't look familiar either, but he noticed he was holding his niece.

"Oh my fucking god." Lynne spoke as she passed Grace back to Megan. "How did you survive?" She took a deep breath and crouched down - "it's been months!"

"Let me help." Grant spoke after handing Lillia to Megan, who held the door open for the trio.

Grant stepped out of the house and stepped over Juice to access his other side.

"Juice, baby, this is going to suck." Lynne spoke, "Do not tense as bad as it hurts. I'll ask questions later." She slipped her arm underneath his, as did Grant and without a warning they pulled Juice to his feet, with a lot of cursing, moaning and groaning on his side.

"Where are we going with him?" Grant asked, looking over at Lynne as they steadied themselves and him.

"Guest room." Lynne took a deep breath, "it's up the stairs. Second door on the left - I say that because I don't want the kids bothering him while he recovers."

"Let's do this." Grant spoke, as the two started their journey to get Juice comfortable in bed upstairs. "Out of curiosity, Lynne, how much can you lift?"

"I have no restrictions." Lynne spoke, "why?"

"Maybe we should completely lift him up the stairs, dragging him is not an option. I'm not sure that he could walk given his state."

"Juice?"

"Mm.."

"What do you say about what he said?"

"Mhm.."

"Sounds good." Lynne agreed. After quite the struggle, the three were able to get into the house.

While they were getting in the house, Megan set up a safe area for the babies and set them down for tummy time as she planned on helping by pulling down the sheets and getting Juice as comfortable as possible.

Megan quickly rushed up the stairs in front of them and watched as the transitioned from arm and arm to fully carrying Juice up the stairs.

Megan frowned at his face, as she could tell he was in pain by the way he was contorting.

"Juice?"

"...mhm."

"Just checking."

After a few minutes, he was finally up the stairs and was set back to standing, where Lynne and Grant were holding him.

"Megan, can you go in my room and grab him an outfit of Jax's?"

"Good idea - I wanted to wash him up anyway." Megan spoke and left the room after pulling down the blanket and the sheets.

Lynne and Grant maneuvered Juice into the bedroom, where they were able to strip him down to just his underwear before helping him sit on the bed.

"Grant, if you wanna head downstairs and check on the babies and lunch, we have it from here." Lynne spoke gently with a smile. "Thanks for the muscle."

"Absolutely." Grant stated as he left the room, closing the door behind him.

"I.. miss-" Juice spoke, being cut off by a coughing fit. He groaned in pain, clutching his chest. "Your cooking." He wheezed out, slowly opening his eyes to look at Lynne who had kept him stable in a seated position. "Hospital terrible."

"I'll put you something together in a little bit after you rest - how about that?" She looked over at Juice as she sat beside him, letting him lean up against her body.

There was a quiet knock on the door and in came Megan. "How's he doing?" She asked, setting down a pair of soft and stretchy shirts, socks and a breathable tee, with a couple facecloths and hand towels. Lastly, she set down a decent sized bowl of soapy water on the bedside table after she walked around the bed. She knelt down in front of him and checked him over for other injuries than his chest - but had yet to find any.

"More talkative," Lynne responded. "Very weak. I don't know how he managed to walk here." She breathed out.

"Cognitively there?"

"There's the paramedic I know and love."

Juice opened his eyes once again and looked at megan, nodding for himself.

"I trust you, kid." Megan smiled, "He's also the other pretty one I was eyeing up that night at the party, right?"

Lynne laughed. "That's him." She spoke as her best friend quickly washed him up, dried him and then got his lower half dressed. She tossed the shirt towards Lynne, who grabbed it and helped Juice put it on before they both helped him lay back and get comfortable in bed. "Juice, I'll be back in a little while, okay?" She spoke gently, pulling the sheets and blanket up to his chest.

Juice gave a weak nod before his eyes closed, and just like that... he was out like a light before either Megan or Lynne left the room after cleaning up the mess.

Lynne headed downstairs to see all the kids just sitting down and eating lunch, with Mark making two plates for Megan and Lynne.

He handed them both to the girls, who smiled and thanked him.

And then there was rapid knocking on the door.

"And I'll get it this time," Grant spoke as he walked out of the kitchen and to the front door. As he opened it, he looked at the man in front of him. "How can I help you?"

In response, he got, "Who the hell are you?"

"Name's Grant. I'm Lynne's best friends husband, why does it matter?"

"I need to talk to Lynne. Where is she?"

"And you are?"

"Doesn't matter, have her come here."

"Until you tell me who you are... you are not speaking to her."

Chuckling, the man outside the door shook his head. "Hey girl! We need to talk."

"Hap?" Lynne shouted back, her heart starting to pound. "You're not taking the kids for Jax-"

"I wouldn't do that to you - you know I don't like you with him. Come here."

Reluctantly, Lynne stood up and walked to the front entrance to speak to Happy - her ex boyfriend. "Anyone else with you?" She asked, stepping outside to look around.

"No. They don't even know I'm here." Happy spoke, looking into Lynne's eyes. "The club is talking about putting an APB on you and the kids for being missing if you don't come back."

Lynne scoffed, "I can't come back."

"Why?"

"Juice is alive." She spoke, "he's upstairs... got here an hour before you. And I refuse to be around Jax... he does bad things when he excessively drinks and that's all he's been doing since the beginning of lockdown."

"Juice is alive?" Happy needed a minute to process.

They had watched him code. Lose all of his blood on the street. He was pronounced dead on scene.

And now he's alive?

"I know." Lynne spoke. "But if you go back... tell Jax we're done for me."