BUZZ: A Titan King MC Story Book TWO

Chapter 14- JULIA

Chapter 14

Julia

15 months later

It was one of those days where everything kept going wrong. First, my alarm malfunctioned, so I was late for my first class. Whilst running to my next class, I tripped and fell down, which ended up in me being driven to the emergency room by Clara, my roommate, with a suspected broken wrist (it was just a sprain), and then going home to find out a pipe had leaked in the room above ours and now my bed was ruined. This day couldn’t get any worse. Little did I know, my day so far had barely had any impact on what was about to happen.

My cell rang. James was calling me. “Hey big brother. You won’t believe the day I’ve had.” Nothing. “James? You there?” “Julia? It’s Alex. There’s been an accident. Your mom and dad where hit by a lorry who lost control. They’re in NC general. Book the next flight, I will pick you up at the airport. You have my number, call me when you land. Don’t worry sweetheart, I’m sure they will be fine. Just get here as soon as you can, ok?” I hung up. The tears were streaming down my face. My mom and dad. I needed to get to them. I grabbed my purse and called a cab to take me to the airport. I didn’t think about packing anything. I just needed to go. I rushed to the airport and managed to get a seat on the next flight out that was leaving in 40 minutes. I ran to the gate where my flight would be leaving and sank into a chair. I waited silently until my flight was being called. I sent a quick text to Alex telling him what time I was due in and that I had no baggage so I could get straight to him. 2 hours and 40 minutes later, I landed. I don’t remember anything of the flight. I remember finding my seat and the next thing I knew, we were landing. Alex was waiting at the security for me, he grabbed me, pulling me into his chest for a hug. “Come on Princess, let’s get you to your parents.” He said, walking me out of the airport and to his bike. I climbed on the back and wrapped my arms around his waist. “Hold on, we won’t be long.”

We arrived at the hospital a short time later. He led me to the ICU where my parents were. James was outside the room, pacing up and down. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw me. “Jules” he said, rushing over to me and hugging me. “James, are they ok?” I asked, my voice was so small and shaky, I didn’t even recognize it. “No, Jules, they’re not ok. They’re both on life support. The doctors don’t know if they’re coming back to us.” I fell on the floor, sobbing as I sat on the hard, cold tiles. Alex and James both sat next to me, James pulled me on to his lap and wrapped his arms round me, as the sobs left my body. Alex rubbed my back, trying to soothe me. “They might need us to make a decision Jules, whether we turn the life support machines off or keep them on.” I couldn’t even think about it. I was wrecked. My parents were dying. They were both on life support. They wouldn’t wake up again. I started shaking, struggling to breathe, as the sobs continued to leave my body. Then everything went black.

I woke up hearing a beeping sound. A nurse was taking my blood pressure. “Hey sweetie, my name is Sarah. How are you feeling?” I was trying to remember what had happened, why I was in hospital. It took me around 30 seconds to remember. “My parents.” She nodded slightly. “Yeah sweetie, I know. I’m so sorry.” She said, sadly. “Your brother and his friend are worried about you. How are you feeling?” “I don’t know. I just want to see James and my mom and dad.” “Ok, your vitals seem to be ok, I think you just fainted sweetie. What happened to your wrist?” My wrist? I looked down, seeing the bandage, remembering what happened. “Oh, yeah, I fell over this morning rushing to get to school. It’s just a sprain.” “Ok, I’ll take you to James now.” She helped me up and held on to me as I walked. Once she saw that I was steady, she fell back a bit, still staying close to me just in case I fainted again.

We walked round to the ICU suite where James and Alex stood. “Julia!” he called “are you ok? I’m sorry I wasn’t with you, Sarah told me she would stay with you till you woke up. I couldn’t leave them.” He looked round to the door where my parents were, dying. I started to cry again “How did it happen?” I asked. “They were on their way back from auntie Kelly’s house. A lorry hit them. The police said he hadn’t been drinking or using drugs, he just lost control of the wheel. It was just sheer bad luck that they were there. The lorry driver isn’t in a good condition either. His family are on their way.”

Just then, the door opened, and a few guys came in wearing bike leathers. “Julia, this is Ink, he’s our Prez. This is Stitch, Rider and Steel. This is my little sister Julia.” Ink walked over to me first. “I’m sorry about your parent’s sweetheart, if there is anything you need, let us know, ok?” I nodded. “Thank you.” “Family of Stephen and Jackie Wright?” “Yeah that’s us.” My brother stood. He took my hand and led me to the doctor. “This is my little sister, Julia. She’s just got here from Texas.” “Hello Julia, I’m sorry to meet you under the circumstances.”

He led us to a quiet room, next to where my parents where. “We’ve ran tests to measure the brain function and I am very sorry, but there is nothing else we can do. We’ve ran neurological examinations and there is no activity in the brain. I’m very sorry, but both of your parent’s are experiencing cerebral death; they are brain dead.” Sobs wracked my body as I tried to comprehend that my parents were gone. James pulled me into him as we both cried. The doctor stayed silent for a few minutes, letting us come to terms with the fact that we had both just lost our parents. “We need to talk about life support. The best thing to do now is to turn off the life support machines. They are the only thing keeping them alive at the moment.” “Can we talk in private?” James asked the doctor. “Of course, I will wait outside.” He opened the door and left. “We need to say goodbye Jules. Are you ready?” He asked, still hugging me. “Ok.” I wasn’t ready. I would never be ready, but it was unfair to keep them alive when there was no hope. We walked out of the room and told the doctor. I went in the room to see them whilst James went to update his friends. “Mom? Dad?” I choked. My mom looked like she was sleeping, whilst my dad had a few cuts on his head. They just lay in the beds, completely still. They had tubes coming from out of their noses, and a large one in their mouths. I couldn’t see any more of their bodies as they were under blankets. I fought the urge to climb into the bed with my mom. The door opened and James walked in. His face was stained with tears, just as mine was. How did this happen? This morning was just like a normal day, yeah, I know things went a bit wrong, but how did it end up here? I would have to phone the school and tell them I wouldn’t be back for a few weeks. Also call Clara and Imogen too. The doctor came in. “Are you ready? I have a few forms that need to be signed, they are just to say you are consenting to us turning off the machines. As you are the eldest, James, you are the next of kin of your parent’s, so you need to be the one to sign. Once you have signed, Jenny will come in and start unplugging the machines. It will only take a few minutes before they are gone. Jenny will remove all the tubes once they are gone and we will leave you to say goodbye. Now I know this is an awful thing to process, but do you know if your parents were on the organ donation register?” James nodded. “Yeah, they both were.” The doctor nodded, smiling sadly. “Thank you. I know it is of no use to you right now, but your parents are going to save a lot of lives.” James headed out he room whilst I stayed with my mom and dad. I asked the nurse to help me move my dad’s bed closer to my mom. “They haven’t slept separately since they married 26 years ago. I don’t want them to die alone.” A sob left my lips. The nurse walked round to me and pulled me in to her for a hug. “I’m so sorry sweetie. I can’t imagine how you are feeling. Sure, I will help.” We spent the next few minutes moving all the machines keeping my dad alive, and then moving my dad’s bed closer to mom. “That’s better, at least they’re together now.” I took my dad’s hand from under the blanket and put it in between the beds, I did the same with my moms, and then connected their hands together. They were going to go together, at the same time. James came back in and saw what I had done, a small smile lifted at the corners of his mouth. “They will stay together” he assured me through the tears. The nurse asked if we were ready. We nodded. “I love you mom. I love you dad.” I said. James promised he would look after me and that he loved them. The nurse went to switch off my dad’s machine first. “No!” I cried. “They need to go at the same time.” I looked at the doctor. “Can you turn my mom’s off at the same time?” I begged, pleaded. “I will.” He said, walking over to my mom. They turned the machine off at the same time. The beeping started to slow down as their hearts started to fail. It got slower and slower until it was just a continuous beep. “They’re gone.” The doctor said. I cried, falling to my knees. James crouched down next to me, holding my tightly. “No, no, no.” I cried. Tears falling down my face. We stayed like that whilst the nurse took out the breathing tubes. “I’ll leave you alone, I will call the morgue and start arranging a transfer.” She left the room, leaving the soft cries from me and James.

We stayed for a couple of hours in the hospital until somebody came to collect their bodies. “Please make sure they stay together.” I begged. “Of course, Miss, I’m very sorry for both of your losses.” We left the room before he started to move them. We couldn’t bear the thought of them being placed in one of those black body bags. “Come on, let’s get you home.” James said gently, holding out a hand for me to hold.     

We went back through the hospital, to the parking lot where James had parked. I climbed on the back of his bike and held him tightly as we drove back to the clubhouse. I wasn’t ready to go back home yet, so James asked if I wanted to stay at the clubhouse. I called school when I got back and told them, then called Clara. I didn’t want to explain it again, but I had to. “Clara, I can’t stay on the phone for long. My mom and dad were in a car accident. We’ve just had to turn their life support machines off. I won’t be back in school for a while.” “Oh Julia, I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do?” she asked. “No, I left my stuff in my room. I will sort it when I get back. I’ve called school and told them too. They’ve told me to return when I’m ready.” “Ok, keep in touch babe, I’ll let Imogen know. We love you, we’re both here if you need us.” I thanked her, hanging up. I felt grateful having good friends. I also needed to talk to Emmy. We had kept in touch a lot and visited each other when we had time. I called her and left a voicemail. I was glad her phone was switched off. I couldn’t bear to say the words ‘my parents are gone’ again.

The funeral came and went. I don’t remember it. Emmy flew in for the funeral, so did Clara and Imogen. I was grateful they came. So many people attended. A lot of people from our old home came. My mom and dad were well loved. A lot of people offered their condolences and told us to call if we needed anything, but then left. It was just James and I. He was all I had in the world now. My parents were with Jake again, leaving just us.

After a few weeks, I decided to leave the clubhouse and go back home. James dropped me off at the airport, making me promise that I would call him whenever I needed. “I love you little sis, we’ll get through this together, ok?” “I love you too James. I’ll call you when I land”. We hugged one last time, before he leant down and kissed my head. “Bye” I called, waving as I went through to check in. I had been so worried about James after our parents died. After the way he shut down after Jake died, I thought he would close himself off and he wouldn’t come back. He hadn’t though. He kept telling me that I was his responsibility now and he promised he wouldn’t leave.

I got into the airport and called Emmy. We talked for a bit until I was about to board. “I’ll call when I land” I promised. “Ok love you” she said. I hung up. I bought a magazine for the flight. I had found that in the days that followed my parent’s deaths, I always had to have something to do. I couldn’t do nothing; my brain would go into overdrive and I would end in tears again. I always had to have something to do, something to occupy my brain. The flight was fine, I managed to get a cab straight after I left the airport carrying my bags. I was back in my dorm in just under 4 hours. I unlocked my door and called in “I’m back, anyone home?” “Hey!” came a voice. Emmy? “Emmy?” I called. “Yeah, I thought you would need me; so I took a few days off. I cleared it with Clara and Imogen, and they agreed, so I’m here for a few days!” she said, hugging me.

We stayed up talking for a few hours. We talked about everything. “So, I know you don’t want to talk about him, but I thought you should know. Ryan is in hell. He doesn’t speak to anybody. He goes to class, and work, and that’s all. He doesn’t talk to anybody. He is still heartbroken. I promised myself I wouldn’t tell you, I didn’t want to upset you, but I think it’s time you knew. Ryan didn’t cheat on you. Riley set him up. I’m sorry to tell you now, but I think you need him now more than ever.” I was in shock. I had spent this past year grieving for him, our relationship. I had been to see a counsellor who gave me antianxiety medication because of the panic attacks I had in the months after the breakup. I loved him so much, I missed him even more. I hated being apart from him, and truth be told, I would probably have him back in my life even if he had cheated. I know how ridiculous that sounds and I know James would kill me for even considering it, but I needed him, especially now. My mind was spinning. “Have you spoke to him?” I asked. “Sort of, I went to the coffee shop the day before the funeral. I thought he would want to know. He was so sorry. He didn’t say anything else, just got back to work.” I couldn’t believe it. Riley was the cause of our breakup. I should have spoken to him. I felt even worse now. “I’m gonna go to bed.” I said, standing up and heading to my room. “I need to think.”

***Authors note***

Poor Julia and James…. I cried writing this chapter!

I am so lucky that both of my parents are alive, so writing this was tough as I had never experienced this type of loss.

Let me know what you think…

xoxo