The Darkest Hour: Jail

Third Person POV

Ward sits in the drivers seat of his SUV, the rain shielding him from the outside world, he has a bag on his lap when Officer Plumb jumps into the vehicle. He looks at her while uncovering the wads of cash.

"Half before, half after." Ward tells her, Plumb's lips part as she takes in the reality of what he's asking her to do, "Make it look like what we talked about, okay? That.. that part is important. It needs to look like.." He sucks in a breath before sighing loudly, "It's gotta show that she abandoned them. Like suicide."

Officer Plumb looks into his eyes, "Yeah, I understand."

"So you got someone that can do it?" He questions her. Plumb stays quiet and looks down, after a moment he nods, taking the hint that she does, "Okay then. Tonight." They stay silent for a long minute, "Look, Terry, I know this isn't easy. This is hard for me too. But this girl killed Susan. I was there. I tried to save her on the tarmac. She was bleeding out," He whispers as he lies, "So she's gonna get the death penalty anyway, you know? I just want you to understand what you're doing for me and for my family. You're helping me get my Sarah and my Rafe back. This girl has brainwashed my kids for too long, and it ends tonight."

Plum stays silent as she slips out of the vehicle and runs back inside the police station, as if the conversation never happened. 

~~~~~

JJs POV

I screech to a stop outside of the county jail, wearing my best fitting jeans, my hat backwards, and a tight white shirt tucked into my pants. It's one of the outfits I know Willow loves on me. God I miss her. I blast my music in my headphones and head for the front doors, snapping to attention when two Officers pass by me, once their backs are to me, I fling my middle finger in the air. 

They can all fuck off. 

"I'm here to see Willow Brooke Routledge." I tell the Officer at the front desk. 

"Get rid of the headphones and the toothpick."

"I can't hear what you're saying, man, alright?" I lie while tapping my headphones, time to piss these guys off, "These things are full blast. That's what I said. I'm here to see Willow Brooke Routledge." 

The Officer uses his hands to gesture to my headphones and tooth pick.

"Wait. Music?" I take my headphones off, "Oh! I mean, I thought it was a free country and all, but, uh, I guess you don't like freedom very much, now do you, cupcake?" He grabs me by my shirt and slams me against the wall, we both look over when a door opens next to us, revealing Officer Plumb."Uh, not worth it.""Good to see you, Plumb." I smile sarcastically.She grimaces, "Take off your hat and empty your pockets."

"Yes, ma'am." I comply and leave my stuff in a bucket near the front counter. She leads me through a few hallways, smiling when I see Willow sitting with her back to me in a room with windows on all sides, "Five minutes."

She's so beautiful, my sweet Princess. I sigh when I sit down across from her and slip my hands into hers, we both look into each others eyes, a smile creeping onto our faces the longer we stare, she cracks first and laughs, I follow a second after and chuckle with her, "I thought it was gonna be me." "I did too." She sighs, "Welcome to my humble abode."I glance around at the metal chairs and tables, "Yeah, when you said you had a new apartment, I had no idea.""Yeah, it's, uh..." She looks around with a look I've never seen on her face before, making my chest hurt."It's cozy!"

"Yeah, you could say that." She mutters, forcing a smile.  

"A little aluminum theme." I continue to joke, because I am an idiot and I don't know how else to comfort her while I'm not allowed to wrap her in my arms and kiss her. 

Her eyes roam the room, "Yeah. I like to go for the cold, dark..."I nod, "Alone kinda theme?"

"Depressing..." She slowly sighs while bringing her gaze back to me. "Yeah, yeah." I lean forward so she can hear me when I lower my voice, "Look, I would love to sit and chitchat, baby, but I'm on the clock. And I'm here for one reason only, okay?" We hold eye contact while her brows furrow, "Operation liberation, baby.""Oh jeez. Here we go, I thought you wanted to actually see me, maybe catch up on life--"

"I know. I do, but," I whisper, "hear me out, though, Princess. Hear me out. Step one, piss off the cops so badly they don't see what's coming." I glance up and wave to a cop passing by, she rolls her eyes, "Check." I squeeze her hands so she looks up at me, "Step two, at exactly 11p.m. this evening, you're going to have an attack of acute appendicitis."She sighs, "Do you even know what appendicitis is?"

"Yeah." I smile, "Remember my eighth grade Algebra final?""Jesus Christ." She shakes her head at me. 

"Worked like a charm, okay?" I continue, "Now, to sell it, you gotta actually look sick, though, okay? You got some of that ghost face sunblock in here?"Willow scrunches her face, "Jay, baby, I'm in jail. I have... a... a block of soap.""Right. Is it white?"

"Yes.""Perfect. That'll work. Take some of that, Princess and rub it into your face well, okay? You don't want that shit rubbing off when they check your vitals. After that, run your hands under cold water for five minutes. After that, you're ready. Showtime, baby. Stumble out and collapse, okay?" I motion my hands as I talk so she understands, "Once you're down on the ground squealing, they'll rush you to the infirmary."

She shakes her head, "I'm pregnant baby, I don't know if I can play off appendicitis." 

"You just gotta convince the nurse that that sucker's about to burst. Okay? So, she's gonna take her hand, and she's gonna put it right here." I place my hand on the side of my torse, a little above my old gun shot wound, "When she does that, she pushes down, don't do anything. Just lay there. It's when she takes her hand off that you let it rip, Princess, scream like your life depends on it, like a lobster hitting the pot, like you're passing a kidney stone the size of a bowling ball.""I get it. I get it." She blows out air, "Then what?"I smile, "They're gonna eject you to the hospital. Remember Cousin Ricky? He's an EMT."

"He was the one in the ambulance after Plumb attacked me."

"Yes, and step three is extraction.""This is the dumbest freaking idea you've ever had, Jay." She grimaces and glances behind her, "You're going to get me more time if this doesn't work." "Yeah, you're probably right, Princess, but you know what's even more dumb?" I rub my thumb along her knuckles, "You thinking you got any other way out of this."She takes her hands from mine and rakes her fingers through her hair, letting me catch a glimpse of her wrists, my heart sinks when I notice the bruises littering her skin clear up her forearms, "Jay, this is a fortress. What, you think you'll just stroll in here? They've got barbed wire, cinder blocks, guards on every corner.""Willow, don't." I bang my fist down on the metal table causing her to flinch, I take a deep breath to compose myself before continuing, "You're not the detail girl, okay? Leave it to the professionals."

She scoffs, "Yeah, whatever, JJ. I know that, remember? I always get pushed aside when I try to put my input into anyone's plans. Look where that got me though." 

"No, Princess, that's not what I meant." I grasp her hands, noticing she flinches when I move too fast, "Baby, is someone hurting you in here?"

"No." She quickly answers, lowering her eyes to my shirt. 

Fuck, I know when she lies.

"Talk to me." I rub my thumbs along her knuckles again, softening my expression so she will see that I genuinely care, "You shut me out for weeks, Willow, why don't you want to see me anymore? Or tell me things?"

She keeps her eyes down, "I, um--"

"Hey!" Plumb leans against the doorframe, "Time's up."I grimace and nod, "Yes, ma'am." I kiss Willows hand before caressing her face, "You gotta trust me on this one, Princess, nothing to lose now. Eleven p.m. I love you."

"We have a lot to lose." 

I hear her mumble as I walk out. I know baby, I know we do.

I follow Plumb until I hear a familiar voice on the other side of a metal door with a small window, "Yo, elbows above your head. Man, take that thing!" I stand frozen in my spot, watching my dad play basketball with other inmates. 

I forgot this was a unisex jail, but why is my dad locked up?"Hey! Dad!" I bang on the door, "Dad!"

"Let's go." Plumb pulls me away, "Let's go."I suck my lips in as anger sets in, "I see what you did there, Plumb." She leads me to the front, I quickly grab my stuff from the bucket and shove the door open to head outside, Plumb trailing behind me, "I just have one question before I leave." I turn to her, "How much are you splitting with Shoupe?"She pushes me away, "You'll be back here one day. It's in your blood." She smiles, "You led the mother of child here, after all." 

I walk away, putting my hat back on my head while I hold back tears. I know it's my fucking fault, but I'm trying so hard to make it right.  

~~~~~

"Listen, man, all you gotta do is leave the ambulance running. It's a small favor to ask, Ricky, just a small one."Ricky shakes his head, "It's not as much about the favor as the general stupidity of the plan.""Come on. Just leave the ambulance running, Ricky. You gotta do this one for me, bro.""You're gonna wind up in jail, cuz."I look down, "I mean, that's gonna happen anyway, G, eventually. Might as well be for a good cause. I'm the reason she's in there, man, I have to do something.""Yeah, well, I'm not having any part of it. You've come up with a lot of dumb ideas, but, uh, this might be the dumbest. Your daughter will need her father when Willow's still in there, and what happens when you're now in jail too? Who gets your kid? Some rich dick like Rafe?""Don't talk about him." I follow Ricky inside his house, eyeing the weed plants scattered around the room he leads us to, "Bro, I wouldn't be asking you to do this if it wasn't important, and let me remind you, you owe me, man. Who ran that load up to Cape Fear when your hemp came in hot? Me, alright?" 

He looks up at me with sympathy written all over his face, "I'm sorry about your girl. I really am.""Ricky!""But I'm not helping you commit suicide. Sorry. Now leave me alone. I gotta focus. I'm working an overnight later, so if you're cool...""No, yeah. I'm cool." 

We hug.

Ricky smiles, thinking I've given up on my wild idea, "Yeah? Okay, man. See you later. Don't do anything stupid.""Say hi to Stephanie for me." I call out when I leave, snagging his ambulance keys from the table as I go. 

"Yeah, I will."

I head outside and jump into his ambulance, "I'm sorry, Ricky. I'll make it up to you." I mutter to myself while driving away.

~~~~~

"Waiting on your call, Willow." I check to make sure the radio volume is on, again, while I wait down the road from Kildare County jail. My heart skips when a police siren chirps behind me, a cop I've never seen before pulls up and greets me, "I hate when it's slow like this, you know?"I lean out of my open window, "Tell me about it, man."The cop eyes me, "Hey, what happened to Ricky? He bang out?"I let out a long exhale, "Something like that."A woman on my radio breaks my attention away, "One three Eddie. We got an unknown at KC Detention."I grab the radio receiver, "Uh, yeah, ten-four. I'll be right there. Thank you so much. Over." I set the radio down and look at the cop, "Duty calls. I'll see you later, Officer. Uh, you have a good night, though, okay?"He turns his car back on, "Hold up. I got nothing to do. I'll pace you." 

We cruise down the road, the cop blaring his sirens in front of me, once I get into the transfer bay at the jail I jump out, coming face to face with a nurse, I smile and follow her to the back of the ambulance.

"Where's Ricky?""Ricky? Uh, food poisoning." I lie. "You know, uh, Ming Dynasty off of Highway? Them egg rolls, dude. Now, they'll get ya. They'll get you good." She sighs and nods in understanding. "Uh, so where's the patient at?""Patient fell out. No LOC, but she's orthostatic. Stage 4 lymphoma. She's been in and out of chemo for the last three months." My stomach drops, this isn't Willow I'm getting.. damn it.

"Uh, is that the only patient tonight, ma'am?" I stupidly ask.She chuckles, "Why? You wanna take more than one tonight?""I mean, I would if I had to. That's what I'm trying to say. Uh..." I glance at the door to the building, "Shit." I whisper before turning back, "I was just thinking that I was called inbecause my patient had appendicitis. No? Okay." 

The nurse eyes me suspiciously. 

Fuck stop talking, JJ."This is our only patient.""Right."

The nurse's expression hardens, "Where did you say you work?"I scratch the back of my neck when my nerves start to eat at my confidence, "Dare County, ma'am."

She stares at me for a long moment, "I worked over there, and I've never seen you before.""Well, that's 'cause, you know, I just moved up in the ranks so fast. Look, I would love to sit and chat, but we gotta get moving, alright? We gotta get our patient to the hospital." I walk around them and start to try to find which key on Ricky's key ring is for the back of the ambulance. "JJ, is that you?" The inmate weakly asks. 

I freeze. I finally turn around and immediately recognize the woman, she used to hang out with my dad when I was a little younger, "She's delusional as shit." I continue to fiddle with the keys in my shaky hands, "We just got different rigs up in New Bern." I mutter after failing to get the right key, "Uh, that's not gonna work. I think it's..." I try a different key, breathing out a long exhale when the door clicks open, "There it is." I open the doors, keeping my eyes off the nurse and the guard, the phone on the wall starts ringing while we load the inmate into the back. 

The nurse steps down from the back of the rig after me, "So, where is your partner?"

The phone immediately starts to ring again, making me nervous as the seconds tick by. This can't go wrong. I have a baby and a beautiful girl to be there for. I peel my eyes away from the red phone on the wall to look at the nurse, "I told you. Egg rolls."

The phone continues ringing. "Who's gonna look after your patient if you're driving?"That stupid fucking phone needs to stop ringing. "Well, they told me that the officer could drive."

Fuck stop ringing. The guard shakes her head, "No, she's an inmate. I gotta be in the back.""Wait, hold on, officer. You're saying that you're gonna be responsible for me not taking care of my patient. Is that what you're telling me?" I point at the sick inmate who looks passed out on the stretcher, "Because look at her. She's weak, feeble, and pale and shit. And I gotta do medical stuff on her, or else we're gonna lose her, okay? You don't want that on your hands." I hop into the back and throw the keys at the guard.The guard looks at the nurse with a serious expression, "This didn't happen." She starts to close the back doors, "Alright, let's go."

"Yep."

While we drive away I watch through the back window as the nurse talks to someone on that phone that wouldn't shut up, my gut twists when she snaps her head up to stare at me, her face cold as stone. 

This isn't going to end how I wanted it to. 

~~~~~

Willows POV

My mind as been replaying the conversation with JJ over and over again all evening, his sexy fucking outfit has been too. I'll never understand how he can look so damn hot with just a plain white t-shirt and some jeans. And he knew what he was doing to me, he knows I love that outfit on him. Such a tease, he probably thought I'd be more willing to go along with his plan if I was drooling over him, I mean was he wrong? 

Shut up, stupid self, you can go a few weeks without his dick.

I stare at myself in the janky metal mirror thingy, holding my block of white soap in my hands, "Nothing to lose?" I whisper to myself, "More like everything to lose." I sigh and clutch the bar of soap in my hand, lost in thought until the hairs on my arms rise. The familiar feeling of someone lingering near my ear causes my stomach to drop. 

I'm not safe. 

"You're in danger, Willow."

I knew it. 

I gasp when something wraps around my neck, I try to pull the fabric away while a girl grunts behind me, pulling the noose tighter and tighter, cutting off my air supply. 

"Willow, you're strong, you can get out of this." 

I can't die. I can't let my baby get hurt. Fight Willow. Fight back. 

My foot wildly kicks backwards into my attackers legs; trying to make her lose her footing. 

I can't breathe, fuck fuck fuck. 

"Don't give up."

I'm not, but she's stronger.

"Doesn't matter, you're smart, think of a way to loosen her grip."

My fingers claw at the fabric, my vison splotchy as my lungs beg for air. 

~~~~~

JJs POV

I bang my fists into the wall of the ambulance while cop cars trail behind us; sirens blaring. "SHIT." 

I can't go to jail, I can't lose my baby and my girl. 

They need me. I need them. I can't fuck up again. Think JJ. Think. 

I whip my phone out and text Kiara; SOS, and the street were headed down. I need her to pull through and get me out of this, I cannot be the reason Willow loses me, or lose my baby to foster care because both her parents are in prison. Breaking someone out of jail is a felony I'm sure. So I'd go away for a while. 

Fuck fuck fuck. 

I ball the brim of my hat and slide down the back doors, my breath heavy while tears slip from my eyes. How do I keep fucking up? Things were perfect in the Bahamas, well before I was shot, then we get home and it all goes to shit again. 

Willow deserves better. 

No. 

I'm the man she deserves, I know I can be. I know she loves me and needs me. I'll find a way out of this, I'll do better by her. 

I jump to my feet when the ambulance screeches to a stop, making me slam my face into the side cabinets, I reorient myself and jump out the side door, running off while Pope and Kie apologize to the Officer for blocking the road. 

I run through the park, getting to the opposite side of the road right as Kie pulls up, Pope opens the back door for me, "Come on, JJ!" 

I jump in, panting as I try to catch my breath, "Go, Kie, go."

She floors it, sending us the opposite direction the ambulance is, "I am seriously not even gonna ask." 

I lean back in my seat, fanning my legs out while my heart pounds in my chest, fuck that was close. 

"Look, I busted the wrong girl out of jail." I breathlessly tell them, "Sue me."

Kie turns to me with a shocked expression, "What?"

"At least I was trying."

Kie frowns, "Why are you always doing such stupid shit?"

"Well I'm gonna end up in jail anyway, so.. why does it matter..." I trail off when I start to feel shitty for saying that. 

My daughter and girlfriend deserve more than that, I can't keep thinking this way. I'm not my dad.

They share a look before Pope glances back at me, "You okay man?"

I lean my head into the seat, "Yeah, just a doozy of a day."

"We'll get her back, JJ." Kie quietly tells me, "I know we will."

I fucking hope so. 

Seeing Willow today made me think of all the amazing moments I've had with her, just looking at her reminded me of why I started to love waking up in the morning and why I want better things in life. She gave me a reason to enjoy life. 

She has to come home to me, because I can't live without her. I don't think I could handle life if she got the death penalty. 

~~~~~

Willow's POV

My feet are completely off the floor while this woman, who's clearly a lot older and taller, lifts me by the fabric she has around my throat. The consistent thoughts running through my mind is JJ and my baby. I have to live for them, even if it's behind metal bars. 

I can't lose this fight. But I can't breathe and I'm not strong enough.

Maybe I'm not good enough to be a mother, maybe I'm not good enough for JJ. 

They deserve better. 

No. 

My daughter deserves to have a mother like me, because I'd do anything for her. My sweet Jay deserves me because I've always stood by him, I've always been his, he's always been mine. 

We need each other. 

"Leverage, Willow, use your body to knock her down."

I plant my feet onto the bars of my cell door and shove us backwards, when the girls body shifts behind me I throw my elbow backwards. She grunts and loosens her grip enough for me to grab the fabric so she can't tighten it again.

"HELP!" I scream, all the cell mates on my block start to yell for the guards to come help me, "HELP!" 

My attacker, whom I don't recognize from my block slams her hands into my chest, knocking me to the ground before sending her foot into my side, I clutch my ribcage with one arm while coughing as I try to steady my breath, my free hand holding my throat. 

"I'll be back for you." The girl warns, then she slips out of my cell, locking it behind her. 

How the hell does she have a key?

Fucking Ward Cameron.

"All officers report to cellblock C immediately." A woman's voice sounds over the PA system.

I slowly sit up after Shoupe runs in, unwrapping the long fabric from my neck, still coughing, "Oh Willow." He gets down on one knee and inspects my injuries, "Hey, you're okay."

"I didn't do this, Shoupe." I gasp, "I wasn't going to kill myself, I promise."

"Doesn't matter, kid. Just breathe." He watches me with a concerned expression, "Can you breathe okay? Are you injured?" 

"I'm fine, but I was attacked. Someone tried to kill me." I give him a look, "You understand what I'm saying, right?"

He stares at me for a long moment, "Okay." 

I sigh and lean my head back as he calls for medical support. 

I can't believe I almost died. My baby almost died.

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