I woke up in a freaking hospital bed. There was something plugged into me, checking my heart rate. I look around to see JJ, Sarah, Kie, and Pope. JJ sighs in relief at my awakening. He was sitting right next to the bed. "Hey, Cor. You okay?"
"I- I don't know." My voice shakes, "Is John B, okay?" JJ quickly nods, "What happened?"
"Um... well, you blacked out against the tree. The cops almost shot you but they quickly realized you were injured. The doctors here told us that it was the adrenaline, and you haven't had enough water." JJ explains this all to me, and I just nod. "Oh, and tomorrow, John B has court." JJ chokes up as he says it and my eyes pop open.
I sit up at this, "Can I go?" I ask, I can't miss this, as if on cue, a doctor walks into the room.
"Hi, Coral Rutledge. Feeling okay?" The doctor smiles at me while coming to stand next to JJ.
"Yes, yeah I feel good. I couldn't really tell at first but, I'm good now." Even if that wasn't 100 percent true, I knew I was gonna have to act almost perfect to be able to make it out of here.
"Alright, well we've been monitoring you for the last two days, so I think you're good to go by tonight." She gives me a quick pat on the shoulder. "Oh, and someone already paid your hospital bill, so no need to worry about that. A nurse will be in to get you ready for your leave in just a minute." The doctor exits the room. I immediately knew who paid the bill.
"Kie..." I look at her and she was smiling.
"Come on, Coral, I had to."
"Thank you."
Soon the nurse comes in, unhooks me, and then we leave the hospital. We headed back to the Chateau but didn't really do much. Until the next morning.
I woke up feeling super groggy and unprepared for today. JJ was sitting on the bed already, daydreaming about something. I give his hand a squeeze before jumping out of bed. I found my outfit for today, which was a tight-fitted shirt and denim shorts. I brushed a hairbrush through my hair, did a little bit of makeup, and then waited for the others.
Once everyone was ready, we headed off. It was the quietest Pogue ride I've ever been on. Once we got there, we sat halfway down on John B's side of the courthouse. He was already in an orange jumpsuit.
The judge bangs her gavel and begins talking. "John Booker Routledge, pursuant to the North Carolina statute section 14, you are charged with murder in the first degree with aggravated circumstances. If convicted, the maximum sentence would be the death penalty." Other people in the crowd begin to clamor at that but the judge bangs her gavel again, still nothing. I look at Sarah next to me, who is about to cry, and then I realize, I'm already crying.
"Your Honor, he's 17!" JJ calls out as we all stand up to leave.
"Stop." We all shush JJ as we walk out.
"No. He's 17! Are you kidding me?" He calls out again.
"Hey, we're good," I tell him, trying to push him out of the courthouse.
"Hey, John B! We're gonna figure this out!" JJ tells him as JB walks off. I put a hand right in the middle of JJ's chest. In the hope that it stops him from going any further.
"John B. John B!" Sarah starts racing closer to my brother, her voice shaking and tears flooding her eyes. John B looks back at her once, but the police officer pulls him along. An officer stops Sarah, holding her back, Kie and I quickly run up to her, and she seems to be having a freakout. "John B, no." She whimpers, as we try to bring her out of the building. The officer tries to push her away at the same time.
"Don't touch her!" I tell him, "We've got this, clearly. That was unessacary." I scoff. "Let's go, Sarah. Let's get out of here." I tell her, pulling her outside along with the others.
You could hear all the buzzing opinions of the Kooks as we all went outside of the Kildare County Courthouse. "Justice it served." "He had it coming."
"Is this a joke?" Kie asks the group, Kie, Pope, and JJ, got outside before Sarah and I, and they waited for us on the stairs. We quickly started to descend them, onto the ground. "Like, are we in hell, or..."
"I should have never come home," Sarah mutters, and I give her a rub on the back. She can't pin this all on herself, I won't let her.
"They're gonna kill him, guys." JJ burst out. "I know it." Way to lighten the mood!
That's when we hear another kooky voice, making us all turn our heads. "So sorry for what you and your family have gone through." We look back to see someone talking to Ward Motherfucking Cameron. He had the audacity to show up? "Thank God this system works."
The man adds. This just boiled my blood to the point where I had enough.
"Can you please shut up!" I burst out, making them all look at us, well, me. "Of course, you think the system works because it was made to protect you and people like you." I point at Ward Cameron, whose facial expression was blank.
"He'll have his day in court. The jury will decide." The man tells me. I watch as Ward tries to get the man to keep walking, but the man wasn't having it.
"He shouldn't even be in court. You should," I look at Ward Cameron again, "because you're a murderer.
"You have a lot of nerve, showing up to court," Kiara adds, who is now standing next to me.
"I know you guys are upset, I understand, okay?" Ward and Rose walk closer to us, playing nice, understanding people. Of course, we're the psychos.
"Upset!" I almost laugh, my eyebrows raised to the clouds in the sky.
"I know he's got you fooled. He's got you all fooled." Kiara got completely overblown by Ward's words and began to run up to Ward, fist in the air. Shoupe got to her right before she did, and held her back. JJ quickly grabs my wrist, in case I try anything. I just shake him off keeping my stance. That's when Officer Thomas, shoves Kiara back. He looks at me for a second and then shoves me. I would've fallen right on the ground if JJ wasn't right behind me.
"What the fuck was that for? She didn't even touch or threaten to touch anyone!" JJ exclaims. Everyone starts yelling at the same time while I just stood there, confused, upset, and mad. Everything was kind of a blur as we were ushered away until something popped to mind.
"It's not a coincidence your daughter's sitting with us!" I yell back at Ward, who stops in his tracks to look at me. I just shrug and continue walking off, I hope that hurt somewhere in his stone heart.
YOU ARE READING
JJ and a Routledge
RomantikA couple of months after John B's dad went missing at sea, a girl named Coral shows up at his door claiming to be his sister, whom he never knew he had. They soon begin living together as she exclaims her story and dives into the Pogues and their di...
