(A/N: This is my first Nashville fanfiction. I just couldn't leave it at that ending. I'm hoping for this to be a continuing story about Javery's life together with baby Cadence. #BringBackNashville)

The sound of the hospital equipment was the only sound in the otherwise silent room. The small still body of Juliette Barnes laid there, almost completely still. The only signs of life was the rise and fall of her chest as the breathing machine pumped oxygen into her lungs. It's been two weeks since the plane crash and she was the only one that had gotten the worse of the injuries. At first, the doctors and nurses had feared that she wouldn't make it, then she had stabilized, but had lapsed into a coma.

The story of Juliette's plane crash had been reported all around the world, with pundits, Journalists, and gossip mongers all comparing her to Patsy Cline, her first role in a movie, and a role that she had almost won an Oscar for. Everyone was sitting on pens and needles, waiting for the singer/actress to wake up, but no one was more anxious than Avery Barkley, Juliette's ex-husband.

It had been a turbulent year for Avery, starting with his marriage to Juliette falling apart, then her return from rehab, just as it looked as if he was going to get his life back together. Then there had been Layla Grant, who he had thought was another chance to get love right this time around, but as it turned out, she had just been using him to punish Juliette. Sure, she said that her feelings were genuine, despite how they had started out, but after her last stunt to harm Juliette, it was clear that she needed help and that there was no future there for him. Besides, he would never purposely have anything to do with someone out to hurt the mother of his daughter, no matter how she had broken his heart. Besides, despite this failed attempt to move on, he was still in love with Juliette. Most times, when he wasn't taking care of their daughter, he was thinking of her, missing her. But she had hurt him one too many times. He had been afraid to give her yet another chance. He loved her, but he wasn't a glutton for punishment.

After realizing the truth about Layla, Avery had taken his baby and returned to the house that he shared with Gunnar and Will. He put Cadence down for a nap and turned on the TV where to his surprise, Juliette was being interviewed. With dawning horror, and a breaking heart, he listened to Juliette recount the truth of the night that Jeff had died. He couldn't help but blame himself. He had known she was sick. After all, he had been part of an intervention begging Juliette to get help. But he had been too hurt at that point and his only motive was to protect himself and their daughter. Now he wished that he hadn't been so selfish. That he had at least sensed how bad things had gotten for Juliette.

He remembered that call he made the evening of the Oscars and the disappearance of Juliette's plane. When she had let him off the hook and he had told her that he and Cadence would be waiting for her when she came home. He didn't really think of what that could mean...that they both would be waiting. He didn't know until he was standing outside waiting for her plane with all the memories of their time together running through his mind. He realized that he did love her more than he had ever loved a woman before. Cadence was proof of that love. He couldn't just move on with his life, as if what they had meant nothing, because it did mean something. They had a baby tying them together. She still made his heart pound in his chest, just by the sound of her voice. Jealousy still sparked up inside him when another man even just looked at her.

Yes, he was still deeply in love with her. But he had been deeply scared of her as well. That was why he had gone to Layla when Juliette had made it clear that she wanted him back. That she was still in love with him and wanted to give their relationship another try. He had been afraid of his strong feelings for her. He had been afraid to trust those feelings, so he had gone to Layla, thinking that getting involved with another woman would prevent him from going to Juliette and getting hurt again.

That had been a mistake. One that he wouldn't make again. Despite his fears and resistance, he couldn't let her go, even when it was probably best to do so.

When he had found out about Layla's lies and schemes, it was clear that he didn't belong with her. That if he was going to be with a scheming woman, that woman was going to be Juliette. She was in his blood and he was so tired of fighting it. So he had returned to the house he shared with Gunnar and Will and he watched TV, thinking about what he was going to do.

The conversation with Juliette over the phone had made up his mind and he had gone to wait for her return. He was going to tell her that he loved her and wanted to be the family that Cadence deserved.

But her plane going missing had disrupted that reunion and now here he sat, two weeks later, waiting for her to wake up so he could tell her that the long separation was over. That he was finally ready to be brave enough to try again. If only she would open her eyes.

"No change yet?"

Avery looked up from where he was sitting to see Emily, Juliette's assistant standing in the doorway. Like Avery, she was a constant figure by Juliette's bedside, along with Glenn, Juliette's manager, who had flown back when he had heard about the crash. The three of them kept a constant vigil, hoping that their love would be enough to tempt Juliette into waking up.

"None. I don't get it. The doctor said that she's healing nicely. There's no broken bones, the bruises and contusions and broken ribs are healed. All she needs to do is wake up," Avery sniffed, rubbing his eyes, red from lack of sleep. "How's Cadence? The guys are keeping it together, aren't they?"

"She's fine. I think Scarlett staying over and helping is a good thing. She's rather good with her."

Avery smiled at the thought of his ex-girlfriend. There were a handful of people that he would trust with his baby girl. Scarlett was near the top of the list. She always had a way with babies. "Good. I'm glad she's there. She must really miss her mommy, though."

"Of course," Emily came over and sat at Juliette's other side. "We all do. I wish she would just wake up. She has so much to live for now. That baby girl being the most important thing of all. In fact...maybe you should go home and get some rest yourself and spend time with your daughter. I think she'd be a comfort to you."

Avery shook his head, rejecting the idea. Of course, he would love to be with Cadence, but he wanted to be there when Juliette woke up. He wanted her to see that what he said about being here when she got home wasn't just words. He meant them. "I need to be here when she wakes up."

"We don't know when that will be," Emily frowned, being careful not to say if. That would make Avery even more upset.

"I just wish I hadn't wasted all that time. I should have gone back to her when she told me that she still loved me instead of letting my own stupid fears cloud my judgment. We could have been together...we could have been a family. Now it's..."

"It's not too late. She'll wake up and you'll have that much delayed reunion," Emily reassured. "But you won't be doing her any good if you collapse just when she wakes up."

Avery sighed. Emily was right. He couldn't even remember the last time that he had slept. He only remembered sitting here by Juliette's side, waiting for her to wake up so he could tell her that he loved her and all was forgiven and that they could be the family that they should have always been from the beginning. "Call me if there's a change."

"Of course I will," Emily smiled and kissed his cheek once he had gotten to his feet. "I don't expect to see you back any time soon. I want you to get a nice deep sleep and a good meal and spend some time with that precious daughter of yours. Only then can you come back."

"Yes ma'am," Avery tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace. He looked over at Juliette and walked over to her. He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "I'll be back. I promise."

There was no response. She just laid there, eyes closed, oblivious to the world.

He turned around and walked out of the room, hoping that when he did return to the hospital, there would be some kind of change, instead of this tense limbo that he was in. He needed to know what the future held for himself and Cadence. Would he have the family he always wanted, or would he be forced to move on with the rest of his life and make the best out of a tragic situation. How long was he going to be left holding on?