Season 6 Episode 5 - The Mad King
Jax looked around the clubhouse, his clubhouse, at all of the members and their families still in lockdown here because of the Irish and the threat they still posed. His own family once again unable to live their lives normally because of club business. That was all about to change though. If everything went according to plan, he would be able to cut ties with the kings and August Marks would be the new distributor of guns. Jax had wanted out of guns for a long time and the school shooting was the final straw. He was responsible for the death of those kids because he supplied the gun that was used. He may not have pulled the trigger, but in his mind he might as well have. He couldn't take it back, but he decided then that he would do anything he could to prevent something like that from happening again.
Jax glanced down at Juice who was seated at on one of the barstools. "What time is it?" Jax questioned. "Two minutes to eight." Juice responded. Jax instructed all of the club members to go to the table so they could take the call with the Irish, but as he took the last draw from his cigarette and stubbed it out in the ashtray on the bar, something caught his eye. A green shamrock pen was lying on top of the bar. It looked like the same exact pen that the Irishman used to write the address for Connor earlier that day after Jax had stabbed him in the hand at the warehouse. "Chucky!" Jax called out. Chucky appeared in the doorway. "You know where this pen came from?" Jax asked suspiciously. "It's a shamrock pen, delivery guy left it a few hours ago." Chucky replied. The level of fear began rising into Jax's throat, something wasn't right and he could feel it. He gave Chucky a wary look. "What delivery?" Chucky looked innocently unaware of the possible danger that may lie ahead. "Beer, Gemma must have ordered it." He explained as he pointed to a keg sitting at his feet. Jax looked at the keg and back up into the worried eyes of his VP. "Eight o clock." Chibs murmured. "Full table," He whispered. "Everyone out now!" Jax shouted.
Everyone began running towards the exit. Scrambling to get away from the unforeseen danger. As Jax was screaming for everyone to get out, Tara stopped, her gaze fearful. "Abel, I have to get Abel!" She shouted in a panic. "I'll get him, get her out of here!" Jax yelled out to Tig, who was pushing Tara through the club as she carried Thomas in her arms. As soon as Tara burst through the doors leading outside, she felt like the wind had been knocked out of her and Thomas had slipped from her grasp. With all of the people rushing out she never saw Gemma barreling towards her and as soon as she had made it past the concrete picnic tables Gemma had snatched Thomas right out of her arms. Before she could fully realize what was happening, she was knocked to the ground by someone fleeing the clubhouse. As she was struggling to get up she caught a glimpse of Jax running frantically with Abel, then suddenly there was a loud explosion and everything went dark.
Jax, clinging tightly to Abel and Chibs made it out of the clubhouse just in time. As soon as they were out of the doors, the structure exploded violently and massive flames erupted into the sky. Everyone was sprawled out in front of Teller-Morrow trying to catch their breath and take in the horrific sight in front of them. Jax tightened his grip on Abel, thankful that he made it out safely with his son. He began searching for Tara throughout the crowd. His eyes swept back and forth frantically when suddenly he spotted Thomas, but he was not in his mother's arms, he was in his grandmother's arms. Why is Thomas with Gemma, Jax thought. He glanced momentarily back towards the flames shooting high into the night sky when he noticed something lying on the ground between himself and the clubhouse. He handed Abel to Chibs and sprinted towards the figure on the ground. Dread filling his entire body as he got closer and realized that the figure was Tara, lying on her side with blood spilling out of her head. He dropped to his knees and gently lifted her into his arms. "Somebody help please!" He screamed out in agony. He could hear the sirens, so he knew they were close. "Please Tara, don't you leave me." He pleaded. "Don't leave our boys." He whispered as Sheriff Eli Roosevelt and Nero knelt at his side. "Oh Mano, I'm sorry." Nero breathed. Jax could feel Nero's hand resting on his shoulder as the ambulance pulled onto the lot. Sheriff Roosevelt directed them over to where Jax sat with Tara cradled in his arms. "You've got to let them take her Jackie." Chibs said as the emergency workers lifted Tara from Jax's arms and placed her on the gurney. "She has a pulse, but it is faint." Spoke one of the EMT's.
Jax watched as they loaded his wife into the back of the ambulance. Before he climbed into the back he turned to Chibs, "I've got your boys Jackie." Chibs stated. Jax climbed into the back with Tara. All he could do was watch as they worked on his wife. She had a head injury, hit with a piece of shrapnel from the explosion. As soon as they arrived she was rushed into emergency surgery. He sat in the waiting room with his head in his hands, he barely noticed the blood covering his upper body. He felt a hand gently rest on his shoulder. He looked up into the tear stained face of Margaret Murphy. "I told them I wanted to tell you myself." She whispered. He closed his eyes as he braced himself for the worst. "Tara made it through surgery, she's in recovery now." He slumped back into his chair, relief flooding his body. "I'm afraid there is bad news Jackson, she has slipped into a coma." Margaret explained as tears sprang fresh into her eyes. Jax felt as if his world was crashing down on him for the second time in one night. "When can I see her?" He questioned. "It will probably be another hour. They're getting her set up in a room now. Why don't you come with me so you can get cleaned up? You don't want to be like this when she wakes up." Margaret explained. Jax looked down at his blood stained hands and clothes and reluctantly agreed. He didn't want to look like this when Tara woke up and she was going to wake up.
Margaret had showed Jax to a room where he could shower and change his clothes. He called Chibs to bring him a change of clothes and to instruct him to leave the boys with Gemma. Little did he know that his mother was the very reason his wife was fighting for her life now. Chibs arrived at the hospital along with Bobby. Jax hadn't seen Bobby in weeks, but it didn't surprise him that he was here now. Bobby pulled him into a tight hug. "I'm sorry brother," He whispered. "We all love Doc and she's going to pull through this just fine. She's a fighter." Jax looked at him, his expression somber. "I know," was all he could muster. A doctor that Jax recognized as one of Tara's colleagues walked up to him. "Mr. Teller, we have Tara, I mean Dr. Knowles in a room now. The surgery went well which is a good sign. She took a severe blow to her head and she had lost quite a bit of blood, but we were able to give her a blood transfusion and sew up the deep gash to her head." He observed the three men before him before he spoke again. "I know Mrs. Murphy explained to you earlier that Dr. Knowles has slipped into a coma, but I feel confident about her condition. Her vitals are good and this is fairly common with severe head trauma. Tara is a strong person." Jax nodded in agreement, "when can I see her?" That was all he wanted, to see her, to see that she was still here.
Jax stood in the doorway of his wife's hospital room. His heart sank as he observed her frail form lying still in the bed and tears began to flow from his eyes and spill down his cheeks. She looked anything but the strong woman he was so familiar with and he knew that it was his fault that she was here instead of at home taking care of their boys. He crept closer and pulled a chair up close to her bed. He studied her face, she looked peaceful, serene. In spite of everything that has happened she looked at peace. He leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips and brushed the hair from her forehead. He sat down in the chair and placed her small hand in his and squeezed gently. He watched her for a little while longer before he laid his head down on the bed next to her and drifted off to sleep.
The sun was streaming into the room when he lifted his head off of the bed the next morning. He glanced up at Tara hoping to see her beautiful eyes staring back at him, but she was the same as last night. It looked as though she hadn't moved at all, her hand still rested in Jax's. He took comfort in the still calm look on her face, she didn't appear to be in any pain, but he knew that it was because of the coma she was in. A large part of him hoped for her to feel the pain because that would mean that she was awake and he desperately wanted her to wake up. A young nurse marched into the room, "we have to check her now, why don't you go get some breakfast." She stated. Jax didn't want to leave her side, but he knew the Doctors had to take care of her and he didn't need to be in the way. "You'll call me if she wakes up?" He questioned. "Yes sir," she replied. He returned to the waiting room to find Chibs and Bobby still there waiting. "How is she Jackie?" Chibs asked softly. "No change," Jax shook his head. "Let's go have a smoke and you can fill me in on what's going on with the clubhouse." Chibs looked warily at Bobby. As they stood outside of the hospital, Chibs explained to Jax that everyone was accounted for except for one. Juice... They were able to locate everyone who had been in the clubhouse except for Juice.
Jax gazed at Chibs and Bobby in disbelief. "The investigators are there now." Bobby stated. "Juice was right beside me when we figured out what was happening, there's no way he couldn't have made it out." Jax remarked. "Unless he didn't want to make it out." Chibs replied with a knowing look. All three men stared at each other in shock. Jax took the last draw from his cigarette. "I'll deal with this later, I've got to get back to my wife." He sent Chibs and Bobby back to see what they could find out. He hoped that juice had ran off or been lost in the chaos, because if not, this was going to bring more heat down on him and he had more than enough to deal with right now. He returned to Tara's room, but didn't immediately open the door. He glanced through the glass panel in the door to make sure the doctors were gone. They were, but there was someone else by Tara's bed, someone he recognized immediately. It was his mother.
Jax watched his mother through the window, but he didn't enter. Maybe it was divine intervention that he didn't because he may not have ever known the truth about his mother if he had. It looked seemingly innocent enough, but he had to know what she was saying. He gently turned the doorknob and was thankful when it didn't make a sound. He cracked the door just enough to hear what she was saying. "You see sweetheart, I think that God lets things happen for a reason and like I said before God wanted me to be a fierce mother. He put you here and it is my job to make sure you don't leave from here." Jax couldn't believe his ears. He swallowed the lump in his throat trying to figure out his next move. He couldn't strangle her right here in the hospital. She began to speak again. "They are my boys Tara." She snarled. "You were never made for this life, just look at you now. I loved you Tara, but we have to end this now. I promise it won't be painful, you're already almost gone." Jax watched in horror at his mother's next move as she leaned closer to Tara, she kissed her on the lips and then moved her hand to cover Tara's mouth and nose. Jax felt white hot rage coursing through his veins. He stepped into the room and pushed the door shut with a forceful smack. Gemma jumped and swiftly removed her hand. She glanced behind her as Jax stalked towards her. "What are you doing?" He demanded. Gemma glanced back at Tara and then to him and smiled. "I was just adjusting her pillow, trying to make her more comfortable." Jax eyed her suspiciously. "I just came by to check on you, do you need anything baby?" She said completely unaware that he had just witnessed everything she had done. Heartless bitch he thought to himself. He just shook his head and she kissed his cheek and then turned on her heel and strolled out the door.
Jax turned to Tara, the peaceful expression that covered her face earlier was long gone. Her face was distorted now. Fear in place of what was peace. She may not be awake, but she knew. He leaned close to her face. "I'm so sorry baby. I will take care of Gemma. I will never let her hurt you or our family again. I'm sorry it took me so long to see that she is poison." He whispered into her ear. The fear seemed to lessen on her face. He knew exactly what he needed to do now. He went to make arrangements with Margaret. She was almost relieved when he asked her if she could watch the boys for a while because he couldn't trust Gemma. He stayed with Tara until night fall and then he left to put his plan in motion. He kissed her softly on the lips and turned to leave.
He went to Gemma's to pick up the boys. She tried to convince him that she needed to keep them with her. "What if the hospital calls for you to come back?" She said. "Well then I'll bring then back here." He lied. He was never going to bring them back here, this was the last time they would ever see their grandmother. He made it to Margaret Murphy's around 9:30. She assured him that they would be safe there and he knew she was telling the truth. Margaret was Tara's friend and Tara trusted her. Tara didn't just trust anyone so he knew Margaret would take care of their boys until he had taken care of everything. He kissed Abel and Thomas and hugged them tightly before leaving to return to his mother's house.
He pulled up in front of the house and cut off the ignition. There were no cars here except Gemma's so he knew she was alone. He sauntered towards the door; the light in the kitchen was still on so he knew she was still awake. He tapped lightly on the door. She pulled back the curtain, confusion crossing her face. She opened the door hastily. "What's wrong Jackson? Where are the boys?" She asked urgently. Jax strolled past her into the kitchen. "They're fine. We need to talk." She closed the door cautiously and followed him into the dining room. He turned his glare onto her. She stepped back from the severity of his gaze. "They are my boys Tara, you were never made for this life. Sound familiar?" He snarled. Her eyes grew wide and she took a few steps back until she was against the table. "What? Nothing to say now Gemma?" He spit the words at her. "Jackson, you must have misunderstood. I would never hurt Tara." She proclaimed. "Don't, don't lie to my face. I heard you, I saw you. If I wouldn't have come back when I did, Tara wouldn't be here." She stared at him, a new resolve coming over her. She stood up straight, chin up, shoulders square. "You're right, this is my family and I will be damned if I let some little bitch like Tara take you away from me. She tried to do it once and failed and I will not let her succeed this time." Jax slammed his hand against the table. "You will not let her?" He shouted. She jumped at the sound of his voice, her resolve starting to fade. "Who do you think you are?" He stalked closer to her. "Tara is my wife and the mother of my children, your grandchildren. What kind of sick heartless bitch are you to want to take a mother away from her children?" Tears sprang to her eyes. "This is not your family. This is not your club." She looked up at him; he was so close she could see the veins popping in his neck as he tried to control his fury. She spoke calmly. "Jackson, this is my family. You, the boys, the club. I will do whatever I have to do to protect my family." He let out a snicker that scared her more than anything he had said or done since he got here. "You see, that's where we are alike because I will also do what I have to do to protect my family." A look of hatred consumed his features. "You will never see my boys, Tara's boys again." He seethed. She began to cry, grasping at his face, his clothes. "Jackson, I didn't mean it. I've been angry with Tara, but I wouldn't." He cut her off. "After tonight you're done. I'm going to tell everyone what you did, press charges for you assaulting Tara while she is in a coma. Everyone is going to know who you really are. You're finished." He snapped. She gazed around the room in a panic before she began clutching at her chest and gasping, "my pills, I need my pills." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bottle. "These pills?" She reached her hand out to grab the bottle, but he snatched it out of her grasp. He turned to walk away as she collapsed to the floor beside the large dining room table. He turned back and glared down at her. "I promise it won't be painful, you're already almost gone." He stated, repeating the same words she spoke to Tara earlier that day. He sighed as he turned to make his way towards the door. He couldn't help but feel like he was a monster, letting his own mother die. He had to remind himself that just twelve hours ago he discovered that she was the monster who was going to kill his wife and rob his boys of their mother. He continued towards the door, never looking back as he stepped out into the dark and pulled the door shut behind him. He climbed onto his bike and headed off to his next destination.
Jax entered Tara's room to find her the same as when he left, much to his dismay. He returned to his chair by her bed and took her hand. "Babe it's done. She will never hurt you or our family again, I promise. I know that doesn't mean much now because I've broken all of my promises." He lowered his head as guilt, pain and the reality of what he was going to have to live with came crashing down on him. Tears began rolling down his face. He felt a small jerk in his hand, but it didn't come from him. He looked up as Tara began to stir gently in the bed. His heart began to race. "Tara," he spoke softly. "I'm here Tara, you're okay. Our boys are okay." Her eyes began to flutter open. "Abel" she whispered, her voice hoarse. "Abel is fine and so is Thomas. They are with Margaret Murphy." She seemed to settle down and her eyes closed again. Jax sat with her for a few more hours before nodding off to sleep. It was still dark when he awoke to the feeling of something lightly being run through his hair. He noticed Tara's hand missing from his and he lifted his head to find her beautiful green eyes gazing at him. He breathed a sigh of relief, closing his eyes he pulled her hand to his lips and kissed softly. "Hi," he whispered. "Hi," she breathed. He stood up and leaned over to kiss her forehead. "I'm going to get you some water." He stepped out into the hallway and found a nurse to tell them Tara was awake. The doctor was already in the room checking Tara out when Jax returned with the water. He stood in the corner and watched until the doctor said she appeared to be fine and He was going to let her rest. Jax took his place at her side as the doctor left. He explained to her what had happened at the clubhouse and assured her that the boys were fine. He told her that Margaret was taking care of them until they were able to go home. She questioned why Margaret had them and he told her he would be able to explain later, but that was a conversation for a different day. It was a couple of hours before she drifted back to sleep. He just sat in the chair watching her sleep, the slow rise and fall of her chest, the tiny movements she made that he was so thankful for because just a few hours earlier there were no movements, only stillness.
It was sometime after eight in the morning when his phone rang. He glanced at Tara, still sleeping soundly as he stepped outside of the room. "Yeah," he spoke into the phone. "Son," Unser replied on the other end of the line. Jax could hear the sorrow in Unser's voice. His mother was the love of Unser's life and he knew he would be devastated. Unser choked back sobs before speaking again. "Something has happened to your mother Jax, you need to get over here to her place." Jax sighed heavily, guilt trying to creep its way into his mind. "What's wrong?" He asked. "I came over this morning when I couldn't reach her on the phone and I found her on the floor. She's gone Jax. She wasn't breathing, I tried everything!" He cried out. Jax remained silent for a few moments. "Have you called anyone?" He could hear Unser trying to get his emotions under control. "Yes, they're here now. They just got here." Jax heard shuffling through the phone and he told Unser that he would see him when he got to the hospital. Jax shut his phone and leaned into the wall. He closed his eyes and tried to erase the image of his mother from last night. He took a few deep breaths and looked through the window at Tara and reminded himself of what his mother tried to do to her yesterday. His beautiful strong wife weakened by his club, his mother and himself. He opened the door and went to her side. "I'm sorry," he whispered. Her body jerked and her eyes flew open. "Gemma," she gasped. He brushed his hand against her cheek. "It's okay, she's not here." She blinked up at him, "but she was here." He studied her for a moment, did she remember. "Yes she was. Tara I need to tell you something." He swallowed past the lump in his throat. "Unser called and he found Gemma this morning. She collapsed and we're not sure what happened." Tara looked at him in disbelief. "Is she okay?" She asked him. He turned his gaze away from her. "She's gone." Tara searched his face. "Jax I'm sorry." He brought his blue eyes up to meet hers. She took his hand in hers. "I'm so sorry about Gemma. I love you Jackson. I don't ever want you to be in pain." He leaned down to her and kissed her lips. "I love you Tara," he whispered.
It had been two weeks since the explosion at the clubhouse and Tara got hurt. It had been one week since he buried his mother. The doctor determined that it was a heart attack and said that even if she would have had her pills, she wouldn't have made it. Jax wished that he could take comfort in that knowledge, but the fact remains that the last image of his mother haunts him as he was sure it always would. He just had to remember the image of Gemma with her hand covering Tara's nose and mouth, trying to suffocate her while she lay there helpless. Tara was finally released from the hospital, she couldn't wait to get home and get her boys home. Margaret kept them for two more days so Tara could get settled at home. She would have kept them longer, but Tara wouldn't have it. Once they were home, Jax explained the truth about the last time he saw Gemma. Tara cried for him and what she knew he would now be carrying with him until the day he died. She thanked him for saving her life. They felt closer to each other than they had been in a long time. She still had a trial to face and he still had to deal with the guns and the Irish, but she didn't feel so alone now. They both were certain that the other would do whatever had to be done to protect their family.