Amanda

It was a long night and an even longer morning. They stayed at the scene all night and were not allowed to leave until Sheriff Trammell showed up, took their statements about the ambulance shooting, and then cleared them to leave at 4:00 in the morning after they scoured over every inch of the ambulance, and picked up every shell casing within a 10-foot distance of the vehicle.

Thankfully, there wasn't much to find thanks to Justin's thoroughness and Bradley's OCD nature. They got everything cleaned up while Amanda and Grady kept an eye on the firefighters and the plethora of activity surrounding the fire.

Still, the vehicle was taken in for further investigation, which truly sucked for several reasons. There were no spare vehicles for them to use in the meantime, and Amanda was already on her boss's shit-list after breaking protocol last week. She and Bradley had picked up a girl who tried to commit suicide by taking pills. Unbeknownst to Amanda, she had snuck a knife into the truck and tried another attempt when Amanda was checking her heart rate on the machine. She had cut deep into her left wrist and tried to get the other one before Amanda stopped her. She threw the knife away and ordered Bradley to stop the truck. Bradley held her down as she got to work stitching up the wound, not doing a bad job considering the girl was flailing around and screaming her head off about how much she wanted to die. Amanda ignored her and finished stitching the wound. After that, Bradley helped her tie the patient down tight and eventually got them to the hospital.

Even though the surgeons on staff backed up Amanda's decision, saying that the patient would have died without Amanda's interference, she was still in trouble. Oddly enough, there was simply a dock on her paycheck and a month-long probation for the incident. Amanda never figured out why her punishment was so minor, and after a brief time, she decided she didn't want to know, somehow realizing that she'd regret asking once she found out the answer.

Even so, this was going to end up violating her probation in some way, shape or form, which meant an imminent suspension. Sure enough, once Justin carted her to the hospital in his EMS truck, she hadn't taken two steps into the place when Chelsea Darrow, her ice queen of a boss, came barreling towards her with her natural icy expression. Both Amanda and Bradley were on suspension until ballistics came back from the investigation. If the stray bullets were responsible for the damage to the vehicle, Amanda was fired, and Bradley would be placed on probation for a year. If it wasn't and the perpetrators were the ones to cause damage to the car, then Amanda's probation would extend another month with yet another dock on her pay while Bradley would get away scot free. It wasn't fair, or even ethical, but that was Chelsea at her best.

After that fun conversation, Justin practically dragged Amanda towards one of the exam rooms, where he, Bradley, and Grady waited with her until Tara showed up. Normally she operated on babies, but because of Justin's insistence, she turned up to play ER nurse before her shift for her actual job started. Her face was pinched with confusion, worry, and slight frustration as she briefly studied Amanda.

"What happened," she started her list of questions as she pulled up Amanda's shirt to reveal the stained wrappings on her torso.

"We were the first to arrive on the scene; I partially got out of the truck to get a better look at the blaze when the perpetrators started shooting at us. One of them caught me in the side and went through cleanly. I got back inside, put it in reverse, and only stopped driving when I heard incoming sirens. I pressed too hard on the break and hit my shoulder against the dashboard." Amanda gestured to her hurt shoulder, and Tara looked up from inspecting the wound.

"Lift it up as high as it can go" she ordered, placing gentle hands on her forearm and upper arm.

She did as she was told and aside from slight pain when it reached up, she was able to lift most of the way into the pain grew astronomically and she had to stop. Tara moved around and started feeling her shoulder, stretching Amanda's arm out to figure out what's wrong with it.

"It feels like a partial dislocation, nothing too serious though." She waved Justin over and instructed him to work on Amanda's arm while investigated the wound more closely.

To say it royally sucked having Justin fixing her shoulder would be the understatement of the century. She was laid out on the table, her legs and good arm pinned down by Bradley and Grady as Justin maneuvered her shoulder back into the appropriate position while Tara worked on disinfecting the wound once again, and then stitching it up. The entire visit was done and over within about 40 minutes, which in retrospect wasn't entirely bad. Tara did a great job stitching everything up and redressing the wound. Once Justin's assault on her arm was over Bradley left to get her a sling and Tara sent Grady to get the meds she was prescribing Amanda in the meantime.

"Take them twice a day until the bottle runs out," Tara had ordered Amanda, and she saluted her good arm.

"Yes ma'am," she responded, about to walk away when Tara started to speak again.

"Are you going to tell Jax about this, or should I?"

Amanda sighed and turned to halfheartedly glare at Tara. She couldn't be mad at her when she helped fix her up under the hospital's nose, but it didn't stop the frustration from filtering in.

"You might be able to hide this from the hospital, but the club will find out about this. It's not going to take a lot to figure that I was the one who patched you up, and when Jax comes asking questions I'm not going to lie to him, Amanda." She paused again, her eyes pleading with her for a second. "So, I'll ask again, are you going to tell them, or should I?"

"Tara, I don't want them to know-" she started, but Tara interrupted her.

"I know you don't want them to know about you working here. It's your life, your choice about who gets to know this or that. I understand but Amanda, this is not like those other times. You were at the scene where their warehouse exploded and was injured as a result."

"The only injury the Sheriff was made aware of was Bradley hitting his head when we drove away."

"Maybe, but they got your names and information when each of you gave your statements, correct?"

Amanda didn't answer, cursing herself for not thinking about that earlier.

"This means even if the pair of you decided to skip town until the suspension lifts and your wounds heal up, they will still find out."

Amanda didn't speak, not wanting to admit Tara was right. Even so, her silence was admission enough, and Tara moved towards the door.

"I'll give you today to tell them, but if Jax or any of the club comes here asking what happened, I'm not going to lie, Amanda."

"Thank you, Tara" Amanda gritted her teeth, taking a deep, soothing breath before turning to face her, "for helping me."

She nodded, opening the door and stepping out into the hallway. She turned to look at her one last time, "You have today."

Amanda nodded, and with that Tara left to get ready for her shift.

Amanda sat back down on the table, tapping her fingers on the cool metal as she thought about her situation, and what she was going to do.

"What time is it?" She asked no one in particular.

It was Grady who answered, "Just after 6, why?"

"Just curious," she answered with a shake of her head, her good hand rubbing her eyes in frustration. Glaring down at the sling, she looked at the guys. Bradley and Grady merely shrugged. Justin, however, gave Amanda a stern look, his arms crossed over his chest.

"What are you going to do, Hershey?"

She sighed, "It's too early to tell them."

"There's no way someone slept through that," Grady interjected, giving Amanda a knowing look.

"If they did then they'd be practically comatose," Bradley added, shrugging in response to Amanda's glare.

"Or drunk as a skunk, which thinking about how many those guys can drink..." Grady left his response hanging before sighing. "You only have today to tell them, Amanda," Grady grimaced.

"I know," she groaned, her head tilting back as she shoved off the table. There was a sharp pain in her shoulder as she did, but she ignored it as she headed for the door.

"When are you going to do it?" Justin's voice stopped her as she placed a hand on the knob.

She turned to look at him, "Probably around noon, that way they'll have time to start planning what they're going to do and then hopefully my news won't affect anything."

"I doubt that," Grady laughed while Justin nodded. "I'm holding you to that."

"I know," Amanda grumbled opening the door.

"In the meantime, let's get some breakfast at Polly's and catch up on some Z's" Bradley suggested, and the group murmured their agreement.

After some quick maneuvering and careful observation, the group was able to sneak out of the hospital without anyone noticing. Since Polly's Diner wasn't that far from the hospital, they opted to walk the distance instead of drive. Amanda tried desperately to keep her mind off of the Sons, or at least one person in particular, and instead concentrated on what she was going to do during her suspension and how in the hell she was going to pay the bills if the suspension lasts longer than expected.

Her mind was on numbers and plans when they entered the diner, and Polly's shout broke her out of her reverie.

"Well if it isn't my favorite group of paramedics" her girly voice sounded over the counter as she poured a cup of coffee for a guy wearing a trucker hat.

"The usual Polly" Justin nodded to her as they passed by her and walked to the corner booth that was always open for them, even had their names carved into the table after a drunken stint a few months back. Justin sat at the window that gave him an open view of the place and Amanda sat next to him, using her thumb to rub the indentions of the wood as Bradley sat across from Justin and Grady opposite Amanda.

In almost no time at all Polly arrived with their drinks. Amanda got hot chocolate with caramel drizzle, Justin his usual very black coffee, Bradley's latte with foam spilling over to the table, and Grady's coffee that was more sugar and cream than coffee.

"Is it a usual on the food too?"

"Yeah except would you mind adding a couple more slices of bacon to mine?" Justin answered, taking a sip of his coffee.

"A plate of hash browns instead of that extra stack of pancakes for me," Amanda mumbled around the hot chocolate.

"Add some mushrooms to my omelet, and I want sausage instead of ham for my sandwich."

Grady smiled, adding another packet of sugar to his coffee. "Oh, and some more sugar packets?"

"Just the usual for me, thanks" Bradley laughed, shaking his head at his friends.

Polly feverishly finished writing down the changes on her notepad and smiled at them all.

"Coming right up" she winked at Justin before turning and heading towards the kitchen.

Despite everything that's happened that morning, Amanda was starting to feel pretty good and joined in the laughter as the guys started giving Justin a rough time.

"Damn Justin" Bradley smirked around his latte.

"Are you going to hit that already or what?" Grady amusingly chastised Justin, who merely rolled his eyes.

"Dude, how many signals does she have to send before you finally pull your head out of your ass and go for it?" Amanda laughed gesturing towards the kitchen.

"How many times do I have to you guys to shut it before I deck you?" He growled, aiming that particular insult towards the guys, "and don't get me started on you, Hershey."

She rolled her eyes but laughed all the same as Grady continued his onslaught, "C'mon man, she's been pining after you for years."

"That's my point, Grady. She's been doing this for years, years. She hasn't given up yet, what does that tell you?"

"She's dedicated to a lost cause?" Amanda shrugged, earning another glare from Justin.

"She really wants to have wild sex with a sexy paramedic who served his country with flying colors?" Bradley added, looking up and down Justin's roguish form.

"She wants a really good story to tell her cyber friends about after you guys do the do." He wiggled his eyebrows, and Justin glared at all of them.

"No idiots, she wants a relationship, something the three of you clearly know nothing about." He gestured to all of them, and they didn't deny it. "Speaking as the only person who's actually been in a relationship in this piss poor excuse of a group, I know that look, and I'm not getting anywhere near it. Been there, done that, end of story."

"Just a thought, aside from Sergeant asshat, who's been in a relationship, and for how long," Grady asked, looking around the table.

Amanda shook her head, and Bradley shrugged, looking at his latte with a frown. Grady's shoulders slumped at their lack of response, "Well shit, Jury's right."

"How did you know?" Amanda asked, setting her hot chocolate down and giving her his full attention.

"One, you guys are obvious. Two, I know people. It's what I do. Now drink up," he took another sip of his coffee, and with that, the discussion was over.

It was about thirty minutes before the food finally arrived. Justin got his steak and eggs (with a plate of extra bacon) first. Amanda's blueberry pancakes with her plate of hash browns came next. Grady's ham and now mushroom omelet arrived with his now sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit. Finally, Polly set down Bradley's French toast with strawberries on the side with a flourish, her blonde ponytail swinging. She looked at Justin again, her hazel eyes flirtatious as she said, "Enjoy your breakfast" in a husky tone as she backed away, swinging her hips as she glanced one last time at their table.

The three looked at Justin knowingly, not bothering to hide their smiles from him.

"Eat your breakfast" he growled, stabbing into his steak.

They laughed in unison but didn't push, knowing the effort was futile.

As always, the food was great. When she finished she leaned back in her seat, groaning in satisfaction as she normally did after Polly's breakfast. Justin was on his third cup of coffee, looking just as satisfied as Amanda. Grady had devoured his omelet in seconds and was savoring his biscuit sandwich with glee, while Bradley was trying to stay awake over his half-eaten food.

Polly came over a few minutes later, her gaze fixed on Justin. "You guys doing okay?"

"Yeah, thanks Polly" Amanda responded for the group, who merely waved at Polly.

She laughed in response, "I'm guessing you guys want the check?"

"You guess right" Amanda laughed, holding out her hand. Polly handed her the slip, winking one last time at Justin, who stubbornly ignored her. She walked off with another swing of her ponytail and shake of her butt.

"Alright dickheads, pay up" she threw the check down on the table, and the guys groaned in annoyance.

Grady gently placed what was left of his sandwich on the plate and started digging through his wallet. He grimaced as Bradley placed a ten and a five on the table, and Justin dropped a twenty on the stack. Amanda waited for Grady, her expression expectant.

"I got seven," he said sheepishly, throwing down what he had.

Amanda rolled her eyes and bundled up the cash.

"Why aren't you paying again?" Bradley grumbled, resting his head on the back of the seat.

"You know the rules; the one with the cheapest meal doesn't pay-"

"But drives everyone home afterward" Grady laughed, nudging Bradley with his elbow.

"But you got the extra plate of hash browns" he started when Amanda stopped him. "Which is the same price as the extra stack of pancakes that I switched with the hash browns, while you got the second latte."

"I thought refills were free." He grumbled, not putting much effort into his argument as he fought to keep his eyes open.

"They are for Grady and Justin who got coffee, not a latte."

He mumbled something under his breath but otherwise quit the argument.

"Make sure he doesn't fall asleep, I won't be able to carry him this time." She gestured to her shoulder and Justin nodded.

"From the looks of it, he's probably going to be sleeping in the car today."

Amanda looked at Bradley and nodded, "Probably," she had a sudden thought, and though she wasn't particularly a huge fan of the idea, she knew it was probably her best bet without asking Justin and Grady to babysit him for the day. They've already covered her for enough; she'll figure something else out.

"I could always give Wendy a call; she owes me after I helped her get through her last rehab stint."

"You mean when you faked her paperwork and forced her to go through your own personal rehab program, so she didn't kill the baby?"

"Pretty much, yeah" she shrugged, looking at Justin.

His expression was neutral, thinking on her idea before shrugging and saying, "Give her a call and see if she's up for it."

Amanda pulled her phone from her back pocket and started scrolling through her contacts. She absently noticed Polly's return, giving her the cash as she found Wendy's name.

"Isn't Wendy Jax's ex-wife?" Grady asked while taking another bite of his biscuit as Polly walked towards the register.

"Yeah," Amanda said absently as she pressed the call button and waited for an answer. She answered on the fifth ring.

"Amanda?" a tired, strained voice answered, and Amanda immediately had a bad feeling.

"Hey Wendy, how are you doing?"

"Fine, just stressed about the about the baby coming is all," Wendy's response was grated, not helping temper Amanda's suspicions.

"Sorry about that, but it'll be worth it once he's born. Or so I'm told, anyway." Amanda paused, waiting for a response. When she didn't get one, she tried again. "Wendy, would you mind doing me a favor?"

"Depends on the favor," her response blunt, her voice panicked.

"Mind if Bradley and I crash at your place for a couple hours. We had a long night that got screwed up because of the explosion outside town. We stopped off at Polly's to get something to eat but now everyone is falling asleep and since your place is closer than ours-"

"No!" Wendy almost shouted into the phone, and Amanda knew something was wrong. She didn't know what it was, but she knew it was bad. "Um, sorry, but no," Wendy continued, and Amanda could tell she was trying to calm her voice to not alert her, "The house is a complete mess right now and I don't want you guys to see it like this. Why don't you ask Jax, or Gear if you can crash at their places for a while? You know they wouldn't mind."

Amanda's fists clenched at the sound of their names, mentally cursing Wendy for bringing them up in an idiotic attempt to deflect attention. She took a quick, deep breath, before saying, "Yeah, I mean if you're sure you don't want us over..." Amanda left it hanging, trying to get a response out of Wendy when Polly came back with their change.

"Yeah, just give Gear a call; he'll definitely help you out."

"I'll think about it" Amanda muttered, not technically lying as she would think about awful talking to him would be, "Maybe next time?"

"Yeah, definitely," Wendy said, relief in her voice.

Amanda was about to say her goodbye when Wendy abruptly hung up. She put away her phone and looked at the guys.

"What's wrong?" Grady said, the last of his biscuit falling to his plate.

"Something's up, she's hiding something."

"Let's go" Justin slammed down his coffee, and Amanda was already on her feet.

"Grady-" she was saying when stood up and interrupted her.

"I know. I'm on sleeping douchebag duty." He turned around and started pulling at Bradley's limp body across the seat. Once Grady had Bradley on his feet, he and Justin both took an arm, and started pulling him through the diner with a pissed off Amanda leading the way.

They raced back to the hospital, not taking a breath to collect themselves as Amanda got in the driver's seat and started the truck. If this had been a normal day, Justin would have annihilated her since it was his truck, his baby that he washes and cleans every day, and waxed nearly twice a week.

Whether it was due to the current situation, her winged arm, or sheer exhaustion causing him to not give a fuck, he merely slid into the passenger seat and remained silent. It took a minute to get Bradley into his seat, but once he and Grady were secure she tore out of the parking lot and headed straight for Wendy's.

Sadly, Amanda didn't account for traffic, which was surprisingly bad for a town the size of Charming. It made it even worse because the main road, the one that led straight to Wendy's neighborhood, was blocked off because of a huge wreck dealing one of Oswald's tankers, and a few civilian cars that were absolutely flattened.

"Shit" Amanda groaned, seeing Nick and Tristan from the day shift tending to wounded up ahead.

"We're not going to make it through this; we'll have to take a long way around."

"That'll take forever" Amanda complained to Justin, who merely gave her a look.

"Did it sound like she was in immediate danger?"

"... No" Amanda hesitated before answer.

"Then perhaps it's better that we take our time." He paused for a moment, and then asked, "If the situation was reversed, wouldn't you expect us to come to check on you, even if you were convinced that you played us?"

"Yeah, but I'm not a former crank junkie who's been in and out of rehab for years."

"True, but you do have a tendency to go overboard when you suspect something's wrong."

She glared at him, "Like I'm doing right now?"

He didn't answer that, "The point is, junkies and reformed junkies can be paranoid, especially when they get a call from someone who they don't talk to very often. The smart thing to do right now is to wait for a minute, take a deep breath, and take the long way to see if she and the baby are okay."

She rolled her eyes but acquiesced to his plea.

"Fine, but if I'm wrong-"

"Then we'll figure it out when we get there." He said, his eyes calm, yet firm.

She sighed in response and looked back at the road, slightly nodding. He patted her good shoulder in response but otherwise remained silent. She drove considerably slower as she made her way out of the wreckage zone and detoured through one of the neighboring streets.

For the rest of the way, she went the speed limit, wanting desperately to get out the crawl she felt like she was going.

Sadly, it turned out this day was a never-ending whirlpool of interrogations for Amanda and the crew. With the route they were going, it was about fifteen minutes from Wendy's place, and naturally, it was going to take longer than expected. Red and blue lights started shining behind her, a siren beginning to wail as she groaned in frustration.

"You've got to be kidding me" she complained, pulling off to the side of the road as the jeep pulled up behind her. She cursed again as when she recognized the main stepping out of the vehicle. Deputy Chief Hale in all his righteous glory walked towards them with a purpose.

She pulled down the window as soon as he arrived to seemingly berate her.

"What the hell dude?" she growled, glaring at him. Normally she was a bit more composed and respectful to police officers. Today was not a normal day.

"I'm not arresting you, Amanda." He said calmly, looking at her with concern.

"Then what are you doing?" Her tone lost some of its bites, but it still sounded pissed off.

"I heard you were one of the first people on scene for the warehouse explosion outside of town who also happened to be the driver of the ambulance that was loaded with bullets."

She groaned in response, her head hitting the back of her seat. Of course, he knows what happened. The only person that would get that information faster than SAMCRO would be Captain America himself.

"Based on the sling I'm going to assume that you were not entirely honest with Sheriff Trammell this morning." He paused, but she didn't respond, just glared at him. "Tell me what happened, Amanda."

"I dinged it on the dashboard when I pressed the brake too hard. It's not that hard to figure out."

"So why hide it from Trammell?"

"Because if the hospital found out I wouldn't be cleared to go back to work for weeks, not that it matters since they suspended me until the investigation proves I wasn't an idiot who parked too close to an explosion."

"I'm working on getting a subpoena, so I can check out the scene as well. In the meantime, I'll get the ballistics from the department and get your suspension lifted."

Amanda straightened up at that, "Seriously?"

"Yes," he said, suddenly confused.

"Why?"

"I trust your judgment. If you say you weren't too close, then you weren't." When she stared at him blankly, he sighed and continued. "You might not be the most honest person, Amanda, but you have never lied to me, even when it would have been in your best interest to do so. I know that when it comes down to situations like this, you'll be honest with me, and that's all I can ask for."

He gave her a small smile for a second, which grew slightly when she nodded. "Are you going to be okay?"

She looked down at the shoulder, and absently the bullet wound that has so far not given her much trouble. "I'll be fine, just going to see a...friend before we find a place to crash for a few hours." She hesitated over the word friend. She wasn't entirely sure why until Hale just had to mention him.

"Gear? Isn't his place back that way?" He pointed to his right, which was behind Amanda.

"No," she grated through clenched teeth, "I was going to see Wendy. See how she's doing and everything."

"Okay, well I'll be in touch. You need anything, give me a call." He patted the roof of the truck before he started to walk away.

Amanda couldn't stop herself from saying, "Hey Hale."

He came back to the window, his eyes wide with interest, "What's up?"

"Nothing, just... thanks." Her words were stiff, but he understood what she was saying.

"Anytime," he said in an equally stiff tone. He nodded to her, and Justin who had remained silent during their conversation. He gave her a final look before walking back to his Jeep. She waited until he was in the jeep before driving away; taking a deep breath to prepare what was waiting for her.

No one said anything on the final stretch to Wendy's house. She peaked in the rearview mirror to see Bradley's face in the crotch of Grady's lap, and Grady's head tilted back, his eyes shut, and mouth opened wide.

Despite everything in the moment, Amanda had to bite back a laugh. She nudged Justin in the ribs and pointed to the scene behind him. Never has a grin been more wicked or evil than in the singular moment.

She leaned back slightly to pull her phone from her front pocket. "Take a picture" she taunted, handing it to him, "it'll last longer."

"You're a bad influence, Hershey."

"And you're easy to manipulate, Jury."

He took her phone with glee, switching to camera mode, and getting some much-needed blackmail on Grady.

"What are you going to do with them?"

"Oh, you'll see," he winked at her, and she couldn't help but laugh at him. The laugh must have woken the sleeping pair up because Justin quickly handed the phone back to her, looking like a little boy up to no good.

She could hear grunts of confusion coming from the back seat, and quick adjustments as they quickly separated, looking sheepish. Amanda contained her amusement this time, even as when she slid a quick glance at Justin, who looked very, very smug.

They made it to Wendy's a couple minutes later. She parked the truck and climbed out gingerly, keeping her shoulder in mind. Justin walked with her to the door, keeping a wary eye out for any suspicious activity. She had just knocked on the door when she heard a car pulling up at the same time Justin nudged her in the ribs, saying "We've got company."

"Fuck" Amanda groaned when she turned to see who arrived. In her black Caddy, Gemma exited her car with a kind of grace that Amanda used to envy; now she was just annoyed.

"Amanda," Gemma said in her usual austere tone, cocking a hip as she took off her sunglasses. "What are you doing here?"

"Checking on Wendy," Amanda responded in an equally curt tone, gesturing towards the house behind her. "I called earlier to see if we could crash here for the night. She all but told me to get lost, which isn't unusual by any means. She sounded off though, so I decided to stop by."

"How off?" Worry leaked into Gemma's voice, and Amanda softened as she continued.

"Enough to give me the creeps and want to check on her."

"When was the last time you saw her?" Gemma stepped forward.

"A couple months ago, we're not that close. I only called today because she was close by and I didn't want to make the drive to my place."

"Long night" Gemma nodded to my shoulder, and she shrugged with her good shoulder.

"You can say that," she didn't bother elaborating, and Gemma's scowl returned.

"Oh shit," Amanda heard behind her. She turned to see Bradley's eyes wide with shock. "Call 911!" He pointed to the window looking into the dining room. Amanda raced over, Gemma not far behind her, and she froze.

"Fuck," Amanda cursed, absently taking off the sling as her feet carried her around the house. She made it to the back entrance in record time. She grabbed hold of the knob, but it wouldn't turn. She stepped back to shove the door open, but a strong, firm hand grasped her good shoulder and pulled her away.

"I got it," Justin said in a brusque tone. It took him a couple of tries, but with a well-placed kick, the door swung open, sending items crashing to the floor in its wake.

Amanda rushed ahead of him, heading straight to the dining room where she found Wendy.

The first thing she noticed was the melted ice cream on the floor near her head, meaning she's been like this for an extended period. The next was the needle in her hand, meaning she ran out of other places to put it. Then she saw the blood on the floor coming from between her legs, meaning the baby was dead, or quickly on its way to being dead. They had to move fast.

Amanda kicked the ice cream out of the way and kneeled at Wendy's head, checking her pulse and attempting to clear her airway. Justin went to grab her legs, helping straighten out her body.

Footsteps came crashing into the room, and Grady's voice was rushed.

"Gemma called 911, but with the wreck on the main road it's going to take time for them to get here."

"Wendy's got a pulse," Amanda said absently, "it's faint though, and she's not going to have time to wait for the ambulance."

"The kid certainly doesn't," Justin gritted, "There's no way to tell if he's still kicking or not. We can't afford to wait." He grabbed Wendy's ankles, "Grady get over here."

Amanda switched with Grady without complaint. Now was not the time to play tough guy when a baby's life was on the line. His arms hooked under her shoulders and the pair lifted her with a precision that could only come from working together for so long. Amanda led the way out of the house and helped direct them to Justin's truck. She opened the back door and watched with nervous anticipation as they sprawled her along the back seat, Grady still holding her up.

"Shut the door! Get us to the hospital!" He shouted, and Amanda did as she was told. She intended to get in the passenger seat, letting Justin drive, but once again his hand was on her and pulled her away.

"Go with Gemma" he ordered as Bradley took the passenger seat.

"What?" Amanda blinked in confusion. Why were they sending her away?

"Bradley has Gemma's phone so he can keep in contact with the dispatcher. Jax needs to know what happened to his kid and this is not something he needs to hear over the phone. Now go," he gently pushed her away, and though part of her was pissed, she nodded and rushed over to Gemma.

"Call Jax," Gemma ordered, starting the car as Amanda climbed into the passenger seat. She had barely shut the door when Gemma shot out of the driveway and headed towards the clubhouse. Amanda raced through her contacts and called him the moment she found his name. It went straight to voicemail.

"Shit," she muttered, trying Chibs when Gemma asked "What?"

"His phone is turned off," she grumbled, cursing when Chibs phone also went straight to voicemail.

"Try Gear," Gemma suggested as she took a very sharp turn in the next street. A groan of pain escaped from Amanda as her body impacted the door. She cursed as she straightened, not sure which pain she needed to comfort more as she glared at Gemma.

"Sorry," Gemma muttered before realizing something, "where's your sling?"

"I took it off," Amanda answered simply, looking away from Gemma.

"Why did you take it off?"

"Because I needed both hands to keep a junkie alive long enough to save her unborn child," Amanda growled, staring out into the passing landscape, trying to keep her shoulder steady as Gemma kept her speedy, reckless pace through the streets of Charming.

When Gemma didn't respond Amanda risked a glance to appraise her expression. She was smiling and that unnerved Amanda more than she cared to admit.

"What?"

"Nothing," she paused for a second, nodding to Amanda's phone, "call Gear."

"If Jax and Chibs' phones are turned off, I highly doubt his will be on."

"Well, you're not going to know until you call him."

Amanda groaned, hoping desperately she was right, and his phone was turned off with the rest. She pressed dial, hoping desperately for his voicemail. Luck was with her, it too went to voicemail, but the sound of his voice still ripped her to the core.

"It's Gear, you know what to do." Then there was the beep and Amanda stayed silent for a second, suddenly finding it hard to breathe. She cleared her throat, trying to gain some shred of bravery as she spoke into the speaker.

"Call me back. It's important." With that, she hung up. Her hands were shaking when she put her phone back in her pocket and then proceeded to sit on them, ignoring the increasing pain in her shoulder and the dull pain in her side. The automated response didn't do his voice justice or loosen her nerves at all. What it did was make her think about how his voice supposed to sound, and the way his lips would curve when he smiled at her, or the way his eyebrows knitted together whenever he was worried about her or pissed at her for something.

Her palms started sweating against the leather of Gemma's seat, and she cursed her stupid body for reacting this way.

"He didn't answer?"

"His phone is turned off like I told you it would be."

"Well, it was worth a shot." Amanda could see Gemma looking at her from the corner of her eye. "What happened to your shoulder?"

Of course, she would choose now to start interrogating her, when Amanda was putty in her hands, too tired and distracted to jump out of a moving car.

"I was driving too fast last night, pressed the brake too suddenly and my shoulder hit the dashboard. Not much to it," Amanda hated being vague, and though she knew she had to at least tell Jax the truth about last night, she sure as hell didn't need to tell Gemma.

"How bad is it?" Was that worry in her tone? Amanda was sure she was mistaken.

"Partial dislocation, the sling is merely a precaution."

"Who gave it to you?"

"Who do you think?" Amanda retorted, and Gemma snorted.

"You going to be okay?"

"I'm still kicking," Amanda didn't continue, and for once Gemma didn't push it. They drove in silence for the remainder of the time, and Amanda surprisingly found it comfortable. Sadly, the semi-relaxed atmosphere did nothing to temper her thoughts from drifting to Gear, and what would happen when she saw him again.

It wasn't like they parted on bad terms or anything, but ever since he decided to join the Sons, getting his cut on his 18th birthday, Amanda hasn't been able to think of him or be around him without her heart was breaking into a million pieces. She never wanted him to be part of the club, especially after seeing the toll it took on both of her parents. It made them harder, less forgiving and drained them until they met their fateful end. Gear was never innocent, not with the pain and suffering he went through at Michael's hands, but there was still softness to him. The dreamer that looked at the stars every night like they were the most beautiful things in the world, that awesome guy who watched Star Wars and talked about what he would do if he went against Darth Vader, the same guy who dressed up as Han Solo every Halloween while trying to get her to go as Leia. She never did, but she did try out the Leia buns one night just for kicks. She still remembered the look on his face when he walked in on her in the bathroom trying to take them out. Priceless.

She smiled at the memory before quickly trying to hide it, hoping desperately Gemma wouldn't see it. She wondered if he still watched those movies, or if they were just a long-forgotten dream from the person he used to be. She hoped he did because maybe then her friend would still be there, buried deep within the hard-shell Clay instilled in him since he was patched in at 19. He was 22 now, or at least he will be in a few days. Amanda already had his present picked out for him. Star Wars themed shot glass set with a bottle of tequila and a note saying, "May the force be with you for the impending hangover." She would always send it anonymously, though she doubted she fooled him. He never tried to ask her about it, and she was grateful to him for that. It was already pathetic enough that she still celebrated his birthday in secret, having it out there for the world to know was just embarrassing.

Gemma took another sharp turn down the familiar street, and her stomach plummeted. Fists clenched, heart plummeted, and her lungs constricted at the sight of the warehouse. Her side singed with a burning pain as Gemma took the turn into the parking lot for the garage, and Amanda was suddenly trying not to panic. Gemma started honking with urgent ferocity, signaling everyone to their arrival. She wanted to punch her, jump out of the car and run for dear life. She really didn't want to be here, didn't want to see him at all. Suddenly, just as Amanda started devising an expert plan to escape the garage without being noticed that would have likely failed, she saw him.

He looked amazing, as always. His dark, curly hair was longer now, made him look like one of those beach bums that always hit on Amanda whenever she found time to surf. It framed his strong, masculine face perfectly well. His hazel eyes peeking through with that strange intensity he always had. The scars on the right side of his jaw glinted in the sunlight, making them look like they were alien marks that came straight out of sci-fi show. He looked taller, the muscles in his arm slightly bigger and more defined than the last time she saw him. It must have been because of the cut, or maybe the white foo-fighters t-shirt made him appear larger than life. She was tempted to let her eyes stray to other parts of him, parts that were hidden well by his stained jeans. She shut them immediately, shaking her head furiously, chastising herself for letting her mind get away from her.

Gemma's door suddenly opened, "C'mon!" she yelled at Amanda before slamming it shut. Amanda took a deep breath, cursing herself once more for being a cowardly wimp, and opened her door.