Hi everyone! I am sorry this one is coming a day later than the others, but I was combing through it to make sure it was how I wanted it before I posted. I hope you all enjoy it. Please note that I have no medical background, so if Tara's injuries sound wrong, I apologize. I did my best!

Anyway, thank you for following this story and for all of your wonderful feedback. Keep it up.

Enjoy!

You Looked At Me And I Was Done

Chapter 4

Tara

Tara lay in the hospital bed, clicking the remote to the TV. She wanted to go home, but the doctors wouldn't discharge her. Tara had two broken ribs and two cracked. Her lung had been punctured from the ribs. Her entire left side was bruised and cut up from the impact. She had a broken wrist and a sprained ankle.

Despite all this, she didn't want to be in the hospital. She would rather recover from home. Her dad never left her room...ever. She glanced over to him and watched him shake, even in his sleep. Withdrawal. She hated seeing him in any sort of pain. God knows he had been through enough of it. And he hadn't eaten anything either.

"Tara," the doctor said, entering the room, smiling kindly at her. She looked to him in alarm, but suddenly her dad jerked awake, fear strong in his eyes.

"Sorry, Mr. Knowles, I didn't mean to startle you," the doctor apologized.

Carl shook his head and held up his hand as if to say he wasn't startled, even though he clearly was.

"Is she okay?" he asked, rubbing his eyes and standing and walking towards Tara. He had asked this every time the doctor walked in.

"Tara is healing nicely. We won't be discharging her for a few days," the doctor said, reviewing a chart at the foot of her bed.

"I am fine," Tara said adamantly.

"Tara, listen to the doctor," Carl snapped, looking down at her in annoyance.

Tara scowled and leaned her head back as the doctor talked about the various medications she was on, including a dizzying cocktail of painkillers. She liked those, because it caused her to pass out, making her forget she was in a hospital.

The last time she had been in a hospital, her mother had gone in and never come out. So she didn't like hospitals.

Tara didn't fear them, she just didn't like them.

As her dad asked numerous questions about her health, his hands shook harder and harder. Tara clenched her teeth and said, "Doctor, if I am here for a few days, does that mean my dad needs to be here the entire time?"

"No, absolutely not, especially because you should be sleeping the majority of the time," the doctor said, glancing at Carl Knowles' shaking hands.

"Daddy, please," Tara pleaded at him as Dr. Porter vacated the room, sensing a fight, but Tara had no intention of it.

Carl shook his head and Tara interrupted him before he could refuse her request she said, "Daddy, please. I can't sleep with you watching me all the time."

Carl looked uncomfortable and then looked to her to see if she was lying. She was tired and she worried more about him than herself when he was here. It would be good for him to go home.

"Just go home, eat something, shower, sleep...I'll see you in the morning," Tara said, making it sound so simple.

Carl sighed and Tara knew she had won.

"Okay. Do you need anything from home?" he asked

"Some PJ's...and can you smuggle in something edible for breakfast?" she asked, pouting and smirking at the same time.

Carl chuckled and nodded indulgently. He leaned down and kissed her forehead and said, "Rest now, lovely. And listen to the nurses. If I hear you were cracking wise to any of them I will pitch a tent in here."

Tara crossed her heart with her finger and smiled. He waved goodbye once more and left her room. Tara sighed, feeling peaceful for the first time in days. That was saying something. She reached for the phone and called the bar her dad frequented, knowing Carl was more than likely heading there for his nightcap(s).

He told Mike, the bartender, that her dad was on the way and that he needed to eat a full meal if he was going to drink.

Mike said he understood and told her not to worry, that he would take care of her old man while she was laid up in the hospital.

Tara thanked him and clicked off the light over her bed. She then reached for the pain clicker and clicked it. Suddenly her eyes felt that heaviness that she also felt in her limbs. Ah...welcome blissful nothingness.

She closed her eyes, a small smile on her face. She thought she heard someone come into her room as the drugs pulled her under, but she assumed it had to be a nurse or something.

When she woke, Tara cracked an eye open and came to the hazy conclusion that she was still in the hospital. She was in a lot of pain. Everything throbbed. Tara reached for her pain clicker, and just as she was about to click it, she jumped in shock.

Jax Teller was in her room, watching her from the corner her dad usually sat in.

She winced in pain as her body reminded her she had just gotten in a car wreck. No more jerking in shock...

Jax stood and walked towards her and asked anxiously, "Jesus, are you okay? Should I get the doctor?"

"No!" Tara gasped, "No, I'm fine."

Jax looked down at her in concern and Tara wondered what he was doing there. His presence reminded her of that night...with Kyle.

"What are you doing here?" she grumbled, righting herself so no pressure was on her sore ribs.

Jax shrugged and said, "I heard you were in an accident."

Tara looked at him suspiciously and asked, "So? I know you didn't think I wasn't good enough for Kyle. Do you always check on the ex-girlfriends of your friends?"

Jax's mouth dropped open at her bluntness and she decided to take advantage of that, "You can just go and not worry about pretending to care about me."

"Tara-"

"Can you just go?" Tara said, cutting him off. The longer he was there, the more she remembered about that night. Being in the apartment with Kyle. Him calling her a cock tease...and a prude. Her skulking out of the clubhouse, her tail between her legs, completely mortified and heartbroken….

"I think you are too good for Kyle," Jax said, his face hard and intense as he looked down at her.

Tara looked up at him in shock and he nodded as he took in her disbelief.

Tara tried to find something to say so she didn't appear to be a gaping idiot, but she couldn't...what the hell did he mean? And why was he here?

Jax perched on the edge of her hospital bed and looked down at her hand. He slowly reached for it and in a quiet voice he told her, "I have been here every day, waiting for a chance I could come in and see you when your dad wasn't here."

Tara...she just didn't get it. And what about school?

"School?" Tara asked, the first thing she had been able to say since he told her she was too good for Kyle.

"Suspended," Jax answered, smirking at her, still holding her hand in his, "Too many unexcused absences. And I am grounded too, yet here I am."

Yeah, Tara thought, Why?

"Why are you here?" she finally asked, confused. Was there something she was missing? Were these the residual effects of the pain meds causing her brain to slow when making connections?

Jax looked at her for a moment with an unreadable expression, and then down at their joined hands. She felt him squeeze her hand lightly before looking up at her and saying, "I want you Tara."

Tara felt like she had been slapped in her already banged up face. WHAT?!

"Uhh...what?" she asked, completely dumbfounded.

Jax just nodded, looking back down their hands and said, "I have for a while."

Tara's head ached and it raced, trying to make sense of what he was telling her. He liked her...for a while?

"How long?" Tara asked, curious.

Jax was silent and Tara saw that Jax was apparently done sharing. She pulled her hand from his and he looked up at her warily.

"So you have liked me for a while," she stated, almost to herself, "Why haven't you told me before now?" Tara asked.

Jax shrugged and said, "Timing was never right. And then you were with Kyle."

"So you decided the time was right when I was with Kyle?" Tara asked, confused. Her head swam as she tried to make sense of it all.

Jax suddenly looked uncomfortable, but Tara wasn't backing down.

Tara sighed, realizing he wasn't going to answer her. Tara's head hurt and she willed the headache away. Her pain meds would be nice right now….

What the hell? Tara wondered, reaching for the clicker. She was hurt and she really didn't want to deal with this now.

"I am not feeling well, so I am going to get some rest," she said softly, not looking at him.

She didn't know how she felt about this, but Tara knew she couldn't deal with it now. She was stuck in the hospital, she had just broken up with Kyle...well, he had broken up with her. She couldn't deal with this new development now.

"So…" Jax said, clearly not understanding his dismissal.

"You should go," Tara said softly, glancing at him through her eyelashes.

Jax looked surprised, but stood and nodded, "Uh, yeah, sure."

Oh God this was weird, Tara thought, And incredibly awkward.

It was clear that Jax had expected her to fall all over him like the other girls did. Girls did it with Kyle too. Hell, she had done it with Kyle. But fool her once, right? She wouldn't fall over herself for another guy.

Did she really want to go down this road again...with a different guy? A guy that was good friends with Kyle?

Tara clicked the pain med button, deciding she didn't want to think about it. Not now. She felt the meds infuse in her system and she couldn't help but feel relief as they did.

She watched as Jax grabbed his jacket and walk out of the room, glancing back at her as if he was trying to figure out a puzzle. She was on the same page as he was. He was now a puzzle she had to solve...but not now. Right now, she was going to sleep and surrender her body to the pain meds.

Jax finally disappeared from view, and Tara sank back into a deep sleep that took her away from everything.

Jax

Jax walked out of the hospital, a confused scowl on his face.

Tara hadn't addressed anything he had told her really. As cocky as it sounded, he was surprised she hadn't responded to his confession. Jax didn't make those confessions every day. In fact, he never did.

What was she thinking? he wondered.

Jax looked back at the hospital as he climbed on his bike and wondered if he should go back in. But she had been pretty clear she didn't want him there right now.

As Jax started his bike, he saw Carl Knowles pulling in and his decision was made for him. He saw Tara's dad glare his way and Jax knew...something had happened with Kyle to earn that animus stare.

Jax swore under his breath and roared the bike to life, pulling out of the hospital parking lot. He sped towards the clubhouse. Since he couldn't be at the hospital, he would put in as many garage hours as he could so Clay wasn't pissed at him.

His mom...oh, she was going to be furious with him no matter what he did. He was in major trouble with the school. He was suspended and grounded, but he just couldn't bother to give a shit. Not when Tara was in the hospital.

He pulled into the Teller-Morrow lot and parked. Gemma immediately stepped from the office.

"Jackson Teller," she yelled as she clicked over to him in her heels as fast as she could.

Jax sighed and looked around as the club members and garage workers chuckled at his expense.

"Grounded means you don't leave the damn house," Gemma seethed, "Grounded means when you do leave the damn house you are here, working. If you won't go to school, this is where you are. Got it?"

Jax nodded and said, "Yes, ma'am."

"Don't be smart with me, kid," Gemma warned, glaring at him before walking back towards the office.

Jax watched her go, smirking. She wasn't done punishing him yet, but he didn't really care.

"Hey, Jax," Clay barked from the garage, "Get changed and get to work."

Jax nodded and headed towards the clubhouse to the apartment that he kept his shirt stashed. He quickly changed and for the next six hours, he flew through work, completing each task thoroughly. Even Tig couldn't find any problems with his work.

He kept running his conversation with Tara over and over in his head as he worked and found that mechanic work was conducive to working out his frustrations.

How long? she had asked. Jax didn't know how to answer that...fourth grade seemed pretty extreme. How long had he wanted Tara Knowles? Since junior high...probably. No, definitely. He just never thought he should go for someone who was going places in life other than Charming. Tara definitely was.

Her other question...about timing and Kyle...he didn't have an answer for that either. Jax knew Tara was genuinely confused, but also a little upset that his sudden honesty about his feelings came from jealousy. He couldn't help that though. It didn't change the fact that he wanted her before she even became a blip on Kyle's radar.

When Jax didn't give her answers, her message had been clear. She wasn't going to give him answers until she got some from him. It unsettled Jax, because when it came to women, he always got what he wanted. So he wouldn't know how she felt about him or what he had said until he came back with some answers for her.

As Jax wiped his hands on an oily rag, he realized that Tara...if he wanted her and was going to pursue her, things would be different than they had with the others. Jax would need to work for her. Although he knew Tara was worth any effort made, he was on unfamiliar ground and he didn't know what to do. With the crow eaters he had been with the past couple of years, his dealing with them had been so...impersonal.

He wanted sex from them. That was it. From Tara, he realized he wanted more. More than sex. He wanted everything Tara had to offer, including sex.

Jax sighed and wiped his brow in frustration.

"Hey, kid, call it a day. You have been at this for seven hours. Eat something," Tig said, patting him on the shoulder, "And don't think so hard or you'll hurt yourself."

Jax bumped his shoulder, smirking and headed into the clubhouse where dinner was already being prepped. Having missed lunch, Jax was starving. His mom popped her head out of the kitchen and said, "Stick around, I am making meatloaf. And I want to talk to you."

Oh shit...Jax thought to himself as he headed back to the apartment to shower. His mother was going to lay into him about school and his disappearance the past few days that he had been camped out at the hospital.

Jax quickly showered and walked out of the apartment to the bar area, now littered with club members.

Jax smiled at them and nodded his head in greeting as he made his way to the kitchen to grab a plate. As he passed, Piney Winston handed him a beer with a wink. Jax smirked and headed to a stool at the bar next to Opie, who was digging into the meatloaf.

"Hey," Jax murmured, inhaling his mother's cooking before he began to eat heartily.

"Where have you been?" Opie asked, giving him a sidelong glance.

Jax shrugged and Opie studied him further for a moment before they were interrupted.

Kyle slid next to Jax and said, "Hey man."

Jax clenched his teeth, but reminded himself that he had already been chewed out by Clay once for punching this asshole and he was still in hot water with Gemma...it wasn't the time.

Jax nodded and stuffed his mouth with potatoes and meatloaf so he wouldn't have to talk to him.

Opie followed his lead and dug into his dinner.

"Sorry about the fight between us...I shouldn't have pressed your buttons, man," Kyle said quietly to Jax. Jax looked up and wondered how he should respond.

"If you want to go after her, be my guest. But I wouldn't waste my time if I were you. She doesn't put out," Kyle said, causing Jax to clench his jaw in anger. Jax had a pretty good idea what happened the night Tara had been in the accident. She was in that hospital bed because of this asshole.

Jax stood, forgetting his meal. He looked at Kyle, who looked at him in confusion as Jax tried to control his feelings of rage and disgust.

"If you ever talk about Tara that way again, our fight a couple weeks ago will look like nothing," Jax spat, walking out. He heard Gemma calling out to him, but he ignored her, jogging to his bike and climbing on.

He roared it to life, now hearing both Gemma and Clay screaming at him from the door of the clubhouse. His bike sped towards the hospital, needing to check on Tara even though he didn't understand why. He cared about her...but he barely knew her.

About halfway to the hospital, he heard a bike pull up behind him and he glanced over his shoulder. Opie.

Jax sighed in frustration, but continued to his destination.

Jax parked his bike outside of the entrance, but stayed on his bike as Opie pulled up beside him.

Jax looked at him and then at the hospital.

"This is all about Tara?" Opie asked.

Jax looked at him, grabbing a cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it. He inhaled as he wondered how else to explain his behavior. Jax realized he couldn't, so he turned to Opie and nodded extending the cigarette to his friend who took it and inhaled deeply.

"Shit," Opie murmured.

Jax nodded and said, "I know."

"I told Gemma I would try and catch up with you," Opie said, handing the cigarette back to him, "I'll tell her I couldn't."

Jax nodded and smiled gratefully at his best friend as Opie roared his bike back up and sped out of the hospital lot.

Jax turned and looked at the hospital, taking another drag from his cigarette before exhaling and pushing himself off his bike. He smoothed his hair back and put out the cigarette. He realized his hands shook slightly as they reached for the handle on the door.

He was nervous. Jax had some answers to Tara's questions and he feared they would only lead to more. But he wanted her. And he would do anything to have her.

So what do you all think? Please review and let me know. Thanks everyone!