Chapter 11
The ride to the clubhouse was probably not the safest ride, since Ana was crying the whole way there and could barely see through her tears. Luckily she knew the route like the back of her hand. To make matters worse and more unsafe, a sudden and severe pain developed in her lower abdomen on the right side, but by the time she pulled into Teller-Morrow it was gone. Ana slowly made her way out of the driver's seat and stood by her car waiting for Juice.
"You're gonna make me tell them, aren't you?" Ana questioned when Juice grabbed her hand and tried to lead her to the clubhouse, but Ana just stood still.
He turned to her with a caring look on his face. "Yeah, babe. There's no way of hiding it. You're gonna have to explain why you have a split lip and bruised jaw," he placed a calloused hand on her bruised jaw, his anger boiling to the top, but he swallowed it down for Ana's sake. "They are waiting for me in church. Best to just tell them all at once and get it over with. Come on," he urged.
"Juice," Ana said, still standing still. "What about you. I should wash your arms," Ana pointed to the road rash on Juice's forearms. "You might even need stitches for that," Ana pointed to the laceration on his temple.
"I'm fine, babe. You can clean me up all you want after we get this over with," Juice smirked. "Now come on."
Guiding her with a hand on the small of her back, the two walked into the darkened clubhouse, walking past Half-Sack who was stocking the bar and knocked on the doors to the chapel. They waited a moment until Chibs opened the doors and greeted them. "Juicy Boy, where you been?"
Juice ignored Chibs and pulled Ana by the hand into the room, gaining several questioning looks from his brothers. Ana quickly covered her face with her hands, hiding from the stares she was getting.
Chibs was standing next to Juice and noticed the dried blood on the side of his head. "What the hell happened to you, brother?"
Juice cut his eyes over toward Chibs, then looked at Jax. "It's not me I'm worried about," he said as he pulled Ana's hands down from her face.
Ana jumped back toward Juice slightly when Jax suddenly and loudly stood up shouting, "What the fuck happened?" He was angry. Ana could see that look in his eye. Jax rounded the Redwood table, stopping close to Ana so he could get a better look at her injuries.
"Mike happened," Juice explained, acidly.
Fresh tears slid down Ana's cheeks when Jax enveloped her in a big brother hug whispering, "Jesus Christ." He pulled away from Ana, squeezing her upper arms softly but making her flinch in pain none-the-less. Jax silently eyed the hand print bruises on his sister's arms.
"Mike did this too?" Jax questioned angrily, still eyeing the bruises.
Ana nodded. Clay slowly stood up and walked over to Ana. Jax moved out of his way so he could get a good look at his step-daughter. "Oh, baby girl," Clay whispered and gave her a hug. When he separated, he looked Ana in the eyes and told her, "You need to tell us what happened."
Ana nodded again and took Juice's hand in her's looking for a small amount of support. Juice gave her hand a squeeze and urged Ana to tell the club what happened. She took a deep breath and started the story from the beginning not missing a single detail, especially the detail of his new tattoo. She did, however, choke up at the end and could not finish telling them what Mike had said before he took off to his car. So Juice finished the story for her...
"Asshole said we couldn't protect her 24/7. And... he threatened to kill her... and the baby," Juice finished looking around the table at his brothers. Everyone was pissed. Happy's jaw was twitching. Tig had a murderous glare. Jax too. Clay just looked at Juice and said, "Find him."
Juice nodded and took off down the hallway to his dorm where his laptop was at. Ana looked up to Clay and Jax, slightly panicked.
"Wait, no! Clay, I want to report it to the... OW!" Ana exclaimed as she grabbed the right side of her baby bump with her right hand and let her left hand support her on the table. The pain had come back so suddenly it took her breath away.
"Ana!" Jax exclaimed. "What's wrong?" The other guys stood up from their seats crowding around Ana, ready to help if needed.
"I don't know...," Ana managed to get out, "But it hurts!" Ana took a deep breath in squeezing her eyes shut, willing the pain to go away. She scrunched up her nose in a pained expression.
"Sack!" Clay yelled out to the bar. "Get Gemma!" Sack nodded and headed out of the clubhouse just as Juice was running down the hallway, returning to the main room with his computer under his arm. He turned to go into church and saw everyone standing around Ana.
"Ah! Oh my God!" Juice heard Ana moan, but he could not quite see her. Normally, that phrase muttered from Ana was because of something he was doing to her, and normally it would completely turn him on, but he heard the strained/pained tone in her voice when she said it, and it caused alarms to go off in his head. Juice pushed past his brother's to get to Ana. He dropped his computer on the Redwood table when he saw the expression on her face.
"Shit! Ana what's wrong? Is it the baby?" Juice crouched down next to her, putting his hand on her hand that was on the table.
Ana just nodded, refusing to open her eyes or verbally answer him.
"Shit! I knew I should have taken you to the Emergency Room!" Juice cussed.
Ana was having seconds thoughts about going to the Emergency Room too, but suddenly the sharp pain was gone. Ana rubbed her side, took a deep breathe and stood up. Juice stood right beside her watching her intently.
"It stopped. I'm O.K.," Ana assured Juice, finally looking him in the eyes. Everyone seemed to relax a bit, except for Juice. One by one, his brothers returned to their seats around the table.
"What the hell was that? Why are you having pain?" Juice asked Ana quietly.
"I don't know," Ana answered quietly back. "I wanna go sit down for a minute."
"Yeah, O.K," Juice guided her by the small of the back to one of the couches in the clubhouse. Ana sat down carefully, still slightly sore where the intense pain was. Juice squatted down in front of her, watching for any signs of the pain getting worse. Just then, Gemma came busting in the clubhouse doors with Half-Sack behind her.
"Gem," Juice got her attention. "Over here."
Gemma heels clicked on the hard floor as she walked over toward Juice and Ana. She quickly surveyed the situation, noticing Ana's bruised jaw and split lip and Juice's cut on his temple and some road rash on his arms.
"Baby, what's going on? What happened?" she asked as she sat down on the couch next to Ana.
"Long story short," Ana said quietly, "Mike attacked me at my car. Juice beat the shit out of him."
"Don't forget... he threatened your life and the baby's life," Juice added through gritted teeth while Ana nodded, silently wiping tears away.
"Oh, sweetheart," Gemma gasped and hugged her daughter.
"You got her?" Juice asked Gemma. "I gotta get back in church."
Gemma nodded to Juice, reassuring him that she and Ana would be O.K.
Just as Juice stood to walk back into church, Ana grabbed his hand and said, "Juice, I wanna go to the cops about this. Let them do their job. I don't want you guys to go to jail because of him or me."
Juice began shaking his head slowly. "Babe, I'll let them know that is what you want, but it's a club decision now. The club will make the call."
"Then let me explain it to them," Ana began to stand up, but the soreness on her right side became more intense and she sat back down, rubbing her baby bump again, with a pained expression on her face.
"The pain again?" Juice asked getting quite pissed off with himself for not taking her to the Emergency Room right away. "Gemma, is this pain normal?"
Gemma kept an arm around her daughter and answered, "I don't know. Maybe we should call the doctor, just to be safe."
"Yeah," Ana agreed. "That's a good idea, but my phone is in my bag, which is in the car."
Juice silently turned to walk out of the clubhouse to get her phone, but Gemma got up and stopped him by putting a hand on his forearm. "Sweetheart, I'll get her phone. You get in church and figure out what to do with the piece of shit that beat my daughter and threatened my grandbaby."
Juice nodded to Gemma silently then glanced over to Ana who was trying to stand up without causing too much pain.
"Ana sit down," Juice said in a low tone.
"I should go to the bathroom," Ana walked toward Juice and put her left hand on his cheek, keeping her right hand on the side of her baby bump, rubbing the soreness away. She tried her best to keep her composure calm, but inside she was freaking out. Not just because of the pain, but because she could feel something warm and sticky leak between her legs and into her underwear. "You get in church. They are waiting for you."
"Yeah, O.K.," Juice said, giving Ana a quick kiss on the lips and headed towards the chapel.
"Good idea to go to the bathroom," Gemma said quietly to Ana. "Go make sure you are not bleeding, then we can call the doctor."
Ana's heart sank when she saw Juice had stopped in his tracks. Shit. He heard Gemma. Damn it, Mom! That's exactly what she was going to go check, but she didn't want Juice to know that. Ana watched as Juice threw his head back and rubbed his face. "Fuck me," Ana heard Juice murmur. He turned back to them. His expression had turned from caring and concern to panic. Shit. Not again, Ana thought. She cut her eyes over to Gemma and glared at the woman.
Juice managed to keep himself at a tolerable panic level as he looked Ana in her blue eyes. "Are you...?"
Ana shrugged her shoulders and took a deep breathe doing her best to stay calm. "I don't know. That's why I'm going to the bathroom. To check and see." She looked between Gemma and Juice. Might as well tell them, "I feel something down there. But, I don't know what it is... it could just be from this afternoon..." she said that last part quietly and more to Juice than to Gemma.
Gemma smirked a knowing smirk, looking between the two, before she headed out of the clubhouse to get Ana's phone. Juice gave Ana a confused look.
Ana knew Juice was going to ask an embarrassing question that would have an even more embarrassing answer, so before he could ask it, she said, "Look, I'll go check. Just get into the chapel, have church and let them know I want to go to the cops about this, please."
Juice nodded his head. He watched as Ana slowly made her way down the hallway to his dorm room. What else could go wrong today, Juice thought to himself. The doctor's appointment, Mike's attack, the pain she was having and now she might be bleeding? What does that mean if she is bleeding? It can't be good, right? But, what the hell did she mean by 'it could just be from this afternoon'? The sex? What would that have to do with her possibly bleeding? Juice rubbed his mohawk, still staring down the hallway which was now vacant.
"Juicy Boy," Chibs broke Juice out of his thoughts. Juice shook his head a little bit to clear it and then looked at Chibs. "We are waiting on you."
Juice nodded to Chibs, "Sorry, man." He walked into the room, shutting the doors behind him. He then silently walked over to his seat, noticing briefly that someone had put his computer at his place. He was anxious to get on it and track Mike down so they could go put a bullet in the fucker's head.
"How is she doing?" Clay asked, looking at Juice.
Juice released a huge sigh, letting his shoulder slouch slightly. "I honestly don't know, but she really wants to report this attack to the cops. Leave us out of it..." he started to explain as the chapel doors opened.
"Clay," Half Sack got the president's attention. "Cop's are here."
"Looks like we might not have a choice in the matter," Clay smirked at Juice as he got up from his chair.
Juice followed Happy and the rest of the club out into the main room. He started to follow them out into the lot, but stopped when he saw Ana and Gemma making their way back from his dorm. Gemma must have gotten back with Ana's phone.
"Where is everyone going?" Ana questioned when she saw the rest of the club head out the door.
"Cop's are here," Juice explained.
"Cops? What do they want?" Gemma asked to no one in particular as she headed out of the clubhouse, leaving Juice and Ana alone.
Juice quickly changed the subject, "Are you bleeding?"
Ana shook her head 'no'. "And I talked to James. He said this pain is most likely 'round ligament' pain, whatever that is, and it was probably exacerbated by the fall. But, it's completely normal in pregnancy."
"Thank God!" Juice sighed and grabbed Ana into a hug. It took Juice a minute to collect his thoughts, but once he did a certain question was nagging him, "So, if you aren't bleeding... then what is it you felt earlier?"
Ana blushed slightly and buried her face into his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck. "It was just from earlier this afternoon. Ya know..."
Juice smirked a bit and placed his hands on her hips. He leaned down to whisper in her ear, "You mean when I fucked you senseless in the bathroom?"
Ana giggled and nodded her head.
Juice chuckled a bit then asked, "What does me fucking you in the bathroom have to do with..."
"It comes out eventually, Juice," Ana interrupted and looked up to meet his chocolate brown eyes.
"What comes out?" Juice asked, slightly confused.
Ana giggled at his obliviousness. He was adorable when he was clueless. She shook her head from side to side and answered, "What you put in me, Juice..." Ana poked him in the chest lightly. "Your juice comes out, Juice."
Juice's expression turned from confused to slightly amused. Ana thought she picked up on a slightly disgusted look on his face too, but she wasn't sure. "Really?" Juice questioned. Ana just nodded. "I didn't know that... that's kinda... interesting..."
"What did you think happened to it?" Ana asked. "Did you think it just disappears into thin air?"
Juice just shrugged and chuckled. "I guess I never thought about it before..." He was interrupted by Half-Sack entering the clubhouse again.
"Juice," Half Sack said, gaining both Juice's and Ana's attention. "Cops are looking for you."
Juice nodded at Half Sack. "Yeah, O.K.," he said and took Ana by the hand and lead her out to the lot behind Half Sack.
The couple walked out into the sunny day, Juice squinting in the sunlight and Ana shielded her eyes with her hand. They walked over to where all his brothers were standing talking to the Deputy Police Chief who was flanked by two other officers.
Great, Ana thought. David Hale. Yup, another ex-boyfriend of her's. They had dated on and off in high school during her rebellious stage in her adolescence; during the time in her life where she didn't like the club or her over-protective brother and pseudo-brother Opie getting involved in her life. It was right after her father, John Teller died in a motorcycle accident. This was the point in her life where she did anything and everything to piss off Jax and Opie. And dating and losing her virginity to a guy who wanted to become a police officer, a Hale in particular, pissed them off royally. Ever since their break-up, Ana and David had been on friendly terms, but still, he was not who she was hoping to see. She was hoping Unser was one of the cops that had come to the clubhouse, not David. When it came to the club, Unser was much more understanding than David was.
Hale looked over to the couple that had just emerged from the clubhouse. He walked over to the mohawked member and said, "Mr. Ortiz. You are wanted for questioning in regards to a fight at St. Thomas." Hale produced a set of handcuffs from his belt and proceeded to cuff Juice's hands behind his back.
"What the fuck, man?" Juice exclaimed when he felt the cold metal against his wrists. "This is BULLSHIT!"
Juice heard some of his brother's protest their disagreement with how Hale was treating him, but they stayed in their places, knowing that helping their brother would only lead to a fight and jail time.
"David!" Ana said, shocked. "He didn't do anything!" This is exactly what Ana was hoping to avoid; any of the guys getting into trouble because of her.
David grabbed Juice by the back of his kutte and handed him off to the waiting officers, who shoved Juice up against the hood of the cruiser and began to pat him down. David turned to Ana and was about ready to say something, but he stopped himself and stared at Ana's face.
"Did he do this to you?" David gritted out and pointed to Juice.
Ana's mouth dropped open, surprised and now pissed that David thought that little of her boyfriend and the club. By this time, Gemma had made her way over to her daughter and put an arm around her to try to calm her down, but Ana shrugged it off and walked up to Hale so she was toe to toe with him.
"What?!" Ana yelled in David's face. "Juice would never hurt me, David! You have no right to do this to him! He didn't do anything wrong!"
"Well, there were reports of a man in a Sons of Anarchy kutte with a mohawk and head tattoos attacking an employee of St. Thomas. Would you know anything about that?"
"Yeah! I do!" Ana exclaimed. "My ex, Mike Johnson, did this to me. He attacked me at my car and Juice was protecting me!" Ana took a deep breathe and spoke to David with a pleading tone. "Please, David, you don't need to take him in like this. We will come down to the station willingly. Please!"
David looked down at Ana and sighed. He always had a soft spot when it came to the girl. Then he looked over to the officers who were currently putting Juice in the backseat of one of the cruiser and said, "Wait!" David walked over to the officers, spoke to them for a minute, while Juice sat in the cruiser sideways with his ass on the seat and his feet on the ground.
Hale eventually helped Juice stand up and turned him around so he could remove the handcuffs. The other two officers left in their cruisers. He then walked Juice, with a hand on Juice's upper arm, over to Ana. Ana threw her arms around Juice's neck declaring how sorry she was for all of this.
"Babe, you got nothing to be sorry for," Juice whispered to her, hugging her back.
"I have officer Carle and Schilling going to pick Mike up now. You two," he pointed to Ana and Juice, "Need to come straight down to the station and give your statements. Please don't make me regret this."
Ana nodded her head while Juice just stood still, staring down Hale. "Of course we will. Thank you, David," Ana gave him a small smile.
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To say Juice was worried would be an understatement. They had only been at the station for 10 minutes when officers Carle and Schilling walked into the station and informed Hale that it looked like Mike had split. Apparently his apartment looked like someone had hastily packed clothes and shit up and his car was gone. They had asked Ana where she thinks he might have gone and all she could think of was that he might have headed to his parents house in Indiana. Juice could not wait to get back to the clubhouse and get on his computer to track this asshole down.
Right before Juice and Ana headed out that door, David took her aside for a minute and explained that they would keep looking for Mike and offered to have an officer watch her, but she polity declined stating that the club would keep her safe.
By the time they made it outside it was already dark out and Ana was exhausted.
"Let's wait here for a couple minutes," Juice said when he stopped at the top of the stairs of the police station.
"What? Why? I'm exhausted Juice. I just want to go home. My car is right over there," Ana pointed to her black and pink S.U.V. Man she loved that thing. Juice, not to mention the rest of the club, hated it. A black and pink S.U.V. with the word "Princess" scrawled in pink lettering across the back window and the license plate saying "Lil Bit" was not his cup of tea. Not only that, but it was clearly Ana's car and if anyone wanted to hurt her, she would be easy to find in it.
"Yes, I know. I can clearly see where the 'Princess Mobile' is parked," Juice said sarcastically. "I parked my bad ass bike right next to it. We have to wait for our escort."
"Escort?" Ana raised her eyebrows as she wrapped her arms around Juice's waist.
"Yeah, babe," Juice wrapped Ana up in his arms. "I'm not taking any chances. I'm not carrying. My gun is in my dorm... I've felt naked without it all day. If something goes down, I want you and the baby well protected. So I just made a call and some of the guys are coming to give us an escort to your place to pick up some stuff, then back to the clubhouse."
"The clubhouse?" Ana whined into his chest. "Juice, I just want to go home. Take a bath and go to sleep. I'm exhausted."
"Babe, your place is too unsafe. Even if someone stayed with you... the clubhouse is much safer... it's just until we find Mike and..." Juice trailed his sentence off, leaving it open ended. "And, I hate to say this," Juice looked Ana in the eye, "But, you know you can't go to the conference tomorrow... with everything that has gone down today... and shit with the Mayan's... it's too unsafe."
"I was wondering when you were gonna bring that up," Ana mumbled into his chest again. "I understand. I don't really wanna go looking like this anyway. I'm sure I look awful!" Ana exclaimed and burst into tears.
Juice pulled her in closer against his chest. "Babe, you look fine. You'll heal up just fine. And you'll always be beautiful to me," he whispered into her ear and stroked his hand down her back.
"Juice," Ana whispered between her sobs, "I was so scared today. If you hadn't shown up... I don't know what he would have done... And the awful things he said..."
Juice continued stroking her back in a calming manner, himself trying to stay calm too. He placed a kiss on the top of Ana's head and said, "I know, babe. I know. We are gonna keep you and the baby safe."
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So, what do you guys think? I honestly hard a hard time writing this chapter, because there wasn't much action or sex, it was just filler. But, in the coming chapters there will be more action.
What other pregnancy related stuff would you guys like to see Juice and Ana go through? Remember this pregnancy is not going to be a walk in the park for them.
And remember, Ana is a nurse. So talking about gross things to Juice doesn't bother her. And most nurses have a sick sense of humor, and I wanted to show Juice in a clueless light so that's why I added the gross part about "Juice's juice".
Thanks for reading! R and R my lovelys.