Let me start by apologizing for any typos or errors. I tried to proof read this chapter but I was too excited to post it to really do a thorough job. Please, enjoy and thank you so so much for the reviews.
Happy couldn't focus on what the doctor was saying after he said that she was still in critical condition. He caught that the bullet had damaged a main artery and that she'd lost a lot of blood. After that, he struggled to catch every fourth or sixth word. Tara was by his side, asking questions and discussing everything that Happy zoned out for.
"You can see her for a few minutes, Happy." Tara hesitantly put her hand on his bicep to get his attention. "She's in a medical coma but you can see her."
"Yeah. Alright." Happy said, blinking slowly. Tara had seen families in shock enough to know that what Happy was going through was something different entirely. His eyes were dull and dark. His shoulders were tensed and his posture reminded Tara of something she'd seen on National Geographic. He was like a lion that had been backed into a corner, ready to attack anything that threatened him or his girls.
Happy closed the door and leaned his back against it. The woman in the hospital bed barely resembled his wife. Kelly had an almost godly glow to her tan skin where this woman was pale and cyanotic. Her eyelids were dark where Kelly's eyes were always bright, alert and happy.
"You aren't supposed to be here, angel. You aren't supposed to get hurt." Happy approached her and slid his hand beneath her hair, cupping her cheek with his palm. "Get better, baby. Our daughter needs you. Damnit, Kelly, I need you."
"I'm sorry, Mr. Lowman, the Sheriff is asking to talk to you." Dr. Cooke said, feeling guilty for hearing the man's private words to Kelly. Happy closed his eyes to keep from killing the messenger. "She's getting the best care possible."
"Thanks. I need to know the second anything changes." Happy said, running his thumb over her cheekbone before stepping away. Dr. Cooke nodded with a reassuring smile. Happy left the room and immediately felt like he'd left part of himself in that room with Kelly.
"Who are you?" Happy asked the brunette sheriff that was standing just inside the waiting room doors. Happy glanced at the gold bars on her lapel and narrowed his eyes. "Roosevelt run?"
"He took early retirement after what happened to his wife, I'm sure you can understand." Althea Jarry had just enough time to familiarize herself with Happy Lowman's file before she came to the hospital. It was her first day as Sheriff in Charming and it was already starting off with a bang. Happy grunted, biting his tongue from putting the sheriff in her place.
"What do you want? I wasn't there when she was shot." Happy said, folding his arms over his chest. He caught Chibs and Meadow entering the waiting room out of the corner of his eye.
"No, I know that. You are part of the Sons of Anarchy, right?" Happy glared at her, hoping it was a rhetorical question. He was wearing his leather cut right in front of her. "Do you know anyone that would want to hurt your wife? Anyone that may be trying to hurt the club?"
"Kelly is a nurse. No one should want to hurt her." Happy said, choosing his words carefully. Jarry nodded and closed her notebook. She took a step towards him, realizing just how much taller he was.
"Look, I get that there's a code that you men live by but this is your wife we're talking about. If you know something and don't let me help you, she may not get as lucky next time. What comes first, Lowman? The club or the mother of your child?" Happy visualized himself grabbing the sheriff by the throat and slamming her against the wall until she stopped talking. Jarry saw that fury in his eyes.
"Happy, I think tha babe wants her da." Chibs said, arriving just as Happy contemplated telling Jarry to go fuck off. Meadow blinked up at her father as he took her into his arms. "I think ya may want ta give him some space, love."
"You need to work with me, give me something to work with. I don't care what that looks like, Scotty." Jarry said, raking her eyes over the man. Happy rolled his eyes and made a face at Meadow to get her to smile. Chibs brow raised as he watched Jarry walk away.
"She's a lovely ray of sunshine." Chibs said sarcastically. Happy grunted and walked over to where Jax and Juice were speaking. "What is it, Jacky Boy?"
"Tara isn't making the deal with the D.A." Jax said with exasperation. Happy shook his head and moved Meadow to his other arm.
"Doesn't make any sense. Charming ain't any safer than it was six hours ago." Happy said darkly. Jax nodded, agreeing with every word he said. On the other hand, it meant that he could finish what he started and get the club out of what was killing them. "What did she tell the cop?"
"Burglary gone wrong. She's been around long enough to come up with a cover story." Jax said, saddened that she had to in the first place. Happy nodded, knowing he'd never get to Gemma if the cops were looking for her to. Juice glanced down at his phone that was making an awful siren noise.
"That makes my daughter cry and I'll cram it down your throat." Happy growled, pushing Juice away with his booted foot. Juice scrambled to pull the phone out of his pocket and silence the notification. He looked at the message on the screen and then back up to Happy and Jax.
"Just got a hit on Gemma's credit card in Stockton. You think she's going to Nero?" Juice said, handing his phone to Jax.
"He gets in my way and I'll kill him while Gemma watches." Happy said flatly. Jax and Juice looked over at him. "She was warned."
"I hear you, Hap, but she's still my mother." Jax said with a frown. Happy just stared at him.
"Meadow's mother may die because of your psycho-bitch mother. I'm doing this, with or without your permission." Happy passed Meadow over to Chibs and straightened his leather. "Don't forget, she was aiming for your wife when she shot Kelly."
"Brother, I'll come with you." Chibs said, stepping forward. Happy shook his head.
"No." Happy said, squeezing Meadow's foot. "Watch my princess for me. She likes you."
"Aye. Be careful." Chibs said clapping Happy on the shoulder. Jax was torn. Gemma had done some horrible things in the past, including being a part of his father's death and now shooting Kelly, but she was still his mother. Happy saw the anguish in his eyes and turned away, unable to muster any sympathy.
******Little Bird*******SOA*******Little Bird******
Kelly opened her eyes just long enough to see the tile ceiling of the hospital room before they fell closed again. She felt weak and detached from her own body. Everything was fuzzy and she couldn't discern reality from the drug induced dream state she was in.
"Hey, little birdy. What are you doing?" She recognized Herman's voice immediately. He was sitting on the bench by the lake they'd gone to frequently.
"Herman." Kelly's voice cracked, unable to control it. She knew it wasn't real, knew it was a dream that she'd have to wake up from. "I miss you."
"Come on, aren't you the one that always said shit happens for a reason? If I didn't kick the bucket, you never would have talked to Hap again. Now you've got my niece. No offense but she's a prettier baby than you were." His smile was bright and playful, just like Kelly loved to remember it. She didn't care that it was all in her head, she was happy to see him again.
"I wish she could have met you. Happy and I are the only family she's got." Kelly said with a frown. She'd always hoped to see Herman come over on Christmas morning to play with his niece or nephew.
"Bullshit, Kelly. She's got plenty of uncles there. It wouldn't be fair if I was around to steal her attention. Chibs loves kids and Thomas won't be too much older than her." Kelly sighed as the image of him started to fade.
"I love you, Herman." Kelly said with a smile. He stood up and nodded, pulling her in for a hug she couldn't feel.
"I love you, Kelly Kozik Lowman." Kelly pulled back to see his smile one more time, but he was gone, the dream was over.
"Shit! Code blue! I need the code team in here!" Dr. Cooke said as Kelly's heartbeat slowed suddenly and her chest stopped rising and falling. The room filled with doctors and nurses, all working furiously to save her life.
******Little Bird******SOA******Little Bird******
Happy zipped his hooded jacket and pulled the hood over his head as he walked towards the motel that Gemma had used her debit card at. He casually walked over to her car and set his hand on the hood; it was still warm. The curtains were drawn in all the windows and he could hear some over exaggerated moaning and screaming coming from behind the door in front of him.
There were at least thirty rooms Gemma could be in and he was in no mood to go door to door. Happy pulled his combat knife and plunged it into one of the front tires. The alarm blared and he watched the windows, waiting for the sign. It only took about a minute for him to know exactly what room Gemma was hiding in. If you're hiding out, you don't look out the window, no matter what.
Happy stood in front of the door, considering whether or not to giver her a chance to open it for him. He tapped his thumb against his belt for a second before kicking the door in the sweet spot just to the left of the door knob. The wood splintered loudly as the door swung open.
"Should have known you'd be here." Happy said, looking at Wayne Unser. The old man had a gun aimed right at Happy's chest. "You'd be a lot more intimidating if you weren't shaking."
"It was an accident, Happy. Gemma never meant to hurt Kelly." Unser said, hoping she'd stay in the bathroom like he told her. Happy was the scariest man Wayne Unser had met in his thirty plus years in law enforcement. He was calculating and cold. Wayne had considered him a borderline sociopath until he'd seen the man with Kelly Kozik. In that moment, his fear of Happy Lowman almost doubled. He knew that if a man like that loved anything or anyone, he would be completely unpredictable.
"First rule of gun safety is not putting your finger on the trigger unless you're going to shoot." Happy said, indirectly pointing out that Wayne's finger was still outside the trigger guard. "If you stay in my way, I'll kill you."
"Now, think about it. You don't want to serve a life sentence for this. What about your wife and daughter?" Happy's eyes flashed at the mention of his daughter and he had his gun drawn before Wayne even realized what was happening.
"Move. Now." Happy said, bringing his left hand up to steady his aim. He'd made sure to put the suppressor on the barrel before coming upstairs and it changed the weight of the gun.
"Happy-" Wayne crumpled to the floor before he could continue. Happy glanced at the lifeless man for a moment before stepping over him and making his way to the bathroom where Gemma was no doubt hiding. He opened the door to yet another gun aimed at him.
"That the same gun?" Happy asked. Gemma looked down from Happy to look at the gun with a frown. While she was distracted, Happy grabbed her wrist and quickly disarmed her.
"You didn't have to kill him!" Gemma said, sobbing as she caught sight of Unser's body. Happy didn't bother looking back at the corpse.
"You brought him into this. You knew I'd come." Happy said, glad to see her upset by her friend's death. He backed out of the bathroom and grabbed Gemma's burner phone out of her purse.
"What are you doing?" Gemma asked as he sent a message. Happy closed the phone and dropped it into his pocket.
"Solving a problem your boyfriend mentioned." He said, not bothering to give her any further explanation. Gemma bit her lip, wondering if this was really how she was going to go, after all these years. She blinked a couple times and met Happy's eyes.
"That's not a Glock." Gemma said, noticing the bright, stainless steel gun. Happy was known for carrying Glocks and they were never flashy. He nodded and motioned towards the bed. Gemma stared at him as she slowly back up and sat down on the end of the bed.
"If you'd only used that brain earlier, we wouldn't be here." Happy said with a dark smirk. "You know, if more people wore gloves when they handled their weapons, there would be no fingerprints to go off of."
"What are you waiting for? Just kill me. Get it over with. You never talk this much." Gemma said, her fear coming out as frustration. Happy laughed and nodded.
"I don't have time to rip your nails off your fingers and it isn't really their style anyway." Happy moved over to the window and saw no movement. He turned back to Gemma and lowered his aim, striking her twice in the chest, making sure to space them out enough to hide his expert marksmanship. She wasn't dead, yet, but he knew no one would call for help. He dropped the gun and kicked it beneath the bed.
Happy couldn't feel anything as he drove back to the hospital. He was still completely numb. His senses were heightened and he rode back the long way, doubling back from Lodi on purpose. He smirked as blue lights lit up behind him.
"Where's the fire?" The officer asked placing a hand on the truck's side mirror. Happy narrowed his eyes and slowly looked up from the officer's hand to his face.
"My wife was shot earlier. I had to go home and get the diaper bag, now she's getting worse." Happy had gotten a message from Chibs, letting him know he needed to get back to the hospital. The officer looked inside the truck to see the purple and pink diaper bag sitting beside Happy.
"I'll escort you down to St. Thomas." The officer said, hurrying back to his squad car. Happy nodding, knowing his alibi was all but sealed. He was glad he'd remembered to zip the bag closed after putting the license plate he'd borrowed back on the abandoned car in Stockton. The officer probably would have been curious as to why there was a screwdriver in the diaper bag.
As soon as Happy stepped foot in the hospital, all of his emotions came crashing back down on him. The fear of losing the love of his life, the anger towards Gemma, the regret of letting her go over to Tara's alone, it all came back in a wave. Happy felt like an elephant was jumping on his chest.
"Look, there's your da, princess." Chibs said, turning towards Happy. Meadow looked up into her father's dark eyes and he got a grip. He knew that no matter what he was dealing with and no matter what happened, he had to be there for their daughter. He couldn't fall apart on her.
"Happy, Kelly just woke up. She's asking for you." Dr. Cooke said, losing all professionalism as he burst into the waiting room. Happy smiled down at Meadow and carried her back behind the double doors to Kelly.
"Hey there, little bird." Happy said with a uncontrollable smile. Kelly's color had started to return and she looked alive. Happy knew she wasn't out of the woods just yet, but he had a feeling, for the first time in his life, that everything was going to be okay.