Playlist: I'd come for you by Nickelback;

Chapter 23: Smite

Bella POV

I'd followed Gemma to Jax's house where she was going to relieve Neeta and then Neeta would take Kenny and Ellie to my house while I went to St Thomas to check on my Dad. I didn't know what was going on but I was going to kill every one of them for not calling me and telling me that something had happened. When I walked into the emergency room at St Thomas, I immediately started looking for Tara. When I find her, she's standing the admin desk. I walked over to her. "Hey. Where is he?" I asked.

"He's over here." She said. She led me over to the bed where Dad was. When I walked into the room, Dad was laying in the bed and Piney was sitting in a chair next to him. Piney stood up and walked over to me. "Thanks for staying with him." I said.

Piney put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't be too hard on him or the others. They didn't want you stressed out or worrying too much." He said.

I nodded. When Piney walked out of the room and I went to take the seat that he'd been sitting in previously. A few minutes later, Dad opened his eyes and looked at me. "Tara call you?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. What happened?" I asked.

"Bobby's fucking bike happened. Caused me to lay down my bike and go rolling over a hill." Dad said.

I rolled my eyes. "Why didn't anyone call me?" I asked.

"There was a complication." Dad said. I stared at him for a minute, hoping that he'd continue. "The hospital they took me to up north…there were bounty hunters waiting. They snatched me."

"You had an outstanding warrant?" I asked.

"I skipped on a bond." He told me.

"Where?"

"Oregon." Dad said.

"How could you be so stupid?" I asked him. Dad didn't say anything. "How long before you can go home?" I asked.

"Just waiting on paperwork." He said.

"Fine."

The next morning, I dropped the kids off at school and then Dad and I headed to the garage to wait for the rest of the guys. When Dad and I had left the hospital last night, I'd made him come with me and the kids. When we got to the garage, Dad headed into the clubhouse, either to get a drink or to go back to sleep. I wasn't sure which. I headed into the office to talk to Gemma. I needed to check on her after yesterday. "Hey." I said, when I walked in.

"Hey. Everything okay with your Dad?" She asked me.

"Yeah. Apparently, he laid his bike down because of Bobby. Not sure. He needed a couple of stitches." I told her. She nodded. "Are you okay?" I asked her and she raised an eyebrow at me. "After yesterday?"

She leaned back in her chair. "I will be. Don't worry so much. The stress isn't good for the baby." She said smiling at me.

Later that afternoon, I was in the kitchen making cupcakes when I heard the front door open then close. I put the pan of cupcakes in the oven before I made my way to the living room. I looked up and saw Ope standing there. I crossed my arms. "Hi." I said.

"I wanted to tell you." He said.

"Uh huh. And you didn't because of worry and stress, right?" I asked and he nodded. "Don't you think that's a decision I should make?"

He ran a hand over his face. "Bells, you've been through so much since you came to Charming. The Washington shit, the shit with your mom, Donna, getting in the accident, getting kidnapped…I just didn't want to add more to your plate." Ope said. I could tell that he meant it.

I closed the distance between us and wrapped my arms around his neck. "I love you for trying to protect me, but sometimes I need the choice. I need to be able to make decisions for myself." I told Ope.

Ope nodded. "Alright." He said, leaning down and kissing me.

Gemma POV

The boys had managed to get back from their run, thankfully the only injury had been Tig who wasn't exactly thrilled that Bella had made him camp out on her couch. I was still having some pain from the rape so I decided to head over to Jax's to talk to Tara about it. "Good morning." I said when I walked into the house. Tara was in the kitchen cleaning up from breakfast. "Baby with Neeta?" I asked her.

"At the park." She said.

I nodded, sitting down at the kitchen table. She poured me a cup of coffee and handed it to me. "Jax?" I asked, knowing that his bike and truck were in the driveway.

"Cleaning out the garage." Tara told me, as she wiped down Abel's high chair. I winced in pain. "You still that sore?" She asked me.

"Now it's getting worse." I said, sitting my cup down. "I'm just so goddamn stiff." I said.

"Are you dry?" She asked.

I nodded. "Like the Majave." I said.

"It's the stress. Your body isn't producing enough estrogen." Tara said. "I'll write you a prescription." She said as the garage door opened and Jax walked in.

"Hey Ma." Jax said.

"Hi honey." I said, going back to my coffee.

Jax turned and looked at Tara. "Did you take a box of clothes from the garage?" He asked her.

"I haven't done anything out there." She said.

"I'm missing a box." Jax said.

"I cleaned some shit out there before the baby came home." I told him. He was looking for John's journal. "It was a box of laundry. It had a serious stink to it."

"Well where is it?" He asked me.

"Tossed it. Just a bunch of old t-shirts, funky underwear." I said. I watched his face for a reaction. "Why? What are you looking for?"

"An old Harley manual, hard to find." He said.

"Sorry." I said.

The front door opened and Chibs walked in. "Good morning Children." He said.

"Hello." Tara and I said at the same time.

"I thought the prospect was with you." Jax said.

"The wee man goes under the knife today." Chibs said.

What the hell? "Excuse me?" I asked.

"He's completing himself." Chibs said. I didn't know what to say to that. He turned and looked back at Jax. "We're supposed to meet Clay at the shop." He told Jax.

"I'm ready." Jax said. He handed Chibs a box that he'd brought in from the garage. "Dump these in my truck."

"Pleasure."

Bells POV

Gemma was out doing god knows what so she'd asked me to open the garage that morning. Thankfully Ope would be there with me. I'd been sitting at the desk when I looked out the door and saw a white Prius pull in with a flat tire. I stood up and walked to the doorway, leaning against the doorframe and watched as Ope walked out of one of the bays. A skinny blond girl I didn't recognize climbed out of the car, walking around to the front of it to meet Ope. "I think it's a flat." The girl said. "Went out on 18." She told him.

"You rode on this all the way from the highway?" He asked her.

"It's bad, isn't it?" She asked.

I moved from my spot in the doorway and went back to the desk. I sat back down and continued working on a parts order that I needed to get in by lunch so that the guys would get the parts this afternoon. I was about to send the parts order in when Ope walked in. "Did you do the parts order yet?" He asked me.

"I was about to send it. Need to add something?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah." He said handing me a piece of paper. While I typed up the order he sat on the couch.

"Who was that?" I asked him, casually.

"Lyla. She's one of Luann's girls. She's a single mom." Opie said and I nodded.

"Okay." I said as I finished the order and sent it off.

I went to stand up and I felt lightheaded, immediately sitting back down. "Bells? You okay?" Ope asked me.

"I don't know. I think I just tried to stand up to fast." I said. I tried to stand up again, only this time I felt even worse. I took a step towards Ope and I felt the whole room spinning. "Ope." I said before everything went black.

Opie POV

I'd been able to catch Bells just as she passed out. I wasn't sure what was going on but I knew that it couldn't be good. I'd managed to get one of the guys to call an ambulance. I followed the ambulance on my bike. When we got to St Thomas I'd called Jax to let him know, he said he'd tell everyone else. Tara had gone back with Bells and told me that she'd keep me updated.

I was sitting in the waiting room when Jax, Clay, Tig and Gemma came in. "What happened?" Tig asked me.

I shrugged. "I don't know. She thought that when she tried to stand up that she stood too fast, but I don't I just have this feeling that something's wrong." I told them.

Gemma came over and sat beside me. "It's going to be okay. She's going to be okay." Gem said. The only thing that I could do was nod.

I don't know how long we'd been sitting there when Tara walked out. "Opie." She said.

I stood up and walked over to her. "How is she?" I asked her.

"Ope, I don't want to lie to you. The placenta is torn. We need to deliver the fetus and clean the uterus out. If we don't…Bells could die." Tara said.

I felt the tears. I felt Gemma's hand on my arm as she came over and joined me. "The baby's chances?" I heard Gemma asked as I looked down at the floor.

"5 percent." Tara said.

I looked back up at Tara. "Do what you have to do for Bells." I said, before I walked over and sat back down.

"It's going to be a while." Tara said before she headed back down the hallway.

Jax POV

We were all waiting on news about Bells. I knew that Tara would do what she could for Bells. While we were waiting, I got a call from Stockton that I needed to come down about Otto. This definitely wasn't good. I told Ope that I'd be back. I took Bobby with me down to Stockton.

Zobelle had Otto jumped. They'd beat the crap out of him. When I left Stockton I headed over to Charming PD to talk to Hale. "What do you want?" Hale asked me when I walked into his office.

"Zobelle had Otto jumped." I said. "The league's got a reach straight to the Aryan shot callers."

"What does that have to do with Charming?" He asked me.

"We don't know what we're dealing with here." I said.

"Zobelle's not Darby." Hale said.

"He ain't some half-bright thug." I said. I watched him for a minute. Where you at with him?" I asked.

"Nowhere." Hale said.

I walked over and sat across from his desk. "I gave you the meth lab and you gave Darby a pass." I said.

"I didn't give anybody a pass!" He said.

"Don't you see the pattern here? You're so hell-bent on burning us, you keep getting in bed with the devil. It happened with Stahl. Now it's happening with Zobelle. It's gonna be the same shit man. People die, people get hurt." I told him. "You know, Bells still has nightmares from when she was kidnapped. She knows who did it, but the difference is she doesn't want to see anybody else get hurt." I told him before I stood up and walked out of his office.

Tara POV

Once Bells had gotten through her surgery and into recovery I headed back to the waiting room to tell Opie. I knew that he was hurting and that he was worried about her. When I got to the waiting room, Opie was the only one that I found. "Where is everyone?" I asked him, sitting in the chair beside him.

"Gemma went down to the chapel, the guys had something to take care of." Opie said. "How is she?"

"She's going to be okay. She's going to need to rest for a while but she's going to be okay. Ope, she doesn't know. She's been unconscious since she came in. I wasn't sure if you wanted to be the one to tell her or if you wanted me to." Tara said.

I nodded. "I'll tell her. When do you think that she'll be awake? I gotta be at the clubhouse later." Opie said.

She put her hand on my knee. "Go deal with what you have to. I'll stay with her until you get back and I'll make sure that nobody tells her." I told him. He nodded.

Opie POV

When I walked out of the hospital, I called Clay to find out where they were and he told me that they were heading to Zobelle's shop. I told him that I'd meet them there. When I pulled up the guys were standing outside and I could see Clay inside talking to Zobelle. "How is she?" Tig asked me.

"Tara said that the surgery went fine. She's been unconscious since she arrived at the hospital so now it's just a matter of waiting until she wakes up. She has no idea that we had to terminate the pregnancy so Tara agreed to stay with her until she wakes up and I can get back to tell her." I said.

Tig nodded. "She's probably going to have a meltdown, you know that right?" He asked me and I nodded.

"I know and I'm prepared for it. I just need for her to be okay. I can't do any of this without her. You know?" I said and he nodded. I looked around and noticed that Jax wasn't there. "Where's Jax?" I asked.

"No idea. I don't know what's going on through his head. That's another reason why we need Bells…Maybe she can talk some sense into him." Tig said.

The guys and I stood around and talked for a bit while Clay was inside talking to Zobelle. After a bit, I watched Weston and a couple of his guy pull up and park across the street. I really wanted to hit the guy. Bells was out of sorts partly because of this guy. The other person that had caused Bells pain was Donna but she'd already been taken care of. I knew that one day I was going to have to explain to Kenny and Ellie where Donna was and what happened, but hopefully that was something that Bells and I would do together. I saw Weston walking across the street. I looked at Tig. "Watch this." I said, stepping off the side walk. I made my way over to Weston. "How's it going today gentlemen?" I said.

"Heard your girl was in the hospital? Hope she's gonna be okay." Weston said. I glared at him. He leaned closer to me. "She's pretty that one. Much prettier than Donna. Don't know what you saw in that one." He said in a low voice. I was about to deck him when Jax pulled his bike in between us. "The hell you doing?" I asked him.

"Street brawl ain't the answer." Jax said. "Use your head." He said climbing off his bike. He was about to turn to Weston, when Weston pushed his bike over. "Son of a bitch!" Jax yelled before he decked Weston.

Next thing I know it's a street brawl.

Jax POV

I had been right. Street brawl wasn't the answer but what was I supposed to do when the prick pushed my bike over. I had hoped to stop a street brawl from happening especially when I saw Ope getting in Weston's face. I knew that he was struggling because Bells had told us that Weston was the one who'd drugged her, but fighting in the street wasn't the answer. So here we were sitting in a cell at Charming PD. I looked over at Ope who was leaning against the wall next to Tig. They'd gotten close since Bella's kidnapping. "What were you thinking?" I asked Ope.

He looked right at me. "I was thinking about all the different ways I want to make him suffer." Ope said.

"I got a few ideas." Tig added.

I rolled my eyes. "It's not the answer. We gotta be careful." I said, right as Hale came in and unlocked the cell.

"This happens again, you'll do 30 for public disturbance. Now get out." Hale said.

"Yes, sir." Clay said.

Everyone headed out before Hale stopped me and Clay. "Need a minute." Hale said.

Clay and I looked each other. Hale handed Clay an envelope. "What's this?" Clay asked. "You guys running surveillance on us?"

"Not me. Got footage from a security camera. That's Opie torching the meth lab." Hale said.

I ran a hand over my face. "Jesus Christ." I said.

"Why you giving us this shit?" Clay asked.

"I'm not Unser. I'm not on anybody's payroll." Hale said and I nodded.

Later that evening, I walked into my house after going with Ope to the hospital to check on Bells. Tara was sitting in the nursery watching Abel. She looked up at me and gave me a weak smile. "I've been sitting here watching him. Trying to figure out how I fit into all this." Tara said.

"What do you mean?" I asked, leaning against the dresser.

"The violence, the porn, the other girls. Your mother." She said. "I try to rationalize, but I…it's not normal."

"What's normal?" I say.

"I can't shake this feeling that something bad is going to happen. To him, to us." She says. I understand what she's saying because I've had a similar feeling. Especially with Zobelle around. "I just don't know how to live with that. I'm trying to find my place here, Jax."

"Wait here." I said. I walk into my bedroom and pull my Dad's manuscript out of the top of the closet where I hid it. I walk back into the nursery. "I want to show you something." I hand her the manuscript. "My dad wrote this. Before he died. It's his vision for the club and what went wrong and how to save it." I tell her. "I'm going to get us out of all of those things that your afraid of. You stay with me, I promise, you'll find your place." I say and she nods.

Opie POV

I sat there in Bell's room. I hated that she was going through all of this. What I hated even more was that we'd lost our baby. Tara had sat with me while I told Bells that they'd had to terminate the pregnancy. What had been harder, was when Tara told her that the chances of her carrying a baby full term were slim. It had nearly killed her. She'd been so upset that they had to sedate her. So here I was sitting here waiting for her to wake up again.

"She's going to be okay." I looked over and saw Tig standing there in the doorway.

"I know. She's tough. Tara doesn't think that she'll be able to carry a baby to term." I told him.

"Shit. That's tough. Could always use a surrogate." Tig says.

I nod. I look back at Bells. "I know. I can't think about that right now. Tara said that she thinks that Bells might do good getting away from Charming for a while. Get her head straight." I tell him.

"I don't know. She just came back from your mom's. I'd feel better keeping her close." Tig said, sitting in the chair on the other side of Bells.

I nodded. "Where we at on retaliation?" I asked.

"Gonna wait. Clay thinks it's a mistake. Jax thinks we need to be smart about it." Tig tells me.

"Guess time will tell." I said.

"There's more." Tig said. "A van blew up. Chibs got caught. Hit his head."

Damn. And the hits keep coming.