Chapter 2:
Jax sat in Courtney's loft waiting for her. She'd left the door open in case she was delayed at the office. He looked at his watch. She was over an hour and a half late. He was starting to get worried.
He'd come to look forward to spending time with her. The dinner at the gazebo in the park, the picnic, the camping trip they'd went on together. He loved spending time with her.
He loved when she smiles. He loved making her smile. When she was with Jason she didn't smile that much. She always looked sad and it tugged at his heart as he remembered.
Now he was in a position to make her happy and he was going make sure she was. He thought he was very much falling in love with Courtney Mathews.
When the door opened Jax turned to say some arrogant and cocky when he saw her. She was leaning heavily against the doorframe, bruises and cuts all over her face and blood on her clothes.
He stood and hurried over to her and she collapsed into his arms. He felt her trembling. Her legs finally gave out and he picked her up and brought her to the couch. "What happened, Courtney?" he asked sitting next to her.
"I...my dad, he placed a bet and lost. The guy he...he placed it with was...was angry about not getting paid and he...decided to teach...him a lesson. They attacked me in...in the park," she explained her breath labored.
"Okay, you're safe now," he said tucking her hair behind her ear.
He was glad to see her breathe evening out and she was started to calm down. He moved to rest his hand on her hip and she cried out in pain.
"I'm sorry. Courtney, I got to see the bruises, see how bad they are," he said.
Jax lifted her shirt half way and inhaled sharply at the sight. There was a huge bruise about the size of his open hand on her side and more along her stomach and to her other side. There were cuts and scraped there were bleeding.
"Courtney," he breathed and started over again, "Courtney we got to take you to the hospital. These look really bad," he said.
"No, you can't," she said and tried to sit up and she winced.
Jax gently pushed her back down, "These look really bad, you could be hurt internally," he tried to reason with."No, Jax. I was struggling to get away and one of the guys...he said he was going to teach me a lesson. He knocked me down and...and he got on top of me," Courtney looked away as the tears started to slid down her face. "He was unbuttoning my shirt and I saw his gun. I grabbed it and told him to get off me but he didn't. He tried to get the gun. I knew he was going to get it and...and probably kill me, so I, I, I shot him. Jax, I killed him, I killed him," she finished and started to cry harder.
Jax pulled her into his arms and let her cry. What was he going to do? She had to see a doctor. She had to get out of here. He couldn't bring her to the cops. That scumbag Ric Lansing would use this to get to Sonny.
He only had one choice and he was going to hate it but it was the only way Courtney would be safe and that's all he cared about right now.
Jax kissed her forehead before drawing her away. He bundled her up in a blanket and gently picked her up. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face into his shoulder.
He entered the hallway and heard someone coming up the stairs. He quickly rounded the corner and hid there. Daring a look, he peered around the corner and saw three men. The one in the middle reared back and kicked Courtney's door in and they went inside.
Courtney mumbled something and he looked down at her and saw she was sleeping. She looked do small and fragile. I hated to see her in pain. He looked around and saw another exit. With one last look around the corner he shifted her weight in his arms and started down the back exit.
He gently laid her in the passenger seat of his car before hurrying around and getting in. He laid his hand over her, "Just hold on," he said softly before starting the car and drove off.