"Well, look who decided to show up."

Denise was panting for breath and resting her hands on her knees after she got into the door to the waiting room at the hospital to find the remainder of the club there. She might have, at any other time, dignified Chibs' comment with a response, but right now, she just needed to catch her breath and figure out what was happening.

"Where is he?" Denise asked finally, her chest tight. "What happened?"

"We didn't think it was bad, doll - got clipped by an SUV on the way out to Chico, scratched up pretty bad," Bobby explained, holding his hand out to stop Chibs and moving over towards Denise himself. "When shit went down at the meet, he was already shakin' - the infection's pretty bad -"

"He got clipped by an SUV?" Denise repeated shrilly, her face paling in disbelief. "And you guys didn't let him come home -"

"What do you care, ah?" Chibs said, coming forward to face the younger woman just as Lyla and Wendy made it in the door with the boys. "Aren't you the one who left home?"

"This isn't about that," Denise hissed angrily. "This is -"

"Where is he?"

The conversation was, very thankfully, interrupted when the door opened yet again, this time revealing Wenya dressed in a nightgown and a pair of boots, covered up with a denim jacket - she was in a dissheveled state that indicated she'd run straight out of bed. "Where's Hap?" she said loudly, realizing that he wasn't in the waiting room with the others. "Oh, shit. Oh my God - is Hap -"

"I was takin' a piss."

Wenya turned so that she was looking straight at Happy with an absolute poker face, which had appeared on her face in an instant. She didn't take any steps closer to him as he rejoined everyone in the waiting room, she only crossed her arms over herself.

"You came."

"Yeah," Wenya said, her gaze downcast. "Scared the shit outta me, gettin' a call like that."

"Who called you?"

"Me."

Denise flinched when now, the gazes in the room turned towards her once she spoke up - she had called Wenya from the car on the way over, and now the entire waiting room of the hospital looked like SAMCRO had booked it for a private party. Denise knew the crap she was going to get for interfering, but she knew. She knew Wenya would show up, even if Wenya didn't know herself.

"What happened to your face?" Wenya asked finally, nodding towards a particularly nasty looking scrape on Happy's cheekbone.

"Same shit that happened to everyone else," he said calmly. "Stupid question."

His tone, however, was no long spiteful-sounding. He seemed almost like he was joking, which Denise hardly thought him capable of. Happy Lowman hardly seemed the shits-and-giggles type. However, it did catch Denise by surprise when he walked over a few steps so that he was standing in front of Wenya.

"You didn't need to come out here," he said.

"Yeah," Wenya shrugged. "Figured I'd come check on you. See if you were okay - and you are. So I can go."

"You don't gotta," Happy said. "Free country, innit?"

Denise nearly felt relieved enough to smile, and very nearly did as she turned away from the pair to look back at Chibs and Bobby to resume her questioning. "Where's Juice?" she repeated, crossing her arms again.

Chibs held his hand out and looked over at Bobby, a warning that he wanted to handle this conversation himself - the gesture made Denise feel choked, almost sick at the thought of why the situation warranted this much of a reaction. Chibs nodded for Denise to follow him, and she wordlessly mirrored his steps as they both headed towards the elevator.

"Bad infection," Chibs spoke up finally. "Been in and out of it the whole way, had to bring him back in the van -"

"Shit," Denise said, clasping her hands in front of her face. "Why didn't anyone -"

"No one called you because everyone knows that you're fuckin' pissed at the boy," Chibs interrupted, his face contorted into a frown. "I didn't want to put him through findin' out we called you and you didn't come -"

"What makes you think I wouldn't have come?"

"Because you ran off to the Mexi-pimp's house to play the victim and left Juice alone," Chibs said, slamming his hand back on the metal side panel of the elevator. "Jesus Christ, the boy loves you. And he needs you here. So don't make this about him and the gash that Jax is screwin' because she doesn't matter. Only you let her matter. That's the club, lass. You've been here long enough, you don't need me to explain this shit to you."

Denise scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. Of course Chibs was on Juice's side. Of course. But, she realized with a sudden softening of her expression, that Chibs wasn't entirely wrong. Denise knew she had made this about her, that she'd acted like Juice cheating exculpated her of everything because what he did was so much worse. Maybe it wasn't Chibs taking sides. Maybe he knew what he was talking about.

"I just want to see him," Denise said in a quiet voice. "Can I just - can I just do that and go from there?"

"Aye," Chibs said, just as the elevator door opened. He ushered Denise towards one of the rooms a couple of doors down where it looked like Juice was sleeping in one of the beds, pale and hooked up to an IV. Denise felt her breath catch in her throat, and Chibs reached out, clapping a hand consolingly on her back. "Jax is across the hall. We'll be bringin' her up next," he said carefully, knowing he wouldn't even need to say Wendy's name. "You want me t'get the door?"

"Doesn't matter," Denise said, taking a few deep breaths and looking at Juice, lying still in the hospital bed and realizing for the first time just what Juice must have felt, seeing her in the hospital bed after her brush with Gemma. "She doesn't matter."

Denise thought her legs were going to give way underneath her as she made her way into the room, taking a seat in one of the chairs next to the bed. It was only now that she saw that his eyes were not fully closed - a thin glimpse of dark brown was visible between his eyelids, and even in his groggy state, he gave a faint quirk of a smile.

"Hello, nurse," he said in a near-whisper. "Did I just die and go to heaven -"

"Say that again and I'm gonna kick your ass, you idiot," Denise said with a weak laugh, rubbing at her face and realizing that she'd actually started crying. Out of reflex, she reached out and smoothed her hand over his cheek, and his eyes opened a little more, almost imperceptibly so. It had been weeks since she'd just touched him like this, looked at him without anger and resentment, and while he was shaking visibly underneath his blankets and breaking into a cold sweat, this feeling was probably the best he'd felt in weeks as well. Denise took a breath and gently pulled back the top corner of the blanket to see that one of his arms was almost completely wrapped in gauze and bandages, and his ribs were wrapped and immobilized.

"One of 'em might be broken," Juice supplied hoarsely. "They got me on the good stuff so I don't feel it."

"Why didn't you go back after you got clipped by the SUV?" Denise snapped suddenly, replacing the blanket when he began to shiver more violently. "Why didn't you all turn around? The Niners -"

"You weren't supposed to know," he said, his brow furrowing deeply. "It was just a run."

"Why didn't you go home?" Denise insisted.

"Go home to what?" Juice asked. "To who?"

The response was like being doused in cold water, and Denise recoiled slightly upon hearing it but instead of replying, she leaning over and placed her hand on top of his. Denise gave Juice's hand a gentle squeeze, and she looked down at their intertwined fingers when he tried his best to squeeze her hand back.

"You need rest," she said, not letting go of his hand. "I should -"

"Stay," Juice said tiredly. "I want you to stay."

"...okay," Denise nodded, leaning and shifting so that she was leaning on the bed next to him, still holding tightly onto his hand. SO, she sat there. She sat for nearly an hour until finally, his grip on her loosened and he fell asleep, snoring gently. Denise took a moment to reach upwards and touch his face again, breathing a sigh of relief to find that his fever seemed to have gone down - his features no longer seemed nauseated and pained, and instead were peaceful. Peace, Denise realized, was something that had been much sought after lately. Now that he was calm and asleep, she got up and walked out into the hallway for air. It seemed fated that at the same time, the door to the room across the hall opened as well, and Wendy emerged, locking eyes with Denise for only a moment before scurrying away. Ignoring the encounter, Denise moved over to one of the hard plastic chairs against the wall and resting her head tiredly in her hands.

Denise nearly dozed off in her seat, trying to decide whether to stay or to go - but what must have been a short while later, she opened her eyes and saw Wendy striding up to her slowly, with two generic-looking coffee cups in her hands, one of which she hesitantly held out in Denise's direction

"They made mine wrong the first time so I had to order another one," she shrugged. "Figured you could use a fix."

"Fifth one today," Denise said with a sniff that may or may not have been her attempt at laughing as she reached out, accepting the cup from Wendy's hands. She lingered for a few seconds before finally taking a seat next to Denise, her gaze glued resolutely to her hands.

"I'm sorry, Deedee," Wendy said in a voice that was barely audible. Denise's body stiffened when she realized that she hadn't imagined it, that Wendy had actually said it, and she turned her head to look at the woman next to her. "I'm sorry for what happened, all of it - I never wanted -"

"I know," Denise interrupted in a placid voice, her face betraying no strong emotions despite the fact that she was a mess inside because this conversation was happening at all. "I get it, I swear I do. I know why it happened. Understanding why doesn't pull that knife out of my back."

"I know."

The two women sat silently for a short time, sipping on the coffee - but the fact that they were able to be near each other without falling into chaos was a vast improvement from the conditions of their last encounter. Wendy, after a few deep swigs from her cup, sighed and shook her head.

"You and Juice are supposed to be together. You two are supposed to make it," she said, finally turning her whole body to face Denise, who now was in uncharted territory - she flinched slightly, not sure of how to respond. "I love Jax - that's the reason I'm such a fuckin' mess, and I know I shouldn't be, but I am," Wendy said, shaking her head and allowing a couple of tears to roll down her cheeks. "I want Jax to fight for me, to give a shit about what I do - I want him to miss me like you and Juice miss each other."

Miss each other. Denise couldn't deny that she missed him, but she hadn't even considered the idea that everyone else could see it too. She inhaled, then exhaled so heavily that her chest heaved. "I just want him to get through this," Denise said honestly, glancing over towards the door to Juice's hospital room. "Because no matter what happens between him and me, my daughter deeserves a father who's in her life, not in a bedtime story."

"Don't pull that, Dee," Wendy said gently. "You love him. You want him to be okay for you too -"

"I never said that I didn't," Denise said sadly. Wendy paused, then got up to her feet, shifting her weight slightly.

"I - I hope that one day," Wendy began, looking down at her feet and pausing before finally managing to look at Denise again, "you and me could be friends again."

"Gonna take a lot more coffee," Denise said, but Wendy noticed the flicker of a smile at the corner of Denise's lips as she raised her coffee cup towards her as if proposing a brief toast. Wendy mirrored the vague, Mona Lisa smile before retreating back into Jax's hospital room.

With a sigh, Denise got up and walked back towards Juice's room, where he was still sleeping comfortably - she smiled a little when she realized that the faint noise wasn't a pump or a machine, but rather the sound of him snoring. As strange as it seemed, it was a welcome sound. She sighed and stared for a few short seconds before walking towards the window and looking outside at the ground below.

"Well, I'll be damned," she laughed quietly to herself when she managed to glimpse outside at just the right time, catching sight of Wenya getting onto the back of Happy's motorcycle. Forgiveness, maybe, came at the most unexpected times. Denise could now at least admit to herself that she wished for it. She wanted things to go back to the way they were, and she knew that at some point, there was a line to be drawn. She couldn't stay angry forever - she had tried that after her father and grandfather died. It simply didn't work. But how was she supposed to recover? Maybe she had already forgiven Juice, at least part of the way - but her pride certainly hadn't recovered.

"Deedee?"

Denise flinched when she turned to the door and saw that Wendy had come across the hall, supporting Jax who had his arm slung around her shoulders. His face was bruised, and there was a cut on his forehead that was only barely patched up. He clutched his side with his free arm, but for the most part, looked like he was doing a lot better than Juice was.

"What are you guys doing here?" Denise asked suspiciously, staying clear across the room from them. This was the first time the four of them were in the same room with one another since what had happened, and the tension was inescapable. "I don't think we should all -"

"Mayans got their hands on the Niners who clipped Juice," Jax interrupted, his voice hoarse and pained. "Called up Tig a few minutes ago, said they got a little interrogation in before finishin' the guy off."

Admittedly, Denise felt a small amount of satisfaction upon knowing that the guy who'd done this to her husband had gotten his comeuppance, but at the same time, she wasn't sure she wanted to be privy to any more club business. Seemingly picking up on this, Jax pressed on.

"The Niners are still on Marks's payroll and they're gonna stay on us until Marks gets what he wants," Jax pressed on. "I don't want either of you in this - you both lay low, aight? No more stunts." He paused, then his gaze shifted so it landed on Wendy, who returned a look of both fear and anticipation. "You're too important to me," he said, shaking his head, and Wendy's jaw clenched visibly. Denise gave a small smile in spite of herself and nodded.

"So, you and Wendy?" she managed to speak up quietly. Jax looked up and smirked distantly for a few moments, recalling his refusal to give an answer every time that Denise had asked him before - and it had been his refusal which had gotten them into such a mess in their personal lives at all. He cleared his throat and nodded.

"Yeah," he said simply, leaning over and placing a kiss on Wendy's temple. "Somethin' like that."

Denise laughed weakly and nodded, crossing her arms over herself. For Jax to be able to forgive, she knew he must have really cared about her - and she knew that was all that Wendy had wanted. To say that she had handled it poorly was an understatement, but underneath everything, all of Wendy's actions had always been for Jax, about Jax. If they were able to move past things enough to give it another shot...

Right now, however, it was clear that in whatever way he could find, Marks was going to keep every ounce of pressure he could on Charming, on SAMCRO, and now that he had to do it all discreetly, there was no predicting what he would do next.

"I wanna do things right this time," Jax said, shaking his. "You two - you're ol' ladies and ol' ladies got no place in the shit we do -"

"What?"

Wendy spoke up in surprise, and Denise found herself smiling again. It was funny, she realized, that Wendy, who she had blamed for causing all of this trouble, was the one getting exactly what she'd wanted, exactly what she'd hoped for. In his subtle, even a little underhanded sort of way, he had committed to Wendy, he'd called her his ol' lady. Denise crossed her arms over herself and nodded a little, glancing over at Juice, still sleeping from the medications.

Denise would agree to stay out of club business, if that's what Jax was asking. She didn't want to build her life around the club anymore after the damage it had done to her family, working so closely with him. But Juice was lying in here, lucky that it wasn't any worse, and at the end of the day, Denise knew her brother was still involved, however remotely, in putting him there. Some things were her business. When they affected her family, they were her business, club or no club.

A/N's

Another chapter down! Denise is getting the old itch to poke her nose where it doesn't belong again, and now, the conflict is expanding, pulling the Niners and the Mayans into the fight as well. In the coming chapters, we're gonna see the ripple effect of everyone's actions get bigger and bigger, and we're going to see how everyone's relationships adapt to face these changing times.

I might be a little slow updating the next couple chapters - maybe a few days in between them, nothing crazy, hopefully. I just have more editing that I'd like to do on them, plus a lot of stuff going on. But as always, thanks for all of your reviews! Writing this story is probably the highlight of my busy days, because your feedback makes me smile! So until next time, cheers!