Thirty-Eight

The wail of sirens was the final straw.

"Fuck this," Seth growled, jumping out of the van before Charlie could even make a move to stop him and taking off in the direction the others had gone.

"Oh shit," the prospect sighed, sensing that he might actually be first in the firing line if anything happened to his charge and quickly scrambling after him.

But while half of him was panicking at having failed to carry out his orders to keep Seth well away from whatever the hell was going on, the other half understood perfectly his frustration at being cut out of the loop – he'd wanted to help too and Eden was just his friend, not his blood. Still, he knew the others had a point that it would hardly help Eden to know her brother had been caught in the crossfire of whatever the hell was going on. The two of them were so close. It made him wish he knew what that was like not to be an only child.

"Seth, wait!" Charlie tried, realising his hopes of catching up weren't as good as he'd assumed. "Shit …"

But for Seth, it was only crashing into the clearing in time to see a body being brought out of some shitty little house on a gurney covered with a sheet that brought him skidding to a halt, frozen in dismay at the thought that he was too late. It felt like someone had curled their fingers around his heart and squeezed.

So the relief he felt when he caught an unmistakable glimpse of his sister by the side of another gurney, Tig's arm around her shoulders, was almost enough to knock him off his feet.

"Eden!" the former boxer shouted, running towards her with Charlie on his heels, barely registering all the chaos and commotion around them as more and more sirens filled the air.

"I tried to … keep him … in the van …" Charlie panted, breathless and bracing his hands on his knees and gulping in air. "You're really fucking fast … for a big guy … Shit, is that Chibs?!"

But, in the first instance, Seth only had room to process that his sister was in front of him and apparently in one piece – one bruised, bloodied, weeping piece – and he swept her into his arms, loosening his hold just a little when she couldn't hold back a whimper of pain.

"Sorry, kiddo, sorry," he managed, pressing a kiss to her head when her arms wrapped around him and she hugged him tightly. "Fuck, Eden, you scared the shit outta me!"

"I'm s-sorry," she managed, her words muffled against his shoulder.

"Hey, no, it's okay," he soothed, stroking the tangles of her hair. "It's all okay now – you're safe. Are you hurt? What the hell happened? We need to get you checked out …"

She shook her head, trying to sniff back tears as she pulled away. "I need to go with Filip. I can't leave him."

The rest of what was going on only started to register with Seth and he looked around in disbelief at the carnage, police and paramedics seeming to swarm everywhere.

"Jesus Christ," he breathed. "Jesus fucking Christ."


Sat on an examination bed in a quiet side room, twisting a tissue in her hands, Eden couldn't seem to stop the tears from falling. She'd had to make do for now with pulling on a clean pair of scrubs in place of her torn and blood-soaked uniform, but she couldn't wait to simply throw out everything she'd been wearing that day, right down to her underwear, and get under the spray of the hottest shower she could stand. Although it felt like scrubbing for a week wouldn't be enough to rid herself of every trace of that place and what had happened.

It all just seemed surreal.

Mack was dead. Archie was in the wind. Johnny was in surgery, likely to lose a leg despite their efforts. She didn't even know if the rest of the War Boys knew what had befallen their leadership yet. And if they did, would they be sat in hospital waiting chairs or pacing the corridors like the Sons keeping vigil for their president? Somehow, she doubted it.

No one could tell her anything yet. She hadn't been allowed to stay with Chibs, with everyone instead insisting she should use the time to look after herself, so she could be there when he was finally clear of surgery. She knew they meant well, knew there was logic in what they were saying, but she still resented it as a distraction. She was fine.

Okay, fine was a stretch, but there was nothing wrong with her that a doctor could do much for. Concussion, fractured cheekbone, badly bruised ribs, shock. Nothing you could exactly put a band-aid on.

She looked up at the opening of the door, glancing away again when the doctor – thankfully no one she really knew – turned on one of those soft, sympathetic smiles.

"So is that it? Can I go?" Eden asked.

The doctor paused and then drew up a chair in a way that immediately unsettled her reluctant patient. That couldn't mean anything good. Did she have news about Chibs? Bad news? Or was she going to push her into agreeing to go for counselling or some shit like that? Because the last thing Eden wanted right now was to talk about anything that had happened in that hellhole.

"Eden," Dr Jardesh began gently, her dark eyes kind behind her glasses. "Given that most people who've been through an ordeal like yours would, understandably, have concerns and yet you haven't mentioned anything … I'm going to assume you didn't know you were pregnant. Is that right?"

Startled into lifting her head to stare at the doctor, the stunned silence probably spoke volumes in itself.

"What? No, that … That can't be right," Eden managed finally.

"Really?" the doctor said, raising one perfectly arched eyebrow. "Can't? Because you wouldn't be the first patient to try the whole immaculate conception line on me, but you would be the first medical professional …"

"But I haven't ... I mean, it's been …"

"Nearly three months?" Dr Jardesh suggested wryly. "Yes, that did bring me back to the whole medical professional thing. I mean, not noticing for a few weeks I can understand, but …"

"Three months?!"

But even as her mind reeled, realisation dawned and Eden knew exactly. Not three months. More like eleven weeks. Or ten weeks and five days, to be precise. And she could be precise because they'd almost always been careful, for reasons she'd never examined too closely, but that was exactly when all thoughts of precautions had fled in the face of warring emotions and ...

Another thought struck Eden. "Were. You said were pregnant-"

"Oh, no, no, no," the doctor immediately cut in. "Semantics, I can assure you. You are pregnant. And I knew that if you had known you were, you'd have wanted answers immediately as to whether the baby had been harmed during your ordeal. Now, at this stage, we don't believe so, but obviously we're going to want to keep a close eye on you for the moment and get you caught up to where you should be with your prenatal care. I'm going to fast-track a scan, so we can check … Sorry, I guess this is a lot to take in. I can give you some time to process everything. Can I ask, purely to understand the support you have in place, is the father in the picture?"

Fresh tears welled up in the overwhelmed young woman's eyes.

"It's … complicated," she managed, even as she broke down in overwrought sobs.


Sinking down on the couch in the relatives' room they'd been herded into out of the way, Tig wiped a hand over his face as he leaned back against the cushions. "I sent the rest of the guys home for now," he said wearily. "We're going on lockdown until we figure out where the hell this whole mess leaves us."

"Do you think the War Boys will try anything?" Lyla asked anxiously, pulling the sleeves of her top down over her hands, but he could only shrug in response.

"Who the fuck even knows?" he sighed. "Don't worry, doll. I sent Montez to check in with your mom and the kids. He'll stick around there as long as we need him too – it's probably safer than even the clubhouse. Out of the way, you know? Charlie's with Seth, waiting for Eden to get checked out, and me, Hap and Knox are gonna stay here at least until there's news. We'll worry about next moves after that."

"We need to get word to Fiona. Don't look at me like that. You know I'm Team Eden in this. But … technically, she is still his wife. And then there's Kerri to think about."

"Shit," Tig said, getting up again to pace the floor. "No, you're right, you're right. I'll go check again if there's any news and then I'll call Belfast."

Lyla watched him leave, followed by Happy, realising just how agitated the VP was and knowing how hard it must be for him to be left feeling so helpless after everything the club had already been through. He was terrified of losing Chibs too. They all were.

Feeling Knox's eyes on her from across the room, she looked up and tried to keep her own emotions in check, but he pushed away from where he'd been leaning against the wall and came to take Tig's seat beside her. Without a word, the biker held out his hand with a forced little smile and she found herself placing her own in it, feeling him give her fingers a little reassuring squeeze.

"They don't come much tougher than Chibs, you know that," he told her.

She nodded, appreciating the effort even if it did little to truly alleviate her worst fears. She knew all too well how cruel the hand life dealt you could be. How unfair.

She knew what it was like to bury a Son.

"Hey," Knox's voice cut through her thoughts, as if he'd been able to read her mind. "Stop. He ain't going anywhere, babe."

"How do you know?" Lyla asked, all too well aware he was just trying to comfort her, but desperate for any kind of reassurance, however tenuous it might be.

"Because I saw what it meant to him to get to Eden back there - he's got too much going for him. No man's gonna up and check out when he's got that to get home to," the biker shrugged, before stopping abruptly, a caught look on his face when he realised exactly what he was saying. "Fuck, Lyla, me and my big mouth," he cringed. "I wasn't thinking about Op … Jesus."

"It's okay," she said quietly. "I know what you meant."

"Nah, Ly, it was stupid and-"

"Knox, it's fine," she insisted, her hand slipping out of his. "Don't worry about it. Listen, I'm gonna go see if I can check in on Eden. I won't be long. If there's news about Chibs, call me the second you hear, okay?"

"But … okay," Knox sighed, even as she headed for the door, waiting until it had closed behind her to rake a sheepish hand through his dark hair and soundly chastise himself. "Nice one, fuckwit. Hey, why stop at the husband? Maybe she's got a dead parent you can insult next. Asshole. Stupid, stupid asshole. Fuck."


"Eden?"

Thrown to see the usually so together medic in such a distressed state, Charlie couldn't help regretting having seized the opportunity presented when some nurse came looking for her patient's brother while Seth had gone to the bathroom. He'd been so anxious to check that Eden was okay that he hadn't stopped to think he might be intruding and that she might only want her family around.

But it was too late to back out now, as she glanced up at his voice, her eyes red-rimmed and the bruises on her face seeming to stand out even more given how pale she was.

"S-sorry, I think they thought I was Seth," he babbled. "I can go – he'll be back in a second …"

She shook her head though, trying to pull herself together and wiping at her eyes with the sleeve of the scrub top she was wearing. "It's okay. Is there any news about Chibs?"

Charlie shook his head, hesitantly crossing the room to stand awkwardly at the side of the bed she was sat on.

"I need to go see him," Eden said, more to herself than to him, slipping down to stand on wobbly legs, grimacing in pain and making the young prospect step closer in alarm.

"I'm pretty sure you need to stay here," he tried. "You can't see Chibs until he's out of surgery anyway. Please don't, Eden, you're hurt …"

"I have to, I have to see him," she said, her anguish clearer than ever as her face crumpled again tearfully and her visitor just about managed to get his arms up in time for her to collapse into them. "What if I lose him? I can't … I can't do this on my own …"

Feeling completely out of his depth, Charlie floundered for the right thing to say and then simply gave up, remembering how she had held him after his mom and just focusing on trying to now do the same for her.

"I'm so scared, Charlie," Eden whispered, her words muffled into his shoulder.

Truth be told, she was scaring him too, such was her distress. She was supposed to be the one who always knew what to do, what to say. The one who knew it would all be okay in the end, even when it felt like the world was ending. Now her world seemed to be falling in around her and he had no idea how to fix it.

What if she was right to be scared? What if Chibs … He could hardly bear to think about it, not after everything. What if he did die? Eden would obviously be heartbroken and he hated the thought of that, but it wouldn't end there. Even he, as just a lowly prospect, had realised that Chibs was what was holding what was left of the club together. That without him, there was every chance Tig would finally go completely off the rails and Samcro itself would crumble. And he would have absolutely nothing and no one left.

Except Eden.

But she had Seth and her family and Charlie couldn't help fearing that, without Chibs, maybe she wouldn't feel like she had any reason to stay in touch with him.

Even now, she was pulling away, seeming embarrassed by her show of emotion and wiping at her tears again, leaving him stood there feeling horribly out of place.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I shouldn't be here. The nurse meant to get your brother …"

But Eden shrugged that off, dropping her gaze to her hands as she tugged her sleeves down over them. "Guess she missed my big brother, but … maybe brought me my little one instead?" she suggested softly.

Charlie stared at her, making her shift almost shyly.

"I mean, only if you want …"

Despite everything, Charlie couldn't help the little grin that spread over his face. "I always wanted a sister," he told her, guiding her to make her sit back down on the edge of the bed.

"And I never wanted to always be the … the baby," she said, burying her face in her hands as she seemed to struggle to get the word out.

"Eden? What's wrong?" he asked anxiously, at once kicking himself for asking such a stupid question, but also seeming to realise there was more going on than he knew.

Eden could only shake her head helplessly though and Charlie simply wrapped her back up in a worried hug, determined to be there for her no matter what. That's what brothers were for, blood or not.