A/N at the end of chapter. I hope you enjoy. All reviews welcome. A quick thank you to Momoftwins1970, Nerdy-Country-Gril89, bikechika, Robin D., MUW D'Bellegirl, and Guest for the reviews. You guys made my week!

Kit bag in hand, Chibs finds Bobby and the woman in the kitchen. She's sitting in the only chair and now that her panic has worn off Chibs can see what Bobby was saying about breathing rough. One of her hands is pressed against her left side and the cadence of her chest looks out of sync.

"How do I go about this then?" Chibs leans against the counter still looking at the woman as he talks and even though he's speaking to Bobby he's watching her.

"Just speak clearly and while facing her directly. She won't hear you even if you speak up so just talk slowly and—" Bobby tails off for a moment "— try to tone down your accent maybe? I don't know how that works here."

Here goes nothing Chibs thinks as he crouches down in front of her, putting his face closer to her eye level. Her dark eyes contain a bright intelligence and they lock in, meeting his own lighter brown irises before sliding down to study his scarred cheeks finally settling on his mouth. He used to hate it when people stared too long at his face, he knew they were wondering about what terrible thing he'd done to earn him the disfiguring marks. It's not like a man can pick up a Glasgow Smile just anywhere. He's gotten used to it over the years but there's still some lingering discomfort. Here though, he knows there's no choice. She can't read his lips if she's not looking.

"Alright lass." He attempts to speak slowly and enunciate. "Can you understand me?"

She nods

"I'm not a doctor but I can patch yeh up. Aye?" He struggles to keep his accent away as he speasks. She nods again, her left hand coming up to give him the universal "Ok" hand signal. He smiles at her. Seems she can read lips well regardless.

"Where's it hurt?" He asks.

She holds out her right hand, fingers spread wide and he hisses at the sight three missing nails.

"I think that's why she wouldn't take the pen and paper I offered." Bobby says from over his shoulder and Chibs nods. He's had fingernails ripped out before, he knows the weakness and shaky fingers it can cause and feels a swell of sympathy for this woman who uses her hands to speak. This is equivalent of cutting out her tongue. He looks back up to her face and makes sure she's focused before he speaks.

"I'll clean it up and wrap them. It will hurt, understand?" He waits for her nod before he speaks again. "We have painkillers for after." She nods again. "Where else does it hurt?"

This time she doesn't nod but stands and despite her earlier agility the movement is unsteady. Chibs puts a hand on her thigh as she rises to keep her on her feet. She uses her good hand to tug at the hem of her shirt but the leverage isn't right and she lets out a huff of annoyance.

"If she's going to get topless you should probably take her to one of the dorms, don't want the boys to get the wrong idea." Bobby is ever practical and Chibs nods along. Pushing up from his crouch he reaches out to still her.

"Your ribs?" He asks. She nods. "Okay, I'm going to take yeh to a dorm room for that. Another room for privacy. Understand?" She nods again. He wonders if her neck ever gets tired.

"I'll bring food back when it's done." Bobby says and Chibs nods to the older man before turning back to the woman.

"Come on lass." He holds out his hand to her, she ignores it, but follows as he leads her out of the kitchen and down the hall to the dorms.

The clubhouse has cleared out some while they've been in the kitchen and only those brothers with nowhere else to sleep are still in the main room shooting pool and playing cards. No one bothers them as they move past. He takes her to one of the extra rooms Gemma maintains for visiting Nomads.

Chibs doesn't know where she'll stay while they're keeping her, well prisoner is more honest than protected, but this room will do for tonight. He throws his kit on the bed and turns to look at her. She's got an eyebrow up at the small room and he watches as she takes it all in a sarcastic smile turning up one corner of her mouth at the pinup over the bed.

"Aye, we're all dirty old men." He didn't think she'd been watching his mouth but she must have because she smiles just a bit and lets out an amused huff of air. "Okay, let's see the ribs." He motions to her side as he speaks and she looks away for a minute before again using her good hand to tug at the top. He watches her struggle for a moment before stepping forward. He goes to touch her but thinks better of it, instead waving a hand in her line of sight until she looks up to his face again.

"Can I help?" He motions to the bottom of her shirt and she seems to consider him carefully before she nods and gives the OK sign again.

The whole things feels wrong but Chibs isn't sure why. Maybe the fact that she seems almost doubly vulnerable between the injuries and the lack of hearing. He reaches out for the hem of the shirt and pulls it up. She helps by lifting her arms but he hears her hiss in pain. With her left in nothing but a bra he can see why. Her entire left side is one giant bruise. He bends his head to inspect the damage before looking back up at her face. Not missing the fact that she's so thin every rib is visible.

"I'm going to have to feel it. Figure out if it's broken." She nods and then holds up her left hand with just her index finger pointing straight up she tilts the hand from side to side before it shifts and her hand is open palm with her thumb tucked over facing him, she motions her hand along her head this way mimicking what appears to be long hair. She gives him a look with her eyebrows raised that seems to say this is a question, pay attention.

"I don't understand lass." She ignores him and makes the set of motions again her eyebrows rising high, her chin jutting out. He can tell she's desperate to communicate. She points to his cut and then makes the moves again trying to use both hands. It's like a game of charades and he's never been good at party games. She jabs at his cut again with more force this time and mimes the hair again. Chibs starts to feel something sink in.

"Another person in a cut?" he asks, she nods. "A brother with long hair? Big hair?"

She nods, looking excited. There's really only one other brother she'd spent any time with so Chibs takes a guess. "Bobby?" She nods.

"You want him? Where is he?" She nods again and then motions to her stomach, the universal sign for hungry. "Where is Bobby, because you're hungry?" She nods again, the small smile back.

"Aye, he's going to bring the food back here soon." She makes the OK sign and then motions down to her ribs. He takes this as a sign he can touch her. He uses gentle hands on her hips to direct her to sit on the bed and pulls over the only chair so he can comfortably press at her bruised ribs. He marks the spots where she winces or hisses in pain and goes back to them probing deeper.

"Nothing is broken, just bruised." He looks back to up to her face when he speaks and she nods again. He suddenly realizes how close they are. The knock at the door startles him but she doesn't move and he has to remind himself again that she can't hear. What seems like such a small thing in his world makes such a large difference in hers. There's another knock and Chibs jumps up to answer.

"Hey there — whoa, you could warn a man." Bobby holds the tray he's carrying up as though to shield his eyes and Chibs suddenly becomes very aware that she's sitting on the bed in nothing but jeans and a bra.

"Just about to wrap her ribs. She asked about yeh but I think it was more about the food." Chibs moves to let the burly biker into the room and a thought occurs to him. "How does she know your name?"

"Pen and paper, the original communication device." Bobby nods down to the tray and sure enough there is an old yellow pad and a TM branded pen sitting next to the plate of food. "I tried to get her to write but I think she's right handed so the no fingernails thing got in the way." Bobby's voice trails off into mumbles.

"Aye" Chibs watches as Bobby deposits the tray on the desk and then stops to stand directly in front of her waving his hand to make sure she's looking at his face before he speaks.

"I made you grilled cheese and tomato soup. There's also a muffin for desert, leftover from breakfast but it will do. I brought the pen and paper too just in case." She nods again. "You're going to stay here, in this room." Bobby points down towards the floor as though to emphasize this point. She nods again, stone-faced. "I stay across the hall. Chibs—" Bobby points back as he speaks, "he stays two doors to the left." Another pointing finger. She nods again. "If you need us, come knock." With that, Bobby turns to go clapping Chibs on the shoulder as he goes.

When the door clicks shut Chibs bends down to get the tape and an elastic wrap out of his med kit. She watches him and he can see recognition in those dark eyes. He doesn't miss the way her eyes cut to the food across the room as soon as he settles in front of her. He waves his hand to get her attention.

"Can eat as soon as I get yeh taped up. It'll hurt a bit." She nods again and takes a breath. He can tell she was aiming for deep when her face hitches up in pain. "Aye, it'll help with that." She makes another face as though to say no shit.

He makes quick work of the wrap and then moves the tray to the bed so she can eat with her left hand while he works on her right. She practically inhales the food while he cleans and bandages her fingers. He finishes just as she's shoving the last of the muffin into her mouth, chewing with her eyes closed. He waits until she's staring at him again.

"Feel better?"

A nod.

"Here's two of the pills. Should keep yeh feeling good until the morning."

Another nod and an outstretched hand for the pills. He hands them over and she takes them with a sip of water from the tray. She presses her fingertips to her lips before pulling her hand away in an arc. The action is familiar but he can't place it.

"I'll leave yeh to it then." With that he leaves the room taking his med kit with him.

Authors Note:

The sign at the end of the chapter means "thank you" and is signed using a flat hand, palm facing the signer, arcing forward off the mouth or chin.

The "universal sign for OK" mentioned here is referencing the hand sign where an "O" is made with the thumb and index finger with the remaining fingers raised and spread. This is not technically how you say OK in ASL but it is accepted by most people so it made sense in context.

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