4

Jax Is Really Alive

Chapter Recap 41 Opie talks about his death experience. He thought when he saw Donna after waking up that he was in heaven. He discovered that Donna was angry with him, not for marrying Lyla but for not being a father to their kids.

Opie is furious with Jax for not giving Lyla emotional or financial support after he died saving Jax's life. Jax was too focused on getting the MC out of trouble with Damon Pope than worrying about taking care of Opie's family.

Opie tells Jax he's going to kill Tig.

Chapter 42 Pile On

Jax knew he shouldn't be surprised by Opie wanting to kill Tig. He'd killed Donna. He thought about all the people he killed thanks to his insatiable need to avenge Tara's death and Gemma's lie. Somehow, he was going to have to try to steer Opie to a better path.

His new phone buzzed. He looked at the caller ID.

"I need to take this. It's from Tara and Abel is . . ." Jax broke off. He wasn't sure how to describe Abel's condition.

"Take your call. I'm going to the alien part of Hale's and use the gym. Maybe it will help burn off some of this anger."

Opie went behind the bar, grabbed a couple of more beer bottles and left Jax.

"What's the news on Abel?"

"I talked to Dr. Pritchard. Abel is going to live. He'll make a complete recovery, but it is going to take a couple of months somewhere between twelve and fourteen weeks for his heart to fix itself."

"When is he returning to Charming?"

"He isn't. Dr. Pritchard has the tech to manage Abel's condition. Abel is not aware of his surroundings, so going to sit at his bedside isn't going to make him heal faster. We'll be able to see him 24/7 on a monitor. With all that's going on in alien land, it's good that he isn't here."

"That is great news," Jax said. Relief swept over him. Being without Abel for a couple of months was better than forever. This was the best news of the day.

"How are things going with Opie?"

"I can't believe that he hates me. I really thought we were good."

There was a long pause.

"What did you base that on?" Tara demanded finally breaking the silence. "He got himself locked up knowing that you guys were going to be targets in prison. He wanted to protect you. It cost him his life."

"Opie was looking for a way out since Donna died."

"You can tell yourself that all you want. It doesn't make it any less tragic that his kids lost their mother, father and grandfather to SAMCRO violence with Clay being responsible for Donna and Piney's deaths. It doesn't make his kids hurt less that their father was murdered and they are dependent on their porn star cokehead stepmom. And you didn't do a damned thing to help them.

"You told me to check in on Lyla who was high as a kite. I brought her a single sack of groceries and Gemma did the same. Is that what Opie was worth to you? Did you even do that much for those kids?"

"You could have said some of this shit to me back then," Jax said.

"You are right, but back then, I didn't criticize you. I was part of the Jax Teller cheering squad. You were focused on saving the MC and I was the supportive little wife. It doesn't mean that what I did was right."

"I thought we had put all this shit behind us," Jax said angrily.

"We've put this shit behind us. It's time you make your peace with Opie. It's time you see how your MC obsession hurt Opie and his family. You can say Opie was looking for way out since Donna died, but how much did you talk to Opie about Donna? Were you there for him when Donna died?"

"That's fucking unfair, Tara. I tried to talk to Opie about his kids. He blew me off."

"And if you were a true friend, you would have kept coming back. That's what a true friend does. You would have helped him, but the MC was more important. Those fucking fake brothers were more important to you than the guy you grew up with—he was the brother."

Son of a bitch, Jax thought. He thought things were good with Tara and she had just unloaded on him again. What made him angriest was that she was right and Opie was right. He hadn't even seen all of the mistakes he'd made with Opie.

"Do you think I can fix things with Opie?"

"I don't know Jax. I think it's going to depend on if you are willing to pay the price he wants."

"He wants to kill Tig."

"That's not a bad start."

Jax drew in a long deep breath.

"I'm going to fix things with Opie. I think it's going to be a long night."

"Just stay at Hale's."

Jax ended the call. He grabbed a couple of beers from Hale's bar and found his way into the alien part of Hale's house and the gym.

It was time to face his friend and the many truths that he should have seen, but was too blinded by his drive to protect and save SAMCRO.