By the time Tig and Jax found us at the hospital, I had fifteen stitches in my forehead and my clothes had been placed into evidence bags. Gemma, Nero and Bobby had arrived in time to pace outside the suture room door with my dad while I was being stitched up. After that a female deputy took me into a private room to photograph all of my injuries and then I changed into a hospital gown. Turns out the door handle digging into the small of my back was so uncomfortable because it hadn't just bruised me, it had broken the skin on my lower back. Thankfully, that injury only needed some tape and gauze to fix it.

Now I was laying in a private room on a hospital bed with an ice pack pressed against my back while I waited for the results of my X-Rays and CT scan. The doctor had ordered the CT scan as a precaution. He was concerned that the impact of my head hitting the car had resulted in me having so many stitches. He was fairly confident that I didn't have a skull fracture, but the CT scan was the only way for him to be certain.

It was that same precautious nature that caused the throbbing I felt in my upper left arm after receiving a tetanus shot. Everyone gathered in my room after the Lieutenant left because he was able to get my statement on tape while I waited to be taken for X-Rays. But no one really said much while the doctor and nurse were in the room. Chibs was quick to escape the tension filled room after the doctor finished writing a prescription for antibiotics to run to the pharmacy to get it filled.

"I'm going to go to radiology and check if your CT scan results are ready. If they come back clear, then you'll be free to head home. But I would strongly suggest you have someone stay with you for the night if you live alone because head injuries can be unpredictable."

"She doesn't live alone," Dad declared in a tone so severe and serious that his voice lowered a couple of octaves.

"Oh? That's… that's good to hear. I'll… I'll go see about those results," the visibly flustered doctor said as he made a hasty retreat out of the room.

Once the door closed behind the doctor, Happy said to Jax, Tig, Bobby, Gemma and Nero, "Could you give us some privacy?"

He hadn't taken his eyes off Juice since the younger man had entered the room, but Juice knew that Happy wasn't talking to him when he asked for privacy. The other five silently agreed to leave us alone. After walking away from my side, Gemma stopped beside Dad and said something to him. However, she was too quiet for me to overhear her. But whatever it was that she had said, he didn't look happy about it. At the door she paused to turn and mouth a silent "Good luck" to me and Juice.

As soon as he heard the door close behind Gemma, a quiet growl trickled past his lips. Juice moved to take a step to take up a protective post at my side, but Dad quickly barked out a loud "Sit!" to stop him in his tracks.

"Daddy, please…"

Dad held his right hand up to silence the rest of my plea. His unwavering gaze still remained fixed on Juice as he asked in an incensed voice, "How long?"

Juice turned to look at me. I swear he looked like he might pass out or vomit, so I figured he wasn't in any condition to answer my dad's questions.

I took in a deep breath then calmly answered, "We've been together for a couple of months."

"MONTHS?" He questioned as he finally turned to look at me. "Did I hear that right? MONTHS?"

I nodded and hoped I didn't sound as scared as I felt. "Yes, Sir."

"And were you ever planning on telling me about this… this… situation?"

Juice jumped to his feet and moved into Dad's sight line to try to have him refocus his wrath on him. "Happy… Look man, I swear I never meant to keep this from you…"

Happy silenced him with a withering look. "I'll get to you in a minute, BROTHER." (He spat the word 'brother' out as if it was an insult.) He then returned his angry gaze back to me. "Maria?"

I swallowed hard (it actually hurt a bit) then answered, "I wasn't sure how serious we would get, so I wanted to wait to find out before I worried you."

"Maria…"

"No Dad, it's the truth. You know I've never hooked up with nor have I ever pursued any member of any MC in any way, so…" I paused there as my eyes found Juice's somewhat devastated face. I could tell he was trying to mask his expression with an air of nonchalance, but he was failing miserably.

The tender moment I was sharing with Juice was completely lost on my Father. He was just annoyed by the fact that I hadn't finished my thought and tried to get me back on track by snapping out, "So…?"

Dad waved his hand in front of my face to break my eye contact with Juice. I quickly turned my now infuriated gaze to my Dad and curtly answered, "So it weirded me out! I never thought I'd fall for one of your brothers and the fact that I did with JC… well I couldn't admit what we were to myself, so how the fuck would I be able to explain it to you, Dad?"

"Mia! Language!" He snapped out as an automatic reply.

"¡Me cago en su madre! Seriously? I just killed a man and all you care about is my use of the word 'fuck'?"

"Oh Mia," Juice sighed out as he ran to my side to pull me into a hug as I started to cry uncontrollably.

My dad has never been able to handle me crying. It always made him uncomfortable, especially when he was the cause of my tears. Today I exploited that to its fullest advantage. Just like it usually did, my crying and sniffling worked, and my dad broke out of his angry tirade almost immediately.

"Mia… Baby girl… Please…? I didn't mean to make you cry. I just want to understand why you would keep this from me. Especially since he's been important enough to you that he's stayed at our house enough times to know where to find all of your clothes."

I tried to take in a deep breath, but it just came i stuttered sob. Juice continued to stroke my hair until my tears had calmed down enough that I could take in a proper calming breath.

After a couple of minutes, I gently pushed myself out of JC's embrace so that I could look at my Dad (but I kept JC's arm wrapped around my neck to continue to comfort me), "I didn't mean to hide anything important from you or lie to you at all. I guess… I don't know. I guess I expected this just to be a fling and that it would have ended by now. It never really occurred to me until you asked that we've been seeing each other for so long. I really am sorry, Daddy. I NEVER meant to lie to you."

"I know, Baby, I know." Dad leaned down and kissed my left eyebrow over the bandage. After he stood up straight, he stared down the man on the other side of my hospital bed. "Juice? Would you come follow me…?"

"Daddy! No!" I interrupted.

"Maria…"

"No, Daddy. I won't back down on this. I kissed JC first. I told him not to say anything to you because I wanted to tell you if we ever got serious together."

"And having sleepovers at my house for months isn't serious enough to tell me about this?"

"I'm sorry, Daddy. I really, really am SO sorry. If there was something that I could do to make it up to you, I would do it. But I know I can't say or do anything to make this up to you. But if whatever JC and I have survives through the night, I promise I'll keep you up to date about any new milestones, I promise."

"If it survives…?" Dad started as he turned to walk around my hospital bed. I quickly caught his arm to stop him, so Dad instead stared Juice down from across my hospital bed and said, "You wouldn't be so heartless that you would break up with a lady on the night that she had to fight to the death to survive, would you?"

"N-n-no, man. Of course not!" Juice then stroked my cheek and kissed my stitched wound. "But then again I wouldn't do anything to stop Mia if she wanted to dump me because she realized I'm not tough enough to be her man."

"Oh Juicy, don't say that."

I then pulled him closer to me to give him a kiss. As he leaned in closer to me, we both froze in our place when Dad cleared his throat loudly. Juice jumped back nearly two feet while I just slumped back in my

"Okay… okay… we'll get into this more when Mia isn't recovering in the hospital." He kissed my head again then added, "I'm going to see if I can find your doctor so that we can get you home to rest."

"Alright. Thank you, Daddy. I love you."

"Love you too, Baby Girl."

He passed another unfriendly look Juice's way before he turned to leave the room. At the door he paused to say, "This door is staying open, so do don't do anything you wouldn't want a random stranger to see."

I let out an exasperated sigh. "Yes Sir, we'll behave."

Once Dad disappeared through the door, Juice let out the breath he had been holding with a loud, "Whoosh."

"Holy shit, Mia! You really haven't told anyone about us?"

"No. And from everyone's reaction I could accuse you of the same thing."

"Well, no. But…"

"But what? I'm the girl so I'm supposed to be so gaga over you that I have to shout it from the rooftops that a guy would be with me?"

"What? That isn't what I meant. I just…"

"Stop. Just stop, JC" I interrupted when I heard him start to get very flustered. I tugged on his arm then quietly stated, "Please come here? There's something I've wanted to do ever since I saw you at TM."

He easily closed the gap between us then leaned down slightly. I sat up and placed my hands on his cheeks. He offered no resistance as I pulled his lips to mine. But he was quick to reciprocate when I placed a deep kiss on his lips.

Even though our relationship was based on more than just the physical acts of love, kissing JC was one of my favorite things to do. All of this had started because I had given in to my impulse to kiss him. Initially I had just been teasing him about his hair cut. That had turned into me stroking the shaved sides around his hand and tracing his tattoos with my index fingers. Then I found myself completely enthralled by the shape of his luscious lips. I couldn't help but to sample a taste of them and then I became a JC addict.

JC's fingers tangled themselves into my hair so that he could deepen our embrace. I could feel the strength and power in his hands that he had only ever used to comfort and excite me. They had the potential to be violent and deadly, which heightened my arousal, but that was only because I knew he would never unleash that potential on me.

My hands wouldn't cease their motion as I caressed his head, but neither of us made any attempts to move our hands off of the other person's head. If you asked me, I probably would have said that we both behaved ourselves because of my dad's warning, but I wouldn't swear under oath that that was the truth. I was mostly just relieved that his hands hadn't wandered down to my back because the entire expanse of my lower back hurt so badly.

As we continued to devour each other's lips, JC moved to sit on my bed. His hands moved to my neck, but that was only so that we could reposition our heads so that we could be more comfortable as we made out. I could feel my lungs start to burn with the need for oxygen, but I couldn't bring myself to pull away from him. Lucky for me, he seemed to feel the same way.

"AHEM. Let's keep it PG13, Kiddies," Chibs called out from the open doorway.

Juice fell off the hospital bed in an unceremonious lump at the sound of Chibs' voice. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing because that was beyond inappropriate. Plus, we were lucky Chibs got back with my prescription before my dad did because that would have been ugly.

Chibs bit back a laugh while watching Juice pull himself off the floor. It took a bit of effort, but Juice finally flopped onto the chair beside my hospital bed. Chibs shook his head at the younger man's lack of coordination as he walked over to my left side with a grin on his face.

He placed a paper bag with a pharmacy's logo on it on the counter by the head of my bed and then turned his full attention to me. He started to stroke my head lovingly and leaned down to kiss my forehead. I thought he was just doing it to be comforting, but then he actually started to comb out my hair with his fingers which made me question how comforting he was trying to be.

After a couple of slightly uncomfortable minutes, Chibs smoothed down my hair with both of his hands, inspected his work and then said, "There. Now that should have erased the evidence of what I walked in on."

"Oh God…" I groaned out as I buried my face in my hands.

Chibs laughed then squeezed my shoulder. "Don't be embarrassed Lass. No one else will know… unless you want to tell them."

"Thanks, Chibs," I replied as I lowered my hands slowly. I looked over at Juice and tried to ease some of the nervous tension in the room by joking, "It's a good thing JC shaves his head or else you'd have to go over and finger comb his hair too."

Chibs let out a loud, boisterous laugh then kissed my hair. "Oh Mia! You're going to be just fine, Luv."

I gave him a small smile then whispered, "Thank you so much. I think Dad would go ballistic if he caught us like that."

"And now that the cat's out of the bag, you two will need to remember to be discreet. At least until your Dah has had a chance to get used to the idea of… this."

My cheeks heated up as I answered in a small voice, "I know."

Meanwhile Juice let out an uncomfortable laugh replying, "I hear ya, Brother."

Before we could take that discussion any further, the doctor returned with Dad and Gemma not far behind.

"Good news, Ms. Lowman. All of your X-Rays and scans have come back negative, so no fractures or broken bones. In about a week you should be able to have your stitches removed by your family doctor or you can feel free to come back here to have it done."

"Tara should be able to take care of them for her," Gemma offered. The doctor gave her a questioning look, so Gemma quickly added, "Dr. Knowles… She's my daughter in law."

"Oh… OH!" The doctor's eyes widened as a thought seemed to hit him hard. He was probably finally connecting the dots of why there were so many 'family members' in my room and why the men all had matching decals on the back of their jackets and vests. "Of course, she will definitely be able to tell if they are ready to come out or not. Alright then. Once you're changed and have your prescriptions filled…"

"Right here," Chibs called out, lifting the bag he had brought in to show the doctor.

"Alright good. Once you're changed then you are free to go."

I tentatively raised my hand causing the doctor to laugh softly. "Yes, Ms. Lowman?"

"Uhh… you said prescriptions, plural. I know about the antibiotics and how I have to take them until the bottle is empty, but what else is there?"

"I also wrote a prescription for Tylenol 3. From what the Lieutenant and your injuries tell me, you survived not only a significant head injury, but also a very brutal attack. You probably still have enough adrenaline pumping right now to keep you from feeling the full extent of your injuries. I wanted to make sure that you had something for the pain that I'm sure you will be feeling tomorrow so that you can get proper rest to heal."

"Oh... Yeah, that makes sense. Thank you for everything, Doctor."

"You're welcome, Ms. Lowman. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to give me a call. Your father has my card."

"Thank you, I will."

He smiled and made his way to the door then. Before he opened it to leave, he paused and turned back towards the room to say, "I can tell that there isn't a lack of people to get you home safe, but… I'm assuming you gentlemen arrived by motorcycle?"

"We did," Dad answered with a suspicious bite. "Is that a problem?"

The doctor actually raised his hands up in surrender as he clarified, "No, no problem at all Mr. Lowman. It's just that with the bruising and cut on your daughter's lower back, it might not be the most comfortable way for her to travel right now."

"Oh..." Dad replied in a somewhat pensive voice.

Since I had arrived at the hospital with Lieutenant Roosevelt in his police SUV, none of us had thought about how I would get home once I had been released. Scratch that. Nearly all of us hadn't given it any thought.

Gemma stepped forward then told the doctor, "I drove my Escalade here. I can make sure Mia gets home safely and comfortably."

The doctor nodded then replied, "That should be fine" before he continued out the door.

Chibs gave me a hug and another kiss on the forehead. "Have a good night's sleep, Sweetheart. Jax wanted me to pass on a message. You aren't expected to be back at work until your stitches are out."

"What? But Tino..."

"Shh... Lass, he said 'expected'. Take a couple of days to heal and then see how you feel."

I gave him a shy smile then answered, "Oh... Okay. Yeah. I'll see how I feel in a couple of days. Thanks, Chibs."

He gave my hand one more comforting squeeze as he called out, "Juicy, why don't I walk you out?"

Juice jumped to his feet, hurriedly replying, "Sure thing." He paused and moved closer to my right side to kiss my cheek and quietly say, "I'll call you later, Mia."

"Tomorrow," Dad stated with a severe finality that left no room for argument. Juice gave him wide eyes, so Dad smiled (a creepy, overly cheerful one at that). "You heard what the good doctor said, Mia needs her rest so that she can heal. So, you should wait until tomorrow at the earliest."

I made no effort to hide the exaggerated eye roll that comment elicited from me and said, "I'll call you JC… After I've slept… and gotten permission from the Warden to contact the outside world."

Juice pursed his lips to force himself not to laugh because he could see how annoyed my dad was getting at my cheekiness and petulance. Before he even contemplated replying to my comments, JC made sure he was by the door… and had Chibs standing between him and Dad.

"Yeah, call me once you get yard time."