Chapter 44: The Aftermath

"The course of true love never did run smooth." ~William Shakespeare

Happy's mind was reeling as he hit the highway; he needed to clear his mind and a ride through the desert was just what the doctor ordered. He couldn't believe that Liv had not told him about what happened with Jax. The more Happy thought about it the angrier he got; he saw red when he thought of Jax's lips on Liv's. Hap didn't think he would have been that upset if Liv would have just told him, but then again who was he kidding, he would have been livid. Happy felt betrayed; he wondered if Olivia didn't tell him because she wanted him to eventually find out and feel how she felt when he had slept with the whores from Red Woody. Whatever it was she was trying or not trying to do, made him feel like shit.

The sun was high in the sky and the heat was unrelenting when Happy finally pulled into the parking lot a little wayside diner. He parked his Harley and killed the engine. Happy straddled his bike long enough to take off his helmet and light a cigarette. He inhaled deeply on his cigarette as he started towards the diner. It was about time he ate something, maybe it would make him feel better. Just before walked in the door Happy flicked his cigarette to the ground and stomped it out. Walking into the diner made him remember the first time he had walked through into the café where Liv had worked. Liv. His foul mood had been nearly forgotten until that point. Until he thought about Liv.

The sign that greeted Happy told him to seat himself, he found a corner booth and sat down, his annoyance was building up again. Hap pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and looked at it, Olivia still hadn't returned his call, which pissed him off even more. He didn't care that she was at a wedding, in fact, it irritated him that she hadn't prioritized him higher. What the hell was happening to him? Happy wondered with frustration. Before Liv, he never would have allowed a woman to get to him in the way she was; he would have just thrown her to the aside and looked for another. Then again, none of those whores had ever been his old lady.

"Hello, I am Sasha. I'll be your waitress today. Can I get you anything to drink?" The waitress asked.

Happy looked up at to see a tall, leggy blonde. He eyed her up for a moment before answering. "I'll take a coke, a burger and fries." Hap cut to the chase. He was hungry and there was no need for dilly dallying.

Sasha smiled at the bald, dangerous looking stranger; he was just how she liked her men. "Alright, I will get your order placed and be right back with your coke." She swayed slowly as she walked away hoping to draw in the man's attention, like it normally did. She turned and looked coyly over her shoulder at the man but his gaze didn't follow her, it was out the window. Sasha frowned, how could she not keep his attention? It wasn't like he had a ring on his finger and even then, it didn't matter much.

Happy knew that the waitress wanted his attention, he had caught on almost immediately; she had the same body language the Croweaters and sweet butts used. He shook his head, as angry as he was at Liv there still wasn't anyone else who compared to her. Happy figured they would work though everything, especially since Liv was so fucking stubborn. He hadn't inked her just to get rid of her a month later. Liv would have his balls in a bag if he did that to her. Shit, she would probably have Tig murder him, if he screwed her over like that. Happy cracked a smile as he thought of her fiery personality that made her quite the match for him; she had never really been afraid to tell him what she thought about things, unlike everyone else. Olivia had always been truthful with him, no matter how hard it was for him to hear.

"Here's your coke, handsome." The blonde waitress interrupted Happy's thoughts of Liv. He frowned at her as she batted her hazel eyes at him.

"Thanks." Happy gave her a dismissing look before taking a drink of his coke.

"So what brings you here?" Sasha was oblivious to his look and tried to make small talk.

Happy glared up at the girl, was she seriously trying to chat with him? If there was one thing he hated more than gashes who didn't get the point, was them trying to make small talk with him.

Sasha tried one more time to get the bald biker to talk to her. "Is that your Harley out there? I love men on bikes, they are so sexy." She sucked her lower lip into her mouth before slowly biting it on its way out. One of her ways of trying to be sexy.

Happy could feel his anger rising, he tried to smooth it out before he spoke, knowing what he wanted to say would most likely be cruel. He shook his head as the woman leaned closer to him. "Listen, just do your fucking job and go get my food. Stop trying to make small talk; I have no interest in you or what you got under your clothes." Happy barked as he watched the waitress' face turn a deep shade of red before she turned quickly on the balls of her feet and walked away from Happy, leaving him in peace. Well that was until his phone rang.

"Yeah?" Happy answered, it wasn't Liv.

"Hey, Hap. We wanted to know if you'd be at the meeting with the Mayans." Chibs asked, knowing that if he mentioned Jax the Tacoma Killer might just fly through the phone at him.

"I should be there before the meeting is done." Happy stated. "I had to clear my head. I am eating some food then I'll head towards Diosa." Happy didn't relish the fact that he wouldn't have the day to himself but he was in a better place than when he left Charming.

"Alright brotha. We'll see you at Diosa in a few hours." Chibs said before hanging up the phone.

The leggy waitress brought Happy his food and didn't say one word to him. He figured he hurt her pride, but she should have known her place. Which was not with him or near him for that matter.

The burger was good, medium rare just like he like them. He finished his eating quickly knowing he had only a few hours to make it back to Diosa before the meeting. Happy stood up and threw a twenty on the table before heading out to his bike. He kicked his bike to life and sped off leaving the waitress and her wounded ego in his ride back gave Happy a clear mind and opened him up to discussion about why Liv hadn't told him about Jax kissing her. It still stung that she kept it from him and he had to hear it from Jackson. However, if Liv could forgive him for all his past indiscretions he would forgive her too…eventually.

The driver of the red sedan had, had a horrible day; he had just walked in on his wife and her lover. He was livid. The man decided to drown his sorrow, pain and anger at a bar. He didn't think he had, had too much to drink and he was fine to drive but in reality he had and he was far from okay to drive. He hadn't seen the man on the motorcycle until he hit him head on.

Happy tried to swerve when he noticed the red sedan gliding into his lane but it was too late. He prepared himself for impact as much as one could prepare for such things. As he flew from his motorcycle and painfully crunched and tumbled onto the pavement, Olivia's face flashed through his mind just before he lost consciousness.

Happy was vaguely aware of her sobbing and her hand in his but he couldn't respond, he couldn't comfort her. Liv's voice was shaky and full of despair. "Don't you dare leave me Happy Lowman. If you do, I will move heaven and hell to drag your stubborn ass back here. I need you... I love you." Again there was blackness and nothingness.

Happy wavered on the edge of consciousness, the faint sound of steady beeping hurt his throbbing head. He fought against the fog in his head and tried to open his eyes. Happy could handle pain, however this was different, everything about his being ached deeply. He slowly pried his eyes open allowing them to focus to the dimly lit room. Where was he? Why was he there? The last thing he remembered was the red sedan but what was it about the fucking red sedan. He couldn't remember. Happy slowly his head and saw heeled feet that were propped up on a chair, his eyes followed up the bare legs, to the hem line of a short black dress. He looked further up the woman's body and realized he hadn't dreamt Liv's voice. She was there and she was sound asleep. Happy took a deep breath as he tenderly turned his head forward again, he was exhausted. And knowing Liv was there with him allowed his body relax and drift back into the darkness again.

Liv was stirred by a nurse, who entered Happy's room. "Oh, I'm sorry for waking you." The male nurse smiled softly down at Olivia, who he thought looked startled by his appearance.

She stretched out her aching body, the hospital recliners were not very comfortable but at least she as able to rest some while she was with Happy. "It's fine. I should see if I can get someone to bring me some more appropriate clothes anyway." She looked down at her low cut bridesmaid dress. "How is he doing?" Liv asked, the stout nurse with salt and pepper hair.

"Well vitals are all normal, we'll be running more test later this morning to see if the swelling on his brain has gone down. Our surgeon last night said that it looked like the swelling would go down on its own. If not, he will have to go to surgery." The nurse was very matter of fact. "If you want, I'll stick around if you want to go get some food and clothes. There's a few of guys in the waiting room."

"Thank you." Liv stood up and started to make her way out of the room towards the waiting room. When she got there Jax, Chibs and her dad were all waiting with cups of coffee. "Morning." Liv rubbed her eyes as she walked into the waiting room and sat down next to Jax.

"Mornin' sweetheart." Jax put his arm around her lazily. "How are you feelin'?"

Liv sighed deeply. She would feel better if Happy wasn't in the hospital. "I'm hanging in there. Is there anyway someone could swing by Happy's and bring me some more appropriate clothes?" She looked down at her plunging neckline which was fine for the wedding but completely inappropriate for sitting around a hospital.

"Yeah, I'll call Lyla and ask her to swing by Hap's." Jax smiled softly.

"You want anything to drink or eat baby girl?" Tig asked his daughter, she looked like she had seen better days. But he understood.

Liv nodded at her dad. "Coffee and something to eat would be great, Daddy. Thanks, both of you." She gave both Jax and Tig a small smile. It was really all she could muster. "Will you bring it back to Happy's room? I am going to head back in there." She couldn't bear to be away from him for too long plus she really didn't want Happy to be alone for too long.

"Alright sweetheart." Tig stood up and walked over to his daughter and kissed her head before making his way to the cafeteria.

Liv made her way back into the room and the nurse was just finishing up with his exam on Happy. "Thank you for sticking around in here with him until I got back." Liv said quietly. She was grateful that he had kept his word.

"No problem. I will be Mr Lowman's nurse all day. My name is Adam if you need anything please don't hesitate to ask." Adam started towards the door.

"Thank you, Adam. My name is Liv." She said as she took her seat next to Happy. She took his hand into hers and prayed that he knew that she was there. "Hap. Please I need you, just give me a sign baby." She whispered.

It would five more days before Liv got the sign that she wanted. Quin had brought her a lap top from Red Woody so she could keep herself busy while she sat with Happy. So she worked on emails while members of the Sons' other charters were in and out of Happy's room every day. They all paid their respect to Olivia and their mother charter. Liv was buried in emails when Happy's monitors started speeding up. She frowned and looked up over her computer screen towards Happy, who was looking around the room.

Tears stung Liv's eyes, "Happy?" She said in barely a whisper as he looked over at her.

"Liv." His voice was husky with sleep. His throat was so intolerably dry. "Can you get me some water?" He asked.

"Of course." Olivia poured him a glass of water from the pitcher that the nurses had been bringing in for her. "Don't drink it too quickly." She held the straw so Happy could drink.

The cool water felt good on his throat. He finished drinking a small amount even though he wanted to down the cup of water. "What happened?" Happy had little recollection of what happened to him other than there was a red sedan.

Liv placed the cup off to the side and sat on the bed next to Happy taking his good hand into hers. "What do you remember last?" Trying to get a feel for where she should start. Jax had told her that he let it slip that he had kissed her and that was why Happy was out for a ride that day. Olivia tried to tell Jax it wasn't his fault but he still blamed himself.

Happy gave her hand a light squeeze. "I remember being pissed off at you and Jax. I went for a ride to clear my mind. I was on my way to Diosa and there was a red sedan, after that everything is blank." He hated that he couldn't remember. Then, a vision of Liv in a dress flashed through his head. "You were here in a little black dress."

"Yeah, I was. I was a bit over dressed for your hospitalization. I left Sam and Bri's wedding reception to be here." Liv had spoken to them and they were okay with her speedy exit. Hell, they didn't blame her. "That red sedan that you remember hit you head on Hap. From what the police said you flew over the top of the car and landed on your head and left side. The man who hit you is in custody for driving drunk. Happy, I don't know what I would have done if you wouldn't have…" Liv trailed off tears fell freely from her eyes.

Happy released her hand and wiped away her tears. "I'm far too stubborn to leave this world yet."

"Hap, I am sorry I didn't tell you about Jackson kissing me. It just slipped my mind with everything that happened with Gemma." Olivia confessed.

A low growl came from Happy. "I am not okay that Jax had his lips on yours. And I am also not okay with the fact you didn't tell me. However, almost dying kind of trumps everything right now. We can talk about it later when I am feeling more like fighting with you."

Olivia let out a quiet laugh. "Alright when you feel better I will let you put me in my place."

"Deal." Happy began to feel hazy. "These fucking drugs I'm on make me feel like I'm high."

"I'll go see if I can find your doctor and let him know you're awake. There is also a waiting room full of your brothers that will want to see you." Liv started to rise from the bed but Happy caught her hand. She paused and gazed back at him.

"I want you to know that I love you." Happy brought her hand to his lips. "You were the last thing in my mind before I blacked out."

"I love you too, Happy." She smiled down at him before leaning in and kissing his lips being careful not to kiss him too hard. "I'll be back shortly." Liv said as she left the room. When she entered the hallway she felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Happy was alive and he had some feistiness about him. She looked forward to the day that he wanted to fight with her about Jax's kiss because she knew he would be back to himself. As she rounded the corner to the waiting room she decided it would be Jax, who told Happy about his Dyna…at least she wouldn't be the one who had to break that news to him.

A/N: Thanks again for your patience with this story. I hope you enjoyed this chapter…I did back track a bit but I thought it would be nice to hear things from Happy's POV for a bit. Thanks for your continued support and reading. Cheers!