Disclaimer-My name is not Kurt Sutter. I don't own the Sons of Anarchy, but I am the sole owner of this story, my OCs, and a husband who just found this fic. Everyone say hi!
Kozik cracked the hospital door open and looked in. The Tacoma Killer was half in a chair, and halfway on his old lady's bed. They weren't talking, just looking at each other, his head on the pillow next to hers. Ace was stroking the back of his head, and Kozik was struck by the raw tenderness between them, and also how unexpectedly strong Ace looked, despite the bandage covering her left eye, and the bruises it didn't quite conceal.
Kozik looked back down the hallway, and knew that Happy's time was up by the nurse marching his way. He nodded to Nova, who got to his feet immediately.
"Go slow her down a bit so I can get him out, I don't think he's going to be happy about leaving." He told the Nomad, who flashed a roguish grin and stepped off. Shaking his head, Kozik knocked lightly on the door, noting the way his brother reflexively tried to cover as much of Ace as possible with his own body before he saw who it was.
"Sorry, bro." Kozik apologized, hands held up. "Nurse is headed this way. We had a deal, time to go."
"Go?" Ace asked, confused, looking to Happy with her brow furrowed. Happy in turn looked to Kozik, measuring his resolve, and scowling when Kozik shook his head in warning.
"I gotta go get my hand checked out." Happy told her, tucking it back into the sling. He put a finger across her lips to stop her reaction to the first look she'd gotten at his hand. He'd purposely kept it out of her line of sight so far. "Don't. I'll be fine."
"C'mon, Killah, you're outta time." Kozik put an arm around his shoulders, drawing him away. Happy backed toward the door reluctantly.
"Go on." Tig let himself into the room, and helped push Happy out. "I'll stay with her. Nova and Bulldog are out in the hall, and Tacoma's got a few guys in the waiting room down the hall. Absolutely no one is gonna get close to her."
"Yeah." Happy nodded, looking past him into the room, then refocused on Tig. "Tell the nurse to give her something for pain, that eye is bothering her more than she's gonna let on."
"C'mon, big guy." Kozik turned Happy, and frog marched him toward the elevators.
No Other Man Alive
"Hey! Calm Down!" Tig yelled, shaking her shoulder, and Ace struggled, trying to figure out where the screaming was coming from when she realized it was her. She pushed Tig away roughly, and sat up, panting, holding one hand out to keep him at bay. She looked around the sun bright room, trying to think through the drug haze.
"Where is he?" Ace demanded. "He was here. I didn't imagine that."
"Hap's fine, dollface. They took him into surgery an hour ago to fix up his hand. I'm sure he'll be back in here in a couple hours, no matter what the doc tells him."
"How bad is his hand?" Ace asked dully, curling onto her side, blanket pulled up over her shoulder. Tig studied her for a long moment before answering.
"Pretty bad. It'll be months before he can ride again, but he's a tough bastard, so don't worry." Tig said, kicking back into the recliner, putting his sunglasses on against the daylight.
"Did he kill them?" She whispered after a few minutes of silence. Tig looked over the top rim of his glasses at her.
"Let him tell it. He needs it." And Ace nodded, closing her eye again, keeping it closed even when Tig spoke again. "You're safe. We're not ever gonna let anything happen to you again."
No Other Man Alive
"Not exactly the homecoming I expected, Jax." Bobby Elvis commented, as Redwood sat at their table. A couple guys from New Mexico and SAMTAZ stood around the perimeter of the Chapel, and Clay sat in a chair behind Jax, smoking a cigar. Tacoma and the Nomads were noticeably absent, still at St. Thomas with Happy and Ace.
"I know, Bobby. SAMCRO dropped the ball on this one." Jax admitted, glancing behind him at his stepfather. "I'm personally offering my old truck to Happy. Bowie says he won't be able to ride for months. I'm also covering whatever expenses they have here until he gets back on his feet. I'm hoping SAMCRO will vote to cover their hospital bills. We're flush from the deal with Galindo and the Irish, we can take the hit."
The vote made it around the table with a chorus of subdued yeas. SAMTAZ's SAA stepped toward the table when it passed.
"SAMTAZ isn't as rich as Redwood, but we can kick 5% up over the next three months to help."
"Did your charter already vote it?" Jax asked, surprised at the offer.
"Voted it this morning. We're also going to be available if Happy needs backup to finish the job."
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."
No Other Man Alive
Happy hated feeling like he wasn't in control, and being put under anesthesia was about as out of control as it got. He fought to wake all the way up with everything he had, not caring that his hand felt like it was on fire. Pain he could deal with, laying somewhere helpless he couldn't.
"Don't worry, Killah, you aren't unprotected." Kozik told him, and it did ease him a little. He lifted his left hand to his face slowly, trying to rub the fog from his head.
"Fuck." He wheezed, his throat a goddamn mess from being intubated during surgery. His eyelids were heavy, but he forced them open anyway. He got a good look at his right hand, casted from fingertip to elbow, and even though he'd expected it, it was still a blow. Kozik held out a cup of water and Happy took it, hand shaking a little. "How bad was it?"
"Your doc said six weeks until the cast comes off. They won't know anything about function until then." Kozik informed him, and Happy nodded, not surprised.
"Ace?"
"She's alright. Tig's still with her, Nomads on the door." Kozik tried to settle him down, but Happy was already trying to sit up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. "Hey, where ya think you're going, Killah?"
"Ain't staying here with her still laid up. I got my hand fixed, that was the deal. Now where the fuck are my clothes?" Happy swayed dangerously as he got to his feet, pulling the monitor off of his finger and going for the IV when he realized that he couldn't get it off one handed.
"Sit down, you fucking idiot. I'll get the nurse and sign you out." Kozik dropped the bag with Happy's clothes on the bed next to him.
Happy ripped the hospital Johnny from his shoulders, rummaging through the bag to find his boxers. He got those on easily enough, but growled in frustration when he couldn't fasten his jeans. Abandoning it as a lost cause he got socks on, relieved that Kozik had brought him a clean pair, and stomped his boots on.
The nurse threw the door open with a huffy attitude, and stared at all the ink Happy had exposed.
"Take a fucking picture." Happy spat, awkwardly shoving his cast through the arm of the plain white t-shirt, and pulling it over his head.
"You need to sign this stating that you're checking yourself out against medical advice." The nurse told him snottily, holding out the clipboard. Happy took the pen and signed sloppily, barely looking at it. She rolled her eyes and handed a stack of paperwork to Kozik. "His aftercare instructions."
"Well she was a ray of fucking sunshine." Kozik observed, waiting on Happy, who was still sitting on the bed.
"A little goddamn help?" Happy asked, holding his cast up and gesturing to his open jeans. Kozik looked at him in disbelief, then shut the door behind him.
"You tell anyone about this, I'll break your other fucking hand." Kozik told him, finishing the job for him.
No Other Man Alive
Tig was on his feet, hand in his cut when Happy came through the door without knocking.
"Christ, you scared me." He said, and came around the bed to his brother. "Fuck, man, your hand."
"I'm fine." Happy brushed him off. "How's my girl?"
"Sleeping a lot." Tig answered, running a hand through his unruly hair, looking uncomfortable. "She woke up screaming earlier, wanted to know if they were dead. I told her it had to come from you."
Happy just nodded, and took over Tig's position next to the bed. Tig and Kozik both sat down in chairs across the room, pretending to ignore Happy with his old lady.
"Wake up, baby." He rubbed her unbruised cheek with a thumb until she blinked her eyes open. Moving very slowly to make sure she didn't get spooked, he kissed her.
"Hi, big man." She breathed, and pushed herself up, looking around. "How's the hand?"
"Bulky." He grinned, holding up the cast for her inspection. The smile died when she took it gently between her two hands and kissed his fingertips. Letting go, she moved back on the bed and nodded to the empty space. Happy propped the head of the bed up a little and slid on, letting her curl up against him. He pulled her carefully closer to his left side, burying his face in her messy hair.
"Fuck, yes." He sighed, feeling calmer than he'd felt since they were in bed in Tacoma, the morning after the fight with Lorca. It hardened his resolve to get her out of Charming the second she could travel. "How're you feeling, crazy Ace?"
"Loopy. I hate being drugged." She rubbed her hand across his stomach, and slid it under his shirt. "Where's your cut?"
"Rivera left before the guys picked me up. I'll take it back from him when my hand is better." Happy promised her, trailing his fingers lightly over the few inches of exposed skin on her back. He stopped when she froze, and moved his hand to her covered shoulder. "I'm so proud of you."
"What for?" She asked, her words started to sound garbled and sleepy. Her head shot up though at the sound of the door. Tig and Kozik were on their feet for the split second before they identified the doctor.
"Quite the set of bodyguards you have, Miss Perez." The woman commented drily.
"Missus." Happy corrected her, arm tightening protectively around Ace. "She's my wife."
"Of course." The doc didn't skip a beat, just washed her hands and turned lights on, finally arriving at the bedside. "I'm Dr. Clemson. How are you feeling, Mrs. Perez?"
"Alright." Ace answered, scooting up to a sitting position. "The pain meds are making me sleep a lot."
"That's a good thing. We want you to give your body every chance to begin healing itself. I need to check on your surgical sites, are we going top to bottom, or bottom to top?"
"Top to bottom?" Ace answered uncertainly.
"Gentlemen?" Dr. Clemson said pointedly with a raised brow toward the door. Tig and Kozik didn't hesitate in stepping out, closing the door behind them. The doctor pointedly ignored Happy altogether, looking directly at Ace. "Are you comfortable with your husband staying for this?"
Ace felt Happy stiffen beside her, and she laid a hand on his arm to stop any protest.
"It's fine for him to be in here for anything." She said firmly.
"Alright, well I am going to need you to give us a little space, Mr. Perez." The doc began peeling the bandage back from Ace's face while Happy moved his disgruntled self to hover as close to the bed as he could get without technically being on the bed. "Everything is looking good, here. Can you open the eye just for a minute? Good. You're very lucky there was no damage to the optic nerve."
The doctor pulled the bandage the rest of the way off, and Happy was horrified by the bruising and neat line of stitches. He kept his face completely neutral, though, through sheer force of will.
"We'll leave that off for now. How are the wrists?" The doc kept moving along in a very matter- of-fact manner, peeking under the bandages circling her wrists.
"Fine." Ace answered, and reached for Happy's hand, getting more nervous as the doctor moved downward. The Johnny was pushed up and the sheet down enough to expose the stapled wound in her side.
"This was relatively shallow, but it got infected, so we have you on some pretty heavy duty antibiotics, which will also prevent any other infections from setting in. The staples are a little easier to care for, they'll need to come out in a week."
The doctor paused in her exam and looked Ace directly in the eyes again.
"I need to do a quick internal. It will be very fast. Are you sure you want your husband here for this? I can get a nurse in here instead if you'd like." She offered.
"No, I need him here." Ace clenched her jaw and closed her eyes as the doc pulled the Johnny down to give her some privacy.
"OK I need you to relax your knees apart, this will be very quick." Ace turned her face away from Happy, and all her muscles tensed. "Ok, I'm done."
Wincing, Happy let Ace pull the covers back over her before he drew her face toward him. He ignored the doctor entirely, carefully wiping away the tears that had leaked from her eyes. He kissed her forehead, and looked her in the eye.
"You're ok." He said, waiting for her nod. "I'm not going anywhere."
"Everything felt fine." The doctor broke in, snapping her gloves off and heading for the door. "The stitches will dissolve on their own in a week or so. The tears make you more susceptible to infection, but we've got you on antibiotics. We'll test for STDs again in 3 months, and at 6 months."
"How long does she have to stay here?" Happy stepped around the bed to stop the doctor from leaving.
"As long as her vitals stay stable and there's no fever, I'd be comfortable releasing her the day after tomorrow." The doctor thrust her hand out for a handshake, then noticed the cast, and awkwardly shoved her hand in her pocket with a nod. Happy followed her out to the hall, a little surprised at how many patches were hanging around.
"Everything cool?" Lorca asked from the chair pulled right up next to the doorframe.
"Yeah. How many Tacoma guys are still here?" Happy asked, still half in the room.
"Twelve of us came down, everyone is still here. Everyone's down the hall in the waiting room, I think they ordered pizza." Lorca answered. "Do you need something?"
"Nah, man. I need to talk to Ace first. Can you keep everyone available for a little while?"
"We're not going anywhere, brother." Lorca sat back in the chair, and Happy clapped him on the shoulder and headed back into the room.
"Hey, where are you going?" He asked, spotting Ace struggling to get off the bed, all her monitors and her IV tangled up.
"I have to pee." She snarled, frustrated and swiped at her face. Happy helped sort her shit out and got her upright.
"Good?" He hovered behind her as she moved slowly to the bathroom, curled a little at the waist. From his vantage point, he had the terrible misfortune of being able to see the livid red and purple bruises on the inside of her thighs. His left hand cranked in a fist and he wished again that he had had more time at the warehouse. In his mind, he went over it again. Kick to the groin; shatter the eye socket, knife in the side, and across the throat.
"I really hate this." Ace muttered as Happy helped her get turned around to sit on the toilet.
"Me too, baby." He told her, grinning. He turned his back and turned the water on as high as it would go. "Kozik had to get my pants on for me. Don't tell him I told you that, though, because he said he'd break my other hand if I did."
Ace snorted and then winced, the urine burning all the broken tissue she had going on in the crotch. Checking to make sure that Happy's back was still turned, she checked out the damage. The bruises told a pretty clear story, but those were temporary. Hunching over, hand pressed to the line of staples in her side, she spread her legs further, and was relieved to see that everything still at least looked normal, just swollen.
"You done, yet? Need help?" Happy asked, and Ace rushed to finish cleaning herself.
"I'm good, help me up?" Ace sighed, and held her hands out to him.
Happy pulled her up, and habit had him crowding her, so that she had to lean back to look up at him. He took a half step back, and picked her wrists up one at a time to get a better look at them. He slid the sleeves of the Johnny up, his thumb caressing each bruise before moving on to the next. He cupped her cheek and kissed her bruised eye.
"Hap…" She whispered, clinging to his bicep, not sure what else she wanted to say.
"I need to see, but I'll stop if you say so." He traced the curve of her jaw, down her neck. "Can you trust me, Ace?"
"I-don't know." She admitted quietly. "I can try."
He moved her so that she could see him in the mirror and stepped behind her. He kept his eyes on hers as he pulled the ties, opening the two sides. Glancing down quickly, he noted each fingerprint bruise and the memory of the marks he'd left on her, from clamping a hand down on her hip, or biting her neck, or using her ass as a handhold, it all made him sick.
Happy retied the strings, moving back to stand in front of her. He went to his knees before her, holding his useless bulky arm out for balance. He ran a hand up her right leg pushing the hemline up with it. He sat back on his heels, feeling her shaking. The bruises on her thighs were even more angry from the front. Ace put a hand down on his, stopping his progress.
"No more." She told him quietly, and he nodded, eyes on his hands in his lap. Her hands came down on his head and he rested his cheek against her hip as she stroked his head.
"I can never atone for what they did to you. What I let happen to you."
"Happy, it wasn't your fault." She told him, and he felt her tears falling on the back of his neck, and shook his head silently.
No Other Man Alive
Happy settled Ace back in the bed, sliding her back onto his chest.
"Take your shirt off." She demanded sleepily. "It's too weird without your cut."
He sat up and struggled out of the shirt. He'd been about to toss it, but she took it from him, tucking it underneath her cheek.
"When you're released, I want to get the hell out of Charming." He told her, leaning his back against the pillows.
"That sounds good." Ace agreed, her free hand tracing the letters tattooed into his skin. I live, I die, I kill for my family.
"So where do you want to go?" He asked her, and she tiled her head back to look at him questioningly. "I'm out of work for a while. We can go wherever you want."
She was quiet for a long moment, looking up at him before she smiled.
No Other Man Alive
"Bulldog." Happy squeezed his shoulder. "Is Tacoma still down in the waiting room?"
"All of em. And Tig, too." Bulldog answered gruffly, and Happy pulled Ace's door closed behind him.
"No one in. For any goddamn reason." He told Bulldog, and knew he probably looked as crazy as he felt. Bulldog opened his cut far enough for Happy to see his piece, then moved his chair directly in front of the door.
"Go handle your business. I'll keep her safe." Bulldog said, crossing his arms.
Happy rolled his shoulders and set off down the hallway, anxious to get things settled so that he could go back to her. The waiting room was a rowdier scene than he figured the hospital had ever seen, and he couldn't help but grin at his brothers.
"Every time I see you, man, you have less clothes on. Where's your fucking shirt?" Kozik asked, rubbing Happy's head.
"Ace stole it. I gotta talk to Bowie. To all of you, really." Happy told him, and Kozik grinned triumphantly, but didn't say a word, just pulled him right into the middle of the room.
"Anything you need, brother, it's yours." Bowie told him gravely.
"I can't put in any formal requests." Happy held up the casted hand in explanation. "And I can't say what we'll decide after we're both whole again, but when Ace gets out of here in a couple days, she wants to go back to Tacoma to recupe."
"Nothing would make me happier. I wish it would have been under better circumstances, though." Bowie clasped Happy's left hand with his.
Happy turned to seek out Tig and found him at his right hand.
"It's up to you how you want to handle this, brother. If you want to head out on your own or see if Quinn can find you another partner, I'll understand." He told him.
"Nah, man. I need to see this through." Tig said seriously.
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