Ch 30

Stop the beeping, I thought to myself. Where was it coming from, it didn't sound like my alarm clock? I opened my eyes and the lights were bright. "It's too bright." I said quietly, I felt like I had a killer hang over but I couldn't remember drinking. The lights dimmed and a face hovered over me, I focused in on it. "Happy?" I looked into his brown eyes, his brow was furrowed. "Where am I?"

"The hospital." He said gruffly. "Kylee why didn't you tell me you had been shot?"

I was about to ask him why I was in the hospital but then the day's event came rushing back to me. Juice…I sat up quickly and winced in pain. "Juice?" I asked, I didn't know if I could handle bad news but I needed to know if he made it.

"They have him in surgery right now. Docs won't tell us anything, we have Tara looking into it for us." He told me as he sat down in the chair next to the bed I was in.

"Hap?" He looked over at me. "I didn't tell you because I didn't realize I was shot. I thought I landed on it wrong when Juice shoved me."

"How did you not know you had been shot? Kylee I have been shot and I knew it." He was angry. He started to pace the room, then he turned to me. I wanted to tell him it was a little thing called adrenaline but I knew I would regret it if I did because he was in a mood. "You could have died!" He pretty much yelled it at me as he walked out of the room. I didn't know if he was upset with me or if he was upset with himself. He let me in, he cared about me and if he lost me it would show his weakness. He didn't want to be or seem weak.

I took a deep breath, the drugs they had me on made me feel loopy. I didn't like it, I would have rather felt the twinge of pain. I pushed my call button. It wasn't long after that a nurse walked in, she was wearing emerald green scrubs. I laughed slightly, the irony of it and of course it was lost on the nurse. "It's good to see you awake." She smiled at me.

"I need two things from you." I told her very matter-of-factly. "First I want to know how my husband is doing and second I need whatever pain medication you have in my IV to be turned down. I feel like I am floating on a cloud and I don't want to be out of it."

"I will see what I can find out about your husband, Mrs. Ortiz. However your meds can not be changed, we want you to rest." She said to me sternly.

"I don't want to rest. I want to be able to be with my husband when he gets out of surgery." I said belligerently.

"Please just rest. You lost quite a bit of blood and have a nasty bullet wound in your shoulder." She said as she started to walk out of the room.

"I would like to talk to Dr. Tara Knolls." I demanded. If I was going to be treated like a child I would act like one I though. Shit these drugs are not doing anything good to me. I thought.

"She isn't your doctor, Dr. Johnson is." She stood in the doorway.

"Please." I replied, realizing I was being a bitch.

"I will see what I can do." She sighed as she passed Jax in the doorway. She looked back at him with a small smile.

"How you feeling sweetheart?" Jax asked as he sat on the edge of my bed.

"I'm crawling out of my skin and I just woke up. I think I am on too high of a dose of pain meds." I looked at him. He looked weary. "How did the deal go?"

"Well it's on hold as of right now. But I have a feeling things are going to fall in our favor." He smiled softly at me. "We couldn't have done it without you."

"Oh what, Juice and me getting shot helped then?" I jeered.

He frowned at me. "Kylee that wasn't your fault."

It was though. "But it was. I knew when I saw Matthew I should have left. I knew he would have taken his anger out on me. I mean it was my fault that Liam and Jonah were murdered."

"What do you mean?" Happy piped in, as he walked in the room.

I looked at him. "He was one of the men who…who beat me that night with Liam. He helped kill my baby. If…" I started as man who I didn't know walked in. He was wearing a white lab coat and had a stethoscope draped around his neck. He had a full head of salt and pepper hair. He had my chart in his hands and he looked at me.

"Mrs. Ortiz." He said formally.

"Were not done Ky." Happy said sternly

"Kylee." I responded to the doctor and I rolled my eyes at Happy, I wished he could have just left well enough alone.

"Kylee. So Nurse Lynn told me that you would like to have your pain meds turned down and that you were enquiring about your husband." I nodded. "Well let's start by looking at the rate you are on for these pain meds. Do you feel any pain?"

"Not unless I move my shoulder. I feel like I am crawling out of my skin on these meds." I said promptly.

"Alright well if it is that bad we can probably turn your pain drip off and start you on oral pain meds." He stopped the pain meds that were fed into my IV fluids from a separate pump. "There, you should be feeling better soon. Make sure that you page the nurse if you think you need to go back on them."

I nodded, "What about Juice?" I asked.

"Of course you can drink some." He said not understanding what I was saying.

I shook my head as I looked over at Happy and Jax who both laughed. "My husband, Juan Carlos…also known as Juice. How is he?"

"He is still in surgery. He was lucky he was alive when he got here. Your friends are really miracle workers. He did lose a lot of blood and he was shot at least three times. One of those bullets is lodged in his lung which is what they are trying to take care of right now so he can breathe. If he makes it through surgery his prognosis is guarded and he will be in ICU under critical care." He said.

I couldn't even cry because I felt so high from the drugs. IF he makes it through surgery. He had to make it through surgery. I felt numb.

"When will I be able to get out of here?" I asked.

"Well, if you want and things are continuing to look good possibly later tonight or early tomorrow. We want to keep an eye on your vitals, if they remain good you can leave tonight." He kept was looking at the machines and then looked back at me. "I'll let you know if I hear and more about your husband." He said politely as he took his leave from the room.

The day went by slowly and I was thankful Happy hadn't brought up Matthew again. I was sure he was biding his time. I was grateful I had visitors from the club in and out of my room all day. I still didn't have any news about how Juice was doing and my visitors helped me take my mind off of it. I thought that no news is good news. I had a few minutes by myself when one of the nurses kicked everyone out of my room. Happy gave her the death look.

"It's fine Happy." He hadn't left the room all day, not even to smoke. Which surprised me. I knew some time away would do him some good. "Go have a cigarette." I waved him out of the room. "Sorry about that." I turned to look at the nurse who was looking at the monitor I was hooked up to.

"Oh it's okay. I actually think it's nice that he's so over protective." She smiled at me.

"You noticed that too?" I shook my head. "Do you know have they finished with surgery on Juan Carlos Ortiz?" I asked

She shook her head, "I don't know but I will definitely check for you. I do have some good news for you…" She glanced over at me.

"Good news is something I need right now." I was starting to feel some pain in my right shoulder and I was exhausted. I hadn't slept because I was so worried about Juice. I knew if I wanted, Happy would have cleared out my visitors, but they helped pass the time and take my mind off of Juice. I felt like everything that had happened was because of me, it was my fault he was fighting for his life.

"Dr. Johnson said that if your vitals remained stable we could release you." She smiled. "He will be in shortly and then I will be back to change your bandages and with discharge papers for you."

"Thank you." I said with a small smile. I was relieved now I could go raise some hell somewhere else on the other side of the hospital where Juice should be. As soon as the nurse left Happy walked in. "Hey." I smiled at him. He looked more relaxed and calm.

"So what did she have to say?" Happy asked me with some concern creeping into his face.

"I am going to be discharged, my vitals have been spot on and the doctor is okay letting me leave. However…I don't have any clothes that are not stained severely with blood." I looked over at him.

"I'm already on that. I sent Rat to your house to get you some clothes."

"Seriously you sent Rat to my house to get me clothes? Boys are no good at picking out things that match. Have you seen how he dresses?" I rolled my eyes at Happy.

"He's the best I could do, Tara is working and I'm here with you. I could send a croweater to your house if you want."

"If you send a croweater to my house, I will kick your ass with my one good arm." I growled at him.

He laughed at me, I knew he loved to see how he could get me to react to his antics. I rolled my eyes at him, I knew he was doing it to make me feel better, even if it was at my expense. I glared at him as he sat down at the end go my hospital bed. The one thing that I had in this world if it fell apart was Happy even if he was a giant pain in my ass. "Hap?" He looked at me. "What happened today?" I asked knowing full well he wouldn't hide the truth from me.

He sighed as if he knew it was coming but didn't know how to tell me. "That asshole had it out for you…why?"

"Matthew was one of Liam's closest associates, he was one of the men that helped beat me up when Liam thought the baby I was carrying belonged to Juice. I am sure he held me responsible for Liam and Jonah's deaths." I searched his face for answers but all I got was the furiousness of Happy's bad-temper staring back at me.

"Why did you pretend like everything was fine?" He said angrily. "I knew something was up when you turned as white as a ghost. You should have fucking said something."

"And what showed that he still had an effect over me? NO!" I shot back at him. "I will not allow anyone to control my life like that. It wasn't just to show him, but to show myself I was strong enough."

"He tried to fucking kill you!" He was trying to control his anger but it was oozing through his words like venom.

"I understand that Happy and Juice is the one paying for it unfortunately. I understand the consequences of today…believe me I am well aware of them. Juice is fighting for his life because of me. I get it!" I was getting angry at Happy. How did my simple question about what happened turn into him being so irate. I should have known better the littlest things could set Happy off.

"He will never try to hurt you again." He was too calm.

"Will you be getting another smiley face tattoo?" I asked. Each time Happy made a kill he got a tattoo of a smiley face on his abdomen. He had quite the collection going on he had over 13 of them. I never had asked him because I didn't like to think about all the men who had died because of his hands.

Happy looked at me and then said, "The bastard had what was coming to him. He took advantage of the relaxed nature of everything. Juice must have known what was going on because I saw him dart towards you watching him. Then the shots rang out. I watched him save you only to take the bullets himself. I flew at the bastard immediately with Chibs and Tig. Bobby and Jax pulled their guns on the Irish. It was chaos for a few minutes. We killed him, he said he would die happy knowing that he took someone who cared about a lot from you. I don't know which one of us gave him the killer blow but he died." So no tattoo for Happy, they had to die by his hands and no other for his tattoo.

I didn't have much to say, it was almost a relief to know that he wouldn't be coming after me again. I didn't like the loss of life but knowing that I was safe and if Juice died, he wouldn't die in vain. I didn't say anything; I just moved myself next to Happy with some effort and put my head against his shoulder. He put his arm around me and gently squeezed me against him. I had my bad shoulder next his body; he was careful about not putting too much pressure on it. He held me like that for a few minutes when my doctor came in.

"Hello Kylee. I have some news for you." He said with his professional politeness when I knew he was probably thinking I deserved what I got for hanging out with the criminal element in Charming. "Juan Carlos is out of surgery and in the ICU. They were successful in recovering the bullet that was lodge in one of his lung lobes. He is being ventilated by machines right now and being kept in a coma because his doctors want his body to recover some before seeing what happens. So far it looks good however he is still in serious condition and his prognosis is guarded."

He was still alive, that was the news I wanted all day. "Can we hurry up and get me out of here so I can be with him?" I asked Dr. Johnson.

He laughed slightly at me. "Someone is antsy." He said. I looked over at Happy with annoyance. He was glaring at the doctor which made me smile.

"I suppose you would be anxious too if your wife was in the same place Juice is." I shot back at the doctor. He stared at me and my belligerence with curiosity in his brown eyes.

"I suppose you are right Mrs. Ortiz." He said back calmly. He looked at me with some annoyance and then went back to my chart. "Well everything looks good. I will send in your nurse to change your bandage and get you on your way." I waited for him to say "good riddens" but he didn't. Maybe he was scared of Happy, I wouldn't have blamed him if he was. Happy could be a scary fucker.

It was another ten minutes before the nurse showed up with my discharge instruction and bandages. My wound was red and angry, the nurse mentioned that I was lucky that it missed all major arteries and didn't do as much damage as it could have. When the nurse finished with my bandages and my discharges, Rat walked in with my clothes. I was happy he brought me something comfortable and matched. He had picked up a new pair of panties and bra. I frowned at the thought of him going through my drawers. He grabbed a plain black shirt and some jeans. I gathered my clothes and went into the bathroom I easily got my pants on but started to have trouble with my bra and shirt. I popped my head out of the door.

"Happy?" I called out.

"Yeah?" He looked up from where he was sitting on my bed, talking to Rat.

"Can you see if Tara or a nurse can come help me finish getting dressed." I asked. I was embarrassed I couldn't get myself dressed.

"I'll get her." Rat stood up to go and find her.

"Rat, sit down. I'll help her." Happy stood up and walked towards the bathroom. I stepped back from the door and let him in. I stood there half-dressed with my bra covering me. I immediately turned my back to Happy so he could latch it for me. To me this felt too intimate the only other man who had helped me dress was Juice. I never let AJ help me. Happy grabbed my shirt off the counter and turned me around to face him. He grimaced at the bruise that had spread across my shoulder and touched it lightly. I watched his face as he started to pull my shirt over my head. I was able to get my left arm in myself and then we got to my problem area, my right shoulder. I gritted my teeth as he helped me into my shirt all the way. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm okay, it just twinges a bit when I move my shoulder." I grabbed the sling that the nurse had brought in for me, she said it would stabilize my shoulder while it healed. I slung it over my head and placed my arm into it. I was ready to get out of this room and check on Juice. "Thanks Happy." I felt like I had been thanking him a lot lately.

He looked at me and nodded as we walked out of the bathroom. "Let's go see how Juice is." He placed his hand on the small of my back to walk me out of the room. Rat followed with all of my stuff, Happy must have told him to do that. He wasn't a prospect anymore but he still did what Happy wanted. We walked out into the hallway and towards the waiting room. I heard the murmur of men's voices. We walked into the room and it was filled with members of the club.

"Ah there she is." Chibs yelled out happily as he pulled me into his arms forgetting about my sore shoulder. I let out a small whimper. "Shite I'm sorry love." He said softly as he let go of me. I just nodded at him, I was overwhelmed by the outpouring for love that these men had.

"Thank you all for coming." I said to them. "I would love to stay and chat but I have a man on the other side of the hospital to check on." I turned and walked out of the waiting room. I heard heavy foot steps behind me, I turned thinking it would be Happy since he hadn't really let me out of his sight all day but it wasn't him it was Jax.

"Kylee wait." He said.

I was impatient. I wanted to go see Juice, I needed to be sure he was still alive. I needed to see him with my own eyes. "Jackson?" I turned.

"Thank you. I'm sorry that everything went down the way it did." He said as he reached me and we started walking towards the ICU.

"Jax, you couldn't have known that Matthew would have done that when he saw me. I hope that the deal goes well but please don't take it personally when I say I will not be helping when it comes to the Irish again." I looked at the floor as we walked. I should have listened to Happy and Juice when they protested maybe things would have turned out better. Then again they could have turned out worse.

He chuckled at me. "Listen, I don't blame you. Let me know if there is anything the club can do for you or for Juice." He said as we stopped at the ICU desk.

"Thanks, Jax. I will." I nodded and smiled at him. I looked at the ICU nurse she looked like she had seen better days. Her brow furrowed when she looked at me with her gray eyes and mousy silver hair that was in a ponytail.

"Can I help you?" She said with a gruff voice, she was a smoker.

"I would like to see Juan Carlos Ortiz." I said promptly.

"I am sorry but we are only allowing immediate family, dear." She said. Stupid bitch, I thought.

"I am his immediate family. My name is Kylee Ortiz and I am his wife." I was blunt. She stared at me for a moment as if she was trying to decide whether or not I was telling the truth.

"Oh, I wasn't aware you were released. Please go ahead." She motioned towards the door to the ICU. "He is in room 104" She said politely.

I turned back and gave Jax a small smile before walking through the double doors to the ICU. I turned the corner to room 104 and I heard the beeps before I could see him. A steady beep, beep, beep and there he was laying in the bed with machines hooked up to him. My heart was pounding hard him my chest. Juice looked so helpless and broken. I walked up to his bed, the man who I knew as tough no longer looked that way. He had a tube in his mouth and taped across his face, I knew that was hooked up to his ventilator, it was what was breathing for him. I touched his face.

"You idiot." I said to him. "Do you know what life has been like without you? Now you're doing it again. Don't leave me Juice, not yet." I said. I sat down in the chair next to his bed and held his hand. I half expected him to grasp it back but he didn't, it laid limp in mine. I put my head on his bed and cried softly. For as two years I wanted to not see Juice, I wanted nothing to do with him, I ran from him all because he hurt me so badly. Now I wanted nothing more than to hear his voice one more time, to see him smile…I wanted him more then I wanted anything. It's funny how when something is gone you realize how much you want it or need it for that matter. "I love you." I whispered

A/N: sorry it took me a while to get this out. We'll see what is to come for Juice and Kylee. Thanks again for all your support and as always I love to hear what you think… cheers and enjoy!