A/N - Howdy team! I owe my Ray Donovan readers some love this evening so I've snuck you a little something something this afternoon... Enjoy!
Jax grunted as he rummaged through the cupboard of medical supplies. He rubbed his pants against the edge of the sink, trying to ease up the itchiness as he looked for some more penicillin. He had chewed his way through Chibs' pack and was pretty sure this damn thing wasn't getting any better.
"You okay?"
Tara leaned in the doorway and he paused, easing back. He smiled, trying to relax. "Yeah, just looking for something for, uh, Bobby. Chibs was going to deal with it but he went looking for Tig."
"Anything I can help with?" Tara offered, leaning down to pick up the packets Jax had dropped as he shuffled through the box. He blushed and shrugged it off coolly.
"Nah, no worries, doc," he smiled. The warmth of his grin made Tara want to hold him, her arms snaked around his waist as she leaned her head into his back. Jax murmured contently but groaned as her hand moved down towards his belt buckle. Shit, there was no way she could see the state of him.
"We should wait," he suggested nervously. "We were talking about the cabin, right? Couple more days?"
Tara pouted a little. "It's been long enough, Jax, come on." She gave him a tug. "Boys are napping, it's just you and me."
"But I have to get to the club," Jax whined lamely. He took her hands and led them to his lips. "Soon, though, I promise."
Tara sighed and rolled her eyes, she'd have to give in. If he was leaving, maybe she could just focus on herself for a little while when he had gone. She hated the physical distance between them, Jax hadn't wanted to have sex in days and she was sure something was off.
"Are we okay?" she asked, frowning a little as she put her hands on her hips. Jax swallowed and nodded, trying to smile through it.
"We're perfect," he assured her. He had never been so grateful for a phone call, he snatched up his cell and winked as he slipped out of the bathroom with his foil of meds. "Hey."
"Jackson, it's Fiona." Fiona's tone was one full of worry. Jax glanced towards Tara before stepping into the kitchen.
"You okay? You sound upset."
Fiona took a sharp breath. "It's Filip. Where did he go, Jackson? He's just sent me a message saying he won't be back for a few days. This wasn't the plan."
Jax's nostrils flared as he heard her say it. Fiona Larkin wasn't one to piss off, he was well aware of that. "He went to do some club business," he assured her. Maybe Chibs had decided to throw himself into that sticky strip club too, and it was unlike Happy to turn down a couple of blow jobs. These guys were probably cashing in. "I'll have one of my guys go look for him, bring him home."
Fiona nodded. "You know why I came here, Jackson. You promised me we were going to mend this relationship."
"You will," Jax said, convinced. "Don't worry."
"That Mexican girl..." Fiona started. Jax smiled.
"She's not a problem any more, I told you," he insisted. "She won't ever come back to Charming, I swear. Chibs is all yours, he'll take care of you, just like I promised."
"I hope so," Fiona murmured, her voice filled with a warning tone. "Because I'd hate to see the Irish pull their guns from SAMCRO."
He hung up and glanced back to see Tara haunting the entranceway. He smiled and pulled her close, kissing her fervently as he headed towards the front door.
"You know everything I do is for us, right?" he said with a smile, stroking her cheek as he parted from her. She nodded.
"It's all about the end game," she said, repeating his own words back. "It's all just fitting into place."
Tig was just finishing on his call to Nero as he walked into the hospital. He had been careful not to mention Nina, he knew that Nero would drop everything in a heartbeat to be there, and right now he needed those girls from the strip joint ferried somewhere safe to dry out. Rat was going to bring the van up, at least they could get the girls to the lot to come down from their highs.
He paced the tile hall to find Chibs arguing with a doctor. The doctor looked at Tig, frazzled, and seeing the same cut, she wrinkled her nose.
"Do I need to call security?"
Tig shook his head and waved his hand, resting one paw on Chibs' shoulder.
"No, ma'am, we're all good."
Chibs looked pleadingly at Tig, desperate for him to convince the doctor. "She's on her own, she'll be so upset if she wakes up alone. Tell them to let me see her."
"She's in the OR," the doctor groaned, clearly repeating what she had already told Chibs multiple times. "Nobody can go in, they're trying to pull a bullet out of her."
"Do we know how it's looking?" Tig was the only one calm enough to ask the question, Chibs sobbed into his hand.
"We think it missed her internal organs but she's bleeding, a lot. Something's shredded, we're just trying to patch it." She looked at him with a sympathetic smile. "She's lucky to have friends here, what the hell happened?"
Tig didn't answer. Chibs let out an almighty sob and Tig gave him a huge hug. The doctor took the opportunity to slip away as Chibs broke down on Tig's shoulder.
"I never told her how much I love her," he moaned into Tig's cut, the sound long and grieving. "I was too fucking scared."
"You'll tell her," Tig assured him, holding him tight, knowing he needed the support. He looked over Chibs' face and wrinkled his nose as he saw how damaged it was from the fight, the Sons themselves could do with a bit of a patch too. "She'll be fine, she's a tough girl."
"How did you find her?" Chibs asked. Tig swallowed uncomfortably.
"We, uh, we gotta talk about that." He glanced up as Happy sauntered into the building. He motioned for him to join them and pushed Chibs down to sit in one of the little plastic waiting seats. "That was the location we were going to use for the Galindo meets. Out of the way, local business. It was just luck, I guess." Tig looked at Happy, unsure if he should say any more. "When I got there, that little bald prick? Piggy? He recognised my cut, gave me an hour with her, said Nina was a thank you."
"A thank you for what?"
Chibs looked at him so innocently, Tig almost didn't want to tell him. Seeing him doubting, Happy stepped in.
"Jax sold her out."
Chibs hadn't even managed to react before Tig started to try and explain. "The night I got high with her, she told me she came to town to get some money off her Dad, said she owed someone cash. I don't know what happened with it, but that skinhead idiot told me Jax knocked her out, gave her straight to him."
Chibs' eyes widened. "Are you serious?" Tig nodded. "Jesus fucking Christ, was he that desperate to get her out of town?"
"He's making bad decisions," Happy grunted. "Too much control."
"Power's gone to his head," Tig added. "I'm worried, about this, about the club."
"I'm worried about her," Chibs said staunchly. Right now, she was the only thing he really cared about, and she was lying on an operating table without him. "All that shite with Nero, evening up the score, it was all bull." He looked at Tig, the beating that Nero had given him was still clear all over him. "He's trying to control us, both of us."
"He thinks we acted out of line," Tig shrugged.
"He can't lay down laws about who we love," Chibs spat furiously. "About who we fuck."
Happy was nodding supportively. "And he sure as hell can't fix things by selling some girl out and lying to us about her leaving."
Chibs was about to explode with rage and frustration when the doctor leaned out of the room. "Mr Telford? We have her stable now, if you want to come in. It's, uh, it's not pretty though."
He bounded to his feet in an instant and slipped around the others to follow the doctor through. Chibs pushed his hands in his pockets as he walked behind her, as they reached the OR, he felt his heart sinking.
Nina was stretched out on the bed, a mask over her mouth to support her breathing, a dozen wires and tubes running in and out of her skin. A huge dressing was packed against her stomach, Chibs didn't even dare touch her as he looked at her fearfully.
"She's responding well," the doctor assured him. "She's still critical but at least she is showing signs of stabilising now, we'll have to keep her in for at least a week."
"Aye," Chibs nodded. "I won't go anywhere."
It was as much a promise to Nina as himself. The doctor patted his shoulder as she motioned for the nurses to step out and give them a moment. Chibs couldn't help but cry as he sat down beside her. He reached to take her hand in his own and paused as he felt her fingers clutching something. Unravelling them carefully, he wept as he saw his crucifix, the beading snapped in two, still gripped tightly in her hand.