She hated hospitals.

This wasn't because she had experienced some form of trauma or anything; Rather, she had worked for St. Francis 6 years before leaving to work as a tattoo artist full time. While employed, she had worked a wide array of menial jobs from registration to billing. Everyday she found herself miserable and depressed. Rude patients and ignorant administration can wear on a person's self esteem very quickly. She knew how corrupt her organization was-almost as much if not more than your stereotypical corporations-whilst working under the guise of a religious establishment. This would explain why, as she approached the automatic set of doors, she felt a wave of anxiety wash through her body. She shook her hands violently as she walked through in the hopes it would alleviate the jitters-this only helped a bit.

As she approached the counter, she caught sight of the receptionist. She had to be about 19 with her bleach blonde hair tied into a very tight pony tail that nested on top of her crown. Unlike her last place of employment, the receptionists here were dressed head to toe in lavender scrubs. (Normally, hospitals like to color coat scrubs to certain departments-example, green scrubs are worn by surgeons, etc.) She had her head immersed in a cardiology textbook when Mina finally reached the desk. Grinning from ear to ear, she spoke with a cheery tone, "Welcome to St Francis, can I help you?" Mina remembered when she too was chipper and bright at her post at the many front desks of the hospital departments.

She'll find out, Mina thought to herself.

"Yes, I'm here to see Jimmy McQueen? I'm his wife, Liza?"

She understood why they had put Tig in the hospital under the false identity, but it was still weird to say. Not too mention the whole "wife" thing. But, whatever, she handed over her fake id to receive the visitors pass and took the elevator up to the third floor. As the elevator door opened, she stepped out and looked down at the green card again. 312 was the room number, and an area code within the Chicagoland area. She looked back up at the board in front of her and read "308-314" and an arrow pointing to her right. Walking through the halls, she began to miss her family back in Chicago. As she wondered about her parents and their well-being, she saw Bobby slouched outside of the room at the end of the hall. The closer she got, she could see him trying diligently to complete the crossword puzzle. Wearing the same pair of faded blues and gray shirt, Bobby left his cut draped on the arm of the chair. She had to crack a smile as he squinted over the spectacles that rested on the bridge of his nose.

He looked up and went to stand, but Mina waved for him to stay seated. Instead, she bent down and kissed his cheek. "He hasn't woke up yet," Bobby spoke in a quieted tone.

Mina felt her nerves go on high alert as she looked through the window at Tig. "Well, is he okay?"

"Oh, n-baby girl, he's fine. They just got him on heavy pain meds, so he's been asleep most of the time. Well, at least the whole time I've been here. I'm sure if he got up and saw me doing this he'd give me shit." Bobby laughed which lifted Mina's spirits a bit. "Can I go in?" Bobby nodded and Mina walked in.

She hadn't expected the room to smell like flowers, but the smell of lilies and roses permeated the room. Gemma, she thought. Here's this big, bad biker with a pretty bouquet of-ooo, Mina thought to herself-orange flowers. She heard the faint sounds of narration on the TV and when she turned to look, she saw a program on gangland violence. "How appropriate," she thought as she turned the TV off.

She waited for a moment to see if maybe Tig would protest, but he remained asleep. Mina placed the remote back on the side table next to Tig's bed and search the room for a chair. The over padded recliner at the opposite end of the room was a lot heavier than she had hoped, so she tried not to make too much noise as she pushed it next to Tig's bed. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she sat in it and listened to the monitors beep.

As she looked at him lying asleep in the hospital bed, she felt her eyes well up. She reached her hand out to touch his face or even run her hand through the tangled curls but she couldn't do it.

She tried to speak, but the words wouldn't leave her mouth. The pictures of Heinz laying in a hospital bed flooded back into her mind. She never wanted this for herself-perhaps that is why she had been acting the way she did. She had thought a lot about Heinz lately and about how much his death affected his family, his club, and especially her aunt. She remembered what a hard-ass her aunt had been, a very strong and confident woman. Gemma was a lot like her-queen bee in this hive of renegade killer bees.

After Heinz passed, Mina remembered watching her Aunt slowly decline until her own death. The parallels between her and Tig, in hindsight, scared her because she had seen it with Heinz and her Aunt. Not to mention the fact that their "relationship" as it were was being played in fast-forward given the circumstances. She had to consider whether he was worth it all. Was she willing to stay? Was she willing to overlook all the inevitable that came with Tig? The women, the rides, the gun running, the murder, the booze, the drugs,...all of it? She saw what it did to her aunt, and she saw what it's done to Gemma. As her thoughts raced, she put her hand next to Tig's on the bed, trying not to touch him.

She could leave right now, she thought. Bobby would understand, and hell, Tig would probably forget about her as soon as she hit the plane en route back to Chicago. She could go back to where it was safe and comfortable. She and Molly,...Molly. She remembered how happy she was here in Charming with Chibs. He was good to her and for her. She thought of Penelope and how she adored Chibs. If Mina left, she'd have forced Molly to come and Molly would never let her live that down. She couldn't do that to her friend.

Mina thought about how close she had become to Chibs as well as some of the other guys. She was so happy to be around Uncle Bobby again. She remembered him twirling her around as a little girl and seeing him again that first time she came to Charming. Then her thoughts came back to Tig. Staying here could be bad, but to leave would be far worse.

Was he worth it?

She let her head fall as she began to sob to herself. As she wept, she felt a hand close on top of hers. It almost felt foreign without the heavy rings but she knew it was him. Looking up, she watched Tig's hand squeeze hers. Her gaze traveled from his hand to his face and she watched him open his eyes to see her. His eyes were a deep blue and intense, not groggy as she would've expected. Mina pulled his hand towards her lips and she gave it a gentle kiss before whispering, "You're worth it. You're worth it."

She looked back up to him and saw his eyes water. Using what little strength he had, Tig pulled Mina up from her chair and pulled her to him. "I'm so sorry baby," she wept as she lay on his chest. "I'm not going anywhere, I'm here." Tig kissed her on top of her head as she continued to weep on his chest. He shushed her and pet her head.

…

Bobby stood up and saw Mina with her head on Tig's chest. He watched as Tig pet her head and knew she had decided to stay. With a smile, Bobby sat back down and tried to remember the four letter word for defecate for 42 across.