"Bree?" Tara's voice startles me. I jump away, curling further into myself.
"What's the last thing you remember sweetheart?" Unser asks softly.
"Three guys, one had a hunting knife." I stutter through my shivering, an unnerving cold coursing through my body.
"We gotta get her to the hospital; she's lost a lot of blood." Tara's panic rises. I struggle to keep awake.
"What are we gonna tell the cops, the guys?" Gemma scoffs.
"I don't give a fuck what you come up with but she needs blood and the only way I can get it is at St. Thomas." Tara turns angry, standing up to the mother of all bitches. If I was in any other frame of mind, I would have been extremely proud of her. "Wayne, help me out here." I feel two shaky hands grip me gently on each side and help me to my feet.
"Come on sweetie. Let's go, the doc will take care of you. He wraps the heavy blanket around my delicate skin.
We make each agonizing step toward Tara's car, Unser carefully lowering me into the back seat. Gemma sits next to me, pulling me to lie down in her lap. She rubs her hands up and down my arm, occasionally stopping to move hair out of my face or run her finger across the bruising on my face. We pull into the parking lot of St. Thomas and Tara runs ahead of us to get a wheelchair, Unser helping me into it. I fade in and out of it while they hurry to take me inside. Tara tells Gemma and Unser to wait while she gets me an IV and some meds. While she's doing her work, a lazy heavy feeling slowly takes over and I fall asleep again.
I turn in the unfamiliar bed, searing pain flows from everywhere. Each time my skin stretches, it feels like I'm being ripped apart.
"Sweetie, don't move. Just stay still." Tara puts her hand on my shoulder, pushing me gently back on the bed.
"How bad is it?" I whisper, my throat is on fire. She picks up a Styrofoam cup and feeds me a spoonful of ice chips.
"Several of your cuts were deep enough or long enough to need stitches. You're going to have to see a plastic surgeon." She says, her eyes drop to the floor.
"I'm not worried about scars." I try to dismiss the idea. Her face turns pale and I realize there's more. "Just tell me Tara. I'm not a sugar-coated type of person." She sighs loudly.
"They carved symbols and words into your skin. Swastikas and a few Aryan symbols." She holds my hand.
"Why me? Did Gemma have something to do with this?" I drop my voice and look at her. "They mentioned trying to break the queen."
"She needs to tell you that. Right now, she's working on a story with Unser. No one knows you're here." She tells me. "You're gonna be fine. Really sore for a little bit but good."
"Get her here now. Tell her I will call Hale if she's not here in 10min." I growl, staring up at the ceiling. She nods her agreement and steps out of the door. Gemma rushes in almost exactly 10min later. Her face is flush and irritated.
"What the hell are you threatening to go to Hale for?" She demands, her foot stomping slightly. When she sees the damage to my face and neck, she stops and her jaw drops open. "Oh my god baby girl. I'm so sorry."
"What's going on Gem? Why did this happen?" I ask; my voice still strained.
"My car accident wasn't an accident." She tells me the story, filling me in all the way up to today when she realized who the men who hurt her were. She explains what they want and why she didn't tell the guys or the cops. I had to agree with her logic. The guys would go off, start a war and that was the last thing we needed.
"What am I gonna tell them about my new body art?" I ask her when she's finished.
"Two kids mugged you. You keep them hidden for now." She explains. "Unser made it look like TM was robbed. You need anything sweetie?"
"No, I don't want Filip dealing with this while he's on club business. No distractions." I look down at my hands.
"I'll text him, tell him you dropped your phone and it broke. We'll tell him all of it when he's back safe." She assures me.
"When they get back, I wanna see Jaxson first. Blame it on needing him to donate blood or something." I make her promise.
"Sure thing doll." She turns and leaves. Tara comes back in with some more pain killers and I accept them, grateful.
I spend the next 12 hours in and out of sleep. Each time I wake up it's the same burning pain as the first time. Tara promises that the antibiotics and pain killers will take care of that for me. They've kept the details away from the guys, only telling them my phone was broke and not to worry.
Sometime in the middle of the night, Jax and Tara come into my room. I struggle to sit up a little and both of them rush to help me.
"Jesus Christ Bree. What the fuck happened?" He asks.
"I thought this hospital had visiting hours. What kind of place you running here Knowles?" I laugh weakly. Tara takes this as her cue to leave.
"Who did this?"
"I'll play a game with you Jax. Truth for truth, just me and you, we keep it to ourselves." I fold my hand over his.
"Yeah, ok." He gives me an odd look.
"Did Clay or Tig kill Donna? And don't fucking lie to me." I watch as his face goes through a wide range of emotions.
"I don't have proof, but yeah, I think they did." He looks down at the bed.
"AJ Weston and two of his Aryan pricks carved me up like a KKK buffet." I reach down and move the blanket and my gown to the side, revealing a particularly shallow swastika only covered in butterfly sutures. He rubs his hand over his goatee, pain and anger on his face.
"What happened?" He asks. I shake my head.
"It's my turn. Was he trying to kill my brother?" I ask. He nods his head, still looking at my side. I throw the blankets back over it, anger coursing through me. "They only said you needed to end your deal with the niggers and spics, their words not mine."
"They're dead." He says.
"No, you don't tell a soul about this. We're going to keep this to ourselves or I take my information to Op." I tell him, making my face reflect the no-nonsense tone. "Far as anyone is concerned, someone was stupid enough to rob TM, two stupid kids. We'll figure out the rest later."
He stares at me with an almost terrified expression, watching as I wince in pain while readjusting my position. A tear forms at his eye.
"Fine but you gotta tell Filip, he is gonna see this." He pleads with me.
"No Jaxson, he won't. I'm seeing a plastic surgeon tomorrow and I'll be hiding it from him until we get this taken care of. I'm not saying you won't be able to go after them but right now, a war in Charming is the last thing any of us need. From now on, you and I are full disclosure about this shit. No more games or I tell Opie everything and you'll have a full-blown monster on your hands." I use the last ounce of my energy and lean back, exhausted.
"Wow, maybe you are the princess of SAMCRO." He said. A flash of the attack plays in my mind and I stare at him for a moment.
"You need to watch out. They know more about us than you think. Weston called me that when he attacked me." The words rush out of my mouth. "Stahl called me that too. You think he has someone inside?"
"Yeah, I do." His eyes turn dark and he goes to leave. "Filip is already here. I"ll send him in." I lean back and close my eyes.
"Jeysus Christ Aubrey." Filip's voice is close. I open my swollen eyes with a half-smile, my stiff cheek fighting against the movement.
"Looks worse than it really is babe." My words fail to comfort him. He carefully brushes my falling hair from in front of my face and leans over to give me the faintest kiss on my forehead. "You guys all ok?"
"Little issue with Tiggy but otherwise we're good." He doesn't elaborate and I know better than to ask any questions. "How long doc say you gotta stay?"
"Until she's sure there's no concussion. She's being cautious. Should be later today or tomorrow at the latest. Tara's been the best." I lean back, unable to hold my head steady.
"Need anythin?" He asks.
"My pajamas, long sleeve please. This hospital is fucking freezing." I ask weakly
"I love you Bree." He whispers, leaning over me.
"What else is goin on baby?" I ask. "When you were out with the guys, you sounded off."
"Just some old shit, comin back to haunt me." He says, looking at his hands.
"I'm too high to bug you about this now but you're gonna tell me when I'm off this good stuff." I smirk at him, patting his head.
"You get some sleep sweetie. I'll go get your clothes and come back." He explains.
"I love you Filip." I mutter as I fade out again.
Hours later, Tara finally comes back. She holds a clipboard in her hand and she's dressed in casual clothes.
"Ready to go home?" She asks.
"Yeah, I gotta call someone." I tell her.
"On my way to the club, I'll drive you over. Filip brought you clothes." She hands me paperwork to sign.
The nurses help me to pull the clothes on over my bandages, carefully not to rip anything. Tara wheels in a chair and they get me situated in it.
"You can take this one with you. I signed it out for a few days." She tells me before pushing me back through the doors.
The ride to TM is excruciatingly long. The sun is almost setting when we pull in. I notice Gemma is right behind us. Dad and Jaxson sit on the picnic table. Tara calls Half-Sack over to help me out of the car and into the wheel chair. Dad stands up when we approach, his face full of agony. Ope stands nearby with Tig, his eyes boring into me.
"Oh baby. You ok?" Dad asks, lowering himself to kiss me on top of my head. Gemma heads inside after speaking with her son.
"Yeah daddy, just a little sore." I lie smoothly. Jaxson watches me carefully, his eyes full of worry. "Heard about the fight today." I turn to him.
"Yeah, he pushed my bike over." Jax looks down at his shoes, guilt all over his face.
"Such a heinous offense." I roll my eyes and my dad laughs. Filip sees me and waves.
"I'm jus gonna move this one, then I'll be done." He hops into a gray mini-van.
The next five minutes pass in slow-motion. I hear Filip scream as he leaps out of the van and then there's a loud explosion, the sound of busting glass and twisting metal screech across the lot. Filip's body flies into the air, sending him about 5 feet away. Everyone moves at once. Opie pushes me toward him; I realize the loud wail in the air is no longer the van but my own terrified screams. A pool of blood forms behind his head. Tara works on him while Jaxson is trying to get us all back. The sound of intense sirens fill my ears and a throbbing pain rushes through my head.