❛ Ain't nothing to thank me for. ❜

chapter forty one.

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SCARLETT HAS no clue how long she's been awake. She's kept her eyes closed despite the fact that she regained consciousness a while ago because she'd wanted to avoid anyone speaking to her and asking what happened. From the beeping beside her head, the tube injected into her arm and the fabric wrapped around her shoulder, she can only guess that she's at the hospital. She's forgotten everything back to when Jax left her in the van in Chibs' arms, then she completely mentally blanked out.

"Letty," A low voice speaks, "I know you ain't sleeping, lass," A gentle hand pats the back of her hand, "You can't fake snore for shit."

Scarlett groans, pulling her eyelids open to reach Chibs at one side and Juice and Half-Sack at the other, "Oh, lovely. Just who I wanted to be my first sight," She teases, "Hey, boys."

"Scared the shit outta me, Scarlett," Juice scolds, "Never drove so fucking fast in my life."

She smirks at him, swallowing down the pain that the expression brings due to her swollen bruises, "You're all hot and bothered, Juicey. Were you all worried about me?" She pouts mockingly, causing Chibs and Half-Sack to erupt into laughter.

Juice stumbles slightly as Half-Sack nudges him in the side but his annoyed eyes never peel from her's, "I thought you'd be too close to death to make fun of me."

Scarlett shakes her head, "Never."

"Should've seen him when I made it to the waiting room," Half-Sack speaks up, leaning closer to her, "Rubbed his red eyes sore."

Her eyes shoot wider and she looks at Juice in surprise, "You cried?"

"He did too!" Juice shakes an accusing finger across the bed at Chibs, who stares at the extended finger with an unamused look before he looks down at Scarlett.

"Course I did," His hand falls to brush over the top of her head and move a few crazy curls from her face, "Any right man would shed a tear for a good lass."

Smiling gently, Scarlett looks a him thankfully. She remembers how he held her and spoke soft words into her ear on the way to the hospital. If she'd been left alone in the back of that dark van, who knows where she might've ended up, "Thank you," She whispers and he responds with an understanding nod.

"Scarlett," A curly haired woman gasps before taking slow steps around the bed and her hand slowly raises to cover her wobbly mouth while tears stream down her cheeks, "Oh my god."

Chibs backs up slightly and rounds the bed to stand between Juice and Half-Sack, silencing their small childish argument.

Scarlett looks up at her, in a completely different way as she did to Chibs, but both of them contain the same amount of love, "Hey."

"I'm so glad you're alive," Camille sighs and as her hands reach out to touch her friend, she decides against it and retracts her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket.

"Me too," Scarlett hums.

Scarlett watches as Camille's eyes take in her appearance properly and after looking at her swollen facial features, her gaze falls to the bandage wrapped around her shoulder. Scarlett's been left in a hospital gown with her left sleeve pushed up over her shoulder to reveal the white wrapping.

"God," Cami's lip quivers. She doesn't bother asking any questions. Knowing that Scarlett will say anything when she's ready, "I'm so sorry."

"The fuck you apologising for?" Scarlett coughs, shaking her head to push any doubting thoughts away from her friend's mind, "Not one part of this is your fault, okay? It's no one's."

Cami nods slowly, "I wish you'd have told me," She'd been informed for Robert Miller's abusive lifestyle by Chibs, and that information had been enough to spring tears down her cheeks, "I would've helped."

"I know, I know," Scarlett sniffs, already knowing that keeping his tendencies a secret was a horrific idea, "I should've told you all," She looks around the table to the three men to her left, receiving sympathetic looks.

"You look like shit, Miller," A humorous voice speaks from the door and the women's eyes flick in that direction to see Luke Caddal entering quietly, smiling warmly at the lady laying in the bed, "Glad to see you awake and breathing," He moves beside Camille, wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her into his side comfortingly, "Thought the first time I'd see you in a hospital bed would be after you got yourself in a dumbass fight and got your ass beat for once."

Scarlett chuckles, quickly halting the movement and instead just rolling her eyes, "Fuck you, Luke."

"Thank fuck," Now a different voice enters the room and the occupants look over to the open door way. Opie Winston moves inside and stops at the foot of her bed, his eyebrows relaxing in relief as he takes in the small smile on her lips, "You ain't dead."

"Hello, Ope, and jesus christ, you guys," Scarlett looks around at everyone in slight surprise. Each of them had expected her to be lying deceased between the sheets, "I think it will take it a bit more than this to kill me."

"Believe us," Another voice sounds and no one needs to look to know who it is, "We know, darlin'."

Scarlett's heart begins to beat quicker, the movement being picked up on the monitor beside her bed and the blonde biker is revealed to her as he enters further and stands beside Opie, furthest away from her, "Jax," She breaths shakily, meeting his eyes and never seeming to look away.

"Alright, you lot," Chibs declares, clapping his hands, "Let's leave them to it," He pats Scarlett's leg one last time, "Love you, kid." Then before she has chance to ramble out a reply, he's already throwing Juice and Kip out of the door, who are soon followed by the rest of the crew.

Once the hospital room is left empty and silent, Jax slowly moves from the foot of the bed and around to her side, his finger delicately dancing along the covers on her bed. He pulls his lip between his teeth as he looks down at her properly, having to see the damage done to her gorgeous face, "How you feeling?" He asks, eyebrows raising in worry as he notices her expression change.

Now that Jax is present, all the structure and hard exterior that Scarlett had built up while she'd been surrounded by everyone else crashes down and tears begin to roll from her eyes.

"Hey," He says quietly, using his foot to hook around the leg of a chair and drag it under himself as he settles down at her side, "Hey," He gently cups the left side of her face and turns her head so that she's looking at him. His thumb brushes along her bruised cheeks, being extra careful as he gets rid of her tears, "You okay?"

Scarlett can't bring any words to her lips so instead she just shakes her head as her bottom lip quivers violently while she suppresses a sob.

"Cry as much as you want, babe," He speaks to her in such a lovely quiet tone, it has her crumbling further as her tears begin to leave water droplet marks on the pillow beneath her head, "I'll always be here for you, yeah? I'll never left anyone else hurt you again. I promise."

Scarlett sniffs, "What'd you do to him?"

Jax's head shakes as he's reminded of the gun tucked in his jeans waistband that only a few minutes earlier he'd used to murder her father, "I don't think—"

"Just tell me," She insists.

"He's gone," Jax nods, "He's gone."

"I can't believe you found me. . ." She chokes on a sob but never once do her eyes draw away from his face, "I— I thought— He— He was gonna—"

"Scarlett," Jax speaks slightly sternly as he cuts her horrific thoughts short and brings her entire attention back to him, "He's gone. Gone forever. I found you, and I'm sorry I didn't found you sooner. 'Cause, fuck, I really wish I did. But, you're safe now, okay?"

"Thank you," She nods slowly, but suddenly her thoughts flashback to something, "My mum. Was she in the house?"

Jax sighs, and for a split second she expects him to tell her that she killed herself, but instead he shakes his head, "She wasn't there. Apparently, she left a few days ago."

With her tears calming and her breathing slowly, Scarlett stares at Jax with furrowed brows as she takes in his information, "She left? On her own accord?"

"According to Robert," He confirms.

"Why the fuck. . ." She shakes her head, dismissing the thoughts of her drug addicted mother from her mind but that process causes a new image to flow into the forefront, "Jamie," She breathes, "I called him before. . . He probably thinks I'm dead. I gotta call him," She attempts to sit up, but Jax's hands keep her stationary.

"He's the reason we found you as quick as we did," Jax begins to explain, and the mention of her little brother from his lips spikes her interest and she releases to listen, "He called Cami in the early morning after you contacted him."

"How?" Scarlett's mouth falls open, "How would he know her number?"

Jax shrugs, "Apparently, he used a burner phone but still don't know how he figured out her number. Either way, none of that is important now. At least we've got you home and safe, yeah? You'll be able to call him once you can walk straight again."

She frowns, "My legs are completely fine."

He chuckles gently, "You lost a lot of blood, sweetheart," He nods his head towards the blood bag hanging above her head.

She glances up at it and watches as it slowly flows back into her bloodstream. Her brows creases but then she remembers. The thin cut on her stomach. It must've been open for too long, so that was the reason for her weakness.

"You're also on heavy medication for your shoulder," Jax explains, not even able to bring himself too look at the wound despite it being covered by a thick bandage, "Wounds like that take time. So, that's what you're gonna do. . . take your time."

She groans, turning her head so that she can drop it back into the soft pillow in frustration, "How long do I have to be cooped up here?"

"I'll let the doctors explain all that shit to you, babe," He pushes from the chair, "I'll go get Moore," He moves around her bed and stops at the door as his hand curls around the handle, "You gon' be okay on your own?"

She swallows thickly, knowing that if she's left alone for too long then she's going to drown in her thoughts and then Donna will begin to appear again, "Can you send Cami in, please?" She requests quietly, "Just Cami, not her useless boyfriend."

Jax chuckles lightly before nodding in understanding, "Yep," He steps out into the hallway, keeping the door open with his foot as he cranes his neck so that his voice is projected further, "Jones! Keep her company for a bit, would you?"

A moment later, Camille takes ahold of the door and mutters a few words to the biker. Jax sends one last reassuring smile and nod to Scarlett before he waltzes down towards Alex's office.

"What are we thinking then?" Camille tilts her head as she slides down into the chair beside the bed before motioning towards the door which Jax to left through, "Has he redeemed himself?"

Scarlett clicks her tongue, "Not sure what else he can do really. The way he's speaking and treating me is. . . holy fucking christ. I wish I'd got myself kidnapped earlier on."

"Hey!" Cami whistles, shaking her head sternly, "Too soon. Far too soon to be making jokes like that. Do all that 'round the boys, but if you do that with me, you gon' have me bursting into goddamn tears."

Scarlett sighs, "I've obviously picked up some of their emotional unavailability."

"No, you haven't," Cami says exactly what the both of them are thinking, "You've just got too used to putting on that act so people leave you the fuck alone. Well, don't do that shit around me, yeah?" Tears spring to her eyes, "I can see right through it."

"I know you can," Scarlett's voice cracks, the raw emotion in her best friend's face causing the same to erupt across hers.

"Fuck," Camille chokes, standing up from her chair and gently tugging Scarlett into her and she coils her arms around her waist while Camille rests her chin on Scarlett's head; leaving the both of them crying quietly.

"We're such messes," Scarlett mumbles into the fabric of Camille's clothes, which are now soaked with salty tears.

Camille's body jerks with a small laugh, "Mhm. Always have been, though."

"God, I love you," Scarlett breaths.

"I love you too," Cami squeezes her eyes shut, causing more tears to push through her lashes.

The small comment of the love causes the room to drift into a comfortable silence, leaving only the short sniffs and quiet cries to vertebrate around the room whilst the two women hold each other.

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      SHORTLY AFTER Camille's and Scarlett's small cry session, Jax returned with Alex close on his tail. And for the first split second that he re-entered the room, the tears staining Scarlett's cheeks caused Jax's worry to spike until he notices that the pair of best friend's were in the exact same state, proving that it had been more of a comforting moment.

Now, Jax stands beside Scarlett, her hands tangled between his whilst Alex is positioned at the door of the bed, reading off her injuries from his clipboard.

She winces at each point, until she can't handle it anymore, "Alex," She snarls, causing his head to snap up from the paper, "Please stop reading off what's wrong with me, because, believe me, I know. Instead just skip to how long you're keeping me here."

"Right, yeah, sorry," Alex sends her a sympathetic look and she shoots him a sincere small smile, "You should be able to leave here tomorrow, roughly around midday. But, your bandages—" He uses his pen to tap his own shoulder and indicate towards her own wounds, "—will need changing ever time before you go to sleep and when you wake up. I suggest you get someone to help you with that," He waves his hand around, motioning mainly towards Jax, who nods in understanding and Scarlett glances up at him for a moment, thankful that he's willing to help, "And before you leave tomorrow, I'll issue you with some antibiotics and a schedule of when to take them," Alex explains, "But, how are you feeling now? Any pain?"

Scarlett shrugs, "Not much. Can't feel a thing in my stomach. My face hurts a tiny bit and my shoulders numb. I haven't even attempted to move this arm yet."

"Yeah, I suggest you don't use that arm too much," Alex purses his lips, "Only for the necessities. Even with the bandage, it's always possible that things can chafe and burns are a pain to deal with, especially when their situated right on the bone."

"Look, man, she gonna be okay?" Jax questions, "None of this shit is gonna effect her later on?"

"Well," Alex tucks his clipboard under his arm and clasps his hands together in front of him, "Not physically in a biological way. But, as I'm sure you both know, the burn will definitely scar," He speaks carefully and notices how Scarlett's jaw clenches at the reminder, "The deep slice on your cheekbone has been stripped closed, and there may be a minor scar left there. And as for the cut on your stomach, as long as you take it easy and don't break free any of your stitches that should close more or less perfectly as seen as it wasn't that deep."

"Okay," Scarlett nods, "Thanks, Alex."

"No problem," He smiles, and Jax doesn't fail to miss how his cheeks flush from her grateful words, "Just take it easy. I don't want to see you get anymore hurt. So, stay out of fights and things like that for a while, yeah?"

Rolling her eyes, Scarlett hums, "Got it."

"Well, thanks for that, doc," Jax unravels his hand from Scarlett and moves towards Alex, causing the doctor to inch towards the door, "I'll make sure she keeps outta trouble," He pulls open the door, nodding his head into the door way, "Bye."

Quickly catching onto his grown anger, Alex rushes from the room, sending a quick wave to Scarlett before the door is slammed shut and she sends Jax a glare, knowing exactly what his thoughts are.

"Jealous bastard," She teases.

"Don't know what you're talking about," Jax purses his lips and shrugs cluelessly as he drops down into the chair, "You better be getting some sleep, darlin'. When was the last time you slept?"

Scarlett grunts, completely unsure of the answer to his question. She never really slept in that basement. She was just knocked unconscious for periods of time, "I can't remember."

"Get some sleep," He hums, leaning forward and curling a piece of her hair behind her ear before he presses a kiss to her forehead, "I'll be right here when you wake up."

She hums comfortably, shuffling down into the covers as the thought of sleep flows into her mind as she begins to love it. Her eyes first to Jax one last time, as he's sat in the armchair watching her carefully with his legs spread and his fingers tapping on the wooden arms of the chair. She smiles gently at him, "Thank you, Jax."

He shakes his head, speaking in a quiet tone to keep her in the sleep mindset, "Ain't nothing to thank me for."

. . .

the first fluff chapter since what feels like forever

scarlett might act like she's alright and back to normal but i think we all knows that she's not

word count,
3053