With quick steps, Sage made her way through the desolate, white halls of St. Thomas. She remembered her own stay here too well, which she just wanted to forget sometimes. Pushing her own fate aside, the redhead tried to concentrate only on Dawn.

She initially suppressed the tiredness that was written on her and Happy's faces as she approached the reception desk and asked which room and floor her sister was on.

As the middle-aged woman adjusted her glasses and ran her fingers over the computer keyboard, Sage placed her elbows on the counter and rubbed her face, her leg bouncing impatiently.

Happy, seeing how out of touch Sage was, stepped next to her and placed a hand on her hip so he could pull her into his side. "She'll be fine, otherwise someone would've called already."

Sage looked up at him in despair, visibly exhausted. "What if they just forgot to call us?"

"You really think that someone would forget to let you know? I don't think so", Happy reassured her and his deep, gravelly voice actually managed to calm her down a bitᅳ again.

"I don't know", she mumbled with a shrug. "Probably not."

Then the woman behind the reception spoke up again. "Room 207, 3rd floor. It's an intensive care unit, which means only relatives are allowed to see the patient. Are you related to Miss Trager?"

"Uh, yeah." Sage quickly rummaged through her handbag, which she slipped from her shoulder to the crook of her arm to look for her ID. "I'm her sister."

Adjusting her glasses, the woman scrutinized the name as Sage held out her ID. "Okay, then you can see Miss Trager's. What about the gentleman here?", the older woman's gaze shifted to Happy, skeptically.

He simply ignored how the woman wrinkled her nose and judged him with her looks, probably because of his kutte and his demeanor. Good thing he didn't really give a shit what others thought of him.

"He's a friend", Sage quickly interjected, her leg starting to twitch nervously again. "Can he at least wait outside the room?"

Sighing, the woman waved her hand. "All right. He wouldn't be the first to wait outside the room. But I don't want any trouble here."

With a snort, Happy shook his head at such prejudice, but said nothing about it. Dawn was more important now and Sage should finally get the chance to calm down a little. He gently pushed the redhead forward as she was about to say something to the woman, her face twisted in annoyance.

"Leave it, it's not worth it", he rasped close to her ear as they stood in front of the elevator.

“Why do people here have to be so full of prejudice?”, she asked with a huff, crossing her arms over her chest. "They act as if you were about to start a war here and kill everyone."

A grin tugged at the corners of Happy's mouth. "They just don't really know us. Let them think what they want, we can't change their opinion of us anyway."

"Still", she added stubbornly.

When she finally got to the right floor, Sage looked for the room number, but she didn't have to look long. Jax was standing just a few feet away from one of the rooms. Sage abruptly stopped in her tracks, so unexpectedly that Happy almost bumped into her.

"You don't have to talk to him", he assured her, and if he had to, he would also tell Jax that it would be better if he just left her alone.

She felt Happy's hand on her lower back again, gently pushing her further. The closer they got to Jax, the faster her heart beat. Not because old feelings came up, hell no. But because immense anger rose within her. The moment she spotted him, she just wanted to punch him in the face.

Acid bubbled up in the pit of her stomach and then burned through her esophagus. She wanted to puke, but she could keep it down.

"Hey man, good to have you back." Jax greeted Happy with a handshake and a quick hug, hitting his SAA on the shoulder before pulling away, his gaze settling on Sage. "Nice to see you, Sage."

"Oh fuck off," she huffed dismissively, her green eyes briefly studying his face, which contorted in disappointment. "What are you even doing here?"

The fuck off was most likely the most passive aggressive fuck off Happy had ever heard and unlike Jax, who looked at the redhead with disillusionment, he could only smirk. He liked this side of Sage, too.

"Jesus, what's your problem, Sage?", the blonde asked with a sigh and pushed his blonde hair back. "I'm waiting for Fawn, she's still inside."

Not only Sage but also Happy raised an eyebrow. After everything Jax caused, what he had done to Sage, he actually had the nerve to ask what her problem was. But the SAA was still holding back.

"What my problem is? Are you fuckin' serious?!" the redhead snarled with wide eyes. Then she shook her head. He isn't worth it, she told herself. "You know what, it doesn't matter. I just want to see Dawn. It's best we just stay out of each other's way while I'm here."

"Sage!" When Jax reached for her arm as she turned around to finally check on Dawn, it was Happy who placed an admonishing hand on the blonde's shoulder and pulled him back a little.

"Just leave her, man", he insisted, his stoic gaze fixed on Jax, who just looked at his SAA in confusion and irritation.

"The hell, man?", the blonde asked, his forehead wrinkled. "I just want to talk to her."

"But I don't want to", Sage said dryly, looking at Jax with nothing but disappointment in her eyes before she gave Happy the tiniest of smiles, grateful that he had intervened on her behalf. Then she finally pushed the handle down and slipped through the door.

"What was that about?" Jax faced Happy after the door to the room closed. "I just wanted to talk to her, nothing more. Don't get me wrong, but that's between Sage and me and not your problem."

"No it's not." Happy's features suddenly hardened, ready to defend Sage. "But after what you and Fawn did to her, it's understandable that she doesn't want to talk to you. Maybe it's better if you just leave her alone."

Jax's expression fell. With a bitter laugh, he ran his tongue over his teeth before nodding. "So she told you about it", he stated, factually. "Will this be a problem between us?"

What Happy didn't like was when Jax gave him that warning, scolding lookᅳ he wasn't a kid who needed to be scolded. If Jax wanted respect, he should also show respect. Clay may not have always done everything right as Pres, but Jax, with his cocky, arrogant attitude, wasn't always much better.

"Not if you don't make it one." Happy's tone was neutral, yet somewhat dismissive and cutting. "Just leave her alone, it's the least you can do."

Jax gritted his teeth, his jaw clenched. And yet he knew that Happy was right. Leaving Sage alone was the least he could do. But the moment he laid his eyes on her, seeing her in the depressing looking hospital hallway, a wave of his old feelings for her came back to the surface.

To this day he regretted hurting her like he did. He loved Fawn, but she was also tiring to be with. Fawn was different from Sage, not as kind and loving. While Sage always had his back, Fawn kept trying to push him away from the club, telling him that life here was far too dangerous and that Hayley deserved better.

He hadn't known that he still had feelings for Sage until he saw her again only a few minutes ago. And he couldn't help but think about what his life would've been like if he had never hurt Sage like that. What if she had never lost their child? The child he barely thought about since Hayley was born.

But he knew better than to start a fight with one of his brothers over a woman, it wasn't worth it. He probably didn't care enough about Sage to risk losing one of his best men. At least he thought so.

ᚔ

With a concerned expression, Sage put a hand on that of Dawn. Her sister lay motionless in bed, wired and with an infusion in her arms. The only good thing was that Dawn could breathe independently and didn't have to be put into a coma. So far so good.

"Are you okay?" Tig pulled his chair next to Sage's and let his hand glide up and down her back. "I'm sorry that this happened. That should've never happened."

It was no wonder that Tig was plagued by guilt and was full of concern. And yet Sage knew he wasn't to blame for the whole thing. Other than Fawn, who has been pacing around in the small room for ten minutes with her arms crossed.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I'm here and we know that Dawn will be okay." Sage gave her father an encouraging smile and put her free hand on his knee. "The doctors said that, right?"

"Yeah, yeah they said that she'll be okay. It can take until tomorrow until she wakes up. And depending on how the wound heals and she feels, maybe she can be released next week", Tig said, putting his hand on top of Sage's. The fact that she didn't blame him like Fawn gave him a little more strength, which he needed right now.

"If she'll be okay", Fawn chimed in, her tone rather mocking instead of supportive. "All of this only happened because you cannot have a normal life!"

"Fawn, come on", Tig let out a sigh and took a look at his youngest daughter, Sage squeezing his hand comfortingly. He was too tired to argue or discussᅳ and Fawn was kinda right. Nevertheless, she couldn't blame him for everything. "I know that wouldn't have happened without me. You think I don't blame myself enough?"

"As you should!" The youngest Trager shook her head, nothing but judgement in her eyes. "She could have been deadᅳ because of your lifestyle! Let that sink in, dad", she spat towards the man with the black curls.

"Jesus, would you shut up?", Sage hissed, her voice shaking from all the anger that rose again. After she pulled her hand out of Tig's, Sage got up and walked over to her sister. "If you find this life so dangerous, why are you here? Why did you marry a cheating biker and get a kid with him, huh?!"

Sage's head flew to the side when her sister's flat hand hit her cheek. All the redhead did was snort a laugh, not a warm, happy laughter, more a challenging one. Sniffling angrily, she wiped a little blood from her lip, Tig already on his way to get between them.

But before he could do that, Sage took a step forward and backhanded her sister. The slap was so hard that the sound of it bounced off the walls. And the whining that followed of her younger sister was like music in Sage's ears.

Oh, how long she wanted to do that. And boy did it feel good.

"Okay, that's enough!" Tig got between the two, his hands gently grabbing Sage's arms. Even if Sage's slap had been worse and more brutal, he looked at the redhead instead of checking on Fawn. "Your lip is bleeding", he stated with a sigh. "Sit down, I'll take care of it."

"Are you fuckin' serious?!", Fawn seethed, offended that Tig was more interested in Sage.

"It's better if you go, Fawn. Now", said Tig in a warning tone and pointed to the door. "I'll call you when we know more."

Sage couldn't help but grin. She had always been a peaceful person who avoided conflicts and didn't wish anyone anything bad. But it just felt good to see how attacked Fawn felt.

The blonde only snorted. If looks could kill, both of them would be dead by now. "Fuck you, both of you!"

With force, she slammed the door shut behind her, her behavior resembling a teenager. Tig sighed while Sage didn't know exactly what to do. However, she was then pushed back into the chair by Tig before he disappeared in the bathroom and came back with a damp cloth only a moment later.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to cause trouble", Sage murmured. The next moment she hissed as the wet cloth was pressed down on her burst lips.

"Sorry baby", Tig apologized, holding her chin between his fingers while he dabbed her lip again. "You didn't. If Fawn starts shit, she has to live with the consequences. And she struck first. Nevertheless", he paused and put the cloth aside, his piercing blue eyes searching for Sage's.

"I don't want it to escalate again. I will tell Fawn to stay away from you", he told her, his tone now a lot more gentle again. His facial expressions slowly softened when he looked at his daughter sensitively. "You're staying, right?"

"You don't have to do that, I'll stay away from her anyway. Can I crash at yours and Ima's place as long as I stay?" She asked. Staying in the clubhouse wasn't an option. The chance that she would constantly run into Fawn was too big. "And I stay until Dawn is doing better and can come back home with me. I hope you understand that."

"I do", Tig replied with a deep sigh. "And of course you can stay with us, Ima will be happy about it. Nevertheless, it would be nice to have you here again, always. Charming was your home, baby."

"Right, it was. Until Fawn stayed here", she let out a bitter laugh before shrugging her shoulders, then she dropped against Tig and wrapped her arms around his hips while she buried her face on his stomach. She didn't get higher because he was still standing in front of her. "But I miss you and everyone else."

Tig looked down at Sage, swallowing softly as she was looking for his closeness. He missed her, more than he wanted to admit himself. Sometimes he would like to move to Seattle where his two eldest daughters lived, at least he would be welcome there while Fawn probably secretly cursed him.

"I miss you too, you know that." Slowly, he ran his fingers through her hair, as he always did when she was still little. "Is there a chance that you'll come back to Charming one day? We would find a solution."

Sage held back some tears and rubbed the back of her hand over the tip of her nose. She didn't know her father like this, so vulnerable, and it hurt her to have to turn down his wish.

"No, sorry dad", she whispered rather, hugging him tighter. "I have Dawn in Seattle, my art gallery and my customers. And a much quieter life without having to watch my ex and my sister and how great her life is."

"You should be here, not her." He had never spoken out what he had thought over the past years, but he was fed up with Fawn constantly whining and telling him how bad he and his club was for Hayley.

A few hot tears now ran down her rosy cheeks. Sage quickly wiped them away on his shirt and with the back of her hand. "Maybe you'll come to Seattle at some point. And if not, in the future we will make sure that we still see each other more often."

"We will do that", he quickly agreed and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "I promise."

Without another word, Sage nuzzled her face more into his shirt and remained quiet, enjoying the father-daughter moment too much to say something. Fawn didn't deserve to have such a great family around her if she didn't even know how to appreciate them.