CHAPTER TWELVE: Black Eyes & Lockdown

Jolene's dark eyes took in her surroundings while she sat across from Liam, the place he had picked out to have a drink was fancy. Jolene was use to drinking at little hole in the wall bars, home, or the clubhouse. The brunette tended to stay away from the fancier places because of all the looks she got. Charming was a small town and everyone knew her life story. Plus it was ridiculous to pay fifteen dollars for one drink in her eyes.

"How was your trip to Bakersfield?" Liam asked with a smile.

"It was nice." Jolene said. "It's nice to get away from a little bit sometimes." She added as an afterthought.

Liam nodded. "I hear that. I like to try and get back to Boston as much as I can. Charming is a nice town and I really enjoy it here, but it's got nothing on Boston." He said with a laugh.

Jolene held back a laugh once the words Charming and nice town left his mouth. Charming was only nice because of SAMCRO. They made sure to keep everything and everyone in check, besides his Boston accent it was very apparent that Liam was not born and raised in Charming. The brunette found that to be a good thing though.

"What made you move to Charming?" Jolene asked with curiosity, staring into Liam's bright blue eyes. Jolene found herself intrigued with the blue eyed doctor. Liam Boyd was like a breath of fresh air, one that she so desperately needed right now.

Liam took a long sip of his whiskey, his bright eyes dimming a bit as he seemed lost in his own thoughts. Jolene cursed herself mentally as a silence fell over them. "I'm sorry." She apologized. "I shouldn't have asked." The brunette groaned inwardly at how awkward she had just made things.

"No. It's fine." Liam said reassuringly. "I was going through a divorce, and I needed to start new, start somewhere where I wasn't reminded of my failure of a marriage." He said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "It doesn't matter how big of a city Boston is, going through something like that made it feel like the smallest place in the world."

Jolene nodded. She understood what he meant on some level. Sure, Happy and her didn't go through a divorce, but she understood. "So you decided to move to literally the smallest place in the world." The brunette teased, hoping to lighten up the mood.

"I think it's been one of the best decisions I've made." His eyes looking directly into Jolene's as he spoke.

/&/

Jolene closed the door quietly behind her as she entered the house, a genuine smile took over her features as she locked the door. The doctor had a great night with Liam, they had even ended the night with the promise of going out again. Jolene kicked off her shoes and went in search of Gemma, ready to relieve the older woman of babysitting duties.

"Hey, Gem." Jolene walked into the kitchen seeing Gemma sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in front of her.

"You planning on leaving?" Gemma asked not bothering with a 'hello'.

Confusion crossed Jolene's face for a moment before it hit her like a ton of bricks - the fucking information papers from Margaret. Jolene had forgotten to hide them away when she was looking over them earlier. The brunette didn't think she had to worry about Gemma finding them they were in her bedroom after all, then again Gemma loved to snoop, and could probably give a police dog a run for it's job with how well she could find things.

"You were in my bedroom?" Jolene crossed her arms over her chest. "Ever heard of invasion of privacy, Gem?" She scoffed.

"That redhead gash trying to make you leave?" Gemma asked not even bothering to deny she was in Jolene's room. "She trying to save you from the club?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at the younger brunette.

"I don't know." Jolene shrugged. The young doctor honestly had no idea what Margaret was trying to do, but she had a feeling Gemma hit the nail on the head. Especially since Margaret was also trying to get Tara away from Jax. "I haven't decided on anything." Jolene said with a sigh as she walked over to the table, taking a seat next to Gemma.

Gemma placed a hand on Jolene's arm. "You can't leave baby. This is your home and we're your family." The older brunette spoke firmly. "You can't just take Mateo away from Happy." She said, gathering her purse and getting up from the table.

Jolene rolled her eyes and let out a scoff. "I can do whatever I want with my son. If I want to give him a better life I'm allowed to do so. Happy is Mateo's dad, but he's not exactly taking the role seriously."

"I don't want you to do something you'll regret." Gemma said while placing a kiss on the top of Jolene's head.

"I won't."

/&/

The next day Jolene was in an awful mood. She barely got any sleep last night, she was lucky if she slept for more than four hours. It also didn't help that she had to deal with Mr. Haynes - Charming's resident and belligerent drunk the moment she started her shift at the hospital. It really didn't help that he threw a fit when Jolene went to put an IV in his arm and his fist collided with her face.

The brunette doctor removed the ice pack from her eye, it was already turning that horrible black and blue color. She was thankful it was only a black eye she had gotten and not a broken eye socket. Jolene slowly got up from the hospital bed, groaning as she felt a migraine forming over her left eye.

"Take it easy, Jo." David Hale said, placing a hand on her arm. "You sure you're okay to move?" He asked, gripping Jolene's arm tighter as she wobbled a bit.

"I'm fine." She said with a bit more force than she intended. "Thank you, David." She said instantly regretting her tone. He was only trying to help her, and she was acting like a total bitch. "I'm not pressing charges." Jolene told him as they walked out of the hospital room. Jolene knew that's why he was there. The hospital - well specifically Margaret Murphy had called him as soon as the incident happened. The doctor didn't want to press charges, Mr. Haynes life already sucked she didn't want to add to it.

"Are you sure?" Hale asked.

"Yeah." She nodded, giving him a small smile.

"Okay." David said shaking his head a bit. He was certain SAMCRO wasn't going to be as nice to Mr. Haynes as Jolene was being right now. Especially once a certain Tacoma Killer found out. Hale knew he'd have to keep an eye on the old drunk, he didn't want any blood being spilled. "Let me know if you need anything." He said, removing his hand from Jolene's arm and giving the doctor one last smile before walking off.

Jolene closed her eyes and took in a deep breath before making her way to the nurses station. She walked the halls slowly, the throbbing in her head getting worse with each step she took. Who knew an old drunk man could throw a damn good right hook. The brunette fought the urge to roll her dark eyes as she noticed Juice standing at the nurses station talking to Camilla.

"What are you doing here, Juice?" Her words harsh as she walked up to him. It was never good when a member of SAMCRO showed up at St. Thomas.

"Holy shit!" Juice's eyes went wide as he took in Jolene's face. "What the fuck happened?" He asked. Juice already knew Happy was going to flip once he saw Jolene's bruised face.

"I got punched in the face by some old drunk man." She deadpanned. "What the fuck happened to yours?" She said with sarcasm.

Juice ran a hand over his mohawk, a blush taking over his face as Camilla let out a small laugh. "Just ignore her." Camilla said, smiling wide at Juice. "She's been in a bitchy mood all day."

Jolene whipped her head in Camilla's direction, glaring at her friend. "What do you want Juice?" She asked while keeping her eyes on Camilla. "I mean, besides trying to get into Cam's pants." Jolene smirked once she saw Camilla's cheeks turn a light shade of red.

"Uh." Juice stuttered. "Can we talk somewhere private?"

Jolene rolled her eyes and nodded before walking a few feet away from the nurses station. "Okay, speak." She demanded once they were far enough away from listening ears.

"I gotta take you to TM. We're on lockdown."

•••

(A/N: Thank you all so much for the votes/comments/views! It means a ton to me! Sorry if there's any mistakes it's unedited. Don't forget to vote/comment! Also, I have an for SOA/Mayans crossover I'm writing, and I'll probably have it posted by Tuesday 😊)