Saving Jax (13 page)

Court sat up in bed and rubbed at his eyes before reaching for his ringing cell phone.  He stared blearily at the number and groaned before answering it.

“Do you have any idea what fucking time it is, Cal?”

Julie stirred beside him and he rubbed her back lightly as he yawned.  “Slow down, Cal.  I can’t understand a word you’re saying.”

Julie sat up and turned the bedside lamp on as Court suddenly stiffened.

“Shot?  What the fuck?  Are you okay?”

Julie stared wide-eyed at him as he listened silently for a moment.  “Are you sure you’re okay?  Jesus, Cal.  No, I’ll be right there, just hang tight, okay?”

He hesitated before frowning.  “Mel?  Why would I tell Mel?”

His eyes widened.  “You’re fucking kidding me!  Jesus Christ, what the hell is happening?”

Julie squeezed his leg reassuringly as he ran his hand through his short hair.  “Okay, yeah, I’ll tell her.  No, I’ll swing by her apartment and pick her up.  If what you said is true, then I don’t want her driving.  The last thing we need is for her to get in an accident.  I’ll see you soon, Cal.  I love you.”

He hung up the phone and Julie gave him a worried look.  “What happened?”

“There was a, well, an incident, at the club tonight.  Some guy shot at a few of Mr. Golden’s employees.”

“Cal?”  Julie said anxiously. 

“He’s fine.  At least I think he is.  He sounded really fucking freaked out but he was right there when it happened, he said.  He didn’t give me the details, just said that a guy was dead and Jax was in surgery.”  Court said as he slipped out of bed and picked up his jeans from the floor.

“Oh my God!”  Julie climbed out of bed and dressed hurriedly.

“Honey, it’s the middle of the night.  You don’t have to go with me,” Court said.

She shook her head.  “Of course I’m going with you.”

Court pulled a shirt over his head.  “I have to stop at Mel’s.  Apparently she’s dating Jax.”

“Oh?”  Julie was wiggling into her bra and he studied her pink cheeks.

“You knew, didn’t you?”

She pressed her lips together before yanking a sweater over her head.  “Mel and I had talked about it.”

“You didn’t tell me,” Court said.

“Because your sister asked me not to,” she replied.

“Jax is dangerous.”

“You don’t know that.  You barely know him,” she said gently.

He sighed and grabbed his phone off the bed.  Julie took his hand and he squeezed it firmly as they left his bedroom.

* * *

Cal stepped out into the hospital parking lot.  The air was cold and he pulled his jacket around him as he searched the lot.  There was no sign of her and he walked around the building.  She was standing against the wall, holding a book of matches and cursing loudly.

He stood beside her and plucked the matches from her trembling fingers.  “You shouldn’t smoke.  It’s bad for you.”

“Is it?  I had no idea,” she snapped irritably. 

She didn’t resist when he took the cigarette from her.  He stuck it in his mouth and lit it with a match, inhaling deeply and blowing the smoke out before handing her the cigarette.  She took a drag and he patted her on the back when she coughed wretchedly.

“Fuck,” she sighed.  “Made it four goddamn months this time.”  She inhaled again and then passed the cigarette to him.  He took his own drag as she stared at the ground.

“Is he dead?”  Her voice was low and thick with tears.

He shook his head.  “No.  He’s out of surgery and in recovery right now.  They got the bullet out.  He’ll be pretty sore and will have to do physiotherapy but he’ll live.”

“Thank God,” she breathed as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“You love him,” he said quietly.

“Of course I do,” she said as she wiped the tears away and took the cigarette back.

“I hate to tell you this but he’s, uh, dating my sister.”

She gave him an irritated look.  “Jax is like a brother to me, Mr. Thomas.”

“Oh.”  He ignored the rush of relief that went through him.  “You should probably get checked out.  I wasn’t exactly gentle when I shoved you to the ground.”

“I’m fine.”  She hesitated.  “Thanks by the way.  It was very heroic of you to cover me with your body.”

He grinned at her.  “I guess this gets me at least one coffee date, yeah?”

She rolled her eyes.  “This is hardly the time for flirting, Mr. Thomas.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right.  Why don’t we just go back to your place and have crazy survivor sex?”

“Excuse me?”  She paused with the cigarette halfway to her mouth.

He took it and inhaled deeply before blowing out smoke rings.  “Survivor sex.  It’s where two people who have a near-death experience together have crazy hot sex with each other.”

“Tempting, but no,” she said before taking back the cigarette.  She took a drag and then crushed it under her heel. 

“I’m going to check on Jax.”

“Are you sure you want to do that?  Your father will probably be there.”

She laughed bitterly.  “If you actually believe he’ll show up at this hospital, you’re a fool.  He’ll be too busy worrying about his own skin to care about Jax.”

“That isn’t true.  Jax is like a son to him.”

“Doesn’t matter.  He won’t risk it.”

“Who is Chan?”  Cal asked.

“My father is a drug dealer,” she said abruptly.

“I know.”

Her eyes widened.  “What?  How do you know?  Are you in his inner circle?”

“No.  But I’m not stupid.  I hear things and see things.”

“What things?”  She asked eagerly.  “What things do you see and hear?”

“Nothing that will help you put your father in prison.”

“I’m going to get him, you know.  I’m going to end his goddamn drug empire and watch him rot in prison for the rest of his life.”

He didn’t reply and she gave another bitter laugh.  “You think I’m a horrible person.  Don’t you, Cal?”

“No.”

“You should get out while you still can.”  She warned him.  “If you’re not careful he’ll drag you into the mud with him, and a pretty boy like you won’t do well in prison.”

“Thanks for the tip.”

“You’re welcome.”  She pushed past him.

“They won’t let you see him.  Only family is allowed in the ICU,” he called after her.

“I’m his sister,” she replied softly.

* * *

“Open your eyes, honey.”

Jax groaned and shifted in the bed.  It sent a bolt of pain up his left side and he groaned again.

“Don’t do that, Jax.  Don’t move, just open your eyes for me.”

He wanted to ignore her.  He wanted to return to floating in the darkness, plagued by neither pain nor bad dreams, but her voice was insistent.  Finally his need to see her won over his desire to return to the black, and he forced his eyelids up.

“Butterfly?”

“Hey, handsome.”

‘What are you doing here?”

“Oh you know, I heard you were shot and figured I didn’t want to miss all the fun of watching you recover from surgery,” she said.

He turned his head and stared at his bandaged shoulder before eyeing the machines that beeped and blinked.  “How did you get in here?”

She smiled.  “I work here, remember?  I called in some favours.”

She leaned over him and stroked his hair before whispering in his ear, “I’m known as the Godfather at the hospital.”

He laughed and then groaned in pain.  She sat back and stroked his chest.

“I’m sorry, honey.”

“Is Cal okay?”  Oddly, he couldn’t remember much of what happened after he was shot.

“He’s fine,” she said.  “He’s here but they won’t let him in the ICU.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

She stroked his forehead.  “For what?”

“I don’t know.  Dragging you here in the middle of the night.”

She shook her head.  “I don’t mind.  I’m just glad that you’re alive.” 

“Me too.”  He reached for her hand with his good one and she linked her fingers with his. 

“It scared the hell out of me when Court and Julie knocked on my door.  I was so afraid that I’d never see you again and that I …”

She trailed off and he squeezed her hand.  “What?”

“Nothing.  It’s not important,” she said.  “Do you have any idea how lucky you were, Jax?  Cal said that another man died and that he would have died too if you hadn’t saved him.”

He didn’t reply and she pressed her mouth against his.  “Thank you for saving his life.”

“Kiss me again,” he whispered.

She shook her head.  “You need to concentrate on healing.”

“Pretty sure the kissing helps.”

She laughed.  “Really?  Maybe I should start kissing all of my patients then.”

“Don’t you dare, butterfly.  I’m the only one you should be kissing.”

“Is that right?”  She whispered as she bent her head toward him.

“Yes,” he murmured.

She pressed her lips against his as a voice said, “Jax?”

Mel sat back and stared at the woman standing at the end of the bed.  She was slender with blonde hair and she clutched nervously at her jacket as she stared at Jax.

“How are you feeling, honey?”

Mel frowned at the endearment as Jax squeezed her hand reassuringly.  “I’ll live, Jade.”

Even her name was gorgeous.  Mel swallowed down her jealousy as Jade moved around the bed and pressed a kiss on Jax’s forehead.  “Thank God.”

Jax smiled faintly at her.  “Jade, this is Mel Thomas.  Mel, this is Jade Wilson – my sister.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Mel said politely. 

“Your Cal’s sister?”

“I am,” she confirmed.

A small smile crossed Jade’s face.  “He’s very charming.”

“He certainly tries to be,” Mel replied and the smile on Jade’s face grew.

“Well, I’ll leave you two alone.  I just wanted to check on you.”  She squeezed Jax’s arm.  “I’m going home.”

“You shouldn’t be alone,” Jax said.

She shook her head.  “I’ll be fine, honey.  It’s not me they’re after.”

She kissed him once more before smiling at Mel.  “It was nice to meet you, Mel.  Take good care of my brother.”

“I will,” she replied.

* * *

Jax held the juice bottle between his legs and twisted open the cap with one hand.  His left arm was still in the sling and he grunted irritably when the juice spilled over on to his hand.  He licked it away and poured some into the glass.

It had been nearly a week since the shooting and while the pain was diminishing, his left arm was still useless.  He flexed it gingerly, wincing at the pain, and downed the juice in three swallows.  He hated being injured, hated feeling like an invalid, and the only bright spot in the whole goddamn mess was Melanie.  She had come over every day after work, spending the nights with him and cooking his meals, feeding Ricky and Lucy, and helping him shower and dress.  Having her with him had been – well, it had been fucking amazing if he was being truthful – and despite the pain, this was the happiest he’d ever been.  He had a sneaking suspicion that he was starting to fall in love with her and even though he knew it was dangerous, he was helpless to stop. 

She had shown up after work today, looking uncharacteristically tired, but had kissed him sweetly before heading for the shower.  He cocked his head and listened.  The shower was still running and he wondered what she would say if he joined her.  He had tried a few times to make love to her but she had refused, saying that he needed more time to heal.  He grinned to himself and started toward the stairs.  She would find it more difficult to resist if he was naked and in the shower with her.

The doorbell rang and, frowning, he walked to the front door and answered it.  A man with a picture of a steaming slice of pizza on the front of his shirt held out a cardboard box.

“Pizza’s here.”

“I didn’t order a pizza.”  Jax started to close the door and the man stuck his foot out to block it.

“Sure you did.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did,” the man said pointedly.

Jax frowned before digging his wallet out of his back pocket.  “How much do I owe you?”

“Twenty.”

He handed the man the bills and shoved his wallet back into his pocket before taking the pizza box from him.  The man tipped his hat to him. “Have a great day, sir.”

He sauntered down the sidewalk and Jax closed the door and carried the pizza box into the kitchen.  He set it on the counter and stared fixedly at it.  After a few seconds it rang shrilly and, wincing, he flipped the lid up.  The box held no pizza but did have a small cell phone taped to the bottom of it.  He pulled it free and checked the stairs before answering it.

“Hello, Jax.  How are you feeling?”  Agent Darvin asked.

“Like I’ve been shot.”  He moved into the office and shut the door firmly.  “What do you want?”

“The drop location and date.”

“Tomorrow night at the warehouse by the wharf.”

“The abandoned one?”

“Yes.”

“Good,” Agent Darvin said in a pleased voice. 

“It’s useless information, Darvin,” Jax said.

“It isn’t.  Mulroney is dead.” 

There was glee in Darvin’s voice and Jax snarled into the phone, “Mulroney had a family.  He might have been a goddamn drug dealer but he had a wife and two little girls who are growing up without their goddamn father.  So maybe you could keep the fucking delight out of your voice.  What do you say, Agent Darvin?”

There was a moment of silence before Darvin cleared his voice.  “You’re right.  I’m sorry, Jax.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway.  Golden isn’t doing the drop.  I am,” Jax said wearily.

“No, you’re not.”

“He already talked to me about it.  I’m going alone.  He doesn’t care that I’m injured.”

“Shocking,” Darvin said dryly.  “You’re not going, Jax.  We have a plan.”

“We?”

“The FBI and Ms. Wilson, of course.”

“Of course.  Listen, do me a favour and tell Jade not to repeat her little stunt at the restaurant.  She keeps showing up there and Golden’s going to get suspicious.”

“She was doing it to try and thwart any of his suspicions, Jax.  She thought, and we agreed, that if she showed Golden there was tension between the two of you, it would help end his suspicion of you.”