A Kiss To Send Us Off

Chapter 23

Scooping Amelia up into his arms, Raylan hushed her as she began to cry into his chest. While the confrontation went on cops filled the bar behind Raylan and swarmed the room the moment the shot went off.

"Thank you," Amelia sniffled as she looked up at him. "Thank you, Raylan. I'm sorry I was such a bitch."

He carried her outside with a confident grin. "Don't worry about it," he whispered. "You can make it up to me now that you're back."

The street was packed with law enforcement, paramedics and a multitude of gapers. Some cheered to see the classical, even cliche, vision of the all American man rescuing the poor female, but not Juice. He jetted the moment he saw her only to be stopped by cops as he tried to get by.

"That's my wife!" He continued to fight calling Raylan's attention. "Let me see her. Please."

"It's alright," Raylan called out. "Let him through."

Juice raced toward Amelia as Raylan sat her on the edge of the ambulance. "Meels, baby."

"I'll be right over here." Raylan said to Amelia with an intense stare and a look that made Juice's blood boil. It was as if they had some secret conversation in that look and it made Juice feel like a fool and an outcast. There was no secrets though just the projections of a jealous man.

"We tried to get here." Juice swore as the paramedics gave her a cursory exam. "I'm sorry, Meels."

"It's fine." She said, cold and even standoffish. "Is Lowen okay?"

He hated to tell her that Lowen too was rescued by the Marshals but he did. Juice knew how important the truth was to her especially in regards to the club. "Yeah, she's getting checked out at Saint Thomas."

"Good."

"Meels, talk to me, please. I was so scared."

"You were scared?" Despite the anger and disbelief in her voice and Juice's silent pleas for the medics to give them privacy, they remained and continued their job. "This happened because of you."

"I know." His head hung in shame, Juice could hardly make eye contact with her. "If that fucking Marshal would have told me the truth when you were taken you'd be home by now. He didn't even tell me you were gone for almost two days."

"He didn't?" Her eyes narrowed on Raylan, disappointed and shocked he'd do such a thing, but she also saw flaws in Juice's logic. "But you didn't call the cops yourself?"

"What?" He incredulously. The normalcy she lived her entire life still made her believe that would have been the best idea but to Juice there was nothing worse. "No, you were mad, I thought you were mad, besides, we don't involve cops."

"Yet they were the ones that saved me."

"It could have gotten us in trouble." Pressing his palm over his eyes Juice cursed himself. "I'm sorry."

"I know you are." As the paramedics moved to speak to Raylan she reached for Juice's hand. "And I know you tried but the fact is that this happened because of them and the good guys, the ones who found me, are still the enemy in your eyes. You wouldn't even put that shit aside even for me. You can't even think him. You're right, JC, the club is so much more than just what you do, it's who you are. I don't know if I can wrap my head around that right now."

"Meels, you're upset, you're...you're in shock or something. Just calm down, we'll talk about it, we'll figure it out."

"Yeah," she nodded. "Is my Dad okay? He got out right?"

"Chibs is fine, just worried about you."

"Okay."

"Amelia," Raylan poked his head around the side of the ambulance. "They want to take you in to x-ray your ankle and treat you for dehydration. I also have to get your statement, you alright with that?" The way he laid his hand over hers made Juice ill.

"Yeah," she nodded slowly. "It's fine."

"You're a smug piece of shit," Juice spat. "You don't tell me she was gone and now you're lapping up this hero bullshit."

Raylan's eyebrow rose high into his hairline as he looked at Juice. "I'm not the one who got her kidnapped in the first place."

"But you couldn't keep her safe either. She was grabbed under your watch."

"Alright," Jax saw the commotion and weaved his way through the the crowd. "Come on, Juice."

"You want to blame me for that?" Raylan chuckled. "Go ahead. I know where I screwed up but we both know where this fault lies."

Juice struggled against Jax, irate and hurting, but he couldn't manage to get free. He watched with tears in his eyes as the ambulance doors were closed with Amelia and Raylan inside.

"She blames us." He uttered to Jax, suddenly limp as they drove away. "Jax, I can't lose her."

Slightly taken aback by his sincerity and the lost look in Juice's eyes, Jax nodded. "She's got a hard transition, brother. The outsiders always do. She's loyal, had the chance to go to the cops with a lot of shit and that means something about how she feels about your faggot ass."

"I want Hale." He grumbled, his sadness morphing into a strange unsettled darkness as they walked back to the curb.

Tig had just arrived with the news that Hale was on his way to the reservation with Happy. "We got him, brother." He spoke under his breath as cops milled about.

"This is his goddamn fault." Juice hissed.

"Exactly." Jax and Clay liked to hear it, the blame being shifted and Juice wanting to prove himself rather than wallowing. "Let her calm down," Jax counseled as they mounted their bikes. "We'll get him and then you can tell her who really put her in that position."