Juiced

Season 2: Episode 9

After the travesty that was family dinner Katy made her way back to the hospital. She checked in on her dad first, he seemed more with it than he had earlier, she didn't mention Luann to him, one of the guys would tell him when he was healthier, he needed to focus on getting better. Katy bid him goodnight and went to find Juice.

There were several doctors in the room with him, "Everything okay?" She said to no one in particular when she entered the room. "I got some blood in my piss," Juice called over to her, "perks of taking a shiv to the kidney I guess, they don't think I can come home yet though," he looked at her, hoping this wouldn't stress her out further. He saw worry etched on her face but it didn't seem to be for him. She stayed silent until the doctors had left the room.
"Luann was beaten to death," she finally said once they were alone.
"Holy shit, what happened?" He sat up further, finding moving a little easier each day, Katy just shook her head. "I dunno, Hale showed up at dinner, said they had found her. That's all we know at this point."
"Fuck, poor Otto, he is not having a good month," the incarcerated Son had lost an eye for the club recently, now his wife? Katy wondered how these things were connected. Had Luann been more involved than Katy realised? Or was this about something else?
"You and dad are the only ones that tell me anything, with you both laid up in hospital beds I don't get much information," she shrugged not knowing what else to say. Juice reached a hand out for her and she obliged, moving closer and taking his hand in hers. "Luanns got nothing to do with what's got me and Chibs in here," he said, as if reading her mind. "I'll speak to the guys and let you know what's happening, you still got your gun?" She nodded, still hoping it would never come to the day when had to use it. "Don't go anywhere with people you don't know, maybe have Amelia come stay at the house with you. Any chance you could bring me my laptop?" If he couldn't be home with her the least he could do was keep an eye on the outside of the house.
"Sure, I'll bring it by tomorrow," she sat down beside him on the bed, "Are you sure you wouldn't rather I just stay here though?" She didn't love the idea of returning to an empty house. Not with everything that's going on.
"I would rather I was coming home with you but that's not happening yet." He put his hand on her thigh, she had jeans on but he rubbed the place where her crow tattoo was. She placed a hand gently on his chest, "I have some kinda good news," she added, smiling a little, "Opie and Lyla seem to be official now," Juice smiled, Opie deserved some happiness after the year he had. "What do you think of Lyla?" He asked,
"She seems nice, good head on her shoulders, even if life has dealt her a bad hand," Katy replied. Juice smiled softly back at her. "It's getting late, you should get home and get some sleep," he didn't want her to go but he needed to do what's best for her, not just what he wanted. She nodded and went to stand up but he held her in place. He took a moment to study her face, making a mental picture just in case things went south. He leaned over and kissed her, gently. She kissed him back, her hand moving to the back of his head, his hair was starting to grow back in while he was stuck in the hospital, she could barely see his tattoos through it now. When he ended the kiss the two of them sat there, foreheads pressed together. "I better go," she finally said, "I'll be back first thing, with your laptop," she kissed him again, a quick kiss then turned to leave. "Katy," Juice called out to her and she stopped in the doorway, "I love you baby, I'm sorry for all of this," she smiled over at him, "I love you too, and it's not your fault." After one last lingering look she left.
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The next day Katy returned to the hospital, Juice was still asleep when she went by his room, she put the laptop on the table by his bed, kissed his forehead and headed to her dad's room. Jax was with him when she arrived, both men stopped talking when she walked in but once they realised who it was they continued, "Had to be Caruso, we roughed him up the day before, this was his retaliation." Katy was glad to hear that, it was awful what happened to Luann but this Caruso guy had no beef with Juice or her so at least that was one less thing to worry about.
She chatted for a bit with Chibs and Jax then headed back to see if Juice was awake yet, he was eating breakfast when she arrived this time. "Morning gorgeous, was worried I'd missed you when I woke up and saw the laptop," he smiled at her and she smiled back. "Just nipped down to check on dad while you were sleeping," she waited until the nurse left with Juices breakfast dishes before continuing, "Luann was killed by Caruso," she told him. "Nothing for us to worry about there, he's gone on the run by the looks of it."
Juice nodded, then changed the subject, "what's your plans for today?" He asked her, "Going to message Amelia, see what she's saying, probably have lunch in town, I'll be back tonight, you've got your phone again now, if you need anything, ANYTHING, call me and I'll be right here," she promised. He knew she meant it as well.
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Less than an hour later Katy was in her usual booth at the cafe waiting for Amelia, Juice had sent her a string of texts since she left the hospital, none of them asking for anything, each one getting dirtier than the last. He was very clearly very bored in the hospital.

Amelia finally walked in the door, spotted Katy and waved over to her. They ordered lunch and Amelia told Katy everything she had been up to since they last saw each other. Amelia had tried to introduce herself to Zobelle, Katy had to remind herself that Amelia didn't know who Zobelle really was, she thought he was just a local business man and Katy wasn't about to tell her the truth. She listened carefully to everything Amelia had to say about him, hoping for some information that might be useful. "I went into the cigar shop, introduced myself and tried to flirt a bit, Ethan wasn't very receptive, I think he's the religious type, that's not really for me. Plus he had this other guy hanging around that gave me the complete creeps." Katy knew she was talking about AJ Weston, the Aryan shock collar Zobelle kept on a tight leash. Turns out Amelia had bought some cigars and left the shop, changing her mind about bagging the rich store owner. "Hale asked me out again," she said, very casually, "oh?" Katy was surprised at that, Hale had been a busy boy it seems. Working with Jax and trying to bring down Zobelle. "What did you say to him?" She was eager to hear how this had gone.
"I told him when that trampy little ATF woman is gone I'd think about. Has Tig mentioned me at all?" Amelia said as casually as possible. Katy laughed, "It has been a wild few weeks, I've not had much chance to chat with him," Amelia looked shocked, then curious, "Tell me everything!" Katy knew she could do no such thing so she shared an altered version of the stories. "Well my dad, being a complete fool, made a slight mistake with a vehicle at the lot and blew it up, he's in hospital at the moment. After that there was a little mix up and some of the Sons got picked up and put in county, including Juice, and while he was in there....he got shivved. He's also in hospital. That's where I've been spending most of my time, between their rooms. Looks like dad should be out soon, hopefully Juice won't be long behind." She felt a bit better having someone to share with, even if it was an edited version of the truth.
"Oh my god!" Amelia was stunned, "what did they get picked up for?" Katy shrugged, "like I said, some kind of mix up, they are all out now," she hoped Amelia would buy what she was selling. Amelia seemed to understand that Katy couldn't say anymore and she dropped the subject. They chatted more about prospects in Amelia's love life and ordered some more coffees.
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Juice was going crazy in his hotel room. He had passed a little bit of time by sending filthy texts to Katy but she stopped replying when Amelia had joined her. He messaged Half-Sac to see what he was missing at the clubhouse but the prospect never replied. Juice prayed he would be out of this place soon, he had a wedding to plan. And if he was potentially going away he would rather like to be married before that happened.
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Katy left the cafe and went to the garage, she searched out Gemma to see what use she could be. Unfortunately Gemma wasn't available, things seemed to just be ticking over at TM, running like a normal garage, most of the club was busy. She still felt welcome there but without Juice or Chibs something felt off. She decided she was most useful back at the hospital.
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Chibs was eating dinner when she arrived in his room, there had been talk of moving him to a different hospital, his insurance coverage wasn't great, but he and Tara had worked something out allowing him to stay. He was definitely getting better. His speech was a bit slow but that was to be expected after such a serious head injury. He smiled when she entered his room. "Tell me something good," he said to her. "I dunno what I've got for you on that front dad, all I do just now is go between your hospital room and Juices hospital room." She sighed heavily.
"We'll both be out in no time doll, don't you worry, then things can get interesting again," he raised his eyebrows and gave her a mischievous grin.
"Good, Life's getting boring with both my outlaws laid up," she smiled at him, glad he was making jokes again. There was a time when she didn't think he would make it out of the hospital, things were looking up, finally.

She left him for the evening and went to visit Juice, he was watching a wildlife documentary when she entered. He scooched over to make space on the bed so she could join, hospital beds aren't big but then neither was Katy, she squeezed in beside him and lay her head on his chest.

They lay there, snuggled together watching the documentary.