lauren // tig trager

35. Let me go

Gemma was out for most of the day so Lauren and Brea took off. Boring repetitive stuff, filling out forms, identifying keys for their owners and answering the phone. Lauren hadn't spoken much which was weird, to Brea, as there was no current argument between the two.

"Are you alright?" Brea asked her.

"Fine, just, haven't been sleeping too good, that's all" she lied.

"You can go nap if you want, I've got it, been pretty slow" Brea offered to take over for her friend.

"Don't worry, I can still pull my weight around here" she gave a small smile and turned back to the papers on the desk.
*****
When the sun was setting, the boys all gathered in the clubhouse. It was five pm when they all were together inside, regular TM employees were closing up shop. When their meeting was over, Chibs helped a girl with paperwork to help out Brea in the office as Lauren left a few minutes early.

"Thank you" Brea whispered and kissed his cheek.

"Of course, lovely" he mumbled and kissed her back.

The woman drove off the lot, now it was just regulars around. All TM mechanics, sons and the old ladies.

"Fill the hole, Marty!" Chibs shouted for the man to close the garages.

"There's one more in the back!" He shouted back to Chibs.

"God dammit," he mumbled "just when I think I'm done"

"I'm not goin' anywhere" Brea reassured him.

He left to go tow the car into the front lot and then drive it inside the garage before closing. Brea walked to meet all the others outside the clubhouse where they all gathered. She lit a cigarette, inhaling deep and exhaling with pure content inside of her.

"Glad he made up his mind" Jax said to her, forgetting the conversation him and the scot shared that morning.

"Me too" Brea smiled with a nod.

"Feelin' like you wanna stick around?"

"It's been a year, Jax, I wasn't leaving because if I was, I would've been gone already"

"It wouldn't have been the same without you so I'm glad you came around" Jax pat her on the shoulder.

Tara watched them closely as she heard the joke Jax had made earlier. He played it off with a laugh but she could only think it was real. It shouldn't bother her who he had been with, especially if it was one time but this did. She considered her and Brea friends so to think that her boyfriend had slept with her was weird. She shook the thought away, taking a swig on Jax's beer to try and forget it.

Lauren walked past Tig as he was walking outside but he caught her before she could go far.

"Doll, you alright?" He asked her.

"Peachy keen" she faked a smile.

"Come sit outside with me, get some air and just think. It should be quiet, don't worry about too much noise" he soothed her.

"Alright" she nodded, she couldn't resists his piercing blue eyes looking into hers.

As Chibs got in the van to park it in the garage, the engine first failed. He shook his head and tried again, looking out the front window. He quickly exited the car, Brea stomped out her cigarette scared for what was next. Before it could process for her to tell anyone, the van exploded with the ground shaking and the flames radiating extreme heat onto all of them. Seeing Chibs fly four feet off the ground and then onto his back was scary. She tried to run before the explosion was over but Jax had to hold her back.

"Get off me, Jackson, let me see him!" She screamed, thrashing against his grasp.

He let go once it was safe, she stumbled over her feet but was the first there. All she could do was scream his name, hoping somehow he'd wake up to hear her. She fell to her knees hard but it didn't matter. She kneeled by his still body, screaming and crying. Her hands shaking as she ran a hand across his scarred cheek.

"Tara!" Jax yelled as the rest of them arrived, shaking Chibs.

"Don't do that to him!" Brea screamed at the harsh action Jax had just inflicted upon Chibs.

Tara was there, dropping to her knees and listening to his chest for a heartbeat. She had to open up his vest to listen closer. Brea felt her one hand become wet, she looked down to see her fingers bloodied. As a pool of blood formed around the base of his head, Brea screamed again.

"Someone help him!" She cried.

Jax had to pull Brea back from his body for the sake of the situation. She was unconsolable and stressing everyone out. She felt as if no help was coming and if it was, not fast enough.

Ambulances didn't arrive until the sun had set and it was dark. Brea was still shaking with sobs, couldn't catch her breath and her heart racing. No one knew what to do for her other than wait. As the medics lifted Chibs into the ambulance she felt herself calm just a bit seeing him get help.

"I-I gotta go with him" she mumbled, walking to the back of the ambulance.

"Brea, I think it's best if y-" Tara tried to stop her.

"No!" She shouted "I'm going, I have to"

The ambulance ride was a blur of them trying to help him. She got herself under control for the sake of her current situation. This was about Chibs right now, not her. The ride to the hospital was short, thank god. Running with them down the halls until a nurse cut her off. She watched as the wheeled Chibs off beyond where she could go, into operating rooms. Pacing the halls with her mind racing, trying to stay occupied. She wished he could be there to comfort her but she then remembered he couldn't and broke down in sobs. Her jeans were ripped and knees bloody from when she had fallen to his side, her face red and hair tangled from being tossed side to side, in and out of ponytails out of a nervous habit. Her heart ached in every form possible, not knowing was the scariest thing. Every shadow that passed she peeked up in hopes it was news about Chibs but it never was. She had what she wanted and now it was ripped from her hands, why? She just knew she needed something to know this wasn't her fault.

"I don't pray often, but this feels like a time to start" Brea whispered to herself, closing her eyes.