One Rule

Chapter 42

On the morning of the third day, I got a phone call that will forever be seared into my memory. Jax called me just after sunrise...

"Are you okay Jax? What's going on?" I asked, knowing full well that he probably didn't have good news. Phone calls at the crack of dawn rarely brought good news.

"I'm sorry to keep giving you bad news, Diana," he replied.

"What happened?" I pressed, rolling onto my side, still lying in bed.

"Opie..." he trailed off, and I didn't need him to finish the sentence. The pain in his voice told me everything I needed to know. "I hate to ask this of you, but there's no one else. Will you plan the wake and help with the arrangements? I can't get ahold of Mom."

There was already a puddle of tears on my pillow, but I nodded my head. "Okay. When?" I choked.

"Today. We're bringing him home," he told me. "I'll explain everything else later." I never heard what happened from him, but Happy gave me a vague idea of what went down.

"Okay. I'll do it."

"Thank you, sis. I love you," Jax said.

"I love you too, Jax. Do I need to check on Lyla?"

"No. County hasn't made the call yet. I'm gonna have Tara check on her. You'll be too busy," he explained. He told me that they'd meet me at the clubhouse in a couple hours.

"Okay."

I laid in bed for a few more minutes before I forced myself to get out of bed. As much as I wanted to stay in bed and wallow for hours, I had to pull my shit together, and get this done. I also had a reason to take good care of myself.

I went to the kitchen and made myself a good breakfast before I went to take a shower. I was quick and efficient. The sooner I got through the day, the sooner I could process, and let myself actually mourn.

Once I was dried off, I dressed in dark jeans and a black, loose peasant blouse. I put my boots on, noticing they were a little tighter than usual. "Great," I mumbled.

I had to dig through a box I'd already packed to find my photo albums. I found the one I wanted, and flipped to a picture of me, Opie, and Donna from when we were in high school. I grabbed a Sharpie, and wrote the following on the back:

Ope,

I'm going. Give Donna & Koz all my love. I love you.

Love, Di

I let the writing dry, and put the picture in my bag to take with me to the clubhouse. When I got there, everyone but Chibs, Jax, and Tig were already there.

Bobby pulled me into a hug, "I'm so sorry."

"Me too," I said, fighting back tears.

I was there when the rest of the guys came back. Jax hugged me and I couldn't let go. "I'm so tired of all the death," I cried.

"Me too." I felt him nod.

Eventually, I had to let go so they could all go to chapel. I was headed to the funeral home to deal with the arrangements. I didn't want to start calling people until I knew Lyla had been informed. I passed Tara on my way back to my car. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"No," I replied. "Will you let me know when Lyla knows? I can start calling once she knows."

"Yeah, sure. Is there anything I can do to help you?" she asked.