What I Love Most

Chapter 19

As Jax left Saint Thomas Tara was pulling together discharge papers for Amelia. Juice had gone to grab her rental and his laptop so he could dig into Stahl from her apartment. Jax had given him pretty easy instructions, find anything and everything on Stahl while keeping in an eye on Amelia. Arriving back at the lot before Tig and Opie he took the opportunity to chat up Gemma.

"Chucky, go take a walk." Jax said coolly as he walked up the small step into the office. Always doing as he was told Chucky was gone with a polite and nervous nod. "Hey Ma."

Gemma leaned back in the desk chair, the old rusted parts squealed with every movement. "Hey baby, what's going on?"

He shook his head, his eyes cloudy as he looked at her through falling blond bangs. He didn't want to play it up too much but Jax had to make her think he was worried. "It's Meels, someone purposely drugged her, the pharmacy is clear. Whatever they gave her, it screwed her up bad," this was where feigned concern came in.

"Do you know who?" She asked, her stony face looking past Jax rather than at him.

He sighed deeply, "No."

"Jackson," she suddenly sat up. "You should just put this to bed. She'll be okay, right?" Pursing his lips he shrugged, Gemma closed her eyes and shook her head. "Maybe focus on her for now, you'll find the guy eventually." She picked at her nails for a moment before a frightening thought hit her. "Does Tig know?"

"No, Meels wants to tell him herself. I don't think that's smart though, he's going to lose his shit."

Gemma agreed, he would and he wouldn't stop until the culprit was found. Even though she suspected him Gemma wasn't going to just throw Clay to the dogs, she'd handle it in her own way just like always. "I think," she didn't know what she thought. "You should let her settle, heal or whatever, and keep things calm. Any drama surrounding her will only make it worse, keep everything quiet until you're sure." It all sounded good, it was logical and smart but it didn't help Jax with his suspicions.

"And if it's someone close?" He asked, sitting back with his hands behind his head. "It had to be, Ma. Who else would switch her meds like that?"

"That's why I'm telling you to leave it, Jackson. Whoever it is, it'll come out, and right now with this Stahl circling we don't need you pushing that kind of rift." More logic, Jax just nodded. He didn't want to get in any deeper with her, there was too much she didn't know and it would get messy rather quickly. "Is she still in the hospital?"

"No, she's at her place with Juice resting. Don't bother her Mom, I know how you love to pick her apart." On the other hand, maybe Gem loved to drug Amelia, Jax couldn't be sure but he wanted eyes on her and Clay at all times. If they would do this to Tig's own blood Jax wasn't sure he could trust them with the Stahl and Galindo trouble brewing.

---

Mae sat at her desk in the dimly lit office scrawling her progress notes for each inmate, her eyes casually floating over the photo of her and Opie on her desk every so often. She hated the limbo, the fighting; it made her physically ill when they were living in such tense situations. There was a knock on her door and she called for the visitor to enter. She knew it probably wasn't good.

"Hey, can I get a minute?" It was her supervisor, speaking with a worried tone. Mae nodded and he took the seat on the opposite side of her desk. "Stahl that ATF agent, she's wants to sit you down."

"Now?" Mae asked, panicking.

"In about twenty minutes."

"She can't do this," Mae said quickly. "I'm not a criminal, I haven't done anything and I'm not under any type investigation."