Daughter of Mayhem

Shock and Surprise

((Author's Note: Hello readers! I just wanted to do a bit of a disclaimer. A lot of the dialogue with Jax and the rest of the Club members is from the tv show. Since the majority of the characters are not mine and belong to Kurt Sutter, so does a lot of the dialogue as this takes place beginning with season one. I'm trying to follow along with the show as closely as possible, with the obvious deviations that we follow Charlie as the Jax's love interest rather than Tara. (Some obvious wish-fulfillment here but, that's what fan fiction is at its core.) Please forgive any awkwardness or if it's just bad when it comes to more intimate scenes. I'm not as skilled writing those so, I'm kind of using this as practice for the stories that do belong to me. Anyway, without further ado, please enjoys chapter seven!))

Jax waited for us to get there, anxiously finished a cigarette as I got out of his mom's car. Wordlessly, he grabbed my hand and we rushed inside, weaving through the hallways as we went to the ICU. Gemma was telling Clay what she found with Wendy. He suspected some gang called the Nords and a guy name Darby for the reason Wendy had possession of the drugs. Personally, I believed she had the drugs because she was an addict who desperately needed help if she was willing to hurt her unborn baby just to get a fix and it didn't matter where it came from. I also knew when to keep my mouth shut on such matters.

We rounded the corner of the hallway that would take us to ICU and I was not even a little bit surprised to see Tara Knowles leaving a room the moment she spotted Jax. On instinct, I loosened my hand that held Jax's only to feel his grip tighten. I curse myself for making this moment a time to feel any sort of jealousy because a woman from his past was standing in front of us. She glanced at our joined hands briefly when we reached her but, she kept her professional demeanor. Any thoughts she had about Jax holding my hand didn't show on her face. For that I was grateful. Jax looked in at Wendy, shook his head, and focused on Tara. Not once did he let go of my hand.

"What the hell happened?"

"When was the last time anyone saw her?"

"A couple of weeks, I think."

"Her hand and feet are full of tracks. Toxicology reports aren't back but, it's most likely crank."

He looked at Wendy again and said, "the baby?"

"We had to do an emergency c-sections," Tara said. "He's ten week premature."

A weight seemed to settle on all of us standing there. Jax looked back to his mom, then me, his eyes were wide. He was freaked.

"Holy shit," he muttered. I squeezed his hand, pulling it so I could cover it with my other one. The skin on top was tight as he squeezed mine even more.

"Let's sit down. I'll walk you through it," Tara said. Jax vehemently shook his head.

"No, just tell me." Gemma came up until she was standing behind us.

"He's got a congenital heart defect and gastroschisis, a tear in his abdomen. The gastro and the early birth are from the drugs, the CHD is probably-"

"The family flaw," Gemma said. I squeezed my eyes shut. That poor baby.

"Yes," Tara said a bit too forcefully. She never did get along with Gemma. "Either one would be serious but not life-threatening but, the two of them together...doctor Namid gives him a twenty percent chance and, I'm afraid that's being optimistic."

"Oh my God," I said and lifted my eyes to Jax and Gemma. His eyes met mine and I could see the shock, the devastation building.

"She never wanted to talk to me," he said. "I didn't know."

"No one knew. Her O.B. said she missed her last three appointments. Doctor Namid wants to fix his belly first and then, if he stabilizes, he'll repair his heart. I'm sorry Jax."