Blood and Water

Chapter 4: Nearly Lost You There

Nearly Lost You - Screaming Trees

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The fire continued to burn the remnants of the clubhouse. They sat and watched it burn while waiting for whatever happens next.

Chibs sat on the ground, his hands covering his ears. They were still ringing from the explosion and he couldn't get them to stop. Mina pried his hands off his ears. "Chibs? Can you hear me?" Even though he couldn't hear her, he watched her lips move and knew what she was saying. He shook his head.

Mina grabbed his hand, pulling him up and bringing him into the garage.  As they walked, she looked around at all the people who were crying and scared, watching the blaze. Her mind started to wonder. She could imagine it more clearly now.

After impact, she laid on the ground looking up at the flames. Her hands felt her side, something protruding from the skin. She screamed in agony. Then, a shadowy figure came and stood in front of the fire. 

Shaking the images from her, she focused back on Chibs. No one noticed when Mina took him into the garage. They were all in shock about what just happened, how close they were to losing their lives. She sat him down in Gemma's office and sat next to him.

"Chibs?" she asked. "You okay?" 

They sat quietly for a few minutes until the ringing slowed. He looked up at her, whispering, "I'm fine, love." He looked down at the floor as she noticed his cheek was bleeding. She stood up and grabbed the first aid kit and sat back down. "What're ya doin'?" he asked, as she pulled his face up. He stared into her eyes as she cleaned out the cut and placed two butterfly bandaids on it. He got lost in those blue eyes of hers. He could see the pain she held in them and wondered what it was from. Leaning back against the couch, he closed his eyes and shook his head. "Jesus Christ," he whispered. Looking up at her, he looked into her deep blue eyes once more and said, "Ya shouldn't be here. It's not safe."

His words hurt both of them. He didn't want her to leave and she didn't want to leave him. But, they didn't want to admit it to themselves or each other. They looked out the window at the sirens heading their way. Firefighters started putting out the fire and more of Roosevelt's sheriffs started showing up. 

Mina shook her head. "I doubt I can leave, even if I wanted to." She turned back to look at him. His elbows were on his knees and his hands were covering his face. Mina could hear his quiet cries. Placing a hand on his back, she sighed, "It's alright, Chibs. Everyone got out."

"It's not that." He ran his fingers through his hair and said, "Ya shouldn't have been here." Chibs looked over at her. His eyes, red and watery. "What if none of us got out? What if you didn't get out?"

"But, we did, Chibs. Everyone is okay."

He stood and yelled, "But what if we didn't?" He ran his hands over his head. "What if Tig didn't get ya out in time?" He punched a hole in the wall and started pacing, back and forth.

Mina didn't know what to do. She walked outside and got Jax and told him what was going on. She stayed with Tara and the boys while Jax went to talk to him. 

When he went into the office, he found Chibs sitting on the floor, crying. The contents of Gemma's desk had been thrown around the room. "You okay, brother?" Jax asked.

Chibs looked up. "Do ya realize how f*ckin' lucky we are?" Jax didn't say anything. "Jackie, we're supposed to be dead right now." He stood up so he was eye level with the president. "What if we didn't get out? If you didn't reach Abel in time?"

Jax shook his head, "Chibs, we got out. That's all that matters."

"Don't give me that bullsh*te!" he scoffed. "You know for a fact this isn't over. They're goin' try again and next time, we might not be so lucky."