“JAX! JACKIE BOY!”

“Hurry up, we gotta get him in the van!”

“Shit Jax, wake up man!”

My body felt like I was run over by a tank. My lungs were burning and my head felt like a knife was sticking out of it. I groaned and slowly opened my eyes.

“Jackie boy! Hey, you alright brother?” Chibs asked me nervously.

I could hear him just fine, but I couldn’t pull the words together to answer. I just groaned again and shut my eyes. I could feel the guys load me into the van. Since it was dark, I thought it would be safe to open my eyes. The pain was horrible, but staying awake was probably my best option.

“Jax, you okay?” Opie asked me.

He was the closest to me, sitting on my left. I nodded slowly and looked at him.

“Was I out long?” I asked him.

My voice was hoarse, probably from the crank I breathed in.

“A few minutes. You were so close to the explosion we thought you got hit.” He said.

I shrugged and rolled my head back flat. Chibs was on my right and he was wiping his face with a bandana.

“You scared us Jackie boy.” He said softly.

I gave him a half smile and closed my eyes again.

“Hey Jax, try to not sleep. If you have a concussion you could go into a coma.” Juice said from somewhere.

I nodded and forced myself to open my eyes again.

“Wanna go to the hospital?” Clay asked from the driver’s seat.

“Nah, I’m good man.” I said.

Hospital’s ask too many questions and we all smell like crank and fire. I’ll be just fine at the club house. When we got back, it took Chibs and Op to walk me into the club. Everything was spinning and I had to close my eyes because of the pain in my head. They dropped me off in the apartment and Chibs and Op went to leave.

“Hey Op, could you give McKayla a call? She’ll be worried if I just don’t show up at home.” I whispered to him.

He nodded and sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Sure thing brother. Are you sure you’re alright? You look like shit.” He said.

I managed to chuckle at him and open my eyes.

“I’ll be fine bro.” I said.

Op nodded and stood back up.

“You really did scare the shit out of us. You hit the ground so hard and then you didn’t move, we thought you were dead man.” He said in a serious voice.

I looked him in the eye and nodded slowly.

“I’m fine Op.” I said.

He looked at me and then took his phone from his pocket. He nodded and walked out of the room. I sighed and put my arm over my eyes. I reeked of smoke and crank. A shower was out of the question right now though. Just keeping my eyes open long enough to talk was painful, I didn’t even want to try a shower. I guess I had fallen asleep because the next thing I knew I could hear McKayla in the hallway.

“What do you mean he got blown up, Op!” She shouted.

He calmed her down and slowly opened the door.

“Hey baby.” I said to her with a smile.

The look on her face was heartbreaking. Her eyes doubled in size and tears filled up in them. She brought one hand to her mouth and the other clutched Opie’s arm.

“Oh my God, what the hell happened?” She whispered.

Opie sighed and helped her walk closer to me and closed the door.

“There was a small SNAFU tonight. He’s fine, Mick really. He just hit his head pretty hard.” Op explained.

She shook her head quickly from side to side and backed away from him.

“He doesn’t look fine. He looks like he got hit by a truck or something.” She said.

I chuckled and shrugged.

“Well, that’s exactly what I feel like babe. But I’m okay.” I said.

The tears that she had been keeping in her eyes slipped down her cheeks and she was holding back sobs. Opie took his cue and walked quietly out of the room.

“Come here baby.” I said to her with my hand held out.

She walked as if the floor was covered in glass. When she reached me, she slowly took my hand in hers and sank onto the edge of the bed.

“Jesus Jax.” She whispered.

Opie and Chibs took my hoodie off so I was just in my t-shirt. My arms were scraped up and bloody and black from the explosion. I could feel that my face was cut up and the smell of my blood was thick in my nose.

“I’m okay McKayla, really.” I whispered softly to her.

McKayla shook her head and more tears fell. I brought my hands to her face and held it.

“Hey, hey look at me.” I said to her.

It took her a minute, but she slowly turned to face me. She put her hands on top of mine and I felt her tears slip down my fingers.

“I’m okay. Just a bump on the head. I’ll be just fine tomorrow I promise.” I said to her.

Before she could say anything, the door swung open and Gemma stood in it.

“Jackson, what the hell happened to you?” She asked me.

Gemma ran to my other side and climbed onto the bed. She put her hand on my face and moved my head from side to side.

“Jesus mom, I’m fine.” I said with a sigh.

McKayla had gotten off the bed and backed against the wall. Gemma looked at her and narrowed her eyes.

“What are you waiting for? Go get some alcohol and help me clean him up.” She snapped at her.

I rolled my eyes and pulled away from her.

“Mom, stop it. I’m fine and I don’t need cleaned up.” I said.

She gave me her wounded mother look and got off of the bed. I watched her straighten her clothes and walk over to McKayla.

“I don’t care what he says. You need to get those cuts cleaned out before he gets an infection. And don’t let him fall asleep for more than a few hours, unless you want him in a damn coma.” She whispered to her darkly.

McKayla swallowed hard and nodded. Gemma shook her head and rolled her eyes.

“Get a hold of yourself. If you’re his old lady you’re gonna see a lot worse than this.” She added before walking out the door.

I sighed and shook my head slowly.

“Don’t mind her. She’s still getting used to the fact that I’m a grown man and don’t need her to fix my boo boos.” I said to her with a smile.

A small smile crept on McKayla’s face and I relaxed a little. She walked into the bathroom and came back with a bottle of rubbing alcohol and some cotton balls. I watched her soak a cotton ball and squeeze the excess back into the bottle.

“This might sting a little.” She mumbled.

I rolled my eyes and smirked at her. She took a deep breath and gently patted my face. I winced a little and sucked in a breath. I could take a direct hit to the jaw and barely blink, but there was something about the sting of alcohol that always got me. After she cleaned up my face she worked on my arms. Barely putting any pressure on them at all, she managed to clean up all of the soot and the dried blood.

“Tell me what happened?” She asked me softly.

I took a deep breath and looked at her.

“We were blowing up a crank lab outside of Charming. The plan was to rush the house and get all the cookers out then blow it, but it didn’t go that way. They were armed and we didn’t know it. When we went in, they were cooking so that threw us off and they got the jump on us. Opie set his bomb and we tried to get away, but I was slow from the crank and got caught in the blast.” I said honestly.

McKayla looked at me with pure surprise. She actually dropped the cotton ball and her mouth hung open. I couldn’t help but smile and I touched her face.

“You okay?” I asked her.

She shook her head slightly and picked up the ball and tossed it into the can.

“I can’t believe you told me the truth.” She said finally.

I took her hands and pulled her close to me. She gently eased onto the other side of the bed and put her head on my chest.

“McKayla, I’m going to tell you the truth all the time. If we’re gonna have a shot at making this work, I have to be honest about everything.” I said softly.

I felt her nod and then look up at me. She was biting her lip again. I brought my hand to her face and stroked her bottom lip with my thumb.

“What is it?” I whispered.

She took a deep breath and pushed herself up.

“Maybe I should start being honest with you then.” She said seriously.

A knot twisted in my stomach and my throat tightened. What could she have been hiding from me?

“Honest about what baby?” I asked her.

McKayla looked down and twisted her hair around her fingers.

“Why I ran away.” She barely whispered.