Spark in the Dark

Chapter 77

Shawn went to work the next morning once Juice left. Lyla walked into the studio late, but excited. Her tire had blown out on the highway and she took it to TM, where she finally got to talk to Opie. The two girls didn't have much time to talk, but Shawn agreed to drive her back to TM later to get Lyla's car.

It was a busy day for Shawn, which is just how she liked it. Especially now that she had her own office. Luanne had ordered a lunch to be delivered and Shawn ended up eating at her desk as she worked. Before she knew it, Lyla appeared in her doorway, ready to go.

They left the studio and headed to TM. Shawn pulled into the lot and parked in a spot. She grabbed a button down sweater she had in the backseat and put it on over her dress. She didn't normally dress like this while at the clubhouse. Lyla got out of the car and went over to the garage while Shawn walked over to Tig who was standing near his bike.

"Still too freaked out to talk to me?" Shawn jokingly asked him.

"Nah. I've thought about it and I think you should thank me actually."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah," Tig said. "If I hadn't been your dad you wouldn't be so good at your job."

"Yeah, okay," Shawn said skeptically and looked over to see Lyla and Opie talking. She watched as Lyla handed Opie a piece of paper.

"What are you-" Tig started, but Shawn cut him off.

"Shh!"

"Wow. Really?"

"I think Lyla is giving Opie her number."

"Lyla? Your friend from Funtown?"

"That's the one."

Lyla drove away and Opie headed in their direction. He was looking at the paper Lyla had given them as he walked and didn't look up until he was almost to them.

"I think your friend just hit on me," Opie said.

"And...?" Shawn asked.

Opie shrugged. "I'm not sure I'm ready for that."

"You could always hit it and quit it," Tig suggested. Shawn scoffed.

"Don't worry, I won't," Opie told her. "She seems nice, though."

"Well, yeah. You think I'd let her give you her number if she wasn't?"

"You knew about this?" Opie asked. Shawn nodded. "She know about Donna?"

"Mm hmm. She mentioned you at the wrap party the other night. I told her and said she could give you her number and let you decide what you wanted to do."

Opie looked back down at the paper for a moment before putting it in his pocket. "Okay. Thanks."

"What I was going to ask you before you shooshed me," Tig said to Shawn, "was, what are you doing for dinner tonight? Want to get a bite with me?"

"Sure. The diner?"

"Yeah. I'll meet you there. I-" Tig started, but never got to finish his sentence because at that moment, Chibs yelled and began to run across the lot.

He didn't make it far before the van he was running from exploded. Shawn didn't see much of what happened because Tig threw himself on top of her and pushed her down. The ground beneath Shawn's feet shook. They were close enough to the van that, even with Tig and Opie in front of her, she could feel the heat of the fire.

It only took a moment before the explosion was over. Tig and Opie stood and then ran away from Shawn before she had gotten to her feet. They weren't the only ones running. The rest of the guys were there rushing over to Chibs, who Shawn now saw was laying on the ground. His blood began to pool beneath his head. Shawn rushed over to them as fast as her high heels would allow.

She stood next to Juice and looked down at Chibs as Tara knelt next to him and began to look him over. Shawn raised her hand to touch Juice's elbow. Juice tore his eyes away from Chibs to look at Shawn. She looked back him, but only for a moment.

"Shawn," Tara said to her. "Take off your sweater and put it underneath his head. We have to try to stop the bleeding."

"O-okay," Shawn answered and began to remove her sweater. She knelt next to Chibs and Juice gently lifted Chibs' head for Shawn. She did as Tara said.

"Has anyone called 911 yet?" Tara asked.

"Gemma did," Jax answered her.

Shawn watched Tara work. Everyone was talking at once, but Shawn couldn't hear the words anyone was saying. She finally heard the sound of sirens heading there way. An firetruck pulled into the lot first with an ambulance right behind it. Two paramedics got out and ran over to them.

Eveyone backed up to give them room except for Tara, who was talking to them, using a lot of medical sounding words Shawn didn't know. They lifted Chibs onto a gurney and put him in the back of the ambulance. As they drove away, Shawn was suddenly aware that her hands felt wet. She looked down at them and saw they were covered in blood. Her sweater had been left on the pavement. She picked it up and realized it was completely soaked with blood.

Shawn walked to the clubhouse and threw the sweater in the trash. Then she went inside and headed straight to the bathroom to wash her hands. The site of the red water going down the drain brought tears to her eyes. Once her hands were clean and she dried them, Shawn leaned against the sink and covered her face with her hands. She tried to cry as quietly as she could, it wasn't like Gemma or Tara were crying, so why should she?

There was a knock at the door. Shawn wiped her eyes and cleared her throat in hopes that no one would notice. She took a deep breath and opened the door to see Juice. The site of him made her want to cry all over again. He stepped into the bathroom and shut the door.

"Are you okay?" He asked her as he pulled her against his chest.

"I'll be okay. I'm just not use to seeing shit like that. What about you?"

"I'm pissed," Juice answered her. His voice was sounded much harder than she had ever heard it before. Shawn looked up at him.

"Did someone do that on purpose?" She asked him and he nodded. "Why? Why would someone do that?"

"I should have told you what was going on. It's just that I know you don't like knowing, so I didn't know if I should or not."

"Are you in danger?"

"I don't know," Juice answered her. He knew he wasn't being totally honest with her, but couldn't bring himself to tell her.

"Am I?"

"Nothing is going to happen to you," Juice said firmly. "C'mon. Cops are here talking to everyone. I already talked to Hale, but he'll want to ask you a few questions, too."

"Okay," Shawn said. She left the bathroom with Juice a few steps behind her. He stopped at the bar to grab himself a beer like several of the other guys had while Shawn continued outside to talk to David Hale.