Rivals 🌈 ✔

21 - Waiting In Fear

Juice got a bad feeling. Opie, Jax and Kozik had been sent to ride off to meet with Happy and Tig, who had been on the run and had called for back-up this morning, because they believed someone was tailing them. Barely ten minutes later, Chibs' phone started to ring.

Juice's eyes shot to his brother, who pressed the device against his ear. "Aye?"

It was silent for a while, then Chibs cursed.

Juice flinched. "What's going on?" he asked before his friend had ended the call.

"Hap and Tig were taken to the hospital. None of the bystanders could tell the others what exactly has happened, but Tig was not conscious." His voice was laced with worry. "He rode into a tree."

Cursing, Juice rubbed his face. What a nightmare.

"We're going to the hospital?"

Chibs nodded grimly. "The boys are already on their way."

Juice pulled his keys out of his pocket and together with the remaining Sons, they headed to the hospital. In the waiting area, they all paced around, waiting for news about their brothers.

After an hour, they were allowed to enter Happy's room, whose tibia was broken in three places. Quietly, Juice listened to Clay's questions.

"What happened?"

"A black van drove us off the road. Rammed us from the side. We both went down, and then one biker came after us to finish the job. A Mayan."

"W-what?" Juice answered in shock.

Clay looked over his shoulder, studying his face. Juice however, felt too nauseous to care about it.

"Well... that's indeed strange," Clay muttered, in thoughts. "We have our history, but something like this..." He shook his head. "Unbelievable."

"I put a bullet in his stomach," Happy answered. "Don't think he's gonna survive."

Juice had the feeling he couldn't breathe. The men were driven off the road close to Charming. Had Raine known about it? The idea that his boyfriend had known that something like this would happen, while they had been intimate last night, made him feel sick to the stomach. No – that couldn't be, right? He had woken him up when Chibs called, Juice had seen the worry in his eyes.

An even more gruesome thought shot through his head. What if it was Raine? In panic he stormed out of the room, tugging his phone out of his pocket. His fingers were trembling so heavily, it took a hell of a time to press the right name.

"Come on, pick up, pick up," he whispered.

But Raine didn't answer the call; in the end, he heard the voicemail.

Juice tried it again and again, while Happy's words kept circling through his head. "I don't think he's gonna survive."

But it couldn't be Raine, right?

Why would his boyfriend attack his brothers? Was he so in love that he had missed out on Raine's strange behavior? Had his decision to show up so late have something to do with the plan of the morning after? Had he used Juice? Was it his fault that Tig was battling injuries he didn't even know about yet?

"Hey kid." He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Wha's goin' on lad?"

Juice turned towards Chibs. Tears were stinging in his eyes. What if they found out Raine had slept in his bed? Panic squeezed his throat. "What if Tig..." It was all he managed to say.

"Tig will be fine." Chibs squeezed his shoulder. "He's a Son. He's a fighter. Who'd you try to call?"

Juice understood that Chibs was trying to distract him by asking that question, but it only increased his anxiety. What if – what if he died?