It Was Always You

Ch. 3 Come Home

Warning: There be smut below!
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Angela wandered through the halls of St. Thomas, heading towards the baby ward. She'd had a long day at work, and she should've gone straight home but something brought her to the hospital instead. She knew she technically wasn't supposed to be there, but she just wanted to check on Abel. Jax was still avoiding her, and she had yet to work up the courage to ask Gemma about him. She was pretty sure Gemma would tell her it was none of her business again. Sighing, she looked in the small neonatal intensive care unit that was mostly empty save for one tiny baby in what looked like a large plastic incubator. She knew she could use the keycard she'd been given by the hospital to go in there, but it felt like it would be overstepping her boundaries.

"He's due for surgery later today," a familiar voice came from her side.

Angela tensed at the voice as she usually did. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Gemma standing there looking at Abel. "Oh. Is this a good thing?"

"Think so. Your best friend is going to be helping with it. You trust her?"

"Not my best friend," she corrected softly. Yes, she and Tara were friends, but she'd never say they were as close as best friends. It was a semantic thing that felt a little high school to correct, but if Gemma was going to hate her for her relationship with Tara, she should at least know the extent of it. "But yeah, I trust her. She's a good doctor."

Gemma nodded her head slowly. "Jax thinks he won't pull through."

"Moron," she muttered before she could stop herself. She grimaced, turning to Gemma with wide eyes. Gemma was looking down her nose at her, a look of disapproval Angela was all too familiar with. "Shit, I'm sorry. I just...this is his son, and he should want him to be okay. He should be praying for Abel to pull through. None of this doubt shit. That's fucking stupid. And Abel's gonna be fine. We all know that. At least, I believe that. Been praying my ass off for this kiddo. He's going to be fine," she rambled before taking a deep breath when she realized what she was doing. "And, I'm rambling..."

"You are, but you're not wrong," she conceded with a nod. "You visit the junkie?"

"Yeah, no. Not planning to either," she replied, crossing her arms over her chest. "Got nothing nice to say to her."

Gemma smirked, the smallest hint of approval in her expression. "Jax talk to you at all?"

Angela sighed. "Pretty sure he's avoiding me," she answered honestly. They didn't have the type of relationship where they called each other. They usually caught up when they were both in the same place at the same time, or he would come to her at the funeral home to chat. With Opie out of prison, those visits were few and far between, and at the party, he'd dodged her whenever he could. 

"He's avoidin' everythin' lately," she muttered, shaking her head. "Dunno how to get through to him."

She had a feeling if anyone was going to get through to Jax, it would be Tara, but she wasn't about to tell Gemma that. "He'll figure it out. Think it's all a little overwhelming. He was supposed to have more time to figure his shit out, and then this happened."

"He'll be just fine."

"I don't doubt that," Angela said on a nod. "He's got a big ole family to fall back on."

"You a part of that?"

She shrugged a shoulder, not wanting to push it with how nice Gemma was being. "Sure. Love babies. Babysit anytime he wants."