Paroled

Chapter 25

After a few days Opie had his first visitor, other than his defense attorney, but he wasn't thrilled as the guard led him into the visitation room. He wanted to see Eva there but instead it was Jax waiting for him.

"How you holding up?" Jax asked as Opie sat across from him.

Opie shrugged. "I'm alright. "Any word on Harry?"

Jax frowned and shook his head.

"How's Eva?" Opie asked, hoping for some good news during the visit.

"She's alright," Jax told him. "Not up yet but Tara said she seems to be doing better."

"Why isn't she awake?" Opie didn't understand how Eva was still unconscious without some major head trauma. "What aren't you telling me?"

Jax exhaled a deep breath he'd been holding since Opie first asked about Eva. "There were some complications after you went up to the res and she's been out of it since."

"Out of it?" Opie growled.

"Tara said it's called a minimally conscious state," Jax explained. "She was in a coma for about a week but she's coming out of it, just slowly."

"What happened?" Not only was Opie even more terrified for Eva now but he was enraged they'd kept any of this from him.

"She went into shock after surgery, from the blood loss, and uhh, had a seizure," Jax sad hesitantly. "She's gonna be fine though, as soon as she wakes up."

"This is fucking bullshit," Opie barked.

"I'm sorry, brother," Jax sad mournfully. "I gotta ask you something, I know you're pissed, but cops found that engagement ring you been carrying around for Eva in the yard with blood on it."

His face twisted as he thought back. "How?"

"That's what I'm asking you," Jax said with a dark chuckle.

"I left it at the house, after I asked her, before I talked to you," Opie said, remembering that day clearly.

"Where'd you leave it?"

"The safe in the bedroom," he explained. "There's cash, two handguns, Eva's and Harry's birth certificates and shit. I put it right there, right by his little footprint thing from the hospital."

Jax nodded. "Alright, then who can get in there?"

"Just me and Eva," Opie said confidently. "She changed the code to the date we met. No one knows that, I forget it half the time."

They sat in silence, thinking hard on the information, for about a minute before Jax was hit with an idea. "You think she changed her mind? Maybe she put it on when you were gone?"

Opie shrugged. "I dunno, I guess."

"Stupid enough to have a kid with you she might be stupid enough to wanna marry you too," Jax said jokingly.

Opie laughed although he looked as though he was about to cry. "Only thing worse she did was work for you assholes before I got out."

Laughing, Jax nodded. "Yeah, it's how she met you."

They shared a moment of levity before turning somber once again. 

"If anything happens to my so-"

"Nothing is gonna happen to Harry," Jax interrupted.

Nodding, although terrified that wasn't the truth, Opie glanced back at the clock. "Lowen's coming by."

"Popular guy," Jax said.

They shook hands briefly and hugged before Opie was taken back into the bowels of the prison to meet with Lowen. Jax left, quick to get out of there, and turned his phone back on before getting on his bike.

"12 missed calls," he said in confusion. "Fuck." Jax called the number that had been calling him repeatedly only to hear Donna's voice on the other end. "Donna?"

"Jax, finally," she huffed. "I think I saw Harry," she said anxiously. "Babies all look the same, you know, and I don't have the most recent photo but, this baby looked just like Ellie as a kid. I had to call you, just in case."

"I'm on my way, meet me at the clubhouse."

--

Before Eva even opened her eyes she was reaching out beside her as eagerly as possible, which wasn't very. She wasn't even sure what she was reaching for but the pain that overwhelmed her was enough to make act even if it was just her fingers. She found the nurse's call button rather quickly and pressed it continuously until she heard voices growing louder.

"Miss Baxter?" A man called out. "Can you open your eyes?" Her eyelids fluttered and she managed to open them for a brief moment but the lights were painfully bright. "That's good," the man said again. "I'm going to get you some water, okay, so you can try to speak."

While the hospital staff worked to ease Eva into consciousness Jax and the others were gathered at the clubhouse with Donna. Jax still had suspicions and a bitterness over their previous interaction but he was thankful she called him.

"I've seen some pictures of him and I always noticed he looked like Ellie, that's what really got me."

"Who had him?" Jax asked.

"A woman," Donna said. "She looked normal and boring, I barely noticed her, I was so distracted by the baby."

"White, black, brown?" Clay snapped.

"White, dark hair," Donna stammered. "Slender."

Chibs grumbled something under his breath then spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear. "They got cameras, aye?"

"Probably," Bobby said.

"Just gotta hope they actually record and aren't only for show," Juice added.

"Let's go find out," Jax said.

"Take Chibs and Juice," Clay ordered.

Jax nodded and the three of them hurried out of the clubhouse. Donna was about to follow them out when Bobby gently told her they'd like her to stay put. It wasn't that they suspected her but she'd done little to prove herself trustworthy as of late.

"Fine," she huffed. "I'll stay."

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