Rivals ? - Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Chibs wasn't stupid. He was aware of the fact that Skye knew half of the hospital staff, and he expected nothing less from her than smuggling Juice to his boyfriend's room. He told Opie he was going to stretch his legs for a minute. The Mayans hadn't shown their faces again, although he knew some of them were still in the adjacent waiting area. Leaving Tig all alone was too risky, but he believed Opie would manage while he was taking a break.
The hospital was quiet. He wandered through the hallways, entering places he knew he wasn't allowed to be. The few nurses who were crossing his path quickly turned away their faces after one intrusive look.
After 15 minutes, he found Skye. She was sitting on a chair, next to the girl who had been with the Mayans. Her eyes widened as she saw him. Quickly, Skye got up.
"Chibs... What are you doing here?"
"Wha' do ye thin' I'm doin' here?" he grunted.
He wanted to see Juice's boyfriend with his own eyes. He knew how easily Juice was influenced. The past hours he had constantly thought about the secret he had discovered, and he needed to be sure his younger brother wasn't played by the Mayan. He didn't think it was far-fetched that the Mayan would only be with Juice because he believed the boy was an easy way in.
"You wanna know how Raine is?" she asked after staring into his eyes for a while.
Chibs' eyes flashed to those of the young girl that was with them. He nodded slowly.
"He woke up an hour ago," Skye told him. "The nurse told the Mayans that he is stable and that he woke up, but he can't receive any visitors before the sun comes up."
Chibs was silent for a while, he had to admit she had taken care of the situation very well.
Skye studied his face, then her lips bent into a smile. She opened the door on a crack and motioned him closer. Although Chibs had initially wanted to rush in to interrogate the Mayan, he now looked over Skye's shoulder into the hospital room. His heart softened at the tender sight. Juice was curled up on his side next to the Mayan, who was lying on his back. Juice's hand was resting upon his boyfriend's chest, their faces towards each other while they were quietly talking. Now and then they kissed each other; on the lips, their noses or their eyebrows, and despite Raine's situation he could hear them chuckle or even laugh softly.
Chibs couldn't hear any exact words, but he sensed they were drenched in love. It felt like he was watching two smitten teenagers, as they were completely lost in each other's eyes, being unable not to touch each other; all the time there were small touches showing the love they felt for each other.
Chibs' glance lingered upon the Mayan's face. He didn't think he was much older than Juice himself – somewhere in his late twenties. His hair was short cropped, and on the right side of his head there were two shaved lines. A shadow of facial hair covered his jaw, chin and the space between his lip and nose. As expected, the man didn't look like a pussy; he seemed to be the most confident of the two and Chibs suspected him to have taken the initiative.
Skye nudged his elbow. "Aren't they adorable?" she whispered, her eyes sparkling.
Chibs sighed. Yeah – they were. And that was not a conclusion he was happy about. It had been so much easier if the Mayan had just wanted to use Juice.
"You trust him?" he whispered back. "You're not afraid that he will... take advantage of Juice's feelings?"
Determined, Skye shook her head. "Absolutely not. They are very much in love, the both of them. Raine needs Juice just as much as the other way around." Skye looked him in the eye. "Can't you feel it? Someone fought for his life in this room, but the room is filled with love right now. They are both scared. That Raine will have a relapse; that someone finds out about them; that they can't see each other anymore. And still, their love covers all their doubts and fears. Their love is so pure, Chibs. I think it's beautiful." Her lips were quivering and she wiped her eyes. "They got me all mushy. I've never seen Juice like this; he's so happy since he stopped fighting his feelings." She gave him an intrusive look. "Don't fuck this up for them, Chibs. It will break him. He already lost so much in his life."
Chibs swallowed. Her plea caused a lump in his throat, which he quickly hid behind a grimace. He didn't like to be put on the spot; that he was suddenly responsible for Juice's happiness. He needed to look at what was best for the club, and not for Juice alone. A relationship between a Mayan and a Son... He just couldn't ignore his doubts. Especially if they loved each other as much as Skye claimed they did.
He turned his attention back to the room. Moving his weight to his other foot, he accidentally touched the door, causing it to crack. The Mayan snapped his head to the side, his eyes widening as he met Chibs' gaze. Cursing, the man sat up straight, his hand pushing against Juice's chest as if he wanted to shove the boy behind him to protect him, even though his body was clearly too weak to be of any use.
It broke something inside him, the thought that this Mayan believed he would cause his young friend any harm because of his unusual choice of partner.
"It's okay," Juice said quickly, taking Raine's hand in his. "He knows. About us."
The eyes of the wounded man flickered suspiciously, not leaving Chibs' eyes for a second.
"Why?" Raine asked, raising his voice. It sounded raspy, as if he had been coughing for an hour.
"He – I..." Juice sighed. "I lost it, and he figured it wasn't Skye's boyfriend who was shot."
Slowly, Chibs stepped closer, his hands raised in a sign of surrender.
He noticed how the man's muscles tensed with every step; he didn't take away his eyes from the older Son.
"You gotta be Chibs," he noted when Chibs reached his bed.
Now Chibs was only a foot away from the boy, he saw how bad he looked and how much effort it took him to feign his current strength.
Chibs nodded slowly. His eyes wandered to Juice, who was slightly blushing. His eyes were wide, as those of someone who longed for approval.
"You realize I could have been someone else too, Juice?" He had wanted to sound stern, but his last words ended in a sigh.
"I know," Juice muttered, bending his head. With one hand, he had already been holding the Mayan's hand, but now he covered the man's fingers with his other hand as well. "But I wanted to be with him. I – I had to," he whispered.
Raine laid a kiss on Juice's temple before resting his head against that of his boyfriend as if he was gathering energy. He looked up again. Chibs saw how hard he was trying to man up, believing that he needed to be strong for Juice, but the surgery had worn him out in such a way Chibs easily picked up on his fear. He wasn't scared of what Chibs would do to him, but the thought of what all this would mean for his relationship with Juice did frighten him.
For a while, Chibs stared at the two men, weighing his options. He knew what the club demanded from him – but the two young lads did something to him, and right now he felt more like helping them than smashing their happiness to pieces.
"Why don't ye tell me wha' happened?" he said to the Mayan.
Despite his exhaustion, Raine didn't look at Juice to ask him to tell the story. He was not a quitter – nor was he the type of person to evade his responsibilities.
"I was on my way home when two bikers were driven off the road by a black van. They laid down their bikes; one of the bikes was a total loss. I headed towards them to help them and saw that one of them had crashed into a tree. I wanted to call the ambulance, but before I could do so, the other was trying to wrestle himself from under his bike. I wanted to help him to lift the vehicle and then he shot me."
He didn't stammer; he was radiating nothing but calmness. Chibs believed him.
"And ye didn't expect someone from another club to shoot ye?" Chibs asked, still a bit sceptical.
"I knew I was taking a risk. But they were Juice's brothers. His friends. I would never be able to look him in the eye if one of them died because I was too chicken to help."
Chibs sighed. It was brave – and it showed how much he loved Juice. It was sad that the man had almost died because he had wanted to help someone. While the two boys were leaning against each other, Chibs wondered what was best. Nobody was looking forward to a gang war, and certainly not because of this.
"I'll call Clay and tell him I wanna be there when yer brothers come and visit ye for the first time, so I can hear ye story first-handed. If he agrees, I'll call Alvarez to ask for his permission. Hopefully it will show a bit o' goodwill from our side, so we can get past this misunderstanding."
Raine nodded, holding Chibs' glance. "Thanks," he said. "For giving us a chance."
Chibs nodded back. "Don't make me regret it."
Then he turned around so the two love birds could crawl into each other's arms before the sun came up, and they were forced to be apart again.