Jax was ready to explode. All was not copacetic in the penthouse of Jasper Jax. Lois had paraded an endless stream of people in to see him, from Ned and V to Mac and Felicia, and now he was going crazy. Monica had been the first though. Lois had called her over in a frenzy to find out what was wrong with him. Monica had concluded that Jax had some kind of leftover infection and prescribed some heavier antibiotics for him.
Now he was ready to get away from everyone again. His tolerance for the well-wishers was strained at best. Non-existent was the better description though, and he feared he might take someone's head off at any moment.
****************
He watched her from the doorway of the bedroom. Her eyes were staring straight ahead, her hands were shackled to the bed with handcuffs, and her legs with rope. There had to be some other way for him to reach her, to get her to love him. Nothing he did, nothing he brought her or read to her seemed to help. Ever since they'd rescued her from the ice, she had retreated more deeply into herself.
"Test it."
The man behind him brought a small knife out of his pocket and walked over to the bed. There was no movement there, no flicker in her eyes, nothing.
"Brenda don't make me do this to you. I know you're doing this to piss me off. I'll give you one more chance here to knock this off. You'll never leave here, do you understand me? You may as well look for the best of things here. You'll be better off. Just give in to my love for you. You know you remember what we had. It always comes back to us. You said it yourself once. As always, we're the last ones standing. Stand with me now, Brenda. That's all I'm asking for here."
No emotions passed behind her blank stare. She showed no signs of even having heard his pleas. He walked up to the bed and leaned down with his face directly above hers, his hand on her cheek.
"Brenda, come to me. Let me take you someplace warm."
Brenda heard Sonny's voice like it was coming at her from miles away. Her muscles wouldn't work. She couldn't even pull away from the foul monster before her. Had she truly loved this psychotic bastard? How could he have been her whole world? She couldn't even remember why now. With him her world was shrouded in darkness. Thoughts of love and safety only equated with Jax now. Jax's was the only home she knew now. There was no place in the world anyone could take her to get her to feel that way without him. It didn't matter if it was warm or not. Jax was the only home she would ever need and she knew that now.
"Hey baby."
"Jax!"
"I knew you would find me."
"I'll always find you Brenda. Don't you remember? Nobody leaves."
He bent down slightly and captured her lips in a searing kiss that had her crumbling into his embrace.
She didn't feel the knife slice the skin on her stomach, or the trail of blood flowing out of the cut. All she felt was Jax's arms around her, his love flooding into her sustaining her in a way no food ever could.
*****************
The knock jerked Lois awake. Jax had stormed out of the penthouse 30 minutes before without telling her where he was going. She hadn't wanted to ask though, the look on his face was murderous. She supposed she had been going a little overboard with the visitors, but the shock of seeing him sitting on the couch with a mouthful of brandy and a handful of sleeping pills had been too much. She would not lose another close friend. Standing up she walked over to the door and opened it.
"Lois dear, you look exhausted."
Lady Jane hugged the Lois and sighed. She remembered when Jax had brought Lois to Alaska to help her take back L&B. She could never believe how much that trip had changed her son's life.
John and Jerry walked past the two women after nodding to Lois.
"Is he here?" Jerry's tone was crisply to the point.
She broke away from Jane and frowned. No wonder Jax had escaped.
"Hello to you too, Jerry. He went out for a little while." Lois was equally crisp with her sarcasm, and Jerry's eyes bugged in disbelief.
He turned to Lois in an incredulous fury.
"And you let him?"
"Well, gee, ya know Jerry, Jax probably outweighs me by oh, maybe 90 or so pounds and I wasn't in the mood to tackle him and tie him to the chair. Or do you think I should have drugged him up instead? Kept him from his memories of Brenda like you did with her memorial?"
"From what I heard you weren't there either."
Lois' eyes flashed and Jerry involuntarily stepped back.
"My daughter was in the hospital with pneumonia! What's your excuse? He loved her for heaven's sake, more than I've seen any man love a woman! She was taken from him, suddenly and irrevocably, and you refused to let him say goodbye. Instead, much the same way you did with Miranda, you tried keeping the truth from him. What kind of brother does that make you Jerry?"
"The kind that keeps his little brother from harming himself! He's tried it, hasn't he?"
Lois had to react lightning fast to keep the truth from her own eyes.
"No he hasn't as a matter of fact. He's just been sick, that's all. It's probably been from all those drugs you pumped into him.
"Well, I suppose he's planning on fooling you the way he did our Mother."
"EXCUSE ME!" Jane's eyes were on fire. She came face to face with Jerry before pushing him backward onto the couch.
"You'll just sit down right now and shut up! I can not believe your nerve Jerrold! Have you ever know a loss like the one your brother is going through? Do you even know what it means to love someone with all your soul Jerry?" Jane saw an inkling of emotion fleetingly cross her son's face, but it was gone before she could decipher it. Her curiosity was piqued, but pushed it aside in the interest of laying down the new Law According To Jane Jacks.
"From now on you'll follow my lead. That goes for your father as well! It's no longer a game for you to strategize amongst yourselves. We're going to help Jax by listening to him, and by giving him the benefit of the doubt. No more drugs or restraints! We're going to help him live. Got that?"
"Sure Mum."
Jerry looked over at his father and rolled his eyes while Jane herded Lois into the other room.
