Consider Me Gone

Chapter 8.

Tara

I walked into my office after surgery only to be greeted by a sleeping Piney on my couch. He hadn't heard me come in and was fast asleep when I closed the door. Piney wasn't the kind of man who would just drop by, so I was curious to see what he wanted when I gently shook him awake.

"Piney. You okay?" I asked as he looked around the room with wide eyes. "Yeah, I'm sorry, I just let myself in," he said, apologizing.

"It's okay," I reassured him, "what can I do for you?"

"Uh, you remember those questions you were asking me a few months back about John? Then you said you read something."

"Yeah," I said, trying not to reveal too much detail about the letters.

"What was it?"

"Well, you shut me down when I tried to tell you. Why do you want to know now?"

"The club is heading into troubled waters, and maybe there's something in whatever you read that helps me to uh, keep the boat from, you know, rocking too much." His explanation seemed vague, because "troubled waters" could mean anything with Samcro.

"Those are some really vague metaphors for a guy as direct as you."

"I want to read whatever it is. John was my friend. I have a right," he said, this time more directly.

"Bullsh*t. What do you need it for?" I asked.

"I can't tell you."

"Hmm, then neither can I." I got up from my chair to head to my desk but was stopped by Piney.

"Hey!" He grabbed my hand firmly. "I need some leverage, and maybe that piece of history you read..." Piney wasn't able to finish his thought because before he could finish Gemma barged in.

"Oh, sorry," she said after looking at us.

"You know, most civil people would knock before just barging in!" I said with annoyance clear in my voice.

Gemma smirked at me, "I'm not most people."

"And she's definitely not civil," Chucky said chiming in.

Gemma looked down at him, "What are we, George and Gracie now?" She shook her head and then looked back at me, "Sorry to interrupt."

"That's okay, we're done." Piney got up from the couch, but I stopped him.

"No, we should finish. I'll be right back," I said, instructing him to sit back down. I walked outside with Gemma to see what could possibly be so important.

"I need to sign you up for a committee. Charming Central Gardens needs to raise money to save it." Gemma began.

"I can't, I'm already on three committees here," I informed her.

"It means a lot to have a doctor on board. It attracts donors," she pressed.

"Gemma, I can't."

"It's a chance to help this town," she said. My face scrunched up as I re-evaluated who I knew Gemma Teller-Morrow to be. She wasn't the type to sign up for committees, fundraisers, or the like, so I was curious as to why she cared so much about this one.

"What's your angle here? Why do you care about an overgrown park?"

"Nate taught me how to grow seeds in that overgrown park. I am not going to let them gut it and build a Starbucks," she sassed.

I shook my head at her reasoning, not fully understanding her need to suddenly be Mother Theresa. "Well, I'm sorry that I can't help you. Why don't you ask some of the other doctors here?"

Gemma frowned, "like who?" She knew exactly who I was referring to, but unfortunately, Toni hadn't spoken to her in years either. "I doubt she'll even stop to hear what I have to say."

"Well, here's your chance," I motioned over to Toni who was making her way down the hallway with Dr. Sloan. She was holding a folder in her hand as Dr. Sloan told her something that put a smile on her face.

"Dr. Sloan!" I called out. I wasn't quite ready to call out to Toni, because I didn't want to suffer the embarrassment of being ignored. However, I wanted to see if Jax was right about Toni being open to rekindling our relationship.

Mark looked in my direction and stopped in his tracks to greet me. Toni's feet kept moving, but I could see him gently pull her back. "Hello Dr. Knowles, Ma'am," he said greeting Gemma who twisted up her face at the word.

"Ma'am? You might as well kill me now. Just call me Gemma," she said, correcting him.

Mark smirked, "Sorry about that Gemma. I take it you're Dr. Knowles's sister visiting from out of town?"

Gemma rolled her eyes, "Cute, but I'm her future mother-in-law." Toni looked up when Gemma said that, and for a moment her face was unreadable.

"Dr. Sloan, I'm going to head back to my office before surgery. You can page me if you need further details." Toni didn't make any eye contact with me or Gemma and kept her eyes focused enough that she couldn't even look accidentally.

"Um wait, Toni!" Gemma called to her before she could leave, and I could see Toni looked taken aback to see Gemma talking to her. They hadn't spoken in at least three years so I'm sure it was strange for both parties.

"Yes?" Toni looked like it pained her to reply.

"Are you on any committees at the moment?"

Toni's eyebrows furrowed; she clearly wasn't expecting that to be Gemma's question. "I'm sorry?" she said, asking Gemma to clarify.

"It's just that I wanted to know if you were interested in saving Charming Central Gardens. They need donors to save the park, and I thought a doctor would attract some donors."

Even with Gemma's thorough explanation, I could see confusion lace Toni's features. I could tell she didn't know how to accept Gemma's request because, on the one hand, she was one of the few people who loved that park. And on the other hand, she couldn't stand Gemma.

Mark and I watched the two stare at each other in silence before he eventually spoke up. "Gemma, would you mind if I pledged along with Dr. Thatcher? I would love to help save the park as well."

Gemma's face lit up, "that'd be great!" Gemma handed Dr. Sloan a blank piece of paper to jot down his information. And when he was done, he handed it to Toni who gave him a pointed look before snatching the paper from him. I could tell that there would be hell to pay later between the two, but it was interesting to see how compliant Mark was making her.

Before this interaction, Toni wouldn't even have stopped for Gemma long enough to hear about the park. Now, she was not only stopping to hear her out but engaging with her in her own small way. Perhaps I was wrong about Mark Sloan, maybe there was something deeper going on between them than I could have imagined.

"Looks like Little Miss Sunshine finally found someone to pull that broomstick out of her," Gemma murmured when Toni and Mark walked away. I sucked my teeth at her crass choice of words, but I couldn't help but shine a new light on the pair as they walked away.