Consider Me Gone

Chapter 18.

Toni

I laid my head on my desk when I finished my Zoom meeting with Lane and Delafield out of Cedars. The diagnosis was not optimistic, and as a surgeon, and someone who wanted the best possible outcome for all of my patients, I felt defeated.

"Honey, don't beat yourself up," Mark said as he got out of his chair to stand behind me. He placed his hands on my shoulders and massaged them while also trying to keep me from banging my head on my desk. "You said it yourself, there is a lot of nerve damage. We just have to wait and see how her hand heals."

"I know but...I just hate not having an answer," I pouted. Mark smiled at me softly and pecked my lips, "I know and that's what makes you a great surgeon. Tara is in good hands, she knows that."

"Please, she probably thinks I'm hiring a mariachi band as we speak." I rolled my eyes, "I've known that woman since I was a kid, she's never been able to handle the hard times. Her response to everything is flight, and now that she can't do that she's going to be looking for someone to blame."

"Babe, it's not like you did this to her, it's that damn lifestyle. You tried to warn her and it didn't stick, this has nothing to do with you." Mark saw the sorry look on my face and started to coo at me. He helped me out of my chair only to sit in it himself and place me on his lap.

"Look, all we can do for her now is give her the best possible care. You don't have to get involved in the logistics of her issues, just point her to the right places. All I want you to worry about is making sure your cute butt is on that plane with me when I go back to Seattle."

I smirked as I wrapped my arms around Mark's neck. He always knew just what to say to make me feel a little better. "Thanks, baby," I said placing a kiss on his lips. "I'm sorry our date was ruined."

"Hey, duty calls. I knew there was a chance you'd get called. Just didn't expect that call to come from a really scary dude," Mark said referring to Happy.

I threw my head back and laughed, "Happy is sweet and I could tell he likes you."

"Really? Well, he had a funny way of showing it. I thought he was going to bite my head off."

"No, you'd know if he didn't like you."

"Well, I hope I never see the day." I smiled as I nuzzled in Mark's arms. Happy was a little panicked when he came to get me, but that was probably due to Jax. Happy hardly ever broke character, he was a soldier through and through.

"Dr. Thatcher?!" I hardly had time to get off of Mark's lap when my door swung open. Thankfully it was only Clara, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw her. However, my relief didn't last long when I saw the look on Clara's face.

"What? What happened?"

"Tara smashed her cast," she said after closing the door.

"What?!" I jumped off Mark's lap, ready to sprint down the hallway but Clara stopped me. "Don't worry, I fixed her back up, but I just thought you should know."

"What the hell happened?" I said leaning up against my desk from the shock.

"I found out from the bodyguard at the door that someone came to see her. I played the video back and saw Wendy Case."

My eyes widened, "Wendy's back?"

"Yup, I'm thinking that's what set Tara off," Clara shook her head. "I'm sorry to say this but I had to put your patient on a psych-hold."

I groaned when I heard the news and knew that my time with Tara had just become a little bit harder. As her doctor, I was going to have to find out what happened, and knowing Tara, she would tell me the truth. And her truth was something I was trying to stay away from.