Jax and Cori grew up together. They, along with Opie, were best friends growing up, but Cori always saw Jax differently. She watched him go through several relationships, all of them ending badly, as she sat back and waited for him to notice her. So...
Jax saw a doctor walk through the door of the emergency room into the waiting room. He stopped and looked around, finally looking at Cori and walking toward her with a warm smile on his face. Jax felt himself stiffen up as the man got nearer to where they were and Cori saw him, standing to meet him in the middle of the room. Jax got up and stood behind her as the doctor stopped in front of her and took her hand in his.
"Coraline, your father is having trouble breathing. As soon as we get him stable, we'll move him to a room, but you and I need to talk seriously about the hospice thing. It's time for that decision."
Jax felt Cori sigh before he heard it, he was standing that close to her back. He side-eyed the doctor as he let his hand fall to Cori's hip and squeeze gently. He knew that he was probably being silly, and now really wasn't the time to strut around, but he didn't like the way this doctor was looking at Cori and he didn't think it would hurt for the man to know that she was spoken for... well, kind of, anyway.
"Dr. Newburg, I... "
The doctor held up a hand and smiled pleasantly at Cori, making Jax narrow his eyes in irritation. "Keith, please Cori."
He felt the small woman in front of him sigh again before speaking. "Keith, I'm pretty sure we've already had this discussion, and my opinion hasn't changed. Dad wants to die at home, and if that's what he wants, then that's how it will happen."
Jax smirked as the doctor crossed his arms over his chest and frowned down at Cori. Jax knew that the doctor might as well stop while he was ahead because Cori wasn't going to change her mind once it was made up. "I just think that you haven't given this enough thought, Cori. Yes, your dad's opinion should count, of course, but you have to take your own needs into consideration as well. It's almost always harder on the family than the patient when this time comes, and with you being alone, I just... "
Jax held out a hand, having heard enough. "Woah. Cori is far from alone. She has a good support system in place."
Jax felt Cori lean back into him as Dr. Newburg frowned at him. "And who are you?"
Before Jax could answer, Cori stepped into the conversation between the two men. "Oh my god, where are my manners? This is Jax Teller, an... old friend of the family. Jax, this is Dr. Newburg, dad's oncologist."
Jax almost growled at Cori's introduction of him and the doctor's smirk when he heard that he was just a friend. "Well, Mr. Teller, I'm sure there are people that could help Cori, but really, her dad would be in the best care in hospice."
Jax nodded thoughtfully before moving his hand from Cori's waist to wrap his arm around her shoulders. "I completely understand that, but if Harry doesn't want to go there, then isn't his final wishes more important? After all, whenever possible, a man should be able to die where he wants."
Cori nodded. "I agree with Jax, Keith. What dad wants is what matters. I'll handle it."
Jax watched as the doctor sighed and finally nodded. "Well, perhaps, when you've had a chance to rest up and calm down some, we can talk more privately. Maybe lunch tomorrow?"
Jax shook his head slightly, not liking the tone the handsome doctor was using with Cori. He was flirting, whether Cori could see it or not, and as they agreed to meet for lunch tomorrow, Jax knew that if at all possible, he'd need to be here for that date. He didn't trust the doctor alone with Cori at all.
Piney stood in the doorway of Harry's hospital room later that evening, watching as Cori dozed in a chair by the bed, her hand over her dad's in case he woke and needed comfort. The older man sighed as he tried to remember a time when Cori and her father hadn't been around the club and couldn't remember that far back. He could remember poker nights at J.T.'s with Cori running around the table on still-unstable legs, Jax and Opie right behind her. He remembered Harry's wife, Millie, sitting in the kitchen with Mary and Gemma, playing their own card games and yelling after the kids.
He recalled when Millie had died from breast cancer. Cori had been ten years old and even then, in love with Jax. He remembered bringing her and the boy to the cabin, trying to keep her mind off of what was going on in a hospital room much like the one he was standing in now. When Harry had called with the bad news, he had watched as Jax, older than his young years, held a sobbing young Cori to his chest and whispered words of comfort in her ear until she had calmed.
Harry had never been a member of the club, but he had been the president of Charming Savings And Loan, as well as a member of the city council, and as such, had been instrumental in helping the new club plant it's roots in the small town. Piney felt that it was safe to say that without Harry's help and influence in the past, the club would never have grown to what it was in the present. Piney sighed sadly as he thought that he would soon lose another trusted friend to Mayhem.
He cleared his throat as he stepped fully into the room, startling Cori out of a light sleep as her head whipped up in surprise. He grinned at her as he stepped up next to the bed and patted Harry on the leg.
"Sweetheart, why don't you go home and get some real sleep? I'll sit here with Harry for a while. I think Gemma was going to come by as well after she took care of some errands."
Cori nodded tiredly before standing up and letting him sit in her chair. "I think I will. Wait... I don't have a car here. I came with Jax this morning."
Piney just grinned and patted her on the arm. "Don't worry, Cori. I'm sure you'll find a ride outside." He shook his finger at her and tried to look stern. "Don't come back here until morning, young lady. You're gonna need your rest."
Cori just nodded before leaning down to give her father a kiss on the cheek, then doing the same to Piney. He watched her walk out of the room, shutting the door behind herself and sighed. He turned back to the man in the bed and shook his head.
"Harry, it's a good thing that little girl has the rest of us. She's going to need all of us."
