Episode 3: Caregiver
Tara treating gunshot wounds
"Tara. Tara." Someone is shaking her shoulder and she blearily opens her eyes, trying to wake up. "C'mon, your shift is starting."
"Ah…" She groans, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "Thanks Shawna. I appreciate it. Want my bed?"
"Thank god." Shawna collapses onto the bed as Tara and rolling away onto her side. "Good luck. There was a shootout at some park. I think we're getting the brunt of the gang members."
"Hey, Shawna said something about a shooting?" She says, braiding her hair back and jogging to catch up to her fellow residents.
"Yeah. Gang violence. As usual." Someone scoffs and they hurry to catch up with the other doctors, rushing through the emergency room.
"We've got a 17 year old with a gunshot wound in the shoulder over there, a 23 year old with one in his thigh right there, grab a bed, any bed, let's see how you guys do on this." A short doctor with wispy hair orders in a surprisingly loud voice. Tara and her fellows wash up, putting on gloves.
"Hi I'm doctor Tara Knowles I'll be attending to you today are there any allergies that I need to be aware of I will be administering a mild numbing solution to your leg and then I will retrieve the bullet-" She rattles off monotonously and the youth in the bed closes his eyes.
"Thanks." He mutters quietly and she glances at him.
"Let me know if you need anything." She says quietly, her heart softening. He cracks an eye.
"Got any meds stronger than that stuff?" He asks and she smiles slightly, pushing the plunger so that the numbing agent enters near his wound.
"We do not." She mutters, sponging away some of the blood.
"That's a lie, this is a hospital. You've got that good shit. You're holding out on me doc." He says and she can't help that the corners of her mouth quirks up. He reminds her of the men she left.
"Sure we've got it, but you're going to have to do something more impressive than a little bullet wound in your thigh to get anything more than an ibuprofen." She says and he chuckles.
"I like you. You're funny." He says and she manages to tune out the chaos of people surrounding them, focused on extracting the bullet.
"Well they were looking for funny when they accept me into med school." She comments and he inhales sharply.
"Damn well they weren't looking for your skills cause that hurts!" He complains and she drops the bullet onto the table.
"You're fine, it was a minor wound, not very deep. It didn't hit bone, major arteries, or nerves. Once I stitch you up, you'll probably be walking soon." She reassures him, cleaning the wound.
"You get a lot of gunshot wounds?" He asks and she hides her smile.
"This is Chicago." She quietly begins reading for stitches.
"Yeah, you're right." Quietly, he leans back and broods. As Tara works to close the hole, she doesn't let herself think about it, any of it.
She can't let her mind wander to the first bullet she ever extracted. The man with gritted teeth, biting down on a towel to stop himself from screaming. Her shaking hands in cheap gloves, Jax's muttered reassurance that she was doing amazing, she was doing great.
A procedure she'd only ever read about it books suddenly come to lift in a poorly lit bar, with vodka as her cleaning agent. It had been at the very end of her and Jax's relationship, the dry spring where it seemed like a single match could send all of Charming into a blaze. Just like her and Jax. He had encouraged her to do the procedure she'd only ever seen in books, his desperate way of showing her she did have a place in the club.
Her hands had shook and she'd felt like throwing up afterwards, but the bullet came out and the stitches held. Jax had kissed her head and told her how proud he was of her but she knew that she didn't want this. She wanted clean hospital beds and sterile instruments as bright and shining as her future.
"Dr. Knowles." Her instructors voice makes her jump. He's inspecting her work with furrowed eyebrows. "Very nicely done."
"Thank you." She says quietly, finishing the stitches.
"It's like you've done this a time or two." He jokes, clasping her shoulder and she manages a weak smile back.
Piney and Lyla
"Hey old man." Lyla's teasing voice makes him tense up, but he fights to keep an impassive face as he stares into the depths of his whiskey.
"Lyla." He says lowly and she sets Piper's bag on the couch, looking around. "Where are the kids?"
"Well Ken is with a friend, Piper is with my mom, and Ellie is at a cheerleading camp for the next-" She checks her watch. "43 minutes, then I'll have to go pick them all up."
"So what are you doing here?" He doesn't mean for the question to sound so harsh, but it slips out. Lyla doesn't even flinch.
"You're closer than my house." She says breezily. "And I figured you could use some help around here."
"With what?" He grunts and Lyla glances at the mountain of dirty dishes in the sink then back at him.
"Opie just mentioned you might want some help." With that, she shrugs and walks into the kitchen. Piney walks into the living room, eager to avoid any more small talk with her.
It's not that he doesn't like the young woman. She's sweet, she's funny, and she's hot as hell, even he can appreciate that. Had it been any other circumstances, he would've genuinely liked her. But he can't bring himself to let anyone in, not with Donna's death still so raw.
As Lyla hums and washes dishes, occasionally asking him polite questions, he thinks back to when this use to happen. Tuesday afternoons, when the kids were at school and Donna had the afternoon off. She'd clean the house or cook him a couple meals, just checking in and making sure he'd survive another week.
He'd let himself get attached to Donna. Let her in, saw her as his daughter. She was sweet and gentle and kind, everything Mary hadn't been. She'd loved Opie, her kids, and Piney. The ache of losing her and the sting of how it happened is still too great for him to let anyone else in.
The smell of something cooking distracts him from his alcohol and television. He looks up and notes with surprise that Lyla is bending over the oven, inspecting something. The dirty dishes are gone.
"You making something?" He asks and she glances over her shoulder, smiling. He's never noticed how white and straight her teeth are.
"Yeah, I thought I would bring the kids over here for supper, since Op is off doing club shit." She explains. "That way, you'll have leftovers too."
"You don't have to do this." He folds his arms.
"Do what?" Her eyebrows furrow in confusion.
"I know Opie thinks I need someone to take care of me, but I don't. He doesn't need to be sending you over here for this." He says bluntly and Lyla ducks her head, wiping her hands off.
"I'm not here because Opie told me to be." She says quietly. "I'm here because I want to be."
"Why's that?" He demands, squinting at her.
"You're Opie's father." She states. "Besides maybe Jax, you know him best. In your own strange way, you're close."
"I don't know your definition of close, but my son and I certainly aren't it." He says flatly.
"Well, he still respects your opinion." She replies. "And I want you to have a good opinion of me."
"Why the hell does mine matter?" He takes another sip.
"Because you're his father. And Ken and Ellie's grandfather. And I love him. And I love them. So I'm going to love you. No matter how many dishes I have to wash or how many hospital visits I have to drive you to, I'm going to do it. Family right? That's what the whole club thing is about?" She points out and he grimaces at her point.
"Family is sticking around when things go to hell." He tells her. "When things are terrible and awful." A brief flash of Donna bursts into his brain. "That's when you're really family."
"Alright then." Lyla grabs her purse off the couch. "Watch the roast, I don't want it to burn."
"Jesus Christ." He says when the door slams and he can hear her car pull out. Then he heaves himself up off the couch.
"Hi grandpa!" Ken yells as they run into the house.
"Hi Piney!" Piper yells, following Ken, his little backpack flopping.
"Kids." He mutters and Lyla and Ellie follow. He looks up and sees Ellie smiling up at Lyla, talking animatedly with her hands. Lyla is listening intently, smiling and nodding her head.
"And then we learned to cheers that they actually cheer at the football games." She says as they walk through the doors.
"Are you going to be like them then? Do you want to cheer?" Lyla asks and Ellie hesitates. "Cause I think you'd be great at it."
"Really?" Ellie says, delighted. Lyla beams and kisses her head.
"The roast is ready." He says, trying not to break up their moment. He gestures helplessly with the oven mitts. Lyla grins and takes them.
"Piper, will you grab the forks? In that drawer." She gestures to the silverware drawer. "Ken, the plates are in that cupboard. Ellie, do you want to grab glasses?" The kids scramble, setting the table and bickering at Lyla places the food on the table.
"I don't like carrots." Piper reminds her and she points to Ken, who sticks his plate out. Piper scraps his carrots onto Ken's plate, grinning.
"If you don't eat veggies though, you don't get dessert." Lyla warns him and grudgingly he spears a couple carrots, chewing them with a frown. Lyla nods in approval.
"Dessert?" Piney asks.
"We're getting ice cream." Ellie says happily, eating a potato.
"Want to come with us?" Lyla offers and Piney looks down at his trembling hands and empty whiskey glass.
"I don't think…" He says quietly.
"Please grandpa?" Ken asks, looking at him imploringly.
"Yeah, you should come!" Piper says and Lyla points to more carrots. Pouting, he takes more.
"We would love to have you." Lyla says quietly.
"Fine." He agrees and the kids all cheer.
"Hey, where are you?" Opie asks and Piney cradles the burner phone between his shoulder and ear to help Ken before his ice cream can drip.
"Getting ice cream."
"Getting- what? With who?"
"Is it Op?" Lyla asks, wiping Piper's chin. Piney nods. "Tell him that I can take the kids tonight."
"Lyla. She says she can take the kids." Piney relays and Opie's stunned into silence for a moment.
"Oh. Ok. Well, tell her thank you. Um, kiss the kids. I'll talk to you later." Still sounding a little disorientated, Opie hangs up.
"Everything ok?" She asks quietly, ruffling Piper's hair. He nods and she smiles slightly. "Good." She smiles at Ellie. Watching her guide the kids back to the car, laughing and smiling at them, Piney is surprised at how much his heart has softened towards her.
"Hey Lyla." He says as she parks in his driveway. She looks at him. "Thanks for today."
"Of course." She says, her smile growing. "And I'll be back next week. I'm guessing there's a whole hell of a lot of laundry somewhere."
Cherry and Sack AU
She sits on the plane, nervously fumbling with her new papers. Her Irish passport, giving her the name Kiera O'Donnell, expertly forged and ready to provide her with a new life stateside. With Kip.
Even thinking about him sends a pleasant shiver up her spine. His smile, his laugh, his curls, what it's going to be like to see him in his kutte. She keeps thumbing through the papers, her stomach turning.
"Passport." The lady on a stool says, sounding bored. Trying not to look too guilty or nervous, Cherry hands the passport over. The woman glances it over for a brief moment then hands it back. "Alright, you're clear."
"Thank you." She says in a too loud voice, stumbling through to where the bags are waiting. She grabs the ragged suitcase she borrowed from Maureen and eagerly runs for the gate, where people are waiting.
"James!"
"Patrick!"
"Elizabeth!"
"Mary!"
"Cherry!" She hears her name amidst all the others and turns wildly, looking for him. For Kip.
"Half Sack!" She cries when she sees him. Still as tall, strong, and slightly awkward as she left him. She runs for him, jumping into his arms. He tangles his hands in her hair, kissing her passionately. Neither of them notices that people are staring at the young couple.
"C'mon, I wanna take you home." He says huskily and she bats her eyes, smiling seductively at him.
"And look at this." She says, tugging on his full patches. "Just when I thought you couldn't get any hotter."
"Well don't worry. You'll be taking it off." He tells her and she beams at him, clutching tightly to his arm.
"Tell me everything that's happened while I was gone." She orders and he frowns, trying to figure out what to tell her.
"Tig's a perv,"
"Expected."
"Gemma's still terrifying,"
"Of course."
"Jax and Clay made up I think."
"How'd that happen?" She asks with interest. Her time with the other Sons had given her a little background to the strange power struggle of Jax and Clay. He rubs the back of his head thoughtfully.
"Well there was this big fight…" He drives her home in the van. They talk to each other the entire way, but her hand remains on his thigh and his on her knee. He tries through Charming and up to a small house with chipped red shutters. He helps her out and grabs her suitcase.
"You bought a house while I was gone?" She demands.
"It's not much." He mutters. "It's small. Gotta fix the sink downstairs, it leaks a little. That kinda stuff."
"It's home Kip. For us." She says, looking imploringly into his eyes. He grins and runs a hand through her hair.
"Then let's go home." He takes her hand and drags her inside. She barely has time to see a small kitchen, a bare living room, and a bathroom before she and Kip lock themselves in the bedroom.
"I'm hungry." She whispers, nibbling on his ear.
"I'm sleepy." He responds without opening his eyes. "You know where the kitchen is, I'm napping."
"I don't know where the kitchen is because you didn't exactly show me around the place." She points out.
"I had better things to do. Or a better someone to do." He laughs when she rolls her eyes and pushes him with one hand.
"What do you want to eat?" She asks, kissing his neck. He pops an eye open hopefully.
"Eggs?"
"Why eggs?"
"I like eggs."
"Kip, we're not having eggs."
"Well then go shopping cause all I have in the fridge is eggs."
"Kip!" She says exasperatedly.
"Hey, it was either fixing the toilet or buying groceries and I figured you'd wanna pee so-"
"I'm going." She cuts him off, pulling her pants back on.
"When you come back we'll take a ride ok?" He offers and she smiles, bending down to kiss him again.
"Ok." She grabs the keys off the counter and heads for the corner mart. She grabs a cart and walks in, smiling as she grabs the biggest bag of Doritos possible. There were some things she couldn't help but miss almost as much as Kip. She continues down the aisles.
"Cherry!" She turns at the sound of Gemma's voice. The tall, dark haired woman is leaning on her cart, a small smile on her lips. "I heard you were back. Come here." She opens her arms.
"Hi Gemma." Cherry lets Gemma hug her and kiss her forehead.
"You've been missed." Gemma looks through the cart. "I see that you're already taking your man back."
"The way to his heart is through his stomach, right?" She jokes and Gemma quirks an eyebrow.
"I always thought it was through his dick, but I like where your head is at." She says and Cherry grins at her. "Things going good?"
"Great. Kip bought a house." She says, a hint of pride in her voice.
"I thought it was a fitting place for you to come home to." Gemma says and Cherry shakes her head, grinning. Of course the Queen had her hand in it. "But I'm glad you like it."
"I love it." Cherry corrects. "It's perfect. I'm just glad to be home."
"Well we're glad to have you home baby. I could use a couple more women like you around." Gemma hugs her again. "Go home. Cook for your man."
"Kip, do you want a salad or veggie meatloaf?" She yells, walking into the house. He appears, shirtless and with a smudge of grease on his forehead.
"I love you woman." He kisses her once more. "I'm so glad you're home."
AN: Sorry my update is a day late! 4th of July weekend has my days all sorts of messed up. But of course I had to give Kip a happy ending cause I loved him. And I adore writing Lyla and post-Jax Tara. Leave me reviews pretty please!
