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Little Toy Bikers and a Woman on the Run
Chapter 66 Confronted
Walking back into the ER was one of the most difficult things she had done. She was partly embarrassed by the fight she'd gotten into with Gemma and partly she was furious that no one called security.
For the moment, she went about her work as if nothing had happened. The ER would clear out soon. That would be her cue. She wasn't sure she was going to have the courage to confront the staff. She didn't like conflict, but she also didn't like being treated like a doormat.
Tara fought for her career and she would be damned if she would let her co-workers treat her like trash. Her problem was she feared making a fool of herself. She had embarrassed herself a few times before she left Charming. The memories still made her cringe.
If she embarrassed herself, she would get over it sooner or later. If it went spectacularly wrong, she could leave town. She didn't want to do that until she figured out whether she and Jax had a future together. She wondered how long it would take before she knew how she felt about him.
Suppose she decided she wasn't in love with Jax. What would that mean? Would she leave town or would she stay and see if she and Jax could fall back in love?
Of course, there had to be an additional complication—that blonde Scarlett. She was pretty and he had definitely watched her when she was talking to David Hale. Jax liked girls. She would always face competition for him.
Her stomach twisted into knots as the ER's last patient left. She was either going to stay a mouse or confront her co-workers. She wished she could see what the outcome was going to be before she made the decision.
Finally, she decided she was going to stand up for herself. Her back-up plan if she screwed up was to live through the embarrassment. In the worst case, she would leave town, sell her father's house and use the money for living expenses until she found a good job. She always needed the security of having at least one back-up plan.
Tara walked over to the microphone and flipped it on.
"I have an announcement to make," Tara said.
Nurses, doctors and a couple of orderlies turned to face Tara.
"My name is Dr. Tara Knowles in case a couple of you might have forgotten. I know a couple of you from high school. You weren't nice to me then, but I had hoped you might have grown up. You got older, but that's about it."
Two nurses muttered under their breath.
"What was that? Would you like to say what you were whispering to yourself?" Tara asked.
The two women glared at Tara and remained silent.
"Tonight, I was attacked and was forced to defend myself. What did my co-workers and ER team-mates do? Rush to the door to watch, or do nothing?"
Some looked down at their feet while others looked in Tara's direction, but were unsettled by being called out and couldn't look her in the eye.
"Steve, Dan and Buddy all watched the two fight rounds. Could any of you explain why you thought that it was OK for a doctor to get attacked while you watched? Were you confused? Did you have a psychotic break and think you were watching a fight on TV? Why didn't any one of the three of you follow procedure and call security?"
One of the men continued to look at his feet while the other two men looked at a wall.
"What was that?"
None of the men said anything. Instead they shuffled their feet. One studied his fingernails and his black cool guy wannabe nail polish.
Suddenly Tara realized that this was less an Oscar winning moment when the heroine makes her big award winning speech and more like the teacher scolding her naughty class.
"This will not happen again. Are we clear?" Tara asked. She went around the room and asked each person that question.
Most of her co-workers gave her an embarrassed nod, a couple of them apologized, but no one challenged her. She had won the war and she hadn't even had to threaten to sue the hospital.
"Now that we are clear, I am going to take my meal break."
With that, Tara flipped the microphone off and headed to the hospital cafeteria. She might not win an Academy Award, but she was proud of herself and new Tara.