Consider Me Gone

Chapter 10.

Toni

I was in the Emergency Room with Clara, while we spent the time gossiping and laughing about my love life. She found my dating life to be the most interesting topic, and now that I was adding a secret love affair to the mix, she couldn't wait to hear all my updates. Mark and I haven't had a chance to go on a proper date yet, so nothing has happened between us, but that didn't stop Clara and I from giggling like two teenagers whenever he flashed me a smile.

"So, do you know where he's taking you yet?" Clara asked while she worked on a patient. Her patient couldn't have been more than fourteen years old and was completely uninterested in hearing about anything we had to say. His mom brought him in because he said he felt sick, however, it didn't take long for me and Clara to realize that he just didn't want to go to school.

"No, he hasn't said anything. The only clue he's given me is that it's private and that I won't have to worry about anyone seeing us. Which is interesting because I feel like Charming is the size of a grape and it's nearly impossible not to run into someone you know."

"Hmm, I'll have Dr. Namid spill the beans. He knows about every restaurant within a hundred-mile radius. I don't think there's a place in California where that man hasn't been. He's probably the one who gave Mark the recommendation."

I nodded my head in agreement because Mark and Dr. Namid had become well acquainted ever since he came to Charming. It was your standard workplace bromance, the only thing that was missing from it was the use of stupid nicknames like 'Champ' and 'King.'

"Dr. Thatcher?" I looked up to see one of the ER nurses standing before me. "Yes? Is there a problem?" I was in the ER after all, so I'm assuming I was needed for an emergency.

"I have a patient asking for you, she's over there on bed 1. It looks like she was attacked, and she may have a broken nose, but she won't let anyone else look at her."

My eyebrows furrowed together while I tried to figure out who was waiting for me behind the curtain. I had dealt with a lot of patients during my time here at St. Thomas, and the only people who requested me solely were those in the club.

However, as I pulled back the curtain, I was surprised to see no one other than Ima. My eyes widened when I saw her with blood all over her face with a blood-soaked tissue.

"Oh my," I said as I slowly approached her. She seemed to shrink back in fear when I removed her hand from her face to examine her nose.

"Ow," she whined as I took a closer look at the damage. I usually never get sick with patients; I've never had a problem with blood. What I did have a problem with was the stories behind the injuries.

"Well, it's definitely broken. Good news is, you don't need surgery," I said to Ima as I cleaned her up, "and there's going to be some swelling and bruising."

"It hurts," Ima said quietly. My stomach churned at seeing her so broken. I was never the biggest fan of Ima, simply because I thought she was vindictive and man crazy. But knowing her career and the men she was around; I couldn't help but feel angry that someone could do this to a woman.

"I'm going to prescribe you some medication for the pain. Make sure you take it with food, so you don't feel nauseous. But if the pain persists or gets worse come back so that we can make sure that everything is healing properly."

Ima nodded at my instructions and then reached to touch her nose which was packed neatly with gauze and a nasal splint. She flinched at the pain and then closed her mirror shut after seeing the damage.

"Do you mind telling me what happened?" I was hesitant to ask, not because I didn't want to know, but because I didn't want Ima to completely shut down.

"Nothing, I just tripped on set." Ima could barely meet my eyes as she blatantly lied to me.

"Really? Then why didn't anyone come with you?" I poked my head outside of the curtains to see if I had missed anyone who came in with Ima. When I confirmed that she had come alone, I turned around to look at her. "I mean, I would want to make sure that my employee is okay, wouldn't you?"

Ima continued to shift uncomfortably on the bed but made no attempts at replying. Her eyes were glossy with tears, but I couldn't tell if it was from her broken nose or her emotions.

"Ima, whoever did this to you needs to answer for what they did. If you don't want me to report it, then you have my word that I won't, but I want to make sure you're safe."

Ima took a shaky breath and then looked at me with tear-filled eyes. "Why don't you ask your ex-husband?"

I was taken aback for a moment when she mentioned Jax, because I would have never thought about him had she not brought him up. I probably went through the five stages of grief right then and there, because I would have never thought that Jax could do this to a woman.

I am not naive, I know that Jax has probably killed or injured more people than he's slept with. But he always protected women, always, no matter what. Even when Tig went after that witness all those years ago, he gave her a chance to escape.

The thought of him grabbing Ima's neck and smashing her face into God knows what made me sick to my stomach. "Jax did this to you?"

"Yeah! He did this to me because I slept with Opie. But Opie asked for me last night! He asked for me!" Ima hollered with tears running down her face. I immediately held her against me, no doubt getting some blood on my scrubs in the process.

I was trying to comfort her while simultaneously keeping her voice down. Because once people found out that this was an assault my promise of keeping it under wraps was null and void.

I would have to handle this my way, which was the only way that Jax would understand. Usually, I'd hand anything that had to do with Jax to someone else, but I had enough anger in my body to line up those Harleys and set them ablaze.

"I'll handle this," I said looking directly into Ima's eyes. "Go home and relax, don't lift anything heavy for at least two weeks. In the meantime, don't go anywhere near Samcro..."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me going anywhere near that place ever again!" Ima gathered her belongings and then stood up to leave. Her heels clicked against the floors before she turned around to look at me once more before she left. "Thanks, by the way," she didn't wait for my reply as she bolted for the exit.

I watched her leave and then sat down on the hospital bed in disbelief. Jax had sent Ima to the hospital. I would have understood if Ima got into a fight with Gemma, Tara, or anyone else who decided to date one of the guys. But Jax, Jax I didn't see coming.