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...
Cori stood staring through the window of the cubicle at the infant in the incubator and tried not to tear up. He looked so tiny and fragile that she couldn't imagine holding him. There were wires and tubes everywhere and it made Cori's heart hurt to see him like that. She blinked back tears and turned to look at Jax, who was standing beside her.
"He's beautiful, Jackson. Absolutely perfect."
Jax sighed and nodded, letting a hand rest on the glass. "Yeah, he is. He's a fucking miracle. If it wasn't for Tara and the other doctors here, we'd have lost him."
Cori nodded. "You owe her a lot, it would seem." She cleared her throat before glancing at the man beside her. "So you and her... "
Jax shrugged, giving her that grin that used to stop her heart for a moment before kicking it into overdrive. "I don't know what we are. I know what she wants us to be, but... yeah, I don't know."
Cori just nodded as she turned from the window and leaned against the wall beside it. "You two have a lot of history between you, and now she's back and you're thinking maybe you need to see where that all goes."
Jax shook his head and smirked at her. "You always knew how to do that."
Cori grinned, letting her head tilt in question. "Do what?"
Jax grinned and threw an arm around her shoulders as they started back down the hall to the elevators. "Read my mind. It's a little fucking creepy."
Cori snorted as they got on the elevator and Jax pushed the button for the first floor. "Yeah, well, it used to be easier. I'm a little rusty."
Jax just winked at her as they left the elevator to walk out the front entrance of St. Thomas. "I'm gonna drop you back at the shop then I need to take care of some things." Cori nodded as they reached the parking lot. He snagged her hand and turned her to face him. "I'm really glad you're back, ya know. I always felt like something was missing."
Cori nodded as she patted him on the chest. "I know what you mean."
Jax stepped a little closer, tilting his head down to look at her. "You should let me take you out to dinner one night, so we can catch up."
Cori grinned. "Yeah, well, you seem to have a lot on your plate right now, what with Abel, and the club, and Tara... catching up can wait."
He looked like he was going to say something, but instead, he just nodded and climbed on the bike and waited for her to join him before hitting the starter. The trip back to TM seemed a lot shorter than before and pretty soon Cori was getting off of his bike and waving as he sped back out of the lot. She was so intent on watching his retreating figure that she didn't realize that she wasn't alone until Gemma spoke from right beside her.
"Did you see my perfect grandson?"
Cori nodded as she turned to smile at the older woman. "I did. He's beautiful, Gem."
Gemma grinned as she linked her arm through Cori's and led her over to her car. "Well, of course, he is, Coraline. He's Jackson's after all."
Cori laughed and nodded as she unlocked her car and opened the driver's side door. "Nothing changes around here, does it?"
Gemma shrugged. "Well, it does and then it doesn't, but it's that way with every family, I suppose." She grinned as Cori sat in the car. "When are we going to see you again?"
Cori shrugged. "I don't know. With dad's treatments and all... it's hard to say."
Gemma nodded understandingly before shutting the door for Cori. She waited until she had rolled down her window before speaking again. "Just don't be a stranger, sweetheart. You or your dad need anything, you let one of us know. I mean it, anything at all."
Cori just nodded before rolling her window back up and pulling out of the lot. She didn't want to think about what was coming, what was inevitable. She hadn't wrapped her mind around being an orphan just yet.
"I want to die in my own damn bed, not some hospice!"
Cori blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall as she looked at her father's doctor. He had just suggested that they stop chemotherapy and look into hospices for Harry's final days.
"Are you sure it's time to quit chemo? I mean, couldn't we give it a few more weeks?"
Dr. Newburg smiled softly and patted Cori's hand before speaking. "I just don't think the chemo is helping anymore at this point. The last few tests we've taken have shown no change or improvement. I really feel it's time to get everything in order." He turned his attention back to his patient. "Harry, it would be easier for Cori and yourself if you were in a hospice situation. They could take care of your every need and you wouldn't have to rely on Cori to do things for you." He shrugged before turning back to Cori. "It's something to think about anyway."
Cori thanked the doctor and helped her father back into his wheelchair before pushing him out of the hospital and to the car. They were almost home when her dad spoke up from beside her, reaching over to clutch her hand in his.
"Coraline, if you really feel like I need to go to hospice, I'll do it. For you."
Cori swallowed a sob and shook her head before being able to speak. "I won't let you leave the house, dad. Don't worry."
Her dad seemed mollified for the moment, letting his head fall back and his eyes close for the remainder of their trip. Cori bit her lip, thinking that at least these trips back and forth to the hospital would be over with. Every trip seemed to drain a little more energy from her father, leaving him just a shell of the man he used to be.
She pulled into their driveway, cutting the engine as Sara came out the front door to help get her dad inside. Once he was settled in bed, she told Sara that she would be back and practically ran back out the front door. She didn't stop until she was pulling into the lot of Tm, seeing Opie walking across from the garage. He waved at her as she got out of the car and hurried to where he was standing.
