Summary: Now working nights with Jack, you two fall into a rhythm....maybe more comfortable than either of you realized.
TW: None. Just some tension building.....
note: Masterlist will be up soon. Sorry I left ya'll hanging for a couple days but here's part 3!! I'll link the other parts soon. Not proof read well so lmk if there's any mistakes. Enjoy!!!
Walking into the hospital tonight feels a little different.
Instead of the early morning light creeping over the parking lot, you’re met with the sun dipping lower behind the buildings. The sky is streaked with orange and purple, the day winding down while the hospital seems to be doing the opposite.
The energy inside feels more chaotic. Like everyone in the world decided today was the day they needed the ER.
Morning shifts always felt quieter somehow. The world still half-asleep, the hospital easing into the day.
You walk in through the automatic doors, pulling your bag higher on your shoulder as the smells of the hospital hit you.
On your way to the lockers, you glance towards the hub.
Jack and Robby already there. Jack leans against the counter, studying the patient board while Robby stands beside him with his arms crossed over his chest.
They’re mid conversation when Robby sees you, nodding in your direction. “I still can’t believe you managed to steal one of my best nurses.”
Jack doesn’t look at him, “I didn’t steal anybody.”
Robby huffs out a breath, “Sure you didn’t” He looks over at Jack, shaking his head. “Just saying man, If you break her I’m pulling her back to days.”
Jack finally looks at him. “I’m not going to break her.”
Before Robby can respond, you’re walking up to them. His face immediately breaks into a grin.
Jack glances over his shoulder, his eyes flicking towards you. They travel down your frame quickly before turning his attention back to the board.
You look between the two of them, eyes narrowing. “Here I am. Were you two talking about me?”
Robby nods towards Jack, “I was just telling him I can’t believe he managed to steal you from my shift.”
Jack sighs, running a hand through his hair.
You walk around the counter and drop into one of the chairs in front of them.
“Pretty sure I chose nights, Robby.
He shakes his head, “Yeah, well, I still want to put the blame on him.”
Robby claps him on the shoulder, “Alright I’m leaving.”
He turns to you, “Good luck tonight.”
“You think I need it?” Tilting your head back to look at him.
Before he can say anything else, the ambulance doors open.
Paramedics rush a patient through the doors.
Jack pushes off the counter. “Guess we’re starting early.”
You laugh and hurry down the hall after him.
You make it to the trauma room just as they’re wheeling the patient in.
“Male, mid-thirties” one of the paramedic says as they push the patient in. “Motorcycle accident, no helmet. They found him about 20 feet from the bike.”
You pull your gloves on, grabbing some for Jack. You walk over to him passing them off.
“Blood pressure ninety over sixty. Pulse one-forty. GCS twelve. Possible head injury.”
Jack goes to the head of the stretcher. “On my count. One, two, three…”
By three, the patient is transferred over.
You immediately start hooking the patient up to the hospital's monitors. You cycle it to get a new set of vitals.
Suddenly, the patient jerks up as if he was going to try to get up. Jack puts a hand to the patient’s chest. “Woah buddy, lay back.”
You glance up to see blood dripping down his forehead. Before Jack can ask for it, you grab a stack of gauze, holding it out for him.
He automatically grabs the gauze from your hand, cleaning up the blood on the patient’s forehead to make sure there’s no injury there.
You grab a needle to start an IV on the patient. As you go to start it, he groans, trying to move his arm.
“ I just need to start an IV on you. I’ll be quick, but I need you to stay still for me.” You say.
He gazes up at you for a second, then holds his arm back out to you. You start the IV and are immediately able to give him fluids.
“Let’s get another set of vitals,” Jack says
You cycle the monitor again, waiting for the new vitals to pop up.
“Blood pressure is up 102/74 now.”
Robby peeks his head in assessing the situation. “ Need any help in here?”
Jack shakes his head no as he begins to palpate the patient’s abdomen and chest. “ I think we got it in here.”
The patient winces when Jack pushes against his ribs.
“Alright,” he steps back for a moment, “ Let’s get him a CT. As soon as we can.”
You nod at him, turning to the phone on the wall to call up to CT.
After a couple moments, you, Jack and the rest of your little team have stabilized the patient for now and CT has come down to get the patient.
Jack steps back, ripping off his gloves to toss in the trash. He glances over at you. “Good work, we’re starting the night off fun.”
You huff out a little laugh, ripping your own gloves off.
The team moves around the room, preparing the patient to head up to CT while the chaos of the trauma slowly fades.
Jack walks over to the computer in the corner, pulling up the chart.
“Welcome to nights,” he says.
You glance at the patient being wheeled out of the room before looking back at him.
If this was how the shift was starting, you had a feeling it was going to be a long night.
And somehow… you weren’t worried about it.
That first night turned into another.
After a while, nights stopped feeling new.
Weeks turned into months, and somewhere along the way working beside Jack became routine.
The two of you learned each other’s rhythms without needing to say much. When to step in. When to hang back. What the other needed before either of you asked.
Before you knew it, a year had passed.
By the time you check your watch, it’s a little after eleven.
Four hours into the shift and the ER has finally slowed down enough to breathe. All the chaos from earlier has settled into the distant conversations down the hall, steady beeping of the monitors in the background.
Jack sits at the hub, typing steady at one of the computers.
You walk up beside him and slide a coffee in front of him. Dropping into the chair next to him with your energy drink.
He grabs the cup without looking away from the screen, taking a sip.
“You’re a lifesaver,” he mutters
You pop open your Red Bull, taking a sip yourself.
“Careful Abbot, I might think you’re complimenting me.”
Jack finally looks over at you, slight curl of his lip. “I wouldn’t dare.”
You glance up at the board, “Did the labs come back on room five?”
“Yeah. Ten minutes ago. Shen already saw.”
You nod, settling into the chair. A comfortable silence comes over you both as you begin charting.
Over the last year, you and Jack have learned a lot about each other. Your past, your goals, the way you work. The quiet habits that make a shift run smoother when you’re side by side.
From down the hall, you hear a voice call out.
“Hey sweetheart, can you come help me?”
You both glance up from your computers.
One of the patients is peeking out of his room, staring directly at you.
Jack huffs out a breath, “Pretty sure he’s talking to you.”
You sigh, standing. “Fantastic.”
You start down the hall toward the patient, Jack pushing away from the counter a second later to follow you.
You walk up to the room and immediately stop. The patient is standing halfway out of the room, one hand braced on the doorframe.
“Alright sir, let's get back in the bed.” you say as you gesture towards the bed.
He grins at you, clearly entertained.
“Sit, now.” You say sternly.
The patient sighs dramatically, dropping himself on the bed.
Jack walks up to the bedside, glancing at the chart on the tablet,
“Alright,,,,,,Elliot. I need to check you out again.”
He pulls out a penlight from his pocket. “Follow the light for me.” He shines the light into his pupils.
You move closer to the bed, inspecting the stitches along the gash on his forearm. The skin around them irritated.
You press gently around the wound, the patient winces. “Easy, sweetheart.”
You glance up at him flatly. “Hold still, you almost ripped your stitches.”
Jack lowers the penlight. “Any dizziness?”
You grab the old gauze, standing. “I’m going to grab some saline, these need to be cleaned and rewrapped,” nodding toward the supply room in the hall.
Jack nods, glancing down at the tablet in his hands.
You toss the old gauze in the trash, stepping out of the room into the hallway.
Elliot leans back in the bed, watching you walk away. He glances over at Jack with a crooked smile.
Jack looks up from the tablet. “What?”
“Hot and bossy?” Elliot laughs. “I don’t know how you can work with her and not get distracted.”
Jack studies him for a second. “She’s good at what she does.”
Elliot laughs again, “Oh believe me, I noticed.”
You walk back into the room with a bottle of saline and more fresh gauze.
“Alright, let's get you cleaned up.” You set your supplies on the table.
Jack steps out of the way so you can work, keeping his eye on the patient to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.
He shifts behind you as you sit on the stool beside the bed, close enough that you can feel the warmth of him at your back.
Elliot raises his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay.”
You glance back at Jack, eyebrows raised.
Jack shrugs, looking back down at the tablet.
You finish cleaning and wrapping the wound, securing the bandage.
“Try not to mess up my work.”
Elliot glances up at you with a smirk. “No promises.”
Jack shakes his head, setting the tablet on the counter. “We’ll check on you in a bit, stay put.”
The two of you step back out into the hallway.
The department hums around you. Phones ringing, a monitor beeping down the hall, another nurse yelling at someone down the hall.
The shift rolls on like a normal night would. Bursts of chaos followed by stretches of calm. A couple new patients, couple discharges. New test results coming in.
Before long, the clock on the computer read 2:03AM.
You push open the door to the breakroom, the bright fluorescent lights flickering overhead.
Jack is already there leaning back against the counter, scrolling on his phone. You walk over to the fridge. Opening it, you scan through the shelves to find something to snack on.
“You finally deciding to eat something?”
You look over your shoulder at him. He is still looking at his phone.
“Are you monitoring my eating habits?”
He shakes his head, finally looking over at you. “You get cranky when you don’t eat.”
He has a hint of a smile on his face. “I got some of that beef jerky you like in the cabinet. Or this,” he pulls out a granola bar from the pocket on his scrub top, holding it out to you.
You close the fridge, walking over to the table to sit down. Grabbing the bar when you pass him.
Leaning back in the chair, taking a bite. You watch him for a moment, eyes dropping to his leg. He’s favoring his good leg slightly, shifting around like he's trying to get comfortable.
You point at the chair across from you, “Sit.”
He looks up from his phone, brows furrowed. “What?”
“You need to sit down, get off your leg,” nodding toward the chair. “Five minutes at least.”
He exhales, clearly annoyed. But sits down anyways.
You smirk slightly, “Wow, that was so hard.”
He mutters something under his breath but doesn’t argue back.
The next couple of hours drifts by smoothly.
A couple more patients and discharges. Lots of charting to make the time pass.
The ER is quieter. Not silent, obviously.
You sit at the hub finishing up a chart. Rubbing your hands together unintentionally. You always get cold around 5AM. Probably your body trying to keep you awake from being tired. That or the AC just hates you this early in the morning.
Jack passes the hub, noticing the act. Shaking his head he walks to the lockers. Grabbing a hoodie of his that he keeps in his locker. He turns and makes his way back to the hub.
As he approaches, you settle lower in your chair, pulling the sleeves of your undershirt over your hands. Dropping down in the chair next to you, he tosses the hoodie at you. Logging into his computer to pull up a chart.
You catch it, looking down to see it’s the forest green Carhartt of his. Turning to look at him with a small grin.
“You know this is my favorite one.”
He doesn’t look away from the computer, but a small smirk forms on his lips. “I know.”
You pull it over your head. Taking in a breath as the smell of him hits your nose. This has become a routine between the two of you.
You settle back in the chair, warmer now. Finishing your charting.
Neither of you say anything for a moment. Just the sound of your combined typing.
He glances at you out of the corner of his eye. Subtly watching you. Closer now with his clothes on you. It’s not a new thing, but it makes him feel something he can’t put a finger on.
The rest of the shift flies by.
The department slowly picks back up as the morning crew trickles in.
You’re back at the hub after running around between patient rooms, finishing your last bit of charting.
You look up to see Robby leaning on the counter. Coffee in hand. Smiling down at you. His eyes glance down at the hoodie you’re still wearing.
“Oh relax. Don’t get jealous because he gave it to me instead of you.” You smirk. “Plus it was freezing.”
Robby lets out a laugh, looking between you and Jack. “That’s why I bring my own jacket.”
Jack doesn’t take his eyes from his computer. “She was cold.”
‘Uh huh,” Robby smirks, glancing up at the board. “You guys are coming out tonight, right?”
Jack sighs quietly. “We’ll see.”
Robby points at him, “No ‘we’ll see’ you’re coming.” He looks down at you, eyebrows raised in question.
You shrug your shoulders, pulling the hoodie up higher to your chin.
“I mean.. It is your birthday. What kind of friend would I be?”
Robby grins, pushing away from the counter. “I’ll see you both tonight,”
He walks away, leaving you and Jack sitting there.
You glance over at him. “Well, this will be fun.”
He exhales slowly. “Yeah, interesting.”
