Give You the Sky -- Dr. Jack Abbot x Fem!Reader
Pairing: Dr. Jack Abbot X Female Nurse Reader
Words: 12,656
Summary: Six months ago you moved to Pittsburgh for a fresh start, one that looked like an escape from a marriage that ended years ago and a chance for you and your daughter to be safe. When you start a new job as a night shift nurse for PTMC you meet the attending Jack Abbot, a man with a heart of gold who doesn’t like to show it and for some reason calls anyone he likes sweetheart, you especially, even though you assume he'll just walk away like everyone else. But Jack doesn’t walk, he plants his feet in fertile soil and always intends to see it through for your problems are his and all he wants is for you to be happy. You, the very person who believes she doesn’t deserve it and the man who would do it all over again as long as he could possibly give you all the stars in the sky far above the dark and lonely hours of your shared night shift.
Warnings: Lots of mentions of abuse, you as the reader have an abusive ex who does appear and does retaliate twice both verbally and physically, mentions of guns, with one shown. Aggressive and abusive patient, towards you. Medical trauma, procedures, surgery and injuries because of abuse, allusions to suicidal thoughts. If Domestic Violence is triggering, please avoid.
Tags: The Pitt, slight spoilers for season 1 none for 2, Jack Abbot, Robby appears, Shen, Ellis and McKay appear, angst, majorly angsty, fluff, hurt/comfort, you are a nurse, 10 year age gap(Jack is 48, you 38), reader has hair long enough for a bun, no use of Y/N.
AN: Jack Abbot time baby. This may be my best work...Especially the last few thousand words of it. Also please heed those warnings, this one is a doozy. Dividers by @wispyxfae
Give You the Sky
“If I could grow wings, I would do anything. Just to keep you with me. Can't you see. If I could fly high, I would give you the sky.”
PTMC
Night Shift --- 3:30am
Six months ago you had no idea what your life was going to be. You were stuck in a two bedroom house on a quiet country road with a husband who claimed that women didn’t need to work. Your job was to grab him beer, cook roasts every sunday and make him the happiest man in the world despite a nursing degree under your belt. But then you had enough, you grabbed all your stuff, picked up your daughter from a sleepover and ran, consoling her on the way that she would have to make new friends come September. She was upset and you felt bad but Pittsburgh was a fresh start and PTMC was a new space to grow and get better and so far it had been pretty damn good. You trusted Amelia to stay home even at only 13 so you worked night shifts, running around an ED and making a real difference for the first time since you graduated with the degree. It felt correct, like you were exactly where you belonged and the staff at PTMC had only made it better.
But a lot of them had no idea you were a single mom on the run, avoiding calls from strange numbers and always looking over your shoulder. At work you felt safe, protected and within a space where a huge part of the goal was keeping nurses like you safe and protected. Outside PTMC was where it got scary and you spent a lot of time at home, hiding in the dark and waiting for him to find you, to go looking for the woman who arguably stole his daughter right out from under him. But he was never really a father, just posing as one and letting you do all the work, all the house cleaning, all the parenting while he sat around and complained that his construction work didn’t make him enough money. You would’ve helped if he let you, would’ve put your skills to good use but he was always the controlling type and at least you got that freedom now, in the bowels of the ED.
“Well…I think that should be it,” you muttered and administered some extra pain medication to a woman with a broken wrist.
“It feels better.”
“It’s what morphine is good for,” you said and she smiled, attempting a thumbs up but wincing. “I get the gesture.”
“Thank you.”
“Ask for a Dr. Ellis if you need anything more,” you said and she nodded, giving you a smile as you walked out of the room and sighed, stretching a bit since there were still four hours left and a mountain of work.
“How’s 3?”
“She’s good,” you said and added some more to a chart as Dr. Shen hovered above you, iced coffee in hand like it was glued to him.
“Abbot has been looking for you.”
“Why?”
“He has this mother in four with a kid and I think he needs you to be there to placate the little bugger.”
“He can’t?” you asked and already knew the answer as Shen laughed, loud and overly obnoxious. “I’ll find him.”
“He’d been asking for a sweetheart,” he said and you rolled your eyes at Abbot’s nickname for apparently every nurse he deemed his favourite and yet he only used it on you.
Dr. Jack Abbot, night shift attending, and the first to welcome you to the pit when you arrived, hell bent on making the place the best workplace it could be. He was always there to lend a hand on a difficult case, offer up advice for the weirder patients that came in and even place a hand on a shaky shoulder, a bright smile on his face. For someone who had been surrounded by bad men her entire adult life, he was a good one and you had been towing the line between friendship and something more for a few weeks. You felt like it was too soon, too much had happened but all Abbot saw was a woman who was as brilliant as she was beautiful and his…
“Sweetheart!” Abbot said with a grin as you caught him outside the room, a smile on his face despite the time of night.
“Dr. Abbot,” you greeted and cocked a brow when he shook his head.
“Call me Jack.”
“We’re at work,” you pointed out and looked around the ED as he shrugged.
“I don’t mind.”
“Dr. Abbot,” you repeated and he sighed. “What do you need?”
“I have a woman who came in complaining of chest pain and we need a CT and some other scans and her son won’t let us. He’s attached to her and I assumed you could calm him down enough to spend some time away from mom.”
“Why me?” you asked since only Ellis knew about your daughter.
“I don’t know,” he admitted and crossed his arms. “You just give off the correct energy.”
“Wow…”
“Did you drive here?”
“My car is in the shop so I took the bus,” you admitted and cringed at the thought of that public bus that smelt like a mix of BO and old cheese.
“I’ll drive you home and grab you a coffee.”
“All for doing my job?”
“And for saving my ass,” he added and you rolled your eyes but sighed and followed him into the room where a kid not older than six was snuggled against his mother who was asleep. “Ethan, I have someone for you to meet.”
“No…”
“I promise I’m nice,” you said and the kid looked back, eyes full of tears. “Ethan right?”
“Yes.”
“My good friend Jack here needs to do some scans on your mom to make sure she’s okay and we can’t have you there,” you said, voice kind and overly compassionate as the kid began to soften. “I know you’re scared but your mom is in the best hands and I trust Jack with my life.”
“Really?”
“Always,” you agreed and felt his hand on your shoulder as you got in close to Ethan, smiling to yourself and lowering your voice to a whisper. “Between you and me…He is the best doctor in the building.”
“He is?” the kid asked as you glanced back at Jack who was smiling.
“He is,” you agreed and the kid sighed, sitting up and you helped him off the bed as he held your hand tight and watched as a fellow nurse helped to move his mom out of the room.
You and Ethan watched her go and he moved to a small chair to sit and wait as you sighed and turned to Jack, the same smile still plastered across his face. You told yourself he was simply pleased that you could get the kid off the bed, that you could make it so he could treat his mom but you saw below that smile, knew it meant a whole lot more.
“Your patient,” you said and he nodded, giving your shoulder one last pat before following the kids mom out of the room as you sighed and sat next to him. “Do you like Bluey?”
“Of course.”
“Good, me too,” you said and got an episode ready, handing the phone over to Ethan.
“Was he your husband?” Ethan asked and laughed at a joke from the show as your cheeks reddened.
“Uh…nope…”
“He acts like my dad.”
“Huh…he’s just nice.”
“Yeah…my dad is nice to my mom,” he agreed and went back to the show as you cursed him and his lack of filter for putting too many ideas inside your head all at once.
Jack Abbot was just a friend, an excellent doctor and a pretty good coworker and nothing more, with no extra thoughts lingering below the surface like a five yr old with no clue about love was suggesting. Adults could be nice to each other and still just be friends, they could smile wide and pat their shoulders and blush all the time and nothing could be going on below the surface. But your mind and stomach whirled at the thought of him, so much that you were starting to take Ethan’s words to heart.
A few hours later, you were walking towards Abbot’s car with a smile on his face as he mentioned a patient he helped right before he clocked out, a kid with a big smile on his face who desperately wanted to get rid of his loose tooth. He managed it…he got rid of the loose and the perfectly healthy one right next door because instead of tying it to a string he slammed the entire front part of his face on his bedframe. After some major pain meds for the broken nose and a dentist recommendation the kid was all smiles and assumed he was getting two dollars and not one after his genius. You and Jack both found it hilarious much to the annoyance of his parents and the very much not free US healthcare system but at least the kid was okay and the shift overall wasn’t half bad.
“I thought you always go to the roof?” you asked since he didn’t that day, he just walked right out with you.
“Only sometimes. Normally when the days get real hard.”
“Today wasn’t that?”
“No it was not,” he said and unlocked his car, a 97 Ford Ranger XLT as you jumped in the passenger seat and hated to admit it was the most Abbot car, Abbot could buy.
“It was a good shift. I had fun,” you admitted and he smiled.
“I’m glad,” he said and grabbed a pair of sunglasses off the dash since it was just starting to rise as he breathed in deep, taking a moment before starting the truck. “So…what’s your go to for coffee?”
“You are going to hate me.”
“Never.”
“Just wait,” you said and he raised a brow. “I always go to Starbucks.”
“Oof…that has to change. Do you have time?”
“Why?”
“Because my favourite place is only good if breakfast is involved,” he said and you nodded with a smile as Jack grinned, shoved the truck in drive and headed off as your heart fluttered in a way that you assumed Ethan would approve of.
Abbot’s perfect coffee shop was a small one covered in plants called Maritime Cafe that overlooked one of the three rivers that crossed through Pittsburgh and you allowed him to order what he thought was good before following the man over to a small park. The morning was already perfect, cold but nice out and very few people were wandering around a park at 8am which you were grateful for as you texted Amelia to grab some waffles and head off to school on your own. You didn’t tell her why you’d be late, just that work was busy and it seemed to placate her as you took a sip of your iced latte, Jack eagerly awaiting the review.
“Oh wow…what is that?”
“Iced oat and honey latte.”
“Wow…”
“Better than Starbucks?”
“A million times better,” you said and he smiled, taking a sip of his own, the same but with a bit less creamer. “How’d you find the place?”
“A guy at my support group loves it.”
“Support group?”
“For vets,” he said and you nodded, slowly, not hearing about that aspect of his life. “You didn’t know?”
“It’s only been six months.”
“I guess,” he muttered and smiled.
“What?”
“It proves this isn’t just pity talking,” he said and you raised a brow. “I’ve had coworkers who only agree to morning coffee because they pity the traumatized attending who goes to support groups and can’t sleep in a bed most nights. You didn’t know, you’re here because of me.”
“How long did you serve?”
“Only about 5 years. I went to pay for medical school and got training there and became a field medic. It was a lot of fun when you weren’t getting shot at, those guys can sure joke.”
“I assume it lingers.”
“Yeah…laughs mainly…” he muttered and swirled the iced latte in his hand as you bit the croissant sandwich in thought. “I don’t remember the screaming, or crying or blood…but you never forget a laugh.”
“Means they were happy,” you said and he nodded. “At least for a moment.”
“Enough depression,” he said and chuckled. “Why did you move to the city?”
“Uh…” you began and tried to think of an excuse that could cover a reason as big as an abusive ex husband. “I got divorced and needed to live somewhere that wasn’t a small town.”
“Valid,” he said and held out the cup and you gave him a cheers. “To finding peace in Pittsburgh.”
“Peace,” you agreed and the morning changed into a quiet one as you enjoyed the sun rising above the river and sipped on your coffee so long it got watery by the time it was done, but neither of you cared.
PTMC
Night Shift --- 1:45am
Two months later and you were enjoying a pretty run of the mill shift, joking with Jack whenever you saw him and enjoying Shen and his iced coffees since you were also hooked. Sure it was the iced honey latte like Jack suggested all those weeks back but you loved them and always had a cup nearby, refilling whenever you found the time. The patients had been pretty standard for an early Tuesday morning and nothing had stood out and you hoped it would stay that way when Ellis bumped your shoulder. You glanced up and frowned when you realised she wasn’t smiling, she even looked a bit annoyed and you stood, worried something had happened to her.
“Anything the matter?”
“I have a patient and I need you.”
“Isn’t Ally your nurse?”
“She is but this one needs you.”
“Okay,” you said and followed her to North 3 as she dismissed Ally and directed her to the kid with the coughing fit you were working on before. “Why me?”
“My patient…she…she recently left.”
“Oh,” you said and glanced at the woman inside the room who was nursing what looked like a broken wrist. “First time?”
“Yep.”
“Husband?”
“Boyfriend.”
“God,” you muttered and Ellis nodded in agreement as your hands began to shake.
“I’m sorry…”
“No…I am perfect for this,” you admitted and sighed before giving Ellis a nod and pulling open the door, introducing yourself as the new nurse in charge of her care.
“Why the switch?” she asked and you sighed, taking a seat.
“I left eight months ago,” you admitted and her eyes widened. “My colleague, Dr. Ellis assumed that I’d be a good fit.”
“You did?”
“I did. I left and never went back.”
“How many tries did it take?”
“That was my eighth across twelve years of marriage and two years of dating.”
“He did all of that after so long?” she asked and you nodded. “I was only with Marco for a year but he just got so angry and it all came to a head after he used my twin to get me this appointment for a breast augmentation, she pretended to be me and signed the forms.”
“Your sister?”
“Yeah…Lilly and Holly, always the same, not when Holly got pregnant and they grew and I didn’t want kids so he chose the next best thing. When I came home still a B cup he threw me down the stairs and I ran, ended up here, with you.”
“I am very grateful you chose to run after that.”
“Me too,” Lilly agreed and smiled. “What was the trigger for you?”
“We have a daughter,” you admitted and sighed, hands shaking so you squished them between your thighs to make it stop. “Eight months ago I came home and found her crying which was odd because she’s not a crier, never has been, even as a toddler and she was sobbing. This is a girl who broke her ankle playing soccer and tried to keep playing, she doesn’t get upset and yet she was and I was terrified.” Your mind flashed to that day, seeing her curled in a ball against a wall, hands over her head and sobbing. “I confronted Chris, my now ex partner and he claimed she was a brat and needed to be told what to do more often. He wouldn’t elaborate, was too drunk to even see so I got Amelia alone and asked and she said she left a cup on the sink and he freaked out and threw the cup at her. It missed or else he would not be alive but she was scared, she didn’t think her own dad could be that mean, I always kept it away from her, added my own bandages and closed the bathroom door when it got bad. That was my last straw…I packed up our stuff and ran three days later when he went on a business trip.”
“How has it been, being away?”
“An adjustment…but it’s the best thing I could have done for myself and for her and sure she might’ve been a bit annoyed but she loves it here and I have hope that we’ll be safe for a very long time.”
“I hope so…” Lilly sighed and glanced at her wrist that was purple and swollen as you moved closed and placed a hand on it, applying a bit of light pressure to ground her and she looked like she appreciated it.
“No matter what anyone says you did the right thing for you and a man like that doesn’t deserve you, he doesn’t deserve anyone. You’re not weak for running, Lilly,” you began and she looked up, eyes filled with tears. “You are in fact the strongest person in this entire ED.”
“Thank you,” she said and you smiled.
“Ellis will likely order an x-ray for that wrist and a head CT but you should be okay and we have an excellent social worker here named Kiara and a couple therapists if you need some help.”
“I would like that.”
“I can also call an organization here in Pittsburgh that specialises in these cases, if you’d like.”
“I would,” she agreed and you nodded, standing and giving her hand one last gentle squeeze before heading outside to where Ellis was waiting.
“How was it?”
“A lot,” you said and she nodded, wrapping you in a hug. “I need some time.”
“Of course, I can take care of the rest.”
“Get in touch with the therapist on call or a referral for the morning. I’m going to get some air or something…”
“Hey,” Ellis began and you turned. “I heard what happened…what he did…”
“Yeah it was a lot.”
“I’m damn glad I like women, you should try it some time.”
“I once thought about it…but that’s not me.”
“No…you like bright eyed older attendings,” she shot back and you frowned, walking off without another word and hearing her laugh all the way across the ED.
You wondered where Abbot was and stumbled across a trauma room to the south to spot your fellow nurse, a kind older gentleman named Harry fixing the sheet on what looked like a very bloody body as your eyes widened. You stepped inside and tried to avoid the puddles on the ground as Harry sniffled and gathered up some equipment that needed cleaning, likely getting ready to make the body presentable for the family.
“Harry?”
“Oh…sorry…”
“No, it’s okay…what happened?”
“Oh uh…Air force vet…shot himself in the chest, we couldn’t save him. Dr. Abbot tried for the last three hours but it wasn’t enough…he bled out before we could get control of it.”
“Where is Abbot?”
“He said he needed air,” Harry said and you nodded, knowing exactly what that meant when it came to Abbot.
For the last couple of months Abbot had ended up on the roof of PTMC at least once a night, normally closer to the end of the shift, waiting for his longtime friend and day shift attending Dr. Robby but sometimes you found him. There was a spot by the edge that had no railing and one wrong step led to a straight drop down onto the roof of another building and he liked to stand there, staring at it and contemplating life and patients. You caught him in almost a trance a month back after a kid died in a car accident and he had to be the one to tell his older brother that his one bad mistake changed his life forever. It was a bad night and you weren’t surprised to catch him there again, hunched over and staring at the roof like it was built specifically to haunt him. You wandered over and slipped under the railing, standing next to him and leaning on it as he sighed and moved a bit closer, leaning his shoulder on yours and letting out a sigh.
“Hi.”
“How’d you know I’d be up here…”
“Harry,” you said and he nodded with a sniffle. “I’m sorry. I know that must’ve hurt, seeing him like that.”
“I knew him…”
“You did?”
“Mark Connors, he served for six years in the Air Force. Came back with a busted up back and a heck ton of PTSD. He was lost, truly and utterly lost and I had been trying for a month to get him to talk to someone, even me but he refused, claimed he was fine and he showed up here…didn’t even know he owned a gun.”
“You feel like you failed him,” you said and were mildly surprised when he nodded in agreement.
“I feel like I need to look out for people like him, I made it through all that shit and it happened twenty-five years ago.”
“You never felt like Mark?” you asked and half regretted it, assuming it was too deep of a conversation to have with a man who was technically a boss.
“Everyday twenty-five years ago. I never tell someone this without proper context but there was a reason I only spent 5 years in the army,” he informed and stepped a bit away, pulling up his left pant leg.
“Oh my god,” you said and he chuckled. “Sorry.”
“No it’s okay. It’s a lot,” he agreed and smiled. “Mark being here on the twenty-fifth anniversary of this added piece of machinery is pretty funny in a morbid sort of way. I thought I had lost everything when I woke up without this damn leg but maybe I didn't. Maybe I could've lost a lot more.”
“I'm surprised you didn't go into therapy or a veterans hospital.”
“Those guys don't seek out those places,” he admitted and you frowned. “They're like Mark, they appear in an ED with a lot on their mind and sometimes not in the best state. I've seen shootings, stabbings, one guy lost both his legs overseas and got hit by a car two weeks after he got home. The war doesn't stop, it follows you, you learn to always run from something. If we stop we start to lose ourselves.”
It was at that moment that you realized you and Jack were quite similar. Both of you were runners, desperately trying to escape something and both those things felt like a war. In Jack's case it actually was a war, a bad one that took his left leg and changed his life and yours was simply a very angry man, which ironically tended to be the catalyst for a lot of wars. Chris wasn't full of PTSD, he was a normal guy who assumed men deserved the world because his dad taught him they did. You'd met his father once and he had some choice words about women as you and Chris sat outside on the porch and his mom served drinks, dolled up in a polka dot dress and an apron. Frankly that should've been the first red flag but you ignored it because you were young and he was pretty and life seemed so simple. It became complicated when Amelia came around, four months before you were married and you felt obligated to stay because that was what people in rural Oklahoma did, they stayed.
They got pregnant by accident and married the father because they didn't want to be the mom who gets gossiped about by even more moms wearing their polka dot dresses to church on Sunday. When you left, you left to find more and maybe Jack was that more. More life and more assurance that not every man in the world was the same. He showed real emotion towards Mark dying, his cheeks were still wet and you noticed his hands still shook when they weren't tight around his biceps. You moved closer, two soldiers fighting two very different wars but at the moment you were the same and sure he didn't know about Chris but he was helping just by being there. You told Lilly she was the strongest person in that ED without even realizing you also needed to tell it to yourself, you left him, you were in Pittsburgh and not Tulsa and even on a roof, standing in a spot without a railing, you were safe.
And yes it was because of Jack Abbot, it was always because of him.
“Thank you.”
“For what?” you asked and turned, eyes widening when you realised how close you had gotten.
“Looking for me.”
“I needed space.”
“There's a lot of space other than the roof.”
“Maybe I needed the space you had,” you admitted and he grinned.
“Watch it…this could be considered flirting.”
“I'm not in the market for a problematic age gap relationship.”
“I don't think we're that far apart…how old are you?”
“You're not supposed to ask that,” you shot back and he chuckled.
“Okay…how old were you when 9/11 happened. It's the nicer way.”
“Thirteen,” you admitted and noticed that he stepped back a bit. “Too young?”
“I was 23.”
“Only ten years, could be worse.”
“Could be,” he agreed and reached out, hand landing on your waist as you realized he was trying to pull you against him in a way that was subtle. “Sorry…”
“Go ahead,” you said and he nodded, pulling you tight against him as you wrapped your arms around his middle and he let out a sigh. “How long are you going to stay out here?”
“Till it hurts less.”
“I like that idea,” you muttered and sighed as well, closing your eyes and drinking in his scent.
A mix of black coffee, leather and the worry that this was a very, very bad idea.
PTMC
Night Shift --- 12:45am
The one thing that had forever sucked about working the night shift at an ED was the sheer amount of drunk people that tended to stumble through the doors every night. You always saw at least three per night and that night was no different as you administered an IV to one who reeked of tequila and kept eyeing you. You had been told you were the prettiest nurse in the ER and not just from Abbot but a few doctors and had noticed that patients, especially men, tended to perk up a little bit when you walked into the room. You could tell that this guy wanted to say something, he kept glancing up and down your navy blue scrubs, eyes lingering on curves you wanted him to ignore. He was drunk and thought the world of himself and it was making you annoyed.
“God…how do you do this every night?”
“I like helping people,” you deadpanned and he chuckled.
“Is that the only reason?”
“Well I’m not in it for the hours or the pay,” you shot back and he laughed, a loud and boisterous one that grated on your eardrums and made you cringe.
“Also aren’t you a nurse?”
“I am but we need more people to help since we’re short staffed so you’re stuck with me.”
“Lucky me,” he said and smiled as you rolled your eyes.
“Just be happy you only fell and didn’t do something worse,” you shot back and he glanced at the cuts on his legs and felt a welt on his forehead.
“Would’ve been nice to have you require me to get a bit more undressed, check over all my injuries.”
“I would rather poke myself with your IV,” you shot back and he didn’t laugh, he just stared and narrowed his eyes as you went quiet, not wanting to add anymore to his already annoying affection. “Alright…I’ll grab a doctor and you should be okay.”
“I don’t feel okay.”
“Has anything changed?”
“No, but I feel some pain right here,” he muttered and pointed to a spot near his heart as you sighed and got a bit closer.
The guy moved his button up Hawaiian shirt out of the way as you leaned in a bit, hoping he didn’t get hit or something and was bleeding internally which would make your night a lot more complicated. But everything looked fine and you were about to move back, step away and tell the guy to shut up and wait for a doctor when he reacted, grabbing the back of your neck and pulling you against his chest. You went rigid, eyes wide as he held the back of your neck in a vice grip and forced you to adjust so you could keep standing, legs shaking regardless since the moment was a direct reminder of what happened with Chris, not the last time, but so many before from the grip to the smell of alcohol on his breath.
“Submissive, I like it,” he whispered and you felt tears in your eyes. “People say that nurses are sweethearts but you…you broke that rule. I don’t like it so you’re going to fix that attitude…”
“Or what?”
You froze, hearing Abbot’s voice from behind you and letting out a short sob that he caught wind of what was happening, that he was there to get you out of this mess and make everything better like he was good at.
“Who’s this?”
“A very angry ER doctor.”
“Really?”
“Your judgement is skewed but you must realise this violates a lot of rules.”
“It might but she was mean to me.”
“I’m sure my nurse is overworked and underpaid and doesn’t like being shit on by assholes who run their mouths after falling off a step because they had too much cheap tequila. You can excuse her indifference.”
“And if I don’t?”
Abbot walked further into the room, stepping right next to the guy in the bed and placing a hand on his shoulder as he eyed him, going to move but he punched him in the face before he could. He jumped, howling in pain and letting go of you as Abbot stepped back, rubbing his knuckles that had a bit of blood on them since it looked as though he also broke the guy's nose and was pretty damn proud of himself for it. You stood, moving to the other side of the room as he nodded to security and they walked in, cuffing him to the bed as he placed a hand on your shoulder and guided you out of the trauma room and over to the breakroom.
“Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine,” you assured as he grabbed the side of your face and made you look at him, hazel eyes narrowing in thought as he rubbed a thumb along your cheek.
“I’m sorry.”
“That guy was a jackass and drunk, it’s never a good combo.”
“God people are fucked up, nurses work their asses off and this is the thanks they get?”
“I’m fine, Jack,” you said and he nodded, looking away and clenching his hands into a tight fist before he was quick to turn back and pull you into a tight hug, pressing his face to the top of your head as you relaxed in his grip. “I’m okay. Thank you for stepping in.”
“I should’ve punched him harder.”
“I think you broke his nose.”
“Here’s hoping it grows back crooked.”
“It would match his heart,” you said and he chuckled, kissing the top of your head as you froze, eyes wide and he did the same, pulling back so fast it was like he got shocked.
“Uh…I’m so sorry.”
“No…it’s fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m okay. I do the same to my daughter after she gets her heart broken, I get it.”
“Daughter?” he asked and your eyes widened since you had yet to mention Amelia to anyone besides Ellis.
“Yeah, I have one of those, she’s 13 and thinks she knows everything.”
“They always do at that age.”
“Amelia is her name and she’s a menace.”
“Is it just you and her?” he asked and your heart dropped, mind racing and you hoped he didn’t notice as you wandered over to the fridge for one of the La Croix the day shift nurse Dana left in it.
“Yeah, we moved here together.”
“Does she ever see the ex?”
“No…he was never around,” you said and took a long sip, nose wrinkling at the bubbles as Jack narrowed his eyes.
“Well that man is an asshole.”
“I can’t help but agree,” you said and he chuckled, joining you at the table.
“So…uh…I have something that I’ve been meaning to ask, been a long time coming and I’ve debated on asking before or never…but now I want to bite the bullet and ask, see what you say.”
“What?” You asked, heart pounding as he breathed deep.
“Would you like to get dinner sometime? I know a place that does Italian really well, it's never all that busy…”
“Uh…”
“I swear no one from the ED would spot us.”
“No,” you said and his eyes widened. “Thank you for the offer but I'll have to say no. Maybe another time.”
“Of course, I'll keep the option open,” he assured and patted you awkwardly on the shoulder before clearing his throat and leaving the break room.
You stared into your La Croix and sighed, loud, regretting it almost as much as the feelings themselves but it was too early…he was asking for too much too soon and you weren't ready. Maybe one day, maybe one day soon even but not today…despite it all…not today.
Lana’s Bar
7:30pm
You didn't expect one of the worst days of your life to also be Parker Ellis's birthday but fate has a funny way of fucking people over. Ellis managed to convince you to go to a bar to celebrate her birthday, one near the ED with good reviews and cheap alcohol and you were currently nursing a beer as she tried to convince Santos, a day shift doctor, that karaoke was a good idea. You were sitting next to your personal favourite of the day shift, a woman named Cassie McKay who was also a single mom with an asshole ex and simply trying to make ends meet.
“How has the night shift been treating you?”
“Better than expected, I’m here,” you said and glanced at Ellis who had managed to get Santos up on stage, a surgery resident from the day named Yolanda cheering them on from the sidelines.
“I heard about you and Jack…”
“From who?” you asked and McKay nodded to Ellis as you sighed. “Is it wrong to kill her on her birthday?”
“She’s a blabbermouth, it’s your fault for telling her.”
“I was venting,” you shot back and she rolled her eyes. “Also I said no because it’s wrong to date someone who is basically my boss. I know I’m not a doctor but there’s that power dynamic…that difference in authority kind of a thing…I don’t like it.”
“Bullshit,” McKay muttered and sipped her IPA as you glared. “I think you’re scared.”
“And if I am?”
“Don’t be…he’s clearly crazy about you.”
“You are the day shift, how would you know?”
“A couple weeks back Abbot was still there, finishing up this guy who broke his ankle in an accident and he called me over to take over and mentioned how he was worried about you, you seemed distant and unlike the nurse he knows so well. I claimed it was probably just stress and he asked what he should do, if he could do anything to make you feel better and I jokingly said he should bake you something, you’ve always been a pastry fan.”
“Bake me something?” you repeated and she nodded. “Oh my god.”
“What?”
“He brought in a container of brownies a few weeks back and made sure I got one…they were terrible but I didn’t care, he made them.”
“See…”
“Maybe I’ll tell him I changed my mind,” you said and McKay grinned as your phone started ringing and you excused yourself, expecting a call from a soccer camp Amelia had been bugging you about.
Since the job was going well and the pay wasn’t horrible you could afford it and send her off to play soccer with some of her besties for the entire month of July. Her being accepted was going to be her birthday present since it was in May and you slipped out of the bar, walking to an alley a few feet away and answering the call.
“Hello?” you said and smiled but there was no answer and when you pulled the phone back the contact claimed to be an unknown number. “Rude…”
You rolled your eyes and pocketed the phone, pulling your cardigan closer since there was a chill for a slightly rainy night in March and you didn’t feel like catching a cold and missing work. You smiled at the thought of Abbot coming over to your small apartment, making some soup and his horrible brownies and helping you feel better…maybe even in more ways than one. You decided back in the bar to give him a shot but really wanted to at the moment and half debated calling him when you felt someone grab your shoulder.
“Ellis? It’s not funny,” you said and chuckled, but the voice didn’t respond and you were about to look back and chide her when the figure slammed you against the wall of the alley so hard you dropped to the ground, winded and dizzy.
“Been a hot minute,” a voice said and you narrowed your eyes, one of them half shut cause blood was streaming from your forehead as a man you thought you’d never see again was standing above you.
Standing there in dark jeans and a worn leather jacket was your ex-husband, or separated husband at least with a grin on his face as he knelt down, getting closer to your level. He stank of alcohol, the cheap stuff he loved and it was clinging to his breath like mold on bread as you tried not to barf. You assumed he was back in Tulsa, trying to figure out what he did wrong and failing at it but he was there, right in front of you and it felt like the entire world had just caved in on itself.
“How’d you find me,” you said, voice shaky and mouth full of blood since the impact made you bite your tongue pretty hard.
“You should really consider changing your name on Facebook,” he said and you cursed since that had been a very low priority when you moved. “Sure you blocked me but I’ve kept in contact with your best friend, we’re even together and she helped me discover where you ran off with our daughter. Fathers have rights, hun, you should know this by now and this one doesn’t like it when those rights get taken.”
“Maybe if you didn’t threaten her she’d still be yours,” you shot back and he growled, reaching back with his foot and kicking you square in the ribs as you sucked in a deep breath, feeling something shift.
“You have until the end of the month…three weeks…to bring Amelia to my hotel. You will not tell her why, just that her dad wants to see her and she’ll be spending some time in Tulsa so we can reconnect. I would recommend not going to the cops.”
“Why?”
“Because I move faster,” he said and showed off his phone as your breath caught.
On the screen was a live video feed of what looked like your front door and even though it was nearing 9pm, Amelia was just coming home since she had a late practice and spent time with a friend and was waving to the mom in the car. You bit your lip to keep from crying and gave him as he reached back and grabbed your hair, right at the base of the ponytail and pulled your head up so you could look right at him.
“Do we understand?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll leave the address on the ground. Tell her to pack, she’ll need a few months.”
“When will you bring her back?”
“Only time will tell,” he shot back and dropped your head, your forehead smacking on the ground as you cried out and he rolled his eyes.
“I’ll see you in Apirl…sweetheart.”
He walked off, leaving you sitting there and trying to catch your breath but every deep suck in was agonising and you knew that he had to have broken something with that kick. But you didn’t need anyone inside seeing you like that, or someone at the ED, you just needed a bed and a clear head and some way of getting out of the current situation. You had always been a determined person, set on getting out of tricky situations by yourself and this would be no different. You limped home, still unable to really suck in a deep breath and texted Ellis that you got sick from a bad beer and needed rest. She told you to get better soon and you laid on your bed and cried yourself to sleep with Amelia sleeping in the room next door, the one person you cared about protecting more than even yourself.
PTMC
Night Shift -- 12:45am
You spent three days at home resting, hoping that the bruises on your face and stomach would disappear and maybe you could go back to work and actually feel normal and it worked for the most part. Ellis caught the shift, she spotted your slight limp and you made up an excuse about falling down your stairs and needing a couple days to recover which she bought with narrowed eyes but didn’t say much more. You hoped that no one would look too close, spot the bruises hidden behind makeup and you could survive the shift and continue resting at home. But your side was also killing you, deep purple from the bruises and you have debated asking someone to order an x-ray for a patient and show up instead. Chris had one hell of a foot on him, heavy enough to do some real damage and you stopped by the desk after dropping off a chart, eyes going crossed from the pain.
“How are you doing, sweetheart?”
You jumped despite yourself, arm hair raising like a scared animal as Jack clasped a hand on your shoulder and grinned like always. It wasn't his fault that that nickname now scared you, it made you think of him…of his dirtier and the dark alley where no good thing could ever happen to you. He eyed you, looking concerned as you breathed in deep, closing your eyes and keeping the panic at bay since you weren't in the alley, you were with Jack and he was safe. He'd always be safe.
“Sorry. Didn't sleep much last time.”
“All good.”
“What are you up to?”
“Just got done with a patient, came in with road rash and a broken wrist because of a bike accident,” he said and showed off some photos of pretty nasty road rash. “I sent them off to Robby.”
“Still hate the bike?” You asked and he nodded.
“I keep telling that old man that he is an old man and he has to stop but he won't listen.”
“You should move to the day shift so you can berate him all the time.”
“I can't, I wouldn't see you enough,” he claimed and you blushed as Jack grinned. “Sorry.”
“You know I said no to you.”
“Still hurt,” he assured and sighed, wandering off to do something else as you rolled your eyes and felt a sharp stab in your left side.
“Hey!” Ellis called and added your last name as you looked up. “Trauma incoming. Car accident.”
“Right behind you,” you said and sighed, grabbing one last sip of the La Croix on the desk before running after her.
“What do we got?” Ellis asked and turned to the paramedic who was assisting in dragging the young man onto the table.
“Ben Simpson, 24, crashed into a tree going 150 miles, his friend in the passenger seat died on scene. We started to lose him on the drive over but he's stable.”
“Cheers, thank you,” Ellis said and they nodded, running off as you grabbed a pair of scissors, cutting away his pants and revealing a lot worse than road rash.
“Ellis?”
“God that's broken,” she muttered and you nodded, suddenly feeling a bit faint which was odd for someone who didn't tend to feel woozy at the sight of blood. “Hey, you good?”
“Yeah,” you muttered and stepped back as Harry took over, wobbling a bit and grabbing the door jam, your back slamming into Abbot's.
“Hey, what's happening here?”
“24 yr old with a bad tibia fracture after crashing his car into a tree.”
“GCS?”
“Haven't done it yet.”
“Why?”
“Ask her.”
“Sweetheart,” Jack asked and grabbed your shoulder as you took one look at him and his pretty eyes before collapsing. “Shit.”
“Check this,” you croaked out and pulled up the hem of your scrub top as his eyes widened.
“What?” Ellis asked and Jack swallowed hard.
“Massive internal bleeding.”
“What?”
“Call the OR!! Now!!”
“But…”
“Shen!!” Jack cried and the man ran over, sliding to a stop in the doorway as his eyes widened. “Help Ellis.”
“On it,” he said and stepped over you and Jack as he cradled your head in his lap, Ellis making the call for an empty OR.
“Stay with me,” he muttered and ran a hand through your hair as your eyes got droopy, heavy from pain and a regret for not acting sooner, for not choosing to trust him and that mistake might even cost you your life.
“Jack…”
“Stay with me…”
You woke up and immediately closed your eyes, practically bombarded with light and blinked a couple times to force your eyes to adjust, spotting a head of greying hair, resting on a pair of arms as Jack slept at the end of your bed. You shifted, feeling a jolt of pain and felt around your side to find a large bandage and assumed you were in some sort of recovery wing. The last few words you remembered were OR and his pleading voice for you to stay with him and were half tempted to reach out and touch him, run a hand through that hair you loved when someone tapped the edge of the room and you looked up to find Robby. You’d seen him around when he did the hand off from the day shift, tired eyes and often a bit hunched over since he had worked at PTMC for likely longer than you’d been alive…or at least you assumed it felt like that.
“Hi.”
“Hello,” Robby greeted and walked in, stepping with care to not wake Jack who let out a soft snore. “He’s been here for hours.”
“He didn’t go home?”
“Nope, we tried to convince him but he refused.”
“I assume this is a recovery room?”
“You’d be correct,” Robby said and you sighed. “You had a perforated bowel caused by a broken rib, it was causing some nasty leaking and a small bit of internal bleeding. You said that you fell?”
“We have these annoying stairs outside our townhouse,” you said and Robby narrowed his eyes. “I slipped coming home late from Ellis’ party.”
“Are you sure?”
“Are you saying I’m lying?” you asked and he shook his head, putting his hands up.
“Never said that.”
“Good…cause I fell,” you assured and Robby nodded, giving your shoulder a small pat before he moved back to the main door.
“Wake him up so he can go and sleep at home,” he said and you nodded as Robby paused, hesitating in front of the door. “Tell Jack. He cares.”
“I’ll tell him I fell,” you said and Robby nodded, sighing and smacking his hand on the door which caused Jack to bolt upright, eyes wide as you rolled your eyes.
“Sorry.”
“No, you’re fine.”
“How are you?”
“I’ve been better,” you said and he nodded, sitting up and stretching, eyes heavy with bags under them. “How long have you been here?”
“A few hours. Your surgery didn’t take long and I fell asleep waiting for you to wake up. When you collapsed…” He went quiet and your heart ached, wanting so badly to tell him what really happened but Chris was already in a bad mood and you were worried he’d do something to Jack if he went after him. “I was scared…”
“I’m sorry.”
“No…it’s not your fault. But did you fall? Ellis said you did.”
“I did,” you assured and prayed he wouldn’t see through the lies as he eyed you, watched your face like he wanted to commit it to memory. “I’ll be fine. It was a simple routine surgery and I’ll sleep it off and head back into work like nothing happened.”
“Why didn’t you come in?”
“I didn’t feel it. I thought it was fine.”
“Well…”
“Don’t go all sarcastic on me,” you said and he chuckled, standing and stretching, the hem of his day old scrub top riding up but you weren’t looking.
“Sorry. If you need anything while you’re recovering, call me.”
“Like?”
“Dinner…Company.”
“Oh yeah I’ll be sure to keep you in mind,” you said and he chuckled, giving your knee a pat and walking over to the door, stopping before he walked out.
“I mean it…This isn’t me being sarcastic or trying to get you to say yes…I mean it.”
“You want me to stay with you,” you said and were shocked to see a dusting of red take over his cheeks.
“Yeah…It would be nice.”
“I’ll do my very best, no sarcasm at all.”
“Thank you,” he said and patted the door before he walked out as you leaned back a bit, your smile wide and cheeks warm with the best feeling in the world.
Maybe it was love…maybe it was something more but it was making everything infinitely better.
Your Townhouse
One Week Later
You were all set to head back to work in a couple days, stomach much better than it was when you woke up and your spirit was high despite a looming deadline always in the background of Chris and his plans in April. But you still had time to come up with a way to placate him and chose not to think about it, to focus on Amelia who had two weeks off for spring break and the dinner you made, elaborate and fancy since it had been a while. She was rambling about her excitement for the soccer camp in July since it was her birthday two days ago and you revealed the gift, the big and amazing one she called the best gift she’d ever gotten. You laughed at that comment since she also got a Nintendo Switch to play with her friends online but were grateful that a soccer camp for the summer was enough to please a newly fourteen yr old girl.
“Sylvie told me two weeks back that she’s going and now I am, we’re gonna have so much fun,” Amelia assured as she washed the pan you used for dinner, practically bouncing and getting soap everywhere. “Also the sink of doing that thing again…where the water is really slow.”
“Shoot…I’ll phone a plumber,” you said and reached for the device to do just that when the doorbell rang and your blood ran cold. “I’ll get it.”
“Cool.”
You walked over, half tempted to grab a small container of pepper spray you kept in your purse but chose to look through the peephole instead, see if it was someone worth defending yourself over and to your shock it wasn’t. You eyed the door before pulling it open and spotting Jack standing outside it, a plastic tray of plastic wrapped cookies in one hand and a smile on his face.
“Hello.”
“Hi, sorry to show up unannounced.”
“No problem, we were just having dinner.”
“I can come back?” he asked right as Amelia wandered over.
“Who are you?”
“This is Dr. Abbot from work.”
“Have you ever fixed a sink?” she asked and your cheeks went red.
“Uh…I have before. Why?”
“Can you fix ours? We have tools.”
“I can run home and grab more, I’m not far,” he offered and your cheeks flushed deeper as you cursed your daughter inside your head.
“Perfect, we have more than enough dinner,” she singsonged and wandered back into the house as you turned to Jack.
“You don’t have to fix our sink. She was joking.”
“So it works?”
“Well…”
“I have no plans, I wouldn’t mind.”
“Yeah but you’re…”
“I’m what?”
“We’re having fajitas, come hungry,” you said and grabbed his tray of odd looking cookies as Jack nodded and walked back over to his truck to go and grab the tools he claimed he had a lot of. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“That you need to get out more,” she shot back and grinned.
“Amelia…he’s a coworker…”
“Derek Shepherd was a coworker…didn’t stop Meredith.”
“This isn’t Greys.”
“If only,” she said and sighed, almost wistfully as you dropped the tray on the counter and sucked in a deep breath.
“I might kill you.”
“Hey…he made you cookies…he obviously likes you.”
“No he doesn’t,” you shot back and she grabbed one, biting into it with a smile.
“Dark chocolate,” she muttered and your eyes widened. “I remember them being someone’s favourite.”
“Yeah…so what,” you said and grabbed one yourself since you had to wait for dinner, hating to admit they were both delicious and your favourite.
Touche Jack Abbot…touche.
A little while after Jack returned with his case full of tools and enjoyed the dinner you prepared he was on his knees and looking over the sink which was causing you too many problems. He had also chosen to work without the lower half of his right leg and you eyed the prosthetic from afar, seeing how it connected to what was left, which was a good amount of calf just below the knee. He looked back and caught your stares as your cheeks flushed and you turned back to the bottle of beer you had grabbed from the fridge.
“Alright, I think I got it,” he said and stood, bracing himself on the counter and flicking the tap and to your surprise it worked like a charm.
“Oh my god, you just saved me like hundreds.”
“Tell Amelia to keep an eye on her bracelets,” he said and tossed a small gold chain on the table.
“She’ll be getting a job to pay for it next time,” you said and he chuckled, expertly hopping his way over to the chair across from you.
“The hospital needs someone to drain the bed pans.”
“Oh perfect,” you said and laughed as he did the same, grabbing a sip of his beer. “Seriously…thank you.”
“It’s not a big deal, I’ve been fixing my apartment for years.”
“A bachelor pad?”
“Nowadays.”
“Oh…Did you have someone else there before?” you asked and he nodded, pulling out his phone and tapping a few apps before turning the screen around to reveal a beautiful woman, arms wrapped around a much younger Jack. “You were married.”
“Yep. Her name was Lucy, she died about 10 years ago.”
“Died?”
“Cancer. Thyroid, they told her she had a thirty percent chance of dying and she still did so I stopped believing in odds after that.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, she was incredible but it was also a decade ago, she’s faded a bit since then, like my hair colour,” he said and ran a hand through a patch of grey as you rolled your eyes.
“It looks great.”
“Thank you for lying,” he shot back and you rolled your eyes as he pulled out a chain, a pair of dog tags and a wedding band with a small diamond sitting on it. “I keep her close.”
“I bet.”
“You separated right?”
“Yeah, a few months ago,” you said and your blood went a bit cold.
“What an idiot,” he muttered and your eyes widened.
“What?”
“He’s an idiot. Separating from you, he should get checked.”
“What if I was the problem?”
“I find that hard to believe,” he said and leaned down to pull the prosthetic back on, doing it in record time before standing and walking around your kitchen to adjust it, coming to a stop next to a shelf of trinkets. “Any woman who collects porcelain animals is never the problem.”
“Do you know that from experience?”
“My wife collected them,” he admitted and you smiled. “You remind me of her, maybe that’s why I agreed to fix your sink, you both have this spark about you.”
“A spark?”
“Yeah, a spark,” he assured and you raised a brow. “She loved to talk me down off the ledge, did it a hundred or so times since and this might be controversial…she was my therapist.”
“Damn…Wow…Problematic workplace relationships seem to be your thing.”
“Maybe,” he muttered and took his seat back, smiling at you. “She did a lot more than help with my head…she changed my entire life.”
“I wish I could have met her.”
“Maybe you already have,” he muttered, barely above a whisper and your eyes widened as he stood, finishing off the bottle and placing it by the sink. “Anyways…Unlike you…I have to work in an hour.”
“Oh right…you need to get going.”
“I will,” he assured and grabbed his bag as you walked him to the front door. “Thank you for dinner and the company.”
“I had to pay you somehow.”
“Yeah but…I would’ve done it for free.”
“Jack…”
“Yes?”
“About that dinner…”
“Yes,” he said and got a bit closer, the air between you smelling of coffee and leather as you breathed in deep, still scared but willing to risk it.
“I’d like to join you one day,” you said and looked up at him, shocked to see him so close, noses basically touching.
“Can we start with breakfast after your first shift back?” he asked and you chuckled.
“Eager much?”
“Maybe,” he said and dropped the bag on the stoop, reaching up and placing a hand on each shoulder as you swallowed hard.
“I’d like that.”
“Perfect…I’ll look forward to it. Count the days.”
“Stop being such a romantic,” you shot back and he responded by placing a hand under chin, moving it up and forcing you to look into his eyes, those wide hazel eyes with the word love basically written across his pupils.
“You bring it out,” he explained and you chuckled. “I go all soft.”
“I won’t tell anyone at work.”
“Go right ahead, I won’t deny it,” he shot back and was about to lean down, to close the gap when someone honked behind you and you jumped, separating and banging your shoulder against the doorframe.
“Uh…have a good night,” you said and he nodded, hand brushing yours for half a second but he let it drop and grabbed the bag, walking back to his car with a grin on his face.
You waited until he left, shutting the door to the truck with a slam before you stepped inside and closed the door, sliding down it and letting out a loud sigh since it felt like your heart was beating too fast.
“You are so screwed,” Amelia declared from her spot by the top of the stairs since the townhouse was three stories with a basement.
“You shouldn’t linger.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Then how do you know?”
“You’re happier than normal,” she shot back and grinned, taking a big bite of one of his cookies. “I like it…and him.”
“You just met him!” you called and she laughed.
“Go get your McDreamy mom, I approve,” she shouted and you sighed, running a hand down your face, cheeks redder than ever.
But a big part of you didn’t care and maybe you were Meredith and he was your McDreamy, the gorgeous attending with a heart of gold.
The First Day
6 Days Later
Six days after he fixed your sink and you were an hour out from the first shift back, nervous as all hell and trying to make your hair look just right. So far it was being pretty annoying and you settled on a messy bun, casual but effortlessly cute and walked out in your scrubs as Amelia chuckled from her spot on the couch, catching the extra effort.
“Mrs. Marge is next door so if you need anything, talk to her. You have a leftover plate of spaghetti in the fridge and be in bed by 9pm okay?”
“I know.”
“It’s been a second since you’ve been alone.”
“I’ll be okay, I’m 14 now,” she shot back and you rolled your eyes.
“Yeah for eight days,” you said and kissed her forehead as the doorbell rang and your eyes narrowed.
“Who is that?”
“Jack said he might give me a ride if he’s free but I didn’t get a text,” you said and checked your phone but the last one was all about his excitement for the date that coming morning. “Maybe he forgot.”
“Have fun with him.”
“You be quiet.”
“I made sure we have earplugs so enjoy it,” she said and you rolled your eyes, shoving her and putting in one wireless earbud, intending to listen to some music on the way since Jack never drove with the radio on.
“You won’t need them,” you called and she scoffed as you smiled and pulled open the door. “Why didn’t you--”
“Where is she?” Chris deadpanned and your eyes widened, spotting the gun in his hand, pointed right at you and he clicked it, signaling the safety was off and his weapon was loaded.
“She’s on the couch.”
“Tell her to pack.”
“It’s March 18th.”
“I don’t care, tell her to fucking pack,” he shot back but you stayed put, heat pounding when he stepped closer, resting that gun above your belly button.
“Put the gun down and I will.”
“Or?”
“Or you shoot me and tell her yourself,” you shot back, voice low as he nodded and put it in the waistband of his jeans, not bothering to click the safety off as you called Jack from behind your back, grateful for the headphones.
“Sweetheart?”
“Come on in,” you said and hoped he wouldn’t hang up.
“Thank you,” he said and shoved past you.
“Wait!” you called and he turned. “Take your shoes off, we’re civil here.”
“Sorry,” he shot back and pulled off his boots, moving upstairs as you followed.
“Sweetheart, was this a pocket dial? I mean to call about not being able to come get you, I slept in believe it or not. Also…who is that?”
“Amelia,” you said and she looked up, eyes going wide. “You remember your father right?”
“Father…” Jack muttered and you hoped he was starting to get it.
“He showed up unannounced and really pulled the trigger on my plans,” you said and eyed Chris as your daughter nodded, switching off her console and shoving it on the table. “I can’t get to work, stuck here with him and his trigger finger of a temper, right hun?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Chris asked and you swallowed hard. “Whatever. Amelia, go pack.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m taking you to Tulsa, you’ve been gone too long and I have rights, good fucking parental rights.”
“Careful Chris, you wouldn’t want to abuse that power,” you said and could hear a sharp intake of breath from Jack, glad he finally got it.
“I’m calling a buddy of mine, they’ll be there soon, keep him calm and get off the phone, you’ll be safe.”
“Are you done?”
“Perfect,” you said and moved up the last step, fake tripping and dropping the headphone out of your ear, ending the call as you went. “Sorry…I’ve always been clumsy.”
“No shit. Pack, Amelia.”
“No,” she shot back and his eyes narrowed.
“Pack…right fucking now.”
“You’re not my dad anymore,” she cried out and jumped up, running over to you as he glared and pulled out the gun. “I’m staying here.”
“I didn’t ask!” Chris yelled and began to wave the gun around as she started sobbing. “Pack your fucking bag and get in my truck.”
“NO!”
“Fine…sit there and I’ll do it,” he said and gestured to the couch as you complied despite her protests. “God…thank fuck. I didn’t want to use this. Don’t move.”
“Roger,” you said and he rolled his eyes, stalking off to her room.
“Mom?”
“It’s okay. We have help coming,” you whispered and she nodded, curling against your side as you held her close.
Chris spent the better part of twenty minutes stumbling around the townhouse and shoving things into a duffle bag he found in a closet, preparing Amelia for their journey back to Tulsa. You hoped that Jack was right, that he had someone and closed your eyes, wishing for this all to cease, for the nightmare to be over when a booming voice came from outside.
“What?”
“This is the police!” it called and he froze. “We have your home surrounded, come up with hands up or release the hostages.”
“The fuck?” he asked and turned to you, eyes narrowed.
“Do what they say.”
“You called them?”
“So what?”
“I told you not to,” he said and pulled out the gun, pressing it to your forehead but you didn’t budge, didn’t even flinch since that man had won too many times. “What? You’re not scared?”
“No. I’m not. You’re just a pathetic waste of a man with a gun in your hand who got a job because his father had one and that’s all you’ve ever been. I should have left years ago, the first time you hit me to feel good about yourself but now I see, I had nothing to fear and I’m right now one half of the strongest person in this room.”
“Who the fuck is the other half?”
“The young woman who will learn never to fear a man again,” you shot back and let her go, shoving Chris before he could blink as the guy crashed to the floor right as the door swung open.
In seconds he was surrounded by men in camo uniforms and massive guns as you sighed, spent and stood back to let them do their work, cuffing him as the guy muttered something about a pathetic bitch that you knew wasn’t you. You thought of Lilly and her story and how she returned a few days later to get her wrist checked, assuring that the guy was in custody, awaiting trial for assault and she was happy, happier than she’d ever been before. She called you strong, said it was thanks to women like you in the ED that she was safe and that the world needed more nurses with tragic backstories, a comment you laughed at. You wouldn’t call your backstory tragic, you’d call it a reminder to trust yourself and your instinct and to run when things get tough and protect the people that mean the most.
“Holy shit, mom.”
“I agree.”
You looked up to find Jack, standing by the stairs in the same camo printed ensemble with a bullet proof vest declaring him as medical and he smiled, walking over and pulling you into a very tight hug.
“I’m sorry.”
“What for?”
“I lied to you,” you admitted and his eyes narrowed. “I didn’t fall down the steps, it was him, Chris did it. He found me outside Lana’s and beat me up, threatened to take Amelia and I didn’t say anything because I thought I could do it myself, I was scared to let someone else care. But then you fixed the sink and made my favourite cookies and reminded me that there are in fact people left to trust in this world. I was going to tell you at breakfast, let you in but then he showed up.”
“Hey…I’m not mad,” he assured and moved you and Amelia out of the house so it could be looked over, just in case he tried something while he was rummaging around.
“I should have trusted you.”
“I get it, I really do.”
“I trust you now,” you said and he smiled, looking over at the cop car with Chris in the back. “You could always beat him up, they wouldn’t care.”
“Maybe I’ll spit on him before he drives away,” he said and you chuckled. “Also…I lied to you. I don’t call all my favourite nurses sweetheart, only you.”
“I figured,” you assured and a cop let you know the house was clear as Jack gave him a thumbs up but you stayed out on the lawn, enjoying the cool, night air.
“You changed everything when you walked into that ED.”
“Really?”
“You walked in with so much life, all you wanted to do was help people and it reminded me of why I chose this job, why I go to work all the time and spend so much of my life desperately trying to save people. Before you got there I debated quitting, too many lost patients and failed cases and I was sick and tired of spending all night suffering when I chose the night shift because I couldn’t sleep in the first place.” He placed a hand on each shoulder and looked you in the eyes. “But then you appeared and asked where we needed help and looked so damn excited when we saved this little kid who was coding that it was infectious. You acted like you wanted to save the world and all it took was a couple people in an ED, a couple lonely people having the worst day of your life and your one goal was to make it better…and you did.”
“You’ve been sitting on that a while.”
“Give or take ten months.”
“What a long crush,” you said and he smiled.
“So long and I’ve also been waiting to find something else to believe in besides work, something like you.”
“Something like Lucy,” you guessed and he nodded, cheeks flushing.
“She told me to find something else that could keep me alive and I assumed she meant work, saving people, keeping others alive but she didn’t…she meant something like this. You have saved me more than any of the patients you saved and more times. A light in the darkness, something to find comfort in when the shift gets too dark or the roof is too tempting.”
“Do you think she’d approve?” you asked and he shrugged.
Fate is funny, it always had been and no sooner did that question leave your mouth did a soft breeze shake the tree at the end of your short front lawn, a small fluttering of early spring leaves hitting the ground.
“I think she does.”
“Yeah, she might,” you said and he laughed, loud and quiet all at the same time, something full of love yet only for you and him to hear.
“I’m not going into work, can I stay here and we can go to breakfast in the morning.”
“Yeah,” you agreed and he grinned.
“Also…this might be too soon…too forward but…”
“I know,” you said and he eyed you.
“What was I gonna say?”
“That you love me,” you said and he scoffed.
“God no, I was gonna say the breakfast place was going to ruin breakfast forever but felt it was too soon,” he shot back and you rolled your eyes.
“Really?”
“Fuck no,” Jack said and lifted your chin up enough to pull you into a kiss, ten months of yearning shoved into every last second of it. “I just wanted to say it myself. I think I might love you, sweetheart.”
“Good, cause I think I might as well,” you said and glanced at the car with Chris just as it drove away. “He never did, I was always an accessory or a house cleaner but this…this is real love…and besides, he never liked my trinkets.”
“See…he should get checked.”
“That he should,” you agreed and he turned, wrapping an arm around you as you made your way up the steps and back inside but you stopped him right inside the door. “Amelia might call you McDreamy.”
“Like the show?”
“You know it?”
“Too many people reference it in the ER,” he said and you chuckled.
“And?”
“I’m fine with it…Only if I don’t die in a car accident.”
“Let’s hope,” you said, “or else I will have to ask for signs.”
The tree outside rustled again and you chuckled as he leaned down and gave you another kiss. “I’ll be fine. Better than fine. There’s a lot to love right now.”
“A lot indeed,” you agreed and pulled the door tight, locking it and following Jack up the stairs.
A whole lot of love, still yet to come.
Maritime Coffee
A Whole Lot of Love Later
“Excuse me?” you asked and the barista looked up, bags under her eyes and you couldn’t really blame her.
“Yes?”
“I ordered two iced lattes but I only got one,” you said and she cursed.
“Sorry…what’s the name?”
“It’s under Abbot,” you said and she nodded, running off to grab the second as you grinned since that had been one of the first times you had gotten to use it.
“Here you are, sorry,” she said and handed over the second iced honey oat latte as you smiled.
“All good,” you said and grabbed it, making your way out of the shop and over to the small bench overlooking a river. “Sorry about the wait.”
“What happened?” Jack asked and you handed over the latte as he took a sip, smiling to himself.
“She forgot one.”
“Long day?”
“Probably, I can relate.”
“We are going back next week.”
“Don’t remind me,” you said and he chuckled as you eyed the tan line peaking out from under his t-shirt, evidence of where you had been the last two weeks. “Oh…I ordered under Abbot.”
“Wow…first time?”
“First time,” you said and smiled.
“You still have to change your ID.”
“I will,” you said and leaned in close, shoulder rubbing his.
“It’s a good name huh?”
“The best,” you agreed and leaned down for a kiss before you watched a few boats go by, enjoying the warmth despite it being March.
Even though there wasn’t a cloud in sight and the air could be considered humid, you felt cool air every couple minutes and spotted a tree on the walk back to your shared home, leaves rustling in the breeze.
