Hello Friends and Family, Coworkers and Acquaintances: My mother lost her husband of 29 years (partner for 36 years) on May 28, 2026 after
At the end of May this year, I lost my dad (he was technically my stepdad, but, he's been in my life since I was 3. the man was my dad).
He battled through hell when I was in my late teens/early twenties, overcame addictions that people knew about but didn't talk about. He got better. He did better. We went from struggling, worrying about if we'd be able to afford rent, gas, groceries, literally putting $1 in the tank just to make it to tomorrow, minor jobs that fed the habit more than the rest of us, to being clean of everything, a corporate job that kept us housed, comfortable, and ahead on bills by at least a couple of months.
And then...and then 2026 destroyed it. The year started off on the wrong foot - had to buy a new fridge, had to deal with mice, had to deal with a broken dishwasher, had to deal with a broken fence - and then just dove right off the cliff. In April, he started to get sick. Pain in his lower side (he didn't have an appendix, so that wasn't a concern). Nausea. Struggled to keep food down. And then it started getting worse. Fever. Worsening pain. Couldn't eat anything without it coming back up. Mid May we got the scan - there was something on his pancreas. A week later, we got the confirmation - metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma. It was in his liver, and looked to be in his lungs, too. Two hospital stays (4 days in the hospital, 2 days home, 3 days back in the hospital) as he deteriorated so quickly, before he went to hospice. May 28, he was gone. Blink of an eye, our entire lives changed.
He was married to my mother for 29 years - they had just passed their anniversary, 4 days before he died, and he was already so far gone, I don't even know if he knew. He was 1 month shy of his 60th birthday. He had battled past addiction, dealt with early onset COPD, and congestive heart failure, only for this to be how he was taken away from us.
And almost immediately, we learned one very shitty, shitty thing: the man who dragged himself through addiction to come out clean on the other side, to make sure we never, ever worried about whether or not the bills were paid, whether we could afford rent, groceries, utilities, he had somehow overlooked life insurance.
My sister set up a donation page, for my mother and I, to try and bridge some of the gap. The medical bills are coming, some have already come in. The car he was so proud of, he only had it in his name. It's our only mode of transportation. And it still has a loan on it. We have to stay in our house until the lease is up (I read the stupid thing, you can't get out of it for a damn thing), in February.
It's such a shitty spot to stand in, knowing so many things need to be done and handled and not really knowing yet what all of those things are or what they are going to entail. We are trying to find our footing, but the fact that he had absolutely no life insurance - not even one of those complementary ones that sometimes come with credit union accounts - has us at a bit of a loss.
It feels weird to ask for help. I haven't been one to ask for help much, at least not in the last few years. And this is far beyond anything I've ever had to deal with. Grief is weird. Early grief is weird. It leaves you feeling cracked and untethered and lost, and sometimes all while knowing you don't get to feel that way because you have to take care of things. The world doesn't stop. How un-fucking-fair that the world doesn't stop.
My dad was a great guy. He wasn't perfect, but no one is perfect. But he learned from his mistakes. He grew into a better person. He was smart, he loved to learn things he didn't know, he listened, he was funny and he was Safe. He was a safe place, he was the person you could call at 3am when something felt wrong, and he'd either talk you down, or be there to get you in less time that it should have taken. He remembered your favorite foods, he listened to what you wanted, he made sure every single dog we'd ever had was absolutely spoiled rotten, and always well taken care of. He loved music, and grilling out, and he encouraged every single little hobby I had even if it didn't last, and he was my biggest cheerleader when I started to cook and bake. Every recipe he saw that he liked, he sent me, "I think you could make this!" every single time, and he was right - I always said I could do anything, and he was the reason I felt like I could a lot of the time. There is a massive hole in our lives.
If you can help, even just a little bit, that would be wonderful. If you can share this, for others that might be able to help instead, that would be great, as well.
Pairing: Jack Abbot x OFC (Laura Wilton)
Fandom: The Pitt
Word Count: 6,029
Warnings:: None, really. Concussion, stabbed with a piece of glass (accidental), fainting. Normal shit, small potatoes compared to some fics I've seen on here haha.
Author's Note: It has been a long time since I wrote/posted a fic, let alone one this size. I am super rusty! So I hope you guys like it! I started writing it as just a thing to get out of my head (hence it being an OFC and not a xReader), & decided I'd share it with everyone else.
Author's Note #2: If you guys do like this, & would like to/are able to, my sister set up a donation page for my mother and I after the death of my (step)father, and we would genuinely appreciate anything you can do, if there is anything you can do. If you can't, it's okay, we understand completely. Thank you <3 .
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When Laura made her way up the drive towards the ER doors, she was grateful that it was around shift change, seeing through the doors as they opened that, despite there being plenty of people in the waiting room, it wasn’t as busy as she knew it could be. Sighing, she shifted, carefully maneuvering through the chairs up to the window. The nurse on the other side peered up, and smiled tiredly, nodding her head.
“Evening, ma’am, what’s your emergency?”
“Uh…well…I don’t want to sound dramatic, but I’ve kind of been…impaled.” The clerk snapped her head up, startled, as Laura turned, motioning to the wide piece of glass sticking out the front of her shoulder. “It’s not bleeding now or anything, so if I need to wait, that…should be okay.”
“Are you in pain?” she asked, as Laura hesitated, but shook her head.
“I might…be in a little bit of shock. I can feel it, but I’m not hurting right now.”
“Okay, let me get someone to take you back for an xray, they can go from there. Can you write?” Laura nodded, reaching her good hand out as the clerk slid a clipboard under the window. “Okay, fill out what you can, bring it back up, I’ll let them know.”
“Thank you, very much.”
By the time Laura was coming back up to hand the clipboard back, she was starting to wince, and blushed a bit as Lupe reached for the board.
“Pain coming?”
“Starting to. Mostly dull, if I remember not to move.”
“Okay, let me get you in the system, and the nurse will be up for you in just a few minutes.” Laura nodded, patting her good hand on the counter.
“Thank you…honest, no rush, it’s barely hurting.”
“Don’t need you to suddenly get worse, though, honey. Take a seat, we’ll be with you soon.”
Truthfully, Laura felt guilty when her name was called a few minutes later, ahead of people who had been there, seated and miserable, when she walked in. She turned carefully at the sound of her name, wincing as she stood and started for the young man waiting near the ER doors.
“Laura Wilton?”
“That’s me.”
“Hey, Laura, I’m Mateo. I’m gonna take you on back to triage so we can check out your wound, get an xray, all that…fun stuff.”
“Okay,” she chuckled, nodding a little.
“Wanna tell me what happened?” he asked, leading her to a chair and motioning for her to sit down as he grabbed a new pair of gloves.
“My…will I offend you if I swear?” she asked, blushing as he snickered.
“Nope.”
“Great. My fucking kettle exploded.” Mateo looked at her, surprised, before fully seeing the glass in her shoulder.
“Oh, shit. Big piece?”
“I thought it best not to pull it out and check,” she laughed softly. “Uh…probably a weird question, is Dr. Abbot on shift yet? I know it’s…close to shift swap.” He raised a brow, curious. “He’s my neighbor…and a friend.”
“Oh, gotcha. I don’t know, to be honest? Sometimes he’s here before his shift, but…I never know where he is,” he admitted, sitting on the stool and sliding closer to her to get a look at the glass.
“If you can help me take my jacket off, it might be easier to see.”
“Oh, yep, I can do that. Okay, just…one second,” he replied, carefully moving the fabric down over the glass, before he slid it fully down her arm. “It’s chilly in here, so you can keep the other side on if you want to. Did you put the tank on before or after your kettle exploded?” he asked, sitting back down to look at it again.
“Before. I was gonna have some tea, curl up on the couch, watch a movie, I usually do that in a tank or a tee and some sweats…and then the kettle exploded, and I don’t know if I’ve ever been so glad I wore a tank. Jacket was easy to put on, didn’t hurt yet…but I’m starting to feel it now.”
“I don’t blame you. Well, it looks like it’s probably a decent size, but at least it isn’t protruding out the back, nor can I feel it from the back. I’m going to have you take the jacket off completely for now, don’t worry, you can bring it with you. Let’s get you an xray so we can see what we’re working with, and go from there, okay?” Laura nodded, carefully shaking her arm to get the jacket off.
“Sounds like a plan, Mateo, thank you.”
After the xray, Mateo led her to one of the exam rooms, closing the door on his way out. She shifted on the table, sighing a bit as she tried to remind herself not to move her arm like she usually did, carefully pulling her phone out of her pocket to have something to do.
“Okay, exploded? Seriously, Wilton?” Laura laughed out loud, wincing as she did, and looked up as Jack walked in, a nurse behind him.
“It exploded, Jack! I don’t know what to tell you!”
“Did you forget to put water in it?” he asked, brow raised, reaching out for gloves as she rolled her eyes.
“I did not forget water. I filled it up, set it on the stove, turned it on, and started getting my cup ready. Maybe ten minutes? Boom.”
“Did you drop it?”
“Brand new kettle,” she sighed, shaking her head, as he sat down and slid the stool over. “Did you start your shift early just for li’l ol’ me?” she teased him, as he raised a brow at her, shaking his head.
“Mmhmm. You keep thinkin’ that, sweetheart. Uh, Perlah…can I get…forceps…and gauze?” he asked, peering over his shoulder at the nurse. “And a tray…for this giant piece of glass.”
“You didn’t really answer my question, Jackie.”
“Oh, honey, I hate when you call me that,” he sighed, but Laura could see the tick in his lips as he turned to look at her again. “Robby asked me to help him when I got here, so no, unfortunately, I was already working when you got here.”
“...I honestly can’t tell if that’s a this job pisses me off unfortunately, or some kind of an insult to me.” Jack leaned back a bit on the stool, brow raised and hands on his thighs as he stared at her, before chuckling, and looking over to get the forceps from Perlah.
“Old friend?” she asked teasingly, making Laura giggle.
“She lives next door,” Jack replied, shaking his head. “She watches my place when I gotta pull doubles.”
“And I see all the tentative looks from people who fully expect to see you doing naked yoga in the morning.” Perlah widened her eyes as Laura nodded and shrugged with her good arm. “Yeah, that’s a thing he does.”
“How do you know?”
“Our balconies are next to each other…mine now has a dividing wall on his side.” Perlah laughed quietly, as Jack huffed.
“Okay, you talkers. I looked at the xray, Laura, it looks like you got lucky with this, it didn’t seem to do much damage…and it looks like just one piece of glass. So I am going to carefully…do you want me to give you something to the numb this?” he asked, as if he hadn’t thought of it before. Laura hummed, glancing at her arm.
“...probably should…I think the shock is starting to wear off, to be honest.”
Jack turned his head to ask Perlah to get the medicine, but as he did, Laura found herself studying his profile, her cheeks flushing a bit, lip between her teeth. After a moment, Perlah slipped out of the room, and he cleared his throat, looking back at Laura as she ducked her head.
“You doing okay?”
“I’m okay,” she promised, nodding. “This was…so stupid. Literally opened the box the kettle came in this morning, I got it yesterday.”
“Must’ve had a defect from the factory,” he replied, pulling off one of his gloves so he could reach down and squeeze her knee as she smiled. “It is kind of stupid.”
“Asshole,” she laughed, looking up at him.
“Better than Jackie.”
“You like it when I call you Jackie,” she commented, brow raised, as he huffed.
“Not really,” he replied, but she reached her hand up, grazing her finger over his cheek. Jack paused, eyes raising to meet hers as her finger lingered on his cheek.
“You blush when I call you that,” she told him softly.
“And you blush when I call you honey.” As if on cue, she felt her face warm, but rolled her eyes a bit as he chuckled. “You thought I didn’t notice.”
“No. No, as an attending, I assumed you did, I was just grateful that didn’t stop you.” He studied her face for a moment, as though he were debating something, his hand resting warmly on her knee, but before he could reply, the door opened. Laura glanced up as Perlah came in, setting the injection down on the tray, and moved her hand into her lap.
“There you go.” Jack shifted in his seat, moving his hand away, and Laura looked down at her leg, missing the heat of his touch.
“Perfect, perfect. Okay, I’m going to inject you with this lidocaine solution, okay? It will numb the spot again so you don’t feel it when I pull this glass out. After I pull it out, I’ll assess the wound. Ideally, I’ll just be able to glue it shut, but it might need a stitch or two, we’ll see.” Laura smiled, tilting her head a bit.
“I am trusting your fully capable hands, Jack, do what you need to.” He met her eye, smiling softly.
“Appreciate the confidence, honey.” She blushed, rolling her eyes at him, as he put a clean glove on, and reached for the needle.
After giving her a moment to go numb from the shot, Jack shifted the stool a little closer, curling one hand around her shoulder, as he picked up the forceps with the other. He glanced at her, a silent check that she was good, before carefully closing the grips against the glass and pulling slowly. Laura closed her eyes, steadying her breathing, wincing a bit as he hissed.
“Problem?”
“Open your eyes.” Laura did so, head jerking a bit at the size of the glass on the forceps. “This is the only piece that got you?”
“Yeah.”
“Lucky as fuck, Laura, holy shit.” She nodded, watching as he dropped it into the little plastic cup Perlah was holding out. “There’s the bleeding. Must’ve nicked something going in, smart move leaving it there.”
“Well, I do listen when people talk,” she chuckled, “and I feel like my attending next door might actually bully me if I didn’t pay attention to med talk.” Jack chuckled, shaking his head, as he put the forceps down and picked up the gauze.
“Okay, just for peace of mind, Perlah, I’m gonna ask you to run her back to xray, make sure we didn’t miss any glass. After that, I’ll get you stitched up and cleaned off. So just…hold this here til you get the xray, and then again after, and I’ll see you in a few, sweetheart.”
“Thanks, Jack.”
Holding the gauze firmly to her shoulder, Laura leaned back in the wheelchair that Jack insisted she use, letting Perlah roll her towards xray. She sighed, looking up at the nurse as she parked her near the machine.
“I appreciate the ride over here,” Laura chuckled. “I’m sure I could have walked.”
“Possibly, but this way, no one hits your shoulder. So…Miss Wilton,” she started, pulling down the lead vest to rest on Laura’s lap. “How long have you known Jack?”
“Oh, god…feels like forever, to be honest, but just a few years, I think? I…met him not long after he lost his wife,” she replied, shaking her head. Perlah hummed softly, a sympathetic sound as she finished prepping for the xray. “He’s interesting, to say the least.” Perlah chuckled, nodding.
“Today is one of the rare days we overlap - I’m usually only day, he’s usually only night - but he seems like an interesting person, I’ll give you that.” Laura laughed quietly, tilting her head a little so Perlah could check the wound and take the gauze away to check the bleeding.
“How’s it look?”
“Still bleeding. Okay, hold this on there, I’ll get in position to take the picture. And I’ll call out so you can put your hand down before I do. And after you hear the machine click, give it a second for a second click, and then put the gauze on it again.”
“Sounds good.”
After capturing a few images, Perlah came back in, putting the vest back, before turning back to Laura with a wipe in her hand.
“Okay, I’ll hold the gauze, you clean your hands off a bit. And then I’ll swap to clean gauze for the trip back for stitches.”
“Thank you,” she replied, exhaling slowly, as Perlah held the gauze with one hand and passed her wipes with the other. “How’d the xray look, can you tell me?”
“I think it looked okay, definitely a shoulder,” Perlah replied, smiling as Laura laughed. “Honestly, unless it’s life threatening, we like to review it with the doctor first, just in case.”
“I mean, between you and me, I know nurses run the world. But not a bad idea to make them think they’re running things.” Perlah paused, pressing the new gauze to Laura’s shoulder, before leaning down to look at her with a smirk.
“I think you are my favorite patient of the day. Do you work in medicine?”
“No, but my mother did, years ago,” Laura replied. “Worked herself to the bone all night, came home in time to feed us and get us off to school, slept, and was up in time to pick us up from the bus stop and prepare dinner before her next shift. She’s a warrior.”
“Sounds like it. A nurse here?”
“No, Montana. Country folk, born and raised.” Perlah chuckled, shaking her head, as she placed Laura’s hand over the new gauze on her shoulder.
“Hold that there. You’re a long way from home, Miss Wilton.”
“You can call me Laura, it’s okay. Uh, yeah, came out here for college and just never left. She visits sometimes. Or I visit her. Sometimes I miss the countryside, but I gotta admit, I really love being able to just fuckin’ walk to the coffee shop,” Laura laughed, hearing Perlah laugh, too, as she wheeled her out of radiology.
“Countryside Montana in the 80s, I’m guessing? Bet your mom has some good stories.”
“She worked in medicine I think since she was nineteen. Maybe twenty. The woman has a lot of doozies,” Laura replied, nodding her head. “I keep telling her she should write a book. We don’t need identifiable information, it can be fictionalized.”
Once back in the room, Laura carefully moved out of the chair and onto the table, peering up as Perlah unlocked the wheels of the chair.
“Okay, I’m going to run this out and let Dr. Abbot know you’re back from xray.”
“Thank you, Perlah.”
For a few minutes, Laura sat quietly in the room, curtain closed, as she held the gauze to her shoulder. It was still numb from the lidocaine, something she was grateful for as she shifted a few times while waiting. Her eyes finally lifted at the sound of the curtain, but instead of Jack, she was surprised to see a woman walking in, an apologetic smile on her face.
“Laura? I’m Dr. McKay, I’m gonna be stitching you up today. I know Dr. Abbot was working on you, but he got pulled into a trauma, so I am going to finish up for him, if that’s alright.” Laura hesitated, glancing behind her, but nodded, smiling softly.
“Yeah, that’s fine. I appreciate you guys not making me wait,” she admitted, shaking her head.
“I take it you saw the waiting room,” Dr. McKay chuckled, grabbing a couple of gloves as she moved to sit on the stool near Laura.
“I did. Honestly, I felt bad going ahead of anyone.”
“I doubt it will make you feel better, but we always take the worst patients first - if Mateo brought you back ahead of the others, it means they felt this was more pressing than the others out there.” Laura hummed, glancing up as Perlah came in with the suture tray.
“You know, you’re right, that doesn’t make me feel better,” Laura replied, laughing along with the doctor’s startled laugh. “But I appreciate the honesty. I did assure the clerk I wasn’t in any rush - pain hadn’t started yet, and I wasn’t bleeding.” She hummed, shrugging slightly.
“I saw the piece of glass - it was concerning.”
“You know, I think it didn’t hurt because I didn’t realize how big it was,” Laura admitted, giggling.
“That could have played a part. Okay, can you feel this?” she asked, moving the gauze off the wound and gently poking Laura’s wound with the needle.
“Nope. Jack gave me a lidocaine injection before he pulled the glass out, I’m pretty numb there.”
“Perfect. I’m gonna stitch this up - it’s not terrible but given the bleeding, it’s better to be safe.”
“Agreed.”
The room was quiet as the doctor prepped the needle, before laying a draping over Laura’s shoulder to cover everything around the wound.
“...Jack?” she asked, curious, reaching one hand up to gently hold the wound as she brought the needle up with the other.
“What?”
“You called him Jack. Most people call him Dr. Abbot…or just Abbot,” she commented, before pausing, and meeting Laura’s eye. “Not judging or anything, just sounded familiar.”
“He’s a friend,” Laura admitted. Dr. McKay hesitated, as though she didn’t understand for a beat, before nodding her head and looking back at the wound.
“Oh. That must be…interesting, being friends with him.” Laura chuckled, shaking her head.
“Never boring, that’s for sure. I like Jack, hard not to like him, even if he is a smartass.” Dr. McKay snorted a bit, nodding her head a little.
“I don’t work with him much but he is definitely a smartass,” she replied, before straightening her shoulders, and reaching for the scissors. “Okay, all done.”
“Wait, really?” she asked, surprised, carefully turning her head to look. “Wow, that was fast.”
“Small wound. Okay, so you are…good. I’m going to put a bandage on this, though, leave it on for twenty four hours, and then you can take it off, clean your arm - warm water, gentle soap, around the wound not in it. And you can come back in seventy two hours for wound care, we can make sure it’s not infected or anything.” Laura nodded, as Dr. McKay cleaned her up carefully, and placed the drape on the tray, before wrapping her shoulder. “The lidocaine shot should keep you numb for a bit, after that, Tylenol should be plenty for the pain, but you can come back if it’s too much.”
“Sounds like a plan. Thank you, very much, I appreciate all this.”
“Oh, it’s no problem. This was the easiest stitch I think I’ve done in a month,” the doctor admitted with a soft chuckle. “Okay, Perlah will handle the rest of the discharge, but if you need anything, and you don’t feel like bothering Jack, I’m here for the day shift almost every day.” Laura laughed, nodding.
“Thank you. You guys deserve a raise.” Dr. McKay looked at Perlah, both looking amused, before nodding towards Laura.
“She gets it.”
“She does,” Perlah laughed, as the doctor left the room. “Alright, Laura, let’s get you outta here so you can go home.”
After getting her jacket back on, and laughing quietly as Perlah handed her another roll of bandages and tape, to take home with her, Laura followed her out of the exam room. She looked around the ER, refraining from commenting on how calm it seemed as they walked. Her eyes landed on Jack, standing across the room near a set of trauma room doors, arms over his chest as he talked to what looked like two other doctors. His eyes flicked towards hers, but instead of smiling like she expected, even just the small little tick of his lips, he turned away from her, walking back into the room behind him. Even knowing he was busy, that Dr. McKay had mentioned him being pulled into a trauma, something about that made her frown, and duck her head, following Perlah to the doors.
“You’re all set, Laura…just right through these doors, through the waiting room, and you’ll be out.”
“Awesome. Thank you so much.”
“Our pleasure.”
Laura tried to convince herself it wasn’t anything big, or important, that he was just busy, distracted, things that had happened before. But she had, genuinely, expected Jack to come by and see how she was doing after his shift, or even the next day. After a few days, though, without seeing him, hearing him go back inside just as she stepped on her balcony, Laura couldn’t shake the feeling that he was, actually avoiding her. For a neighbor she saw regularly, talked to several times a week, even left food for once in a while, Jack not being around one time in six days was unusual.
If her shoulder hadn’t started aching, Laura hadn’t planned on going back to the hospital for that follow-up. But with the way it was starting to hurt, the way she felt warm regardless, Laura headed back over, hoping being there earlier than she had been would mean she wouldn’t see Jack.
The clerk looked up through the glass, smiling softly.
“What can I do for you, ma’am?”
“Hi, I was here last week, got glass taken out of my shoulder and got stitches from…Dr. McKay? She said I should come back for wound care, but it’s hurting and feels warm today,” Laura told her, reaching up to brush her fingers against the wound with a slight wince.
“Okay…can I see your ID, so I can find you in the system?” Laura nodded, fishing her wallet out, and passing her license under the window. The clerk hummed, tapping at the keyboard, before nodding a bit as she held the license up to double check. “Oh, here you are. I will let Dr. McKay know that you are here…but it might be a little while.” Laura shook her head.
“No worries, I can…see,” she chuckled, rubbing her head as she looked around the room.
“One of the nurses will come get you for a blood draw, though, to check for infection or anything else. Most likely, you’ll be brought back out here to wait after the draw, just as a head’s up.” Laura hummed, sliding her hand to squeeze the back of her neck.
“That’s fine. Nothing else planned today.”
“If you start feeling worse, just come up and let me know,” the clerk told her, nodding her head. “Til then, take a seat, listen for your name.”
“Thank you.”
For a little while, Laura felt okay, aside from the heat and ache in her shoulder, and the small pressure in her head. After a bit, though, she leaned forward, elbow on her knee, her other hand covering her forehead with a sigh. It took her a moment to hear her name, finally looking over to see the same nurse who had taken her the last time she came in. Clearing her throat, she stood up, shuffling around the other waiting patients.
“Wilton?”
“That’s me. Mateo, right?” He chuckled, nodding.
“That’s right. Alright, I hear your shoulder is bothering you again?” he asked, leading her back through a couple double doors, and motioning her to an empty chair.
“Yeah…warm…um…kinda hurts.” He nodded, changing out his gloves, and getting the needle unwrapped.
“Okay. Possibly an infection. I’m gonna draw some blood and send it up to the lab to check.” Laura hummed, nodding, wincing a bit as she reached up to rub her eyes. “You okay?”
“Yeah, just a headache…and these lights are really bright.”
“Yeah, sorry about that. Helps us see. But I can see if we have anything for when you come back for your check.” Laura hummed again, leaning her head back. “Okay, you’re gonna feel a small pinch.”
“No worries…” Mateo took a couple of vials of blood, before looking back up at her, furrowing his brow.
“...you sure you’re okay?” he asked, watching her close her eyes.
“...what?” Laura asked, tilting her head and cracking her eyes to look at him.
“I said, are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah. Yeah, just my head. Makes the lights hard.”
“Migraine?” he asked, looking down to carefully slide the needle out, pressing a cotton ball to the spot before folding her arm up.
“No…I don’t think so.” He hummed, quickly writing down time and name on the vial, before looking up at her.
“Okay, I…am all done. I’m going to wrap your arm here, and send you back out to the waiting room for a little bit…but if anything starts feeling worse - your head or your shoulder or anything else - go up to the desk and let Lupe know.” Laura was quiet for a second, as if she were processing, before nodding slowly. “Okay. Come on, I’ll lead you back.”
It felt like a lot longer before Mateo was bringing Laura back again, this time to a room, before turning off the overhead light as she rubbed her eyes.
“So, Doctor McKay will be in here in just a minute. She’ll most likely need to turn the overhead back on, but for now, you can have it off, get a break from the light,” he told her, as she hummed, nodding her head.
“Thanks…um…” She frowned, looking up at him, as his expression softened.
“Mateo.”
“Right…I’m sorry, I knew that.” He nodded, watching her lower her head again, before patting the door.
“...Doctor McKay will be right in.”
Closing the door behind himself, he turned, jogging out towards the counter where Dr. McKay was waiting.
“Hey, Cassie?” She looked over, curious. “I just put your patient in 3…Wilton?”
“...the shoulder sutures?” she asked, as Jack looked over from where he was on the computer a few feet away.
“Yeah. I think there’s more than just pain in her shoulder. She mentioned a headache when I got her back for the blood draw, some light sensitivity, but she seems completely out of it, and she forgot my name…but she remembered it earlier. I put her in with the lights off for now.” Cassie frowned, glancing over towards the room, and nodded.
“Okay…shit. Call upstairs to see if there’s a CT wait, I’ll go in and see her now.”
As Mateo moved to make the call upstairs, Cassie scanned her badge to lock the computer, and pushed away from the counter, crossing to the room Laura was in.
“Okay, Miss Wilton, sorry about the wait, how’re you feeling?” Cassie asked as she opened the door and flipped the light on. “Oh shit, I need a hand in here!” she shouted over her shoulder.
Jack bolted towards the room, barely pulling gloves on, before he saw Laura slumped back on the exam table. He sidestepped Cassie, leaning over Laura with his penlight in his hand, other hand moving to lift her eyelids.
“Laura? Hey, honey, c’mon, gotta wake up,” he begged her, checking her pupils, before moving his empty hand to her chest, dragging his knuckles over her sternum. She groaned, shifting slightly. “Okay, responds to pain, pupils slow reactive and uneven.”
“A concussion?” Cassie asked, confused, shaking her head. “She checked in with possible infection.” She clipped the oximeter to Laura’s finger, her hand twitching slightly, as Jack moved his penlight into his pocket and cradled her head.
“Call up to CT, let’s get her upstairs. Hey, hey, honey, look at me, can you look at me?” he asked her, as she scrunched her face, weakly cracking her eyes open to see him. “There you go, yeah, there’s those eyes, hey, sweetheart.”
“...Jackie?” she mumbled, voice barely there. He chuckled, worry still in his eyes as he smiled.
“Yeah, honey, hey. I’ve got you, okay? We’re gonna get you a scan, figure this out, but I’m gonna be with you the whole time, me and Cassie.” She frowned, whining softly in her throat, as he sighed. “I think you might have a concussion, sweetheart, but you’re gonna be just fine.”
“...where am I?” she asked, confused, as he frowned, stroking his thumb over her temple.
“You’re in the ER, Laura…I’m gonna take care of you, you just try to relax,” he told her quietly, as she nodded, wincing.
“Okay, CT wants her up there now,” Cassie told him, hanging up the phone.
“Okay, get me a gurney, let’s get her moved.”
When Laura opened her eyes again, she was in another room in the ER, covered by a blanket, with an IV in her arm, and an oximeter on her opposite finger. She furrowed her brow, confused, lifting her head to look around, just as the door opened.
“Hey, you’re up.” She looked over as Cassie stepped in, smiling softly. “How’re you feeling?”
“Confused,” Laura replied softly. “...what happened?”
“You passed out…do you remember coming in?”
“...yeah. I was worried my shoulder was infected.” Cassie nodded, pulling up the stool and sitting beside her bed.
“Did you get into an accident at some point in the last day or two? Something where you hit your head?” she asked, curious. Laura frowned, furrowing her brow as she tried to remember.
“No…no, I…” She paused, trying to think, carefully putting her head back down. “I…there were a couple guys arguing at the bodega down the street from my place…” She closed her eyes, trying to think. “...one of them went to swing on the other, and just clocked me with his elbow.”
“In the head?” Cassie asked, surprised.
“Yeah…knocked me on my ass…I don’t think I blacked out or anything. Nothing that worried me. I was trying to monitor it though, til my shoulder took over.” Cassie chuckled softly.
“Okay, well, scans look like you have a concussion, likely a delayed concussion if you didn’t have any symptoms right away. I didn’t see any signs of anything bad, no aneurysm or anything that would be concerning.”
“That’s good, right?”
“It is. Your labs, though, show an elevated white blood count, so you are fighting an infection. We have some antibiotics running through the IV you have, as well as fluids. We’re just making sure you take great care.” Laura sighed, resting her head back against the pillow. “We’re gonna keep you here for monitoring for a bit, more for the concussion than the infection.”
“Understood…um…can I get a blanket? I’m freezing,” she admitted sheepishly, as Cassie smiled softly.
“Yeah, I can get you one. I’ll keep the light down in here, for a while. You’re hooked up to monitors, but if you need anything, you can press the call button right here,” Cassie told her, showing her the little remote. “If you’re still good in an hour, we can look at getting you something to eat.”
“Okay…can I sleep? Or should I stay awake?”
“You can sleep, that’s completely okay. You’re out of the danger zone, your scans are clear. So we’re just going to monitor you for a while, but you are absolutely allowed to sleep. It’s actually encouraged, good for the brain.” Laura chuckled, as Cassie stepped out of the room for a second before she came back in with a blanket in her hands.
“Thank you, Dr. McKay, I really appreciate it.”
“Anytime. Get some rest, we’ll come back and check on you in a little bit.” Laura nodded, shifting a little beneath the blanket, and watched as Cassie left before she sighed and closed her eyes.
Laura didn’t remember falling asleep, before she heard her name, and scrunched her face, cracking an eye open. Jack smiled softly from the seat beside the bed, making her huff as she closed her eyes again.
“I saw those eyes, can’t fool me.”
“Hey, Jack.”
“Why didn’t you call when you got hit?” he asked, sounding more curious than accusatory. Laura bit her lip, quiet, but opened her eyes to look at the ceiling.
“Thought I was fine. Monitored myself until my shoulder got too bad to ignore.” Jack lowered the railing on the bed, scooting closer with his pen light. “Gonna check my eyes?”
“Yeah…just look right at me, bright light,” he told her, gently opening her lid further and testing her left pupil, and then her right. “Okay, looks much better than before.”
“Good.” He slid the light back into his pocket, before dropping his hands into his lap as he studied her face. “...what?” she asked, confused, as he shrugged.
“Haven’t seen you in a while.”
“...yeah, I figured you wanted it that way.” His soft expression shifted down as he frowned, confused.
“Why would I want that?” She shrugged, and grimaced, reaching up to rub her shoulder lightly. “Ah…you okay? Need something for the pain?”
“No…I’m okay. Jack, this is the first time in…ever? That I’ve gone a whole week without seeing you. You didn’t come by to check on my shoulder - which, you’ve come by for a papercut, so…” Jack huffed, nodding. “I heard you…walk back inside after I’d come out, like you were avoiding me…I just figured you didn’t want to see me.”
For a moment, the room was quiet, as Jack studied her, his brow pulled down just a little bit. Laura couldn’t help but fidget as she tried to get comfortable, finally giving up with a huff as she rubbed her hands over her face.
“Honey…” She held her breath, but peered over at him, unsure. “...I haven’t been interested in people much since my wife died. Never really expected to. I thought she was it for me.”
“Jack…”
“Hold on…” he insisted, scooting a little closer. “You…were entirely unexpected.” Laura frowned. “You came over first. You had…a loaf of fuckin’ focaccia in your hands, and you were so fucking adorable about it, I don’t think I stopped thinking about you for a week.” She laughed, surprised, as he smiled a bit. “And then…I saw you on the balcony. You were napping, but you didn’t have any furniture out there yet, so I thought you’d passed out.”
“Oh my god, you were so panicked,” Laura replied softly, as he chuckled. “I do appreciate that you were worried, though.”
“I was honestly planning to bust your door down if you hadn’t responded when you did.” Laura laughed, covering her face. “Laura…honey…look at me.” Blushing, she dropped her hand, turning her head to see him as he reached up to brush her hair off her forehead. “I didn’t see you coming…and then you were just…there. Smiling and talking to me and bringing me food like…like you belonged there.”
“Jack, look…”
“Hold on,” he insisted, chuckling. “You do belong there…for the record. I just…wasn’t sure how to admit that to you. Or really myself. I’m still figuring pieces out in therapy. But…when Cassie yelled for help today…when I saw you on the exam bed, I…” He inhaled slowly, as Laura frowned, reaching up to wrap her hand around his. “Scared the shit out of me.”
“I’m sorry,” she murmured quietly. Jack tilted his head, studying her face, before nodding slightly. “Do, um…do I need to stay long?” she asked, unsure.
“I’d like you to stay at least a few hours, for observation.” She sighed, but nodded a little, looking up at the ceiling. “And then…I’d like to…take you home. So I can observe you myself…maybe…over dinner.”
Laura paused, letting that sink in, before rolling her head to see him, curious, as he smiled softly.
“...like…a date…?” she asked slowly, as he chuckled.
“Yeah…bout time, don’t you think?” he teased, grateful when she smiled and blushed.
If you hate robby so fucking bad that he genuinely irritates you everytime you see his face then maybee you should find a new show to watch because he IS the main character of the show no matter what you want to say
