Jack slams to a halt the second he sees him. Itâs not possible. Heâs snapped. Heâs hallucinating. No matter what he thinks heâs seeing, thereâs no way in hell a twenty-something Michael Robinavitch is standing in front of him.
The pup is damn near identical to the mate Jack never had. His alpha wants to grab him and drag him away, get on his knees and apologize for giving up on them so easily. He shouldnât have let Robby end their courtship without a fight, but he was so heartbroken his brain wouldnât work and his perfect omega was out the door before Jack could even begin to wonder what heâd done wrong.
âDr. Abbot,â the department head says. Jack hadnât even noticed her, all his attention was wrapped in the ghost standing in front of him. âThis is Dr. Carter. Heâs one of our MS4s.â
âNice to meet you,â Jack rasps. He shakes the ghostâs hand, theyâre softer than Robbyâs ever were, but that warm smile is exactly like he remembers.
âNice to meet you too,â Carter says. âYou know, itâs funny, myââ The doors of the ambulance bay spring open and shouting overwhelms whatever he says.
âIâm sorry?â Jack needs to sit down, but thereâs never a chance here.
Carter waves him off. âNot important.â He heads off to the trauma and Jack follows foolishly behind.
Every time Carter is on Jackâs shift he spends the whole time staring at him, wondering if he actually is his Mikeyâs pup. He must be, the odds of someone else having a pup that looks exactly like him down to the crinkle by his eyes when he smiles are slim to none. Jack imagines what Robby would look like now. Stunningly beautiful, heâs certain. Those lines Jack loved would be permanently etched on his face, and he bets his thin waist has fattened sweetly with age. Jack would give anything to have seen him pregnant.
When they were courting, Jack would curl behind Robby and rub his palm over his stomach, picturing how it would feel when it expanded to grow their pup. Now, he lays in bed alone between shifts and tries not to vomit at the thought of some other alpha getting that instead.
He does the math on Carterâs age and pinches the bridge of his nose to stop himself from crying. How soon after their courtship did Robby get pupped? Was there some other alpha waiting for him while Jack thought they were planning a life together? Or worse, had already taken Robby while he was still Jackâs?
Pathetic as it is, he canât stop the tears. Fifty years old, spending his day off sobbing in bed over an omega that had forgotten about him when their lives were still intertwined.
As gruesome as it is to see Carter happily bouncing around the ED, Jack wonât deny that he appreciates the small distraction from his pity party. He often eavesdrops on Carterâs chatting in the hopes of hearing something definitive about his mother.
One day, he overhears Carter mention that his first name is John, which is salt in the wound, but it gives Jack enough to google him like a creep without risking his coworkers finding him digging into their studentâs private life.
John Carter is an unfortunately popular name, but after an hour of searching, Jack finds an Instagram account under jcartera. Carter doesnât post very much, but there is one photo that takes Jackâs breath away.
Michael Robinavitch, twenty-five years older than the last time Jack saw him, hugging his pup tightly as they celebrate Carterâs graduation. Heâs even more gorgeous than Jack imagined. His eyes shine proudly, and his smile is just as hypnotic as Jack remembered.
He clicks the photo for a closer look, and takes it in like oxygen. His eyes dart to Robbyâs neck; he canât see a bite. What idiot wouldnât mate Robby?
Jack scrolls to the next photo and itâs as if a knife is driven into his heart. Robby looks almost exactly how Jack remembers him, the only difference is the bit of weight remaining around his jawline, and baby Carter snug against his chest.
A heavy weight slams into Jack. He wishes so badly he couldâve been the alpha that gave Robby that smile; that they couldâve had a pup and treasured them together.
Or even Carter. Heâs such a wonderful young man, Jack wouldâve been happy to claim him regardless of who his actual father was. He was always so weak for Robby; Jack wouldâve raised any pup of his if for nothing else than to keep his dream omega in his life.
Jack goes back to the graduation photo. Thereâs an account tagged on Robbyâs shoulder, m.robby; Jack gnaws his bottom lip and considers if this is a bridge to far, but figures heâs already past inappropriate.
Robbyâs account is even emptier than Carterâs. Heâs posted the same graduation picture, and a photo of a sunset with no caption. Jack sighs and goes back to Carterâs account. He stares at the two photos and imagines a whole different life.
He sees that life every time Carterâs name is mentioned for the next month. The first break he gets from the taunting fantasy comes after hours of working on the victims of a six car pile up.
Jack is taking his first real breath since the trauma was called in, sitting alone on a bench outside the ambulance bay, when Carter comes out, cheeks red and hair sticking to his forehead.
âOh, hi, Dr. Abbot,â he smiles. Jack wonders if Carter got his ability to bounce back from his father because Robby had a nasty habit of taking every lost patient to heart.
âHey, Carter. How you holding up?â
âBeen better.â He takes the spot next to Jack. âIâm really glad that girl pulled through. She had me scared.â
âYou and me both.â
Carter hums. âMaybe itâs an Abbot thing.â
Jackâs eyebrows furrow.
âIâm making a joke,â Carter laughs. âBecause we have the same last name.â
All the air evaporates from Jackâs lungs. âWhat?â
âJust, because we were thinking the same thing and both our last names are Abbot.â Carter shrugs. âItâs stupid. Thereâs a reason Iâm a doctor and not a comedian.â
Jack blinks, hard and heavy. âI thought your last name was Carter.â
He shakes his head. âNo, Carterâs my middle name. I went by it in school, and when I continued for this rotation to avoid confusion after I found out there was already a Dr. Abbot.â He frowns. Good God, he is the absolute spit of Robby. âI thought you knew.â
âNo,â Jack says, breathless.
âI told you on my first day.â
Jackâs head is spinning. âIâd definitely remember that if you did.â
Carter, Abbot, John Carter Abbot, looks at him strangely before brightening. âOh, yeah! The trauma came in and I forgot. Huh. Doesnât matter, I guess.â
It does matter. It matters more than anything in the world. âYour name is John Abbot,â Jack says stupidly.
âYeah?â
âMy name is John Abbot.â
Carterâs frown returns. âBut⌠I swear Iâve heard the other attendings call you Jack?â
âThatâ yeah. Thatâs the name Iâve gone by since childhood,â he laughs shallowly. He could wake up in a padded cell at any moment. âIâm named after my uncle, so I got called Jack to avoid confusion.â
âOh.â Carter stares at his feet. âIâm named after my dadâŚâ
Jack grabs the back of the bench to avoid giving himself a concussion when he inevitably passes out.
Carter at him with wide, somewhat frightened, eyes. âDo you⌠um, did you know a Michael Robinavitch?â
âYes,â Jack whispers. His grip on the bench tightens.
All the color in Carterâs face drains. âHow well?â
âExtremely.â
A far away glaze covers Carterâs eyes, he looks as dizzy as Jack feels. âJesus Christ.â














