Caramel Kisses (one-shot)
Synopsis: The Pitt x The Bear AU! Continuation of Sweet Heart (one-shot) if you'd like to read it beforehand (which would be recommended) I've tagged the pit in the link above.
The story of how Jack fell in love with a pastry chef. And some of the shenanigans that happen between the two.
Pairing: Dr. Jack Abbot x fem!chef!Reader (age-gap - reader is stated to be 27 for the purposes of the story, Jack is mid to late 40ies)
Platonic! Carmy x fem!chef!Reader
Genre: SMUT! so beware, lil bit of angst, mainly fluff
Warnings: SMUT, probably a lot of medical inaccuracies, surgery, pain, etc., minimally edited, but hopefully readable :D
Word count: 13,403 (enjoy :) )
A/N: This is very loosely based on some suspicions I have of my own health (aka the chronic appendix bit), but I am very much so against self-diagnosis, so go to the doctors to get one!
There had been a time in Jack’s life, when his phone had been close to silent.
He had friends. Co-workers he talked to on a daily basis. But nobody really reached out much. He still kept in touch with his ex-wife’s family from time to time but it was more a text on Christmas or her death day, rather than regular calls. And if he did receive one, it was a most likely from Shen, Dana or Robby, and typically to ask for an extra pair of hands, as they needed to hold down the Pitt during some emergency.
Now though, it wasn’t unusual for his phone screen to light up with a myriad of names and group chats.
Carmy.
Syd.
Ritchie.
Fak. Sugar. Tina. Luca. All these people he once didn’t know even existed, were now on a first name, even nickname basis. And yet, the one he always looked forward to seeing most was his neighbor’s. The one who added all those contacts to the contact list. 14B. His girlfriend. Y/N.
She always made sure to call Jack before his shift started, even if she was elbow-deep in puff pastry. She always checked in, despite the dinner rush she was no doubt drowning in. She always reminded him to take a sip of water and not to just sustain himself on bad hospital coffee and spite. She always made sure he was doing okay.
So as Jack manned the stove, a bullion bubbling on low heat, he wondered how he’d gotten to that point.
The romance had started out slowly. Tentatively. Like testing the waters of a lake, one couldn’t see the bottom of.
After the whole ordeal of Y/N almost slicing her thumb off and Jack walking her back to the apartment complex, she no longer simply left the desserts in a container by the door. There was no longer an anonymous note accompanied either. Now, if she got the chance, when The Bear closed after the lunch rush, she’d come back from the restaurant, her co-pastry chef’s Luca’s creation in hand for them to dissect. None of her fellow co-workers allowed her to even lift a finger until she healed completely, which Jack was happy about, so instead, she supplied them with her creative mind, Luca physically made the dessert going by her recipe, and Y/N would come back home, knocking on his door for him to taste it.
Jack, more likely than not, would already be awake and waiting for her, opening up on the second rap.
He’d invite her in with a simple motion, and Y/N would slide onto one of the high-top chairs by the kitchen island. Jack took the one on her right, but not before inspecting how well her wound was healing and re-wrapping it. He’d never admit that the chair she’d claimed for her own, was his usual spot.
They’d discuss their days, Jack his current ones, Y/N her previous ones as she was on official sick-leave, but especially the sort of people who they had to deal with on a daily basis, never breaking HIPPA, of course. Sometimes even Jack was still amazed by the stupidity of the human race, and he’d thought he’d seen it all.
“Like, it was written in the menu,” Y/N scoffed over a bite of a saltine.
Despite Jack’s insistence on her always having a bite of whatever marvelous creation she’d brought over, no matter if made by her or by her mind, she never did. Instead, she insisted she did enough testing while at the restaurant and was looking for his unbiased opinions.
“Our waiter even triple checked what kind of nut allergy the dude had, and explained that our pesto’s primary ingredient is pine nuts. And he was allergic to tree nuts. And yet he still wanted the original version without substitutions. I swear, idiocy is either genetic, or this was just pure Darwinism at play.”
Jack snorted, shaking his head while digging his spoon into the soft mass of a salted caramel mousse with an espresso cookie crunch bottom. “I mean, humans as a species are tended towards self-destruction. And comprehension skills do seem to be on the decline nowadays.”
“Ugh,” Y/N groaned, rolling her eyes. “Don’t remind me. I mean, I went on this date a couple of weeks ago, right before this thing.” She waved her injured hand in a jazz-hands motion. “And the guy literally asked for chicken tartar as a starter. In my humble opinion, once people hit the age of like eighteen, there should be mandatory logic tests or something. People like that get to vote!”
And Jack just chuckled along, while desperately trying to tamp down the ugly, bitter feeling rising in his chest at Y/N’s words of dating.
He had no claim on her. She was a grown woman who could make her own choices, and see whoever pleased her heart. But he’d be damned, if he didn’t feel jealous it wasn’t him.
A few weeks later, after all the stitches were out and Jack had put her in contact with a physical therapist to get the range of motion back for her hand, Robby cleared for her to get back to work, but in a minimized capacity. Much to Jack’s dismay, it had also been since then, when his best friend had seen the puppy-dog-eyed look on Jack’s face as Y/N left the ED, when he’d started goading him, trying to make him act upon his very obvious feelings. But the doubts permeating Jack’s mind were stronger than the crush he had on her.
He was already in his late forties, greying and ‘old’.
She was barely past twenty-five, young and vibrant, and full of life.
He’d had a wife and was a widower now. He’d already created one family, and had it ripped away by a sickness.
She’d had one serious relationship, before her career aspirations took over, and was very clearly in the dating pool of men her own age.
He’d been in the army and lost a leg.
She… had all her limbs, some thanks to Jack and his ED team, fully attached.
He was a night-shift attending with an unstable sleep schedule and most likely some form of PTSD, needing the police scanner on most times he tried to catch some shut eye.
She laughed bright and loud and free, as if there was nothing in the night that could scare her, and embraced each day with energy.
Jack sometimes felt like he belonged to the darkness more than the light. And how could he ever ask anything of Y/N when she was the light.
Robby, however, had scoffed at every single reason Jack had laid out on the table, as to why it would be a bad idea for him to ask her out on a date.
“And if it doesn’t work out?” He’d huffed at the day shift attending. They were at Jack’s place on the small balcony, one of those rare times both of them had a day off, and they’d just decided to have a couple of beers. “We live across the hall from one another. It’d be so fucking awkward.”
“Didn’t you like not meet her for close to three months?” Robby countered. “You know, because of your schedules. But I mean, get this, what if it does work out? I mean, hell. She’s turned you into a dessert-lover. You could barely stand a single spoon of sugar in your coffee that one time you took Princess’s cup by accident. And now Y/N’s gotten you addicted to chocolate and caramel and all that sweet shit.”
“Still can’t stand sugar in coffee.”
“Yet you do love that your life’s a bit sweeter.”
And he couldn’t deny it, or twist out of it, or lie. Because Y/N had brought a kindness into his world Jack hadn’t expected. He was kinder to himself even. Though he’d never been particularly abrasive or aggressive, he did find himself being more lenient with mistakes, whether his own, or someone else’s. Yes, he’d always been a straightforward and a no-bullshit kind of a person, yet he’d turned into someone who considered his words a lot more carefully, both in private and at work.
So, two months after his and Robby’s conversation, he was once again listening to Y/N rag on some guy she’d swiped right on Tinder, only for it to be a complete bust, when he finally blurted out, “Go on a date with me.” That stopped her mid-word, mouth open, cereal dust along the corner of her lips, which Jack just itched to reach out and wipe away. Preferably with his own mouth, but for the first time in a long while, he was frozen too.
Because ever since being in the army, he was always calculated. Always knew his next move, always thought of what to say and how to react, so he could predict the likeliest of outcomes. And yet now, his tongue had acted before his brain could process his thoughts, leaving the two organs, and humans, at a standstill.
Y/N cleared her throat, dropping her gaze onto the half-empty cracker packet, and Jack’s eyes followed, zeroing in on her thumb where a slightly silver scar ran across her palm. It would never quite get back to her skin tone, a permanent reminder of the first time they’d ever met. His fingers twitched where he’d been leaning on his forearms on the counter, but instead of reaching out, he slowly balled them into fists.
“You, uh, is this like a real question?” She looked at him from the corner of her eye.
Jack took in a deep breath, pushing away the glass tray of the red grapefruit and lime sorbet she’d brought over. “Yeah.” He nodded. “It’s a very real question. It’s something I’ve been meaning to ask for quite a while actually… I just couldn’t gather the courage to do so.”
“What changed? What made you ask just now?”
“Look. I’m… God, fuck!” He dragged a hand down his face. “You’d think I’m some prepubescent boy talking to his crush for the first time. Can’t get my words straight.” At that, a little smile quirked Y/N’s lips up as she looked at him all flustered and shy. Jack’s heart stuttered, but he pressed on. “A lot has happened in my life. A lot has happened to me. And I don’t know what else is in store, but I do know, I don’t want to have any regrets. So, even if you don’t wanna go out, I know I’d be pissed at myself, if I didn’t at least ask you.”
For ten agonizing seconds, silence settled between them, thick like autumn fog, whine finally, Y/N put her chin on her palm and twisted to face him fully, a wicked grin on her mouth. Jack could feel his heart drop to his stomach at the sight.
“I mean, I thought it was because you were an old, legless man, who lives and breathes darkness, Mr Batman?”
“What? What the… fuck?”
His mind was running a mile a minute. How in the flying fuck did Y/N know? Sure, Jack thought, he wouldn’t put it past her suspecting that there might be more to his glances, but he’d always been careful not to say or do too much to give away his feelings, or worse, lead her on.
Y/N scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Please. You and Robby bitch and gossip like two retired pensioners, especially when it comes to your love-lives. Besides, we might not share apartment walls, but our balconies are on the same side of the house. And you two talk real loud. God forbid what you two would be like in a nursing home. Gossip Girl would have nothing on you.”
“So…” He swallowed hard, as he felt his pulse rabbiting in his blood. He’d probably have to go in and request a pacemaker during his next shift. “This whole time you knew? What I felt, that is? You knew but didn’t say anything…”
She bit down on her bottom lip, and his gaze snapped to where her teeth dug into the soft skin. Fuck, did he want to be the one doing that. “You might have not told me anything, but I’m not blind either. I didn’t need to hear your conversation with Robby, to see how you wanted to touch my hand, but always held yourself back.” A pointed look was delivered to his clenched hands, and Jack slowly released the tension. “Sometimes you even looked at me, as if you’d lost something, and I could help you find it again… but you were too afraid to ask. I didn’t need you to tell me anything. I noticed… and I also knew you had your reservations. So, I decided that when you were ready, you’d go for it. Or, well, at least I hoped you would.”
Jack had never felt more exposed in his life. It was as if Y/N was staring at him with x-ray vision, and he, the man everyone in his life ragged on about how he demanded people keep eye contact with him no matter what, had to break away from her eyes. “And what if that never happened? Me being ready?” Me remaining too scared to ask for a chance, Jack thought to himself.
“Then I’d still be her. I’d still be your friend.” Y/N shrugged as if it was nothing. “I like you, Jack. I really like you. But my feelings don’t have limits or conditions. I’m here however you want me, even if it’s just as your friendly neighborhood pastry chef.”
He mulled over the words, mulled over the fact that she’d seen him not just across the hall, but into his very being. She’d noticed his hesitations, and never pushed for more, allowing him to work through what he was feeling at his own pace. Like a dance partner trusting the other to lead.
Slowly Jack’s lips pulled up in a smile, and he took up the spoon he’d abandoned, clinking it against the glass container where the sorbet was more soup than ice now. “A nursing home? What, you’re not gonna help an old man out and take care of him?”
“Please!” Y/N scoffed, beaming at him. “As if you and Robby could ever spend your geriatric days apart.”
And with that, the gathered tension released, both of them softly laughing and smiling. Together they steered the conversation into the territory of where they’d go on their first date. Jack wondered if his late-wife would be proud he’d finally taken that step towards love and being loved again. She’d probably huff and tell him it was like pulling teeth getting Jack to accept his feelings.
Three days later, he took Y/N to the aquarium. It was a nice, soft kind of date, with gentle hand brushing and low conversations. When he’d gone to her door, he’d greeted her with a bouquet of daisies. Obviously, he held the car door open for her to get in, but as he’d done so, Y/N frowned at him, looking to the ground. Before Jack could debate himself into doubt, she said, “Are you sure about this? It’s a lot of walking.”
Jack’s worry dissipated, a deadpan look crossing his face. “How do you think I manage twelve-hour shifts at the ED?” “In a lot of pain,” she responded with an equally unimpressed grimace. “I can see you’ve been limping a lot more lately, and something tells me it’s because your new prosthesis hasn’t come in yet. I don’t want you to hurt more than you already do.”
For a second there, Jack’s anxiety shot through the roof, thinking Y/N was looking at him as weak, as someone unable to even walk around on his own. But once again, when he took a breath, as he took in her features, he realized she’d noticed him. She’d noticed his discomfort and was worried for his wellbeing.
“Hey, I’ll be fine.” He took hold of one of her hands and squeezed in reassurance. “And if I need a break, I promise to tell you.”
Y/N rolled her eyed, but settled into the passenger seat. “As if I trust you with that. Do you at least have your crutch with you?”
“I’ll be just fine, sweetheart.”
She raised a brow. “Just know, if need be, I am not above finding a wheelchair and putting you in it. Even if I have to throw someone else out.”
“Yeah, you’ll need to sedate and handcuff me before that ever happens.”
“Now part two can be easily arranged.” She wiggled her brows, as Jack closed the car door. He had to take the longer way round the back of the car, just so he could take a deep breath to calm his racing blood before it rushed any lower, and ruined the date before it even started.
Like Jack had hoped and wished for, the date was filled with gently brushing knuckles, pinkies that linked and unlinked until finally their fingers intertwined in a tight hold. They shared stories of their childhoods and previous relationships, jobs and experiences. They exchanged glances with heat creeping up their bodies. At least he hoped Y/N felt the same, because despite being surrounded by millions of gallons of water, Jack felt on fire.
At some point, they shared an oily plate of bad fries, making him feel bad she had to waste her chef’s palate on such bad junk food, but looking at the way she beamed at him, dipping the soggy potato in too much ketchup, eased all his worries.
By the time he drove them back home and they ventured up to the fifth floor, the sun was going down, and Jack hadn’t been this happy about two days off in a long time. Y/N still had to go and check in at The Bear the next day, as they were changing up the menu, but she promised to be by his door with a new dessert by lunchtime.
“I had a really great time today,” Y/N told him, squeezing the hand she’d entwined with his and hadn’t let go since the crustacean are of the aquarium.
“Did you?” Jack smirked. “Or are you just being gentle with this elderly man’s heart?”
“I mean, if you truly believe you’re that old, then by the standards of society for women, I am decrepit.” She chuckled, leaning against her apartment door. “But yes. I truly did have an amazing time. And, if you’re up for it, I’d like to go on a second date too.”
“Well,” he took a step closer, making her tilt her head back so they could keep eye contact. “I have tomorrow off and then a couple of days next week. Would that work?”
Y/N hummed, taking one of his hands by the writs and settling it on her hip, as if that was the natural place it was supposed to be. “I’m sure we can figure something out.”
They stood like that, his palm on her side, a coy smile on her lips before her face changed and she tilted her head in a curious look. “Aren’t you gonna kiss me?”
And fuck, did Jack want to. His body was practically buzzing with the need, but he gave a slow shake of his head. “Not tonight. I might be a bit rusty, but I’m gonna do this right with you. Right by you.”
“I mean, you wouldn’t be doing anything wrong. If I didn’t want this, I wouldn’t have asked.”
“I know.” Jack hummed, eyes sliding down to her lips, but moving right back up again, as his composure had been fraying by the thread ever since that morning. “But I need this to be right by me too…”
“Okay.” Y/N accepted. And there was no disappointment, no hurt or frustration to be seen. “We take it at your pace, Jack. Just know that I’m in this.”
They left it at that – a soft ‘goodnight’, a gentle ‘see you tomorrow’, a promise of a new day to come.
And it did. With a second date in tow. Jack ended it with a kiss to her cheek.
Then came the third one.
He kissed the corner of her mouth, relishing in the slight tremble that passed her lips and tickled his cheeks.
And when the fourth date came to an end, he cupped her face in both his hands, before leaning in and kissing her softly on her mouth.
It was after the fifth one though, when they were once again by her door, when he asked if she’d be his girlfriend. Y/N smirked up at him, arms thrown over his shoulders, while his remained steadfast on her hips, fingers kneading the flesh hiding underneath her jeans. “You sure you’re done wooing me?”
“I’ll keep wooing you for the rest of your life, if you’d want it.” Jack pecked her mouth, sighing into the feeling. The taste of strawberries and too much powdered sugar from the state fair they’d been to, exploded in his mouth. “But I want this to be solid. Real between us. Not some situationship or booty-call or whatever. When someone asks, I want to say you’re mine and I’m yours.”
Y/N hummed, nails scratching at the back of his neck. They were short and blunt, as they had to be to be a chef, but her motion was strong enough he hoped they’d leave indents there. “I guess that can be arranged. It does have a nice ring to it – my hot doctor boyfriend.”
“Good. Because I’ve been dying to call you my hot chef girlfriend.”
With the last three spoken words, Jack had been leaning closer and closer until he could once more seal his lips over hers. And they stayed like that for a good while – making out against her door like two horny teenagers. Only when he felt her hand skim down the buttons of his black Henley and slip underneath, did he break away and take a couple of steps back. He didn’t let go of her waist though. “You know, I don’t expect there to be some – some exchange. Just because this is official, doesn’t mean I suddenly expect you to… put out.”
She snorted, affronted. “Give me some credit Jack. I’ve never once thought you’re that kind of a man. But I won’t lie and say I don’t want you. That I haven’t thought of you with me, while I had hands down on myself late at night, and -,”
“Jesus Christ!” He huffed a laugh, drawing both hands down his face while feeling her laugh reverberate through his chest as she pulled him back closer by the beltloops. “I’m trying to remain a gentleman here, and you’re doing nothing to help.”
A teasing finger skimmed along the waist of his jeans, making his breath hitch. When he looked Y/N in the eyes, her pupils had swallowed the Y/E/C irises whole. “I am offering help though. You know, with the obvious problem you have going on.”
“Yeah? It’d be really unkind if you didn’t seeing, as it’s your fault.”
She raised a brow, her kiss-swollen lips quirking. “I mean, I can’t say I’m too unhappy to know I can elicit that sort of reaction on you, but honestly, if you’re not ready for that step, you can say ‘no’, and I’ll back off.” Y/N leaned up, and Jack thought she was going to kiss him goodbye, but instead, her cheek brushed against his scruffy one. Her breath tickled his ear, as she whispered. “But just know, those handcuffs are ready for us both whenever you are.”
And then, quick as an asp, she gave one final kiss to his cheek, before disappearing behind her door. Jack couldn’t even figure out when she’d unlocked it. Had she unlocked it? Did she teleport though it? No matter what, one thing he did know – she wasn’t allowed to say and do such things, and then just disappear on him.
With his chest heaving, Jack raised his hand and rapped on the door. It took her a few seconds to open it, but the second it was, he swooped in, mouth on hers, hands under her thighs as he lifted her against the wall.
A gasp of surprise erupted from Y/N, but he swallowed the noise, his own unabashed moan of pleasure mixing into the sounds of pleasure. The shudder that went through her body at his obvious display of want, shot Jack’s ego through the roof.
“I,” he bit down on her lower lip just like he’d fantasized so many times. “Will make you eat your words.”
She pulled back with a gasp, but that smirk, that devilish grin he’d come to love, kind of made him feel like he was the bug caught in the spider’s trap. “Well, I was hoping you’d be doing some eating yourself. But maybe something other than words.”
Together, they stumbled across her apartment to her bedroom. The layout was just like his, only mirrored, so it took a bit of bumping and giggling, especially was they removed their clothing along the way.
By the time she was sprawled out on her bed breather him, they were clad just in their underwear, her soft cotton bra and panties, hiding what he’d been imagining almost every night since meeting her. But before he could remove the offending pieces left, she nudged his ear as he’d placed her calf on his shoulder. “Take it off.”
“What?”
“The sock. Take it off.”
Jack pulled back from where he’d been kissing along her shin. “Does it… bother you?” He asked. He’d asked her along the way if she’d be alright with the prosthesis coming off, and she’d said yes, but he had kept the stump cover, feeling just a tad bit too vulnerable for that.
“Well, I would never want to yuck anyone’s yum, but I gotta say, socks during sex are a bit weird.”
“Oh…” A flush spread across his body.
Only in dire times, like that of the Pittfest shooting, when he had to literally run out of the house that same second, was when he didn’t put the covering on. And allowing others to see where his leg ended, was not something he liked to indulge in. it was putting one of his biggest losses of his life in the spotlight, but shakily, he nodded and reached down.
“What are you doing?” Y/N’s voice make him look back up to where she was sprawled on the pillows.
“Taking the sock of…?” “I meant the one on your foot.” She threw her head back in a cackle. It was only then that Jack realized in the frenzy of getting to her bedroom, he’d toed off his shoes, gotten rid of his shirt and pants and the prosthetic, but the one black sock still remained on his foot.
An invisible weight dropped from his shoulders at that. One day, and he did think one day soon, he’d be able to do this without covering the stump. But he was more grateful than anything that Y/N didn’t press or push him, allowing him to take that bit, as everything else, at his own pace.
“What? You have some foot fetish I should know about?” Jack sat back on his haunches, and did take the sock off, throwing it somewhere on the floor.
“Oh, please don’t tell me you’re one of those weirdos that sleep with their socks! Because if that’s the case, we should stop this here and now.”
She let out a sigh as Jack hovered over her once more, a skilled hand sneaking around her back and unclasping her bra, throwing it to join his sock somewhere in the dark.
“Well, what if my foot gets cold?”
“I can think of a better way of warming you up, don’t you think?” And then they were chest to chest, lips to lips, Y/N’s thighs open for him to slot in-between, the only separation left two pathetic layers. Jack’s hips ground down, chasing the sweet sensation of friction to alleviate at least some of the pent-up tension.
This was not how Jack had expected the night to end. When he’d thought of what their first time together would be like, he’d imagined he’d ask Carmy’s help with creating Y/N’s favorite dish. Then he’d wine and dine her on the rooftop of their apartment complex, the Pittsburg lights shining around them. Candlelight (fake, of course because leaving flame unattended was stupid), would greet them at his place, and then they’d take their sweet and lovely time getting to know one another’s bodies.
Not that this wasn’t sweet of lovely. Jack was certainly enjoying every single sound coming from Y/N’s mouth, every twist and turn of her body as she tried to get closer to him, especially when his lips wrapped around one of her peaked nipples. The moan was absolute music to his ears. But all of this was a lot more spontaneous. More unplanned and raw, which to him was new. And scary. And equally as exciting.
“Jack, you’re being mean,” she whined as he meticulously slipped his tongue over her chest to flick against her other breast. “You’re such a fucking tease.”
“Oh, I’m the tease?” He pinched the nipple he’d just released from his mouth, and was graciously rewarded with a gasp and her back arching upwards. “Little miss I-have-handcuffs-for-us.”
Jack could hear the grin in her voice while he still stayed working on her chest, her fingers weaving in his hair and tugging. “That turn you on? The thought of me or you in handcuffs while the other has their way?”
His cock stiffened even more if that was possible, as he hummed. “Well, in my dreams, you’re more so in some ropes and a blindfold. But I could be persuaded to try out the cuffs.”
“Yeah, no, come on. Off. Now.” She slightly pushed Jack away and snapped his boxer briefs against his waist. “Everything off, like right now.”
“Eager now, are we?” It was his turn to grin like devil incarnate, as he allowed his palms to skim over Y/N’s sides in an agonizingly slow pace until they rested against her hips and he slid down her panties. The glistening patch where her pussy had soaked against the material, almost fried his brain. Oh, how easily the might doctor could be taken down to a primal caveman.
“No,” her breaths were quick and shallow, eyes nothing but blackened pools. “Now, I’m just gonna make sure to keep my word, and put your mouth to better use than mouthing off on me.”
“You say it like it’s supposed to be some sort of punishment.” Jack moved down her frame, pressing kisses along the way. Pride swelled in his chest at the feeling of Y/N’s body temperature having actually risen with how badly she needed him. “But sweetheart, now I have all the power to keep you just on the edge, and let you fall only when I want you to.”
“Bold of you to assume you’ll even get me to the edge, gramps.” Her words were breathy, but there was still some tease in them.
Something snapped in Jack at that.
The second he’d removed her panties, he’d thought about how he’d just edge her until she was begging and sobbing for release, much like she did to him late at night in his imagination. She’d be on top of him, his hands tied to his headboard, and just as he was about to hit his peak, she’d stop the ministrations, leaving him a trembling and aching mess. But now, in reality, all his focus had shifted on getting her to come. Hard, fast, and as many times as possible.
Without preamble, Jack grabbed Y/N by the back of her thighs, and yanked her closer to him, putting his lips against her clit before she even got to take in a breath and prepare herself.
Almost instantly, two hands wove into his short curls, pulling and scratching against his scalp with every movement of his tongue and lips. It was like learning a new instrument – making sure the strings were tuned and pressing in the right places, before he could strum the cord. And if Jack wasn’t busy, he’d pat himself on the back, as it took him almost no time at all to get Y/N to sing for him.
His name was a choked back plea, as she ground her core against his mouth. It had been months of Jack wondering who his pastry fairy that brightened each day was. It had been months of wrangling with his feelings and emotions since finding her. And yet it had been barely a minute since his head had been trapped between the soft meat of her thighs, and Jack knew he never wanted to leave. He wanted to spend the rest of his life between her legs with his tongue lapping against her pussy, his chin getting covered in Y/N’s slick, her body desperate for release only he could give.
And they said doctors got a God complex when saving lives. No. He’d only now gotten it, the keening sounds of her pleasure a hymn to his power.
That thought, being the only one who could make her come, was so good, it made Jack grind down into the mattress, as her inner walls contracted against his tongue.
“Come on, sweetheart,” he murmured, humming as he pulled her clit between his lips and made her whimpered. “I think I already have you on the edge. How about you be nice and good to this gramps, and come?”
Watching Y/N’s eyes roll back into her skull when he reattached his mouth was divine, and only in a matter of seconds, she was orgasming. It tested Jack’s composure to the very last bit. Her had to grab tighter to her thighs even as they pressed against his ears, caging him in, just so he could ground himself and not blow a load in his boxers like a virgin.
After a few moments, when Y/N slowly regained her breath, she gently pushed his head back from oversensitivity, Jack obliged, sitting back on his haunches once more, a smug smirk on his come-covered face.
Her eyes met his, a haze of pleasure shrouding her gaze. He took in a deep breath and huffed out a laugh, satisfied. She was in that state because of him. She wanted him. Craved him like he craved her.
“Taste like one of those desserts you make,” he said, voice gruff and low. “Like kissing caramel.”
She raised a brow. “Wanna give me a taste?”
Fuck. She’d be the death of him, and if Jack had to be honest, he wasn’t even that mad about it.
His body encompassed her almost immediately, only resting on his forearms, so he wouldn’t completely crush her. It was messy. Wild. Unlike Jack at all, and yet he’d never felt more alive than he did in that moment. It was like some long-lost part of him had resurfaced after years of never seeing the sun. And he was going to make sure he soaked up every single ray and drop the world offered.
A sneaky hand trailed down his taut abdomen and slid inside his boxers, wrapping around his stiff cock. Jack groaned into Y/N’s mouth as her palm twisted and gripped him, heat rushing along his spine.
“Need you inside me,” she gasped, Y/E/C eyes half-lidded and blazing. “Like right now.”
And just as he was about to give in, just as he felt her soaked center rub against his thigh, her nimble hands taking off his boxers, a moment of clarity struck him.
“Fucking hell, we need a condom.” Jack groaned. As much as he would be delighted to go in raw, no matter if Y/N was on a form of birth control and clean, there might still be a chance of pregnancy and given how new all of this was, a kid getting thrown into the mix was the absolute last thing either of them needed.
“Right bedside table, bottom drawer,” she said, mouthing at his neck and chest. Jack was sure there would be huge hickies left, and he made a mental note to ask Y/N about one of those make-up-concealer thingies and whatnot. He’d definitely need it, if he wanted to get through the next shift without teasing.
He wasn’t a religious man. He’d lost a lot of faith and belief in higher beings after coming back from the army, and when his wife had gotten sick, as young as she was, it completely eradicated any notion of a benevolent higher being. And yet, he sent up some thanks to the universe for Y/N being prepared. He didn’t think he’d be able to get through the night if she wasn’t. A quick glance at the expiration date, and it was another goal for them.
“You ready?” Jack asked through a kiss, as she rolled the condom on and gave him a few tight stroked. “No pressure if you want to stop here.”
She hummed, letting her teeth dig into his bottom lip, and dragged it a bit. Pain and pleasure mixed in his body, making his dick twitch against her thigh. “I certainly don’t. But Jack, if you feel like this might be a bit much, we can leave it here.”
He trailed a finger along Y/N’s hairline, where sweat-soaked strands had plastered themselves to her cheeks and forehead. Tenderly, he pushed them away from the skin. “You know, for a while, I didn’t think I’d ever get back to a place where I’d feel safe enough to even go on a date. But now… now that we’ve gotten to this point, I don’t ever wanna go back.”
“Then let’s keep moving towards the future.” She kissed him. It wasn’t a heat and passion filled one, like the others they’d shared. This was a reassuring one. A grounding one. One that told him she was there, with him and not going anywhere.
With their lips still connected, Jack shifted his knee, so that it widened the gap between her hips, and slowly, oh so agonizingly slowly, slid inside.
Y/N’s back arched, pressing their chests even closer, and he could only hope she was as enamored by the sensation as he was. Jack’s lips latched onto her neck and chest as he took a small moment to enjoy just being wrapped in her warmth while letting her adjust to the length of him.
As Y/N relaxed and her hips started jutting upwards, Jack took it as a sign he could move. One of her hands moved back into his hair, while the other slid down from his shoulder blades to the small of his back before he felt it rest on his ass and her nails dug into his skin.
“Harder,” she gasped into his ear. “Jack, harder. Please.”
If he were a crueler man, he’d not heed her wants and remain at the slow and sensuous pace, just to torture her a bit more, but he wasn’t. So, he obliged at her words. With every coming thrust, he put more and more intention behind it, trying to find that spot inside of her, that would make her absolutely lose it, while chasing his own pleasure as well. It was this moment that made him grateful of becoming a doctor and having studied the female anatomy, because it took him no time at all to have Y/N whimpering and gasping and pleading.
His hands slid to grip around her thighs, hiking her legs over his hips and giving him a new angle. That’s what seemed to do it. In a matter of seconds, Jack felt her tightening more and more and more, until he could barely move.
It was a heady sensation, and he could feel her teetering right on the cusp of an orgasm, but it was like she needed something more, so when he lowered his hand to rub on Y/N’s clit, she let out a sharp sound, nails digging into his ass like claws, while his abdomen got covered by gushing squirt.
White hot pleasure exploded in Jack, as he came, still keeping up the thrusts as best as he could to ride out both of their highs, despite the almost painful feeling of how her cunt was gripping his cock.
Jack could feel there were placed on his back, his ass, his thighs and biceps that burned from where Y/N had scratched at his skin, using it as a way to anchor herself to reality. Yeah, no concealer would be able to cover that, but they weren’t marks he’d willingly let go of.
He collapsed above her, not crushing, but almost in a protective manner, while she threw an arm over her eyes, her chest heaving with labored breaths. He laughed, brushing his nose against hers. “You made quite the mess.”
“I’ve never done that before.” Y/N shuddered in his hold, and let out a little whimper as he adjusted his legs, still snug inside her warm cunt. “Good thing I planned on washing the sheets anyway.”
If Jack were a peacock, he’d be fluffing his tail feathers in pride. “Never done it before, but now that I know, that’s all I’ll be trying to get you to do.”
“Well, you are more than welcome to try. Best orgasm ever.”
Maybe Jack wasn’t that old. Maybe, as the kids these days said, he’d found someone to ‘match his freak’.
For a while, they just laid there in Y/N’s sheets, content and satiated, surrounded by the warmth of the afterglow, when she suddenly doused him in the cold water of clarity. “Do you wanna come to family tomorrow?”
“You,” he swallowed. Hard. “You want me to meet your family? Already?”
Not that he wasn’t flattered, but Jesus, this was moving way too fast.
“No,” she chuckled, brushing his sweaty hair away from his face. “I want you to come to family. You know, that thing we do at the restaurant where after the lunch rush, we all sit down together, one of us makes the food, and then we bitch and moan about horrible customers and entitled food influencers. I mean, now we more so do it for the sake of not breaking tradition, but everyone from Chicago will be here too. We’re planning on going through the full new menu before presenting it to the rest of the clientele.”
“So, technically, you do want me to meet your family.”
Y/N shrugged. “In a sense, I guess yeah. My work family at least. I mean you already know Carmy, but I’d like for you to know the others too.
It was an odd sensation, realizing just how integrated he’d become in her life, to the point she thought him important enough to introduce him to the people she cared for most in the world. Now he was one of them too.
“Yeah,” he sighed out, pulling her closer to him, and pressing a linger kiss to her forehead. “If you truly want me to meet them, then of course.”
All he received in response was a soft hum, and when Jack looked down, he found her cheek against his peck, and eyes closed.
“Okay, nope.” He shook her awake, making a frown appear on her previously still features. “Bathroom and then sleep. I’m not gonna have you get a UTI after the first time we have sex.”
“God, I should have never decided to sleep with a doctor. You’re such a dick!” Y/N groaned, but complied, as Jack helped her get out of the bed, having found his prosthesis and reattaching it, so it’d be easier to move around.
The feeling of it all was so domestic, it too Jack off balance for a second. Watching her shimmy towards the bathroom while grabbing his shirt and tossing a spare set of sweats in his direction. Emerging with a toothbrush between her lips and minty foam around the corners. When she noticed him opening her laundry cupboard, she frowned. “You don’t have to do that. Just give me a couple of minutes.”
“I don’t mind.” He gave a soft lift of his lips. “Besides, it took two to make this mess.”
She wriggled her brows at him, before getting back inside the bathroom and rising her mouth. Before Jack could even say anything about getting back to his place, she’d set a spare toothbrush on the counter, and given him a set of towels, as she pecked him on the mouth and left him to clean up.
Why he’d thought he didn’t deserve this, or was too old to try again, Jack didn’t really know. But if there was one thing he was glad, it was at least having tried.
The next morning, he awoke with the moon still high in the sky, tangled in Y/N’s soft sheets and limbs, one of her knees pressed painfully against his lower ribs.
“How is that comfortable?” he hissed, as he tried to readjust her leg. To which he promptly received a slap to the face, as no doubt the woman’s still sleeping mind disagreed with his movements.
Was this to be his life now? Sleeping next to someone whose limbs dug into his sides, whose arm clung to his shoulder like a vice and whose breath seared against his collarbones? If so, then Jack never wanted this moment to end.
He’d take all the freezing toes under his thighs in winter, and take her pushing away his always hot body in the summer, and take her leeching off his warmth in the colder days of autumn, and take her sneezes and running nose during pollen season.
“You,” Y/N grumbled, having awoken due to his struggles with her knee, “could have easily gone back to your place last night if you didn’t wanna be in this position.”
“Not a chance.”
He tightened the arm that was below her waist and slowly going numb, only to pull her impossibly closer.
“I don’t wanna get up.” She yawned, lifting he knee that was digging into his entrails and draping it over his hip in a much more comfortable position. “I just wanna stay like this. Forver.”
“We could you know. Your wish is my command.”
“And I’d tell Carmy what exactly? Sorry, I wanted to get railed by my boyfriend and then sleep so I couldn’t make it to prep, for the rest of my life?
“Honest. To the point. I don’t see anything wrong with that.”
Y/N let out a snort. An ugly one. An unabashed sound of comfort and ease. Jack could only hope he’d get to hear it more as time went on. “As much as Carmy will probably be pleased we’re official, I don’t think he likes me enough for me to use you railing me as an excuse.”
“Well, what if we tell him, it’s doctor’s orders?” He trailed a kiss form her hairline, down along her jaw and to the pulse point at her neck.
“Doctor’s orders for who? You or me?”
“Both?”
Feeling her laugh echo through his body warmed him from inside out. Reluctantly though, as much as he might’ve wanted to keep Y/N in bed, Jack did let her go so she could start getting ready for the day.
He replaced his prosthesis back on, found the offending sock that’d been chucked almost completely out of the room, and together they stood by her kitchen counter, watching as her still shitty pour-over, ran the water through the ground coffee, Y/N adding an obscene amount of caramel syrup to somewhat better the taste.
With her thermos secure in her hand, she shut the door behind her, but didn’t leave, as Jack pulled her in for a kiss, his clothes still rumpled and disheveled.
“I’ll see you at family then?”
“You can count on it.”
And with one last beaming smile over her shoulder, she started the walk down the stairs. Watching her go was one of the hardest things ever, especially now that he knew how things could be between them. But he soothed himself with the thought that in just a few short hours, he’d see her again. And for at least one more night before he himself had to get back to the Pitt, he’d get to fall asleep with her at his side.
Jack went about his day like normal, checking in with Robby and Dana through text, who both promptly shut him down and told him in no uncertain terms to “piss off and go to sleep”, which left him to meander around his apartment until two o’clock rolled around, and he stood in front of The Bear.
He’d meant to come check it out while Y/N was still healing from the wound, but life had gotten in the way. Now though, he was greeted as a VIP guest when his girlfriend opened the door. Her brow was sweat-covered, but her smile wider than ever. “Hey!” She leaned up and pressed a kiss to his lips. It stunned Jack for a moment, before he remembered they were allowed to do that, and he leaned into the motion. “Come on in. Carmy’s just about done with the roast, so you’re just in time.”
Entering the restaurant was almost like entering the ED. Noise was everywhere, people were talking over one another, machines were beeping and shouts echoed above everyone’s heads. But unlike where in the Pitt a frighteningly fast beeping could indicate someone’s heart going into overdrive, here it was to tell the cheese and herb roast potatoes were done. Or the screaming was people trying to figure out where someone had put the spare plates and if they had enough extra cutlery left for them to even eat.
And the smells.
God, the smells! Absolutely incomparable.
Jack had to do the impossible not to let out the most inappropriate moan. He was starting to consider trying out that rumored Disney thing where, apparently, they pumped food scents around the parks to entice people to go out and eat. The ED would so benefit from that. Maybe he’d even find a way to connect The Bear’s vents to the Pitt’s, because going from the deliciousness of butter, rosemary, chicken and potatoes, collard greens and tomato soup, a rolled ham roast stuffed with spicy chorizo and what looked to be cheese and birria stuffed salt bread, to the sterile and oftentimes vile smells of the hospital, would make him cry genuine tears.
That and so many others foods were laid out on a long table, which seemed to have been made by pushing every table in the dining area together. And that wasn’t even counting the desserts he saw lined up inside the kitchen.
“Come on,” Y/N pulled him out of the sensory overload, quite literally by tugging on his sleeve. “I wanna introduce you to everyone.”
And that’s how he met Sydney, the co-owner of The Bear, and the chef who ran the original location back in Chicago.
He met Carmy’s loud ‘cousin’ Ritchie, and Carmy’s sister Sugar.
He met Marcus, another pastry chef working alongside Syd, and Fak, Tina and Ebraheim, who gave him such scathing looks, he truly thought they’d kill him if anything ever happened to Y/N. In a weird way, even if it was directed at him, it was good knowing she had such people around her. True ride-or-dies.
“Oh!” Y/N pulled him by the elbow where she’d linked her arm through his. “And this is Luca. He’s our other pastry chef here in Pittsburg.”
“Nice to meet you, man.” The blond tower of a guy clasped Jack’s hand in a solid shake. “I’ve heard a lot about you. Probably too much. Honestly, we can’t go a single day without her gushing over you, since you got her stitched up nice a-,”
“And we’re moving on!” Y/N dragged Jack away from where Luca was still talking about how she’d sighed over the dreamy doctor across the hall from her apartment.
Jack smirked down at her. “Dreamy doctor from across the hall, huh?”
“Not. A. Word,” she ground from behind clenched teeth. “Or you’re never seeming me naked again.”
“Trust me,” Richie piped up from where he was sliding behind the two and moved to the kitchen. “Nobody wants that.”
“Seeing you naked?” She shot back. “Of course! I don’t think getting their retinas burned to a crisp is covered by our insurance. Despite how it could be constituted at work-place trauma.”
“Fuck you, kid!”
“That job’s taken!”
Jack watched with rapt attention the verbal ping-pong match, an unrestrained smirk on his mouth. Yeah, Y/N had great people in her life. It was truly as if they were one big family, and if he could discern from the dynamic, she was the youngest and most annoying sister.
“Hey man,” Carmy finally emerged and nodded at Jack, two hands wrapped in towels holding a tray of what looked to be, and smelled to be, potato au gratin. Placing it in the middle of the table, he went and shook his hand. “Glad you could make it. Consider this also a small thank you for getting that one’s hand into working condition.”
“I would have been fine,” Y/N rolled her eyes. “Men are just way too dramatic.”
“No,” Carmy deadpanned. “You just have a serious lack of concern for your health.” “Whatever.” She scoffed, and pushed Jack in the direction of two free chairs. “Let’s eat!”
It had been the first time Jack had gone to family. But not the last. Not since getting The Bear’s approval. Not since these people bullied him into getting his phone number and added him to like a million different group chats. Not since he’d started to get invited to different dinners and celebrations. He’d even helped one time when it was Y/N’s turn to cook, and once again the intense feeling of domesticity had literally brought him to tears. Especially when that day the whole of his Pitt family had been invited to celebrate.
She’d looked at him from the corner of her eye, as she cut some carrots for roasting. “You alright there?”
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat and dabbed at a corner with his sleeve. “Just the onions.”
And she could have pushed. But she never did. Just smiled and pressed a kiss to his cheek, right where a stray drop had gone and he hadn’t managed to dry it. “If you say so.”
The onions were nowhere to be found around him.
But in the present, three months into an official relationship, Jack watched how broth simmered on his own stove, reminiscing on that particular day when he’d become certain of two things – Y/N had been a chance at a new start he never saw coming. And he was grateful, she had chosen him too, for she could have had anyone in the world.
Jack did think he was still bad at cooking. He was way better at prep or being a sou than a one-man-show, but this time it was different. The previous day, as both the Pitt and The Bear had converged in the restaurant, the James Beard award nominations had been announced, and with Y/N being one of the nominees, he wanted to celebrate it. Just the two of them.
He was just about to move onto the next step of the recipe, graciously provided with step-by-step instructions from Carmy, who’d even modified things to fit his not restaurant standard kitchen, when Jack’s phone rang.
Looking down at the scree, the aforementioned man’s name blazed up at him.
Shit.
Did chefs have some weird sixth sense when it came to cooking? Like a spidey-sense where they felt when someone was fucking things up?
No. jack couldn’t have already fucked it all up. He’d just added a couple of bay leaves, that was all!
He frowned, taking a glance at the clock. Usually, her colleagues and friends never called when they were in the throes of a lunch-rush. Something wasn’t right.
“Hello?” Jack picked up his phone on the third ring.
“Hey, sorry to bother you,” Carmy said, the sound of pots and pans clanking in the background, the distinctive voice of Richie calling out orders overpowering even metal against metal. “But I wanted to ask if you’ve seen or talked to Y/N? She’s not picking up and I need to know if she’s coming in or not.”
A frown settled on Jack’s face. “What’dya mean if she’s coming in or not? Isn’t she at the restaurant?”
“I sent her home after morning prep because she wasn’t looking too hot, and told her to let me know if she’s good to continue today, but she hasn’t picked up her phone. I’m worried. We’ve all called like ten times each and nothing.”
Jack was alert and ready in an instant. “Wasn’t looking too hot how?”
“She kept wincing. Breathing hard and guarding her side. Luca accidentally bumped into her, and she acted like she’d been stabbed, and you know what she’s like when she’s in pain. This isn’t how she normally acts.”
Every single word coming from Carmy’s mouth was more worrying than the next. To both of them, and it was a thing they’d bonded over, Y/N had an alarming disregard for her health or the warning sings her body exhibited. Sure, Jack did believe she had a high pain tolerance, but she also tended to write things off on psychosomatic symptoms or any other milder condition, than what the actual issue was, if there was even a slight chance it might interfere with her work.
Just a couple of months prior, when Y/N had gone down with rotavirus, she’d tried to give him some spiel about being nervous about a critic coming into The Bear. It had taken her almost passing out from dehydration to allow Jack to bring her into the ED, and for Shen and Princess to hook her up to an IV.
“Anxiety my ass,” he’d grumbled as she’d emptied her guts out in a bucket.
She’d given him a middle finger before another weave of nausea rocked her body.
“I’m gonna go check on her,” he told Carmy over the phone as he grabbed his keys. “I’ll call you back as soon as I can. For now, go on as if she isn’t coming for dinner rush.”
Jack didn’t even properly wait for Carmy to acknowledge his words before dropping the call. He switched off the stove and pretty much ran out of his apartment, and to the other end of the hallway, hand lifting when he was nowhere near to knock on Y/N’s door.
“Sweetheart?” Jack called out, rapping his knuckles against the wood. “You in there? Carmy called and said you weren’t feeling alright. He’s worried.” A minute passed. Then two more without a response.
“Fuck it,” Jack murmured and found the spare key she’d given him just last week.
“We’ve known one another for almost a year,” she’d said. “I think if you were secretly some axe murderer, you would’ve already taken your shot.”
“Maybe I was just waiting for more direct access to your place.” He smirked, handing a spare of his own to her.
“Tough luck then, given how literally everyone knows you’d burn the world for me.”
And her words had been true. And if she hadn’t given him the key, he would be burning down the door right in that second to get to the other side.
With heavy steps, he made his way across the living room, having surveyed the absence of any signs of life. He had made a note of her sneakers neatly laying by the entryway mat, which did mean she was home.
“Y/N?” Jack called out, only stopping when he was face to face with her closed bedroom door. “Come on, answer me please.”
And there, a small noise. A weak, pain-filled whimper from beyond.
“Sweetheart, I’m coming in.”
He didn’t wait for her to respond. Jack found her curled up on her bed, covered in a mountain of blankets and shivering still. Even from where he stood, he could see the clamminess of her skin, a waxy sheen to it. Something was very, very wrong.
“Sweetheart?” Jack was by her side instantly; a fear he’d so long-ago forgotten rolling through his body and warring with the analytical side of his mind. Someone he loved was hurting and in pain. It took every bit of self-control to push that primal terror away, so he could focus on finding out what was going on. “Talk to me.”
Y/N moaned, as she adjusted a bit and cracked open one eye to look at him. “It’s probably just my appendix acting up a bit more than usual,” she gasped out. “No biggie.”
Jack’s brows skyrocketed. “What do you mean ‘more than usual’?”
“Chronic appendicitis. Got diagnosed like three years ago. Usually, it goes away on its own though.”
“Fucking hell, woman!” He grunted, running a hand down his face. “That shit needs to be managed with antibiotics, if not removed.” And Jack knew for a fact, she wasn’t taking any sort of medication for such a condition.
“I’m. Fine.” Y/N grunted, trying to throw him her most fearsome look, only for it to be a sort of pathetic painfilled wince. “Besides, I already missed lunch, I need to get ready for dinner.”
“Fat chance of that happening,” Jack scoffed, fishing out his phone and texting a quick ‘VIP SOS’ to Robby. Unfortunately for Y/N, there was a very high likelihood, she’d need to be in an OR as soon as possible. He had a high suspicion the appendix wasn’t just ‘acting up a bit’, but could be close to bursting. “We’re going to the ED. Right now.”
“The Bear needs me.” She protested.
“The Bear, and everyone in it, needs you healthy. Because everyone there loves and cares about you. And so, do I. The restaurant isn’t gonna burn down if you take care of yourself just this once.”
She threw him a guilty look. “But everything will be on everyone else’s shoulders. It’s not fair.”
“They’ll understand.” Jack looked over her shoulder, mentally checking what he needed to take from her apartment with them. “And you’re no use to anyone or the restaurant like this. You can’t even extend your legs.”
“I so can!” Y/N scoffed, but immediately whimpered as the attempt at it jostled her body, her legs remaining curled close to her chest.
Jack just shook his head. “What have I gotten myself into with you?”
“A lifetime of happiness?” She tried to smile, but it turned into a grimace, as Jack dug her out from the blankets.
“A permanent headache, if I have to say so myself, but fuck, do you make me happy, so I have to deal with this. Now come on. Wrap your hands around my shoulders. I’ll lift you up and we’re going to the Pitt.”
“I can walk on my own.”
“If you can get out of the bed, I’ll allow it. If not, I’m carrying you.”
And whether it was out of spite towards his words or out of sheer will, Y/N did manage to get up on her own two feet. The whole way down the stairs though, Jack cursed the house, cursed the architect, cursed whoever thought building anything with more than one story was a good idea, as she had to rest against his side, gripping onto his waist like a lifeline.
Once they were in the car, Y/N leaning against the door for comfort, he tried to stay within the speed limits, but Jack was almost ninety percent sure, there’d be at least five tickets in the coming weeks with how he pressed the pedal into the floor.
He practically screeched into the back of the Pitt where ambulances usually arrived, and thanking thanked the universe for whatever he did to deserve friends like Dana and Robby who were already outside, a gurney awaiting Y/N.
“What’ve you done to yourself now, kid?” Robby sighed as Jack helped his girlfriend settle on the bed.
“I haven’t done anything to myself. In fact, it is myself doing something to me… you get what I mean. My body is being mean to me.”
“Jack said something about an appendix?” Dana piped up.
Y/N sighed and groaned as the gurney jostled over the sidewalk, making his heart clench in his chest. “Got diagnosed with chronic appendicitis a few years back.”
“There’s nothing about that in your medical history. No antibiotics, no prescriptions.”
“That’s because it hasn’t flared up in ages, and the couple of times it did, it was back in Chicago. It’s also never been this bad before. At the time they didn’t want to do unnecessary surgery, and quite honestly, I agreed. So, I managed it with some pills the first time around, but then…” she trailed off.
“But then?” Jack pressed.
“Look, life got in the way. I was helping back in New York, and then I reconnected with Carmy and then got involved with The Bear, and then Pittsburg and you happened…”
He scoffed at her words. “You’re blaming me for this?”
“I’m saying,” she gave a pointed look. “That things just happened. And whenever it started to act up, I told myself I’d go to the doctor or something if it still hurt after three days.”
“And let me guess,” Robby huffed, shaking his head. “It never hurt past three days.”
“It didn’t! And why waste money on medication if I didn’t need it?”
Jack hoped Y/N could feel the scorching heat of his glare. Not the lustful kind. The pissed off kind. “Your health is not a waste.”
“Well, I think a part of me will physically be in the waste after today.”
“Not the time for jokes, sweetheart.” Jack rubbed at the back of his neck.
He’d barely noticed how Dana and Robby had put them in room six, right in front of the view of the HUB. Perlah was already hooking Y/N up to an IV and placing electrodes on her chest. Jack’s hearty thudded. She was wearing one of his shirts. Even when he wasn’t with her, she was seeking comfort in something of his.
It was funny how when you’re down bad for someone, you barely notice the things around you. Especially as an attending. He hadn’t noticed the chaos of the ED, hadn’t bothered to take in the scene or any other patient. Not when his whole world laid in Room Six of the Pitt.
But when Whitaker entered the room, one of Robby’s med students, Jack’s head snapped to the side so fast, there had to have been an audible crack. “No interns.”
Robby raised both his brows, forehead wrinkling with the motion, as he eyed Y/N and the petrified med-student standing in the doorway, Princess rolling in the ultrasound machine around his frozen stature.
“Jack, don’t be mean,” Y/N scolded him. “He’s just gonna do the ultrasound.”
“I’m not letting anyone, that can’t tie their shoelaces, near you.”
Robby rolled his eyes. “Give the kid a break, Jack. Besides, it’s her decision, not yours.”
“I’m the attending. I say no.”
“No,” Robby snarked, “you’re an attending. Who’s not on shift right now. I am. And until it hits seven PM tomorrow night, this is my domain. What you currently are, is a dickhead over-protective boyfriend.”
Y/N reached out and took hold of one of Jack’s hands, which was easy, because he was practically glued to her side. “He’s not gonna hurt me. Not with a plastic wand and some lube.”
He stared Whitaker down, and hoped he was putting the fear of God into the young man. “If she lets out a single sound of discomfort, I’m taking over. And you are going straight to the morgue.”
Whitaker, who hadn’t spoken a single word since appearing, squeaked out a, “Ye-yes sir," before scurrying over to Y/N’s side and claiming a rolling chair.
Her shirt had already been lifted, and Perlah helped her roll down her sweats a bit, so the right side of her waist could be accessed easier and her clothes wouldn’t be dirtied.
Jack watched the med-students every move like a hawk watched a field mouse. When Y/N winced at the pressure applied to her stomach, it was only her hand intertwined with his that stopped him from wringing Whitaker’s neck.
“There’s uh, heavy inflammation of the appendix,” he cleared his throat as he spoke, not daring to meet Jack’s eye as he watched the screen.
“Recommendations?” Robby asked, and the smirk he threw Jack’s way told him it was meant to aggravate the man. And it was working very well.
“Appendectomy. With the previous history of chronic flare ups and a previous medicated treatment, I’d say it’s best to remove it.” He lifted his eyes up, ears and neck red as a firetruck. “We could try another dose of antibiotics, but given the history, removing it would be the safest treatment when looking long-term.”
“Jack,” Y/N said his name, and he returned his attention to her from where he’d been glaring a hole in Whitaker’s head. “Lay off the kid, will you. And yes, I guess that would be better than waiting until it burst.”
And that was that.
By the time Whitaker had rushed out of the room, Robby was already calling up to see when an OR would be available, Perlah and Princess had rolled a changing board so Y/N could put on a gown and helped her get comfortable in the bed, giving some pain meds until she could be wheeled up for surgery.
Jack hadn’t relax for any moment, he was by the vitals monitor like a guard, and then by her chart, taking note of the information like a scribe and by her bedside keeping vigil like her own personal knight.
“Jack?” Y/N called out his name, voice soft and low, half no doubt from pain, half from the medication.
“Yeah, sweetheart?” He lifted his eyes, gaze softening when they met hers.
“D’ya wanna know something?”
A small smile pulled up his lips, as he took his hand away from where he’d been fiddling with the saline bag and checking how much was left. “Sure.”
“Your pacing is giving me a worse stomachache than this appendix thing.”
“Apologies for caring, I guess,” he snorted.
“You’re not caring, you’re hovering. I’m pretty sure you traumatized that med student of yours to the point he’ll be shitting bricks once his nightshift rounds roll around.”
“He should be. He’s treating the most important person in my life. I’d fight Robby if he so much as made you wince.”
Y/N scoffed, and immediately groaned in pain at the motion. “Please.” She finally managed to get out after a few deep breaths, Jack having sunk down next to her on the bed, and allowing her to squeeze the life out of his hand. “I’m half certain one day you’ll break up with me for the guy.”
“Never. He’s a shit cook, and so am I.”
The woman raised a teasing brow. “So, you’re with me for my wicked talents in the kitchen?”
“And the mind-blowing sex.” He wiggled his own brows. “If Robby tried that, I’m pretty sure we’d end up here with a herniated disk. Dude needs to go to some Pilates or some shit.”
“How kinky,” she chuckled.
“Not the kind of kinky I’d like to experience. Besides, we still haven’t put those cuffs of yours to good use.” He took the hand that was wrapped around hers and brought her knuckles up for a kiss. “So, your job right now will be to get better, and that is it. You’ll let people take care of you, you’ll let everyone fuss over you, and you’ll be our number one priority.”
Y/N winced and not from the pain, Jack was sure.
Ever since meeting him, he’d known her to not be a person who relished in others’ attention. Sure, hearing praise and positive words about the food she created, it was like watching a sunrise with how a smile bloomed on her lips, but if anyone, even Jack (especially Jack), complimented her looks, her personality or otherwise, she’d brush those things off. So, letting someone else worry and fret about her, would be a challenge.
An hour later, Robby came back in as it was finally time for Y/N to get wheeled up to the OR.
She looked at Jack as he walked along the bed while Matteo rolled it to the elevator. “You’ve surprised me. I haven’t even heard you make one peep about scrubbing in.”
“Oh, believe me, I have thought of nothing else since finding you back home in that bed.”
“But?”
“But,” he huffed and hung his head as if in defeat. “I need to take a step back. As much as I don’t want to. I know you’re in good hands, and these people know I’d wring each and every one of their necks if you end up worse for wear.”
“Very encouraging.”
“Just stating the obvious.” He kissed the inside of her wrist as the elevator dinged open, and very reluctantly, let go of her hand. “I’ll be waiting in the room.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to be anywhere else.”
With one final wave, she was cut off from Jack’s view by the closing metal doors, leaving him standing in the always-bustling ED.
The last time he’d been at the hospital in such a capacity was when his late wife was there. He had walked out alone then.
He hadn’t wanted to admit it, but that had been the terror he’d felt when he found Y/N in her room, curled up as small as possible. It was the fear of not having a tomorrow with her. It was the fear of her not walking out side-by-side with him. It was the desperately selfish notion of simply not wanting to be on his own again, after years of not letting anyone beyond the walls he’d built.
His therapist would have a field day, come next session, because all Jack knew, was he couldn’t allow those emotions to overcome him in that moment. Y/N needed him to keep it together. She’d need his help and care, no matter how much she’d protest against it, and insist on doing things on her own.
Walking back to the room, Jack finally found a moment to call Carmy back. He was no doubt already setting up for the dinner rush, but he also knew how much everyone at The Bear loved Y/N.
Carmy picked up on the first ring. “Y/N alright?”
“We’re at the Pitt. She’s having an appendectomy right now, so she’ll be out of commission for a bit.”
“Thank fuck for that,” the other man let out a sigh of relief.
“Excuse me?”
“Not for the appendectomy, but that she’s being taken care of. Sucks it got to that point, but she scared us shitless today. Does she need anything? Or you?”
The question stopped Jack dead in his tracks. The thought of being considered alongside Y/N by her friends, cracked some other piece in him. But then again, Robby and Dana, and Shen and literally everyone at the Pitt always asked about her too. So, why would it be weird that someone who cared about the woman he loved, cared about him too?
“No, uh,” he cleared his throat. “We’re alright for now. Thanks.”
“Sure. Just let me know if you two need anything. When can we stop by to check in on her?”
“I’ll text you once she’s out of surgery, and getting discharged.”
“Good. And tell her not to show her face at the restaurant until she’s been given proper clearance. Unless she’s here for family.” “Will do.”
With that, Jack was left to wait. He didn’t try to join into the fray of the ED, despite how usually his mind ran rampant and doing something, especially being in a position where he got to take control, eased him. But he knew he would only be a jittery and anxious mess. He wouldn’t be able to concentrate on the patients, nor provide adequate care, so he remained sitting in one of the chairs, playing with his phone until it was at ten percent.
At some point after he’d asked Robby for a charger, Dana poked her head inside.
“Hey you.” She smiled and handed him a steaming cup of coffee. Jack gratefully took it, despite it being the shitty vending machine blend and way too watered down. “They’re wheeling her out of recovery. Should be here in a few minutes.”
“Did everything go alright?”
“As far as I know, everything went perfect.” The charge nurse lowered herself onto one of the rolling chairs. “Jack, you know we’d never let anything happen to her.”
“Don’t say that. Dana, please. You know that’s a big promise nobody, not even I can keep. As much as I’d want to.”
The blonde pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “Okay,” she nodded, and didn’t say much else.
She knew of his ex-wife, knew how the doctors had given them both hope and told she’d get better. And how much Jack distrusted anyone who made such claims.
“At least drink the coffee and eat something. Y/N will hate you for not taking care of yourself, given how you’re making her do the same. It’d be very hypocritical of you.”
“Hey, I did take the Hippocratic oath.”
“Not that kind.”
But when Y/N was wheeled back in, she didn’t ask if he had drunk some water or at least had a protein bar. Instead, she let out a low whistle and very loudly asked, “Who’s this sexy silver fox?” while eyeing him up and down like he was a chocolate bar. “Oh, and a certified milf right there. My, my, what a welcome crew.”
Jack had to applaud Dana for being a much stronger person than him, because he had to turn away from Y/N as Matteo stationed her bed back in its correct position, while his shoulder shook from the force or suppressed laughter.
“Well, aren’t you a flirt, young lady,” Dana chuckled, as she rounded to where Jack stood facing the wall, tears streaming down his face.
She checked over the woman’s vitals while Jack composed himself enough to turn and look at her.
She was tired, but there was a sense of ease in her body. Like finally being rid of the piece that was making her sick had removed all the gathered tension.
“How’re you feeling, sweetheart?” “Good.” She winked at him. “And how are you feeling, hottie?”
“Hottie?” he laughed. “That’s a new one.”
“I call it like I see it. And you’re one hot piece of ass.”
“Well, I’m very glad you think so.”
“Yeah?” Y/N dragged out the word. “And why’s that?”
“Well, cause we’re kinda dating, and until you decide to trade me up for a younger model, you’re stuck with me.”
Her mouth dropped open in a comically wide grin, eyes scanning him over as if in disbelief. “You mean I’m tapping that ass? Fuck yeah!”
Yep, this was the life Jack had chosen for himself. A bit unpredictable, with a dash of deliriousness and a sliver of chaos. Mostly though, filled with love and joy, which was all a man could ask for.
It didn’t get any better though when Robby stepped in to check in on Y/N, as she called them, “Two hot-as-fuck dilfs ready to be ridden like cowboys,” before promptly falling asleep.
When she awoke, anesthesia having worn off finally, she was groggy and sore, as Jack helped her adjust the pillows for a more comfortable position.
“Welcome back, sweetheart.”
Y/N hummed. “It’s not a proper welcome if you don’t kiss me.”
And who was he to refuse her.
She gave him a soft, low-lidded smile as their lips pulled away. “D’ya know what you taste like?”
“Bad hospital coffee and a stale protein bar?” He pressed another kiss to her forehead.
“Sweet. Like caramel. My favorite flavor.”
Jack hummed. What a privilege to be someone’s something favorite.
“Ditto, sweetheart. Ditto.”
Tags: @flwries @thinemineours @pear-1206 @livingvilaloca @xxemarldxx @katzarantos @carmenberzattosgf @mortallycrispyglitter @poppy-wr1tess @jojoblossom @palomathebroccoli @notsochillnerd @medwhump @imjusttheretoreads-blog
A/N: I am not dead. yay :D hopefully this was still worth reading even after having posted part 1 ages ago :D I've tried to tag everyone that commented on the fic :)
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