Kiss It Better
Disclaimer: Sadly, I own neither Saving Hope nor Daniel Gillies.
Pairing: Joel & Alex (or if you prefer) Alex & Joel
Rating: T
Summary: Alex has a tough shift in the E.R.
Joel Goran was on his way to the cafeteria to see if Alex was free to grab a quick bite to eat when he heard the announcement.
"Code Purple ER."
Code purple?
It took a moment for Joel to recall just exactly what a code purple meant.
Agitated person.
Joel thought as he kept walking quickening his pace, just a bit.
Alex is working in the E.R. today.
It only took a few seconds before Joel was full on running down the hospital corridor towards the elevator.
The memory of Alex's stabbing was still all too fresh in Joel's mind.
He wasn't about to let anything happen to her if he could help it.
I just wanted to have a nice lunch with my wife before my next surgery.
He thought as he got onto the elevator and headed downstairs.
Meanwhile in the E.R. Alex was doing an intake on a patient that was under police supervision. She didn't ask about the circumstances of his situation or why he was under police supervision.
She simply took his vitals and recorded them in the patient's chart. She was exhausted. She just wanted to pick up Luke and Charlotte, and have a quick dinner before collapsing into bed next to her husband.
But that's not in the cards.
She thought as she looked around the packed E.R.
Joel has a surgery today anyway. I probably won't see him until later.
She sighed and quickly tied the tourniquet around the patient's arm to draw his blood.
"You better not come near me with that needle, doc." The patient, Steve said in a gruff voice.
Alex smiled and tried to put the patient at ease. "It's just a tiny little stick, Steve. You probably won't even feel it.
She found it slightly amusing that a burly man like Steve, who had at least one hundred pounds on her was afraid of a tiny little needle stick.
But she kept her opinion to herself.
"Okay, Steve you're gonna feel a stick in 3, 2,…"
Before Alex could even get to one, the room around her spun, and she was staring up at the ceiling of the E.R, gasping for breath as something wrapped around her throat.
Hands.
He's choking me.
Alex thought as her eyes watered from the pressure of his grip around her throat.
Where the hell is the police supervision? She thought as her vision grew blurry.
She fought to stay conscious and tried in vain to get her feet on the floor so that she could kick herself free from her attacker's death grip.
But her feet were flailing at least two inches off the tile floor and her sneakers couldn't get any traction on the tile floor.
She thought back to when she got in fights with her brothers and how she used to fight her way free.
She may have been smaller than the boys, but she was nothing if not scrappy.
Use your body weight to knock him off balance.
With all her might she tried to jam her shoulder into his solar plexus.
If I can knock the wind out of him maybe he'll let go. She thought desperately.
But ramming her shoulder into this guy's body was like running head on into a brick wall.
He only grunted in annoyance and she felt pain shoot from her left shoulder all the way to her fingertips.
Probably dislocated it. Good thing my husband is the best orthopedic surgeon in the country.
Alex would have smiled at the thought if she hadn't been in such a dangerous situation.
"Code Purple E.R. Code Purple E.R. Code Purple E.R."
It could've been her imagination, but to Alex the voice over the loudspeaker seemed to grow more and more insistent each time she heard it.
The tightness in Alex's chest grew more intense, as she struggled for breath.
I can't go like this.
I can't leave Luke and Charlotte.
I can't leave Joel.
Joel.
As if her thoughts had somehow conjured him, she heard her husband's familiar, insistent voice.
"Can I get some security over here, please!" Joel shouted.
His New Zealand accent was more pronounced when he was angry.
Suddenly two security guards tackled Steve and Alex fell unceremoniously to the floor. She lay flat on her back in the middle of the E.R, gasping for breath and trying to get her bearings.
Holy hell.
She thought as she stared up at the ceiling, and contemplated getting to her feet.
Before she managed to catch her breath, she saw Joel standing nearby, looking at her with a concerned expression.
"Alex, are you all right?"
She didn't have the breath in her lungs to answer so she just nodded.
He extended his hand so he could help her up, even as he assessed her for visible injuries.
Immediately, he noticed the red ring around her neck that would turn to purple bruises before long.
The moan escaped her lips as she reached her hand toward his and tried to sit up.
"Talk to me, Reid. What hurts? Is it your arm or your wrist?" Joel asked touching her skin gingerly.
Alex shook her head. "My shoulder." She said, her voice came out in a hoarse whisper, even though her throat felt as if she were screaming.
Joel nodded, his eyes filled with understanding, compassion, and love for his wife.
"C'mere," He whispered, pulling her gently to her feet and wrapping an arm around her, instantly taking her right hand instead of her left. "I've got you, Alex. You're okay."
He pressed his lips against her forehead, "I love you. Do you hear me, Alex Reid?"
Instead of answering she simply kissed him on the mouth.
He pulled away, briefly, a smile still playing on the corners of his mouth, as he led her to an empty exam table in the E.R.
"We really should do an X-Ray first, but since I know you're too stubborn to agree to that, I'll just pop that shoulder back in."
Alex nodded, "Thank you." Alex whispered, kissing him once more, pressing her lips against the mole just behind his ear.
Joel smiled, "Don't thank me yet, Reid. It's gonna hurt."
It was Alex's turn to smile, "I don't mind as long as you promise to kiss it better later."
"Yes, ma'am." He replied, standing close to her, bracing her shoulder, with one hand. "You ready?"
He didn't even wait for her to nod before he expertly placed her shoulder back into the socket, without so much as an audible pop.
Alex winced slightly but then smiled at her husband, "I barely felt that. No wonder they call you The Shoulder Whisperer around here."
Joel reached over and brushed a strand of her dark hair away from her face, "Are you sure you're all right?"
Alex nodded, "Aside from the frog in my throat and my fashionable soon to be bruise necklace, I'm fine."
He reluctantly stepped away from her, "I've got a surgery. But page me if you need me…"
She stopped the flow of his nervous words with a kiss, "Joel, baby, I'm fine, I promise. I love you. I'll see you at home later for dinner."
"Love you too, Reid." He called as he walked in the opposite toward the elevator.
It was almost ten o'clock by the time, Joel got home. Luke and Charlotte had gone to bed nearly three hours before. But Alex had saved him a plate of lasagna and a salad in the fridge.
He warmed up the food and ate quickly. He still needed to shower before bed.
After his shower, he pulled on some clothes and climbed into bed beside Alex.
She reached out in the darkness and wrapped her arms around him, "Hi," she mumbled, sleepily, "Dinner in the fridge."
He nodded, inching closer to her, "It was delicious. Thank you, Dr. Reid."
"Mhhhmmm…" She replied, drowsily.
"How's your shoulder?" He whispered, pressing his lips gently over each of the now purple bruises that marred the perfect skin of her neck.
"Hurts…" She whispered, pulling him closer to her.
"Did you put ice on it? Or take some ibuprofen?"
Joel felt her shake her head, as she rested it on his shoulder. "Red wine." She replied, the words running together with the sheer force of her exhaustion.
That's my wife. He thought smiling to himself.
"Alex, I'm sorry I didn't get there sooner." He said, pressing his lips against her collarbone.
"Not your fault," She said, wrapping her arms around his neck, "But you promised you'd
kiss it better."
"Yes, ma'am, I did." Joel replied, before he kissed her injured shoulder and every other part of her body while they made love.
They were both spent and lay wrapped in each other's arms. Joel was on the verge of falling asleep when he heard her whisper, "Thank you, Dr. Goran."
"You're welcome, Dr. Reid," He replied, kissing her once more on the mouth before he finally surrendered to sleep.