DISCLAIMER: this show belongs to Shonda

It's a short chapter because I don't know if anyone wants to read this lol

Chapter 1: Healing

"Hey, Kepner, you alright?"

April turned around at the mention of her name, and to see Alex staring back at her, a concerned look on his face.

"Um, yes." April says, slightly confused as to what Alex was doing in the ER right now, "Do you want something?"

"Oh no, I'm just… checking." He replies back, almost tersely, and shoots her a tight smile and that instantly worries her even more. Alex didn't smile at people very often.

"Is everything okay?" She asks again, pushing him, fear now rising to her chest as she wonders what is taking him so long, "Oh my god, is it Harriet?"

"What? No, of course not. I saw her in the nursery when I passed by. She forced me to play Barbie goes to her friend's birthday party without a present game." Alex replies, chuckling softly.

April laughs, aware of her daughter's tactics to enchant people to play her with at the most inconvenient of times, "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. She's.. something else."

"Oh don't worry about it. Harriet's cool. She's totally in love with Uncle Alex."

April laughs once more, and nods in agreement. Her one year old, although too young for any of this kind of stuff, seems particularly smitten by Alex.

"Is it… Jackson?" She asks, and can still feel her hart ache a little when she says his name. She misses him, she misses living with him, and she misses everything else that came along with it. She especially misses having Harriet with her all the time. She hates being alone. Theres too much empty space in her apartment.

"Well… he's okay. He's not hurt or anything," Alex says, but he hesitates, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, "But.. um, yeah. Heard you moved out?"

"Oh… yes, yes I did." She blushes, mostly out of embarrassment. It was still a little too soon.

"Things got complicated?" He asks, and April opens her mouth to reply but no words come out. Complicated was an understatement.

"You could say that."

"Yeah, well I know a bit about that too." Alex says, and sighs, pulling a roller chair and sitting next to her.

"Jo?" April asks, carefully. She's not too sure if it's too soon or not to ask. After the fire, Jo had run off. Alex had gone to their apartment to talk things out with her but she'd disappeared, no trace of her, nothing. The story had spread across the hospital like, well, wildfire. Alex was never one to show too much emotion, but she'd caught him breaking down in a supply closet, and spent the whole time with him, not saying a word. Since then, there was almost a quiet camaraderie amongst the two.

"Yeah…. Actually, no. I'm… over that. Or at least I'm trying to get over that." He says, and looks more like he's convincing himself than her.

"Is it working?" She asks.

"You tell me."

She stares back at him, and she knows he's talking about her. No, it had been a month, and she was nowhere near being over Jackson, but some days ago, she'd come to realise, that one day… she would be. and that was all she needed for now.

"No."

She says, and he nods.

"But I will be."

She smiles at Alex, and he smiles back at her. She's not too sure how she went from being colleagues to friends with Alex, but he'd always been there, offering his help in the best way he could. But since that day in the closet, there was a deeper connection. An acceptance of pain on either side, a want to become better.

"You wanna go grab a drink?" Alex asks.

"Eh, after work?"

"No, Kepener, I meant do you want to drink during work hours and open a guy in the ER pissed drunk." He says, and she punches him in the shoulder, for being so sarcastic. She forgot how annoying he was sometimes.

She thinks about the offer. Jackson was having lunch with Catherine and Webber… and Maggie. She didn't need to think about what all that meant for the two of them. If she stayed in her house, it would be a constant drill of thoughts about how he never really introduced her to Catherine as his girlfriend… and now. No, she needed to leave the house, and occupy herself. Harriet was with Catherine today after all. It was a "family" lunch. She was no longer family.

"Okay…. Sure."

Alex grins, and stands up, pushing the chair back.

"Hey Alex, you're not allowed to be a dick to me anymore."

She teases, and he stops in his track and turns around.

"April, that's our thing. No can do." He says, and she laughs, nodding in agreement.

It was their thing.

For the first time, in a long time, she was looking forward to something, and not once did Jackson cross her mind for the rest of the night.

She was healing.

Finally.

PS: I still ship japril, don't worry, I just have a tough time writing Jackson that's all.