My emergency contact
It was midnight already, and Mac should have been home with Christine. However, he was still sitting behind his desk at the lab, watching the night team working while listening to the rain falling over Manhattan. Lindsay and Danny had gone home early to put Lucy to bed and release the nanny, Jo had followed suit, having to buy some groceries for a TV marathon with Ellie, and Adam- well, Adam had a date with a girl he had met on the Internet. Mac smiled. One year had passed since he was released from the hospital after the shooting, and life was blossoming everywhere around him. He and Christine weren't married yet. She had wanted to wait until he had fully recovered from his trip near death. He rumaged through the piles of papers he had tried to order in the drawers of his desk and found the envelope he was looking for. He had received his medical file from the hospital some months before, along with the bill and a fotocopy of his admission form. He eyed the latest once again, as he had already done a thousand times before. Jo had filled it, he could deduce that from her handwriting. Yet, Christine had helped her, for sure, she was the only one to know his middle name was Llewellyn. He thought about what Christine had told him about it.
'I know I should have been the one to fill the form but you should have seen Jo, she was a real tiger, pacing back and forth waiting for something to do. She felt so useless and she looked so upset !'
He smiled. Yes, he could believe that. Danny had told him the same. Poor Jo, she had been through hell, sensitive and caring as she was. He brushed his thumb against the 'Emergency Contact' section where Jo had written her full name 'Josephine Danville' next to her phone numbers. He had been surprised to see her name there instead of Christine's. When he had asked about that, Christine had tilted her head and flashed him a cute smile before answering with a voice full of tenderness. 'She knows you better than I do. It seemed normal to put her as your emergency contact. She loves you very much and I trusted her to show up every time you'd need her. Besides, she's a cop, she doesn't have to wait for the traffic light to go green in case of emergency.'. He had laughed at that. He could totally picture Jo honking all the way from her flat to the hospital to be there faster, or only to let off some steam.
Christine was right. Jo was reading in him like in an open book. Nobody had ever known him as she did. And he had to admit they spent much more time together than he did with Christine. Having her as his emergency contact made sense somehow. 'She loves you very much'. Yeah, he could sense that, each time she smiled at him. Her eyes shone every time they were enjoying a moment together. He felt home with her. He had found his family in the lab, and she was his guardian angel.
He suddenly felt a rush of love and gratitude invade his body, and he leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes.
Nine hours later.
Jo entered her office. She was late, for the third time this week. However, she didn't seem to be the only one. Mac's office was empty. That was perfect. He wouldn't know she was late. She let herself fall in her chair and her eyes caught sight of a yellow post-it stuck on her computer screen. She frowned. She didn't remember having writen anything important before leaving the day before. She took the note, hoping it wasn't something important she had forgoten about.
No, it wasn't her handwriting. She smiled when she recognised Mac's writing and read the little note he had left her.
'I could be your emergency contact if you want me to... Love you too.'
She chuckled. That was sweet. So he knew she had volunteered to be his emergency contact after the shooting. She wondered what Christine had told him. She felt her cheeks blush as she read the note again. She quickly grabbed a pen, took her pad and scribbled a few words :
'I'd be glad to let you be my EC.
Love,
Your very own EC'
She raised from her sit and went to her door. She paused on the doorway to check no-one was watching and, seeing that everyone was busy working, went straight to Mac's empty office and stuck her post-it on his screen. She laughed softly. 'Gosh, I love the guy', she thought while going back to her office to begin her day.