Notes
This is part of a world created from another story "Welcome Home" there are direct quotes and memories from it as well as canon language taken directly from the show.The long deep sigh coming from April could be heard from across the ED. Maggie glanced over at Will and their eyes met. Will looked from Maggie to April who was administering medication to a patient. The night shift was like this sometimes, so quiet that a person could literally hear another's breathing from across the room or an April's case exasperating from exhaustion and frustration. April walked over to the hospital's large main desk and sat down. She had been highlighting a section of her medications and diagnosis books before her alarm prompted her to go dispense medications to her patients. Another long sigh left her mouth when the overwhelming feeling of eyes on her caused her to look up.
"What?" April asked looking a little perplexed at Maggie and Will.
"How's the studying going?" Maggie asked, "Because it seems like you might be a bit frustrated."
Maggie's face looked concerned and April pursed her lips and then blew her cheeks up with air letting the air escape.
"Sorry, I'm so tired. I'm not stuck with the material, but I'm not getting enough sleep or studying enough. I'm feel like I'm barely keeping up," April answered as she blew out another breath of air and closed her eyes and leaned back into her chair.
Maggie leaned over on the desk.
"Okay how bout I look over your syllabus and your notes and we pick a time to speed study this week?" Maggie offered.
April opened her eyes and looked up a slow grin spread across her face.
"Really?" April's smile brightened, "Because I need help this Thursday before my test on Friday."
Maggie frowned, "I work during the day on Thursday, but maybe the next test?"
"I don't," Will interjected, "I could help….I don't know if you noticed but I'm a doctor," Will answered.
He was still looking over a chart but he was smiling slyly. April rolled her eyes and looked up at him and smiled. Will tapped two more buttons on his digital chart and then said,
"We can start at ten sharp, I'll bring the coffee."
He set the chart down and walked to bed nine to check on his patient.
…
"What's that?" April asked, Connor stared at it a bit and then replied.
"Riyadh, I was the new hotshot American student who thought everyone needed to hear my idealistic ways even though I didn't know shit. I got in a fight in a hotel lobby, the best part, he was American too."
Connor and April both laughed.
"You should get that," Connor said.
"Get what?" April asked inquisitively.
"The door," Connor said smiling.
The beating on the door was muffled and April practically didn't hear it. She looked at her clock it was 10:15.
"Shit," April thought as she got up quickly and grabbed her robe and ran to her door.
"I am so sorry," April lamented as she let Will in, "How long have you been waiting?"
"Uh fifteen minutes," said Will while looking at his watch with a half-smile however his eyes revealed his annoyance.
"Have a seat I'll be out in a second. I need to grab my books," April said looking down ashamed at her tardiness.
Her cheeks burned as she realized she was in her robe and scarf. This was not how she wanted to start but after Will had offered to help her study she had managed to actually sleep a bit easier than she had all month. She knew medical school was hard but she had no idea how much it would differ from nursing school and she had overestimated her ability to work and go to school. She hastily shut the door not realizing that she had clothes in the way; making it unable to latch. She dropped her robe looking for some jeans and a t-shirt to throw on. Will was standing in her living room and he turned to put down the now tepid coffee on her sofa table. He didn't mean to, but he caught an eyeful of April hopping around her room; with one leg in her jeans, and the other leg bare as she was sliding her pants up looking for a shirt on her floor. He never really looked at April, sure she was attractive after all he wasn't blind, but he had grown close to Natalie, and he never really saw any other woman but her. But there was April; taut flat smooth stomach, and warm mahogany skin. Her back was bare and toned and her skin appeared as if it was almost glowing.
"Wow," Will thought for a second before he turned around quickly hoping that his lingering hadn't been as long as it felt.
April emerged a moment later wrapping a scrunchie around her curls piling them high on her head.
"Okay, let's get started," April said putting her books down and opening her notes.
Will was all business but he was extremely helpful; he told April what she would most likely be tested upon, and what she would need to cover on her own time. They made it through three chapters quicker than Will thought. April's nursing background allowed her to speed through some of the text because she already knew it but she lacked the confidence to make some of the leaps and connections that she would need for diagnostics.
"You know if you keep it up at this rate you should be fine, of course you'll want to make sure you're actually waking up to make it to class on time," Will said poking fun at April's tardiness.
April's cheeks burned and she rolled her eyes up and laughed.
"I really am sorry, I haven't been sleeping very well. I'm always so paranoid that I'm not going to do well on these tests so I toss and turn all night and with working it's just been rough," April said apologetically.
"Hey, I get it I worked my way through med school too not as much as you which has added to the astronomical amount of debt and overwhelming monthly bills I pay every month," Will added with a pessimistic laugh.
April along with the rest of the hospital knew that Will was working like a dog because his insurance was so expensive. She had seen him when she was coming into work and he was going out for a few hours before coming back in for the late shift. By law they were only allowed to work so many hours so he staggered them and then took one day off a week to sleep and run errands. Thursday must have been his day to catch up. All of this knowledge made April feel guilty knowing he had sat outside her door for fifteen minutes on his day off when he could be sleeping or just relaxing. The grumbling sound of Will's stomach broke through April's self-pity.
"You want to order in?" April asked, "My treat," she stated with a smile.
"Um-," Will started.
"-Please, it's the least I can do for you helping me study…on your only day off," April said insistently.
Will smiled and then nodded. April picked up her cell and ordered from a Thai restaurant around the corner from her apartment. They had decided to take a break and eat before getting into the next session of studying.
"I have taken three practice exams and I really want to take one more before the night is over obviously you don't have to stay for that but I'm thinking another three hours of study then the practice exam and a T.L.E before bed." April said before pushing in a mouthful of noodles.
Will nodded while chewing and then said,
"How in the world are you so far ahead?" Will asked.
"I read half of the book a couple weeks before the course actually started. I skimmed or reviewed almost all of my materials before the semester began. I need to be prepared, I have to pass," April smiled before cramming another mouthful of noodles in.
They finished eating and began the second round of her notes and review boards. Another three agonizing hours later April felt comfortable with the material but she was getting sleepy and her yawning was contagious.
"I should let you salvage what's left of your evening. I think I'm going to do the practice test and then turn in," April said sluggishly.
"That's probably smart, you know sleep is incredibly important part of your success in med school, as well as exercise to ward off anxiety and stress April," Will lectured as he got up and grabbed his hoodie.
"Right…doctor," April laughed and he smiled.
"Yeah- sorry it's hard to turn off you're not exactly a total novice to this huh?" Will answered apologetically.
She walked him to the door and then returned to her seat to take her practice test.
Will went straight home and paid some bills online and then looked at the clock it wasn't that late but he knew he needed to get to sleep before pulling a double the next day.
…
"Don't you know?" Will asked
"-No" Natalie answered.
Will moved toward her cupping her chin with his hand and kissed her.
When he opened his eyes Natalie's face was shining light all around it.
"Dr. Halstead-,"
"Dr. Halstead," a nurse whispered forcefully, we have the results for bed six.
The light honed in perfectly from the hall like a flashlight flooding the small on-call room Will was napping in. He got up and went to the main desk where Maggie and April were smiling and hi-fiving each other.
"Did I miss something good?" Will asked groggily.
"Oh just April acing her test," Maggie beamed.
"My professor posted scores this weekend and I got an A!" April exclaimed.
Will walked over to hi-five her too. Her triumph felt like a win for him too. It was a good feeling. He masked his mood fairly well but deep down Will felt like he needed to make good for the things that he'd screwed up. He felt like the hospital and his colleagues didn't trust him because of the lawsuit. He had no extra time because he had to work so much to pay for his regular bills and the staggering monthly cost of his medical insurance. The busy work life left no time for socializing and as for dating, well Natalie had made it clear she wasn't ready, and when she was it was with Jeff Clarke. Helping April was the first time he got to socialize, help a colleague, and actually hang out with a woman even though that woman was April; his friend.
"Well we've got to get you ready for finals, I know that it seems premature but you have to start early so you can be as prepared as possible," Maggie said, her tone turned serious, "So I can help this Thursday if you want."
"Yes, to all that," April answered enthusiastically.
She looked over to Will whose face had dropped a bit. He moved back and grabbed a chart and headed to the patient's bedside. A moment of perplexity filled April as she saw him go. It made her question if she should invite him too considering the success she had on her exam. A moment later he came back.
"So what should we order next time? Pizza? What do you like on your pizzas?" April asked Will with a smile.
Will's eye brightened a bit and he answered, "I like everything…except pineapple, that's just wrong."
…..
A week later Maggie and Will were helping prep April's notes, review pages, flashcards, and example case reports for her finals. Maggie typed faster than most writers and had actually charged to type up notes for people when she was in college. Medical school was a much heavier load; so three hours and two slices of pizza later, Maggie had finished and was also finished hanging out.
"Alright, this should get you set up, obviously you are going to have a ton more work to do but this is a good start. You know you take really good notes, I'm impressed, and coming from a master like myself you should really take that compliment to heart," Maggie said smiling and looking at the stack of papers on April's kitchen table.
Maggie got up and snapped her purse close after retrieving her keys.
"You leaving?" April asked.
Maggie lifted a sly smirk to one side of her face.
"I actually have a date this evening this was not my whole night!" Maggie giggled.
"Well have fun! I want details!" April yelled out to Maggie as she walked out of the apartment.
Will was not really paying attention to either of them he was scanning April's advanced anatomy and physiology book like he was going through memory lane. April looked over and felt the familiar feeling of guilt creep into her mind. Maggie was out living her life and here was Will wasting another evening at April's house when he could be relaxing at his home or having a love life of his own. April got up and walked over to the couch where he was sitting.
"You know Will, you have been a powerhouse for me these last couple of weeks, but you don't have to stay if you don't want to," April said looking down at her fingers.
"Oh, yeah you know if you have plans I should probably get going too," Will said breaking his trance into her book.
April laughed, "Uh...no this is my life but just because I don't have one doesn't mean you don't have to have one either, I mean no dates or social plans?" April asked.
Will shook his head and looked back down at the book, "Nope sadly the girl I wanted didn't want me and I have almost no time to have a real social life because I work twenty-five eight and one day a week would hardly suffice to maintain a relationship," Will said still looking through April's book and jotting down a few things in a notepad next to him.
"Ah rejection my old friend," April laughed.
"Is that-," Will started to say before he stopped himself and shook his head and looked back down at the textbook.
He had that same look on his face when April came back from her leave from the hospital; she welcomed it then, but now she wanted to know what he was going to say.
"Is that what?" April asked her interest piqued.
"Um nothing, forget it," Will said his cheeks burning a bit for allowing his curiosity to pry into April's private life.
"Will," April said commandingly, "What? I won't get upset, I mean I may but I'll be more annoyed if you don't say anything at all."
"You mentioned rejection and I wondered if that was why you and Rhodes split," Will finally said looking up at her at the end of his question.
"Oh, um no, rejection was not our problem," April said.
Will nodded and with that same inquisitive look and then looked back down at the text. April moved to sit in front of Will on her coffee table.
"I know that there was hospital gossip, which trust me makes me cringe, but we're friends so go ahead ask me," April said pulling the book from Will's lap.
"Was it not his?" Will asked trepidatiously. April's eyebrows raised a bit, "I'm sorry, forget it that was way rude and incredibly out of line."
"No, um I mean yes, the baby was his. I don't really talk about it very much," April started before taking a deep breath in, "I loved Connor, I still do, but he slept with another woman while we were together... before I had a chance to tell him that I was pregnant," April looked down at her fingers at the recollection, "He found out the day I had the miscarriage,when that idiot knocked me over. I'd only told Nat. I forgave him but with school and the amount of energy our relationship needed to heal I didn't have time for both," April let out a deep sigh.
"Whoa," Will said; his eyes wide but still looking down at his hands.
He still felt a little ashamed addressing some of the rumors he'd heard in passing around the hospital.
"Can I ask you something?" April said looking at Will.
"Yeah," Will answered quickly hoping a disclosure of his own would help to even the field a bit.
"The girl that rejected you, was it Nat?" April asked.
He looked back down and then up and smiled but his eyes betrayed him and conveyed a sadness April had seen many times and now knew it was a broken heart.
"Yup," Will replied, "She wasn't 'there' yet, but then our wonderful new intern Jeff Clarke showed up and I guess that was that."
Will was rolling a piece of excess notebook paper between his fingers before shooting it across the room. He stood up and stretched; arching his back allowing his shirt to creep up revealing the muscles perfectly outlining his six pack. His tightened Adonis like ripples stacked on top of themselves as he moved to stand upright.
"Damn," April thought but she quickly looked away hoping that she hadn't been caught.
She didn't really think of Will like that. He was the hot headed resident, now an attending, that didn't listen to anyone and always thought he was right. And as Connor's girlfriend she hadn't really paid him very much attention;considering he and Rhodes' constant bickering and confessions had turned the mood serious and April needed to lighten things up.
"You know you could just jump on Tindr and hook-up," she said breaking the tense air.
Will raised his eyebrow and smiled before shaking his head no.
"There was this drug rep once that I was kind of doing that with but it went south pretty fast, "Will said laughing,"We should get back to work."
April nodded and as she stood back up and walked over to the table and began highlighting and reviewing past chapters;asking Will every now and then what his opinions were on her diagnosis' or system evaluations. Will would stop and yell out a function or symptom and make her state the system of the disease and the treatment. Will knew it was time to leave when his voice felt hoarse from yelling things out. He left around seven like last time knowing he was probably just going to head home and go to bed. April stayed up for another hour and looked over her next practice exam questions before putting herself to bed.
"Is this distracting?" Connor asked as he inched toward her face placing a kiss on her cheek, "How about this?" Will said and placed another one on her neck.
April's body flinched and her eyes shot open waking herself from the dream. She was wet and confused. Many of nights she dreamed of Connor and the numerous times they made love. Unconsciously it was the only sex she was having but Will intruding into the dream was unexpected and it made her feel kind of dirty. She got up and got a glass of water from the kitchen. She looked over and realized that Will had left his hoodie at the dining table. She brought it up to her nose and inhaled it "
What the hell April…what are you doing?" she dropped the sweater and went to back to bed.