Author's Note: This is an old story I wrote about a year ago, but I only published it on tumblr back then. I thought before it's completely outdated, I might as well share it here. Besides, it's nice to have all of my fics in one place.

Day 1

Alex can't bring himself to go into her room. He knows he should be in there and hold Jo's hand or whatever, but for some reason he can't go into that room.

What he wants to do is go after the bastard who did this to her and make him pay for it. He doesn't have much of a plan how to go about it, but pummelling that guy's face into the ground seems so much easier than having to see Jo lie in this hospital bed, fragile and broken.

He can't bear seeing her like this, but he needs to do something.

As he is about to take off, it's DeLuca of all people who stops him. "I know what you're thinking, but you can't do that. You need to go in there," he points to the door leading to Jo's room, "and be with her."

Alex furrows his brows and clenches his jaw. Defiantly he avoids the intern's stern look. How dare he tell him what to do? This is none of his damn business. DeLuca knows crap about what Alex is thinking or feeling right now. He doesn't know anything about Alex at all.

DeLuca plants himself in front of the attending. "She doesn't want you to go after him, don't you get that? That's why she kept him a secret all those years to begin with."

Now that he is blocking his way, Alex can't avoid DeLuca's gaze any longer. A flash of shame and guilt washes over him as he looks into the younger doctor's eyes and remembers how he'd almost destroyed his eyesight and his face, as well as his career.

Fine, so maybe DeLuca does know a thing or two about Alex. About this part of him anyways.

Besides, he has a point. Jo wouldn't want Alex to get in any sort of trouble because of The Husband.

Alex sighs heavily and finally opens the damn door.

Day 2

He sits on a chair by her bed and doesn't leave her side. Ever. Which is funny, considering how reluctant he'd been to come here at first.

Alex realizes how wrong he was the other day. There is nothing broken and fragile about Jo lying in that hospital bed. She's fighting to survive and he can only see strength and resilience in that.

Meredith brings him a snack. A banana of all things. Alex takes the curved, yellow fruit and just stares at it.

And suddenly he has a lump in his throat because of a stupid banana.

Alex puts the fruit down on the nightstand beside Jo's bed. He can't eat it. It's idiotic, but he feels like there's only one woman he can accept bananas from.

Meredith tells him to take a break, shower and eat a real meal for a change and not just random snacks she brings along every now and then. She says she can take over, look after Jo for some time.

Alex appreciates her offer, but declines. He wants to be here, when Jo wakes up. Besides, he knows Jo wouldn't be thrilled if Meredith's was the first face she saw after waking up. She'd roll her eyes so hard, because she might have cheated the hangman but apparently couldn't catch a break from Meredith Grey. She might lapse right back into another coma just to spite them.

Day 3

The residents frequently come to visit Jo. Mainly Edwards, but Warren and Murphy too. And DeLuca of course. He isn't exactly part of their group, but he is Jo's friend. Alex can tell how much he cares about her and for the first time he is completely okay with it. In fact he's glad to see Jo's got people in her corner.

It's the first day Alex leaves the hospital. He lets Jo's friends keep her company for a while and goes to the cafeteria to eat something, even though he doesn't have much of an appetite.

Then he goes home to get some clothes and shower.

Home.

The loft.

The dump Jo had bought and turned into their home.

He thinks about her warm, giggly laughter reverberating from the brick walls. Her presence was what made this place home. It feels hollow without her.

Deciding to shower at the hospital, Alex grabs some clothes, packs them into a bag and then he gets the hell out of there.

Day 5

He holds her delicate hand in his and whispers, "Wake up, wake up, wake up."

The monitors show her stats are steady and she's coming off the ventilator. Her injuries were quite severe - two broken ribs, a broken arm and ankle and countless bruises - but what worries Jo's doctors most is her head injury. Amelia had done a craniotomy which went well, but it's impossible to know for sure until Jo wakes up from the coma.

Sometimes, when Alex squeezes her hand, he closes his eyes and tries to cheer her on in his mind.

Come on, wake up already! You can do this. After all, you're used to the crap, right? You fought it all your life. You can fight this too. And don't you dare get out of this with any sort of brain damage. And if you see the freaking bright light just walk away from it. Don't let it get you. You walk away from it and come back to me.

Come back.

To me.

Day 7

They've found him and taken him into police custody. The Husband. Jo's husband.

Jo's husband, that's what Alex always wanted to be.

After hell was behind them, the trial over and all the hurt they'd caused each other forgiven, they'd slowly made their way back to each other.

Alex vowed to protect Jo and never let anyone hurt her.

No, he didn't say it in front of a priest in a church or a judge at the courthouse, that wouldn't have been possible anyways. He didn't even say it to Jo. It would have been too corny and he knew she would have made fun of him for it. So he vowed it, promised it, just to himself.

I'll protect you. I'll keep you safe.

What a freaking joke.

Alex can't keep a promise to save his life, let alone Jo's life.

She was alone when it happened. So maybe it's good they never got married, never got to hear any of the "in sickness and in health, in good times and bad times" crap. Because he wasn't there during that one really bad time, he wasn't there when it mattered most.

Day 8

He watches the steady up and down of her chest, so glad she's breathing on her own again. She looks peaceful, but Alex knows inside of her the battle wages on.

Come on Jo, this is just a coma. You can't let it win. You can't let him win.

He studies her face and takes in every detail. Like the tiny mole over the right corner of her lips. Or the freckles on her nose, so faint you could only see them when she was wearing no makeup.

She is beautiful just the same.

And he hates himself for ever losing sight of it. Not so much of the physical aspects of her beauty, but the beauty that lies beneath. The beauty in her humour, her nonchalance, her kindness. It's beyond him how he could have ever taken anything about her for granted.

The fingers of her right hand twitch. Alex jumps up and for a second he is so excited and hopeful he almost loses it.

But she doesn't wake up and Alex's heart sinks.

He sits down again, takes her hand and plants a soft kiss on it's back.

It's okay. Take your time. I'm here.

Day 10

Finally she wakes up.

She opens her eyes just for a moment, but she gives him the tiniest smile and whispers the quietest "Hey."

Next time she wakes up Alex lies close to her in the hospital bed. His nose grazes her cheek and he's sure she can feel his warm breath on her skin.

"Hey, you're still here?" she breathes.

"Of course I am. Nothing could ever keep me away from you," Alex smiles, ignoring the fact his own stupidity had almost done exactly that - kept him away from Jo.

"That's good." She turns her head slightly and blinks at him. "Keep an eye on me," she mumbles, closing her eyes again.

Gently Alex kisses Jo's nose and whispers, "I always will."