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Disclaimer: Sadly, I own neither Saving Hope nor Daniel Gillies
Pairing: Alex & Joel or if you'd prefer Joel & Alex
Rating: T
Summary: Alex has a challenging day at the hospital.
Alex Reid was exhausted. It had taken nearly all of her remaining energy just to keep her eyes open long enough to drive home. She'd spent most of her shift in the ER, she'd lost a patient on the table, and on top of that her hand was acting up again.
Home.
Shower.
Glass of wine.
Put the kids to bed.
Go to sleep.
The short to-do list had been running on a constant loop in her mind since she'd left the hospital.
When she arrived home, she was surprised to find the house was dark and almost eerily silent. Between her four year-old son Luke, and her nine month old daughter Charlotte, the house was always filled with activity. Either that or her cell phone, or Joel's was constantly ringing.
Joel and the kids must already be in bed. She made a quick mental note to thank him for taking care of the children's bedtime rituals, because as much as she loved her kids, she doubted that she would've had the energy to get them to sleep at a decent hour, even with her husband's help.
She headed upstairs to shower, discarding pieces of clothing along the way.
Coat strewn across the back of the couch.
Socks stuffed in her shoes by the door.
Her jeans were partially unbuttoned before she even made it halfway up the stairs.
She looked in on the kids, and was relieved to find them both sleeping soundly.
She grabbed a pair of panties, her favorite pair of sweatpants and one of Joel's T-shirts from the dresser, trying to be as quiet as possible so she wouldn't wake him.
She held the shirt close to her body, inhaling the familiar, comforting, unique scent that was the unmistakably Joel.
It was the perfect combination of arrogance, passion, and expensive cologne that never failed to turn her on.
My husband is sexy as hell.
Most of the women in the hospital try to flirt with him.
But I'm the one he comes home to every night.
He's the father of my children.
I'm the luckiest woman in the world.
Alex held the shirt away from her body, forcing herself to focus on the task at hand.
Shower.
Glass of wine.
Sleep.
At this rate, I'll need a cold shower.
She pulled her dark hair from its ponytail, letting it hang loose.
Her discarded undergarments formed a pool of black silk on the bedroom floor, as she grabbed a towel and went into the bathroom.
She stepped into the shower and let the heat of the shower's spray warm ease the tension in her sore muscles.
She shampooed her hair and got out of the shower, too tired to wrap a towel around her head.
She dressed quickly so she wouldn't get cold.
Home.
Shower.
Glass of wine.
Sleep.
She ran through her mental checklist once more as she walked into the dark kitchen. She turned on the light above the sink, fished through the drawer until she found a corkscrew and opened the bottle of pinot noir that was sitting on the counter.
She opened the cabinet and tried to wrap her fingers around the stem of a wineglass. But she lost her grip.
The glass fell onto the hardwood floor and shattered into tiny pieces.
"Damn it!" Her frustrated curse came out louder than she'd intended, as she bent to pick up the pieces.
Joel awoke with a start to the sound of glass breaking.
He reached over to Alex's side of the bed, but his hand touched cold, empty, sheets rather than the soft, familiar contours of her body.
Is she still at the hospital?
He grabbed his cell phone off on the nightstand and looked at the time.
It's after midnight.
She should be home by now.
His mind raced for a few seconds, each scenario that he pictured in his mind worse than the last.
He got out of bed, checked on his peacefully sleeping children, and walked through the darkness.
His heart was in his throat until he reached the first landing, and saw the light coming from the kitchen.
She's here.
He let out a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding, and walked down the stairs.
She stood barefoot with her back to him, crouched in front of the counter.
Her beautiful dark hair fell in loose waves to her shoulders.
She must've just gotten out of the shower.
He smiled, as he came close enough to see that she was wearing his T-shirt.
Even in sweats and a T-shirt, she's sexy as hell.
She's my wife.
She's the mother of my children.
I'm the luckiest man in the world.
His whole body ached with the desire to touch her, to kiss her, to hold her.
Is she crying?
Suddenly, he was overcome by an entirely different desire.
The desire to take away her pain.
"Alex," he spoke softly, so he wouldn't startle her, "Hey, what's wrong?"
He placed one hand on the small of her back.
"I broke a glass. I just wanted one goddamn glass of wine." She whispered, her words dissolving into tears.
She looks exhausted.
He nodded, taking both of her hands in his and gently pulling her to her feet, away from the shards of broken glass, reflexively checking her for injuries. "You're barefoot. Let me do that," He said, grabbing the broom and dustpan.
A few moments later, Joel emptied the dustpan into the trash. It was as if the mess has never been there at all.
Why didn't I think of that?
He crossed the room in a few quick strides and came to stand beside her. "Did you cut yourself?"
She shook her head, "No. It's just my hand."
"You cut your hand?" He hadn't noticed, until now, that she was cradling her hand in front of her.
"No." She repeated, "My hand."
After a moment, he realized what she meant.
Her dystonia must be flaring up.
Without a word, he took her hand and rubbed it gently until he felt her muscles relax. He kissed each of her fingers for good measure.
She sighed, "Maybe I should ask Dana to give me another shot of Botox."
"Alex, you know that only flares up when you're stressed and exhausted."
"Stressed and exhausted are my default settings, Joel. I can't have this happening all the time. What if next time it happening I'm holding Charlotte. Or if I'm in surgery?"
Joel watched as she swayed on her feet. "What happened today?" He asked, gently, guiding her toward the couch, so she'd sit down.
Alex sighed again, "The ER was chocked full of crazy. And I lost a patient on the table. But thankfully my hand didn't flare up until I got home."
Joel nodded, "Sounds like you had a busy night, Reid."
It was her turn to nod, "Yeah that's why I need that glass of wine."
"No, you need sleep. My shirt looks good on you by the way."
She smiled, "I know what you're doing. You're trying to distract me so I'll forget about the wine. Thanks for putting the kids to bed tonight by the way. There's a dirty weekend in your future."
It was his turn to smile, "And I know what you're doing. You're flirting with me so I'll use my steady as a rock hands to pour you that glass of wine. Am I right?"
Steady as a rock is his default setting.
"That's depends," She said, slowly leaning back into the couch, "Is it working?"
He didn't answer but he went back to the counter and poured the wine into a glass identical to the one that she'd broken a few moments before.
She went to take it from him, but he deliberately held it out of her reach. "I'll only give you this if you promise, you'll go upstairs to bed the second it's gone."
She nodded, taking it from him, "Thank you," she whispered, pulling him close until he was next to her on the couch.
"Luckily for you, supportive husband is now my default setting." She smiled, and took a sip of wine from her glass.
"You forgot arrogance, passionate, and sexy as hell." She whispered, kissing the mole behind his ear. When he kissed her back, he tasted the wine on her lips.
"I think you've got me beat on that last one," He said, his warm breath against her ear making her shiver."
She drained the last of the wine from her glass, and leaned drowsily against his shoulder. "Joel, please, take me to bed."
Any other time, he would've taken her upstairs and started their dirty weekend a little early. But he knew she was exhausted and needed to sleep.
"Yes, ma'am." He replied, lifting her into his arms and tenderly kissing her forehead.
Alex was asleep before he reached the top of the stairs.