First of all, I'd like to say a massive thank you for the feedback on 'Baby steps,' it really means a lot! :)
This one was written as a sort of follow on, but you don't have to read Baby steps to understand this one.
I'm sorry it's so long! In my head, this is what would have happened if Ollie hadn't left (but how perfect was that last scene with Ollie and Jac!)
Again, any feedback on what I could do differently/how I can improve is much appreciated (including if you'd rather the one shots were shorter, etc). I'm still worried I can't get their characters quite right :)
Thanks again for reading. Enjoy! x x
Catch Me When I Fall
Jac Naylor was the first to admit that she wasn't the most patient of people. But there were just some days, some patients, that seemed to push her to the edge of frustration in minutes.
Today was one of those days.
And Susie Marshall was one of those patients. She had arrived on the ward not half an hour ago, and already Jac couldn't wait to see the back of her. Susie was only in for a routine valve replacement, but with Elliot's workload pilling up again she had reluctantly agreed to take her as her patient.
And so far she had been as cooperative as a two year old past their bedtime.
"Call a psyche team," Jac blurted out in frustration to no one in particular as she passed the nurses station, her hands clenched.
"She's just confused," Jonny tried to reason, speeding up to fall in to step behind her.
"Exactly, that's why I want you to call psyche. I'm not taking her in to theatre until I know she is emotionally stable," Jac raised her eyebrows but didn't slow down.
"Can we please just wait until her husband is here?" Jonny asked, throwing his hands up in frustration as Jac finally stopped, turning to face him.
"She's unhinged!" Jac retorted, pointing in the direction in which they had just came. "She just threw her shoe at the F1 who asked her if she needed another pillow."
"Half an hour Jac, that's all I ask. Half an hour and her husband will be here. She's just scared," Jonny said slowly, trying to gauge her reaction. There was a silence between them as Jac glared at Jonny, before letting out a growl of frustration.
"Fine!"
"Thank you," Jonny sighed, rolling his eyes and watching as she turns on the spot and walks away from him again.
"So," Mo sang, leaning over Jonny's shoulder and watched him smirk. "What's it like living with Ms Bossy Boots?"
"Fine," Jonny replied simply, not looking away from the computer he is sat behind. "It's all dandy."
"Is that all I'm getting? You're not going to tell me anything else?"
"Nope," Jonny smirks, spinning round in his chair and leaning against the desk.
"It is a one bedroom house Jac has, isn't it?" Mo quizzed, and Jonny frowned.
"Yes, why?"
"And you haven't been banished to the sofa yet?"
"No," Jonny rolled his eyes and spun round in his chair again to face away from Mo. "Actually, I think you'll find that everything is going super. In fact last night we even-"
Jonny stopped at the sound of Mo clearing her throat, spinning round to face Jac with her hands on her hips, and he felt his cheeks flush.
"Jac, I-"
"Move," she said simply, tilting her head to the side, and Jonny quickly jumped up from the computer chair. Jac took his place, opening a new search window and ignoring the looks that passed between Jonny and Mo.
Jonny watched her as she flicked through the pages of information on the screen, her eyebrows knotted together in concentration. It was moments like this Jonny realised just how passionate about her work Jac really was, the way she would exhaust every possibility until she found the answer.
"Don't you have work to be doing Maconie?" she asked lazily, and Jonny jumped slightly. He hadn't noticed he had been staring at her for so long, or that Mo had disappeared.
Jonny opened his mouth to answer, just as someone approached the nurse's station looking confused.
"I'm here to see my wife," he spoke to no one in particular, and Jonny was suddenly grateful for the distraction.
"Of course, what's her name?"
"Susie. It's Susie Marshall," the man spoke quickly, and Jonny nodded, leading him to the other end of the ward.
He watched as Mr Marshall instantly pulled his wife in to a hug, but didn't miss the worried look on Susie's face at his presence. Jonny had thought that seeing her husband would calm her down, but if anything she now looked more anxious than she had before.
However by the time Jonny had made his way back to where Jac was sitting the patient seemed to have relaxed slightly, and was now sitting hand in hand with her husband, a small smile on her lips.
"Told you," Jonny grinned, crossing his arms.
"What?" Jac asks impatiently, frowning yet refusing to turn away from the screen.
"Susie Marshall. That was her husband."
"So," Jac shot, turning to face Jonny now.
"Well, do you see any more shoes being thrown, or abuse being shouted at our F1's?" Jonny grinned again.
"For now," Jac nodded. "I give it half an hour before the nutter boyfriend turns up and it all kicks off again."
"You always manage to see the best in people, don't you Jac?"
"I'm just telling it how I see it," Jac shrugged. "He's not her type, there's bound to be a mystery man somewhere."
"Not her type, he's her husband," Jonny questioned and Jac just shrugged again.
Jonny frowned, watching the patient and her husband at the other end of the ward. They seemed pretty happy to him.
"Well, what's your type then?" Jonny asked finally, and Jac signed in frustration as she tried to focus on the computer screen.
"Apparently it's an annoying Scottish nurse," she snapped, glaring at him. "Now please go away and do some work today."
Jonny couldn't hide the smile on his lips as he picked up the nearest file and walked away, a new spring in his step.
Jac leant back in the chair at the nurse's station and put her feet up on the desk, sighing slightly as she wiggled her feet. The thought of carrying round even more weight than she was now worried her slightly. She didn't want people to fuss around her, or touch her stomach, or for her feet to swell up. She was just glad the morning sickness was over, she didn't really want to start with any other pregnancy joys, especially ones that made it obvious she was pregnant.
She wasn't quite ready for everyone to know just yet, even if Jonny was desperate to tell the world.
"They seem to be getting on rather well," Jonny appeared, leaning her elbow on Jac's shoulder and resting his chin on top of his hand.
"Get off me," she shrugged, scrunching up her nose and kicking her feet down from the table. "And what are you talking about?"
"The Marshall's," Jonny smiled. "I've just passed, and Susie seems to be very relaxed now her husband is here. Told you we didn't need psyche."
Jonny tilted his head smugly, just as a tall, dark haired man approached the desk in a hurry, slamming his hands on the top of the desk.
"I'm here to see Susie Marshall,' he burst out quickly, to no one in particular.
"And I told you she would have a crazy boyfriend," Jac smirked, not looking up from the computer screen again.
Jonny hesitated, opening his mouth to tell Jac to be quiet as the guy was standing right in front if her, but he hadn't seemed to notice anything, he was too busy running his hands through his hair and looking around the ward in a panic.
"She's with her husband at the moment, would you like me to tell her you're here?" Jonny asked, suddenly feeling put on the spot.
"Her- her husband?" he asked, placing both his hands on the desk as if to stop them shaking. "But she said- she told me she'd left him. That it was over. I called her at work and they said she was off this week for her operation. She didn't even tell me she needed an operation!"
"Ok," Jonny held out his hands as the visitor raised his voice, his firsts clenching. "There must be a simple explanation to all this, yeah? What's your name?"
"Robert," he said simply, his voice back to a normal level. "It's Robert. And I'm here to see Susie."
"Well why don't you wait in the relatives room, and I'll tell her-" Jonny tried to reason with him, but his words were lost as Robert spotted Susie at the other end of the ward and disappeared in her direction, leaving Jonny standing with his hands still outstretched.
"What time are you in theatre for your transplant patient?" Jac asked, looking up at Jonny.
"Three," he replied with a frown.
"Brilliant," she smiled. "You can make sure you sort that mess out before you go."
She tiled her head in the direction of Susie Marshall, who was watching with a worried look on her face as her husband and Robert glared at each other from either side of her bed.
"I hate to say I told you so," Jac grinned, standing up and smirking at Jonny. "Actually, I don't. I really enjoy saying it. Just don't let them disturb my ward, ok?"
"Yeah," Jonny signed as Jac walked away, his eyes fixed to the patient in front of him. "I'll do my best."
"Ollie!" Jonny grabbed hold of Oliver Valentine's arm as he walked past, stopping him in his tracks. "I need a favour."
"What kind of favour?" Ollie asked uncertainly, narrowing his eyebrows.
"I'm due in surgery in," Jonny quickly checked his watch. "About ten seconds. And if I'm late again Mo will never let me hear the end of it. But I need someone to watch bed seven."
"And why does bed seven need watching?" Ollie asked, tilting his head to look at the patient in question. "She looks ok to me."
"Because she's in there with her husband, and boyfriend," Jonny explained. "So far it's been relatively civil, but Jac asked me to make sure nothing kicked off."
"And now your due in surgery, and you're scared if they do kick off, Jac's going to blame you."
"Exactly," Jonny nodded, knowing there was no point in stating otherwise.
"Ok, but you owe me one," Ollie grinned as Jonny smiled and turned on the spot, running the length of the corridor as he checked his watch.
The next half hour remained relatively quiet on Darwin and so Oliver was able to make excuses to check on Susie Marshall, or pass in their general direction, listening out for any signs of trouble. But to Ollie's delight, nothing seemed to be out the ordinary.
That was, until Jac appeared back on the ward, dropping a file on the desk of the nurse's station.
"Have you been put in charge of our little love triangle," Jac asked sarcastically as she noticed Oliver watching her patient.
"Jonny had to get to surgery," he explained quickly. "But look, they're getting on fine."
Oliver had barely finished his sentence when they heard the shouts erupt through the ward.
"I knew you were lying to me!" they heard and Jac rolled her eyes, not surprised in the slightest. "You told me that you were just busy at work, that you had to work late to meet deadlines. I knew it was all lies. You were just staying behind with him, weren't you?"
"Well maybe she wouldn't want to stay with me if she felt like she was getting enough from you!"
"All this time you've just sat there and told me you were a concerned colleague, and I actually started to believe you! I actually began to think it was nice of you to come and visit her. And all this time you've been shagging her at work, behind my back!"
"Well it's not my fault you were stupid enough to believe it all!"
"Spoke too soon, Valentine," Jac stated, her eyebrows raised. "Well, go sort it before we have world war three on the ward."
"Right, of course," Ollie nodded, shuffling on the spot before realising what he has been asked to do, and heading in the direction of the commotion.
"Why are they still here?" Jac asked no one in particular, throwing her hand in the direction of Oliver, who was still trying to calm down the arguing men who were distressing her patient. When there was no response Jac ran her hands through her hair in frustration and frowned. "Do I have to do everything myself around here?"
It wasn't until she got closer that she could see Oliver physically holding the two visitors apart, a hand on each of their chests, acting as a barrier.
"What the hell is going on in here?" Jac asked and could see the worried look on Ollie's face.
"Ms Naylor," he said quickly, obviously glad for some back up, even if he was worried he was going to get the blame for letting the situation get this far. "Mr Marshall and- well, they were both just leaving. Weren't you?"
Ollie addressed both men in an attempt to get them to move, however both remained glaring at each other, no intention of listening to Oliver.
"You're distressing my patient," Jac announced, her arms crossed. "I want you both out. Now."
"I'm not leaving, I'm her husband!"
"And I'm the man she turned to when her husband wouldn't listen to her!"
"Enough!" Jac shouted over the men, her hands moving to her hips. "Your wife, or girlfriend, I couldn't really care less, she needs to be in surgery in just over an hours time. And I need her relaxed by then. So if that means both of you leaving, you're leaving. Got it?"
There was a pause, both men staring at each other, the tension thick in the air. Just as Oliver relaxed his stance slightly, lowering his arms, Robert's hands clenched into fists, one arm thrown in the direction of Susie's husband. Oliver instinctively stepped between the two men again, trying to push Robert back, but suddenly everything was chaos.
Both Susie's husband and Robert were shouting again, their fists flying towards each other, and Jac was suddenly aware of Oliver in the middle of it all, trying desperately to keep the men apart. She could hear Susie shouting at them, pleading with them to calm down, and the look of panic on Oliver's features as the men continued to scrabble for each other.
"Call security!" Jac shouted, hoping someone would hear over the noise of the men. "That is enough!"
Jac instinctively reached out for Ollie, trying to pull him away from the confrontation and out of harms way. She didn't care if the visitors wanted to beat each other up, but she wasn't having one of her F1's caught up in the middle of it all.
"Stop it!" she shouted again, throwing her arms out to mimic Oliver's earlier stance, in a last chance at keeping them apart.
But neither man seemed to notice her. Neither seemed to react to the fact that there was someone standing between them. And before Jac could react to what was happening, an out thrown arm had made contact with the side of her head, knocking her roughly in to the side of the machinery by the bed, before she fell to the floor, her head hitting the edge of the machinery as she fell.
There was a sudden silence in the room, as both men paused in their attempt to get at each other, neither one certain whose arm had made contact. It was Oliver that moved first, crouching down beside Jac in seconds and taking her by the elbow, helping her to sit up.
"Jac?"
"I'm fine," Jac gasped, her hand moving instinctively to her stomach, not caring who noticed. "I'm-"
She tried to take a breath, but it felt as if all the air had been knocked from her lungs. Her ribs were burning from where they had made contact with the machinery, and she was sure she could feel the warm trickle of blood run down the side of her head.
"You're not fine."
It was then that two uniformed security guards appeared, looking around questioningly.
"You're a little late, aren't you?" Oliver snapped. "Get them both out of here! And get Elliot Hope, now!"
"No," Jac shook her head, concentrating on leveling her breathing. "Elliot doesn't need to know."
"Like hell he doesn't," Oliver rolled his eyes, as Jac made to stand up.
"No, stay there," Ollie instructed, just as Elliot appeared at the doorway, a worried look on his face as he searched the room.
"I'm fine!" Jac snapped, pushing herself up and gasping, her hand finding its way to her ribs again.
"Jac?" Elliot asked gently, helping Oliver pull her to her feet. "What happened?"
"I told him we should have rang psyche!" Jac frowned, fighting back the tears.
"Who?"
"Jonny," Jac sighed, the thought of his name causing the tears to roll down her cheeks. He was going to blame her. This was all her fault. What if something was wrong? "Where's Jonny?"
"He's in surgery with Mo," Ollie answered.
"Jac, we need to have a look at those ribs. You've already had trauma to that side remember, there could be a weakness," Elliot tried to reason.
"No!" Jac shook her head desperately, shrugging them both off. "My ribs aren't broken, ok. Just shut her up and leave me alone."
Jac tilted her head in the direction of Susie Marshall, who was sat crying on her bed, her head in her hands, before she made her way out the door.
"Jac!"
She paused at the tone of Elliot's voice, but didn't turn round.
"You're not working again until you get looked over. Until I know you're ribs aren't broken, and you're head has been stitched, you're off duty."
"I'm fine," Jac breathed deeply, before walking away and not looking back.
"Any sign of her?" Elliot asked, a worried tone to his voice, and Ollie shook his head.
"Nope, I've looked everywhere I can think of," he explained with a sigh. "She's a big girl Elliot, I'm sure she can look after herself."
"No," Elliot frowned, talking more to himself than Oliver. He'd never seen Jac like that before. He'd seen her hurt, had fixed her in surgery himself after her incident on her bike, but he'd never seen the tears roll down her cheeks like he had just now.
Jac Naylor liked to remain in control, Elliot had worked that out long ago. She was ambitious, at times ruthless, and refused to show any weakness. But the look he saw in her eyes as she asked for Jonny really worried him. She looked worried, scared even.
And Elliot didn't like the idea of a scared Jac Naylor. Because he had the uneasy feeling that something was wrong, that she was hurt worse than he thought, but was being too proud to admit it. She hadn't seemed herself for the last few weeks, but he couldn't quite place what seemed different about her. He just hoped Jonny found her soon and talked her round to being checked over.
"She's been gone nearly an hour," Elliot muttered, and Oliver frowned.
"I know," he nodded. "She's left me with all her patients. I've had to reschedule half of them who are due in surgery this afternoon. Do you think you could do the valve replacement for Susie Marshall, it's just, the sooner she's out of here the better I think? Professor Hope?"
Elliot shook his head slightly, focusing back on reality and stopping his mind from wondering.
"What? Oh, yes I'll do it, I have a free afternoon," Elliot stuttered. "I was supposed to be catching up on paperwork, but that can wait."
"Right," Ollie nodded. "So that's just Mr Turner to reschedule and we should be ok until Ms Naylor decided to turn up again."
Elliot seemed a million miles away again, and Ollie was just about to ask if he was ok when the sound of laughter filled the ward.
"Jonny, you can't be serious!" Mo giggled, hitting her friend playfully on the arm.
"I am," Jonny grinned. "Complete truth, I promise you. You should have seen the look on his wife's face when we told her."
"Jonny," Elliot shouted quickly, hurrying over to where Mo and Jonny were leaning against the nurse's station. "Jonny we need your help."
"What is it this time?" Jonny grinned. "You need a dashing young nurse to woo your patient in to theatre?"
"Have you heard this?" Mo asked between laughs. "I think I want to work in A&E, it sounds like they have the most fun. Tell them Jonny, about your friend's stag do and-"
Mo couldn't finish her sentence for laughing, her hand over her mouth as if she was trying to hold in the giggles.
Jonny grinned widely, seemingly oblivious to Elliot and Oliver standing in front of him.
"Jonny," Elliot said seriously, and Jonny finally turned to give him his full attention. "It's Jac."
The smile slipped off Jonny's lips instantly. "What's happened? Where is she?"
"She's ok I think," Elliot said quickly. "But I don't know where she is."
"There was kind of a domestic with one of the patients, and Jac tried to break it up. But got caught in the middle," Oliver explained, watching Jonny closely. "She fell quite hard, and bumped her head. But now we can't find her."
"You let he walk away, without checking her over!" Jonny burst out, feeling his hands begin to shake. "You think she's ok?"
"Have you ever tried telling Ms Naylor what to do?" Oliver asked sarcastically. "You should know better than anyone she doesn't listen to a word you say."
"What do you mean, I should know," Jonny asked, his eyebrows narrowed.
"Jonny Mac," Mo said seriously, her giggles forgotten. "He means you know her. You know what she can be like, and you're the person most likely to know where she's gone."
"Exactly," Oliver nodded, and Jonny smiled apologetically.
"What happened exactly," Mo asked, taking hold of Jonny's arm to stop him disappearing before he knew the whole story. Everyone was still unaware of the pregnancy after all; they didn't understand Jonny's reaction to the news.
"It all happened so quick," Oliver explained. "These two guys, they were throwing punches at each other, and I was trying to hold them apart. And then I was watching them, and Jac was standing between them, but they didn't seem to notice. One of them hit her, and she fell in to the machinery by the bed, and there was a crash but they just kept fighting. I think she's hurt worse than she's letting on though."
"I want someone to check for broken ribs before she's back on the ward," Elliot sighed. "It may have been years ago, but there could be a weakness. It's the same side she had the pneumothorax."
"What!" Jonny blurted out, his hands clenched in to fists. "When?"
"Years ago," Elliot shook his head. "I'm probably being over cautious. Jonny, she asked for you. I think you should try to find her."
Jonny didn't need to be told twice, and was running down the corridor towards the stairs in seconds.
"What are you doing here?" Sacha Levy asked with a bright smile as he entered the staff room on Keller, desperate for a coffee.
"Hiding," Jac replied, her knees tucked up to her chin and her arms wrapped around them. She didn't look up as Sacha stopped in front of her, his hands on his hips.
"That doesn't sound like the Naylor I know."
"Go away."
"Ah, now that does," Sacha laughed, his eyebrows creased. "And what are you hiding from?"
"Everyone," Jac sighed, leaning her head on her knees. "Everything."
The words seemed to leave her mouth without her thinking as she blinked away the tears, still refusing to look up.
Sacha sat down on the sofa next to Jac, crossing his hands and waiting for her to speak.
"Jac, what's wrong?" he asked gently.
"Nothing, I'm fine," Jac muttered to her knees.
"You're clearly not," Sacha raised his eyebrows, leaning his shoulder in to Jac's. "You wouldn't be here if you were fine. Are you going to tell me what's wrong or am I going to have to ask Elliott?"
"Just drop it," Jac sighed, finally looking up at Sacha.
It was then that Sacha noticed the trickle of blood down the side of her head from the small wound on her hairline. He tilted his head to the side, raising his eyebrows.
"You going to let me look at that?"
"Probably not," Jac shrugged. "It's doesn't hurt."
There was a silence between them as Sacha watched her closely, trying to work out what was going through his colleague's head. Of all the people Sacha had worked with over the years it was Jac Naylor that intrigued him the most. He knew that behind the tough exterior was someone just as scared as he was, even if she didn't ever show it. They remained it silence for over ten minutes, Sacha waiting for Jac so say something, but she just remained tucked up on the sofa, her arms clasped around her knees.
"Jac?" he asked gently when he realised that she wasn't willing to open up any time soon. "Let me have a look at your head, yeah? And you can tell me what happened."
Jac turned to him slowly, and it was the tears in her eyes that shocked him the most.
"We are friends you know," he pressed gently. "You can tell me things."
"You're not going to drop it, are you?" Jac questioned, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand and seemingly composing herself. "There's nothing to talk about. I just got in the way of a domestic on the ward."
"You mean a patient did this?"
Jac nodded simply, slowly moving her feet off the sofa. Sacha didn't miss the look of pain on her features as her hand shot automatically to her ribs.
"And you're hiding on Keller because?" Sacha asked, drawing out the last word and still watching Jac closely. She could pretend all she liked, he knew she wasn't as tough as she made out.
"Because I was trying to avoid the twenty questions from Elliott," Jac raised her eyes, taking a deep breath.
"Point taken," Sacha smiled. "But I'm not going to leave you alone, you do know that don't you? That head wound needs looked at."
"Fine!" Jac snapped, wincing again as she spun to look at Sacha.
"And your ribs."
"Don't push it Levy," Jac signed, looking away again.
"Come on, what's really bothering you?"
"You just don't give up, do you?" Jac frowned before sighing again. "I'm just hormonal, that's all. Anyway, it's you we should be talking about. How's Rachel doing?"
"Hormonal?" Sacha repeated questioningly, tilting his head as if studying her and ignoring her question.
"Yeah, time of the month," Jac responded quickly, raising her eyebrows but refusing to look him in the eye.
"You're not…" Sacha said slowly, his eyes narrowing before a wide grin spread across his features. "You are, aren't you? You're pregnant!"
"Shit."
There was no point in denying it, she knew that Sacha was one of the few people who could see through her lies.
"I knew there was something different about you! And you haven't told anyone, have you? Does Jonny know?"
Jac smiled slightly at the fact Sacha seemed to have no doubt that the baby was Jonny's, and at the genuine look of delight that seemed to radiate from him.
She nodded.
"Does anyone else know?"
"Mo guessed."
Sacha chuckled. "So, we're going to have a tiny-Naylor after all!"
"Looks like it," Jac smiled weakly.
"Come here," Sacha grinned widely, standing up and holding his hand out, slowly pulling her to her feet as she clenched her teeth in pain, before he pulled her into a hug.
Jac hesitated slightly, before wrapping her arms around her friend and leaning her head against his chest, sighing deeply. But it only lasted a few seconds.
"Wait, get off me," Jac wriggled free, watching the hurt flicker across Sacha's eyes as she did so, before she wrapped her arms back around him tightly just as they had been before. "That's better."
"What-" Sacha laughed slightly.
"You're the one that needs a hug, not me," Jac said softly, resting her head back on his chest and closing her eyes slightly.
"You'll be a great mum you know," Sacha said, leaning his chin on the top of her head. "I know you will."
Jac smiled, a million thoughts of parenthood flicking through her mind. Sacha signed deeply, tightening the hug and heard the gasp of pain from Jac as her hand flew to her ribs.
"I knew you weren't fine," Sacha shook his head, taking Jac by the shoulders and sitting her down on the sofa again. "Please let me check you over."
Jac shook her head slowly.
"This is all my fault," she muttered, more to herself than Sacha, before she looked up at him seriously. "If something's wrong, he'll never forgive me."
Sacha signed as the tears ran down Jac's cheeks, her hand moving from her ribs to her stomach.
"What do you feel?" Sacha asked, nodding to Jac's hand. "Do you think there's anything wrong?"
"No," Jac shook her head. "But you can't always tell, can you? There could be something wrong. Anything could have happened."
"Then let me check you over!" Sacha laughed, throwing his arms out.
"No," Jac shot again, sighing slowly. "I just want Jonny."
"I've checked everywhere this time!" Jonny said quickly, pacing the spot in front of the nurses' station on Darwin. "Literally everywhere. Even the peace garden, the storeroom, the car park, everywhere I checked the last time. No ones seen her anywhere."
"Jonny."
"And she couldn't have gone home, because I drove in this morning, and the cars still in the car park."
"Jonny."
"You do think she's alright though, don't you. Because Elliot said she hit her head, and what if- Mo, you're going to have to go and check all the bathrooms. Actually, I'll check, she has to be around somewhere-"
"Jonny!"
Jonny finally stopped talking as he realised Mo had just hung up the phone and was now watching him, her hand on her hip.
"She's on Keller. With Sacha," she explained with a small smile. "She's fine, but is refusing to be checked over by anyone but you."
"Really?" Jonny grinned before realising that this meant he could now find her.
Mo watched the tension physically release from his shoulders and knew that he had been starting to panic.
"Well go then, I'll cover with Eliott!" she laughed as Jonny seemed to freeze, unsure what he was supposed to do.
"Right. Thanks Mo," Jonny nodded, turning on his heels and sprinting in the direction of the stairs once again, muttering to himself "Why am I always running after this woman?"
Jonny was in the middle of the Keller before he remembered that he hadn't asked Mo where to find her once he was there. He glanced around the ward but couldn't see any signs of either Jac or Sacha.
"Jonny, what brings you down here?" Harry grinned as he spotted Jonny.
"I'm looking for-" Jonny stopped himself. Jac had obviously decided to disappear to Keller for a reason, and he had a feeling she wasn't quite ready to be found by everyone just yet. "Sacha. I'm looking for Sacha."
"You and me both," Harry rolled his eyes. "He took a break ages ago and hasn't returned. He's probably still in the staff room with a packet of biscuits, but I've been too busy to stop and check."
"Thanks," Jonny nodded, heading directly to the staff room, knocking the door and entering before there was a response.
The sense of relief he felt when he opened the door to find Jac sat next to Sacha, her head on his shoulder, was overwhelming. At the sound of the door opening Jac looked up immediately, their eyes locking.
"You do realise that I have now been to every possible location of this hospital," he sighed, a smile finding his lips. "Including the ladies toilets on the maternity ward, where I don't think I'll ever be allowed back."
"You went to maternity," Jac asked, her eyebrows raised.
"Well I was worried, wasn't I?" Jonny asked rhetorically before his mouth formed a small 'oh' as he glanced at Sacha.
"He knows," Jac smiled slightly and Sacha grinned.
"Congratulations!" Sacha was on his feet in seconds and pulled Jonny in to a hug, before letting him go and stepping back. "Now please take the lovely, stubborn Ms Naylor to be checked out. She's been complaining of sore ribs, and there's an obvious head wound that needs stitching."
The way Sacha flipped between sounding like their friend and a registrar made Jonny smile.
"Jac Naylor, complaining?" Jonny grinned at Jac. "No, you must have the wrong person. Come here."
Jac rolled her eyes again as Jonny stepped over and pulled her to her feet, instantly pulling her in for a hug. She felt the tears roll down her cheeks once more and the frustration at herself build up at her inability to keep hold of her emotions. Sacha grinned to himself and left the staff room, giving his colleagues some space.
"Stupid bloody hormones," Jac muttered, sniffing slightly before Jonny broke the hug, taking hold of her arms as if to look at her properly.
"Why didn't you let Sacha check you out?" Jonny signed, running his thumb across her dried blood on her head. "If you'd already told him anyway."
"He's not my type," Jac scrunched up her nose, and Jonny couldn't help but grin.
"You mean he's not a charmingly handsome, Scottish heart throb?"
"No, he's not an annoying Scottish nursey," Jac smiled, but it quickly slipped off her lips.
"Hey, what's wrong? Is it your ribs, Elliot said that you'd broken them before, that there might be a weakness," Jonny said seriously, taking Jac's arm. "Please let me check you haven't broken anything, the last thing we want is another pneumothorax. I didn't even know you'd had one before!"
"That was years ago," Jac shrugged him off. "A stupid bike accident. They're fine, they just feel bruised."
"Then what's wrong?"
"I'm scared!" Jac blurted out, running her hands through her hair. "I'm scared, ok? What if I've hurt her already. I have one job to do, just one. To keep her safe. And already I've managed to put her in danger."
Jac paused, her eyes brimming with tears. "What if I can't do this?"
Jonny sighed, pulling her back in for a hug and refusing to let go when she tried to shrug him off.
"The sooner you realise you can do this, the better," he said, kissing the top of her head. "You have not put her in danger, you just have an ability to get in the wrong place at the wrong time. She'll be fine, I promise. If you'd actually let me check you over we could have a look at her, just to put your mind at ease."
Jac nodded slowly, muttering an "ok."
"Good," Jonny smiled, breaking the hug again and throwing an arm over her shoulder. "The Scottish nursey will make things better, I promise. Let's just hope we don't meet the guy who threw the punch, or I might just have to give him one back."
"It was an accident," Jac shook her head slightly. "It wasn't the first time, and knowing my luck it won't be the last."
"What, so you've been punched in the head by a relative before, have you?" Jonny asked sarcastically, the only response from Jac being a shrug of the shoulder.
"Of course you have," he smiled. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"
Jonny was just about to lead Jac out on to the busy ward when there was a knock at the door and Sacha peered around uncertainly. When he realised that both were just about to leave, he opened the door further and pushed in a portable ultrasound machine, the grin never leaving his lips.
"Don't worry," he smiled. "No one noticed, it's gone a bit manic out there. And no one knows you're here. Just leave it when you're done and I'll put it back."
"Thanks," Jonny smiled. "She's finally agreed to a check up on the baby before herself. If she's ok, then it's Jac's turn."
"You're having a girl?" Sacha asked excitedly.
"We don't know yet," Jonny explained. "It's just a hunch."
"I'm still here you know," Jac rolled her eyes. "And I didn't agree to this. Not here."
"If you'd rather I checked you on Darwin with Elliot and Oliver hanging around, wanting to make sure you're ok?"
"Fine," Jac frowned, crossing her arms and sitting down on the sofa. "Can we just get this over with?"
Jonny watched as Jac's hands automatically made their way back to her stomach. It didn't matter how blunt she sounded, he could see just how terrified she really was.
"How far gone are you?" Sacha asked.
"Nearly five months," Jonny answered proudly before Jac could open her mouth.
"Five months!" Sacha said in amazement, his mouth hanging open slightly. "But you're tiny."
Sacha held out his hand in Jac's direction but she leant away.
"No," she said seriously, pointing a finger in Sacha's direction. "I mean it Sacha, don't start. This is why I haven't told anyone yet, because everyone seems to think that it's ok to touch your stomach and talk to it like it's going to reply. It's just weird."
Sacha laughed.
"Ok, fair point," he smiled. "No touching. But five months, you can hardly tell."
"Why, is that not normal?" Jac asked suddenly worried, pulling her top tighter over her stomach.
"It's completely normal," Sacha said soothingly. "Some woman have bigger bumps than others at every stage, it all depends on the position of the baby. You'll grow, you're only just over half way."
"Yeah, thanks for that reminder," Jac rolled her eyes.
The sound of voices from the other side of the staff room door made them all look up, and Sacha quickly left to distract whoever was there, leaving Jac and Jonny on their own.
"Right, lie back on the sofa, top up," Jonny instructed and Jac did as she was told, wincing slightly as she lay down.
Flinching again as the cold gel made contact with her stomach, Jonny couldn't hide the grin at the difference in her stomach since the last time he had given her a scan.
"There she is," he grinned as their baby appeared on the screen, surprised to see the tears running silently down Jac's cheeks. "Told you she'd be alright."
Jac nodded simply, her eyes fixed to the screen in front of them, the sound of the baby's heartbeat seeming the most important sound in the world. They remain like that for over five minutes as Jonny repositions the scanner and they watch their baby together.
"Now will you let me check you over?"
"If it shuts you up," Jac smiles, finally looking away from the screen. "And if it means Elliot will let me back to work."
"Finally." It's Jonny's turn to roll his eyes as he switches off the screen and Jac cleans up her stomach. "You know, I think you should stay away from patients for a while, it might be safer."
"Would make it a little difficult to do my job though, wouldn't it?"
"Probably," Jonny nodded, motioning for Jac to lean over so he could examine her ribs, gently running his fingers along her bruised side. "But at least I know none of them would punch you again. Accident or not."
"At least this one didn't electrocute me."
"You're making this up now, aren't you?" Jonny paused, unable to read the smile on Jac's lips. "You're staying at home from now on. I'm not letting you in to work."
"Yeah, like you can stop me."
They both laughed slightly, knowing full well that there was no way Jonny could stop Jac from going to work. She was too dedicated to her patients; she would miss it far too much. Jonny was already hoping that once their baby was born Jac would want to spend as much time as possible away from work, but he also knew that she was brilliant at what she did, and there was no way she could give it up permanently.
"I don't think you've broken anything," Jonny said finally, pulling Jac's scrub top back down.
"I could have told you that," Jac muttered.
"I know, but it makes me feel better," Jonny smiled, pulling Jac to her feet. "You do realise Elliot wanted you to have a CT scan before he let you back to work as a precaution, he was a little concerned. How am I supposed to explain that to him?"
"We'll just have to tell him the truth, won't we?" Jac sighed. "I can't have a CT scan because I'm pregnant. You may as well stitch my head by together on Darwin anyway."
"But Elliot's useless at keeping secrets, he'll have blurted out that you're pregnant to someone by the end of the shift," Jonny said.
"I know," Jac smiled, slipping her hand into Jonny's. "You've said it before though, I can only hide this for so long."
"You sure you want to do this?"
"Yeah," Jac nodded. "Who cares what they gossip about. We can do this, you and me."
"We sure can," Jonny grinned, tightening the grip on Jac's hand and opening the door to the busy ward,
Jac sighed as Jonny stepped out the staff room proudly, pulling her along behind him.
She smiled to herself as he did so, not wanting to ever let go. Because she didn't need anyone else, she didn't care what they thought. She had her annoying Scottish nurse, and together they could get through anything.
Deep down, she knew he would always be there to hold her hand.