The White Knight
Disclaimer: Sadly, I own neither Saving Hope nor Daniel Gillies.
Pairing: Alex & Joel
Rating: T
Summary: A twist of the season two episode 02x08 "The Defriender." Some snippets of dialogue are taken from the actual episode.
Joel Goran sat in the driver's seat of his red Lexus with Alex in the passenger seat next to him. They were on their way to a resort that was holding a medical conference where Alex was scheduled to make a presentation on diaphragmatic repair. Charlie was supposed to be with Alex but Thomas Ford, Charlie's former college roommate and oldest friend had come into town unexpectedly and needed a ride from the airport.
Ever the white knight, Joel had stepped in and offered to escort Alex to the conference.
Acres of pine trees and lush green lawns seemed to be moving on their own as Joel drove by them.
Until now, Alex had been trying and failing miserably, to play the part of the understanding fiancée.
Or was she his girlfriend?
She and Charlie's relationship had become more complicated since he'd awakened from his coma several months earlier.
They'd never officially gotten married but they hadn't broken up either.
Alex looked down at her phone trying to navigate, frustrated by Charlie's absence as well as the fact that she and Joel were clearly lost. And even though they were late, Joel didn't seem to be in a hurry to get to the conference.
"The defriender? That's what people are calling me?" Joel asked, squinting at the road in front of him as he drove.
Alex could tell he was uncomfortable with the moniker.
"That's what the nurses are calling you." Alex replied, glancing at Joel and then back at her phone.
"Okay. You know what…If it that means what I think it means I have not 'defriended' a nurse in like almost three months."
Alex managed to hold back a chuckle but she was unable to hide her smile.
"Are you seeing someone?" She asked, hoping to seem mildly curious rather than mildly jealous.
Which was what she was.
"Yes, I am actually." Joel answered, Alex felt surprisingly relieved to notice that he wasn't smiling.
He's not in love with her.
If he was really in love with her, wouldn't have been able to stop smiling.
She'd never been so pleased to see that he wasn't flashing her that classic Joel Goran grin. The one that always made her breath catch in her throat.
There's still a chance for us.
Even Alex was surprised by the thought.
Wasn't she supposed to be madly in love with Charlie?
So why was she sitting here next to Joel, obsessing about whether or not he was in love with someone else?
Alex looked at Joel and smiled, "That's great…That's amazing…"
This time when Joel turned to look at Alex he was smiling, "Yeah. I mean, it's early days yet…She's a sweet girl though."
He paused, "She has a kid...actually."
Alex's eyes widened in surprise.
Until that moment, she'd never thought of Joel as a father figure to anyone's child.
Except her own.
"I'm happy for you." Alex said, smiling, and then quickly changing the subject to fill the awkward silence that had suddenly fallen between them.
"Okay. We're on the wrong road. And that little bouncy ball is totally gone. We're going to have to find somewhere to stop."
Joel raised his hand to stop the flow of her words, "Don't worry about it. It's like a big resort. They'll be signs for it everywhere…"
"Oh, I remember this well Joel…" She said.
"What?" He asked, trying to interrupt her, but she kept talking, "You're instinctive sense of direction." She started gesturing with her hands, "We will get somewhere but it won't be the trauma conference, it'll be a b& b where you make your own jam."
And there it is.
She watched as he looked at her and the familiar smile made its way across his face.
"Ouch… Holy….You know what…One my jam was delicious…Two, you had an excellent…"
It was her turn to try to interrupt. "Joel, that's not the point…"
"You had an excellent time on that trip." Joel paused, and started gesturing with his hands as he spoke, just as Alex had done moments before.
"And you know what? For the record I cannot believe that Charlie…you know I can't believe that any man would give up a dirty weekend with you at a medical conference just to go pick up his friend at the airport. I'm just saying…" He said, momentarily lifting his hand off of the steering wheel.
He regretted the words the moment they'd come out of his mouth.
He could tell she was already upset by Charlie's absence. There was no need to rub her nose in it.
"It's Ford. It's his best friend…"
"Dirty weekend…" Joel teased in a sing song voice.
Alex rolled her eyes, "And that's why you don't have any friends."
At that moment, she spotted the gas station.
"Hey, there's a gas station. Pull over." She said, pointing towards it.
Joel pursed his lips as if he wanted to say something more. But in the end, he just mumbled, "You got it," as he pulled into the service station and parked.
By the time Joel was out of the driver's seat Alex was already at the back of the car, with the trunk open.
"Where are you going?" He asked, stretching his legs and closing the driver's side door.
"To change." Alex replied, a bit breathlessly, as she pulled her bag out of the trunk. "I'm late, and I don't really want to give my presentation in a pair of jeans."
I don't see why not. She looks damn good in them.
He'd have to be blind not to notice the way the jeans she was wearing hugged her curves in all the right places.
"Oh, I remember this one. He said, walking toward the back of the car as she finally wrestled her bag from the trunk and slung it over her shoulder.
"What?" Alex asked, exhaling and blowing a strand of hair that had come loose from its messy ponytail away from her face.
Joel averted his eyes from hers, trying not to smile. "The inevitable breakdown that happens whenever you think you're going to be late." He answered, finally looking at her.
She's so cute when she's like this.
Alex raised her hands, "Okay, this isn't a breakdown. I have to give a speech on laparoscopic repair of diaphragmatic injuries in an hour an a half. And the last time I checked we were…"
She paused in middle of her nervous rambling to glance at her watch, and then continued, oh two hours away from the damn hotel."
"No, we're way closer than two hours." Joel argued, trying to help, Alex with her bag. In her rush to get changed, something fell out of her bag.
He bent to pick it up, but she beat him to it.
"Alex, it's okay, I'll…"
She straightened up, and glared at him angrily, "I've got it."
And without another word, she turned and headed toward the gas station's restroom.
I never get tired of watching Alex Reid walk away.
As Joel filled the car's tank with gas, he kept replaying his conversation with Alex over and over in his mind.
I shouldn't have argued with her. Now, she's even more upset. When she comes back, I'll apologize.
Charlie Harris is an idiot for leaving her alone this weekend.
If she were mine, I'd never leave her alone.
Joel glanced from his watch to the restroom door. There was still no sign of Alex. He decided to go into the convenience store to pay for the gas, and wait for her inside.
He entered the store and pulled a bottle of water from the refrigerated case. A kid who couldn't have been older than twenty, with a buzz cut and a badly infected tattoo on his arm stood in front of him in line.
The kid was sweating and jittery, and Joel knew he was probably high.
"You might want to get that checked out man," Joel said, casually.
"What?" The kid said, taking a half a step towards Joel.
"The tattoo… Whoever did that does not know how to autoclave." Joel grimaced. "And you might want to get checked out for Hep C as well by the looks of things. It's pretty bad."
The kid looked from Joel to his infected arm and back again, "What are you a lawyer? He asked.
"No, I'm a doctor. And honestly that looks pretty damn fierce. You don't want a deep infection or…"
Joel watched as the kids eyes darted back and forth around the store. "Are you feeling okay, man?"
"Yeah." The kid said, glaring at Joel, and taking another step toward him, "Are you feeling' okay?"
Joel watched the kid carefully, "Yeah man, I'm really good. I just…"
"Hey energy drink," The cashier interrupted, looking right at the kid, "are you going to pay or what?"
In one swift movement the kid pulled a gun from the waistband of his khaki shorts and pointed it at the cashier. "Empty the register right now."
"Whoa, dude…" Joel exclaimed as the kid screamed at the cashier, "On the counter! Don't just stand there. Do it!" He yelled, suddenly, pointing the gun, at Joel, "Gimme your wallet…keys…phone…everything…now…"
Joel raised his hands and moved slowly toward the kid as the frightened cashier put what little cash had been in the register on the counter, "These are my car keys all right? It's parked outside. Take it."
"That's it? That's all?" The angry, gun toting, kid shouted.
"Dude, the car's worth a lot of money. Just take it," Joel said, trying to keep his voice calm in an effort to diffuse the dangerous situation.
He didn't know that Alex was on her way inside. She opened the door and shouted, "Joel did you…"
The gunman turned the door, startled by the sound of Alex's voice.
Joel shouted out a warning, "Alex!"
But it was too late. The kid pulled the trigger and gunfire rang out through the store.
And Joel could only watch in horror as the bullet struck Alex in the leg and she fell to the floor.
The kid grabbed Alex's purse and Joel's car keys and took off.
Joel knelt on the floor next to Alex and did a quick mental assessment of her injuries
He pressed the palm of his hand against her upper thigh. The left leg of her black pants was already saturated and sticky with blood.
It hit her femoral vein. If I can't stop it. She'll bleed out.
Joel grabbed a sweatshirt from the store shelf and wrapped it around Alex's leg, as a makeshift tourniquet.
He could hear her slow, labored breathing. "Alex, you're going to be okay. I'll take care of you. Do you hear me?"
Alex focused on the sound of Joel's voice and tried to regulate her breathing.
"Femoral vein…" She whispered, just loud enough for him to hear.
Only Alex Reid would diagnose herself after she's just been shot.
Joel nodded, "I need to roll you over and check for an exit wound."
He knew talking her through the process would help keep her calm. Joel tried to ignore her cries of pain as he gently rolled her, and spotted the exit wound at her glutial fold.
Under anything other circumstances he would've enjoyed looking at her ass.
And he definitely would've said something like, "Nice ass, Reid."
But these weren't ordinary circumstances so he just said, "I'm sorry Alex, I know it hurts."
He took another sweatshirt off the store shelf and pressed it against the exit wound before lowering her gently back on the floor.
Suddenly Joel heard, the cashier speak, "Can I do anything to help?" She asked crawling out from behind the counter. She glanced at Alex. "If she hadn't walked in when she did, that bullet would've hit me. She saved my life."
Joel smiled, "Yes she did. What's your name?"
"Diane." The woman answered.
He'd been so focused on Alex he'd forgotten she was there. "Okay, Diane. We've got to call an ambulance."
The kid's got my phone and Alex's was in her purse.
Joel took a quick look around, "Does the wall phone work?"
Diane nodded, then picked it up and dialed 911. Her voice on the phone was nothing more than background noise to Joel as he focused all of his attention on Alex.
"What the hell were you thinking? He asked, his voice, rising in panic. Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
If she hadn't been seriously injured, she would've yelled right back at him. But her words came out in a whisper between slow, labored breaths.
"Me?...What about you?... You confronted a kid with a gun."
Diane smiled, "How long have you two been married?"
Joel ignored her question, "How long before the ambulance gets here?"
"Forty-five minutes." Diane answered.
Joel stroked the side of Alex's face, "Help will be here soon. I just need you to hang in there for me, Reid."
You were amazing today.
You saved that woman's life.
I love you.
"I'm sorry I snapped at you." He whispered, kissing her forehead.
"S'okay…She mumbled, reaching for his hand, "Joel…I'm cold."
He took hold of her hand, taking her pulse.
"I know, sweetheart. You're in shock. Just hold on."
"Can you get me a blanket, Diane?" Joel shouted, his eyes never leaving Alex's.
Joel checked her wound and found that it was still oozing. Diane came back with the blanket.
"Thanks Diane. Now, I need you to bring me anything with a narrow tube, some dental floss and a condom."
Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Alex smile.
As if she knew what he was about to do.
"Yes ma'am Reid, you and I going to McGuiver a balloon tapenade."
Diane came back into view from down one of the aisles, her hands full of everything he had asked her for.
"You know, for the record, Alex and I were never married. I did ask her once though."
I meant it then.
I still mean it.
"Okay, Alex you know this is going to hurt right?"
She nodded, and tried to block out the pain, but she couldn't hold back the scream that erupted from her throat.
Her screams mingled with the sound of the ambulance sirens.
"That's it, Alex. You've got this. You're doing great."
Then as quickly as they'd begun her screams fell silent.
Joel placed his hand over the pulse point in her neck.
130… She's lost too much blood.
Where the hell is the ambulance?
"Alex, can you hear me? You got to stay with me. Alex, I need you."
The paramedics arrived, and Joel instructed them to re-route the ambulance to Hope Zion. He rode with her in the ambulance, holding her hand the whole time.
When she wakes up I'm going to ask her again.
I'm going to do it right this time.
When Alex finally woke up, there was an IV in her arm. And Joel was seated on the end of the bed but he got to his feet the moment she opened her eyes. She tried to sit up but he held her back with a gentle, yet firm hand on her arm. "You've had a blood transfusion. You need to rest."
She was about to say something but he spoke up before she could. "I thought I was going to lose you today. And I realized that I never want to have that feeling ever again. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Alex Reid, will you marry me?"
The intensity of his kiss caught her by surprise. When it was over they were both breathless.
She smiled, and pulled him close, whispering her answer upon his lips just before she kissed him.
"Yes."