April 2015...
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"Somehow I really doubt that this is what the doctor told you to do," The brunette stated, one hand wrapped gently around the soldier's neck as he carried her through the familiar corridor of the apartment building.
"He said, and I quote, that you need plenty of bed rest to keep your blood pressure and stress levels down," Becker responded, although the smirk on his lips showed he was loving this far more than he should be, "It's the road to recovery,"
"So now I'm not allowed to walk?" Jayme retorted, rolling her eyes at the man holding her in his arms.
"You've just been released from the hospital, there's no need to rush things. Becker and I will happily look after until you're allowed to be on your feet more," Jess intervened, heels clacking across the wooden floor as she wandered beside them, key in hand as they approached her apartment.
"It's been over a month, I feel fine; can't I just go back to my life?" A certain pleading tone in her voice only made Becker chuckle out loud, ignoring her question as Jess held the door open for them, "You're enjoying this way too much,"
"Maybe a little, it's nice to be looking after you for a change; you're way too independent, I doubt I'll get the chance that often," The soldier stated, heading straight for the bedroom, only stopping as he stood beside her bed, "If I lay you down will you promise me that you'll not get back up?"
"No,"
"Come on, Jayme, you're acting like a five year old," He stated, still finding it difficult to resist laughing at the brunette who was sending one hell of a glare his way. Though luckily, she was a lot less intimidating when he knew she couldn't fight back. "At least try not to stress your body out too much for the next few days, you're on bed rest, understand?"
"Yes, Doctor Becker," Her tone may have been completely mocking, but it was the closest he was going to get to any acceptance tonight, so he took it.
"Good," He concluded, placing her gently on the bed, at which she shifted instantly, moving up to get herself comfortable, "And I definitely like the sound of Doctor Becker," He added, sending her playful wink before he walked back out through the open door.
"I've got plenty food in the fridge if you get hungry, I'm going to bed, it's been a long day," Jess stated, as she caught sight of the soldier heading back out of the bedroom.
"Got it, and thanks for letting me stay here to look after her,"
"Anytime," The field co-ordinator called as she neared her door, soon shutting it behind her as she finally collapsed on the heavenly bed and found herself drifting to sleep before she even had the chance to change.
Becker, on the other hand, went straight to the fridge, fishing out a bottle of water before traipsing back into the bedroom, only realising now what Jess had meant, it really had been a long day, and he hadn't felt how exhausted he was until this moment. There was the mass of paperwork they still had to attend to after the Amanda situation, not to mention the anomaly that decided to worm its way into today's schedule, and then he had to sit listening to a woman droning on about some lump she was having removed while he waited for Jayme to be released from the hospital, the moment he had been waiting for just over a month to come true. It was the best way to find out for certain that she was definitely recovering and there had been no altercations; she had been incredibly lucky, no vital organs or bones hit. It was mostly just the blood loss that had been the main issue.
"I'm guessing it's doctor's orders for me to be supervised twenty-four-seven?" The brunette questioned, already under the sheets, feeling the oncoming arrival of sleep try to take over.
"Something like that," The soldier responded, "I just missed you," He added, sending a smile her way before removing his shirt and pants, stripping down to his boxers, a sight that Jayme was happy to be awake to see. Best road to recovery had to be the allowance of a very nice body; attached to a man she loved, climbing into bed with her to keep her warm and safe throughout the night. Not that she was planning on admitting it to him; she was still trying to be mad at him about the ridiculous bed rest rule and not being allowed to do anything for herself. This was going to be a painful next few days, and she was not talking about the injury.
"I'm pretty sure you visited me at least every day," The brunette stated, a slight level of sarcasm in her voice as she mocked his choice of words.
"Just go to sleep," He murmured, switching off the lamp beside them, having no energy to argue, and wrapping an arm across her waist, taking her hand in his as he let the soft bed beneath carry them to a deep sleep. Truth was she didn't really have enough energy inside of her to keep the conversation going either, instead she decided to push aside her frustration and relax in his arms. Just for tonight. She could argue again in the morning.
The shrill sound of the alarm echoing throughout the bedroom was enough to make Jayme want to throw it out the window; unfortunately her course of action was stolen from her as the soldier leaned over to turn it off.
"You know, if you'd given me five seconds alone with it, we wouldn't have to deal with that alarm ever again," The brunette stated, running her hands through her hair as best as she could as she lay on the bed, not wanting to move.
"It's an alarm clock, not a murderer, Jayme," Becker explained, his voice way too chipper for just waking up, way too chipper for Becker's usual attitude, and she was certain he had purposely waited until the alarm came on instead of waking her quietly, "Anyway, good morning to you," He added, giving her soft kiss on the forehead before leaving the bed.
"Can I at least get up today?" The brunette questioned, sitting with her back against the bed frame behind, feeling a little too hopeful for a positive answer.
"Do the words bed rest mean anything to you?" And clearly she wasn't going to get one.
"Becker, I swear to god, if you don't stop saying bed rest I am going to kill you,"
"Shouldn't threaten the person in charge of looking after you," The soldier stated, a clear smirk on his lips as he stood by the doorway, in a way that Jayme was sure he was just doing to tease her, just because he was allowed to stand up and walk about didn't mean he had to rub it in.
"Please just let me move, I'm dying here," She begged, putting on her best puppy dog eyes, a look that she knew was nowhere near as good as his or Connor's, and she could easily guess it wasn't going to work.
"No, you were dying a month ago, now you're just annoyed," He stated, turning around to walk out into the apartment. Although having to swiftly duck as a pillow came hurtling his way, ending up on the floor in front of him. "Missed,"
"Next time, Becker, next time," She called, collapsing back into the bed in defeat; she did not have the energy to argue against him, and since when did he begin to match her stubbornness anyway?
"How's she doing?" Jess questioned, pouring two cups of coffee out, taking one for herself alongside the plate of toast for a quick breakfast.
"She really hates bed rest," The soldier replied, taking a gulp of coffee and grabbing eggs from the fridge to fry.
"I would love to stay in bed all day," Jess murmured, mostly to herself, "Lester said he'd give you some days off to look after her, by the way,"
"Yeah, but Jayme's not like most people, she doesn't do well being looked after," He told her with a smile, "I'm surprised, what'd you say to convince him?"
"Told him he wouldn't have to deal with you if you weren't here, apparently that sold the deal pretty quick," She explained, smirking at his reaction, he wasn't convinced, "And maybe I said I'd lend a hand to his pile of paperwork, you know, on top of my own, that's a lot of paperwork, Becker,"
"You're a star, Jess. I don't how I'll repay y-" Although he soon realised he shouldn't have said those words, and instantly regretted it at the devious look on Jess' face.
"Well, you could offer to do the extra paperwork, I mean you'll be here all day, and I know for a fact Jayme won't let you do everything for her so don't try to use her as an excuse, it's the least you can do really,"
"Fine, Jess, just bring it back after work,"
"No need," The field co-ordinator stated, a certain joy in her voice as she lifted the stack of papers out from her bag onto the table, "I thought you might owe me," She added, giving him a smile before taking the much emptier bag and practically skipping towards the apartment door, "You have no idea how much of a relief that is,"
"I'm beginning to understand," Becker responded in a dry tone, shaking his head and smiling as she left the apartment, a lot more cheerful than she had been just a few minutes before.
After preparing a luxurious breakfast of toast, eggs, bacon, sausage, beans and mushrooms, enough for two, or maybe ten, and of course two steaming cups of coffee, the soldier wandered back into the bedroom, placing the tray down on the bed and joining the brunette.
"Remind me later that I need to shop for Jess," Becker stated, "I may have gone slightly over the top in the kitchen to prepare a nice breakfast for you,"
"You're such a girl," Jayme teased, sitting upright beside him and digging into the food, it was such a relief to not have to eat hospital food for a change.
"I am not a girl," The pitch of his voice rising in defence making the brunette raise her eyebrows at him, "I can cook, it's not a big deal, and if I recall you should be thanking me for going to the trouble of doing all of this in the first place,"
"Someone's a little sensitive," She stated, rolling her eyes as he opened his mouth to defend, "But I do thank you for going through all this trouble, Captain,"
"Yeah, the sarcasm really shows it,"
She smirked, before leaning in and planting a kiss on his lips, lingering for a second before pulling away, "Better?" She questioned, taking a sip of the coffee as she waited for a response.
"Getting there,"
The brunette smiled back as his hand cupped her face and they met halfway, lips touching briefly. They paused for a moment, skin barely brushing until he couldn't hold back and the teasing stopped, kiss deepening and hearts fluttering. "And now?" She whispered, once their lips fell apart once more and they were left with a gap between them that could only fit a sheet of paper, if it was lucky. However, her question was shortly answered as the gap closed again and the food lay forgotten for a few extra minutes, and the kiss made his head explode as he felt an overwhelming happiness take over, it was good to be with her outside the hospital again. He'd missed her way too much.
"I'll take that as a yes, Doctor Becker," The brunette stated, a little more breathless than she had realised and a satisfied glint in her blue eyes.
"Exactly,"
"I guess I'll say bed rest has its perks, you and food, all day long," She admitted, leaning back against the bed frame, "But you're going to let me walk about for a bit, right?"
"Nope, shower and toilet is your only reason to get up," Becker stated, still in defiance.
"Please tell me you're joking, just a little walk?"
"Nope,"
"Come on, Becker?"
"What happened to the perks of bed rest?" The soldier questioned, pitch rising in disbelief.
"They were small perks," She responded, measuring the amount with her fingers in a way that made Becker laugh, "I can walk tomorrow though, right?"
"Bed rest for a couple days, Jayme. You were shot, I know you're healing but it's not over just yet, give yourself a break,"
"When you say a couple days, you mean after today, right?"
The look on the soldier's face already told her the answer, but he still felt as though he had to put it into words, "No, Jayme,"
"How do you expect me to be the person I am and not walk about and do some things for myself?"
"That's not going to work,"
"I hate you,"
"No you don't,"
"That's not the point," The brunette stated, annoyance in her tone, "Ok, will you at least think about a walk tomorrow?"
"No,"
"You do realise I can just as easily get out of this bed myself and violate your precious bed rest rule, right?"
"I'll just carry you back, Jayme, kicking and screaming if I have to," The soldier responded, turning his face slightly to look at her again.
"Kicking and screaming aren't my style,"
"And that's one of the reasons why I love you. I don't think I could handle a kicker or a screamer, actually I take that second part back," He added, rethinking his words, and smirking.
She slapped his arm, throwing the smirk off his lips, "Trust you to think of it like that,"
"It wasn't on purpose,"
"I'm sure it wasn't, Becker," She responded, rolling her eyes, "And that's one of the reasons why I love you, I don't think I could handle someone who couldn't let their mind relax once in a while, although it is pretty difficult to get you to do that,"
"Me? You were the difficult one, still are. You're so stubborn with your feelings," He stated, smiling at her, "You're definitely a Cutter,"
"I do know one feeling I'm not stubborn about, at least not anymore," The brunette added, a curious expression falling over Becker's face, "The fact that I love you,"
"I love you too," He responded, kissing her lips before finishing off the cup of coffee beside the tray of food.
"So, about that walk..."
