Thank you everyone for all of your reviews! I am glad you are enjoying the story! I promise things will heat up soon I just did not want to overlook the shooting because it was a traumatic thing that they all survived and I just wanted to show it justice as well

Chapter 2

April slept all night for the first time since the shootings, but when she rolled over she noticed that Jackson was gone. The alarm next to her bed said 6:43, her body was used to getting up early because of the long hours she worked at the hospital so she decided to get out of bed and find Jackson and Alex. When she walked in the kitchen she found Alex eating Fruit Loops out of the box and Jackson frying an omelet at the stove.

"Hey April, how did you sleep?" Jackson said not looking away from the stove.

"Fine, all night actually." That omelet smelled really good so she walked over to the stove.

"Oh come on you two, I saw you go into her room last night Jackson. Just admit it Kepner finally gave up her V card." Alex said in his normal cocky attitude as he popped another loop in his mouth.

"Shut up dude, we just slept or she slept and it is better than stomping around the house all night like you have done." Jackson snapped back.

"Look I am a big boy I am dealing with this on my own; I don't need someone to hold my hand while I sleep." He said as he stood up, he tried to hide it but we both saw him wince when he did from where he was shot.

"He is such an ass." April said still staring at the omelet Jackson was cooking.

"You want it don't you?" Jackson said smiling and making April feel heat instantly go to her cheeks.

"Want what?" April said trying to hide the redness in her face by going to the refrigerator to get some orange juice.

"Uh the omelet, you can have it I will make another one." He said as he put the omelet on a plate and slid it to her.

"I don't think I have ever seen you cook before Jackson." April said as she took a bite of the omelet and had to admit it was pretty delicious.

"That's because I am always working and have to eat either out of vending machines or out of the cafeteria. My mom worked a lot so I learned to cook young so I wouldn't have to eat take out all of the time." He said as he sat down across from her.

April and Jackson talked for several minutes while they ate and April remembered she had her first appointment with the trauma counselor that the hospital decided that all affected by the gunman had to talk to before they could be cleared for surgery. What was she supposed to say? She walked in and found her best friend lying in a puddle of her own blood with a bullet in her head and then had to walk down the hallway with her best friend's blood all over her. April shuttered thinking about it, and then the next time she saw the gunman he had shot Doctor Shepard and was ready to shoot her until she remembered the Oprah show her mom used to watch and what the counselor on there said to do if you were ever in a situation like that. Sitting there in her family's farm in Ohio she never thought she would have to live through something like that but here she was getting dressed to go talk about the most horrific day of her life with a stranger.

Jackson, April and Alex all drove to the hospital together for their appointments and so that Alex could get his wound checked and cleaned. Alex always made things awkward because he was all about sex and which nurse he could screw but Jackson and her never talked about sex they were so gentle with each other they never felt uncomfortable because they had been so close for so long. After her appointment April walked to the ICU and was so happy to see Dr. Shepard was awake while Meredith was sitting there. She froze where she stood and started crying, she said a silent prayer because if he would have died she would have forever blamed herself.

"April!" Meredith yelled to her and motioned for her to come into the room.

"Doc…doctor…Doctor Shepard I am so sorry, I didn't mean to get you…." She was shaking and was going to keep going when Derrick put his hand up.

"April, stop blaming yourself. This is not your fault, he came into the hospital looking for me, and he would have shot me if you were there or not." Derrick said weakly but she could tell he meant every word of it.

"Did you get all of your stuff moved into the house?" Meredith said.

"Yeah, Jackson and I moved it all in last night." She said as she pulled up a chair next to Meredith

"How's Alex? I haven't seen him yet?" Meredith asked full of concern. A lot of people couldn't stand Alex but Meredith and Christina always had his back and tried to help people understand he is not an ass.

"He's….Just Alex, he's not sleeping he just stomps around a lot and is an ass but that part is normal." She said with a slight grin.

"I know you don't like him but he's been through a lot and he's like a brother to me and I am worried about him." Meredith said while smiling at Derrick.

"He's here; he is getting his wound examined in exam room 113 if you want to go see him. I will sit here with Dr. Shepard while you are gone." April said because she could tell that Meredith would not feel better unless she physically saw him.

"Is that alright Derrick?" Meredith looked down at him and smiled.

"Go…he's your family too. Go check on Lexie too." Derrick said as he kissed her on the cheek.

"April can I talk to you for a second in the hallway please." Meredith asked as she got up and April followed her out into the hallway and around the corner.

"I haven't told him about the miscarriage yet, the only people that know about it are you, Christina, Owen and I know and I want it to stay that way for a while. At least until this tragedy calms down a little. Can you do that for me?"

"Of course, I won't say a word. Please give Lexie my best and if you see Jackson tell him where I am." April said.

"What is with you and Jackson? You two are really close" Meredith said while grinning.

"We are friends… just friends I promise he is the only friend I have left now so we are just staying close right now." April said starting to tear up.

"Okay, I will tell him. Now you go sit with Derrick while I check on the rest of us." Meredith said as she walked away.

April sat in the room with Derrick for almost an hour when he was awake we would talk about different things, mostly about his sisters because we both have a bunch of sisters and it was something besides surgery we had in common. When Meredith got back Jackson and Alex were right behind her ready to leave. April followed them outside and took a deep breath as she felt a weight being lifted off of her shoulders, knowing that everyone that was left was stable and looked like they were going to survive. The only person she had not seen was Dr. Bailey but everyone figured she was back at home with her son.

They discussed going to Joes but they knew they would just get the pity stares from everyone so they decided to head back home. It would be a few more days before Meredith and Derek would be home and Mark was bringing Lexie home tomorrow so April headed up to the attic where Lexies room was and took all of the sheets off of the bed and threw them in the laundry basket and threw several other pieces of clothing in there some being Lexies and some being Marks. She picked up food wrappers that were left behind and cleaned some of the stuff off of the dresser and grabbed the laundry basket and headed down the stairs.

"Wow who knew Kepner was a maid; hey do you think you could get one of those sexy outfits to wear around while you do it?" Alex smiled and grabbed a beer.

"I am a surgeon, I can't sit still even for a second and Mark and Lexie are coming home tomorrow and it is always nice to come home to a clean place and a clean bed so yes I am doing there laundry Alex and before Meredith and Dr. Shepard come home I will do the same thing, because I am a nice person." April snapped at him while she started the first load of laundry.

"Well stay out of my room I don't want your little virgin hands touching my clothes." Alex laughed back.

"Trust me Alex, I will stay as far away from your room as I can possibly get!" she said as she slammed the washer lid closed and walked out of the room.

"Why do you have to be such an ass to her?" Jackson said sitting at the kitchen table.

"Why do you have to defend her all of the time, everyone messes with Kepner." Alex said as sat down next to him.

"What if I was an ass to Meredith all of the time?" Jackson smiled.

"I would kick your ass that's what would happen." Alex said as he stood up and went to his room.

Jackson did his normal lock check and heard April switching the laundry and went into the kitchen to see if she needed any help. When he heard her crying while loading the dryer.

"April? What's wrong?" He said as he grabbed her.

"When I went to my room to get my laundry I found Reeds shirt, the one we had gotten when we did that marathon last year. How am I supposed to keep going without my best friend?" April sobbed.

"You will have me here to help you through it so that's how you will get through it." He said and kissed the top of her head and put the remainder of the clothes in the dryer and grabbed a water bottle and turned out all of the lights and walked towards April's room.

"Please stay in here again, I promise I will be able to sleep alone again just not tonight." April was still crying and Jackson walked in and closed the door and walked over to the side of the bed where the bottle of medication was and took two pills out and handed them to April and handed her the water bottle. April took both pills and laid under the covers as Jackson got in next to her and turned the light out and much to his surprise he closed his eyes and actually fell asleep. Slept all night for the first time since the shootings, but when she rolled over she noticed that Jackson was gone.