Thank you for the reviews! Fair warning, things will start to get a little bumpy for April and Jackson ;)
Enjoy!
Jackson stepped out of the elevator and made his way to the surgical skills lab. He had received a page from Shepherd, along with all of the other residents, to report to the second floor. Word quickly began to spread about an inoperable tumor attached to a spinal cord, yet the neurosurgeon appeared to have something up his sleeve. He definitely wanted in on the very rare and once in a lifetime surgery.
On his way to the lab, he met up with Reed in the hallway. "Did you hear about the tumor?"
"I heard the only way to remove the tumor is to cut the cord," she replied and covered her hand as she yawned. "The other night, I spent it in the OR sewing up a hang glider's intestines back together, but this surgery sounds ten times better than that, so sleep can wait. The beds here aren't the most comfortable anyway."
"So, you haven't been home in the last two days?"
"Nope. Charles has the stomach flu. I'm better off here than catching his germs over there," Reed answered, a smile forming on her face. "Besides, we never experienced complex tumors like this one at Mercy West. Assuming Shepherd successfully removes the tumor, this is the type of surgery you can brag about for the rest of your life."
"Assuming you get to be in it," Jackson reminded his friend and pointed at himself. "This surgery's mine."
Cristina forced her way in between the two Mercy West doctors, walking a couple of feet ahead of them. "In your dreams, Pretty Boy. You don't stand a chance," she scoffed.
He rolled his eyes as he smirked at her. "I thought you only cared for cardio cases. This is neurosurgery, in case you haven't noticed."
"Inoperable tumor. Enough said," she nonchalantly said. "And it's for hardcore surgeons."
Jackson guffawed at Cristina's comment. She found pleasure in talking down to him, though he hardly let it faze him. He was an Avery. Arrogance was one of the many characteristics his relatives maintained, so he was used to that treatment. "I'm hardcore myself – and pretty badass. I attended Harvard for both my undergraduate and medical school education."
"I have a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Berkeley and I finished at the top of my class at Stanford," the Asian woman gloated, smugly smiling back at him. "Harvard is for schmucks like you."
"Keep talking, Yang. I'll prove you wrong sooner or later," he playfully retorted.
"More like never," she sneered, entering the skills lab room. Cristina was about to sit down before changed her mind and offered the stool to Jackson. "Here, you can take my seat. Hardcore people stand because you know, that's how we work in the OR."
Reed snickered while she took a seat in front of Jackson, who sat down afterwards. "She's such a bitch," she whispered at him.
He briefly glanced back at Cristina standing in the back of the room before he faced his coworker. "More like overly arrogant and confident. Did I mention arrogant?" the pretty boy quipped, eliciting a laugh from Reed. "And for the record, Harvard is above Stanford in the rankings."
"Speaking of arrogant," she teasingly replied. "No wonder you can tolerate Yang's remarks. If you weren't with April, I'd think you found your soulmate. The only difference is you don't come off as one of Satan's minions like she does."
"I heard that, Pixie," Cristina intruded, staring Reed down from her spot.
Derek entered the skills lab to explain how he was going to decide which lucky resident would be scrubbing in with him for the surgery. The objective sounded fairly simple – using the microscope, each doctor would have a chance to tap a one dollar bill with a red pen without hitting the plastic cup. Whoever was closest to George Washington's nose would win the challenge.
Cristina had taken a seat in the front of the room to observe and heckle the residents who failed to even get the pen inside of the cup. She appeared confident, perhaps too confident. As much as she hoped she could give Jackson crap for screwing up, the pretty boy had successfully completed the task. At least she managed to tease Reed when she missed her mark.
Jackson partially held his breath when it was the arrogant surgeon's turn at the microscope. Because he had been the only doctor to pass the test, he wanted the surgery badly and being a competitive person himself, he refused to lose it to Yang. Her confidence was sometimes over the top, so watching her fail would be an entertaining sight to see.
The lab was deafly quiet when Cristina stepped up to the plate. She was the last person to attempt the task. Of course she wanted to wait until everybody else failed, so they could witness her "greatness". However, that wasn't the case. To almost everyone's surprise, the Asian doctor smacked her pen into the top of the cup.
Residents gasped and snickered as she froze in disbelief. Even Jackson had been a little shocked that she hit the cup before putting the pen inside, but he hardly had any sympathy for her – because he won the challenge.
"Dr. Avery, you'll be scrubbing in," the neurosurgeon announced and left the room.
As the other doctors filed out of the lab, Jackson slowly approached Cristina, who remained standing behind the microscope. He smugly grinned at her as headed towards the exit. "You should probably just stick to cardio," he sneered, drawing a blank stare from her.
He was satisfied with having the last laugh.
"Wow, that's great!" April cheerfully replied while she spoke with her fiancé on the phone. She was in the middle of eating breakfast in their quiet apartment when Jackson called to inform her of Shepherd's surgery. "So, I'm assuming you'll be in the OR for a long time then?"
"Most likely. I'm not sure how many hours this one will take. It's a really complicated surgery," he answered, standing outside of OR 1. He wanted to hear her voice prior to scrubbing in and to brag a bit about the procedure. "Don't wait up for me if it's late, alright? I'll be home whenever I get out of here."
"Oh, no problem. Umm… what about dinner? Should I cook something up for you and leave it in the fridge for later?"
"I'll just buy dinner on the way home. I'm sure something will be open if it's 1 AM or even 4 AM," he insisted, but the thought of April's home cooking made him almost salivate. "What are your plans for today?"
She stood up from the dining table after finishing her breakfast, carrying her empty plate to the sink. "Trevor's coming over soon. We'll go out and have lunch, maybe do some job hunting. That's about it. Just another woeful day for me."
Jackson sighed. Although, April had been trying to stay optimistic, he knew her patience was wearing thin. It had been almost two weeks since she was fired, but she was itching to be back in an OR again. "I'm telling you, somebody will want you. It's only a matter of time," he assured her. "Have you gotten any responses from the hospital's you e-mailed?"
"No, not yet," she glumly answered. "My best bets are all of the spaces are filled, so they decided not to bother responding. I may have to start looking for a part-time job at McDonald's… or the morgue. I'm not sure which is worse."
"You won't end up working in the morgue. You're a surgeon. That's what you were born to become," he confidently reminded her. "Anyway, I should go scrub in. We're gonna start the surgery soon."
"Good luck. And uhh… have fun," she murmured, hanging up her cell phone after he said his goodbyes.
April spent the next half hour cleaning the apartment. It was one of the few activities she did to keep herself from going insane. Her apartment was always too quiet for her taste. She missed the sounds of pagers beeping, doctors and nurses shuffling back and forth through the hallways, the unpleasant smell of burning flesh in the operating room.
And she kept her firing a secret from her parents and sisters hoping another job would come along before she would be forced to tell them she was unemployed. Jackson had promised her he wouldn't mention anything to his family either. He was well aware that certain family members would turn it into a bigger deal than it had to be. They figured what they didn't know wouldn't hurt anybody.
She heard a knock on the door just as she finished vacuuming the living room and answered the door for Trevor. He appeared to be in a good mood, smiling brightly at his friend while he entered the apartment. "Sounds like good news is on the horizon," the redhead greeted him.
"Somewhat," he replied, sitting down on the couch with her. "I have another interview with U-Dub on Monday, so the chances of getting hired just went up for me. I'm still going up against other applicants, but I feel pretty confident right now."
"That's awesome," April congratulated Trevor and forced herself to smile. While she was happy for her friend, it also meant she would officially become a loner if he started working again and she remained unemployed. She started to regret not making more close friends outside of their inner circle at Mercy West. "I really hope you get the job. You deserve it."
He opened his backpack, removing a piece of paper from inside. "And I pulled some strings with Dr. Nichols. He's the Chief of Surgery at U-Dub," the brunette man added and waved the paper in front of her. "This is an application to the program. There are exactly two spots open, so maybe there's a chance you and I could work there together. I offered my own little recommendation for you."
She gasped, grabbing the application from Trevor with a grin on her face. "You truly are a savior!" April kissed his cheek and hugged him tightly. "I know there aren't any guarantees, but thank you for helping me out."
"You're welcome. Don't put off this application, okay? I'm not the only doctor applying for the limited spaces there," he advised, then he chuckled. "But knowing you, you'll be on top of this in five seconds."
Staring at the piece of paper in her hands, she let out a sigh of relief. "This really does make me feel better, Trev. I mean, Jackson's busy assisting on a spinal cord tumor, which is so unbelievable that I'm jealous of him." She glanced up at her friend. "That could've been me in that surgery. Is it wrong to think he shouldn't brag about every surgery he's a part of, while I'm getting nothing?"
"Well, it's important to stay supportive, but I can see how it could feel like he's rubbing his job in your face." He gently patted her thigh and smiled. "Jackson loves you and he knows you're currently in a difficult situation. And he's also usually sensitive to your feelings. I guess if you really don't want him to talk about work, then try to distract him with something else. Use sex if you have to."
"Oh, gosh," she bashfully muttered, partially covering her face with the application and laughing. "I've lost count of how many times I've done that actually, but it works every time. It's easy to please him."
Shepherd's spinal cord tumor procedure resulted in ten hours of zero cutting. The neurosurgeon had thoroughly considered every possible scenario in his head without ever touching the tumor itself and Webber, who had been against the surgery in the first place, interrupted them and forced Derek to close up the patient.
Ten hours of nothing, yet Jackson still felt it was a surgery he would have been stupid to pass up. He was starving and exhausted, almost too tired to drive himself home. Fortunately, he managed to make the trip across town without falling asleep at the wheel. It was almost 11 PM when he arrived home, though his body felt like it was much later than that. He spotted April sitting on the couch and lazily approached her.
"Hey," he softly greeted her, dropping his bag onto the floor and sitting beside his fiancée. Jackson yawned as he set his feet on the coffee table and stretched his arms over his head. Tilting his head against the back of the couch, he stared at the TV, which was on the local news. "Did you leave me any dinner?"
April smirked at him. "You told me you were going to buy food on the way home because you weren't sure what time you'd be back, remember?"
"Right. I forgot," he disappointedly responded. "I stood in the OR for ten hours listening to Shepherd mumble to himself and do nothing else. I understand that he doesn't want to paralyze his guy, but it was ridiculous. And Lexie wore a freaking diaper in hopes I'd give up my place to go use the restroom. I held my own, though."
April picked up Jackson's right hand and gently massaged it. "Your hands must be sore then."
"Not so much considering I just stood around doing nothing."
"Umm… I applied to U-Dub. Trevor put in a good word for me with the Chief," she proudly stated. "Here's to hoping I score an interview after I send it in."
"That's cool. I'm gonna take a quick shower and go to bed. I have a feeling I'll be called into the hospital early tomorrow morning. I need all of the sleep I can get." He pushed himself up from the couch, kissing her forehead before walking away. "Goodnight, babe."
April waited until she could hear the faint sound of the shower running in their bathroom before she decided to climb into bed. Jackson hadn't been in the mood for any chit chat after a long day. However, she couldn't help but feel slighted by how passive he acted towards her. It wasn't the first time he had done it to her since she was fired. She tried not to take it too personally because being a surgeon sucked the life out of people after all.
But now, she was beginning to feel as if they were living in separate worlds.
As expected, Jackson had been paged to report to the hospital at 6 AM. Shepherd had devised a plan overnight to remove the tumor and regardless of what the Chief had told him, they were going to continue on with the surgery. It was stealthy and badass in the pretty boy's mind. He felt guilty about sneaking out of his apartment without waking up April, but he figured she wouldn't have wanted to be woken up so early for nothing.
She, on the other hand, had been fully awake when he left their home, only pretending to be asleep when her fiancé lightly kissed her cheek goodbye. It was going to be another full day without seeing him, she thought. Staying cooped up in their apartment all day wasn't an option for her, so she met up with Reed at Seattle Grace Mercy West for lunch. It had been three days since she last saw her best friend, who had been crashing in on-call rooms while Charles continued to battle the stomach flu. Trevor was always a great listener, but she desperately needed to visit with her only close girlfriend.
"April, you can take off those sunglasses. Nobody cares you're here," Reed instructed in amusement. Her redheaded friend was embarrassed to be seen in the hospital that fired her and arrived at the cafeteria trying to appear incognito. They were seated at a table in the farthest corner where nobody would notice them. "Unless you're trying to cover some nasty pink eye, there's no reason for you to be wearing them."
Slowly removing her sunglasses from her face, April ducked her head like the awkward new kid at school who didn't have any friends. "Are you sure nobody will notice me?" she quietly asked, scanning the cafeteria for any familiar faces. "I just feel so strange being here."
"That's because you're making it uncomfortable for yourself. Stop trying to be invisible."
"I can't help it. The last time I stepped a foot inside of this hospital, I killed a patient," she dejectedly replied and poked at her salad. "I'm sorry, but it's not a situation I can easily get over."
"I know. At least try to act happy to see me," Reed suggested with a forced grin. "We haven't seen each other in days because I've been staying here, so we have some serious catching up to do, okay? Tell me what you've been up to."
"I'm applying for a residency spot at U-Dub. Trevor and I could both end up there. Dr. Martin was quick to send me a letter of recommendation and I'm waiting for ones from Dr. Phillips and Dr. Winston," April chirped. She suddenly scrunched her nose. "Should I ask Swanson for a recommendation?"
Her friend snickered with a mouthful of food. "Are you sure she would write it herself?" she quipped, referring to the cardiothoracic surgeon's knack for publishing articles she hadn't written during her residency. "The doctors you asked are better than that bitch face. Don't bother asking Swanson."
"So, you haven't been home to see Charles? Is he okay with that?"
"He's busy puking his guts out, but we've exchanged texts, so I know he's still alive. It's not like being here instead of home is working to my advantage. I've been stuck with that Karev guy and he's such a douche," Reed complained and rolled her eyes. She and Alex had been clashing since the day before. "His wife is still recovering from cancer, but he refuses to see her while she's receiving treatment because she left him. I finally managed to knock sense into him this morning. That doesn't change the fact that he's still a douche. At least I have Shepherd's other patients to myself now."
"How's that surgery doing?" April questioned curiously. "Have you seen Jackson? Does he look alright?"
"I haven't see him nor have I had the chance to view the surgery from the gallery. Actually, without Karev there's a lot more work to be done, so I don't have the time to sneak away for a few minutes."
She frowned at her best friend. "I miss him. Is that weird to say?"
Reed set her fork down and sighed. "No. Since we all first met, we were used to seeing each other every day at the hospital. Most of the time, we arrived and left together. I can see how it's different for you two," she insisted, softly smiling at April. "I'm sure he misses you too. It's gotta be hard not seeing each other throughout the day. Hell, I find myself missing Charles. I haven't seen him in three days. He's actually quite the trooper for thinking this is okay."
"It just… sucks. When he's home we don't really talk about anything. Our wedding, work…" April rubbed her cheeks and groaned. "It's frustrating. What if he- maybe we're losing that spark, you know? Over two years of dating is a lot for a guy like him. I think I'm boring him."
"No, you're not. It's not you, I promise."
"Then, why does it feel like it is me?" she miserably asked. "I cook for him, the sex isn't awful… I do everything for him, but something's not right. When he's sitting next to me it doesn't feel like he's there completely and this all started after I got fired. Like I'm below his standards or whatever."
"April, stop talking like that. You're not going to feel any better if you continue this negative attitude." Reed figured no matter what advice she gave, her best friend was always going to think about the worst case scenario. Sometimes it was like talking to a brick wall. "I think you and Jackson need to sit down and have a serious conversation. Do it when he's not working, completely awake and fully attentive. Maybe you should wear skimpy underwear. That'll totally get his attention for sure."
April rolled her eyes. While she occasionally seduced her fiancé with the few pieces of sexy clothing in her drawer, trying to catch his attention through sex wasn't the answer. "If I do that, he'll be distracted. I want Jackson to stare at menot my breasts. When he's looking directly into my eyes I know he's listening. That doesn't happen a lot these days."
Reed reached across the table and grabbed the redhead's wrist. "Hey, how about I sneak you up into the gallery, so you can see Jackson in action?" she excitedly suggested. "I'll give you some scrubs to change into and you'll be fine."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" she worriedly asked. "What if somebody recognizes me?"
"Wear a surgical mask to hide your face. Besides, we'll only stick around for a little while. I have to return to my own work too." Instead of waiting for her friend to answer, Reed pulled her up from her chair and led her out of the cafeteria. "The only option is coming with me, so don't bother complaining."
"Reed, this is bad. I could get you fired," April replied, slipping on her sunglasses again. "Then, you'll hate me and you'll never speak to me again-"
Stopping in the middle of the hallway, the brunette covered April's mouth with her hand to cut her off. "I should've said no complaining and no whining." She set her hand down to her side. "We are going to see your fiancé. You should be grateful because it's possible you won't see him all day."
Reed snuck April into the residents locker room and forced her to change into the extra set of scrubs from her cubby. They walked to OR 1's viewing gallery, though the latter was hesitant to go inside. She simply wanted to take a quick peek of Jackson and leave afterwards.
"Okay, I see him. He looks like he's concentrating hard and if he notices I'm here, he might mess up and botch the surgery," she nervously said, tugging on Reed's arm. "And you need to get back to work."
"Gosh, I am so jealous of him right now. If Shepherd pulls this surgery off, he would be like a neurosurgery god. Well, he already kind of is, I guess," her friend said in amazement before she groaned. "Stupid cup."
"I'm leaving without you," April warned her in a threatening tone.
Reed sighed in annoyance as she stood up from her seat. "Fine, let's go."
Down below in the operating room, Jackson briefly glanced up when he noticed movement in the gallery out of the corner of his eye. He furrowed his eyebrows as April left with Reed, but he wasn't entirely sure if he had just seen his fiancée upstairs. Being awake since 5:20 AM with an empty stomach and sleep deprivation, he thought he might have been hallucinating.
"I'm losing it," the pretty boy mumbled to himself.
"What was that, Dr. Avery?" Shepherd questioned curiously. "Need a break?"
Jackson cleared his throat, shaking his head. "No, sir. Just talking to myself. I'm doing alright," he insisted, though lack of fluids in his system was beginning to take a toll on him. By then, the procedure had gone for a little over six hours and Derek was nowhere close to finishing. He was going to suck it up for as long as he could.
Twenty six hours. It was the longest surgery Jackson had ever participated in and unfortunately, he hadn't been able to complete his role. His hand cramped up on him due to dehydration, so he was forced to give up his spot at the OR table to Lexie for the rest of the procedure. Although he had been a part of all but five hours of the surgery, the fourth year resident was upset with himself because he couldn't finish it.
His grandfather had constantly reminded him of the motto, "It's not how you start. It's how you finish."
And instead of being that badass resident who endured twenty six straight hours in the OR helping Shepherd remove a spinal cord tumor, he had been standing off to the side massaging his cramped hand and feeling embarrassed for being called out on his stupid plan to keep Lexie from taking his glory.
It also happened with Yang watching from the gallery, so she felt obligated to give him crap about it when she found him changing out of his scrubs in the locker room. "Pretty Boy, Pretty Boy. Cramping in the OR? That's an amateur mistake," she teased as she approached her cubby.
"At least I wasn't wearing a diaper for nothing," he retorted, scowling back at her. "I was in an OR for an entire day, while you just watched."
"Who told you about the diaper?" Cristina responded, appearing dumbfounded.
Jackson smirked at her. "Word spreads quickly here."
"Well, for your information, Crampy, you could've been Shepherd's groomsman for the entire surgery if you wore one of those diapers. Who cares if you would've had to pee in it? Peeing in a diaper is ballsy. Not hydrating yourself is wimpy," she scoffed. "Instead of being the best man, you were demoted to flower girl."
"Bite me, Yang. Just keep in mind who didn't get that pen into the cup," he reminded her.
Cristina watched Jackson gather his belongings after he changed into his street clothes. "Avery," she called out before he left the locker room. He glanced back at her irritably. "It could've been worse. Pout about being a loser for a day, then move on. Nobody will care tomorrow."
He slowly nodded, a half-smile forming on his face. "That's probably the nicest thing you've said to me since I arrived. Umm… thanks."
She dismissively waved her hand. "Oh, quit being a sap. Go home and pose in front of your mirror or something."
Jackson rolled his eyes, softly laughing to himself as he left the locker room. He had spent over twenty four hours away from his apartment and he wondered if April would be upset that she was alone. It was the first time a surgery kept them separated for a whole day and he missed her. They hadn't been able to spend quality time together in the last few days due to his busy work schedule. He would likely sleep throughout the day, which meant even more time away from each other.
His whole body ached and he couldn't stop yawning during the drive home. When he arrived at their apartment Jackson dropped his bag on the floor and kicked off his shoes on his way to the bedroom. It was almost 10 AM and April was sitting on the bed tying her running shoes. She was dressed in workout clothes, which was rare for her.
"Where are you going?" he tiredly asked, removing his jacket as he entered their bedroom.
"Trevor's picking me up and driving me to U-Dub, so I can drop off my application. Then, we're going hiking afterwards," she enthusiastically answered.
"You don't hike."
April stood up, zipping up her jacket and adjusting her ponytail. "I've had more time to do other things, in case you haven't noticed. So, yeah. I hike now," she nonchalantly said. "Maybe we could hike together one day."
Jackson rubbed his eyes. "Sure, when I don't feel like a zombie." He forced a laugh. "The strangest thing happened during the surgery. I seriously thought I saw you and Reed up in the gallery, but why would you be there in scrubs? I think I was hallucinating. That's why neuro isn't my specialty. Those surgeries can last a decade."
"Umm… you're right. You were probably hallucinating," she timidly replied. April approached her fiancée to give him a kiss, but he reeked of that unpleasant hospital smell. "Please take a shower before you sleep. I don't want our bed smelling like the OR. Anyway, I'm not sure what time I'll be home, but you'll likely be passed out when I come back. I'll see you later."
He leaned in for a kiss, but she quickly kissed his cheek and walked out of their bedroom. "You don't want to hear about the surgery? Shepherd got the tumor out."
"Tell me later. Trevor's waiting for me downstairs," she happily shouted before leaving their apartment.
Jackson heard the front door close, then he collapsed face first onto the bed. With the little time he saw April after arriving home, she may as well have been another hallucination, he thought. He suspected their time apart will be worse when she actually lands another job.
