Chapter 25

Hello everybody! I hope you all are doing well and loving life. I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter out, I've really been torn with which way to take the story and still have so many ideas in my head. I'm not really sure how many more chapters I'm going to do…but all in due time. Anyway, let's go…

One week later…

Jackson was sitting on a chair next to his wife as they spoke with the psychiatrist. It had been hard since he'd brought her back and April still refused to come home. It was a good thing that they did not sell the apartment in the city, since that's where she had been staying for the last week. Jackson had packed up some of her clothes and brought them over to her. He decided he couldn't pack everything, since he knew it would hard to not her stuff in the closet. Today was their first appointment with the psychiatrist and Dr. Wyatt insisted that Jackson be there, too.

"April," he spoke, "Jackson has given me an idea of what is going with you. But I want to hear it from your perspective. Can you tell me what's going on? How you've been feeling?"

"Nothing is wrong with me."

"I'm here to listen. But I can't help you if you don't tell what's going on. If you'd like to go home to your children, your husband, we have to start somewhere. You'll never be judged here, April. Just start when you're ready."

It seemed days had passed before she responded to him.

"I feel like I'm going crazy. I can't look at my children without seeing everything I'm doing wrong. My son cries all day long and he only stops when I feed him or get him to sleep. Brooke has been clinging to her daddy and it just hurts." She was in full tears by the time she stopped.

"What do you usually do when your son is crying?" Dr. Wyatt was curious.

"Sometimes I just close the door and let him scream. I don't know what else to do! He won't stop! He never stops!"

Dr. Wyatt nodded his head in response to her outburst. "Did you not think you could talk to Jackson about any of this?" With that question, Jackson lifted his head and looked over to her.

"No, he wouldn't understand. He didn't notice anything was wrong."

"Sweetheart, I'm sorry I didn't notice. You never let on that anything that was wrong—"

"No! You were too busy with Angelina to notice!" He was shocked by her answer.

"I haven't spoken to her in months, April. She doesn't mean anything to me and you know that. We agreed to let the past go remember?"

"I saw her corner you once at the hospital one day when I brought Camden in for his checkup. Do you think I'm stupid?"

"April—"

"Okay, timeout!" Dr. Wyatt decided it was time to intervene. "Now before we go any further I have to ask. Jackson did you have an affair with this Angelina once?"

"No! I got really drunk one night and kissed her but that was it. Nothing else happened and it took April a long time to agree to let me come home. Honey, nothing is happening or ever will happen again I promise you." But she didn't respond, she just sat there with a deep scowl on her face. He hadn't seen her that angry in a long time.

"Jackson," Dr. Wyatt interjected. "Would you mind if I speak to April alone for a little while? We can pick with both of you later this week before we start her official treatment."

Jackson simply nodded his head and walked out of the room. He hated going to therapy, but if it was going to help April he would do whatever he had to do. The kids were having trouble sleeping and eating, so his mother had been at the house quite often to help him. Brooke constantly cried for her mommy and Camden would not eat as much anymore because he was used to April nursing him. Luckily he kept giving her April's clothes and it seemed to be working. He desperately wanted to wait outside the door but he had already gotten some texts from the daycare workers saying the kids were having another hard day. Making the decision to just go ahead and take them home.

Back inside, still sitting in the chair, April had not said much since her husband had walked out of the door. She didn't mean to bring up Angelina, she just wanted to get a rise out of him. Apparently, it had worked.

"April? Do you want to get better?" Dr. Wyatt was curious to know.

"Yes and no. I want to be there for my children but I'm afraid that I'll end up failing again."

"Alright. Here's the truth, April. If you'll allow me to, I can help you. It's not going to be easy and you will have to commit to a treatment program that lasts about a month. Once you've completed it, you just might be able to go back home. Now I can't make you do this, it has to be your decision to commit completely to this. Can you commit?"

She hesitated for a minute, then answered, "Yes, I can commit to the program."

One week later…

After April had finished her session that morning, Dr. Wyatt had called Jackson back a few days later to have him come back to the office. He informed Jackson that April's condition was going to cause her to act out and say little things to hurt him. It was a normal symptom for her to bring up painful things that could hurt him and turn him against her. Jackson made a metal note that he would be understanding and obey the rules that while April was getting her treatment, he couldn't speak with her.

"Avery!" Derek yelled from the down the hall. He ran to catch up with Jackson.

"Dr. Shepherd, how can I help you?"

"I just wanted to see how you were doing. Meredith told me about Kepner and I wanted to see if you needed anything. Do you need anything?"

"I think I'm okay." But he appreciated someone, other than his mother, asking.

"Avery, listen, you can say it to me. I'm a father, too. It's okay to be scared."

"To be honest, I'm just not myself right now. April thinks that the kids don't need her, but they do. Hell, I need her."

Derek nodded his head in response. He had two children himself and couldn't imagine how his life would be if they didn't have their mother. He and Jackson were never the best of friends, but the bond of fatherhood was something that they shared.

"Listen, if you need anything, let us know. Okay?"

"Thanks." He suddenly heard his pager going off and told Derek thanks again. When he got down to the pit, Owen was motioning him over to a bay.

"What do we got?"

"Hannah Yarbourough, 13 years old. Sliced her arm open falling out of a tree. BP is 80 over 60, pulse is at 55. She's losing a lot of blood! Find out her blood type and start a transfusion!" He yelled to a nurse.

"Parents?" Jackson was curious.

"Father brought her in. He said she lost her footing on the way back down." An intern answered him.

"Okay. Hannah, my name is Dr. Avery and I'm gonna fix your arm okay?"

"Mama…" he heard the young girl whisper. Jackson could only imagine the fear that she felt. Of course she would want her mother.

"Let's get this cleaned out and then we will go talk your mom, okay?" He watched the girl nod her head and went to work. Cleaning all of the debris out of her arm and a slight tear in her leg took longer than he expected. Once he was done, he and Owen decided to go find her dad.

"Mr. Yarbourough?" Owen greeted him. "I'm Dr. Hunt, this is Dr. Avery, and he's in plastic surgery. We're taking good care of Hannah. She going through bradycardia, which means that she has a low pulse and blood pressure. It looks like she has some slight internal bleeding, but it going very slow. We're going to let her stabilize, then head into the OR."

"She needs surgery? Oh, God! I knew that tree house should've been torn down years ago."

"Sir," Jackson interrupted, "Hannah has been asking for her mother. Is it possible that they see each other before she goes into surgery?"

"Her mother? Hannah's mother has been gone for nearly five years now."

"I'm so sorry to hear that." Owen stated. "I'm sure losing your wife has been hard on both of you."

"She's not dead. Hannah's mother left us. Ran off and never came back. Hannah asks about her every now and then, but…" he started to trail off.

Owen noticed the looks on Jackson's face and instantly felt bad. Even though it was unintentional, he could tell that Jackson had been hit hard. Seeing how hurt this girl was definitely did something to him. Internally, all Jackson could wonder was how this woman could've left her daughter. Then he remembered, he was going through the same thing. I thought I could escape all of this at work—

"Mr. Yarbourough we are going to do everything we can to help your daughter. Dr. Avery is the best at what he does and I will only have my best doctors working on Hannah."

"Please call me Paul. And please, save my daughter. She's all I have." Owen only nodded his head then he and Jackson walked away. When they got around the corner, he stopped them to check in on Jackson.

"Hey are you going to be okay? With this case I mean?"

"I'll be fine. I am a professional, Hunt. I can to do this."

"Okay, then let's go save this girl's life."

And they did, sort of. Three hours after her surgery was over, Hannah was still unconscious. Jackson had repaired a lot of the damage to her hand and arm. Meredith had been with him to repair the internal bleeding. It was determined later that she did have a slight concussion, so she would be sleeping for a while. Jackson stood at the window watching Paul talk to his daughter. As he stood there, he started to wonder how anyone could willingly walk away from their child. His father had done it him and now it seemed that April was doing the same thing to Cam and Brooke. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was his mother.

"Hey sweetheart. I heard about the case and I wanted to make sure you were alright. Are you?"

"I'm fine, mom. Really. I'm okay." He said before walking over to an empty nurse's station.

"I know that look, Jackson. You are far from okay. Darling I know that something like this has to get to you. You have to stop hiding your feelings all of the time. Don't put on this brave face for me or anyone else in this hospital."

"What about my kids? I have to be brave for them."

"Of course you do, but they are not here right now. I am your mother. And if there's anyone who knows how fragile your heart is, it's me. Talk to me."

"It's simple, mom. Dad walked away and left us. Now April is doing the same thing to our children. I don't understand how anyone can do that." He let it out before walking over to an elevator. He wanted to take his children home; it had been enough for one day. However, Catherine couldn't let it go. She followed her son onto the elevator.

"Jackson, this is different. April has a condition; a serious one. She can change and get better with the help of this treatment. Your father left because he couldn't handle life. The life that he had been born into was too much for him, so he left. That was his choice. Baby, April didn't choose this. No mother chooses to have postpartum depression. But you found her in time and now your wife is getting the help she needs."

"Mom, please." He stated before getting off the elevator and heading to the attending's lounge. But his mother was hot on his heels.

"No, you are not going to walk from this. Jackson I may not have been the biggest supporter of your marriage when it started, I've never hid that from you. But over the last couple of years I have seen the love that that girl has for you. She accepts you exactly as you are and has never asked you to change. Do you know that when you got into that car accident, she never left your side? She cried for days and I walked in on her screaming for you to just open your eyes. And when we thought we were going to lose Brooke, she fought her way out of a coma to come back to both of you. That's not a person who is willing to give up, baby. She will come home, she will."

Jackson could only hang his head down as he listened to his mother talk. She was right. It killed him to know that April's feelings were from a severe medical condition and his own father left of his own free will. There was nothing medically wrong with him.

"I gotta get changed and get the kids home to bed. I just wish that April could do it with me." He admitted.

"I know sweetie. But with time she will. Your family will be together again before you know it." She pulled him down for a hug and she held on tight, giving him the reassurance that she was going to be there for him. After a few minutes, she reluctantly let him go.

"Do you need me to come home with you? I'm sure Richard won't mind."

"No mom, it's okay. The three of us have to get used this for now." Then he disappeared into the bathroom. After changing his clothes, Jackson went to sign the kids out of daycare. He had gotten used to loading them up in the car by himself, thanks to an expensive double stroller April had insisted they buy. Once the children were asleep it was time for him to go to bed, too. Still not used to April being gone, he grabbed her pillow and fell into a fitful sleep.

Three Weeks Later…

The last few weeks seemed like time had stood still. Like his life was going in slow motion. Jackson hadn't had any contact with April for weeks; doctor's orders. And it was killing him not to see her. Not be near her. Her mother had come back out a few times and so had her sisters. Dr. Wyatt did let him know that April was making progress, but he couldn't go into full detail. She had even been allowed to talk to her parents, and was able to sneak in a call to Catherine to see how Jackson was doing.

It was Sunday night and he was watching the game on TV, when he heard his phone ring. It was his mother. Great.

"Hey mom! What's up?"

"Hi, baby boy. I just wanted to check on you and the children since I can't make it by tonight."

"Mom, I'm not a teenager anymore. I'm grown man with two kids and I think I can manage. But thanks for checking on me."

"Of course."

"Have you spoken her today?" It wasn't unusual for Jackson to ask his mom if he'd spoken to April at all.

"No, darling, I haven't hear from her. Jackson, Dr. Wyatt will let you know when she can come home and then you can go from there."

"I know, you're right. I just miss her mom. It's been almost a month since she's been in our home and I feel like I'm going nuts. I don't know how much longer this can last."

"Jackson, listen. April needs to get better if she's going be a mother and a wife. If she doesn't feel whole, nothing will ever be the same. Oh, darling I have to go, but stay strong and I love you."

"I love you, too." He let out a deep sigh as he hit the red button on his phone.

Suddenly, he heard a knock on the door and he felt a little anxious. Who is that? It was after 9:00 and nobody came to his house that late unless it was an emergency. As he got closer to the door, he started to think that maybe he needed to grab the baseball bat out of the coat closet. However, he decided against it. When he opened the door, his body automatically froze.

"Hi, Jackson. I'm home."

"April?"

So there it is. I wanted to end it on a little cliffhanger (but then again don't I always?) Stay tuned guys. Read it, review it, I love when you guys give feedback! Take care of yourselves and your loved ones.