Chapter 34: What are you thankful for? Part 2
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Jackson sat down at the table with a bowl of cereal and the morning newspaper. He had been lazing about the whole holiday. Today was Thanksgiving so he did have to go to that gala thing.
"Mom!" He yelled and got up again. "I'm going for a run, l'll see you later!" He decided he needed to clear his head and he quickly ran upstairs to change his clothes.
Once he was on his way, Jackson felt pretty good. He ran through the park and then he rounded the neighbourhood once more.
Maybe l should invite April tonight, purely platonic. Jackson thought and grinned, heading off towards April's house.
"Mom?" Cristina asked as she walked into the living-room.
"Yes?" Her mother answered. "Owen invited me to spend Thanksgiving with him." She said softly, careful not to hurt her mother's feelings for the first time in a while.
"That's okay, honey. I was going to invite some friends anyway." She replied.
"Thanks mom." Cristina said and walked off to her room.
"Don't you need to spend Thanksgiving with your family or something?" Izzie asked from her hospital bed.
"Nope." Bailey answered.
"Well, l kind of like spending time with you." Ben said.
"And your all the family l need."Alex said and softly kissed her fore-head.
"Besides, we're not letting you go through your first round of chemo alone." Ben said and rubbed her shoulder.
"Thank you, all of you." Izzie said softly.
"Hi, l'm nurse Patrick. L'm going to administer your chemotherapy." A nurse said and hooked her up to an IV.
"Are you ready?" He asked. Alex squeezed Izzie's hand and Bailey gave her a comforting smile. "No, but l guess l'll never be." Izzie chuckled slightly. The nurse nodded and left the room again.
"How do you feel now?" Ben asked. It had been an hour and a half since the chemotherapy had been put into her bloodstream.
"I'm fine, just like l was five minutes ago. How's the dinner coming along?" Izzie said and laughed a bit.
"Well, Miranda is out shopping for a ready made turkey. And l put your boyfriend on dessert duty." Ben said mockingly.
"That boy better watch out, you know. I used to play football." He said and threw a few punches.
"Oh please, like no one can see the obvious lovey eyes you and Bailey make at each other.
"A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell." Ben said and laughed.
"Ben…" Izzie started. "I just wanted to thank you. For everything. You've been here for me through everything. You're like the father l never had." She said tearfully.
"Hey. Don't cry now." Ben said and wrapped Izzie in a hug. "I'm here for you now, l'll be here for you tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that." He said and softly kissed her fore-head.
"Oh guess what the cat brought home!" Bizzy yelled as her husband stood in the living room for the first time in weeks.
"Shut up! Just, shut up!" The captain yelled back. "I have a right to see my daughter."
"Oh yeah, you always had that right, how come you've only come to cash it in now!?"
"I've been there for her! While you were screwing your girlfriend!"
Addison couldn't take it any longer. She stormed out of her room and into the living room, surprising her parents.
"Both of you shut up!" She yelled. "It's Thanksgiving and want l want to be thankful for, is that both of my parents love me. I don't need my parents to be married or together or whatever! I want them both in my life. But if we keep carrying on like this, somebody's going to walk out and that's not fair." Bizzy and The Captain remained silent.
"So please from the bottom of my heart…" Addison sighed. "Get a divorce!" With that she grabbed her jacket and left.
"Callie!" Arizona said when Callie finally picked up the phone.
"Arizona please. I don't want to talk okay?" Callie said. "Stop calling me.
"No Callie this isn't about that, its about-" Arizona couldn't finish her sentence without bursting into tears.
"Callie, my brother is dead!" She sobbed. Callie was shocked. Her feelings went from angry, to empathetic.
"Arizona…" She started. "I'm so sorry."
Arizona sniffled. "I need to see you. I need to explain everything and l need to talk to someone about… this." She said.
Callie hesitated for a moment and then agreed. "Sure, l'll meet you at that one diner at 6. Looks like we're spending Thanksgiving together.
"April?" Jackson knocked on her door for the fifth time. It didn't seem as if anyone was home. Jackson was about to walk away when he heard a blood curling scream.
He instantly stormed into her house and found April lying of the floor in the kitchen, her father looming over top of her.
"Get the hell off her!" Jackson yelled. He had gone into April's house as soon as he heard screams.
"Let me guess, you're the boyfriend?" Joe smirked. "Get the hell out of my house, how l raise my children is none of your business."
"Get. Off. Her." Jackson snarled. April flickered her eyes between the two. Her hands were shaking and she was visibly petrified.
"Get out of my house." Joe said with an eerily calm manner and slowly walked over to Jackson. Jackson clenched his fists even more, prepared to fight for April if he had to.
"No." He said.
"Ooh boy, are you going to forget that." Joe swung his fist and it cracked right against Jackson's eye, who staggered back in surprise.
After he had reposed himself he walked back towards April's father.
Without thinking about is for a second, Jackson raised his fist and slammed it down on to Joe's forehead. Joe went down like a sack of bricks and April immediately started crying.
"April…" Jackson said softly as he rubbed his swollen eye and crouched down next to her. "I can't let you stay here, so you're going to come home with me until we figure things out, okay?" He smiled comfortingly.
April nodded hastily and she quickly wrapped herself in Jackson's arms.
"Thank you for meeting me." Arizona said softly. Joe had just served them the Thanksgiving special and the two sat awkwardly across form each-other.
"Don't mention it." Callie said. "I can't imagine what you're going through." Arizona flinched. "Can we please not talk about that?" She asked.
"Sure."
"Callie, l need to tell you what happened." Callie sighed. "Go ahead."
"I had given Jackson the signal and l was about to tell her that she had been put in her place, but she kissed me."
Callie looked away. "I don't know if what happened is true. All l know is, is that l can't be in a relationship right now." She said thinking back to everything that had happened with Aria. If her parents found out…
"But.. Callie…"
"I'm sorry, but l want to be friends. I know you need one right now."
Arizona let all the information sink in and then nodded.
"Okay." She said. "Friends."
Lexie had fallen asleep on her bed, her whole arm still covered in caked blood. Bloody tissues lay strewn around the atmosphere and her razor had been placed protectively under her bed.
"Hey, Lex?" Mark asked and he knocked the door. Lexie quickly jumped up.
"Ow!" She said when she forgot about her arm.
"Lex, you okay?" Mark asked knocking again. "Yes!" She yelled back in pain.
"Okay. Look everybody left for their own plans so l figured we could order something together? For dinner?" Silence. Mark immediately got embarrassed. Who the hell asks if the other wants to help cook?
"Uh, sure." Lexie said back. Mark could tell something was off, her voice sounded… strangled.
Mark swiftly opened the door to reveal Lexie on her bed desperately trying to stop her cuts from bleeding.
"Lex?" He said softly. She stared up at him and stopped fooling around with the stitches in her hand.
"Mark." She said feeling terrible and slightly surprised that he had caught her in such a vulnerable position. Mark's face looked sad, then it became stoic. He sat down next to her and grabbed the needle and thread from her.
"Stay still." He said softly. Lexie stared at him wide-eyed. He wasn't angry. He wasn't sad. He wasn't begging her to stop. He was just there for her, and this moment that was all Lexie needed.
He meticulously weaved the thread through her skin until, finally, he finished, Lexie's eyes had been locked on Mark's face that displayed deep concentration.
"There." He said, kind of proud of his work. "Don't try and stitch yourself up alone, like l said..." Mark locked eyes with Lexie's gaze. "Whenever you need me, l'm there." They stared at each-tother for a moment before Mark got up.
"Come, l can order pizza. Don't worry l'll pay." He grinned and grabbed Lexie's hand to lead her into the kitchen.
R&R!