Short story set some time in 2020. Somewhat of a sequel to Christmas With Benefits. Co-written with fanficgirl18!
"I still don't know why we had to take a private jet to Kansas. We should have just taken coach on a commercial flight like normal people." Jo adjusted her mask as she spoke.
"There's no harm in travelling in style," Jackson said. Their taxi stopped in front of the hospital they were visiting. "Plus our time is too valuable to spend two hours waiting for a plane."
"Whatever. We had to quarantine regardless. Anything to ride that fancy jet though, huh?" Jo opened the taxi door, her gold chain still dangling from her wrist. She hadn't taken it off since Christmas, aside from performing hospital procedures of course.
"It ain't worth having it if you don't use it," Jackson said, stepping out when the driver opened the door for him. He looked up at the tall building; the hospital they had to go to to learn about a new covid vaccine. After watching Meredith have another set back in her recovery he was all the more motivated to learn about what he could do to prevent others from having to suffer in the same way. He was glad to have Jo with him to keep him company.
"Oh my god." Jo stopped short of entering the hospital. "No no no." She stammered softly.
Jackson turned to her with a frown, "what is it?"
"Al- It's Alex... This is his hospital. He works here..." Jo nearly choked on her every word.
"What? Are you sure?" Jackson asked. He hadn't been briefed on all the details of Alex's move to Kansas and he hadn't heard about this.
"Yes! Bailey gave me the name of the hospital and I looked it up. I- I can't do this... Not yet. You go in... I'm going back to the hotel." Jo felt her chest tighten as she struggled for breath.
Jackson pulled her close, seeing how freaked out she was. "He might not even be there," he said. He could see that didn't help much.
"I don't care, Jackson. I can't. I just can't. Please." Jo was now hyperventilating. She tried to take deep breaths but couldn't focus.
"Just look at me," Jackson said, "focus on me." He took some exaggerated deep breaths, trying to get her to mimic them.
"No... I'm sorry but I can't. I think I'm gonna walk back to the hotel." Jo put her hands in her pocket as she briskly walked in the direction of the hotel.
Jackson sighed and leaned against the door connecting his hotel room to Jo's, giving it a slight knock.
"What?!" Jo yelled. She was crying and considering throwing things. How could this happen? She was doing all the right things. Moving on, focusing on her career, having mind-blowing sex, and now her world was upside down again.
Jackson opened the door slightly, only poking his head in. He had half expected to half a pillow fly at his head but in absence of that he took a step inside. "Is there anything I can-" she didn't even give him a chance to finish his sentence.
''How could he have done this to me? Why'd he marry me if he was going to go back to her?" Jo pressed a tissue against her red and swollen eyes.
"He didn't know," Jackson said softly. "He loved you, everyone could see that. She just has his kids, it has nothing to do with you."
"He could have seen them." She sniffed. "I wouldn't have stopped him. Ever. It wasn't solely about them. He might have loved and cared for me but he was in love with her. He always has been."
Jackson was silent. He couldn't argue with that. Meredith had been Alex's person, Jo his wife, but Izzie had always been… everything; the love of his life, the one that got away, whatever you wanted to call it. "I'm sorry," he whispered, there was nothing else to say.
"Yeah... Me too," she said softly.
"So what do you want to do?" He asked. "They're expecting us at the hospital tomorrow, can I convince you to come with me?"
"Do I really have a choice? Don't worry, Doctor Jo whatever the hell my last name is now will be ready tomorrow."
"Great. And like I said, we might not even see him."
"With my luck, we will." Jo huffed.
"I understand the point of Hyperbaric Chamber Therapy for post-Covid patients. I'm just not sure Mer is out of the woods yet. I don't wanna put her respiratory system under any unnecessary stress. Plus, these case studies have all proven to be inconclusive." Jo and Jackson were discussing literature they had studied the night before in preparation for today's lecture. They had decided to walk to the hospital today. It was better for mental health. Besides, Jo would do anything to keep her mind off of Alex.
"I'll call Maggie later to see how Mer is doing," Jackson said, flipping through a newly published research paper. It felt useless, there was just too little known about the virus. The hospital was up the street from where they were walking, he looked over at Jo, "are you ready?"
Jo smirked. "Not even a little," Jo grabbed his hand discreetly. The palm of her hand was covered by the sleeve of her lab coat.
Jackson gave her hand a slight squeeze as they walked in. Even though it was a different hospital the smell and same white walls made him feel like he knew the place already. As they were signing in at the receptionists desk he was listening for the sound of Alex's voice and he could sense how tense Jo was. They stood waiting at the elevators, "see? No sight of Karev."
"Yeah, not yet." Jo retorted. "How long do we have until the lecture?"
"About fifteen minutes," Jackson said, looking at his watch. "We could go down to the cafeteria?"
"You don't think he'll be down in the cafeteria?" Jo asked nervously.
"It's still early, probably not," Jackson said. At Grey Sloan Memorial it was a lot less busy in the morning than during, say, lunch time, and he couldn't imagine Alex Karev spending his morning sitting in the cafeteria.
"Fine. Let's go." Jo clicked the elevator button before putting her hand back in Jackson's.