Prompt: "So stick that in your juice box and suck it."
It was an unusually hot May day in Seattle, meaning the ER was filled with heat stroke patients that kept everyone busy. Alex had been running back and forth from the peds floor to the ER all day, checking in on new patients while still maintaining his normal routine. To be honest, he was exhausted and all he wanted was to settle in for lunch with his wife. He hadn't seen her since they'd walked in together almost four hours ago, which wasn't unusual, but she usually popped by to see him at least once or twice.
Clocking off for his lunch, Alex wandered down towards the main surgical floor in search of his wife. She'd seemed okay when they were getting ready for the day, extreme morning sickness turned to only an occasional swell of nausea now that she was in her second trimester. Still, Alex couldn't help the worry for his wife that wound itself through his body. He knew that the pregnancy was taking a toll on her, both physically and emotionally, so, although he was sure she was going to be fine, he couldn't help but worry.
After searching and finally asking a few nurses he'd passed, he found Jo laying on an empty gurney in one of the quieter hallways. She wasn't asleep, just laying on her back and glaring at the ceiling with the most adorable angry pout Alex had ever seen. He smiled because the position she was lying in allowed him to see the tiniest curve of her stomach, so small and barely there that he was probably the only one who noticed.
He came up behind her and pressed a tender kiss on her forehead, "Hi."
"Shut up," Jo scowled.
"What?" Alex asked, a puzzled look on his face. "All I did was say hi. You can't be mad at me for that."
"I'm not mad because you said hi," Jo rolled her eyes. "I'm mad at you because you did this to me. You knocked me up and now I can barely stand without feeling like I'm going to fall over."
Alex wanted to laugh, honestly. But he knew if he did, he'd end up in the doghouse. Jo's hormones had been a whirlwind lately. Most days, he teetered on the edge of saying something equally snarky back or just taking it in stride. Today, he decided to contain himself, "You're not dizzy because you're pregnant. Well, it's not the only reason you're dizzy. You're dizzy because you've barely eaten anything all day. This morning when I made breakfast, you almost bit my head off for placing eggs in front of you, and proceeded to tell me how you couldn't stand the smell and didn't want to eat anything. I had to practically shove that piece of toast down your throat."
"It's still kind of your fault. Because if I weren't pregnant, then I wouldn't have weird food aversions that keep me from eating." Jo pointed out.
"As far as I remember, you're the one who got us into this situation. You stopped taking your pills, and I told you that I didn't have a condom but you said and I quote, 'I don't care. I'm naked and horny, stop stalling and just stick it in me.' So really, you did this to yourself," Alex shrugged.
"Whatever," Jo glared at her husband. "What do you want?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to come eat lunch with me," Alex asked sweetly, knowing if he won Jo over with his charm she might not realize he was just trying to get food into her over exerted body.
"I honestly don't know if I can even get up from this gurney," Jo admitted, eyes moving up to meet Alex's. He could see just from looking at her how much of a toll everything was taking on her. "I think I'm just gonna spend the next few months here, then I don't have to move when I give birth."
"I'll carry you over there if I have to," Alex offered, holding his hand out towards Jo. "Come on, I'll help you up and hold your hand if you get dizzy."
"Fine," Jo huffed and held on to Alex as she let him help her off the gurney.
They got to the cafeteria and Jo wrinkled her nose at the available options. Nothing looked appetizing, prompting her to grab an apple and banana and sit down at a table. Alex joined her a moment later, tray loaded with a burger, a sandwich, two bags of chips, and a fruit cup. He grabbed the burger and bit into it before fixing Jo with a pointed stare.
"Please for the love of god, force yourself to eat something besides an apple," Alex pushed the tray towards Jo who glared at him. "If you don't eat any of that, I'm putting you on my service so I can watch you all day and make sure you don't pass out."
"I'm not a resident anymore, you can force me on your service," Jo pointed out, eyeing him warily.
"Dammit. That's right. You're a fellow," Alex wrinkled his nose. "Well, good news is that I'm the chief, so technically I can have you follow me around all day."
Jo stared him down for a moment, Alex unfazed by his wife's glare as he bit into his burger. Finally relenting, Jo grabbed a bag of chips and began to slowly eat them between bites of fruit.
"You know I really hate you sometimes," Jo mumbled as she took a final bite of the apple, a low groan escaping her as she did so. "Bailey would never abuse her power like this."
"You didn't know her when I was a resident," Alex took another bite of his burger. "Are you sure you don't want anything else? You can have some of my burger."
"I'm sure," Jo shook her head, a disgusted look crossing her face as she settled one hand onto her stomach. "Watching you eat is making me feel nauseous."
Alex sighed, looking to Jo with a serious expression "This isn't okay Jo. I can't have you walking around the hospital alone without having eaten anything. You're with me today, okay?"
"I don't need to be babysat Alex, I can take care of myself," Jo whined, crossing her arms across her chest like an angry toddler. "You don't need to watch me 24/7."
"You fell asleep on our bathroom floor yesterday after puking for 30 minutes. How about this," Alex leaned in towards his wife with a small grin. "Shepherd and I have a Peds case together, you can come and help us so it doesn't feel like I'm just dragging you around to make sure you don't pass out in a storage closet."
Jo eyed Alex warily, he was almost certain she was going to fight him on it, but he wore his 'I'm the Chief don't test me right now' expression well enough that she finally conceded.
"Ugh… fine," Jo groaned, standing and reaching for Alex's hand. "Bailey's out today anyway, so it's not like I have anything better to do. But this is a one time thing!"
Alex joined Jo, one arm wrapped tightly around her shoulder as they headed towards the elevators.
"That's the spirit, your enthusiasm is appreciated," Alex chuckled as they made their way to the Peds ward. "If you keep eating and stop feeling like shit, maybe I'll let you do more things on your own."
Alex led Jo into a patient room, Helm and Shepherd already speaking with a young girl and her mom. Amelia was explaining the procedure to them, so Alex and Jo hung back by the door until they'd finished.
"I brought you something," Alex whispered, handing a box of apple juice to Jo. "Figured you can keep your electrolytes up."
Jo rolled her eyes as she snatched the juice box from Alex, sticking it in the pocket of her lab coat. "You're a pain in the ass. Stop hovering."
"Geez, Jo. Why are you so grumpy? I'm supposed to be the grumpy one," Alex tried joking in hopes of lightening the mood. "You're the nice one in this relationship. "
"Did you forget that I'm literally carrying your genes right now?" Jo stared her husband down. "I am part Alex Karev at this moment and will continue to be for the next five and a half months, so you better get used to this."
Alex narrowed his eyes at her and reached for the juice box in her pocket. He removed the straw from the plastic and handed both items back to his wife, "Whatever. You can be mean and grumpy all you want, but you're carrying our kid and they need nutrients. So, stick that in your juice box and suck it."
Jo glared at Alex as she stuck the straw in the juice box. She was about to open her mouth in response when her smart remark was interrupted by Amelia calling Alex over to speak to the mom.
"Gracie and Delilah, this is Doctor Karev. He's the best pediatric surgeon we have and he's going to help me fix you up Gracie," Amelia turned from Gracie to her mom. "Seriously this guy is a miracle worker, you're lucky I convinced him to come consult."
Alex pulled Delilah aside, explaining in more detail exactly what Gracie's treatment plan would look like. He could tell she was worried, but hoped that he and Amelia could keep her nerves at bay.
"Any other questions before we start doing labs?"
"Well just one," Delilah blushed, eyelashes batting against her cheeks as she looked up to Alex. "Would it be inappropriate for me to ask for your number?"
Now, it's not like Alex had never been hit on at work before. He had been, plenty of times, especially being a peds surgeon that dealt with scared moms daily. But since he'd been preoccupied with his Chief duties, lately he hadn't spent enough time alone with moms to have them hit on him. Not to mention it was the first time Alex had experienced this since he'd gotten married. He also didn't expect for his wife to be standing on the opposite side of the room when it happened.
So for that very reason, Alex blurted out the first thing that came to his mind, "I'm sleeping with her."
Delilah looked stunned and a bit confused, scrunching her face as she looked to the doctors behind them, "Which one?"
Alex looked around the room and saw Jo standing with Amelia and Helm talking to Gracie. Jo clinked her juice box against Gracie's and took a giant slurp. Alex turned back around to Delilah and motioned to Jo, "The one with the juice box."
"Oh," Delilah nodded, a strange expression on her face.
"Yeah," Alex laughed awkwardly, his hand coming up to rub against his neck. "That's my wife. My pregnant wife, sharing a juice box with your kid. Who I'm about to operate on."
Alex and Delilah stood in an awkward silence that was only broken by Amelia announcing that Helm was going to run labs for Gracie before they prepped her for surgery. Alex quickly said his goodbyes to Gracie and Delilah, grabbing Jo's arm pulling her out of the hospital room.
"Geez you're eager to get out of there," Jo joked, sipping off her juice box as they walked down the hall. "What's up with you?"
"She hit on me," Alex blurted out, turning to Jo with a shocked expression. "Gracie's mom hit on me."
There was a beat of silence between the two before Jo burst into laughter, holding a hand to her chest as she tried to contain the giggles coming from her mouth. Jo wiped a few tears from her eyes, "What did you say? Please tell me you froze like an idiot."
Alex ran a hand over his face in hopes of disguising his embarrassment, "I told her I was sleeping with the one drinking the juice box."
"Oh God… Alex," Jo's laughter started up again. She laughed in between her words. "Out of everything... that's what you said? Did you at least say that we're married. I don't need patients thinking I'm servicing the Chief."
"Of course. I'm not that much of an idiot," Alex sighed. "I don't need patients thinking that the Chief of Surgery is a man-whore."
"He used to be," Jo muttered under her breath, nudging Alex with a smirk.
"Shut up," Alex stuck his tongue out, deciding to mess with Jo a bit. "I haven't been like that in years. You know that you're the only person I've slept with in the past six years? You can't exactly say the same."
"Hey!" Jo gasped and slapped Alex on the shoulder. "I thought we agreed to forget about that. Me sleeping with Schmidt was a momentary lapse in judgement. And I only did it because I was trying to get over you."
"Well, would you look at how that worked out," Alex poked her small bump lightly. "You ended up with me anyway."
"I know," Jo groaned. "And now I have to put up with you for the rest of my life."
"You love me," Alex bent down and gave Jo a quick peck on the lips. "Come on, we've got like forty-five minutes before we've got to meet Shepherd in the OR and I'm going to try to force a granola bar or something down your throat."
"We've got forty-five minutes free and all you want to do is make sure I eat something?" Jo shook her head in disappointment. "Gosh, being Chief has really mellowed you out. Who are you and what have you done with Alex Karev?"
"Huh?" Alex looked at her in confusion. "What did you want to do with your free time?"
"Alex, come on. You can't be that clueless," Jo looked at him expectantly. Seeing that he wasn't going to catch on anytime soon, she decided to spell it out for him. "Dude. I'm fifteen weeks pregnant and my hormones are raging right now,"
A look of realization finally crossed Alex's face, "Oh… Oh! You wanna?"
"Yup," Jo nodded and looked at him with an expression that could only be described as hungrily.
"I could be into that," Alex whispered. "Let's get out of here before someone sees me and decides that they need the Chief."