I do not own any characters, plots, or anything else pertaining to "Grey's Anatomy". This chapter will feature Jackson's P.O.V regarding April's strange behavior. Will he figure out what's going on with her? As always, thanks for following/favoriting and commenting.

Chapter 2

The Trouble with Exes

Jackson spots Arizona at the nurse's station and makes his way over to her. Ever since yesterday, he's been trying to figure out what's wrong with April. She hadn't been acting like herself and he knows he has to get to the bottom of it, for Harriet's sake. Jackson approaches Arizona and stands next to her at the desk. Her eyes shift to someone coming through the door and he looks in that direction. April enters, in the same clothes she wore yesterday, looking completely disheveled and hungover. Jackson feels confusion wash over him, as she walks past him, without saying a word.

While they haven't exactly been having long conversations lately, they have been talking a little to each other. April usually initiates it, but today, she decided to ignore him. "She's losing it, Jackson." He turns to Arizona and can see the concern in her eyes. "Did she give you any idea why she's acting like this?" Arizona nods her head. "She did, but I'm not sure I should tell you." Jackson feels anger rise inside of him. "Why can't you tell me?" She shakes her head. "It's not my place, I'm not getting in the middle of you two again." He meets Arizona's eyes. "I need to know what's going on, I have Harriet to think about." It takes her a few moments, but she finally relents, and gives him an exasperated nod. "She blurted out yesterday that she slept with one of the interns." Jackson stares at her blankly, trying to wrap his head around, what she's just told him. Out of all the things he thought she was going to say, April sleeping with one of the interns, had never crossed his mind. There's silence between them for a few moments, until Arizona's beeper fills the air.

Jackson stares at her in disbelief. "I've really got to go, if I find out anything else about April, I'll let you know." With that, she rushes down the hall, and it leaves him wondering how any of this is happening. April has always been the voice of reason, even when he hadn't wanted to listen. Now, she's sleeping with interns? He shakes his head and heads down the hallway towards the bustling ER. Jackson has about a two-hour window, before he has to report to the OR for surgery, so he figures, this is as good a time as any to confront her. He knows she won't like him ambushing her like this, but he needs to know what's going on with her. As Jackson enters the ER, he spots April working on a patient with efficiency. He's always admired how at home she seems here in the ER and her skill at being a trauma surgeon.

He waits a few minutes for her to finish with her patient and is about to approach her, when a guy he's never seen before comes towards her. The way the guy is looking at her, like she's his, makes his stomach turn. Jackson watches, as April gives him the look and he grabs her by the hand. The two start walking out of the ER and down the long hallway. Jackson fights the urge to follow them but stands frozen in the middle of the ER. He doesn't want to think about where they went or that guy touching her, but the images come anyways. Jackson's beginning to regret ever coming to talk to her because now he knows what the guy looks like. "Avery." Jackson turns to see Owen coming towards him. "I need a hand outside, there's an incoming trauma that involved a house fire. I'm going to need your help in treating the burns they sustained." Jackson gives him a nod, before following Owen to get their emergency scrubs on. He needs to focus on the task in front of him and try to put all his thoughts about April aside. Jackson hears the sirens blaring and he makes his way outside quickly. They wait for the ambulance to stop and rush towards the back of the vehicle. The paramedics open the door and two people are screaming in the back.

As they maneuver them out, Jackson sees that there's a little girl, about Harriet's age, and a woman next to her. Both are writhing in pain due to what appears to be third degree burns and for some reason, he can't help but picture it being April and Harriet. Despite the distance between him and April, he couldn't take seeing her or their daughter like this. "Avery, let's go." Jackson snaps out of it and wheels the patients into the ER. They move- into two separate exam rooms. He starts to treat the burns, when the woman locks eyes with him, pain etched in her eyes. "Where's…my…baby?" She barely gets the words out, but he tries to reassure her. "What's your name?" The woman begins hyperventilating. "My…name…is…Kate…Molloy." Jackson gives her a nod. "Your daughter is in good hands, she's in the next exam room being treated by Dr. Hunt." Kate gives him a small nod full of uncertainty, before he starts the morphine drip, and continues treating her burns.

After forty-five minutes, Jackson finishes tending to her charred skin, and looks down at Kate. The morphine has taken effect and she's resting peacefully now. Her eyes are closed, and he leaves the room silently. Jackson makes his way over to the next exam room and sees that the girl is stable too. He breathes a sigh of relief, as he enters the room. "I'm glad to see that she's stable." Owen turns to look at him and nods. "I'm glad too, how about your patient?" Jackson's eyes fall on the baby, who's sleeping soundly. "She's sleeping now, but her burns were extensive." Owen gives him another nod. "Hers were too, if it wasn't for Dr. Kepner's quick response, the baby wouldn't have survived." Jackson's eyes furrow in confusion, but he decides not to press Owen for more information. He's glad that April is still a dedicated doctor, despite how different she's acting.

Jackson waits a few more moments, before he leaves the ER, and heads down the hallway. He starts making his way towards the cafeteria, so he can grab some food, before he has to report to the OR for surgery. Jackson figures that it will also give him some time to think about how he's going to handle this situation with April. They've been through a lot the last few years and he's always dealt with it by distancing himself from her, but he knows he can't do that this time. As Jackson reaches the end of the hallway, he turns the corner to see that guy coming out of an on-call room. Anger fills him, as he watches him head down the hallway. Before thinking about it, Jackson decides to move towards the room, and open the door. His heart stops, when he sees April half-dressed. Her eyes meet his, but she seems unaffected by his presence. Usually, she'd be embarrassed for any man she's not married to seeing her like this, even though he used to be married to her. "What's going on here, April?" She gives him a glare. "What does it look like, I'm having fun?" A mixture of anger and hurt flood him, as she pulls her scrub top over her head.

Jackson takes a moment to realize that this was their on-call room, when they were sneaking around. The anger intensifies inside him, as she locks eyes with him. "What?" Jackson sees an emptiness in her eyes that wasn't there before, and he wonders what caused her to be this way. "Did something happen to make you like this?" He can see anger fill her eyes at his question, but he's not backing down. "Like what, Jackson? I'm just like any other single woman in this hospital. Sleeping around is part of the territory." Jackson shakes his head. "Talk to me, April. Don't shut me out." She gives him an angry smile. "Oh, that's rich coming from you. You've been shutting me out like I never meant anything to you. Like we never even happened." The hurt within her eyes makes his heart clench, but he sees anger soon replace it. "I'm tired of living my life inside the lines, it's time I start doing things outside the lines the way I want to." Jackson doesn't know the person standing in front of him anymore and it scares him. Seeing April like this, uncaring and cold, makes his heart ache.

Jackson barely registers April gathering her things, too stunned to notice. It's not until her voice fills the air, that she gets his attention. "I'm taking Harriet for the weekend, I'll pick her up at your place after my shift is over tonight." With that, she walks past him, and out of the on-call room. It stung the way she had just treated him, as if they were strangers. Her words come back to him full force. 'Like I never meant anything to you' and worse, 'like we never even happened'. He had never intended for her to feel like he thought they were nothing. All he had wanted to do was move on with his life and give her the space to do the same. Jackson's not sure what to think about all this, but what he does know, is that he needs to find a way to get through to her. Before she's gone forever.