Hellooo. This has been sitting in my drafts for a minute and right now I think everyone needs a little break from the stress. The idea for this fic is the missing scene from when Jessica pulls Gil out of the trunk to when Malcolm gets to the hospital because it'd take 2 hours. I hope y'all enjoy this little exploration it was a lot of fun to write and plan this out with my best friend. The title is based on literally murphy's law where "anything that can go wrong, will go wrong"
Jessica tries her best to keep her breathing steady, to not focus on what happened and put all of her attention into driving.
God when was the last time that she's driven a car at all?
15 years ago, maybe. Ainsley had a fever, she was alone. Malcolm was at Gil's, she didn't have a choice. She was so scared…
It's the closest she's ever come to calling Martin, herself. The thought fills her mouth with disgust and she has to shake her head to force the memories away. For the slightest moment she's thankful for Gil's taste in old cars. It's similar to the one she was taught to drive in, it feels more automatic than she would know what to do with in a much newer one, one that she might own. Her hands clench even tighter around the steering wheel.
This was so much worse than a fever.
It's the sound of Gil's breathing, as labored as it is that keeps her tears from falling. As long as he's still breathing she still has time. The smell of blood is overwhelming, all of her senses are so damn overwhelmed.
She almost cries in relief at seeing the hospital.
She pulls in quickly in front of the giant emergency room sign. She spares only a moment looking around, pleading that she sees some doctor or nurse on a break. With no such luck she runs back over to the other side of the car pulling the door open.
Her heart drops when she sees his eyes are closed. "Gil," She calls to him softly. The tears come down in full force when she sees his chest rise and fall. "Come on," She reaches in pulling him out of the car but he's a dead weight against her. "Gil please I need you to wake up." She sobs. "You need to help me, come on." He doesn't wake, he's completely unconscious either of blood loss or pain.
She pulls on him but stumbles backwards. She loses balance in her heels under the weight of the two of them. Her ankle twists painfully before she hits the pavement with him in her lap.
"Somebody help me!" She screams in desperation. Sobs wrack her frame as she holds her hand over the wound trying to stop the bleeding. Her head bows as she hears the doors slide open, three sets of feet racing towards them. A fourth comes wheeling a gurney and just like that he's lifted off and away from her.
A man helps her to her feet and she's back into action once again. "What's his name? What happened?"
"His name is Lieutenant Gil Arroyo with major crimes. He was stabbed and dragged into the back of a trunk. I wrecked into the car to get him out."
The man nods his thanks, turning his full attention to Gil. "Lieutenant, we're going to do our best to help you."
"His blood type is A positive, he has no allergies, and he's on no medication." She follows the gurney along until a hand stops her, grabbing at her elbow.
"Mrs. Arroyo, you can't go in. You need to let the doctors do their work." She turns to the voice. A much younger blonde woman looks at her with a softness that hurts so badly. That's the kind of compassion that this world tears apart. She would be eaten alive.
"I'm not-" She tries to correct the girl, but sobs take over once again. "I can't leave him."
"I need to get you checked out, okay?" She asks. "You said you wrecked the car, correct?" Jessica tries not to let her irritation bubble to the surface with a sigh.
"I'm fine."
"It's only procedure ma'am." Jessica looks down at her again. Her eyes, they remind her so much of Ainsley. "Let me help you." She nods following her to a spare bench.
"What's your name?" She asks weakly.
"Tiff." She smiles gently. "Yours?"
"Jessica, Jessica Whitly." Realization settles over the girl's face.
"Oh. I'm sorry I assumed you were married to Lieutenant Arroyo." Jessica swallows the guilt at the back of her throat. Maybe, once upon a time, that could've been a possibility. She's almost relieved when the girl doesn't seem to recognize her. "Can you tell me, completely, what happened?"
"Depends, would you believe me?" Sarcasm, her best defense, coats her tongue.
"I've seen a man who lived through getting rebar through the skull and make a full recovery. Try me." Jessica sighs, detailing the horrors of the night to this poor girl as she checked on her. She winced slightly when the girl grabbed the ankle that had twisted but otherwise, she was unharmed.
Just then the doors burst open and they wheeled Gil quickly out of the room. She stood up, ready to follow when the girl puts a hand on her shoulder. "They're taking him back to the operating room. He just stabilized enough to move him." The girl's eyes fall to her hands, still stained a deep red with blood. "Other than a sprained ankle I think you're perfectly fine. We'll need to do an x-ray for confirmation but that can wait. Let's get you cleaned up, ok?"
She nods, numbly following the girl to the nearest bathroom. She washes her hands wishing that she could get rid of the smell burning her nose. She knows it's stained her dress and the shoes, even though they're black she can still smell it.
"Does he have anyone you can call? A wife? Next of kin?" Jessica almost laughs.
"I'm his emergency contact." She sighs. "His wife died three years ago. No children."
"Well he was very lucky you were here. Not many people would know that much information. It was very helpful."
"God, I need to call my son." She looks around for her purse, surely she must have had it. Maybe she left it in the car. "He's like a father to him he's-" Oh god, Malcolm is probably on a plane by now. She'd given Gil the money to get him out of the country until his accusations cleared up. She needs to try. "Did you see my-"
Her question stops in her tracks as she remembers what happened again. She'd left her purse behind when she smashed the plate into Nicholas' head. She stashed her phone inside when she tried to call 9-1-1.
"I lost my phone." A bitter laugh escapes her. Tears fall all over again, ones of frustration at the world.
"You can borrow mine." She makes a mental note to look into the girl later. Truly pay her back for the help that she's given. "I can bring you to the waiting room if you'd like, maybe I can wait with you until your son comes."
"You don't have to do that."
"I want to." She smiles sadly. "You shouldn't have to be alone right now."
"Thank you." She whispers.
Her fingers shake as she dials Malcolm's number. She bites her lip as the phone rings twice, trying to think of what the hell she was supposed to say to him.
"Mother?"
She almost cries with relief. "Malcolm," She sighs.
"Mom, what's wrong?" She can almost see him sitting up, looking around in a panic.
"Gil's in the hospital. He was stabbed."
"I'm in Connecticut, I'll be there as soon as possible. Don't leave, it's not safe. I'll call Dani and JT so they can come to the hospital. They'll sit with you until I can get there. Where's Ainsley? Where's your phone?"
The rapid fire statements throw her off as she catches up Malcolm on what happened. She almost loses all sense of where she is until she feels something heavy settle on her shoulders. The blanket is a welcome warmth against the frigid hospital air.
She calls Ainsley too but she's stuck in the office until she can get out of the emergency press meeting. She promises to pick her up some clothes from the house before coming over after she gets off, though. It will be a welcome relief to get out of the dress that feels like it's suffocating her. The intern, Tiff, has to leave shortly before either Dani or JT arrive, but it's not without her having the ability to thank her for her kindness.
She will feel better when Malcolm and Ainsley both are there. Until then, she holds desperately onto what little control of her life she has left.
After all, it couldn't possibly get worse.