Jackson has checked every lock in the house multiple times. He checked the front door, the back door, the garage door – he even checked the windows in Harriet's room and the room he now shares with April. You're paranoid, he tells himself. You just forgot to lock it. He shuts off the hallway light and walks into their bedroom just as April is laying Harriet down in her playpen at the foot of their bed. They agreed over dinner that they would both feel more comfortable if Harriet slept in their room tonight, just in case.
"She's asleep?" He whispers through the darkness.
"Yes. I just fed her, so hopefully she sleeps for a while so we can, too. I was falling asleep feeding her. I guess I didn't realize how tired I am until now." Keeping her voice low, she collapses on to their bed in exhaustion and throws an arm over her eyes.
"Yeah, it's been a long day." Jackson peeks into the playpen at their little girl sleeping peacefully before climbing in bed next to April. He goes to reach for her waist and pull her to him, but hesitates, remembering how broken she seemed in the supply closet earlier that day. He didn't want to scare her again, but he wants to make sure she knows she is safe. He runs his fingers through her soft curls, and whispers, "Babe?"
April lets the arm covering her eyes fall to the bed and looks up at him with heavy eyes. "What?"
She can see the concern and stress in Jackson's eyes when he whispers back, "Are you okay? We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I just need to know that you're okay."
April reaches for him and closes the space between them, resting her head on his chest and pressing her body against his. "I think so. I mean, I think I will be. I don't know why I freaked out today. I just felt someone grab me, and it was like I was back there in his office with his hands on me. I just – I don't know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freak out. I don't want you to think I'm going to do that every time you touch me now. I won't. I promise."
"You have nothing to be sorry for. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. The way you reacted is perfectly normal after everything that happened." His pulls her tighter against his body and sighs, frustrated that he caused her to be so upset.
"Yeah…maybe…" April mumbles. She can feel her mind drifting off until she remembers to ask, "Jackson? Did you double check the door?"
He kisses the top of her head and whispers in to her hair, "Yes. You're safe."
April's body relaxes fully for the first time all day, and she lets sleep take over completely.
Work the next day is less crazy than the day before, and Jackson and April are able to grab lunch together in the cafeteria. It doesn't take long before the empty seats at their table are occupied by Owen and Alex.
Alex twists the cap off his water and tosses it on to the table. "How'd I get stuck with Cross today? It's like working with a more annoying version of O'Malley…"
"Oh, come on, Alex. Cross isn't so bad." April may have been annoyed with Cross yesterday, but she never has an unkind word to say about anyone.
"Oh really? You wanna trade? You've got Deluca today, right? I'd rather work with the guy who tried to send me to prison than Cross. That's how much of an idiot he is."
April smiled, knowing Alex might have a point, "No thanks. I think I'll keep Deluca."
"So much for helping your friends…" Alex leans back in his chair and takes a bite of his apple. He sounds annoyed, but April has learned over the years that Alex may act like a jerk, but he means well most of the time.
Owen sets his glass on the table and turns to April, "Speaking of friends, April, I forgot to tell you – a friend of yours came by the ER this morning looking for you."
"A friend of mine?" She can't think of anyone who would have come to visit her without calling or texting first. "Who was it?"
"He didn't leave a name. Nice guy, though. He just asked if you were around and when I told him you weren't, he asked when you would be working next."
A sinking feeling crept over April. Surely it wasn't him. He wouldn't come to, Seattle. Jackson noticed the tension in April's body and moved his hand to her leg attempting to offer reassurance by rubbing circles with his thumb. He cleared his throat and asked the question April had been silently wondering. "Ahem…um, what did he look like?"
"Why Avery? You jealous?" Alex quipped, and then noticing Jackson's hand on April's leg he asked, "What, are you two doing it again?"
Alex's question brought April's eyes up from the spot she was staring at on the table. She realized that none of their friends really knew what happened in Montana – or Chicago for that matter. Jackson physically comforting her must seem a bit out of place. This wasn't really the time to get into all of that, so Jackson disregarded the question, "Shut up, Karev."
Alex smirks, "I'll take that as a yes." He pushes his chair back loudly and walks away leaving his half-empty water bottle on the table.
Jackson and April turned back to Owen, waiting for an answer, not quite sure they wanted to hear it.
"What did he look like? I don't know…tall, dark hair, probably around your guy's age?" Owen offers the only information he can remember. "Sorry, I didn't ask more questions. I had a patient I needed to get back to."
"Oh, no, Owen, don't be sorry! Thank you for passing along the message. I'm sure I'll figure out who it was eventually." April doesn't want Owen to feel bad. None of this has anything to do with him. "Wait, did you answer him when he asked when I work again?"
"No, of course not. I just explained we can't give out our doctor's schedules for safety reasons. He seemed to understand that. If he comes by again I'll be sure to get his name." Owen smiles and gathers his leftover food on to his tray. He stands up to head back to the ER, but pauses before he goes, "I know this is none of my business, but if Alex is right – I mean, about you two, together – well, I think it's a good thing." Owen can see by the smiles on their faces and the brief look they exchange that Alex was indeed right. "Well, I'll see you guys later."
Finding themselves alone at the table, April and Jackson turn to each other.
"You don't think…" April doesn't want to voice the idea out loud.
"I don't know what to think. I didn't think the guy I knew in med school would try to –" Jackson sees April shift in her chair, visibly uncomfortable, and doesn't finish the thought. They both know what Dotson could have done – would have done - if someone hadn't walked in. "Let's call my mom. Maybe she can find out if Dotson is still in Chicago, and we can see if she made any progress with you not testifying." He pulls his phone from his pocket. "The battery on my phone is dying. Can you call her on yours?"
"Yeah. Of course." April reaches into her lab coat pocket for her phone but finds nothing there. "Oh. I don't have it. That's weird. Maybe I left it in my locker? But I swear I grabbed it. I always grab it in case the daycare texts me."
"You probably just left it in your locker. It's been a weird couple of days. We're both feeling a little off, I think." Jackson grabs April's tray and stacks it on top of his. "Go grab it from your locker, and I'll call Mom from the board room phone. Meet me there?"
"Okay. I'll meet you there."
April heads to the attending's lounge rechecking her pockets on the way to make sure she doesn't really have her phone with her. She doesn't have much in her locker – her purse, a change of clothes, extra scrubs, and some hygiene products for when she has to get ready there. Opening the door, she sees the collage she hung up of her favorite photos. Seeing the faces of her favorite people always makes tough days a little easier. There are a couple of her parents and sisters and one from a girl's night with Arizona. But the majority of them are of Jackson and Harriet. Even when things were rough between her and Jackson she couldn't bring herself to take them down. There's a selfie of her and Jackson on the couch in the place they shared with Alex, a photo she snapped of Jackson at the hotel in Lake Tahoe, and a picture of Harriet sleeping in Jackson's arms that he sent her the night he took her home from the hospital. She can't help but think of how much they have been through together. They can get through this, too. They've been through worse.
She lifts her extra clothes and scrubs off the shelf to check for her phone. Nothing. She opens her purse and pulls everything out, emptying it, hoping her phone is there somewhere. When she doesn't find it, she places her purse and belongings back in her locker and shuts the door. She checks the floor around her locker and the table in the middle of the room. No phone. Where could it be? She sighs and heads to the board room, hoping Jackson has better news.
Jackson is leaning against the table, still on the phone with Catherine, when she walks in.
"Yeah, no, I know. April just walked in. I'll let her know. Okay, bye."
"So, what did she find out?" April cautiously asks.
"She said our lawyers convinced Dotson's attorney and the judge to use your written statement as your testimony."
April's face lights up at hearing the news. "So, I don't have to go back? I don't have to see him?"
"Nope."
"Oh, thank God." April throws her arms around his neck. "Remind me to tell your mom how amazing she is next time I see her."
Jackson wraps his arms around her waist and laughs, "Like she doesn't already think that." He pulls back and looks down at her. "So, where was your phone?"
"I have no idea! I didn't find it." April was so happy to hear she didn't have to go back to Chicago that she had momentarily forgotten her phone was lost.
"Weird. Are you sure you even brought it with you today?"
"Yes. I took a picture of Harriet when we dropped her off at daycare, remember? I thought she looked so cute in her little dress, and I took a picture."
Jackson did remember her taking a picture now that she mentioned it. "Oh, that's right. Well, then it has to be here somewhere. Maybe someone found it and turned it in. They can just look at the photos and figure out the phone belongs to one of us."
April's face turned a deep shade of red. "Oh my God. I hope not. Jackson, what if one of the interns found it. Or someone like Karev? Oh no. Whoever finds it cannot go through my photos. I'll die."
"That's a bit dramatic don't you think? Pretty much everyone here has seen the hundreds of photos of Harriet you have on your phone." Jackson didn't understand why she would care so much.
"Yeah, but they haven't seen those photos." April's eyes widened as she emphasized the word those.
"I'm not following…" Jackson still didn't know what the big deal was.
"Jackson…the photos of me…that I sent you. They're still on my phone…" April didn't know why she had to spell it out for him. He had the same photos on his phone.
When they were married and Jackson had to work late or they worked opposite shifts, April would send him pictures to remind him how much she missed him. And some of the pictures were more than that. They were to give him incentive to hurry home. To show him what was waiting for him. And for some reason, even after the divorce, April had kept all of their messages and photos saved on her phone. Jackson had too, for that matter. She saw the photos saved on his phone one night after she had moved in with him after Harriet was born. She was looking through his photos for a specific one of Harriet at Christmas to print. She knew she had sent him the pictures, but she was still surprised to see he kept them.
"Jackson! You still have these pictures on your phone?" April leaned closer to Jackson on their couch so he could see what she was looking at.
A smirk appeared on his face as he realized what pictures she was referring to. "Of course I do. Those are some of my favorites."
April playfully slapped his arm. "I assumed you deleted all of these. Oh my gosh, you don't let people look through your photos, do you? You haven't shown these to anyone, right?"
Jackson suddenly felt embarrassed that April knew he probably still looked at her pictures even though they weren't together. "April, I would never let anyone see these pictures. You sent them to me because you trust me, and I wouldn't jeopardize that, regardless of whether or not we are together." His answer seemed to satisfy April's worries because she didn't say anything else about the photos. Jackson expected her to ask him to delete them but she never did. He took the phone from her hand and flipped through to a different photo of her. "Besides, there are some good memories attached to these pictures. Especially this one."
April's face flushes remembering what happened the night she sent that picture to Jackson. That was a good night, she thinks to herself. "You're terrible," she laughs and changes the subject. "Just text me the picture of Harriet I wanted, okay? And keep those pictures to yourself!"
He smiles to himself at April's permission to keep the pictures. "I will. I promise."
Jackson suddenly realizes which pictures April is referring to. "Oh. Oh! Yeah, we need to find your phone!"
April looks exasperated. "I know! That's what I've been saying!"
"Okay, I have an hour until my next consult, and Deluca will page you if he needs you in the ER, right? So, let's retrace your steps. Maybe it just fell out of your pocket somewhere. We can start in the daycare since we know you had it there." They step into the hallway and turn the corner to head toward the elevator.
Just before Jackson reaches out to press the button, Deluca stops them. "Hey! Dr. Kepner!"
"Hey Deluca. Do you need me? Is there a patient that needs something?" April asks.
"No, no. Everything's fine in the ER. I just wanted to let you know that a man gave this to me and said it belongs to you. I know you are probably looking for it, so I wanted to get it back to you." April and Jackson look down to see April's cell phone in Deluca's outstretched hand.
April hesitates, then takes the phone from him. "A man gave you my phone?"
Deluca nods, explaining, "Yeah. It was kinda weird. He just appeared and told me that it belonged to you. I went to ask him how he had it, but he was already walking away. Anyway, I'm sure your happy to have it back. I'm gonna get back to the ER. See you later."
April held her phone in her hand, unsure what to do next. "Jackson?" She looked up at him to see he was staring at her phone with the same concerned look on his face as her. "Did you get an answer from your mom? Does she know where he is?"
Jackson looked reluctant to answer the question, and when he did, part of April wished that he hadn't. "She doesn't know. There were no restrictions on his bail. He could be anywhere."