Merry Christmas everyone!

Chapter 26 – Home for Christmas

Working on Christmas day was never anyone's favourite thing to do. Sure there were some people that didn't mind and some people actually chose to work Christmas…but there was almost always something they'd rather be doing. Myself included.

It wasn't necessarily being at work that I didn't like, I enjoyed being around the hospital. It was actually a nice place to be at Christmas time and Christmas day was especially merry what with all the decorations and family around and the staff Christmas lunch. So no, it wasn't being here that I disliked…It was not being somewhere else.

All day all I could think about were my family celebrating the holiday without me. We usually had Christmas all together but things had changed a bit this year. Edward and Bella had decided on a quiet Christmas together with Renesmee but mom dad would probably go round with with Santa sacs filled with parcels and dishes filled with food. Emmett and Rosalie were also having a quiet Christmas together but they'd invited Jasper down since I was working a 12 hour shift. So even though the family weren't all in one big room filled with Christmas music and the smell of moms mulled wine…they were still celebrating Christmas mostly together. And I was here.

"Good afternoon Dr Cullen," A familiar voice called behind me. The bell on the santa hat tinkled as I whipped my head round.

"Angela! Why are you here? This is your first Christmas as a newly wed, you should be at home getting into the Christmas spirit with that new husband of yours." I winked. "you know September 26th is the most common birthday…nine months after Christmas…just saying."

Angela laughed at me. "Well unfortunately that's just how the cookie crumbled, it's only backshift though so at least I got a nice Christmas morning. What are you working?"

"12 hours and I'm on call for ICU as well as working this ward," I answered glumly. "Jasper's with his sister and Emmett all day which I'm grateful for, I'd hate the thought of him all alone."

"Yeah Ben's gone over to his parents, they'll be happy to see him though so I guess me working isn't all bad. Anyway how's it going so far, any Christmas disasters?"

"Na the wards pretty quiet actually, managed to get most of our patients out home for the day so it'll get busier in the evening when they all start returning but hey, I'm not on nightshirt!" I laughed. My laughing stopped short when I looked down at what I was holding in my hand.

Angela looked down at what I was holding. "ICU chart?" She asked.

I nodded. "John Doe, in his twenties, motorcycle accident.'

"Oh Alice."

"Kidneys are shot, physical trauma and then metabolic damage on top of it. There's nothing more I can do but…I just want to see it through. He was probably on his way to see someone he loved, I don't know who he is but someone does, someone must be missing him this Christmas. It's so silly but I just keep picturing a family sitting checking out the window for their son, brother, uncle, nephew…I don't know, some other male relative, to arrive."

Angela leaned forward and squeezed my arm, "Cases like that are never easy, especially at this time of year."

"Yeah, I'm going to head down at the end of my shift and see how he's doing. I need to head down to the ER for a bit, you should be fine up here, its quiet for Christmas but you know how to find me." I said waving my pager in the air.

It was nice walking through the hospital at Christmas, there were decorations and lights and sparkling things and everyone was cheery. You might think it would have been the opposite, that everyone was miserable to be in hospital on Christmas day but actually everyone just made the best of it. So many friendly smiles and "Merry Christmas" greetings in the hall way, like we were all old pals or estranged family.

I spent most the day dotting between nephrology and the ER, no more ICU cases thankfully. It was quiet and I got a lot of paperwork done. All-in-all a very exciting Christmas. Every time my mind wondered to what my family were getting up to without me I managed to find a lab result the needed to be checked or medication that needed to be reviewed. I kept my mind too busy to think about my family, or the poor family of that man lying in an ICU bed.

Before I knew it, it was 7:30pm and my shift was all but over. The night shift had started to drip in and I handed over most of my patients from the ward.

"Angela," I called over the nurse's station. "I'm gonna head to the ICU to check on my motorcycle guy then heading off. I've got my pager if you need me."

"We'll be fine Alice; go home to that gorgeous blonde CKD patient you have waiting for you." She winked.

Christmas music escaped from patient's rooms and nurse's stations filling the corridor with cacophony of subtle sounds. Voices melding together and tunes battling to be heard.

There wasn't any Christmas music coming from the ICU doors, no one cared that it was Christmas when your loved one was so close to death.

The nurse sitting at Johns Does bed was a kind looking woman, she looking like a mom. I'd bet anything she had two kids at home missing her home cooking on Christmas day.

"Hi I'm Alice," I greeted her. "I'm one of the nephrologists just come along to check up on our boy here before my shift ends."

"Maggie Irish," She smiled as she shook my hand. "I'm almost finished myself actually, my kids will be running all over their poor dad by this this time."

The corner of my lips turned up at the thought of an exhausted dad trying to handle his over exited kids at Christmas. Toys flying through the air, dishes pilling up and bins over flowing with colourful wrapping paper.

Jasper could be that dad some day, waiting for me to come home.

"Go home to your kids Maggie, I've got this." She nodded her thanks and left me alone with my poor patient.

"It's so quiet in here, don't you think?" I asked his unconscious body. "I loved Christmas music, don't you? When I was young I used to count down the days till December started and it was socially acceptable to break out the Christmas albums and sing carols to my hearts content. Though to be honest a lot of it had to do with annoying my carol hating teenaged brothers, but it was all in good fun…for me at least."

I flicked through the chart at the end of his bed. He wasn't brain dead, but his body was probably only a few hours away from giving up. I like to think people can still hear you somehow, even in a state like this.

"Maybe you can hear me," I muttered. "If you can you're probably wanting me to shut up, I've been told I tend to talk too much."

I prayed someone managed to contact a loved one, someone to come and say their goodbyes, hold his hand when he goes.

But if no one came, I would stay. If this were someone I loved and I couldn't be there for them I'd want someone else to be. Just someone to make sure they weren't alone.

"Who were you going to see on that motor bike of yours, eh?" I asked. "Someone must be missing a handsome man like you. Why don't we have a little look and see how you're doing?"

I worked through his chart page by page noting down everything about his body we could possibly measure. I frowned down at the chart when I was finished. "That's odd," I said leafing through the pages. "You seem to be stabilising." I put the chart back down and sat down in the chair beside his bed. "You're not out of woods yet, in fact if I were you I wouldn't really get my hopes up at all, but…this is a very good sign. You never know, maybe if your numbers start going up soon I might let you get your hopes up."

I watched the clock as the minutes to the end of my shift came…and went. I occasionally asked him questions he couldn't answer or just went off on my own monologue. I wanted to stay here, I just felt like this is where I needed to be right now. I felt like a quack even thinking it but…maybe I felt like that for a reason. Every time I took his observations they were staying steady which was almost miraculous considering he's done nothing but get worse all day.

"One of my favourite things about Christmas is my brothers arguing." I said to my stable John Doe. "I know, it's a bit weird, right? Christmas is all about love and being together and…more love! But when my brothers bicker its just so hilarious. They're such opposites in every way except there both stubborn and wont admit when they're wrong; which are not great characteristics to share. Sometimes it gets pretty heated and Edward has stormed out of many a Christmas celebration, but I guess there's still love behind it. Brothers don't often know how to show their love for each other so they just rip each other to shreds! I wonder if you have any brothers waiting for you at home?"

I stood up and stretched out by tired aching muscles. "Time to give you once over again so be nice and…"

"Sam?!" A woman's voice cried out from the doorway. "Oh my god, Sam." Her handbag clattered on the ground as she rushed over to my patient's side and took his hand in both of hers. She gasped suddenly and jumped back. "Can I touch him?" She asked looking up at me. "Am I hurting him?"

"No, go ahead." I ushered her. I looked over to the corridor to see once of the ICU nurses, 'wife' she mouthed to me. Thank god.

I continued to check him over and make a note of everything. I could feel my body relaxing at the thought that someone was here for him, for Sam. Someone he loved had found him.

"I'm Emily," She said in a small voice, her words catching in her throat. "I'm his wife. He was coming home after a night shift, I told him he'd be too tired to drive the stupid thing home but there's just no stopping Sam." She wiped the tears from her cheeks quickly, clearly reluctant to let go of his hand for a second. "Please tell me he's going to be okay?"

I looked down at the observations I'd just noted down without thinking. I could feel a smile threatening to bloom and tears well up at what I realised, "He's getting better. He started to stabilise a few hours ago and it looks like he's improving, he's not out of the woods yet but he's looking better than he was a few hours ago."

"Thank you doctor," She whispered. Her eyes were fixed on her husbands face, if looks could heal, that man would be walking out of here tomorrow.

He was in good hands now; he wasn't John Doe anymore. I quietly slipped out the room and told one of the nurses I was leaving before making my way back to my department to pick up my stuff and finally go home. Go home, gosh that phrase had never sounded to appealing. I didn't even know if Jasper would be back yet, maybe he was staying the night with Rose and Emmett. I quietly, and selfishly, hoped he'd come home too.

Thankfully, I didn't have to hope for long. "Jasper!?" I gasped as I saw him standing over the nurse's station chatting with Jessica with my coat and handbag in his hand. "What are you doing here? Are you okay?"

"Can't I just come take my wonderful girlfriend home on Christmas day?" He said smoothly.

I felt everything inside me melt at the sound of his voice, I hadn't realised how badly I'd wanted to see him until this moment. I all but sprinted the last new steps between us and he wrapped me up in his arms.

"Lets get you home for Christmas." He whispered in my ear.