Hey guys! Sorry for the late update, I had a pretty intense time at uni, but now I have a week off! The promo for Thursday's episode really inspired me to bring Catherine into the story. Here you go guys!
Just one more hour. One more hour and Jackson's shift would be over and he would finally be able to escape this horrible atmosphere that had filled the hospital all day since his and April's arrival. Just one more day and Jackson could take April away from all the whispers and the stares he knew affected and haunted her way more than him. Just one more hour and he could take the red-headed love of his life home with him and comfort her and tell her he loved her for the umpteenth time until he was sure she was relaxed again.
"Dr. Avery," a low voice greeted him as Jackson just exited a supply closet.
"Dr. Webber, I –" Jackson wanted to greet the older surgeon back, but was interjected immediately. Webber placed his hands on Jackson's shoulders and squeezed them firmly, the look in his eyes alarming.
"Catherine is coming tomorrow. And she is going to kill me and you if she finds out about the wedding from someone else… You have to tell her Jackson, before tomorrow, or otherwise I have to do it," Webber explained quickly as he let go of Jackson. The alarming look in the older surgeon's eyes now made way for a more pleading look. Jackson started to panic. He had not yet figured out how to tell his mom about him and April, but he assumed to at least have more time to think about it. About all of it. He knew he couldn't tell his mom half of the truth; he would need to tell her all of it, which meant that he had to break his promise to April… How was he supposed to deal with all of the obstacles in their relationship if he could not even stay true to a promise he made to her not even 12 hours ago?
"Richard, please, I need more time… Can't you just… Can't we just hope that she doesn't hear anything from anyone tomorrow? I will tell her, I promise, but I need more time," Jackson answered, his voice filled with desperateness. Richard Webber sighed in response.
"Jackson, she will find out about it. It is Catherine Avery we are talking about. She senses a rumor about her son from a mile away," the older surgeon whispered slowly, reluctance to reject Jackson's request dripping from his voice. As much as he wanted to give the younger and very distraught surgeon before him more time, he just couldn't. Jackson sighed in defeat, knowing that Richard was right. Of course his mom would find out. She always does.
"Just call her, I am sure she will understand," the ex-chief suggested, patting Jackson's shoulder in encouragement before turning on his heels and walking away. Jackson's eyes followed the older surgeon until he was out of sight. Jackson felt a very evident frown forming on his face (his angry face as Stephanie had called it) as he thought about what was just advised to him. Jackson realized he had to tell his mom at one point, so he might as well just rip the band aid off to get it over with. He slid his hands in the pockets of his scrubs, looking for his phone. Jackson inwardly cursed as he remembered that he left his phone in the locker room. Jackson jogged towards the elevator, but was stopped abruptly when his right arm was grabbed by two strong hands that violently jerked him backwards. Jackson wanted to turn around to see what idiot was stalling him.
"What the-" Jackson blurted out, but before he could finish his rant, his right cheek was met with a hard fist. Jackson fell backwards against the wall next to the elevator as one of his hands flew protectively to the injured cheek. Jackson squeezed his eyes shut in pain as he felt a dizziness curse through his brains. As he opened his eyes again, Jackson was confronted with the man that had hit him. The same man grinned down at him victoriously as he approached Jackson slowly and impedingly. Jackson saw the man pulling his fist back again, positioning it to strike again. Jackson squeezed his eyes shut, expecting to receive another hit on his cheek, but a very familiar voice stopped this from happening.
"Matthew! Stop!" April shrieked as she grabbed her ex-fiancé's fist and pulled it backwards. Other people now also witnessed the scenery and rushed towards the injured Jackson and the enraged Matthew.
Matthew tried to escape the tiny surgeon's grip, but she was stronger than he expected.
"Let go of me!" he ordered her, looking her in the eye for the first time since she had left him at the altar. As soon as April saw the broken and lost look in his reddened and tired eyes, she could not but break herself, feeling guilt rush through her so violently, she was no longer able to hold the pediatric back. April stumbled back as she saw Matthew striding towards Jackson again, blinded by anger, sadness and jealousy. April felt tears making their way down her cheek as she realized that the enraged man before her, the man that was dominated by nothing but anger, was the product of her decision to be with Jackson. It was her fault he was like this. He wasn't used to be like this before. She made him this way. Before Matthew could hit his target once more, he was stopped by Alex and Shane. When April witnessed Matthew fighting their grip as if his life depended on it, it all became too much. She could not handle seeing this anymore. Before April could turn on her heels to run away from the heart-breaking scene, she heard her ex-fiancé's bellow resonate through the hallway. "I hate you April! You ruined my life! You ruined everything!" It was as if his words burned through her skin and pierced right through her heart. It made her feel sick. Sick of herself. "I know," April whispered in response before she sprinted to the nearest on-call room.
April had been staring at the top bunk for half an hour, but she couldn't stop Matthew's words from echoing through her thoughts. You ruined everything. She felt sadness overwhelm her entire body. What had she done? I hate you April. She never wanted to hurt Matthew, but she knew she would never love him the way she loves Jackson. But she loved him enough to be content with the idea of being his future wife, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to live in her imaginary world in which Jackson was just a mistake she made in the past and Matthew was the right thing to do for her future. A world in which her feelings for Jackson did not go beyond friendship and were purely platonic. April sincerely believed in this imaginary reality, otherwise she would never have said 'yes' to the extraordinary proposal of the clumsy pediatric. She never consciously meant to enter an engagement that was bound to fall apart, that was not like her. She would never consciously hurt someone. Would she? Did she actually know who she was? April started to doubt every single thing about herself. But worse: she started to doubt her decisions. Was being with Jackson the right decision? Was it ethically acceptable for them to be in a relationship? April felt completely lost.
"April?" a soft and very familiar voice pulled her out of her thoughts.
"Jackson," April replied, her voice trembling. She shot up immediately and approached the injured plastic surgeon. She examined his black eye closely before tracing the hemorrhage softly with her index finger. Jackson hissed at the contact.
"Does it hurt badly? Did you get checked by Shepherd?" April asked him worriedly while pulling Jackson towards one of the bunks to sit down with her. Jackson chuckled softly, admiring her concern.
"I am fine, really April. He only hit once," he explained, trying to assure the worried redhead in front of him he was fine. "And, let's be honest here, I kind of deserved it." April could not help but smile a little at his attempt to make her feel better. April grabbed Jackson's hands and rested their joint hands in her lap. As she looked down at them, she tried to express in words what she had been feeling the last thirty minutes, but Jackson grabbed her chin and forced her to look up at him before she had a chance to do so.
"Listen, I know… I know you feel responsible for what happened there. And I wish you didn't have to see it. Matthew screamed things to you he shouldn't have –"
"He was right, Jackson! He hates me! And rightfully so. He does have a reason to hate me!" April interjected, her voice high-pitched.
"He does not hate you, okay? And he doesn't have a reason to hate you, because you did the right thing, April. It would have been so much worse if you had married him against your instincts, against your feelings. Because than you would have realized at some point in your marriage that he is not the one for you," Jackson said, his voice as convincing as possible, his eyes piercing through hers. Jackson moved both his hands to the sides of her face, his thumb lightly grazing her wet cheeks. "Please, April. Forgive yourself. Forgive yourself for loving me," Jackson pleaded. April felt tears welling up in her eyes once more before she crashed her lips on his. Now she remembered again. All these reasons why she chose Jackson became clear to April again and she wondered how she could ever have doubted them, even if it was just for a few minutes. As she let go of Jackson's lips, she rested her forehead against his.
"I will, Jackson, I will."
Thanks for reading guys! Please leave a review if you have time :).