April and Jackson entered April's apartment building a little while later. They both had to stay behind at the hospital, talk to the police and make statements.

He watched her toss her keys into the small dish atop a table by the door and then stared down at his shoes. They were still covered in blood from the patient he had from this morning, the one who got shot right outside the hospital. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

"Can I use your bathroom?" he asked.

"Sure, yeah," April said quietly, pushing her hair out of her face. "Down the hall. Third door on –"

"Yeah, I remember," he said.

He made his way over to the bathroom but on his way over to the door, he got his feet caught on a cardboard box that was lying close by. He caught himself on the wall before he could do any real damage but the contents spilt out on the hardwood floor.

"Sorry."

"No, it's okay. This isn't- Reed was supposed to…" April began but her words get caught in her throat. Jackson saw the unshed tears in her eyes but April blinked them back and quickly moved to the floor to pick up the items.

April didn't want to cry. She had been crying ever since she had found Reed in the supply closet. She picked up the box and held it to her chest.

She could tell that he didn't know what to say but she turned away before he could open his mouth again. It was awkward and April didn't want to make it worse. He waited a second before he walked down the hall and April heard the door click softly behind him.

With one hand still clutching the cardboard, she brushed the leather surface of one of the binders inside with her fingers but then her whole hand started to shake. The box fell to the floor again, this time worn down cardboard split down the side but April didn't notice all she could hear was her rapid heartbeat between her ears.

The room was smaller than he remembered it being, the last time he'd been here was for April's birthday. Reed was horrified that she'd never had a birthday party before and had him and Charles into throwing one for her.

Jackson washed his hands and face in the sink. He rested an elbow on the cool surface of to steady himself once he was finished and caught his reflection in the mirror. He was worn out, the bags under his eyes from the night shift easily showed his exhaustion. The last 12 hours were a whirlwind, it was surprising he was able to keep it together for so long.

He was about to reach for a towel to dry his face when heard a faint crashing sound.

"April?"

There was no response and given everything that had happened today it was enough to get him worried. Forgetting about the droplets of water on his face, he left the bathroom and found April in the living room, still standing on the spot that he'd left her in.

"April," Jackson approached her in seconds. He touched her arm to get her attention but she flinched and pushed him away, shaking her head. His brows creased in confusion. "Hey, Apr- April what's wrong?"

"Ah, I…I…" April gasped her hand over her chest.

She tried to speak but her mouth couldn't form words, her heart was still hammering in her chest and as much as she tried she couldn't stop crying. It was horrible. She dug her nails into her forearm and willed her lungs to expand to get some air, but even that felt impossible. The air only coming from her mouth in small, uneven puffs. The thought that she was dying was playing over and over in her mind. She was dying. It felt like she was going to die.

He'd never seen anyone like this before but she was clearly distressed. He had to calm her down. She had pushed him away previously so he got closer, invading her space. April wasn't fighting him off anymore but he needed her to listen to him.

"April- just-" Jackson held her by the cheeks so she would look at him, the tears were flowing fully now. His voice softened as he spoke. "You're safe okay, look at me, we're safe. This is a panic attack. Just take deep breaths. You have to breathe."

The coolness of his hands on her face distracted her enough so she could concentrate on his presence and not her thoughts.

"I can't—Reed, she's-" she hiccupped, still crying but he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held onto her tightly.

"April, you're safe. I promise," he said calmingly, hoping that she would listen to him.

She let the tension in her muscles go and tried to take slow, deep breaths like he said. April felt her heartbeat return to normal but she still couldn't quell the uneasiness she felt in the pit of her stomach by being in this apartment.

Jackson ducked his head and moved closer, wiping her top lip with the back of the sleeve of his hoodie.

"Your nose is bleeding," he explained.

Her hand flew to her face and she winced at the soreness as she pressed down on the skin. She hit her nose when she tripped over Reed's body. The adrenaline was gone now and the pain was setting in.

"I can't stay here." She whispered, looking up at him.

"Alright, um, I can pack a bag." He dropped her hand and rubbed her shoulder. She didn't seem like she was up for doing much of anything. "We can stay at a hotel tonight."

She fell asleep in the car as soon as they were back on the road. He would glance at April out of the corner of his eye every now and again but she didn't stir, staying curled up in the passenger seat next to him. The panic attack had drained what was left of her energy.

He forced his concentration back on the road, loosening his grip on the wheel. April was right about not staying in their apartments. They didn't need another disaster happening to them for a long time.

Even when he drove back to his place to collect a few things for himself it felt weird being in a place where someone he knew used to live. Charles' dirty plates from breakfast this morning were still left on the counter and when he passed by his bedroom the door was open and he could make out his unmade bed through the gap.

Jackson didn't believe in ghosts or spirits or anything ridiculous like that. When you were dead, you were gone but he couldn't shake the feeling of guilt that had been creeping up on him since he found out from that list that Charles didn't make it. It was hanging over him like a dead weight.

Their friend wouldn't be coming back. If he hadn't asked him to switch shifts then maybe he would still be here, alive. What the hell had he done?

The sun was lost behind large pillows of dark clouds as the soft sounds of rain hitting the windshield set in. Jackson took his hand off the steering wheel and reached across the dashboard to unlock his phone from where it was cradled in its holder.

She picked up on the first ring. "Hey, Mom."

"Jackson! Oh, you're okay. Thank God." Her voice came through shaky but he heard her loudly enough, actually, he was surprised April didn't wake up.

"Yeah, I'm okay." He said, glancing at April again. "Mom, I'm fine."

"You scared me half to death, Jackson Avery," Catherine scolded. He was her only child, the thought of losing him was unbearable. "Don't you ever do that again. You have a phone for a reason, I expect you to pick it up."

"I couldn't-"

"You're lucky I'm halfway across the world." She threatened, trying to sound tough but her voice caught in her throat. Jackson pressed his lips together and nodded even though she wasn't in the car with him. She was currently standing alone in a conference room at a Harper Avery hospital in London. The foundation sent her over there to oversee some kind of funding or research but once she heard the new she forgot all about that. "I should come back."

"Mom, you don't need to do that, seriously. I said I was fine." Jackson stated firmly.

"Jackson-"

"I'm alright," he paused, raising his eyebrows and looking out of the window. "I'm alive."

"Yes, I know that now since you found the consideration to pick up the phone and call me." Catherine sniped. "Is April alright? How are your friends?"

April shifted in her seat but didn't wake up. "April's okay. Charles and Reed didn't make it."

"Jackson, I'm so sorry." She said softly, she could be there faster than most. "I should come."

The rain wasn't letting up and the clouds grew darker up above. It was over, he had made it out with his life and she had important work to do. There was no point coming to check on him if he was alright and she would just have to fly back again. "Mom I'm okay. Grandpa would be pissed if you left right in the middle of things, just to see me."

"That's a horrible thing to say, Jackson," Catherine muttered. "No, he would not."

He rolled his eyes and cut the ignition as he parked the car outside the hotel. "That's debatable."

"He wants the best for you, which maybe you would realise if you listened to him and stayed in Boston. We wouldn't be having this conversation now if you had." She ranted and Jackson was not in the mood for a lecturing, especially after today. "What kind of hospital are you learning in? Where a crazed gunman can come in off the street and shoot you. Something like this would have never happened at Mass Gen."

"Okay, yeah," He was wondering when the Jackson-the-disappointment lecture would start. The timing was impeccable as it was predictable. "I gotta go. I'll talk to you later, Mom."

They said their goodbyes and she had him promise that he would talk to her soon.

"Hey, we're here." He lightly tapped her shoulder and watched her eyelids flutter open. "Wake up."

"Hmm," April slowly sat up and stretched her limbs, humming but her eyes bugged out of her head when she noticed where they were. "The Four Seasons, Jackson really? I can't afford that."

"Well, I can." Jackson opened his door to get out and grabbed the bags he packed. A hotel was a hotel and at least they would be promised a higher level of comfort here. "It's not a big deal, come on."

April grasped the handle did the same and followed behind him. The doorman greeted the both of by the tip of his hat and pulled the glass door open for the two of them, she managed to give him a weak acknowledgement in return but that was all she could muster.

The lobby was sleek and modern with white and grey wood panelling and high ceilings. There were long white couches placed along the walls under various pieces of high-end artwork.

"How much is this place a night?" she asked, finally tearing her gaze from the walls. Everything looked so expensive.

"I don't know. A lot." They passed an entire wall made of glass before they reached a long, white desk.

"Jackson!" she whispered harshly and then shut her mouth once they reached the front desk.

"Ah, Dr Avery, nice to see you again." A man behind the desk smiled for slightly too long April noticed. He regarded their state of dress, they were still in their scrubs. "Is there a convention happening that I don't know about?"

"No, we're not here on business," Jackson explained smoothly, taking out his credit card from his wallet and slid it across the pristine surface.

"Alright." He answered, tapping at the keyboard while his face was glued to the screen. "Are you staying in your usual suite?"

He swiped the plastic through the machine then handed it back over to him. "Yes, thank you."

April nudged his bicep with the back of her hand, taken aback. "You have a suite?"

"I lived here for a while before I moved in with Charles," Jackson said when he noticed her expression.

She didn't say anything more after that, she still thought that staying at such an expensive hotel was ridiculous but he already checked them in and she really didn't want to be alone tonight. A bell boy came up behind them to take their bags. When they got to the top floor Jackson slid the key card into the slot in and pushed it open.

It wasn't just a simple hotel room; the space was more like an apartment as they stepped into the living room. It led out to a balcony that looked over Elliot Bay. There was also a huge bathroom, a dining area and bedroom.

"The bed is back there if you want to sleep." Jackson pointed behind her, just as their bags arrived.

"I'm not really tired anymore. I just want to take a shower." April said picking up her bag, messing with the strap in her hands and then met his gaze. "Thank you for staying, for doing this I mean, you didn't have to."

"We're friends, April. I wanted to." He told her at the same time the bell boy left. April took her phone out of her pocket and placed it on a nearby table.

"Just thank you." She gestured behind her, asking if she was going the right way to the bathroom and he nodded.

April's phone vibrated on the table a few minutes after she was gone. He wouldn't have picked it up but he the screen was filled with notifications that she had several missed calls, mostly from her mother. "Hello?"

"Who is this? Where's April?" It sounded like April's mom asked, fearful and shaky. She must have been thinking the worst. "Oh no."

"April's – she's fine, she in the shower," Jackson replied quickly, it sounded like she was going to have a breakdown. He didn't mention the panic attack, wasn't his place and he didn't feel comfortable disclosing it. "They just let us leave the hospital. She's okay."

Her breath evened out once he got the news out.

"Oh, thank God. Thank God," she whispered, there were some muffled sounds followed by another voice. "April's alive, she's alright Joe."

"Who is this?" He assumed it was her father, his tone was more controlled and deep but he sensed the emotion behind it. It must have been her father.

"Jackson. Jackson Avery. We work together, at the hospital I-"

"Jackson," Joe interrupted, sounding more relaxed. "She's mentioned you before, you were interns together."

"Yes, sir we were."

He stared at the call log after they ended the phone call. Reed was her speed dial number one and then her mother, there wasn't anyone else after that. Her best friend was dead and her family lived over two-thousand miles away. April had no one else. They were all the other had in this city now.

His fingers moved across the glass before he even processed the thoughtfully, tapping at the keys to replace Reed's contact placement in the speed dial with his.

The water shut off and April appeared, her hair slicked down and tucked behind her ears still wet from the shower. She was wearing a robe, the material practically dwarfing her small frame.

"Your parents called." Jackson approached and handed her the device. "I answered, I didn't know if that was okay. They're worried about you."

"No, I- it's okay. I'll call them back I will I just-" April blinked hard and held her phone tightly in her hand. "They'll want to know everything and I feel like if I talk about it I'll freak out again."

"Right," he didn't want to see like that again anytime soon.

April swiped her fingers across the screen and answered a few texts from her family, telling them that she was fine and they would speak tomorrow.

Jackson moved past her to use the bathroom himself. When he got out of the shower April was lying on one side of the bed, asleep on top of the covers in flannel pyjama bottoms and a plain white top with random, colourful pattern running up the side. They clearly weren't from the same set but she wore them anyway. He grabbed whatever out of her closet, he didn't check to see if it matched or not but he found it amusing that she didn't say anything about it.

He slipped into bed without waking her up and tried to shut the rest of the world out for a few hours.

April awoke with a jolt, almost falling off the bed once she realised what was happening. She fell asleep on top of the covers and someone was pulling them off. Jackson screamed loudly beside her and she turned to her side to see him thrashing around wildly, with his eyes were closed.

She sat up, her knees digging into the mattress as she leaned over him. The covers dropped to his waist and she put her hands on his shoulders.

"Jackson, hey Jackson! Jackson, stop!" April tried to wake him up. He tossed his back, still screaming until she pushed at him with a little more force.

She could make out the whites of his eyes in the low light. "Charles. Where's Charles?"

"No, it's April." She said, he was starting to scare her. "Jackson, what was that about? Are you okay?

He looked around him and cleared his throat slowly sitting up, sweaty and sick. "Uh, nothing I'm fine." Jackson pushed the covers all the way off him and planted his feet on the floor. His heart was still racing, everything about that nightmare felt so real. "Sorry."

"I'm going to go and sleep on the couch." He said, getting up.

"You don't have to. What just happened?" she asked curiously. He was there for her, she wanted to do the same for him.

"It was nothing, April." Jackson stopped in the doorway, he wasn't even sure he knew what that was so he wasn't about to start talking about it. "Goodnight."

"Okay, goodnight Jackson."