"April!" April smiled. She would know that voice anywhere. "Mom!"
Jackson entered the room, with Harriet and Ruby trailing behind him. He sat down beside her, giving her a concerned look. "Are you okay?" April nodded, pulling the oxygen mask off her face. "I'm fine. Just a little smoke inhalation is all." Jackson put his hand over hers, moving her mask back onto her face. "Well, you should probably leave that on then."
"Look, mommy! I got a pink band-aid!" Harriet showed off her wrapped arm. April laughed, pulling her mask off again. "That's the biggest band-aid I've ever seen." She picked up her phone and scrolled through the numbers."I need to call Mercy-Grace Hospital. Matthew won't return my phone calls. The house- it's gone Jackson. It's all gone. He hates it when I call the hospital, but I don't know what else to do." Jackson smiled, moving her mask back onto her face. "Let me do it. It's gonna be okay." April sighed gratefully. Jackson clicked on Mercy-Grace's number.
"Hi, yes, this is Jackson Avery, calling for Matthew Taylor." A look of confusion crossed Jackson's face. "Oh, okay. Thank you." April looked at him. "They say he left at eight o'clock tonight, and won't be back until 12 o'clock tomorrow." April looked at the clock in the emergency area. One o'clock in the morning. Where the hell is Matthew?
A few hours later, April and the girls were finally being discharged when her phone rang.
"Matthew." April answered the phone, stepping away from Jackson, who was helping the girls put on their coats.
"April, what the hell is going on. I just got home, and there are fire trucks and police everywhere." Matthew's tone was snippy, and April was furious. "Where the hell have you been, Matthew? I've been calling you since seven o'clock last night."
"I was working, April. I can't answer the phone every time you decide to call me. You know that."
"Really? Because Mercy-Grace said you got off at eight. So where have you been?"
"I had some things to take care of. What happened? Are you guys okay?" April sighed. "For the most part. We're at Grey-Sloan getting discharged now."
"Okay. I'll come get you guys there. Maybe we can stay at Jeremy's tonight."
Jeremy was Matthew's best friend. They met a couple of years ago. He wasn't a terrible guy, but he also wasn't exactly someone April would want her children spending a lot of time around. But she wasn't in the mood for a fight. "Okay. But don't meet us here. We're headed to Jackson's. You can pick us up there."
"Jackson's there?" Matthew's voice had a tone in it that April didn't like. "Yes. He answered the phone when I called."
She shakily hung up the phone before Matthew could reply. She walked back towards her ex-husband and children. "Can we head to your house until Matthew gets here? I'm tired of being here."
The car ride to Jackson's apartment was relatively silent. Harriet and Ruby, exhausted from the excitement of the day, had passed out. After Jackson had quickly agreed to April and the girls coming over, they had realized that they only had one car seat in his car; Harriet's. Webber had offered them the car seat he and Catherine kept in their car for when Harriet stayed with them occasionally, and April had thanked him profusely.
Jackson looked over at his ex-wife, who was slumped into the passenger seat beside him. The day seemed to have taken a toll on her too. Her whole body looked tired, and her thoughts seemed to be miles away. He reached over and put a hand on her arm, and she turned to look at him, smiling a little. Jackson returned the smile, turning back to look at the road as April placed a hand over his.
He was incredibly grateful that he and April had remained friends. Their friendship had begun to strengthen since her miraculous recovery a few years ago. It had grown through April and Matthew's marriage, through Jackson's sabbatical at Grey-Sloan. He had actually called April before he left. She had suggested he wait. Talk to Maggie first, and then make the decision. But he knew if he waited, he wouldn't go, and he could feel in is heart of hearts that he needed to go. So he left. He came back. Tried to make things work with Maggie, but the damage was done. He'd left, and come back different, and worse yet, he'd done it all without talking to Maggie about it. The broke up a couple months later.
He was happy though. He dated a bit, focused on being a great father to Harriet, and he and April had become best friends once more. He had tried to smooth things over with Matthew. They had become relatively civil, but Jackson could still sense the disdain that Matthew carried for him.
He pulled into the parking lot of his apartment, and noticed that Matthew's pick up truck was already there. April smiled sheepishly. "I guess this was kind of unnecessary." Jackson shook his head. "Absolutely not. I could tell you needed to get out of there." April nodded and gently woke up the girls. She scooped up Ruby as Jackson grabbed Harriet, and slowly made her way over to the truck. She opened the back door of the truck and began fastening Ruby in, who was slowly waking up. "Hey, babe." April avoided eye contact with her husband, instead choosing to focus on the child in front of her. Ruby stretched, and in the process kicked off one of her slippers. She smiled sweetly at April. "Sorry, Mommy."
"It's okay, bug." April leaned down to pick up the slipper. A flash of red caught her eye, and she pulled a piece of fabric out from underneath the seat, and then dropped it just as quickly as if she had been burned.
Panties. Lacy panties. Not hers.
She stared down at the evidence of what was likely her husband's affair. She looked up towards Jackson, who was fastening Harriet in on the other side. She then turned to Matthew, whose eyes were locked on her form. A deer stuck in headlights.
"Jackson? Would you please take Harriet and Ruby inside?" Jackson's eyes met hers questioningly. She felt her cheeks burning in anger as she unfastened Ruby's seat belt. "Please."
Jackson simply nodded, scooping Harriet up and then walking around to April's side to get Paige. She watched as he looked down at the floorboard, and then back up at her. "April..."
He put a hand on her arm, and she shook it off. "I've got this. Please just take my daughter's inside."
Jackson nodded and she heard him head up the stairs of his apartment building, as she turned to meet her husband's eyes.