Max was waiting faithfully for them in front of Chuck's room when they returned from sick bay. "That's a good boy," he murmured, reaching down to scratch behind his ears as Jazmine opened his door.
"Want me to come check on you later?" she asked, as he wheeled himself inside, his dog following close behind.
The color had returned to his face. "Nah, my dad'll be by to get Max in a bit," he said.
"I'll be around if you need me," she told him, not really sure what else to say.
He smiled at her. "I know," he said. "Thanks."
She lingered outside his room for a minute, then darted inside and gave him a quick peck on the lips, slipping out and closing the door behind her before he could react. "That was stupid," she muttered to herself as she hurried into her own room, but the words did nothing to wipe the smile from her face or still the flutter in her chest.
Fortunately - or unfortunately, Jazmine still wasn't sure which - the next few weeks passed in a blur, and time spent alone with Chuck was short and sporadic. He didn't mention the kiss, nor did he press her any further about what she was feeling. For the first week, she was grateful. By the second week, she felt guilty, and by the third week she had segued into full-fledged suspicion over the fact that he had seemingly managed to accept her emotional incompetence with no complaints.
On top of that, Raleigh had to travel for a week and a half and had not made any progress finding a school with a nursing program that would accept her. It felt like life was stalling out around her, and it was a feeling that Jazmine was not accustomed to. She was sitting in her room feeling sorry for herself when she heard a familiar pattern rapped out on her door.
Jumping to her feet she answered the door for Chuck, instinctively looking down at the spot where his face usually was, but found herself staring directly at his stomach. "My eyes are up here," he said with mild amusement, and she looked up to find him smiling in front of her on a pair of crutches.
"You're finally out of the chair!" she blurted, her face lighting up. "That's fantastic! When did that happen?"
"Yesterday," he said, shifting uncomfortably. "I wanted to surprise you. D'you mind if I come in? I need to sit down."
"No, of course, come in!" Carefully he made his way up the single step and over the lip of the door frame, Jazmine hovering in case he lost his balance. He made it into her room without incident, and when he straightened up to stand at his full height, his weight supported on his good leg to hand her the crutches, Jazmine discovered that her forehead was about even with his chin.
"Jazmine." She stared blankly up at him until she realized he was waiting for her to take the crutches, then snatched them from him, flustered. "What are you looking at me like that for?" he asked, settling himself with some effort onto the edge of her bed.
"I've never seen you standing up before. I didn't realize how tall you are." She propped the crutches against her desk and sat down next to him.
"You mean you didn't realize how short you are," he teased.
"Hey, I am not short. I'm average," she complained, tucking her feet underneath her.
"There's nothing average about you," he said, and she blushed but he kept talking like he hadn't noticed. "So what's new?"
"Nothing as exciting as you being on crutches," she replied, happy to change the subject. "I know Raleigh's made some inquiries at a couple of schools, but I don't think he's heard anything yet. He gets back in a couple of days. How's, uh...how's therapy going?" He had mentioned that he'd started therapy, but hadn't said much else about it.
He shrugged. "I've only been to a few sessions. It's pretty intense." He folded his hands in his lap, unfolded them, smoothed nonexistent wrinkles on his pants. "That's why I haven't been around much lately. It's...It's a lot to swallow."
"I can imagine," Jazmine said, then immediately thought better of it. "I mean, I can't actually imagine. But I'm sure it's tough." She reached out and grabbed his hand. "I'm glad you're doing it."
"Yeah, well. Have to start physical therapy pretty soon, then I'll really be a lot of fun." He looked at their entwined hands, and gently pulled his away. "Hand me my crutches? I have to get going."
She felt a twinge of frustration. "Sure. Are you okay? Did I upset you?"
He smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "It's nothing. I'm-" he looked up at her, and she could see a flash of annoyance. "I'm trying to respect our boundaries. It's a little new for me. Help me out here."
"Oh." She handed him his crutches, and he began the process of standing back up. "I didn't really think about that. I'm sorry."
"You don't need to apologize," he told her, fitting a crutch under each arm. "I'm not exactly good at it myself."
Jazmine bit her lip. "I just want to be there for you."
Chuck sighed. "Then you can open the door for me." She did, and he made his way out, hopping awkwardly back into the hallway. Feeling defeated, she waved a half hearted goodbye and turned to go back in her room. "Becket." She turned back, trying to keep her face neutral. "Let's have lunch together soon."
She smiled in relief. "Sure thing, Hansen."
Mako caught her on her rounds the next day. "Hello, Jazmine. Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure, Mako. What's up?" She led them to the small break area by the nurses' station.
"I found out about something you might be interested in." Mako leaned against the table. "There is a school in Japan that is starting a vocational program for nursing. You would need to pass an interview and an aptitude test to be accepted. I have some influence with the school president, and I can get you an interview, if you would like."
"You're kidding!" Mako shook her head to indicate that she was being completely serious. "Yes, I'm definitely interested! Oh-" her face fell - "I don't speak Japanese, though."
"You don't need to, they are offering multi-lingual courses."
Jazmine pulled a chair over to sit down, trying to keep her excitement in check. "You'd do that for me?"
"Jazmine, I can see that you're doing good things here." Mako sat down next to her. "The doctors and staff all speak very highly of you. I know what it's like, to just want that one chance, one opportunity to prove yourself."
She couldn't speak, just launched herself at Mako and wrapped her arms around her in a tight embrace. Mako hugged her back. "Thank you. Thank you so much."
"You are very welcome," Mako said. "I will set up the interview and try to find out what you should study for the test, okay?"
"Okay. I should get back to my rounds," she said, and Mako nodded and excused herself. It was all Jazmine could do to keep from skipping down the hallway towards her next stop.
"I think you're getting yourself all worked up for nothing," Chuck said as she paced in her room, her new dress flats clicking on the floor as she walked. Her new skirt and blouse felt rigid and uncomfortable - after wearing nothing but scrubs or casual clothes for the last few months, business attire just seemed wrong on her body.
"What time is it again?" she asked, ignoring his previous statement.
He rolled his eyes. "Fourteen hundred hours."
"In regular person time, please, not military time?"
"Two. Pee. Em." Unable to stand her nerves, Chuck got up off the bed and balanced himself with his crutches. "Look at me. You've been prepping for this interview for two weeks. And who's been helping you?"
"You and Mako." She stopped pacing, if only because Chuck had planted himself directly in the middle of her route.
"And I don't count for much, but Mako is the fucking picture of professionalism. You follow what she told you, you'll be fine." He reached out and put his hands on her arms, keeping the crutches tucked close to his body. "Just relax. Be yourself." Jazmine looked horrified. "Okay, don't be yourself. Be someone without the weird facial expressions and swearing. But on the inside," he said, shaking her gently for emphasis, "be yourself, because you have worked really hard for this, and you and I both know you deserve it."
She took a deep breath and smiled. "That was one hell of a pep talk."
"I'm glad you think so, I spent two days coming up with it." Chuck's moment of self-satisfaction was interrupted by a knock on the door.
Jazmine froze in panic. "That's Mako."
"Don't make me go through all that again. Open the damn door and go." She did, finding Mako on the other side as expected, and gave Chuck one last pained glance before leaving. "Knock 'em dead."
An hour and a half later she found him in the mess hall and sat in front of him, frowning. "That doesn't look good. Did you drop an f-bomb in front of the admissions lady?"
She shook her head, frown slowly dissolving into a broad smile. "I nailed it. I think."
"That's fantastic," he exclaimed, his face lighting up. "See? I told you you'd be fine!"
Jazmine jumped to her feet and ran around the table to sit beside him, throwing her arms around him while bouncing in her chair, and getting more than a few pointed looks in the process. One of her shoes fell off and her skirt rode up, and she ignored both. "I still have to take the aptitude test, but the woman was so nice and she smiled a lot and shook my hand and when we were done she said she thought I'd be a perfect candidate for the program! Can you believe it?"
Chuck was laughing at her enthusiasm and trying to stay upright in his chair. "Yeah, I believe it! Will you calm down? You're going to get us tossed out!"
"Sorry!" She stood up and smoothed her skirt, and then retrieved her shoe. "I couldn't have done it without you."
He made a dismissive noise and shook his head. "Nah, that was all you. I, ah, I have some news too."
"Really? It's turning into a great day all around!" She sat back down and leaned in. "Are you gonna tell me? Tell me!"
"Well, I-" he cleared his throat, and swallowed - "I got a job offer."
"Oh. Oh!" The news caught her off guard, but she smiled anyway. "Congratulations! Where?"
"Sydney." He studied her face, trying to gauge her reaction. "Air force. They're starting a program to research different applications for Jaeger tech, and they want me and my dad to be involved."
"That sounds amazing," Jazmine said, trying not to let her face betray the sinking feeling in her stomach. "You know that stuff inside and out, they'd be lucky to have you."
Chuck shrugged. "I haven't accepted it yet. Not sure if I'm going to."
"Well, you should," she responded, not sure which of them she was trying to convince. "Chuck, it sounds like they created this job for you, you'd be stupid to turn it down."
"Yeah." He looked at her with a frustratingly blank expression. "Sydney's a long way from Japan."
Her stomach sunk even further. "It's not that far. Maybe a day's flight. Just promise me you'll think about it."
"I'll think about it," he said as she stood to leave. "Where are you going?"
"I have a test to study for," she said, and waved over her shoulder as she strode out of the mess hall.
Between studying and work, Jazmine's days went by fast. She caught Chuck on the way back to her room one night and apologized for being scarce. "We'll have lunch tomorrow," she promised, and he smiled and told her goodnight.
The next day she was finishing up her morning rounds when one of the nurses stuck her head into the room. "Jazmine, can we see you for a minute?"
"Sure." She followed the nurse to a vacant room, where the head nurse, her brother, and the head doctor were all waiting. As the nurse who had brought her in excused herself, Jazmine realized two things - that she was in a lot of trouble, and she didn't have the slightest idea why.
"Jazmine," Raleigh said gently, and her stomach twisted, "Dr. Li just has a couple of questions for you."
"About what?" she asked, trying not to let her voice shake.
"Some painkillers went missing from the drug locker last night," Dr. Li said, and Jazmine could tell she was trying to be delicate about it. "About a hundred and fifty pills altogether. Do you know anything about that?"
"No," she replied, and for the first time in her life she wished she'd had more experience being honest. "I don't know anything about that. Did you check the cameras?"
"The stolen drugs were in an area that the cameras don't cover, which is why we think they were taken by someone on staff," the head nurse said. "We have footage of you headed towards that area last night."
"Well, I didn't take them," she argued. "The only reason I'm even by the drug locker is because that's where we keep supplies, and I'm always restocking things. I don't even have a key to get into it!" She looked desperately at Raleigh. "I wouldn't do that."
Dr. Li sighed. "Jazmine, a staff member came forward to tell us that they saw you take the pills out of the drug locker."
Her jaw dropped. "Well, they're lying. Tell them I wouldn't do that, Raleigh," she pleaded.
"Look, if you have them, I'm not going to be mad," her brother said, and Jazmine felt red flash behind her eyes. "If you return them, we can deal with this."
"You don't believe me. Why don't you believe me?" she half shouted, her voice rising in panic. "I have done everything you've asked me to since I got here. All I've done is try to prove that you can trust me, why won't you believe me?"
"What's going on?" a voice from behind her called out, and Jazmine spun around to see that Chuck had found them. In the back of her head she remembered dimly that she was supposed to be meeting him for lunch. Tears pooled in her eyes and slipped down her face before she could gather herself enough to answer, and she could see his concern grow as he pushed the rest of the way into the room. "What's wrong?"
Jazmine looked frantically between Chuck and her brother, and then all of her instincts kicked into high gear, and she did the one thing she'd sworn she would never do again. She ran.
She didn't know how long she'd been on the roof before Chuck found her there, dangling her feet off the edge. "How did you even get up here?" he asked, propping his crutches against the railing and slowly lowering himself to sit beside her.
"I memorized your code the first time we came up," she told him tonelessly, staring out over the ocean. "Did they send you up to tell me I'm done?"
"No. I came looking for you to let you know it's sorted." She turned to look at him in surprise. "They found the drugs in somebody's locker, probably the same shithead that tried to frame you. Idiots hadn't even searched the lockers."
"I'm guessing you were behind that." Jazmine rested her head against the railing.
"It should be common fucking knowledge," Chuck said, shaking his head. "Your brother owes you a huge apology, not to mention everyone else involved."
She shrugged. "I really can't say I blame them," she said, looking back out to where sea met sky.
"Oh, shut up," Chuck snapped, making her look at him again. "You know I heard what you said to him. You're right."
"About what?" she asked.
"You've done nothing but try to be a good, trustworthy person since you got here," he said, looking her directly in the eyes. "You are a good, trustworthy person. I don't trust many people and I trust you."
"So you defended me. Because you think I'm a good person."
"That's what friends do, isn't it?" Jazmine wasn't sure what compelled her to do it - maybe it was the earnest look in his eyes, maybe it was the idea that someone thought she was worth defending - but she leaned over and kissed him. Not the chaste peck she'd given him before, but a full, long kiss, and he put a hand on her cheek and she pressed her lips against his until her heart was pounding and she couldn't breathe. And then she pulled away, and he leaned back in and kissed her some more.
He pulled away, dreamy-eyed and breathless, and he combed his fingers through her hair and ran them down her neck. "We should go back inside," he said, sounding reluctant. "They were about ready to send a task force after you before I told them I knew where you were."
"Okay." She got up and helped Chuck pull himself back to his feet, and they made their way back inside.