"Hey, thanks again for coming over. Its nice that they can finally start having play-dates like this again, what with everything thats been going on...I feel like such a guilty parent for her missing out on things. I mean, I know its not my fault, but...I still feel like it is somehow." April sighed, looking over at her 3-year-old daughter as she sat on the floor and helped the younger boy with some building blocks.

"Of course. You know I'm always happy to see you, and Harriet. You shouldn't feel guilty though - you're doing a great job with Harriet, but I get it," Owen said warmly.

Their conversation was abruptly interrupted by the buzzing of April's mobile phone, causing her to adjust herself on the sofa so she could reach it from the coffee table. Her brows furrowed slightly when she realised it was Ben calling. It wasn't that she wasn't happy to hear from him- it was just unusual. April mouthed a silent 'one second' to Owen before answering.

"Hey Ben. What's up?" April asked, hearing him ramble nervously for a moment.

"Hey, uh, sorry to call you. I just- uh- something happened and I thought you should know. I uh, I don't know if its even my place to say, or if he'd even want me to..."

"Spit it out, Warren." She deadpanned, wondering exactly where he was going with this.

"Okay, I just need you to not freak out. Can you do that?" He paused for a moment, taking in a deep breath, "Uh, Jackson and I...we were out with the paramedics today and he uh...he got shot in the leg, a drug addict was trying to catch a fix and-"

"WHAT?!"

Her exclamation seemed to startled Owen, whose gaze turned to a sleeping baby Allison to make sure she hadn't been disturbed, and April felt herself unravel instantly. He got shot. What if it was a Reed and Charles situation again? What if he wasn't going to be okay?! He was her...he needed to be okay.

"I said don't freak out, didn't I? Look, he seems good at the moment, but I just thought you should know. He's at Grey Sloan being treated right now and he put a tourniquet on his leg on route."

"O-okay. Thank you for letting me know. I've...um, gotta go," April responded, trying her best to remain composed, before hanging up the phone and unravelling once again.

She could feel her throat beginning to close up and her leg starting to tap nervously, and Owen looked at her with concern before moving to sit closer to her. "Hey, April. What happened? Are you okay?"

"Its-Jackson...he...he's been shot," Her voice quietened as to not concern Harriet, "I just...I need him to be okay, Owen. I can't..."

He placed a hand on her knee to comfort her, "Hey, if you need to go to the hospital, I can stay here with the kids for a while, okay? Teddy will understand."

April looked at him, biting down on her lip harshly, "Are you sure?"

"Of course. Whatever you need."

"Thank you, I really appreciate it."

After hurrying to grab her phone, keys and jacket, April picked up Harriet for a moment and held her tightly, "Hey bug, momma has to go out for a little while? But uncle Owen is going to be here, and Leo and Allison, okay? You be good."

"Okay mama," Harriet said, as April kissed the little one on the forehead before placing her back down, blissfully unaware of the situation.

April wasn't a good driver at the best of times, buy her anxiety over the situation had definitely made her worse. The drive to Grey Sloan consisted of a lot of cussing and flipping drivers off below the dashboard, and she was more grateful than ever that Harriet wasn't in the car with her.

After parking as quickly as she could, she locked the car and ran towards the entrance, almost skidding on her heels when she abruptly had to come to a stop.

"Kepner, what are you doing here?"

"Dr. Bailey! Where's Jackson?!" She blurted, trying to catch her breath and keep herself calm, which was a mission in itself.

"He's in the ER," The shorter woman responded, and before she had a chance to say anything else, April was gone, hurrying off in the direction of the pit.

"What happened?!" She asked, bursting her way into the room and noticing that he was still being attended to by one of the interns.

"April? Did Ben call you? I told him not to worry anyone, its fine, I'm argh-" Jackson responded, wincing in pain as he adjusted his leg.

"Of course he did! And you don't look fine! I was so worried, I-" April paused for a moment, swallowing down a gulp. She stared straight through him, and it was obvious from her eyes that she looked to be on the verge of tears. It couldn't help but bring the both of them back to the night of the storm, when the bus had exploded and she'd thought he was gone. It was a slippery slope for her mind to go down - to think about what that night had meant and how seeing him in the same position was once again bringing up those old feelings. Ones that she'd made an effort to bury for so many years for the sake of their daughter, and her own mental health.

Jackson looked at her, eyes equally as emotive as he wondered what to say to calm her down and reassure her. He knew how scary it was, because he'd been in the same position with her twice too - when Harriet had been born and once again when she'd almost died of hypothermia, on the very operating room table that he felt the need to avoid afterwards. It had sent him into a spiral for weeks and it had been too uncomfortable for him to talk to anyone about it, except the people he'd met on his nature retreat. He wasn't sure anyone who knew them and their shared history would understand. Even he hadn't really understood it at the time.

"April...really, I'm okay. I'm not dying, okay? I'm not going to do that to you. I think your God has too much of a soft spot for me," He grinned at her, hoping an injection of humour would cheer her up a little. She couldn't help but chuckle in response, followed by an immediate roll of her eyes.

Once the doctor left the room and stated she would come check on him later, April finally sat down towards the bottom of his bed, one leg hanging over the edge and the other tucked underneath her. She looked down at her hands for a moment and sighed. "Its kind of unfair though, how the universe keeps doing this to us. I mean this is, what, the fifth? sixth? near-dear experience either one of us has had. That must be some kind of a track record." It felt even crueler when she considered the loss of Samuel, and the constant anxiety she felt about keeping Harriet safe from danger. It had broken them what felt like beyond repair and had completely shattered her sense of self and belief in faith for a while. The last thing she needed was another mid-life faith crisis sending her on a downward spiral.

"Yeah, we've been through a lot..." He agreed softly, trailing off for a moment as he reflected on it all. Life hadn't been easy on them and sometimes, he couldn't help but feel bitter over it - even if he had stated believing in something after April had miraculously survived. It was hard to not think about how differently things might've turned out between the two of them if they hadn't been dealt blow after blow - if things had just felt easy like they had when they were in their happy little marriage bubble. "Where's Harriet, by the way? Please don't tell me you left her in the car whilst you were busy freaking out."

April looked up to shoot him a glare, "If you weren't injured, I'd so slap you for that. Of course I didn't. She's with Owen and the kids at my place...we were having a play-date, so at least she's all happy and oblivious. I don't...I don't think we should tell her about this. I mean, she'll know you're injured but...I just want her to stay innocent for as long as possible, you know? I know eventually, she'll have to know about...guns and shootings and stealing and danger, but not now..."

Jackson nodded in agreement, "Yeah, you're right. We don't have to tell her. Just say that I...fell over or something." He couldn't help but wonder why she wasn't with Matthew and Ruby, but he didn't want to question it. Maybe he was busy working.

"Do you...know when you'll be discharged?" She continued.

"Uh, I don't know yet. Hopefully tomorrow, I guess. No major surgery so thats good - just the usual. Ice, elevation, checking for signs of infection."

April cleared her throat once again, "And...how do you feel? Emotionally, I mean. Its just...last time...you know..."

Jackson quickly clocked on to what she was referring to. The last shooting had done a number on the both of them, and they'd only had one another to lean on after losing their friends. She knew that this was nowhere near as bad as that had been, but April was a worrier - she couldn't help but wonder if it brought up old thoughts of that day like it was doing for her.

"I'm...okay, I think. Grateful, and I'm glad you're here. I know I told Ben not to worry you but...its nice having you here. We don't really get to hang out anymore."

It was a sad fact that, after the divorce and April's marriage to Matthew, they only really saw each other when dropping off their child. Occasionally they would text about other things, like work or his God quest or a show they were invested in, but most of their conversations revolved around Harriet. They both couldn't help but miss it - even if they were on good terms, that level of closeness - of being able to do anything and everything together, felt like it was long gone.

April smiled softly, shifting on the bed slightly when she felt the leg underneath her getting uncomfortable. "When you get discharged...why don't you come stay with us for a few weeks? Until you're okay."

Jackson blinked a few times, surprised by the suggestion, "Uh, are you sure? I don't think Matthew would really want me hanging out on your couch. The guy can barely put up with being in the same room as me for five minutes."

"He and Ruby are actually out of town visiting Karin's parents, so you wouldn't be in the way." She wasn't about to tell him why that was - that they'd been having problems for quite some time and that April wasn't sure if things were going to work out. It would only make things more complicated, and it wasn't exactly something she wanted to get into with her ex-husband. She'd had enough stress for one day.

"I..." He paused for a moment, ruminating on what to say. On the one hand, the thought of being able to spend quality time with April was tempting - even if it wasn't under the best of circumstances, but on the other hand, it felt like a bad idea. The last thing he wanted to do was to feel like a burden and deal with Matthew's judgement. The man would probably be over the moon if found out what happened - whether he'd admit it or not. Not to mention, the last time they'd lived together had ended poorly, and he couldn't help but still think about how things could've gone differently if he'd just said something at the time. Maybe if he'd fought for her then, they'd still be together. Maybe she wouldn't of married Matthew right in front of him. Maybe everything wouldn't feel so wrong without her. "Its okay. I can hire some help, and I'm sure my mom will be back to being her overbearing self once she finds out. Thank you, though."

April couldn't help but feel disappointed at him turning down her offer, and she knew that it was wrong. Sometimes, she longed for the days when they'd been living together with Harriet - even if they hadn't been simple or easy, they'd been together, all under the same roof, and April had grown comfortable in the fact. It hadn't exactly been a conventional arrangement, but it had almost felt real.

The familiar dryness in her throat soon returned, and the weight of the day seemed to finally kick in. No longer able to hold herself back from crying, she let out a strangled sob, allowing a few tears to stream down her cheeks. "I'm sorry-god, I can't- when I get like this-" She stuttered, finding it difficult to form a coherent sentence when her emotions were running wild.

"Sssh, hey," He said soothingly, a hand reaching up instinctively to cup her face and use his thumb to wipe away some of her tears. One of the things he always struggled with was seeing April upset or in pain, and even in times when he'd been angry at her for leaving or they'd struggled to be friends, he always seemed to find himself reaching for her when she needed to be comforted. It was hard not to.

Their eyes met once again, green bore into hazel and hazel bore into green, and for a moment, April felt centred - like the weight of the world was no longer on her shoulders, like all was right again, like she was understood. At the same time, she couldn't help but feel this was a slippery slope, as her eyes drifted to his lips and his did to hers.

The sound of the curtain being pulled open caused the both of them to flinch, with his hand dropping back to the bed and April forcing herself to slide off of it and stand again. Ben looked between the two of them, trying to hide the feeling that he'd just interrupted something.

"Hey, thought I'd come see how you're doing," He commented, as April forced a smile, wiping the stray tears from her other cheek.

"Uh, hi. Thanks again for calling...I, um, was just heading out. Should probably go relieve Hunt of his babysitting duties..." She turned back to Jackson for a moment, "Can you keep me updated? Phone me tomorrow?"

"Yeah, of course," It was a struggle to hide the disappointment in his voice at her leaving, "Drive safe."

"Bye. See you, Ben."

After the tiny redhead had left the ER, Ben turned his attention back to Jackson and smirked.

"Don't."

"What? I wasn't gonna say anything...but if I was, it definitely seemed like I was interrupting something there."

"She's married, Ben."

"So? Waiting game, remember?"

Jackson scoffed, finding it unbelievable that Ben had still been hung up on that - so sure that something would happen between the two of them and that they would somehow find their way back together despite it all.

The electric feeling in the finger tips that had graced her cheek only moments earlier, and her reaction upon seeing him, told him that maybe...maybe Ben Warren had a point.

Maybe, in some fucked up way, they would. Maybe it was inevitable. Maybe the universe was trying to send them signs, and this was His way of bringing them back together.

Or maybe, maybe getting shot had made him a little delirious and delusional, and he'd just lost more blood than he'd originally thought. Maybe.