Roots
"He just went off on me." AJ shook her head, "I thought he understood my job but sometimes he just… it's like he makes me the bad guy." She said as Renee listened.
"What were you supposed to do? There was a huge fire downtown. Obviously we were gonna get paged to come in. He's not stupid, he knows how it works." Renee shook her head.
"Yeah I know but sometimes he thinks the world is on his time." AJ nodded, "I mean, he apologised and it's fine. But, man… he didn't even ask if I was ok? It was like a blood bath in here last night and all he cared about was me cancelling dinner plans." She shook her head.
"You guys will get past it. I mean…I guess it is kinda nice that he's so mad about not getting to see you as much as he wants." Renee shrugged.
"Yeah, I know." AJ sighed.
"Hey isn't that the firefighter guy that spilled drink over you?" Renee noticed over at the front desk as AJ turned around.
"Yeah, it is." AJ shook her head, "I think I got a stalker." She said.
"Man, they must have had a tough night last night." Renee shook her head, "There's just something sexy about a man in uniform, right?" She looked at AJ who just laughed.
"I'm gonna go see what he wants." AJ nodded to her, making her way over to Punk who was standing at the desk, "It's you again." She smiled.
"It's me." Punk nodded to her, "Just leaving some reports for the cops."
"Wouldn't it be easier if you left it at the place the cops work?" AJ smiled with attitude as he looked at her. Her wit was hard to miss.
"It would." Punk humoured her, "But we reached an agreement a long time ago when our reports were getting missed whenever we left them at their station, so we leave it with the trusty nurses and the cops get it here." He nodded, "Especially with the reports from last night. They got a lot of heavy reading to do."
"It was a bad one." AJ nodded, "Did you get hurt?" She noticed the stitches along his forehead.
"Just a bump." Punk said modestly, "You should have seen my face when we finished." He told her, "I assume you had a hard night here because of it."
"Yeah it was pretty crazy." AJ said. For some reason, she just found herself to enjoy talking to him. She really still had no idea who he was, but he just had a charm that made it hard not to notice, "How is your mom?" AJ asked considerately as he looked at her.
"She's doing ok." Punk nodded, "She settled back into the care home pretty well. And she's comfortable so that's the important thing."
"That's good to hear." AJ nodded. Ever since getting engaged and meeting her fiancé, she hadn't taken notice of any other men. She figured that was when she knew Jason was the one. But she'd taken notice of this man. It was hard not to, and he just kept popping up in her life with those mysterious eyes. She felt guilty for just talking to him all of a sudden.
"Ok, I've left these reports here, someone should be along to see them any minute." Punk told her once he sorted out the folders, "Maybe I'll see you at Kat's sometime." He nodded to her, "And maybe you'll let me buy you that drink." He looked at her.
"I have a fiancé." AJ assured him. She wasn't sure if he was hitting on her or if it was just his personality. Either way, it unexpectedly made her flustered.
"I know." Punk nodded to her with an edgy smirk, "See you around." He said, leaving the hospital as AJ watched him. She was immediately put off by a man who didn't respect other's relationships, even if they were the most charming person on the planet.
"Hey, mom." Punk said, walking into his mother's room with Dean later on that night. They did their best to visit her every day, sometimes they couldn't due to work, but they really did try. Sometimes they would come have dinner with her, or breakfast.
"What's that you're drinking?" Dean wondered, "Coffee?"
"Would you get me more sugar?" Gerry asked Dean.
"You… you don't take sugar in your coffee." Dean said.
"I do." Gerry insisted as Dean turned to Punk who just nodded to him.
"Ok." Dean nodded along, taking the mug of coffee over to the table.
"Come sit down, I have to tell you something." Gerry said with excitement as Punk looked over.
"What do you want to tell us?" Punk smiled, sitting down at the table, placing his hand over hers.
"Something exciting by the sounds of it." Dean observed.
"Well nothing is final yet. So… I need you not to tell anyone." Gerry patted Punk's hand.
"We can keep secrets." Punk nodded along.
"Me and Paul are going to adopt." Gerry nodded as Punk looked at her whilst Dean turned around, "You know how we've wanted to have a family for so long and… well it just isn't happening for us the natural way." She explained as Punk looked at her. He wondered who she thought he was. Perhaps a friend.
"Mom…" Dean sighed, walking over to the table as Punk turned to him and shook his head. It was best just to leave her. They'd learned that by now.
"Two little boys." Gerry nodded, "Just a new born baby and a two-year-old. They're little darlings." She shook her head, "And we're gonna love them so much." She promised as Punk smiled, turning to Dean who nodded.
"Yeah, you did." Dean whispered.
"I'm sure they're gonna be two lucky boys." Punk nodded.
"I think this is what was supposed to happen. You know I was so upset that I couldn't be a mother but I can. I don't have to have carried these boys in me for nine months to call them my sons. I'm going to love them just to same. And Paul feels the same. We need them and… they need us." Gerry nodded as Dean sighed to himself, looking over at Punk.
Adopted was such a taboo word for both of them, because they never saw themselves as adopted. They only saw the mother and father who raised them into young boys and men, who gave them everything they needed, who loved them unconditionally. But on paper… they were adopted.
"Fuck." Jason panted, rolling off of AJ in bed, sweat worked up between them both as AJ ran her hand through her hair, "Makes you wonder what we were fighting about, huh?" He laughed a little as AJ smiled.
"Yeah, I know." AJ nodded, draping her leg over his body, curling into him, "I am sorry that I have… such a demanding job. It's just… it's what I love and it's what I want to be the best at-"
"You don't have to be sorry. I was just… being a jerk cause I missed seeing your face." He assured her.
"Well… you can see it now." AJ looked up at him with a smile, "I can't wait to be your wife." She whispered.
"Me neither." Jason smiled, kissing her head.
Their relationship had moved very fast paced. They'd really only been dating for two years. They had met when AJ was in medical school and just recently they had gotten engaged and moved in together. It was fast paced which wasn't normally something AJ was comfortable with, but it just felt right and it made sense.
"Do you still wanna go looking for venues next week?" AJ asked him.
"Yeah, sounds good." Jason nodded.
"Nothing too fancy. You know I'd marry you anywhere." She smiled, "I never thought I'd be married, completing my residency, living in a house in such a short space of time." She thought to herself.
"You got the brains and the beauty." He smiled.
"Stop." AJ scoffed, "God, I wanted to give up so many times in med school. I really didn't think I was gonna get my degree."
"And you did." He nodded, "Isn't working residency harder?"
"It's just different. I feel like I'm more prepared now for what I'm faced with. Med school was just pressure and worrying and stress. Don't get me wrong, I still feel that sometimes but I just… I feel more ready for things now. And I hope I'll only get better. It's true what they say, the best way to learn is to just do it."
"More people should love their job the way you do." Jason nodded, "I wish I did."
"You love your job. And you're great at it." AJ said.
"Sometimes." Jason shrugged, "I was thinking yesterday… we gotta pick somewhere for a honeymoon, for after the wedding."
"Oh, yeah." AJ smiled, "As long as it's somewhere with sun, I don't care." She said as he smiled, feeling her trace his fingertips up his chest, "You know… I'm not against trying some new things in here." She whispered, taking his hand and placing it on her ass under the sheets as he chuckled and nodded.
"I know you're not." He smiled, reaching over for his phone on the night stand, scrolling through emails as she watched.
"Work?" She questioned, rolling onto her back and running her hand through her hair.
"Yeah, about eight unread emails." Jason shook his head, "I won't be long I'm just gonna respond to these." He said, getting out of bed and putting his shorts on, leaving the room as AJ got comfy, knowing she was about to pass out soon anyway.
