Chapter 6
It was an unusually calm night in the ER. One of the doctors had joked that this was clearly the opposite of a full moon night. Josephine and Anna were sitting at the ER lobby triage desk, trying everything to stay awake for the last half of their shift. Pulling her phone out of her scrub pocket, Josephine flipped it out to quickly type a text before hitting send.
Should've called out. It's dead here tonight
"Texting lover boy?" Anna asked, quirking an eyebrow. Josephine shot her a glare, and Anna laughed. "Well, who else could you possibly text at 1 am?" The phone vibrated in Josephine's hand, drawing her attention back to hit.
Told you ;)
Laughing, she tucked her phone back into her pocket and turned to face Anna.
"You really think he's that into me?"
"I've thought about it since you told me about him fixing your car," Anna said in a sing-song voice. Josephine shook her head and lightly laughed, picking her book off the desk and cracking it open.
Twenty minutes later, the doors to the ER opened, causing them both to look up. At that moment, Juice walked in carrying a tray with coffee in one hand and a brown bag in the other. Anna watched her friend's face light up like a kid on Christmas.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Josephine asked as Juice put the tray and bag down on the desk.
"You seemed bored. I brought coffee and food to get you ladies through the rest of your shift?" Juice said before leaning over to give Josephine a quick kiss. He straightened up, grabbing one of the coffees from the tray and holding it out to Anna. "Creamers and sugars are in the bag." He passed Josephine her coffee and continued, "There's also two bacon, egg, and cheese plain bagels in there for you two."
"Didn't think those bikes had multiple cup holders on them," Anna said, reaching into the bag for creamers.
"They don't," Juice laughed, "Actually, Half-Sack dropped off your car tonight, Jo. Was gonna text you to say I was gonna pick you up, but you texted me first." Josephine's face lit up again at the mention of her car being fixed. She squealed, jumping up to throw her arms around Juice's neck.
"Oh my god, thank you!" He laughed again, returning the tight hug.
"Alright, you two, get a room," Anna scoffed, causing the two of them to look over at her. Josephine rolled her eyes, and Juice quirked an eyebrow.
"Wait, we can steal a room?" He smirked, earning himself a smack on the arm from Josephine. She stepped out of his arms to grab a bagel from the bag. Anna lifted her coffee cup to her lips to try to hide her grin. She watched how Juice looked at her friend. His eyes followed her every movement, his smile never leaving his face. Josephine had sunk back into her chair, unwrapping the bagel as she went. Anna motioned to Juice to sit in the empty chair between them, and Juice sank into it and grabbed his coffee.
"Won't you guys get in trouble if I'm just chilling here?" he asked between sips of coffee. Josephine shook her head, her mouth full of food.
"Nah," Anna jumped in, "It's been like this all night. Most of the docs are probably sleeping in the on-call rooms. And other than the few nurses and techs in the back, we're it out here."
"You really should've called out," Juice said, looking over at Josephine.
"I know, I could be sleeping right now," she smirked. Juice went to say something but stopped when Anna's phone started ringing. She quickly silenced it before shooting Josephine a pointed look, "Go pump while you got the time."
"I'll go in a little bit," Josephine shrugged, sipping her coffee and wrapping up her bagel.
"No, get your ass moving. I'll keep your boyfriend company." Juice smiled brightly at Josephine after the word 'boyfriend' came out of her friend's mouth. Neither of them corrected her, making Anna raise her eyebrows. Josephine stood up and grabbed her pump bag from under the desk.
"I'll be back in a little," she said, smiling at Juice before walking away. Once she was out of view, Anna turned to Juice, "So what's your deal?" Juice quickly swiveled in his chair to see Anna staring him down.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't get me wrong, I love seeing her happy. But as her friend, I need to know your intentions."
"Anna-" Anna narrowed her eyes, causing him to stop talking.
"No, listen, I don't know how much you know about her, but I don't want to see her get fucked over. She's got a big heart and deserves the best." Juice leaned back in the chair, crossed his arms, and sighed.
"I know she deserves the best. I have no intention of hurting her. I may not have known her long, and I definitely don't know everything about her yet, but I do care about her." Anna nodded, her face softening.
"Good answer." She sipped her coffee before smirking at him, "So boyfriend, huh?" Juice felt his face get hot.
"You said it."
"Yeah," Anna shrugged, "But you didn't correct her, and neither did she." Anna took a sip of coffee before turning back to her computer. Juice sat there, his mind replaying that moment. 'She's right. Jo didn't correct her either,' he thought to himself as he sipped on his coffee.
/
Josephine returned to the triage desk to see Anna playing solitaire on her computer, the chair next to her vacant. Her smile dropped, and she sank back into her chair, shoving her bag under the desk.
"Juice leave?" she asked, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice. Anna pointed across the waiting room without taking her eyes off the screen. Josephine looked over to see Juice sleeping on one of the bench seats, an arm thrown across his face.
"So, did he pass the test?" Josephine asked as she let her hair out of the tight bun. Anna tried to feign innocence, finally pulling away from her game.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"I know you grilled him," Josephine said with an eye-roll.
"I did," Anna nodded, smirking, "Your boyfriend passed."
/
Juice felt someone rubbing his arm and stirred. Opening his eyes, he found Josephine kneeling beside him.
"Shit," he groaned, "What time is it?"
"Just after seven. My shift's over." Juice sat up and stretched. He reached for Josephine's bags on the floor beside her and stood up, grabbing her hand.
"Let's get out of here." They headed through the double doors and to Josephine's car. As Juice opened the back door to put the bags in, Josephine slipped into the passenger's seat, a sigh leaving her lips. Juice climbed into the driver's seat and started up the car.
"Do you remember how to get to CeCe's?" She asked, suppressing a yawn and pulling her knees up to her chest. Juice glanced over at her and patted her leg, seeing how tired she was.
Yeah. Close your eyes, babe." She softly smiled before resting her head back against the seat. Juice put the car into gear and headed towards the sitter's house. It took less than ten minutes, and he was pulling up in front of the house. He left the car running and got out to head up to the door. CeCe must've recognized the car because the door opened before he could knock.
"Can I help you?" She asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Yeah, I'm here to pick up the twins. Jo's sleeping in the car right now. Didn't want to wake her up." CeCe nodded, opening the door further and stepping aside to let him in. Once inside, he saw the twins already in their car seats, the diaper bag ready to go beside them. He tossed the bag over his shoulder and easily picked up the seats.
"Thanks again," he said before returning to the car. He loaded them up and jumped back into the driver's side, pulling away from the curb. Josephine didn't stir until Ollie started babbling in his seat. Her eyes grew wide as she looked around.
"Wait! We already went to CeCe's? Why didn't you wake me up?" Josephine asked, stretching as Juice reached over to rest his hand on her thigh.
"You were tired," he said with a shrug. Josephine sighed, sinking back into the seat and resting her hand on Juice's. Before she knew it, they were pulling up in front of her house.
"You off tonight?" Juice asked as they got out of the car.
"Yeah, and it's my weekend off," Josephine explained, reaching into the back seat to grab one of the car seats. Juice did the same on the other side, grabbing the bags and other car seat before heading up the porch. Josephine was already unlocking the door. Entering the house, Josephine put the car seat down and took Ollie out.
"Hi, baby boy," she whispered, kissing the baby on the forehead. She turned to see Juice putting the car seat down before disappearing into the kitchen with the bags. Josephine followed him and leaned against the door frame, watching him unpack the cooler and put the milk bottles into the fridge.
"You really don't have to do all that," Josephine said with a smile. Juice shrugged as he put the ice packs from the cooler into the freezer. He turned to her and smiled.
"Jo, it's fine. Go relax with the twins. I don't have to be at the club until later tonight. So, you're stuck with me until then."
"Don't threaten me with a good time," Josephine winked at him before walking back into the living room. Placing Ollie until the pack'n'play, she turned her attention to Rory, who was now cooing and babbling.
"Hey princess," she said, "What you got to say today?" Rory kept babbling as she shoved her fingers in her mouth.
"Rory telling you a story?" Juice had reentered the living room, plopping down on the couch. He yawned as he stretched, watching Josephine bounce Rory in her arms. She was whispering to her. Seeing her with the twins always made him smile. Juice's phone ringing pulled him out of his thoughts. He quickly pulled it out of his pocket and pressed it to his ear, silently cursing to himself.
"Yeah, what's up?" he asked, his eyes never leaving Josephine as she paced the living room, bouncing Rory as she went. He knew she was doing her best to seem like she wasn't listening. Juice listened to Jax, filling him in on what was going on.
"Yeah, man. I'll meet Chibs there," He responded. Juice hung the phone before sighing and getting to his feet.
"Gotta go?" Josephine asked, approaching him. He let out another sigh, pulling her by her hips as close as he could without hurting the bundle in her arms. He gently grabbed her chin, tipping her head up to kiss her.
"Yeah. Jax needs me to do some stuff with Chibs," he explained in between kisses, "I'll be back over later when I'm done." Josephine nodded when he finally pulled away. His smile suddenly fell off his face as he cursed under his breath.
"What?" Josephine asked, a confused look on her face. Juice pulled his hand from her chin to run it over his hair.
"My bike is at the garage." Josephine immediately turned to put Rory back into her car seat.
"We'll drop you off."
"Babe, you need sleep." Josephine just laughed as she buckled Rory in.
"I never sleep as it is. I have twins. Plus, that power nap in the car helped." After securing Rory in, she turned to pick up Ollie, "I'll get a nap in later when they do." Once Ollie was all set, Josephine headed into the kitchen to grab her bag. Juice followed her in and stopped her at the counter, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Have I ever told you how amazing you are?" He leaned down, his lips meeting with hers. She slightly pushed him away, but he resisted and stepped closer.
"You really need not to start things you don't have time to finish," she murmured against his lips.
"Yeah, I know." Despite what he was saying, his hands continued to roam. One was playing with the hem of her scrub top, the other sliding around to squeeze her ass playfully. "One of these days, I'll get you naked in that bed back there."
"I'm gonna hold you to that." Her voice was shaky as she replied. Her hands started drifting down to his belt. Juice felt his breath hitch in anticipation, but his phone ringing quickly ruined the moment.
"Fucking phone," he muttered, reaching into his back pocket to grab it. Flipping it open, he pressed it to his ear.
"Yeah?" He hadn't checked the caller ID. He was more focused on Josephine undoing his belt. The Scottish accent on the other end of the line barely registered with him.
"Nah. Jo's dropping me off," Juice answered the one question he heard as Josephine dipped her hand into his boxers. Wrapping her hand around him, she lightly squeezed, causing Juice to close his eyes. Chibs was still talking a mile a minute.
"Chibs, I'll be there in an hour." Juice interjected, his voice husky as Josephine's hand kept pumping. He flipped the phone shut and dropped it on the counter. He quickly dipped down to pick her up by the back of her thighs. Turning towards the counter, he set her on it before ripping off his shirt. He dove in for a heated kiss, only breaking it long enough to tug Josephine's scrub top off over her head. She lifted her hips, supporting herself on the counter as Juice tugged her scrub bottoms and thong off in one sweep. The sudden babble in the other room made Juice freeze.
"Shit the twins." Josephine's hands were busy pushing his jeans and boxers lower.
"They'll be fine for a few minutes."
"Few minutes is all I need."