While on his way to his date with April, Jackson is injured and ends up in the hospital. As he fights for his life, he sees people he never expected to ever see again.
Jackson was with his assistant Riley in his office going over paper work. There was a knock at the door.
"Come in," he said.
The door opened and it was April. Hi, she said. I'm not interrupting work, right?"
"No, and you can come here whenever you want," Jackson said.
"Slimeball," April said. Jackson gave her a flirtatious wink.
"Afternoon, Dr. Kepner," Riley said.
"Riley, I've told you many times you can just say April to me. We're friends," April said. "You didn't forget about tonight, did you?"
"Of course I didn't forget," Jackson said.
"Okay, how about we get out of here at 5:30?" April suggesteed.
"That's gonna be a little difficult for me," Jackson said. So I'll meet you at the restaurant.
"All right, just let me know when you leave," April said.
"I will," Jackson said. "I love you."
"Love you, too," April said, she gave Jackson a kiss and left his office.
Jackson's work day was almost over, he was in the restroom tidying his suit, she straightened his tie. After he was done Jackson walked back to his office, he grabbed something from his drawer and put it in his bag.
Riley walked into Jackson's office. "Shall I ask downstairs and get one of the cars for you?"
"That's not necessary, Riley, the restaurant isn't far from here so I'll walk," he said
Are you sure, Dr. Avery? I'll take care of it," Riley said.
"It's really not necessary," Jackson said. "And I've told you already that you can call me Jackson."
Riley nodded his head. Jackson grabbed his coat and left his office. Jackson walked out of the Foundation building and up toward the restaurant.
When Jackson was almost the restaurant he texted April; she quickly texted him back. Jackson put his phone in his inside pocket of his jacket. Suddenly Jackson heard someone screaming for help and he ran toward it. He saw that a boy was around 20 who was screaming, he was ambushed by two men.
"Hey!"
The two men looked in Jackson's direction. One took out his gun and pointed it at Jackson. Jackson only saw the barrel of the gun, the next thing it happened was the gun went off and everything went black in front of Jackson's eyes.
"Call 911!"
April was sitting in the restaurant waiting for Jackson, she looked at her watch and Jackson was late. The manager and a police officer walked up to her table.
"Dr. Kepner.
"That's me.""
"I'm officer Diaz," Diaz said.
"What's going on officer? She asked.
"It's about your boyfriend, Dr. Jackson Avery, Diaz said.
"What happened to Jackson? April said.
"Dr. Kepner, your boyfriend has been shot, Diaz told her.
"Where is he? I need to get to him now, April said.
"I'm taking you to the hospital, Diaz said.
April grabbed her coat and purse and walked Officer Diaz to his car and together they drove to the hospital.
Jackson woke up, he was lying on a floor in an area that was all white. He sat up and he looked at his chest and saw a red blood stain and hole, he realized he had been shot. Jackson stood up and looked around, but saw nothing or no one.
"Where am I? Is anyone here?"
"I'm here!"
Jackson turned around, he saw a boy standing there, he guessed that the boy was around 9 years old. "Who are you?"
"Don't you recognize me?" He asked.
"No, should I know you..," Jackson began, he took a closer look at the boy and he realized that he did know the boy. "Samuel?"
"Hi Daddy," Samuel said.
Jackson got down on his knees, and face to face with Samuel. "Samuel is that really you?" He asked, his eyes filled with tears.
"Yes, it's me daddy," Samuel said.
"Let me look at you, you look a lot like me when I was young, You have my eyes, but you have your mother's ears and her smile," Jackson said. "You look exactly as I would have always thought."
"Of course he does."
Jackson recognized the voice, he looked to the side and saw Mark.
"Mark?"
"Hey Avery."
"If you're here, does that mean I'm dead?" Jackson said.
"You're not dead," Mark said.
"Then where am I?" Jackson asked.
"You're between life and the afterlife," Mark explained.
"Why are you here?" Jackson asked.
"I'm here to help you," Marks said. "That's our job."
"Ours? You mean you and Samuel?" Jackson asked.
"And mine too," A voice said. And again Jackson recognized the voice, it was Charles.
"Charles," Jackson said.
"Long time no see Jackson," Charles said.
Jackson still had no idea what exactly was going on, he was quite in shock with all that was happening, he is between life and death and sees three people he cares about very much standing in front of him.
April arrived he the hospital, she walked up to someone and hoped they could give her answers with how Jackson was doing.
"Can you help me?"
"What can I do for you?"
"My boyfriend Jackson Avery, was brought here, I heard he was shot, do you know anything about that?"
"Dr. Kepner," One of the doctors said, he walked over to her. "I'm Dr. Baker."
"Can you tell me anything about Jackson's status?" April asked.
"They are working on Dr. Avery now," Dr. Baker said. "If you will sit there and I'll let you know more soon, okay."
"Thank you," April said.
April sat down in one of the chairs and could only hope that everything was going to okay with Jackson.
"What's going on here? Why are you here?" Jackson asked.
"You tell me," Mark said.
"How should I know?" Jackson asked.
"Come Jackson think, you're fighting for your life and your subconscious has brought the three of us out for you," Charles said.
"But why?" Jackson said.
"You know why," Mark said. "We're three important people in your life that you've lost."
"I get that," Jackson said.
"You're gonna fight, right? Fight to live," Mark said.
"I can't leave Harriet and April behind, so yeah, I'm going to fight," Jackson said.
"Speaking of April, I never expected you two to end up together," Charles said, and that recieved him a glare from Jackson said. "What? Nobody saw that coming."
"What about the ring in your bag," Mark said.
"How do you know about it?" Jackson said.
"Jackson, even though we're no longer with you, we know everything that goes on in your life," Charles said. "Plus we're part of your subconsicous so of course we know about it."
"So were you planning on finally asking her to marry you tonight on your date, or were you gonna put it off again," Mark said.
"The moment has to be perfect," Jackson said.
"You love Mommy, right Dad?" Samuel asked.
"Yes, I love her very much," Jackson said.
"And you want to be with her forever?" Samuel asked.
"Yes," Jackson said.
"So what are you waiting for?" Samuel asked.
"You've got a wise kid Avery, I would listen to him if I were you," Mark said.
April was still waiting to hear a word from the doctors. The boy who was helping Jackson was also at the hospital and was walking toward her.
"Hey."
"Hi."
"I'm Lewis."
"April."
"I know you don't know me, but your husband was the one who helped me," Lewis said.
"Helped you do what?" April asked.
"Two men attacked me, He wanted to help me and then he got shot," Lewis said. "I'm so sorry."
"It's not your fault, please don't blame yourself," April said.
"Is there anything I can do for you? Get something to eat or drink," Lewis said.
"I don't need anything right now, but thank you for asking," April said.
"Do you know anything?" Lewis asked.
"They're still working on him," April said. "Do you want to wait here with me?"
"Sure, if you want really want that," Lewis said.
Lewis sat down next to April. One of the nurses brought April and Lewis something to drink. And two hours later, a doctor walked up to April.
"And?" April asked.
"Surgery went well and there were no complications," Dr. Baker said.
"Where's Jackson?" April asked.
"He's in the recovery room," Dr. Baker said. Now we just have to wait and see when he wakes up.
"How soon do you think that will happen?" April asked.
"I can't tell," Dr. Baker said.
"Can I go see him?" April asked.
"I'll bring you to him," Dr. Baker said.
April walked with Dr. Baker to the room where Jackson lay. April sat down next to Jackson's bed and held his hand.
"Hey, I want you to know I'm here," April said. She looked up. "Please, don't take Jackson away from me, I beg you."
Mark and Charles had told Jackson all about their lives in the afterlife.
"So you and Reed are together now?" Jackson asked.
"Yes," Charles said.
"And you're happy here?" Jackson asked.
"That Reed and I are finally together, makes me happy," Charles said. "But I still wish we could have been when we were alive."
"I feel that way to sometimes," Mark said.
Jackson heard April's voice echo, begging him to open his eyes, to wake up.
"Someone is waiting for you."
"Can I go?"
"Just look at yourself and you'll have your answer."
Jackson looked down at his chest, the bloodstain and bullet hole were gone.
"So it's not your time yet Avery," Mark said.
"It was good to see you again," Jackson said.
"You, too, Avery, I've missed that Avery sparkle of yours," Mark said.
"Hey and if you and April ever have another child, Charlie works for a boy and a girl," Charles said.
Jackson walked over to Samuel and sat down next to him.
"I'm going to miss you Dad," Samuel said.
"I'm going to miss you too, I'm so glad to have seen you and I'm never going to forget you, I promise," Jackson said.
"I know that, you and Mom named a hospital after me," Samuel said.
"Yes, you will always be a part of our lives no matter where we are," Jackson said.
"You say hello to mom and my sister for me," Samuel said.
"I will," Jackson said, he looked over to Mark. Promise you'll look after him.
"I always have," Mark said.
A white door suddenly appeared. Jackson walked toward the door and opened it. Before leaving he looked back once more and saw Samuel waving at him.
"Bye daddy."
"Bye son."
Jackson walked through the door.
In Jackson's room, April had fallen asleep, her head resting on Jackson's bed and she was holding his hand. Jackson opened his eyes and gently squeezed April's hand, by this April opened her eyes. She saw that Jackson was awake, her eyes felt tears of joy.
"Hi."
"Hey."
The doctors did another check up on Jackson, according to him, he should be fine and recover well from his gunshot wound without many problems.
Jackson had told April about seeing Mark and Charles, but he had not yet told her that he had also seen Samuel.
"It felt so unreal," Jackson said.
"I can understand that," April said.
"But Mark and Charles weren't the only ones I saw," Jackson said. "I saw Samuel."
"You saw Samuel? What did he look like?" April asked.
"Exactly as I always imagined, I saw a lot of my features in him, but he has your smile," Jackson said.
"What was it like to see him?" April asked.
"I was happy and sad, happy that I had a chance to see my son, but that he could never be here, that makes me sad," Jackson said.
"And how was he doing?" April asked.
"He said he was doing well," Jackson said. "And I don't know if it was a dream or something else, I'm glad to know that where Samuel is now then, that he's doing well."
April took Jackson's hand. "Me too," she said, her phone buzzed, she got a text from Harriet's babysitter. "Erin is here, with Harriet, so you can see her."
"I want to see Harriet so much right now," Jackson said.
"I'll go get her now," April said.
"April before you go, you can hand me my bag?" Jackson asked.
April grabbed Jackson's bag and handed it to him. As soon as April was out of the room, Jackson opened his bag and took out a box, he opened the box containing a silver engagement ring. "Very soon." Hearing the voices of April and Harriet, he quickly put the ring back in his bag and placed the bag next to his bed. April and Harriet entered his room.
"Daddy," Harriet said.
"My Munchkin," Jackson said, April put Harriet next to Jackson on the bed and Jackson hugged his daughter.
"Are you going to be okay, daddy?" Harriet asked.
"Yes, I'll be fine," Jackson said, with his free hand, he grabbed April's hand and looked at her. "I promise."