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Abbot was regretting working the Fourth of July weekend. It could be entertaining - stitching up people after family fights, idiots who did their own fireworks, pumping stomachs. A fight at the furry convention was actually the tamest incident they had to deal with.
But he was glad to see Mohan. She was a brilliant resident, eager to learn. They swapped books and medical textbooks, he drove her home even though she was on the other side of town.
They had sent a man with pain, very drunk, to x-ray. Mohan approached him, holding the films.
“Dr Mohan, what do you have?” Abbot asked.
“There's a man with, a, uh, flare up his….” She just held up the X-ray for him to look at.
Abbot was unphased. He had seen it before but still was bemused by the stupidity of the human race.
“I wonder if he decided this before or after drinking?” Abbot mused.
“Do you think he used lube? I mean it's so far up?” Mohan asked, morbidly intrigued.
Ellis walked by and stopped to look at the X-ray, raising an eyebrow, “Oh, white people go way too crazy this weekend.” She remarked, shaking her head.
“I don’t think this is what the founding fathers had in mind.” Abbot remarked with a faint smile, “Mohan, you want to scrub in on this?”
“Why not?” Samira said dryly, “Who said medicine was a boring profession.”
The night was going by easily, at least for the fourth.
She looked at him, unsure of why he was just watching, arms folded. He always wanted her to do this insane, manual surgeries that he probably did in a combat zone.
It was insanity and brilliant and she loved it.
“You're okay.” He encouraged and she slowly inserted the needle, “Now, tube.”
She inserted the tube and was relieved when liquid started draining.
“Nice work.” Abbot complimented, “Patch it, send him up to General.”
She smiled at him, glad for the praise and also relieved that it worked, "One day, we need to talk about your need for me to do some crazy procedures." Samira joked as she removed her PPE.
Abbot merely gave her that near smile, seemingly reserved her for her, "No, we won't." He said.
A group of frat bros who though they would have their own firework party were brought in. Two stomachs needed pumping, a second degree burn from a sparkler dare gone wrong and
"Sir, please put those down." Princess sighed, dealing with a 'bro' who was holding a lighter.
"Wait, wait but this place blows!" He complained, pulling out a stick. Princess' eyes widened and looked around.
"Fireworks!"
The sudden loud pops in the air caused Samira to freeze. She never knew how to respond in these situations. Fight or Flight. But immediately, she was pushed to the ground.
“Down!” Abbot yelled, and she realised he was shielding her, strong arms caging her. She didn't even want to look up, eyes to the ground until the pops faded and she heard the heavy thud of the cops running in to no doubt arrest the idiot.
Abbot pulled them up, eyes darting around the ER. Everything seemed to be in order. He helped Mohan sit up, brushing tendrils of dark hair out of her face.
“Mohan, you good?” He asked, and Mohan's eyes were still wide, shocked. Abbot shook her, hands firmly gripping her shoulders, “Samira!”
His firm hands gently shook her back to life and she took a deep breath. “I'm okay, I'm okay.” She assured. She wasn't injured, just startled. She's never had a firework go off inside.
Steadying herself, Samira placed a hand on his chest. His heart was beating, thumping really. Like it was going to jump out of his chest. Jack was still looking at her, before tearing himself away and standing up.
“Everybody alright?” Abbot called out, “Talk to me!” He checked over Princess who was shaken but fine and unharmed. He was going to punch that kid who was now handcuffed.
She finished up with dressings on a second degree burn from a barbecue.
At her station, she hyped up her notes and stopped Ellis who leaned over and let out a sigh, “Oh, I can't wait to sleep. Seems to be trickling down.”
“A firework in the ER will probably do that,” Samira joked, “Hey, have you seen Dr Abbot?” Samira asked.
Ellis glanced around, “He finished up in surgery. He probably needed a minute. My uncle hated the fourth of July too.” She sighed, offering a small smile before returning to her patient.
Mohan nearly wanted to slap herself silly. She had read studies on post traumatic stress disorder; the differences in men and women, children.
He didn't shield her like it was a firework going off.
She needed to find him.
Abbot hated the fourth. Really fucking hated it. His shrink however, said that he believed he liked the familiarity.
"The chaos nights - the fourth, Halloween - they'll always remind you of where you were at one point."
It was true, he thinks. He was a trauma surgeon, he thrived in chaos, used to fighting sand and wind whilst patching up another soldier crying out after bullet pierced his body armour. A child caught in cross fire who he bandages with the sleeve of his jacket and he could make splint out of anything.
He got the same rush on these nights. But the difference was a feeling of safety. No one was truly safe but in the ER, there was control. No drones or shells and usually no gunfire. Usually no fireworks.
In the corridor on the backstairs, he rested his head against the cool brick wall. These stairs were rarely used on such nights as the lift was faster. He needed to regulate his breathing. 5,4,3,2,1 inhale, 1,2,3,4,5 exhale.
He can feel her before she can speak, his every sense on high alert as it was on nights like this. He was always aware of Mohan - the way she sat with patients, taking her time, her focus during chaos and ability to remain calm. But then he saw the fear in her eyes and the fear he felt, causing him to dive them both to the ground.
“Abbot?”
“Jack?” She called out and he turned around to see her worried expression.
“Hey.” He removed his scrub cap, sighing
“Jack, can I touch you?” She asked. He nodded silently.
Her hands, soft yet so strong, ran up and down his arms, across goosebumps and hair, a scar on his right forearm.
“You’re here." Samira whispered, standing in front of him.
Jack exhaled shakily, shutting his eyes.
“You are here.” She repeated, “Just be here."
His breathing evened out and they stood there, Samira still running her soothing circuit on his arms. She didn't want to move, just in case.
“We have an hour left on shift before the relief team comes in.” Abbot finally said, "Let's go."
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” He assured, rubbing circles into her hand with his thumb.
"Jack." Samira said, firmly. She moved to stand in front of him. She was shorter and he could literally just lift her out of the way. But she was not going to let him run. She never did.
Jack huffed, finally looking her in the eyes, and Samira reached up and stroked his cheek.
"When did you last sleep?" She asked.
"When did you?" He retorted and sighed, "I don't sleep well this time of year. Too many fireworks."
"Okay, so we're going upstairs. Shen and Ellis have it all handled." Samira ordered. He needed to sleep, to escape this for a few hours.
"Samira..." Jack sighed as she walked past him to go upstairs. She merely looked at him and held out her hand, "I can... I don't need-"
"Yes, you do." Samira interrupted firmly, "Or I'm calling your therapist. So you can come sleep with me or call your shrink now."
Robby, after arriving to the hospital, went looking for Abbot. He had been told what happened by Ellis, and after checking on the staff, he immediately went to the roof. He was not there, thankfully. He jogged down to the third floor, where the on-call rooms for staff were.
In the on-call room he knew he usually slept in, they were cuddled on the crappy twin sized bed. Samira was reading as Jack was fast asleep, an arm slung over her stomach. She didn't even notice Robby at first. She had slept then woke up, watching Abbot sleep with a small smile.
“Hey.” She whispered. She could feel her face heat up. This was not exactly the position she wanted to be found in.
“Hey. Is he okay?” Robby whispered, nodding in Abbot's direction. It was good to see him asleep. He could address the rest of it another time, tease him in a week or so.
Samira looked over at a sleeping Jack, a small smile on her face, “Better. I'll take him home when he wakes up.” She told him softly. She would remind him also to call in with Robby.
“So, you two…?” Robby began and Samira felt her cheeks were now ablaze, glancing down at the arm on her stomach and she was so glad she couldn't physically blush.
“Yes, us two. The two of us.” She whispered, “We're not… we'll do the paperwork.”
Robby nodded, amused, “I know, I know. You're both too regimented not to do things properly. I think you're good for each other.”
His approval was not needed but it was nice, “See you later.”
Abbot woke a little later, feeling a little more relaxed than he had. Maybe he should listen to the advice he gives patients who just need a little sleep.
Or maybe it was more the fingers running through his hair, the warmth of a woman who smelled like a mixture of antiseptic soap and a faint whiff of rose from her favourite body butter.
“It's 7:30. Wanna come home?” Samira asked, "We can get you something to eat?"
“You ask me like I'm a lost dog.’
“You are.” She replied with a shrug. She did like picking up strays, ever since she was little.
“You give me the best compliments.” He pressed a kiss to her arm before sitting up.
“Your foot?” She checked. She didn’t want to baby him in that respect, but she knew after a long shift, he would feel a lot of stiffness.
"It's fine. Maybe the nap did me good." Jack admitted and watched he grin, "Shut up."
"Never." Samira smiled, tying her hair up again.
They left the hospital together, knowing full well all the rumours that they fuelled. Neither really cared as they walked to his truck and Abbot pressed his forehead to Samira's, whispering a 'thank you'.