Work Text:
Beep! Beep!
“Jack?” Samira whispered, her voice thick with sleep as she poked him in the ribs.
He groaned, leaning his weight further on top of her body to cage her in. His eyes remained closed as his nose slid up her cheek, his left hand rising to gently squish the other side of her face. He placed a lingering, warm kiss on her cheek, letting out a low and content hum as he breathed her in.
Beep!
Jack buried his nose into the crease of her neck to escape the noise and the reality of the afternoon.
Samira huffed, slapping lightly at his shoulders when he remained draped over her like an unmovable boulder. “Turn off the alarm. It’s interrupting my nap.”
“Are you sure you don't want to come?” he mumbled against her skin. His mind is already resisting the thought of being away from her for the next few hours.
“Positive,” she assured him, laughing softly as his teeth nipped at her neck in mock disappointment. Her arms tightened their hold around his shoulders and neck. “I want to do absolutely nothing today. Between moving back and meeting with the board to make sure I can start as an attending this week, I’m beat. I need sleep, a shower, and then I need to find my books.”
“I already unpacked your books. They’re on your bookshelf.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “I have a shelf?”
Jack nodded, leaving small kisses along her jawline and pulse point, relishing the steady rhythm of her heartbeat beneath his lips. “I built it last night while you were sleeping.”
Her hands trailed up the back of his neck, fingers tangling in his thick and silver curls.
Jack leaned into the touch and rested his head on her collarbone. Samira’s heart stuttered slightly at the quiet realization that this was their life now.
No more long distance, no more guessing.
Just Jack, quietly staying two steps ahead of whatever she needed.
“I missed you,” she admitted softly. It was the millionth time she’d said it that week, still adjusting to sharing her vulnerability as easily as he always did.
Jack leaned back, a wide smile breaking across his face as he reached out and finally silenced the alarm. His left hand cradled her cheek and guided her forward until she met him in the middle.
The kiss was unhurried, like slipping into a warm bath after being stuck in the rain for too long.
It was perfect, until the loud, vibrating buzz of Jack’s phone broke the silence.
“H’llo?” he mumbled, answering it while Samira gently wiped a trace of spit off his bottom lip with her thumb.
“Just checking to see if you’re flaking. John has a twenty-dollar bet saying you’re going to stay in bed,” Parker Ellis’ voice crackled through the speaker.
Jack looked down at Samira, a guilty look on his face as he prepared to make an excuse.
Predicting his move, she pinched his nipple tightly through his shirt and pointed firmly at the phone, mouthing, You have to go.
He groaned in a mix of pain and frustration. “Yeah, yeah, I’m coming. What time does the show start again?”
Shen let out a loud cackle in the background before Parker chimed back in. “You’re already fifteen minutes late, Abbot. We're sitting in your driveway.”
The call ended with a sharp click. Jack glared playfully down at her. “You’re making me late.”
Samira instantly adopted a picture of perfect innocence, holding up her hands in mock surrender. “Don’t blame me for your bad time management skills, Abbot. Go enjoy the show.” She smiled, tapping his chest. "You guys saved that guy's life. The least you can do is go laugh at his stand up set."
Jack’s playful expression faltered, the teasing stopping instantly as a look of mild dread crossed his face. “Wait... how long is his set? Is this going to take three hours of my life?”
She shrugged, biting her lip to hide her glee at his cluelessness. “Well, plus opening acts and driving? Yeah, have fun spending it with your nightcrawlers. Or could you think of something better to do?”
“Yeah,” he said softly.
His eyes tracked her curls splayed across the pillow she had brought from Seattle. He looked over at the bedside table he had bought and assembled before her arrival, now cluttered with her various pill bottles, chapsticks, claw clips, and loose change. He thought of the boxes littering the hallway, and the quiet reality that they were going to spend months, maybe even years, together in this space.
No more hurried conversations in the ambulance bay at PTMC. No more hotel rooms booked just so she could get out of her shoebox apartment to sleep in a king size bed with him.
“I’d rather be here with you,” he admitted quietly, leaning down to press one more kiss to her lips.
Samira’s fingers lingered in his hair before he finally broke away, leaving their cocoon of warmth. By the time he gathered his clothes and headed down the hall, she was already drifting back to sleep.
Her arm subconsciously extended to his side of the bed, searching for his warmth.
A few hours later, the quiet rustle of the bedroom door opening woke her.
“Dr. Mohan,” Jack whispered, kneeling by the edge of the mattress. He placed a soft kiss on her cheek. “Wake up for me, please?”
Samira’s face scrunched as she fought her way out of a deep sleep cycle. Her nose twitched, and she let out a loud groan as she stretched her arms over her head. Her eyelashes fluttered open to find Jack staring at her, his eyes burning with an intense, nervous energy. His hands restlessly smoothed the comforter out although there were no wrinkles.
“Hi,” she sighed, blinking to reboot her brain. “How was the comedian? Is the show over already?”
He smirked, glancing at the alarm clock over her shoulder. The set wasn't scheduled to end for at least another forty-five minutes.
“I skipped it.”
Samira groaned, her voice thick with sleep as she reached out to pat his cheek, her palm resting against his rough stubble. “Why’d you do that? Shen and Ellis were so excited to see him perform.”
Jack shrugged, though his eyes glowed with the fierce adoration he usually kept guarded. “Don’t worry, they were fine with the alternative. I actually have a question I want to ask you.”
Samira blinked, her vision clearing as her ears suddenly picked up on the faint, melodic strain of music flowing through the house. Her eyebrows creased in confusion. She noticed the slight bead of sweat on his forehead and the subtle tremor in his hands.
Jack continued. His voice dropped an octave as he stared at her, as if committing every detail of her face to memory. “I, um...”
“Wait a second,” Samira squinted, tilting her head as the puzzle pieces suddenly snapped into place, shocking her fully awake. “That's the music from our first date. And you're asking an important question...”
She leaned over the edge of the bed and looked down at where he was balanced. “You’re on one knee. Isn't that hurting your residual limb?”
Jack caught her hands firmly in his, grounding himself with her touch. “Samira, a few minutes on the floor to ask you the most important question of my life is not going to cause any serious damage.”
“Any preventable pain is damage,” she countered, her voice tight with a stubbornness that couldn't quite mask the sudden racing of her heart.
Jack let out a soft huff, shaking his head in a mix of disbelief and utter joy. This was the person he wanted to build everything with. She was the one he wanted to follow for the rest of his days.
“Yes, dear,” he said, using her least favorite nickname just to see her nose scrunch up.
“Well, c'mon, Abbot,” she urged, a breathless impatience setting in as the last remnants of sleep vanished. “I’d like to hear this very important question.”
Jack squared his shoulders and took a deep, stabilizing breath.
“I want to marry you. I want to be your husband. For years, I believed I’d never find a semblance of the life and happiness I used to have, and I was right, what I have with you is entirely different.” His grip on her hands tightened as he leaned closer to the bed. “You are unimaginable, Samira Mohan. People say I talk too much, but I genuinely struggle to find the words to capture the richness you’ve brought into my world.”
A tear slipped down Samira’s cheek, and Jack immediately reached up with his thumb to wipe it away.
“I love you,” he said. He spoke with a quiet certainty, a finality that made her believe it would never fade.
She knew it wouldn't, because the exact same weight rested in her own chest.
“I love you,” she whispered back.
“I thought I would end up alone,” she added, her eyes drifting briefly to the moving boxes scattered around the room before locking back onto him. “I was so used to it. But you make me feel so safe, Jack. Loved, and more importantly, supported enough that it actually scares me sometimes.”
Taking a deep breath, she let go of the lingering fears of the past. “I want to be your wife.”
Jack’s grin broke open so wide she thought his face might ache. He reached out and shook her hand with mock formality. “Glad we could come to an agreement, Dr. Mohan.”
Then, he tugged her arm and pulled her lips to his.
When they finally pulled apart, Jack gently rubbed his thumb over the bare ring finger of her left hand. “Your ring is technically a little late. I have John and Ellis picking it up from the jeweler right now. That's why we skipped the comedy show.”
She blinked. “You bought it today?”
“No, I bought it two weeks after you left Pittsburgh,” he confessed with a quiet laugh. “I was planning a whole grand gesture for later this month, but waking up with you this morning made me realize I didn't want to wait another day.”
Right on cue, the sharp and demanding ring of the doorbell echoed through the house. Samira laughed, fully awake now, as Jack pulled her out of bed. Their fingers intertwined as they walked together toward the front door.
She leaned her head back against his shoulder, looking up at him with a soft smile.
"Thank you," she murmured quietly, her voice full and steady. "for asking me."
Jack squeezed her waist a little tighter, kissing the crown of her head just as the doorbell rang a second time. “Happy to do it for the rest of our lives.”
Samira felt the truth of the words settle deep beneath her ribs.