Archive of Our Own

“Doctor Abbot.”

Jack was sorting through his charts, glancing between the tablet in his hands and the board on the screens in front of him, evaluating which cases would need a summary for the night shift when it came to handover time. It would be just his luck that the week Robby needed him to cover his day shifts that it would seemingly be cursing the ED to be in peak chaotic form. Yay.

But the team had slowly managed to crawl through the hours-long wait list sitting in the chairs outside, back to a reasonable enough position that Shen and his team wouldn’t be cursing the mess they’d walked into.

Jack glanced to the side upon hearing the unusually meek voice of Doctor Trinity Santos break his concentration, his eyes flitting over her uncharacteristically hesitant approach, “Doctor Santos. You’re here early.”

Santos gently cleared her throat as she glanced around the distracted ED, “Yes, I er,” She took a small step forward as she lowered her voice, “I wanted to ask you about something.”

“Go on.” He muttered distractedly as he scrolled through the notes in front of him.

“It’s about Doctor Mohan.”

Well, that got his attention. 

His eyes snapped up from the tablet to meet Santos’ face, reading the lines of concern setting in her brow, “What is it?”

Santos wrung out her hands, “I mean it could be nothing, it could be me sticking my nose into something that I don’t belong in, but I’ve been debating saying something for days now and didn’t know who else to speak to. But I figured given the two of you seem close-” She trailed off.

Jack narrowed his eyes at the clearly flustered woman in front of him before she continued, “It’s just, I’m worried about her. It can’t just be me that’s noticed how tired she looks, or how much she’s overworking herself. She’s practically living at the hospital at this point.”

Jack pulled back in realisation, so it wasn’t just him that had picked it up.

I mean, when did Jack not pick up anything that had to do with Samira Mohan? He’d been slightly infatuated with the younger woman since she’d first graced the night shift with her presence a few years ago, and since then he’d been able to bear witness to the doctor excel in her studies and her confidence in becoming the best doctor this ED had. He couldn’t help himself watching her command a room as she stepped up to take over a trauma, or gently sooth a hysterical child with a broken arm, or patiently talk Doctor King through counselling grieving parents. She was like the sun, even when he wasn’t looking at her he could still feel her  and see how the rays of her presence make everything about the ED better. Happier. More optimistic.

He’d come to the realisation that his slight infatuation with her was bordering on creepy, especially since some of his coworkers had started to pick up on the magnetism he felt towards her as soon as she walked into the room. It certainly hadn’t helped when Samira had found out about his past publications and took to grilling him every chance she could on night shift, until he finally caved and invited her for a post-shift breakfast club. It was the one weekly social commitment that he didn’t despise and in fact he’d come to cherish and look forward to, watching her enthusiastically debate him as they nerded out on medical journals battling the need for sleep just to spend more time in each other’s company. How could he keep arguing that they were just colleagues catching up to discuss work when he couldn’t stop looking at her as she pointed out inaccuracies in the data, her curls wild around her face as her hands spoke almost as fast as her mouth did? How his breath would catch sometimes seeing the way her eyes lit up as he gave her feedback on her own research?

But a few weeks ago, that all seemed to come to a full stop.

It had started slowly, Jack noticing Samira desperately trying to hide yawns throughout her shift. Then seeing her jump when Whitaker had dropped a pan by accident. The way she’d lingered longer at the nurses desk at the end of her shift, as if waiting for a reason to pop up so she could stay at work. Her usual glowing smile that she graced the ED with upon arrival now driven into a tight purse of her lips as she desperately tried to pat down her frazzled curls into her claw clip.

She had also started pulling away from everyone. At first Jack thought he might’ve done something wrong, with her making hasty excuses about why she couldn’t come to breakfast each week. She didn’t give him a knowing smile at shift change or hang around at his locker to hand him her latest medical journal obsession, and Jack couldn’t help but feel like he’d lost the one little joy in his life. But he’d heard Javadi whispering to Mel that Samira had bailed on girl’s night later that week, citing that she had to pick up a shift for Parker, which he knew wasn’t true. Parker had said she offered to take it instead, she’d practically jumped at the opportunity.

Jack had tried to corner her a few times in the past week to ask if she was ok, but she would always reassure him she was fine, despite the hollowness of her cheeks and the deep dark circles under her eyes.

Jack was a fellow insomniac, but even he could admit it was a little distressing watching the literal life fading from Samira’s eyes, which in turn made his own insomnia worse as he couldn’t stop thinking about her pulling away from everyone. From him.

“I had noticed.” He muttered back.

Trinity almost looked relieved, as if she’d been gaslighting herself into her thinking being ridiculous, “I am so glad it’s not just me. I thought I was going crazy every time I asked her if she was ok, but I mean the woman is pulling doubles left right and centre, staying late most shifts and acting like a gust of wind could blow her over. Like she’s clearly not ok. But I also didn’t want to rat her out if it was nothing.”

Jack froze a little, how did he not pick up she was working more doubles?

Without responding to Santos, he leaned over to grab the scheduling weekly report that Dana used for shift change, and he slowly leafed through the past week’s worth of scheduling hours.

And there she was: Samira had worked at least one or two double shifts every week for the past month.

Jack could feel a sense of unease slowly working its way between his shoulders, and he placed the schedule back down into its spot before turning back to where Santos was shifting from foot to foot, looking back at him anxiously. 

He leaned forward and placed a calming hand on Santos’ shoulder, “Thank you for telling me Doctor Santos, it’s never an issue to express concern over the wellbeing of your colleagues. Leave it with me, I’ll check in with Mohan.”

Trinity blew out a nervous breath, “Ok, thank you Doctor Abbot.”

He nodded back at her, patting her gently on the shoulder before watching her scurry off towards the staff room.

Jack took a measured breath out, feeling the hair on the back of his neck starting to rise as the uncomforting feeling that something was wrong wrecked at his nervous system. It was like he could see all the puzzle pieces laid out in front of him in a disjointed fashion, and he couldn’t piece together what they were trying to say.

It was some time later after handing a patient over to the orthopedics who were rushing him up to surgery, that he caught the form of the one doctor who’d seemingly avoided him all shift and watched her sidle into the staff room. Knowing this would be the perfect time to catch her, he quickly stripped off his gown and gloves and moved swiftly to slip into the room after her.

Jack slowly approached Samira’s form as she moved towards the sink, and gently placed a hand on her shoulder, “Hey Mohan-”

Just as his hand made contact with her, her entire body flinched at the touch and the half-filled cup of water went flinging to the side with a gasp escaping her mouth.

He blinked at her startled reaction and watched as her face grew flushed in mortification at her own reaction, fumbling to pick up the discarded cup at her feet, “Oh my god Abbot, I am so sorry-”

He winced slightly at her using his last name again, when had that reverted?

“Mohan, it’s fine-” Jack tried to calm her down as she hastily grabbed the towel hanging off the cupboard handle and started to mop up the water she’d spilt.

“-I just didn’t see you come in, I’m so sorry. I feel like I’m lost in my own world nowadays-”

“Samira,” He muttered firmly, and at the sound of her name she stilled for a second, her body drawing to standing as her doe-eyes looked back at him wildly.

He tilted his head to the side as he looked her over: her usually smooth scrubs wrinkled with distress, her hair hung limply around her haggard face, and her hands shaking slightly as she clutched at the towel with a tight grip.

“Are you ok, Samira?” Jack implored as he stooped a little to meet her eye.

She blinked back at him, and he held his gaze as he watched her body start to fidget under his scrutinisation. He could see her hands starting to weave the towel through her hands, and she glanced down at them, as if trying to build the courage to tell him something.

Just as her mouth opened to say something, the staff room door swung open and the two of them lost the connection as Matteo swaggered into the room. His backpack was slung over one of his shoulders as he bopped along to the music blasting out of his headphones, and he noticed the two of them, waving as he headed to the lockers. On any other day Jack would be relieved to see the night nurse but Jack couldn’t help but curse the younger man for breaking their crucial moment.

As Jack turned back to Samira, he noticed her guard had jumped right back up again as she stiffly turned away from him, “I’m fine, Jack. Just not sleeping well.”

Jack frowned, “You know you can tell me if you’re not though?”

She glanced at him as she wiped down the bench, refusing to meet his eye, “I better get back to work.”

He watched her scurry out of the room, and couldn’t help the crawling feeling under his skin that she was hiding something horrible from him.

—--

Jack hadn’t slept much that night, not that it was much different than his usual PTSD-induced insomnia, but his mind couldn’t stop racing thinking about the true fear he’d seen on Samira’s face. He’d tossed and turned, thinking about her skittish behaviour and he couldn’t ignore the sinking feeling in his gut that something was horribly wrong, and tried to develop a plan of action for the following shift.

He arrived early the next day, catching Dana walking Emma through some charting steps near the hub area. He quietly approached them and set his bag down by his feet, making eye contact with Dana as she finished her thought.

“-so that’s why you need to remember to fill out this section before you discharge them for their insurance,” Dana turned to him, drawling sarcastically, “Doctor Abbot, always nice to see your smiling face at 3pm in the afternoon.”

Jack didn’t take a bite at her subtle dig, shifting on his feet as he gave a quick glance at Emma before settling back on the head charge nurse, “Could I grab you for a second?”

Dana narrowed her eyes at the uncharacteristic seriousness of the doctor in front of her, not taking her eyes off him as she gently placed a hand on the younger nurse’s shoulder, “Why don’t you go along and check that patient in bay 5 and I’ll come find you in a second?”

Jack and Dana watched the younger nurse slip away, before Dana turned to where Jack was standing stiffly with his arms crossed, “What’s going on?”

Jack ducked his head a little, glancing around to make sure people weren’t in earshot, “Have you noticed anything different with Mohan recently?”

Dana narrowed her eyes up at him as she matched his stance, her arms crossing over her chest, “In what way?”

Jack shrugged a shoulder, “Working longer hours. Seems skittish. Doesn’t seem to be herself.”

Dana’s eyebrows raised a fraction, “You worried about her?”

Jack pursed his lips together, trying to find the right words, “It has been brought to my attention that she seems to be struggling with something, and it’s not just me who has noticed. She seems to be pulling away from everyone, abnormally so.”

Dana hummed in agreement, glancing around before adding to his thought, “Now that you mentioned it, I caught her trying to sleep in one of the on-call rooms after her shift ended last week. Poor thing looked like she hadn’t had any proper rest in weeks, I thought it might just be her slipping back into her work-obsessed habits again so I didn’t push it, just tried to send her home to get some rest in a proper bed.”

“And?” He questioned, sensing she wasn’t finished.

Dana hesitated, “I don’t want to jump to conclusions or read into something that is nothing, but it seemed like home was the last place she wanted to be.”

—--

Jack couldn’t help but mull over Dana’s words as he stepped out of one of the trauma bays, peeling off his gloves as he glanced up at the clock, noting the late hour that his shift was due to wrap up soon. He stripped off his protective gear as well, throwing them in the bio-hazard bin and unconsciously reaching out to grab some hand sanitizer as his eyes scanned the room, immediately spotting a haggard-looking Samira hunched over the printer behind the nurse’s desk. He knew she’d been here since way before her shift was supposed to start, and seeing her clearly tired frame struggle with the printer, he found his feet moving towards her to try and figure out what was actually going on.

Jack sighed as he came up to stand beside her, his arms crossing over his chest, “Samira, you need to clock off. You’re now nearly two hours post your shift end time.”

“I’m nearly done-” She tried to keep a steady tone.

“No excuses,” He gently took the paperwork from her slack hand and skimmed over it, “Mandatory ED staff training? That’s not due for months.”

She blew out a breath, her eyes closing for a moment before turning to look at him, “I just thought I’d get ahead of some things.”

Jack’s eyes bore into her every minute facial expression, “Two hours post your shift ending? Mohan, this is ridiculous you need to tell me what’s going on with you or I will personally escort you home myself-”

“Please don’t-” She blurted out, her eyes closing at her admission, “Please don’t make me go home.”

Jack froze, his eyes narrowing at her admission, “Are you in trouble?”

From behind him, he heard the sound of the curtains in one of the bays opening and Perla’s voice echoing around the corner, “No problem Mr Gartside, if you’d follow me I’ll get your discharge papers signed off.” 

Halfway through hearing Perla’s voice break through the sound of the ED, Jack watched Samira’s whole body freeze up, the colour draining from her face as her lungs starting to struggle to take in oxygen, her eyes began to dart around the room and look towards where Perla was looking over a chart approaching the hub.

The hair on the back of Jack’s neck rose up as he watched Samira start to hyperventilate in front of him, “Samira, are you ok-”

Samira frantically looked between where Perla was talking to someone and looked around their vicinity until she spotted the gap underneath the desk in front of them, and without hesitation she dropped to her knees and scrambled to crawl beneath the desk.

Dana who was standing at her desk one computer over reared back in shock at the erratic behaviour, “What is going on-”

Jack merely looked down at Samira with extreme concern, watching her pull her legs into a ball as she pressed the heels of her palms into her forehead and whispered to herself, “I can’t, I can’t.”

Jack tore his eyes away from the clearly disturbed Samira huddled under the desk in front of him as he heard the sound of Perla and her patient approach, and Jack looked up to see Perla’s confused face looking at him.

“Doctor Abbot, Mr Gartside here is looking to get discharged and he just needs signing off, Doctor King had stitched him up and prescribed him painkillers but had to duck out for a trauma consult,” Perla gave the man beside her a polite smile before looking around the ED, “He’s apparently a friend of Doctor Mohan’s. I mentioned she was around here somewhere, do you know where she got up to?”

Jack looked at the man towering over Perla, and his instincts started to kick in as his brain processed the events of the last few moments and the man in front of him. The man was about Jack’s height, his blond hair slicked back and he smiled widely down at Perla as he placed his uninjured hand on Perla’s arm. The man seemed remarkably calm for someone with an injury in an ED, and Jack couldn’t help but feel irked by what he’d call a sleazeball of a man standing in front of him.

“Thank you angel, I might’ve lost an arm without your help.” He winked down at Perla and she rolled her eyes as she wandered off to clear his bay, throwing Dana a clear look over her shoulder of he’s yours now to deal with.

At the sound of his voice, he saw Samira flinch and Jack’s eyes darted down to see Samira biting her arm to keep her sounds undetectable, and his own chest felt like it was tightening seeing her in such distress. Without hesitation, Jack took a large step forward to stand directly in front of the hole under the desk where Samira was cowering, his legs hiding her from view.

Mr Gartside slowly turned to face Jack, his hands coming up to rest on the desk in front of him, sizing Jack up as he moved to stand closer to the desk.

“Doctor Abbot, I presume? I’m Derek.” The man gave him a toothy grin, holding out a confident hand for him to shake. A grin too wide for Jack’s comfort.

Jack merely stood where he was and kept his hands crossed over his chest, glancing down at the man’s insistent hand in front of him, shrugging, “Sorry, germaphobe.”

Derek’s eyes narrowed almost indeceptively, and if Jack wasn’t honing in to pick up the minute details of the man in front of him, he would’ve missed it, “Whatever, man.”

Jack kept a neutral face as he reached forward to grab the man’s papers, “So, you’re a friend of Doctor Mohan’s?”

Derek’s face lit up, “Yeah, I was hoping to catch her, I know she was working tonight.” 

Jack merely glanced down at the bandage encasing the man’s forearm, and watched Derek follow his gaze before shrugging, “Had a bit of a tumble at home, can’t say I’m the best cook in the world but I have the best knives. Didn’t realise I was on the menu haha.” He gave an exuberant laugh and looked to Dana for her reaction.

Who was currently looking back at him with borderline disgust.

Jack stayed silent as he looked through Derek’s discharge notes and Derek took that as an invitation to continue, “Anyway, I knew Samira’s shift was over so I went to her place to see if she could patch me up. I don’t know if you know this but she’s a brilliant doctor-”

“-I’m aware.” Jack murmured, not looking up.

Jack was hypervigilant of the man standing before him as he leafed through the man’s medical notes and admission history, and Jack froze. The man had been in this ED five times in the last four weeks.

Derek cleared his throat in annoyance before continuing, “As I was saying, we’re quite close now and I knew she’d be able to fix me up. But I got a bit worried when she didn’t come home so thought I’d make it easier for her and meet her here.”

Jack felt his skin start to crawl, thinking about the words this guy was and wasn’t saying. So he’d been at Samira’s house for an undeterminable amount of time, and was now following her to her place of work. He knew her schedule, and he knew where she lived. And he was now saying that he was supposedly a friend of the woman currently cowering under the desk beneath them, a woman in clear distress at the thought of being seen by the man in front of him.

Derek’s face slipped into an easy going smile as he leant an elbow on the desk and gave Jack a cheeky grin, “You know how women can get when they lose track of time.”

Jack didn’t grace the oily man in front of him with a response, and instead watched Derek’s face purposefully morph into one of projected and practised thought, “You know what would be easier, if one of you had her number I’d love to grab it so I don’t have to waste everyone’s time in the ED, might make it easier for everyone involved if I can just message her myself.”

Jack felt two urgent hands roughly clutch at the shin of his good leg, and he could feel Samira trembling against him as he felt her forehead rest against his knee as if to plead with him please don’t.

Jack tilted his head as he looked at the snivelling man in front of him, noting the crazy-eyed unblinking piercing gaze accompanied by a wide, unfeeling smile, and without looking handed the now signed off papers to Dana, “Sorry man, hospital policy says I’m restricted from handing out personal details of our staff without explicit permission from the individual.”

Derek’s jaw ticked, “Come on Doctor Abbot, Samira and I are friends. I’m just looking out for her.”

Jack merely fixed him with a flat look, “Rules are rules, Mr Gartside.”

Derek narrowed his eyes at the man and went to bite back but was interrupted by the sound of a folder slapping against the floor. His gaze darted to where Dana looked with mock shock down at the sound, “Oh goodness, how clumsy of me.”

Dana slowly knelt down to pick up the collection of papers that had spread around the floor, and as she gathered them together, her eyes glanced up to meet Samira’s horrified gaze as she clutched at Jack’s leg, her eyes teary as she looked back at Dana.

Dana slowly grew to stand and turned a plastic smile towards the leering man in front of them, “Mr Gartside, just give me a second to process your papers and I’ll get ya out of here.”

Derek glanced briefly back to Jack whose posture had not relaxed even slightly as he glared back at him, before slowly handing over the papers to Dana.

Jack carefully glanced over to where Ahmad was standing with his back against the wall, his eyes surveying the open ED space, and caught the man’s eye. Ahmad raised an eyebrow at Jack’s stiffness, and Jack merely darted his eyes to the man currently talking to Dana and mouthed Code Grey. Ahmad’s eyes lit up in recognition before slipping into the security office to make a call, organising back up as subtly as possible for a Code Grey: a non-weaponised suspicious individual.

Jack watched Dana’s impressive inquisition of the man that distracted his attention, and Jack grabbed the discarded chair beside him and slowly lowered his body into it. He could feel the frantic hands of Samira claw up his leg thinking he was going to leave her, and he smoothly slid a hand to cover her own, feeling her grasp her other hand to clutch on top of it.

But even Dana couldn’t distract the man in front of them who clearly had only one thought on his mind as his eyes darted around the room, “So, the nurse said Doctor Mohan was here?”

Jack steadily rubbed a calming thumb over Samira’s hand, “I believe you just missed her. She got a call about a family emergency, said she’d be out for a few days.”

Derek’s eyes snapped suspiciously back to Jack’s, “She what?”

Jack shrugged, playing off the man’s agitation, “Yeah, something about her mother falling ill, but hey,” Jack reached over with his free hand to grab a free notepad and pen and handed it to the guy, “If you want us to pass along a message, we can get it to her?”

Derek merely looked down in contempt at Jack before insisting, “I’d really prefer to message her myself if you could give me her number, she could really use my support right now.”

“That’s not going to happen, man.” Jack said calmly.

Dana promptly shuffled the pile of papers and moved to stand next to Jack as she handed them back to Derek, “Here ya go Mr Gartside, you’re all set to get out of here. If you wouldn’t mind just going-“

Derek, seemingly still irked by Jack’s firmness of not giving him what he wanted, was unable to control his frustration as he snapped at Dana, “Don’t tell me what to do.”

“Hey,” Jack stood up and slightly moved his shoulder to angle in front of Dana’s, still feeling Samira’s hands clutching at his leg, “That is no way to speak to my staff.”

Derek turned his enraged gaze onto Jack, before seemingly realising the man in front of him stood between him and what he wanted, and he took a heated breath out, “Look, I just want to speak to Samira. I’m worried about her.”

Jack glanced over to where Ahmad was approaching the desk and making his presence known, “And I think you should leave.”

Derek turned his body to see Ahmad on one side and another security guard on the other side, before turning back to where both Jack and Dana were staring him down. Derek blew out a frustrated breath, realising he wasn’t going to win in this confrontation and with his good hand, he readjusted his collar and snatched up his papers.

“Fine, whatever. You know what, Doctor Mohan will be pissed at the way you’ve treated me. Tell her I’ll see her at home.” Derek hissed, before shrugging off Ahmad’s insistent hand on his shoulder and storming out of the ED.

As all the staff and patients situated in the ED watched the man with barely-contained rage get escorted out by the security team, Jack watched the man until he’d fully disappeared out of sight before grasping the desk in front of him and dropping down onto his good knee.

He leant on his hand to duck his head lower, looking at the trembling form of the woman in front of him. Her body was shaking as she gripped her knees tightly to her chest with her forehead resting on her knees. Jack’s heart broke just looking at the defeated shell of the woman he’d grown to care for deeply, and he reached a hesitant hand to place it on her arm.

“Mohan?” He quietly asked her, and upon touching her she jerked backwards away from him, her unfocused gaze turning towards where he was crouched looking at her.

“Samira,” He calmly spoke to her and he met her gaze, “He’s gone, you can come out now.”

Her eyes seemed to dart between his face and his hand for a moment, and he kept his eyes steadily on her own. He slowly held his palm up to her, “I won’t let him anywhere near you, I promise.”

At those words, she slowly nodded and slipped her hand into his own and he gently tugged her from out under the desk, pulling her gently from out of the tight space. It was as if coming out from under the desk unlocked her emotions from the adrenaline-fueled panic and a sharp sob escaped her lungs as she realised how close that man had been to her. Her chest started to heave with relief and before Jack could console her, she tiredly dropped her head into his body and started to sob into his shoulder. 

He looked down at her in alarm before glancing up to see Dana and Perla looking down at the pair huddled on the floor, Perla’s hand coming up to her throat in shock at the cowering form of the woman on the floor.

Samira’s sobs echoed through his chest as he watched Dana pick up the phone, still watching the two of them as she barked orders to the person on the other end, and Jack slowly wrapped his arms around Samira’s trembling frame.

“I’m sorry,” Samira heaved out into his scrub top, “I’m so sorry.”

“Shh, it’s ok.” He murmured to her.

Her tear-stained face pulled away from his shoulder with a jerk, her hand frantically wiping away the tears as she pleaded with him, “Don’t make me go home, please. I’ll be faster, I promise. He knows where I live-”

Jack merely shushed her as he rubbed a soothing hand down her back, “You do not have to go anywhere, we’ve got you.”

Samira hastily wiped at her face with her hand, her hands shaking as he rubbed a calming hand up her back. Dana crouched down beside the two of them, holding the phone away from her ear as she placed a gentle hand on Samira’s back, “Mohan?”

Samira lifted her teary face to look up at Dana crouching next to her.

Dana rubbed her hand down her back, “Was he harassing you?”

Samira couldn’t find the words to respond and merely nodded her head tiredly and Dana bowed her head towards the younger woman and whispered something to her as she swiftly handed the phone to Jack and pulled the younger woman into her chest, tucking head against her own.

Jack took the phone and slowly rose from his own seated position, feeling his legs creak after being curled so tightly, only to find half the ED peering over the desk to get a glance at the women huddled on the floor. Without hesitation, he snapped at them all to back off and shooed all the curious onlookers away. He lifted the phone to his ear and continued the conversation with the administrator on the other end, placing a hand over the receiver to hustle Princess to pick up a few things for Samira from the storage cupboard.

Eventually he hung up the phone, and turned to see Ahmad looking at him expectedly. Jack tried to contain his fury as his hands came to his hips, “Is he gone?”

Ahmad nodded, slipping his radio back into his belt, “Yeah man, escorted him off the premises myself.”

“Right,” Jack wiped a hand down his face as he collected his thoughts, “We’ve got a possible case of stalking, or at least harassment. According to the man’s charts he’s been in this ED five times in the past four weeks. He knows the name, workplace, work schedule and home address of Doctor Mohan here, and from what I can gather has been following her. I’d like to push her to give a statement to the police when she’s ready, but in the meantime can you work with Perla and use his chart to pull security footage?”

Ahmad nodded and motioned for Perla to follow him to the security office.

Jack turned to see Dana slowly lift Samira off the floor, murmuring something in her ear as she curled Samira away from view. Jack made eye contact with Dana and stepped into their space to murmur, “Take her out to the staff space in the restricted area near psych, I’m going to check in with Ahmad in a moment and I’ll meet you once I’m done.”

—---

Jack felt like his skin was crawling with every moment he wasted out on the floor, knowing he needed to be present until Shen arrived to hand over, especially with Dana away from her desk, but he couldn’t help but restlessly pace. All he could think about was how she’d been huddled in a ball, shaking. Her flinching away from his touch. Her repeatedly apologising to him, her begging him not to send her home. Jack felt like he was going to vomit.

Rationally he knew she was in the safest place she could be, and Dana would never let anything happen to her. But he couldn’t help the sickness curling in his stomach thinking about the eternally optimistic and caring Samira Mohan being reduced to a shell of a person because of one, awful man.

His fists curled up at the thought of his smug smile, and Jack started to fantasize what it would’ve been like to punch him in the face. The feel of bone underneath his knuckles cracking with the endless rage he could feel coursing through his body. He made a mental note that he should probably bring forward his next therapist appointment; there was a lot here he was going to need to unpack from today. 

“Hey boss,” His restless pacing paused at the sound of a breathless Shen briskly walking into the ED, his clothes thrown on haphazardly and without his signature drink in hand, “Perla called me in early, explained what happened. Is she ok?”

Jack blew out a breath, running a tired hand over his face, “I don’t know, she’s been back there with Dana for a while now.”

Shen nodded tightly before slinging his bag off and putting it behind the desk, “Well I’m here now, you get your ass back there and take care of your girl. I’ll get McKay to update me on any ongoing cases.”

Jack couldn’t even find it in himself to dissuade the wording of his girl, and instead put a grateful hand on his shoulder, “Thanks, brother.”

Shen gave him a push, and Jack found his footing and swiftly moved through the restricted doors. He swiped his pass quickly and pushed through a few lots of heavy doors, his heart racing slightly as his body pushed forward by mere adrenaline.

Finally he approached the restricted psych hold area, deserted at this hour now that most cases had been transferred upstairs, but noted the small staff room at the end had the blinds drawn. He marched up to the door, took a deep breath and pulled at his shirt, creaking his neck before gently knocking on the door frame.

Jack stood for a moment, hearing a soft murmur of a voice inside before the quiet shuffling of feet, the door swinging open to reveal Dana’s head popping through the gap. Her face relaxed in relief, and she gently ushered him inside.

The room was dimly lit, the harsh fluorescent overhead lights thankfully off and the space illuminated by the lamp in the corner. His eyes took a moment to adjust, before settling on the slumped form of Samira on the couch, a blanket tucked around her shoulders and her head in her hands.

“Samira?” He spoke quietly, not wanting to break the relative peacefulness of the room.

Her head slowly lifted out of her hands, her tearfully tired eyes looking up at him as he approached her. Something akin to relief seemed to come over her face at the view of his arrival, and his chest clenched painfully at the connotation that his presence might give her some kind of peace.

Without saying anything, he moved around the chairs and the coffee table, grabbing one of the stools nearby and dragging it until he could sit right beside her. Her tired eyes followed him slowly, her bottom lip disappearing between her teeth as she watched him draw himself close to her, his eyes never leaving her face.

Jack gently took one of her hands between his own, his thumb gently running a smoothing pattern over the back of it, his elbows resting on his knees as he looked up at her slightly, “Hey there.”

Her cheeks wobbled slightly as she tried to give him a small smile in return, “Hey.”

Jack tilted his head as he looked at her with a worried frown, keeping his voice as steady as he could, “You want to tell me what’s been going on?”

Samira looked at him, swallowing nervously, and their eye contact was broken briefly by the form of Dana placing a full glass of water in front of her on the coffee table. Samira turned to give her a small thanks as Dana sat down beside her on the couch, and Samira took a small breath to steel herself before tepidly launching into her story.

“About a month ago,” She blew out, her gaze falling down to her free hand curled in her lap fiddling with the tassels on the end of the blanket, “Mr Ga-that man, he came into the ED after a night out with friends with a shard of glass in his hand. He’d apparently been a bystander in a bar fight, who even knows if that’s true.” She huffed.

She shook herself before continuing, “He was a little drunk and a bit rude at first, but I tried my best to placate his mood whilst I treated him, tried to open up a line of conversation about his evening. I think he took it in a twisted way for flirting and soon enough he was,” Samira seemed to struggle to find her words, “Playing with my hair and hitting on me whilst I was trying to stitch his wounds.”

Jack’s jaw tightened. It was an unfortunate side effect of the world they lived in that a lot of female staff did deal with this behaviour from time to time, he wasn’t oblivious to it. But what did infuriate him was that despite not wanting to receive advances like this, somehow the onus was on the woman to manage the man’s behaviour.

“I managed to duck out of there for a bit, and found Doctor Henderson to take over the care. I thought that would be it, I’d never have to see him again.” She huffed humourlessly looking down, and Dana’s hand slowly came up to rest on her back.

“He showed up again a few days later, a bouquet of flowers in hand spewing a lengthy apology about his behaviour, touting he didn’t mean to make me uncomfortable but I was ‘too gorgeous that he couldn’t control himself’ and he asked me on a date to apologise,” She bit out, “I respectfully declined but he was quite insistent. I had to leave the floor for a bit until he left, and by then I was starting to get weirded out.”

Samira bit her lip as a small tear started to drip down her cheek, as she whispered to her lap, “And then he was just everywhere.”

Jack bit the inside of his cheek to hold back his anger, rubbing a gentle thumb on her hand to encourage her to continue, “He started showing up outside the hospital before and after my shifts, each time trying to convince me what a good guy he was. I then started trying to take random shifts, working doubles, anything to make my schedule unpredictable, but he was just there, all the time. And then he came into the ED again and again, with self-inflicted injuries, asking for me, and I couldn’t escape him.”

She hiccupped slightly as she drew a breath in, “One day after one of my shifts, he must’ve followed me home in my car, because suddenly he was at my home,” Samira lifted her teary gaze to meet Jack’s, “He found out where I lived.”

Jack gave her an encouraging nod, and she continued to choke out, “He’d be pounding on my door at 3am after drinking, telling me I was a stupid bitch for throwing away a good man like him, that he’d treat me right.”

By now she was earnestly crying, Dana’s hand now running soothing circles on her back, “I didn’t want to go home, because he’d be there waiting for me. I couldn’t sleep, wondering if he’d break down the door. I spent every shift just waiting for him to enter through those doors and torment me over and over again. The only time I felt ok was hiding away in the on-call room, it felt like that might be the only place he couldn’t get me. Was when I knew yo-” Samira seemed to catch herself just as her ramblings escalated and she glanced up at Jack, “When I knew who was working, when they’d be able to protect me.”

“Samira,” Jack murmured, “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I thought,” She wiped an errant tear from her eye, “I thought I’d be able to handle it, I mean it was my fault for not rejecting him harder from the start. I should’ve talked to him, been firmer-”

“Absolutely not,” Jack interrupted her firmly, “Samira, this is in no way your fault.”

She gave him an unbelieving look and he continued, “Do not blame yourself for the unwanted actions of a man; you removed yourself from the situation and continually shut him down. This behaviour and the consequences of it are on him, ok?” He insisted firmly.

Samira still didn’t look like she believed him, and Dana took the opportunity to gently jump in.

“Mohan, Gloria is on her way down any second and we’re gonna need you to tell her what’s been going on so we can set up the proper security precautions and protections for both the ED and for yourself. And then I’d highly suggest we get the police involved.”

Jack watched the array of emotions flit over Samira’s face, and he felt his stomach clench at the guilt making her slump into herself. He squeezed her hand, insisting she look at him, “Remember, not your fault. We’re gonna take care of you, ok?”

She hesitantly nodded her head, and Dana gently patted her back before drawing herself to standing, “I’ll be back in a moment with Gloria once she arrives, see if she can bring the police with her.” Dana pointed a stern finger at Jack, “You make sure she drinks that water, young man.”

Jack blanched, his voice trailing after her as he watched her leave, “Young man-we’re like the same age!”

The sliver of humour seemed to crack through the layer of tension in the room, and Samira huffed at their ridiculousness, before caving under Jack’s pointed look and picked up the cup to take a small sip from it.

He continued to cradle her hand in his as he looked up at her, “Why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve-” He trailed off, suddenly spiralling into thoughts of why didn’t I see the signs, why the fuck didn’t I do anything to help her?

“I thought I could handle it, I just didn’t want anyone at work to get hurt.” Samira whispered.

“Samira.” He whispered like a plea.

She shook her head ever so slightly, “Maybe it was silly of me, but he kept threatening my friends and coworkers, and the thought of anyone here becoming collateral,” She sniffed and wiped her nose with the back of her hand, “That would’ve broken me.”

“And you think you getting hurt wouldn’t have broken me?” He blurted out in disbelief.

Her gaze slid up to meet him, and he could see a fresh wave of tears ready to spill, “I just- I’m so tired Jack. I’m so tired of being on edge, not being able to sleep. Not being able to leave my house, not wanting to go home. Scared to be at work, scared to be alone-” Her voice caught in her throat and before she could finish, Jack was standing up and moving quickly to sit beside her, his arms coming to gently wrap her into his chest.

“Oh sweetheart, you are never alone. I’ve got you.” He gently rocked her as he cradled her head into his neck, her tears slowly making a wet patch against his t-shirt.

The two were silent as he cradled her to his chest, gently running a comforting hand down the back of her head. He paused her a moment to unclip her claw clip and let her hair loose, gently running his fingers through her curls and massaging her scalp of any tension.

She sighed against his chest, her hyperventilation now reduced to small sniffles, and in a quiet voice that he almost didn’t catch, she whispered, “The only time I felt safe was when I knew you were working.”

He sighs at her admission, unable to find the words to respond to her and merely leaned his cheek to rest on the top of her head. Oh, what he would give to just let her have a moment of peace, to rid her of that creep forever.

Sometime later, the two of them were interrupted by Dana opening the door again this time to usher a determined-looking Gloria and two police officers. Samira was taken aback by the usually reserved hospital administrator looking slightly unsettled by the brief run-down Dana had given her, and Samira assured her she was ok now, Samira’s small glance sideways at Jack not going unnoticed by the people in the room.

Jack silently sat by her, keeping his own whirlwind emotions of anger and devastation at bay to be the calming presence Samira needed as she hesitantly started to relay the timeline of events again, this time with a little less emotion. It was only when she started to falter at relaying the hateful words her harasser had spewed at her, both in letters slipped under her door and shouted through the door’s gaps, that he silently placed a calming hand on the centre of her back. She took a deep breath with her eyes closed, centering herself at his touch, before continuing to tell all the facts she could and answering both Gloria and the police officer’s questions.

He watched as over some time of talking through the harassment and stalking she’d faced over the past month caused her adrenaline to slowly fade from her body, and he could feel her body start to sag against his. Jack gently cleared his throat as Gloria prepared to ask another question, “I think that might be enough for now.”

Gloria seemed to realise the toll that the conversation had had on the younger woman and turned to face the officers who were still taking notes, “Thank you officers for coming down today, if you need any further statements I’ll be able to assist in organising further interviews. In the meantime, I can take you via the security personnel to supply any documentation of recordings needed for you detectives to build a case.”

“Thank you Ms Underwood,” The female officer responded firmly before turning back to Samira, “We will be in touch, Doctor Mohan, one more thing. Obviously due to the suspect knowing your location and leaving clear threats of violence both in your home and in your workplace which we will get copies of, we will need you to stay at the hospital or in an unknown secure location until he is found so we can build a case to make an arrest. Would you have a family member close by you could stay with?”

Samira seemed to slump further into the couch, “Oh, um no, my closest family member is in New Jersey.”

“A friend maybe?” The officer posed.

Samira sighed, “I don’t-” She trailed off as her anxiety started to peak again. What if he found out where she was? What if he hurt someone else because of her?

As Jack watched the woman beside him start to spiral into anxiety at the thought of where she could stay, he suddenly couldn’t breath at the thought she might hole herself up in this god damn hospital just to avoid inconveniencing anyone. Or worse, think she was alone in all of this.

“She can stay with me.”

Samira’s head snapped up to look at him, her mouth opening in protest, and he continued before she had a chance.

“My house is secure, far enough away from the hospital that no one would know to look. State-of-the-art security, spare room, and I’m armed.” He said firmly to the officers, “Former combat medic in the military.”

“Ja-Abbot,” Samira deftly corrected herself in their present company, “I can’t ask you to do this.”

“Lucky you’re not asking, I’m offering.” He gave her a small, cheeky smile.

“Doctor Abbot, that would be incredibly generous of you to offer,” Gloria seemed to diplomatically consider the two coworkers in front of her, “But I won’t have you pressuring Doctor Mohan to do anything she isn’t comfortable with.”

Jack blew out a breath, holding back a tense reply of what the fuck would you know about pressure, she was stalked in your ED for christ’s sake and turned to gaze into Samira’s face.

“Jack, I can’t put you in danger too-” She whispered.

“What, more than I already do on a near daily basis?” He chuckled incredulously under his breath, “Mohan, I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t mean it. I’ve got the next few days off anyway, and I will sleep better knowing you’d be more comfortable in a real bed than the cots here in the hospital. Do it for me, please?”

She still didn’t like the idea, so he teased her a little, “Honestly, you’d be doing me a favour. I have this beautiful clawfoot tub in my spare bathroom that is sitting tragically unused. It has practically got your name written all over it. Can you really tell me you’d rather be here than taking advantage of that?”

Jack tried to play off the last line, but even he couldn’t hide the fear and anxiety he felt at her being alone by herself hidden away in a hospital for god knows how long, and Samira seemed to see this all play out on his face.

“Ok,” She whispered after a few moments as she held his gaze, “I’ll go with you.”

—-

Jack moved quickly towards the staff room, sliding up to his locker and quickly putting in his code, and grabbed his work bag, jacket and keys. Without hesitating, he moved over to Samira’s locker and swiftly put in her code that he shamelessly knew without even asking her. He argued with himself that he knew the code because they were friends and he’d watched her input it a few times now, not because he was a creep that knew her birthday. Because that would be weird.

Without wasting another moment, he slung her back pack onto his other shoulder and closed her locker door. As he exited the staff rooms, he saw Shen and Ellis waiting for him near the nurses hub and he detoured towards them.

“How’s she doing?” Ellis murmured, glancing around the oblivious ED rotating around them as she crossed her arms.

Jack readjusted his own bag further onto his shoulder, “As good as one can be after being harassed for weeks on end.”

Ellis gave a deep sigh, and Jack cleared his throat, “Regardless, I’m going to need to get my next shift covered, there’s no way I’m leaving her to deal with this shit alone.”

Shen gave him a nod, “Already done boss. I’ve already called up Doctor Langdon to work a double tomorrow and put in a request for coverage for a resident-level physician to cover Mohan for the next week.”

Jack blew out a relieved breath, “Great work, Shen.”

Shen crossed his arms over his chest, “You make sure she’s ok, yeah? I hope that bastard never gets within 50 feet of her ever again.”

Jack felt that molten wave of the anger he’d been suppressing for the last few hours creep up at the reminder of the disgusting excuse of a man who’d been in this ED, his jaw twitching at the thought, “Not if I have anything to do with it.”

Ellis snorted, “Ok, caveman. Get out of her and take our girl home before you dislocate your jaw with that tension.”

Jack rolled his eyes, but gave them both a grateful look, “I’ll keep you both posted.”

He pushed through the corridors as he made his way back to the restricted area deep within the hospital, his feet making quick work of the sharp corners until he rounded to see Samira standing in the middle of the hallway hugging her torso, as Dana and Gloria had a quiet conversation in front of her.

Her eyes darted up anxiously at the sound of his approach, her shoulders tense as she flinched ever so slightly, but relaxed upon seeing him walk up to her with their bags in hand.

“You ready to break out of this joint?” He grabbed his own jacket and held it open for her to slip in, noting she didn’t have one to fend off the cool air outside and the chills that were slowly starting to take over the space in her body where the adrenaline had lived.

She stood dumbly for a moment looking down at his jacket before he lifted his hands a little higher, his gaze on her firmly as if arguing her inaudible rejection. She gave a small sigh and slipped her arms into his awaiting PTMC fleece jacket, worn with years of use and thoroughly too big for her.

She huffed a little at his comment, murmuring, “This isn’t a jailbreak, Jack.”

His retortion died in his throat as he watched her slowly untuck her loose hair from out of the collar of his jacket that seemed to swallow her lithe frame, and he had to physically restrain his hands by wiping them on his trouser legs as they twitched to touch the curls he now knew were feather soft. She looked around her person with a slight frown on her face and as if he’d read her mind, he unclipped her claw clip that he’d attached to the loop on the side of his trousers and handed it to her. She gave him a small grateful smile, and he felt his chest starting to feel warm as he watched her twirl her hair up and out of her eyes, watching her struggle to grab all the fly away pieces that scattered around her face.

A small cough broke him from his admiration of the tired woman next to him, and he glanced over to see Dana giving him a pointed look as she glanced at a clearly suspiciously Gloria whose eyes were flitting between the two physicians standing in front of her.

“Right,” He clapped his hands together before grabbing his own bag at his feet and handing her bag to her, “I’m going to go grab my car and bring it around to the covered staff parking entrance.” He looked over at Dana as he started backing off, “I’ll text you when I’m there.”

Jack couldn’t remember the next few minutes as he hastily exited the building, his adrenaline moving him through the parking lot only illuminated with the harsh fluorescent overhead lights. As he moved with haste through the empty space, his eyes darted around the dark corners and empty vehicles, noting all movement for any lurking civilians. After doing a quick 360 to make sure he was alone, he strode over to where his battered but well-taken care of Jeep sat parked in the disabled bay closest to the entrance. He quickly unlocked his vehicle and threw his bag onto the passenger seat, before hoisting himself into the driver’s seat and starting the engine.

He could feel his body was wound tight with adrenaline and anger, a whirling rage of emotions swirling in his chest, and his hands scrubbed down his face at the events of the past few hours. Thinking about her cowering beneath him, her hands gripping desperately at his legs, the way his heart felt like it dropped in his gut watching her fall to the floor.

Jack blew out one more heavy breath into his hands, come on Jack it’s not about you, you can fall apart later. Without thinking about it any longer, he reversed his car out, and swung it around to enter the drop off area that sat parallel to the staff entrance.

He pulled up swiftly to the entrance and quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket and typed out a message to Dana. As he waited for them to meet him, he quickly got out of his car and moved around to the boot, unlocking the window and reaching in to grab the pillow and blanket that served as a last resort when he slept in his car between TEMS shifts and night shift. He threw them over onto the back seat and shut the window again, before coming to stand at the side and watch the entrance.

Samira emerged hesitantly through the double doors, her eyes tiredly glancing around the shadowy empty car park as Dana ushered her forward. He gave them both a small smile before reaching out to grab the back rear door and swing it open.

Jack held out a sweeping arm, “Your chariot awaits, milady.”

Samira shifted from foot to foot, “You really don’t need to do this. I can also sit in the front-”

“Nope,” He interrupted her with a slight shake of his head, “We’re not taking any chances here. The rear windows are tinted and I have it on good authority, my own that is, that you might need a nap before we get to mine. It’s no Four Seasons, but it should do the trick.”

She looked between his outstretched hand, the pillow and blanket strewn hastily across his back seat, and then to where Dana was standing next to her.

Dana shrugged, “Sometimes it’s easier to just do as he says, it avoids the toddler tantrum. We’d never hear the end of it.”

A small smile crept on Samira’s tired face, her cheeks crinkling her dark circles slightly before she wordlessly gave the older woman a small hug.

Jack felt like a voyeur as he watched them embrace, not quite catching the whispered words the older woman said into her ear, but patiently waited for Dana to pull back before she nudged Samira forward. Jack’s hand slowly slipped her bag off her shoulder and watched her climb into the back seat of his car, and he shut the door behind her.

“Abbot,” He felt Dana’s hand clutch at his arm and he turned to see her gaze looking up at him with concern, “Our girl is putting on a tough face right now, but as soon as that adrenaline crash kicks in, she’s going to fall apart. It’s going to be ugly, you know that right?”

“I know.” He murmured, and Dana’s head tilted as she surveyed the stoic man standing in front of her.

Her head moved back slightly as if seeing something in his expression that took her by surprise, “You know, I didn’t think I’d ever see this side of you again.”

Jack frowned at her, “What side?”

Dana gave him a small and almost sad smile as she patted his arm, “That side of you that would do practically anything for a woman like her.”

Jack’s chest felt like it caved in two, and he couldn’t seem to find the words in response and Dana merely gave him a little pat on the cheek, “Oh handsome, you can’t tell me you didn’t know what this was, can you? Go on, you get out of here and focus on taking care of her, and have your midlife crisis about your very obvious feelings for her after she’s home safe, ok?”

She gave him a shove and he stumbled back towards the car, but not without sending her a grateful smile, “Dana Evans, what would we do without you?”

Dana shrugged, “Probably fall apart.”

He shook his head at the older woman, before moving around the car, dropping Samira’s bag into the boot as he moved around. He quickly slid in and started the vehicle, glancing quickly at the back seat to see Samira curled up on her side and her hands tucked up under her chin.

His non-driving knee started to jump as he pulled out of the staff parking lot, nervously adjusting his rearview mirror so he could see the top of her body a little more. He also found himself glancing around at the pedestrians milling near the outskirts of the hospital grounds, and fought the instinct to just floor the accelerator, to get her as far away from here as quickly as he could.

It wasn’t until he pulled up to a red light having been lost in his thoughts as his mind raced through all the worst images of her being accosted on a daily basis, that he heard quiet sniffling in the back seat. He glanced over his shoulder to see her turning her face into his pillow to muffle the sounds of her sobbing, and he felt the lump sitting in his throat start to harden. 

Without hesitating, he reached his free hand into the back seat and tugged gently at her arm until he slid his hand into hers, bringing it forward to rest against the console. Her hand was trembling in his grip, but he gave her a small squeeze before letting his thumb run across her smooth skin.

It killed him that she felt like she couldn’t come to him for help, that she had to bottle this all up inside and let a man terrorise her thinking that he would harm everyone around her if she let anyone in. Jack swallowed the rising feeling of guilt that he could’ve done more, that he should’ve pushed more to help her, but he couldn’t change the past. It wasn’t important anyway, not when she was now safe with him.

—--

The sun was starting to set when he finally pulled into the driveway of his small, single story home. It had been an impulse purchase that he’d downgraded to in the months after his wife had passed. He’d been sleeping on Robby’s couch in avoidance of going back to the empty halls of the larger house that housed her memories, until one day he decided enough was enough.

He’d stumbled upon this place rather quickly, seeing the good bones of the worn down mid-century home and closed on it without much thought. In his mourning-stupor, he hadn’t really considered how much work would be needed to fix the decaying home up, but it had ended up being the project he’d needed to keep his hands and mind busy for the months and years after her death. It would have either been that or drinking an entire bottle of liquor every night and gambling with the edge of a rooftop.

He turned off the engine, his body sagging back into his seat as he gazed up at the shadows of his handiwork, and glanced back to look at Samira’s tired form curled up on his back seat. Jack contemplated leaving her to get some much deserved rest, but knew her back wouldn’t like her in the morning if she stayed curled up like that, and she deserved to shower the day off. And actually eat something.

He reached out a gentle hand onto her knee that was tucked up tight and gave her a slight shake, “Hey, we’re home.”

She slowly rose from her slumber, a sharp intake of breath through her nostrils as she lifted her heavy head to look up at him with hooded eyes. Jack gave her a small smile in return, before unbuckling his belt, grabbing his bag and opening his door. 

He gathered her things from the boot, slinging their bags over his shoulders as he came around and opened her door, revealing Samira wiping the dried tears and sleep from her face. Jack held out a hand and she slowly took it, letting him help her out of the elevated vehicle until her feet found the ground next to him.

He watched her eyes scatter around the quiet neighbourhood street, taking in the setting sun and the shadowy tree line around them, and finally gazing up at his house. Jack could see the skittishness start to emerge again, and he ran a calming hand down her arm, “It’s ok, I took the long way to get here and did a few extra laps just to be sure. No one is finding us here.”

Her eyes moved sideways to lock on his own, searching his face with an unsettled look before she slowly nodded. It was quiet except for the gentle chirping of birds in the tall oak trees surrounding his property, and he motioned for her to walk towards the door as he closed the car door and locked his vehicle. 

She was slowly making her way up the front steps when he caught up to her, and he could see her tightly hugging her elbows into her stomach as her eyes darted back towards the empty street behind them and he quickly moved to approach the door, feeling her anxiety of being exposed rolling off her in waves. He quickly slid his key into the lock and swung the door open, reaching an arm back to gently usher her inside, before closing and locking the door behind them.

He could feel her body sink a little as she took a deep breath now that she was indoors, and he left her to drop their bags down beside the doorway. He flicked the lights on to illuminate his hallway and living room, and moved further around his space to start closing the blinds and double checking that all his windows were locked tight. Whilst he knew his house was secure, he knew that being so exposed would only heighten her already anxious headspace, and right now he would do absolutely anything to help ease her mind.

Samira stood rather absentmindedly, her hands still clutched around her middle as her eyes took in the space slowly. She’d been to Jack’s house a few times before: for post-night shift breakfast with a few of the team, when Jack offered to help her with her applications for fellowships, and for a summer barbeque cook up that Jack had hosted a year or so back. Her eyes ran over the scattering of plants around the room, the militant tidiness of the knitted throw blanket folded over the arm of the couch, the rich wood details of the coffee table, and the dining table covered in papers lit up by the gentle yellow of the overhead light. 

She was vaguely aware of him moving around his space, detouring at doors and windows to secure the locks, collecting the papers from the table and pausing at the alarm pad to turn it on. She took a steady breath, trying to settle her racing heart, he’s not here, he doesn’t know where I am, even if he is at my home-

Her own breath caught in her throat at the thought, and she looked down at her creased scrubs, worn by the day and covered in no doubt multiple different types of filth. Her hands started to shake at the thought of not having anything to change into, none of her products to wash the grit from her hair, none of her favourite chamomile tea to calm her nerves. She couldn’t go home, at least not for now. Her home wasn’t safe, would it ever feel safe, and now she was here, a burden that Jack had selflessly taken in-

“Hey.” Her head snapped up at the sound of his low voice breaking through her thoughts, and as she came to she realised her breathing had become more haggard as her thoughts had spiralled.

“Can I do anything?” He gently placed a warm hand on her arm, and the mere contact seemed to make her emotions spill out of her again.

“I’m sorry,” She blurted, “I’ve been wearing these scrubs all day and it’s gross, and I don’t have anything to wear, and it’s not your problem but-” Her fists clenched at the wave of helplessness that sets in her arms, at the thought of a man chasing her out of her own home.

Jack frowned in concern at watching her spiral, did she really think she was a burden to him?

“Samira,” He spoke gently as she grabbed her by her shoulders and forced her to make eye contact with him, “Breath.”

He slowly took some deep breaths, holding her eye contact as he watched him closely trying to mimic his calm breathing pattern.

“Here’s what we’re going to do. I’m going to show you where the spare bedroom is, and I’m going to run you a nice, hot bath. You’re going to enjoy it, wash your hair and wash the day away. I’m going to find you some clothes and we’re going to wash the ones you have on. And once you’re done, we’re going to get you something to eat. Ok?” He ran a gentle hand up her arm.

She slowly processed what he was saying, feeling the anxiety slowly start to unclench from in her chest as he talked her through his steps, but as if he could still feel the hesitancy in her mind, he continued.

“Samira, please let me take care of you. This is as much for my peace of mind as it is yours, ok? You’re safe here.”

She bit her lip nervously as she looked up at him, her eyes scanning the sincerity in his face and the almost pleading tone in his voice, and couldn’t find the energy in her anymore to fight back.

“Okay.” She whispered on an exhale.

He seemed to let out a breath of relief himself, before leaning down to grab her bag from the floor and motioned for her to follow him, her feet seemingly moving on autopilot as she followed him down the corridor.

He turned into the first room on the left, and she slowly moved inside after him, watching him continue on into the ensuite and turn the lights on, illuminating the adjourning room she stood in. It was cloaked in a dark green paint, the richness bringing out the dark wood of the bed frame and the matching furniture of the room. Her eyes ran over the tightly folded sheets, the small stack of books on the bedside table, and the neat array of framed photos propped up on top of the chester drawers near the doorway. She could make out a younger version of Jack standing with two other women, and she recalled a conversation once upon a time about his sisters living only a few hours away in Philadelphia, and she could see the echoes of him in them. The familiar slope of their noses, the wry grins on their faces as they beamed up at the camera.

Samira didn’t notice the sound of the bath running, and that Jack had come to stand next to her until his smooth voice brought her out of her observation of a younger him, “That’s my sisters, Sarah and Jess. It was back when,” He seemed to trail off in thought, and she could almost feel him trying to pick his words. Before being deployed. Before losing his leg. Before losing his wife. Before losing his life, in a way. He seemed to realise his thought detour and sighed, “Back when I was more auburn than salt and pepper.”

Samira couldn’t help herself with a small sideways smirk, “What, in the 1800s?”

Jack rolled his eyes and bumped his shoulder against her, her retort breaking through wherever his mind had taken him, “You’re funny. Just so you know, that handsome lad was a hot commodity. He had the world at his fingertips.”

She hummed in agreement, before turning back to the photo to look at the younger version of him, unmarked by both time and trauma, and she wondered if she would have preferred him back then. Reckless, courageous, flirty, oh Samira was sure Jack Abbot was a heartbreaker in college. That trademark Abbot smirk and a tousle of those curls would’ve sent most girls squealing, probably including her college self.

But Samira turned to look at Jack now; his face worn with lines and scars and scattered with silver facial hair, framed with salt and pepper curls that were as stubborn as the man himself. He stood with a straight spine, his shoulder broad as he looked down at himself with an almost sympathetic air, as if wondering what his younger self would think of him now: an ex-militant,  workaholic, inactive-suicidal widowed amputee. But he was so much more than those things.

This was a man who made children laugh in the ED when their parents were in surgery, who checked on his colleagues after a rough case, who drove Robby home to make sure he didn’t spiral. Who smiled at her when she entered the ED, a new article in hand already annotated and marked ready to discuss with her, waiting for her.

Her heart stuttered in her chest, and she recognised it for what it was; Samira Mohan liked Jack Abbot. She liked the way he memorised her drink order and slipped her a fresh cup of tea when no one was looking. She liked arguing with him over a plate of waffles about the research implications and inaccuracies of their latest focus journal article. She liked it when, after a long shift one night, they sat on a bench for hours opening up about his wife and her father, whispering words of shared grief into the quiet night that neither disclosed to anyone else. She liked catching him watching her across the ED, his gentle words of encouragement as she ran a trauma case, the shiver she felt up her spine when he pressed a gentle hand against her back at a busy bar to avoid a waiter spilling a drink on her.

“I’m sure he was a heartbreaker,” She murmured, “But I like the way you are now.”

His head turned to face her, and she could see the hesitancy flit across his face at her gentle words. The man walked around with a flirtatious facade that fooled most people, but considering all that he’d been through, she knew that his insecurities and trauma wrecked his body every moment of every day.

As if realising himself, he cleared his throat before taking a gentle step back to motion behind them, “Ok well, your bath will get cold if you wait any longer. I added some magnesium salts as well, I know you usually like vanilla but I don’t have any, I’ll have it for next time.”

Samira blinked, trying to process how he knew she liked vanilla, and the implication she’d be back for a next time, but he hastily rubbed the back of neck as if he were embarrassed and continued, “I mean, it’s supposed to be calming so I just thought…anyway.” He walked towards the wall closet on the other side of the bed and leaned in to retrieve a fluffy white towel and turned back towards her, “Here’s a towel, I’ve put some toiletries out that my sister usually uses if you’d like to wash your hair. There’s curl cream and mousse there if you want it.”

“Didn’t peg you for a curly girl method man.” Samira smirked as she took the towel.

Jack snorted, “Yes well, you can thank my niece for that one. She kept bullying me that my curls were a bird’s nest, and I hate to admit it but she was right.”

“Anyway,” He pressed his palms together, “I’ll hunt around for some spare clothes for you and I’ll leave them on the bed. Yell out if you need anything else.”

He shuffled passed her through the doorway, his hands flexed against his legs so he wouldn’t do anything stupid like try and hold her hand. He kept muttering to himself fucking cool it Abbot as he traipsed into the kitchen. His hands braced against the kitchen counter as his mind raced at their interaction, his head bowing forward as he thought about the way she had looked at him. Liked she believed in him.

Fuck, he was a goner.

He shook himself out of it, he really needed to pull himself together. This wasn’t about him, this was about her. Making her feel safe. Taking care of her.

His mind was still racing as he moved around his kitchen, using the ingredients and vegetables he had in his kitchen to start making a stew. His hands moved on autopilot as he tried to avoid thinking about Samira Mohan in his house, in his bath tub, because that was creepy. Because she was his friend and she’d been through a lot so he’d have to just shelve these pesky feelings that were bubbling in his chest.

He left the soup brewing on the stove as he washed his hands, before moving towards his own bedroom to grab some clothes. He considered Samira’s smaller frame, and moved to his drawers to retrieve a warm pair of sweatpants, one of his signature black t-shirts and one of his old UPenn sweatshirts that had slightly shrunk in the wash over the years that he now rarely wore. 

He moved quickly back down the corridor towards the guest room and saw that the door was still ajar and pushed forward inside, trying to avoid making any noise as he placed the pile of clothes he’d collected onto the end of the bed for her to see 

Just as he was about to exit, he heard a quiet sob echo from behind the closed ensuite door.

He froze, his heart clenching tightly at the sound of gently splashing and the sound of her gently crying within the safety of the closed room. Realistically he knew this outpouring of unreleased tension was to be expected, as a medical professional he knew the come down from a traumatic event would most likely resort in an emotional upheaval, especially if she had been in fight or flight mode for weeks as Dana had hinted about. It didn’t mean hearing her fall apart on the other side of the door hurt any less, even if it was expected.

Jack’s hand clenched against the frame of the door, his eyes closing involuntarily as he fought every instinct to turn right back around, burst through the door and do whatever it would take to cease her pained sobs. But he knew this moment was one she needed to work through herself, in the safe space he’d provided her to break down in, and his purpose was to continue being that safety for her.

He took a heavy breath out and quietly closed the bedroom door behind him, before moving back to the kitchen.

His mind wandered as he pottered around his kitchen, scooping up the warm vegetable broth soup into bowls and setting aside some tonic water he’d found in his cupboard that had been left over from a friend’s gathering. He kept his hands busy, cutting off small pieces of sourdough bread to accompany their meal, barely noticing after some time that she had quietly re-entered the living room space, and he glanced up at the movement in his peripheral.

His heart stuttered in his chest at the sight.

She stood at the edge of the living room looking over his large bookshelf crammed with medical journals, some non-fiction think pieces and a slew of sci-fi fiction books, her tired body swallowed by the now oversized jumper and sweatpants that she had rolled up, her feet with black nail polish on them peeking out at the bottom. From his distance, he could just make out her freshly washed face, the slight pink splotches on her cheeks and the red rims around her eyes being the only indicator of her gentle crying in the bathroom. Her wet hair was pulled over one of her shoulders, and he could see that even wet the familiar spiral of her curls starting to spring up around her hairline. 

It was only when he noticed the small fidgeting of her hands on the hem of his jumper that he realised he’d been staring at her wearing his clothes. That thought briefly made a warmth spread across his chest at the vision of her being barefoot, in his home, him preparing her a meal. Somehow it felt so natural, until he remembered why she was here. She couldn’t wear her own clothes, because a man had been harassing her for weeks.

He cleared his throat at the thought, and she swivelled slowly to face him. He nodded in the direction of the now set dining table, “I’ll be just a moment if you want to sit?”

She nodded mutely and slowly shuffled over to the table, his eyes glancing up to watch her move as he swiftly gathered their utensils and the bowl of bread, and navigated around the kitchen to follow her.

She stiffly slid into the chair, and his eyes watched her wince as she settled, and his doctor brain couldn’t shut up as he watched her, exhibiting signs of adrenaline come down, aches noted.

He handed her a spoon and offered the bread basket for her to take a slice, and she silently thanked him and her slender hand grabbed the smaller piece.

Jack was trying not to stall too long as he fumbled with his own setting, his eyes watching out of the corner of his eye as she lifted the lid on her soup bowl and took a whiff of the broth inside. There was a flash of relief across her face as she picked up her bread, tore off a bit and dipped it in the soup before taking a bite. Jack’s body seemed to relax seeing her almost moan in hunger as she gratefully dug into her meal.

Mission success.

Jack awkwardly cleared his throat as he dipped his own bread, not accustomed to being the one to initiate the conversation with a quiet Samira but stepping out of his comfort zone, “So you’ll never believe the case Shen told me about the other day-“

—-

Samira was quiet as she began to eat, and despite having previously stated at the hospital she wasn’t hungry, suddenly her stomach seemed to open up like a cavern and she found herself ravenous. She didn’t notice the look of relief that washed over Jack’s face as he watched her closely, hastily launched into a tale about a night shift case Shen had dealt with a few weeks ago. She understood what he was doing, purposefully avoiding any mention of the day they’d just had and any reminder of the situation that awaited her outside these walls, and appreciated him for giving her a sense of normalcy.

As her stomach started to fill with warmth, her muscles seemed to sag underneath the weight of the day and soon enough her eyes started to droop as his smooth voice became almost melodic to her ear.

“Hey,” He broke off from his story and she blinked back into concentration to look over at him peering at her, “I think we should get you to bed.”

She inhaled deeply through her nostrils, making to stand up and pick up their bowls, but he waved her off, “Leave that, I’ll deal with it later.”

The two of them wordlessly moved towards the guest bedroom, Jack keeping his eyes trained on her as she dragged her feet to move through the space. He bit his lip from saying there was a spare toothbrush under the sink in the bathroom upon seeing her almost collapse onto the bed, her hands tiredly peeling back the top layer of bedding as she slipped her legs between the duvet and the sheets. She leaned back to rest her head against the pillow, tucking the duvet right up under her chin as she curled over onto her side, her eyes blinking tiredly over at him.

“Sleep well.” He whispered into the room as he leaned in to switch off the lamp closest to the door, plunging the room into darkness as he heard a small sigh escape her tired body, and he closed the door quietly behind him.

——

Jack had slowly meandered around his house, cleaning up the minuscule amount of dishes that were as a result of their meal, opting to hand wash at his sink as he let his mind wander.

His body hadn’t adjusted to the change to day shift hours fully, and with his brain wired from the day he was happy to potter around the house doing odd jobs to occupy his time: taking the rubbish out, sorting his mail, putting in his order of groceries to be delivered the next morning. 

Realising he too was still carrying the day on him, he stripped down to his boxers and collected his other dirty laundry from his basket, before grabbing Samira’s clothes that sat outside her door and moved to the laundry to chuck everything in the machine. He tried to avoid thinking about how natural it felt to have her in his space, her clothes with his as he closed his laundry door behind him.

He moved through his bedroom to his own bathroom, the entrance and space custom built to accommodate his needs. Without much thought, he leaned in to turn his shower on, before taking a seat on the bench that sat opposite the sink. It was methodical work to unlatch his prosthetic, placing it beside him before peeling off the synthetic lining and volleying it into the laundry basket that hung on the back of the door.

He made quick work of scrubbing himself down in the shower, washing the grime from his curls and scrubbing at his face with the fancy face wash his sister had recommended to ‘keep his lines in check’. Whatever that meant, he thought his lines made him look distinguished.

Jack realised he’d been staring at the wall blankly as he felt the water batter down onto his shoulders, and with pruney fingers he reached out to switch the water off. He grabbed the various handles around his bathroom to slowly transfer towards the sink, snatching his towel along the way to hastily dry himself off and tie it around his waist.

He could feel the slight ache starting to settle in his body as he went through the motions of prepping to sleep: taking his slew of pills stacked up on the counter, slathering on some moisturiser, running some curl cream through his wet locks, and cleaning his teeth.

He hopped back into his bedroom, picking up some sleep shorts and a t-shirt along the way and slipped it on, grabbing his prosthetic and putting it on without a liner momentarily so he could go back to the kitchen for a glass of water.

Jack kept his weight primarily on his good leg as he moved through the dark hallway, trying to keep his noise to a minimum as he glanced at Samira’s closed door as he passed through, the only noise being the slight clinking of metal from his artificial joint.

He grabbed a glass of water from his cabinet, wincing at the sound of clinking glass, before moving to the sink to fill it up.

“Jack?” A wobbly voice broke the blanket of silence that had set over his house, and he jumped slightly at the sound of her voice and swivelled on the spot, and the sight of her broke his heart.

She stood stiffly in the doorway of the kitchen, her shoulders raised tight and her hands clutching her elbows. Her lower lip trembled as it was caught between her teeth, biting so tightly he thought she might cut her lip. Her eyes darted around the space nervously, a tear escaping down her cheek as her fingers tightly wound through the hem of his sweatshirt.

“Hey,” He quietly murmured in response, his body turning to face her fully, “Is everything ok?”

Samira closed her eyes, her head shaking slightly as she took an unsteady breath, and breathed out a pained, “No.”

Jack frowned in concern, slowly moving towards her until his hands came to rest on her upper arm, his thumbs running across the material of her sleeves.

At the contact of his hands, Samira hiccuped as a sob escaped her and the heels of her palms came to rest in her eye sockets, “I just- I can’t sleep. My nerves are absolutely fried and even though I know I’m objectively safe, I keep looking at the door like he’s going to come bursting through-“

He could feel her trembling beneath his hands and without hesitating, he curled his hands around her body and pulled him into his chest. As soon as her head curled into her neck, her hiccups turned into heaving cries as she clutched at his t-shirt tightly. 

The two of them stood huddled in the kitchen, her sobs wracking her chest against his, and he lowered his temple to rest against the side of her head, his hand running steady circles around the centre of her back.

“I’m sorry I’m a mess.” He felt her choke out against his chest.

“None of that,” He ran a hand up her back, “You’ve been holding this all in for a while now, it was due to explode at some point.”

She pulled her head back to look up at him, her hands wiping her face as she got frustrated, “But I’m a doctor, I should be better than letting this anxiety get the better of me.”

He gave her a disbelieving look, “Are you serious right now? Come on Doctor Mohan, you know the side effects of traumatic experiences and how that can wreak havoc on the human body. What makes you think you have to be superhuman here?”

Samira sighed, her eyes rolling to look at the entrance way of the guest bedroom, the door ajar to the darkened space, and Jack could see the hesitancy flit over her face at the thought of being isolated in there.

“Come sleep in my bed.”

“What?” Her head snapped back to him as she blinked up at him in shock.

He blushed a little at how forward that sounded, wincing at his word choice, “Not like that, not like a come on or anything. I just mean that maybe you would sleep better with someone else in the room with you.”

She frowned a little at his proposition, and he stooped to meet her gaze, “I promise I don’t bite.”

Her eyes lifted to meet his, and the two of them stood staring at each other until she gently exhaled through her nose, too tired to argue with the more rational side of her brain and caving into what she really wanted, “Ok.”

Jack discarded his barely touched cup of water before leaning over and switching the lights off in the main area. He came to where Samira was standing and placed a gentle hand on her mid back, giving her a small push as he turned off the lights on their way to his bedroom.

The room was already illuminated by the yellow glow of his bedside table lamp, and he gave Samira a gentle push to step inside the room, leaving her to glance around the sparse space and black out curtains that were a necessity for any night shift worker. Jack closed the door, and left her to situate herself to instead moved to the cupboard in the corner, reaching in to grab the spare foam roll out he kept in there for nights when his nightmares would persist so much that his brain wouldn’t shut off unless he was as close to the floor as he could be.

She had tentatively made her way around the other side of the bed before realising he wasn’t moving towards the bed with her, “What’re you doing?”

Jack paused mid-unrolling the foam out beside the bed, glancing up at her in confusion, “Setting up my bed for the night?”

“Jack you can’t be serious, I am not kicking you out of your own bed!”

“Seriously Samira, it's fine, I want you to be comfortable. Trust me I’ve slept on worse-”

“Absolutely not, get in the bed.” She levelled him with a look.

Jack froze, his gaze looking up at her as a flush worked its way up her neck, “I just mean, we’re both adults here.”

He still looked at her unsure, and she fidgeted nervously until it spilled out of her, “And selfishly? I think you’re right, I think I would sleep better with you beside me.”

Jack let the foam roll out drop onto the ground below him and drew himself to standing, taking in the view of the woman in front of him. Her loose curls now in a slightly frizzy halo around her head, her tired eyes pleading with him. Pleading with him to come to bed with her.

Jack watched her for a moment, before inclining his head slightly towards her, “As you wish.”

Samira rolled her eyes, “Did you just Princess Bride me?”

He chuckled as he lowered himself onto the edge of the bed, trying to ignore the rustling of the blankets being pulled back behind him as he reached down to take off his prosthesis and prop it up against his bedside table. He scooted himself back up towards the head of the bed, lifting his legs to slide them between the sheets, ignoring the goosebumps on his skin as his body responded to being so close to her.

Jack paused for a moment as he glanced out of the side of his eye as she gently removed the two decorative pillows his sister had insisted he needed and placed them slowly on the floor, before she slid down into the sheets and pulled the sheets up tight.

He took a measured breath out, his eyes closing momentarily as he willed his body to get itself under control, before he leaned over and switched off his light.

The room was plunged into darkness, and Jack shuffled himself down until his head hit his pillow, his body moulding into the slight dip on his side of the bed that had formed over the many years he had slept on his own. It felt foreign to him to feel the presence of a woman sleeping next to him, and his hands nervously tugged the sheets to hug around his middle.

The two of them sat in silence for a moment, until Samira rotated onto her side to look over at him with her hands tucked tightly into her chest. His head rolled over to look at her in the darkness and he found her darkened eyes looking up at him, mapping out every contour and shadow in his face.

Still seeing a hesitancy there, Jack wordlessly rolled over onto his side to look at her too, before reaching over with his top hand and gently unwrapping one of her curled fists. He could feel the tension in her hands, and he pulled one of them forward until he could cradle it within his own.

As his thumb gently rubbed over the knuckle of her index finger, he looked at the curled up form gazing right back at him and gave her a fond smile in the darkness, “Get some rest, Samira. I’ll be right here.”

She seemed to sigh into the mattress at his words, and after a few minutes of rubbing soothing strokes on the back of her hand, he felt her body slip into a restful slumber.

His own body seemed to relax in her presence, and Jack didn’t have to fight his mind for once as the events of the day caught up with him.He too succumbed into a deep sleep, dreaming of the soft feeling of her skin underneath his fingertips.

—------

Samira doesn’t remember the last time she slept this well. Maybe she should get a stalker more often.

She could feel herself come back slowly into consciousness, not sure what was awakening her from her sleep, but feeling slightly confused about the hard surface under her head.

She gave a slow inhale through her nose as her mind came too, noting the feeling of hard planes of muscles beneath her fingertips and against her head. She could feel the faint reverberation of a heartbeat against her temple, and her fuzzy brain was starting to realise that she was curled tightly against the body of one Jack Abbot.

Her eyes blink open slightly, watching her fingertips run along the gentle curve of muscle along his opposite pectoral muscle, sighing a deep breath out as she settled into the warm shoulder of the man beneath her body. Her mind was racing as she tried to figure out how long she’d been asleep for, and she was unaware of her fingers tracing absentminded circles up on his chest over his thin cotton t-shirt, the familiarly calming scent of pine and fresh powder invading her senses.

Samira’s mind also began to race at the implication of the position they’d found themselves in; she’d often daydreamed of being curled around the hard body of her sometimes-attending, and imagined what it would be like to be held in his defined arms. And now she was here, she wondered if she needed to extract herself: would he be uncomfortable when he woke up to find her plastered to his side? Was it just her imagining the palpable attraction she felt whenever their skin touched?

It wasn’t until she felt the gentle inhale of the chest below her that she realised he had stirred, and his hand gently came to rest on top of her own, stilling her hand and pressing it against his chest.

His thumb gently ran across the back of her hand, and she could feel the vibrations through his chest as he murmured, “I can hear you thinking too loudly, go back to sleep.”

She smiled against his skin, turning her head slightly to press into his body as she breathed in his intoxicating scent, and found herself succumbing to the feeling of being warm and protected. He made her feel safe, tucked against the side of his body with their breaths slowly becoming synchronized, and if this was a dream, it was a good one.

—--

Samira was alone when she awoke sometime later, her eyes blinking sleepily as she lifted her head from where she lay on her stomach, her fingers reaching out to where the bedsheets were still warm in the absence of her newfound pillow.

She slowly sat up, feeling the blanket dropping from where it had been pulled up high over her body, a hand coming up to brush away the curls from her face. Her sleepy gaze looked around the room, shrouded in darkness as her eyes slowly adjusted to the rumpled sheets beneath her and pleasant smell of sleep and pine emanating from her borrowed makeshift pajamas.

She slowly slipped her feet off the bed, her sock-clad feet finding the cool floorboards below, and she stumbled a little as she got lightheaded from suddenly being vertical. Without much thought, she padded over to his ensuite and opened the door. She winced as the morning light seeped into the dark room, and she pressed her eyes closed tightly as she navigated the space as best as she could. After a quick pitstop to relieve her bladder and wash her hands and face, she moved through his bedroom and opened the hallway door.

Samira was immediately hit with the delicious smell of eggs and bacon wafting through the hallway from the kitchen, and she could hear the faint sounds of a rock album being played on low volume. Her stomach seemed to lead her feet forward as she rubbed one of her eyes with the heel of her palm, and she let out a large yawn as she slowly rounded the corner to see a sight she would never forget.

Jack stood with his back to her, his broad shoulders blocking the morning sun from her view as she admired his body, silhouetted by the rays of light peeking through the open window. His curls were in disarray as he ran a tired hand through them, and he transferred his weight onto one leg as he moved to the side to grab the small container of salt, and a small sliver of skin at his side revealed itself to her. Samira could feel a small flutter make itself known low in her stomach at the tantalizing image Jack Abbot made, and she couldn’t decide what she was hungrier for: the breakfast that was being cooked, or the man cooking her breakfast.

Figuring it would be better to make herself than be caught out shamelessly looking at him again, she moved forward to gently place her hands on the kitchen bench, “Good morning.”

Jack seemed to startle slightly at the sound of her voice, before turning to see her smiling softly at him of which he returned in kind, “Good morning to you too, sleepyhead.”

She inhaled as she gave a large stretch and a yawn, unaware of Jack’s eyes dropping to where the oversized sweater had lifted to reveal the smooth skin of her waist, “How long was I out for?”

Jack’s eyes snapped back up to meet hers, “We were both out until around 8:00am, but it’s about 10:30am now.”

Her jaw dropped a little, “We slept all that time?”

Jack shrugged, hiding a small smile on his face, “What can I say, my body being a pillow is practically a sedative."

She rolled her eyes as she moved around to slide into the bar stool looking straight forward at him, “Or maybe it’s the industrial-strength black out curtains, I’m going to need to know where you got them.”

He raised an eyebrow at her as he flipped the bacon over, “You thinking of becoming a Nightcrawler, Mohan?”

She tilted her head as if pondering his question, “What’re you offering me to cross over to the dark side?”

Abbot considered her response, dropping the tongs to come over to her, propping himself up on the bench on his elbows to look up at her, “What about heightened risk of cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal disorders, cancer risk and high blood pressure?”

Samira pursed her lips together, leaning forward to match his posture and meet him at eye level, “That is awfully tempting.”

Jack merely looked back at her with a matching smirk, enjoying this foray into flirtation that he had missed over the last few weeks, his eyes briefly dropping down to her lips, “Awfully.”

The two stood in a stalemate until Jack sighed, drawing himself to standing and grabbing two glasses from the cupboard, “So the hospital called.”

The smirk dropped from Samira’s face, “Oh?”

Jack was silent for a moment as he filled their glasses up, taking his time to choose his words, “The guy came back to the hospital early this morning and he was arrested.”

A wave of relief coursed through Samira, but upon seeing Jack’s shoulder stiffened as he slowly turned to her and placed her glass in front of her and cupping his own in his hands, “That’s good, right?”

Jack gave a slow nod, his eyes coming up to meet hers, “But he was released on bail shortly after.”

Samira’s body sank in understanding, this wasn’t over. Domestic violence cases and harassment cases like this were notably hard to prosecute, and often were dragged out for years to come. And even if she were to press charges and get a restraining order, the man could easily ignore it all and continue to make her life hell.

Her breath quickened slightly as her mind raced, “Ok,” She took a small sip of water, “So what now? What do I do, just not go home?”

Jack placed his cup down, picking up the tongs and pointing at them as he turned back to the stove, “You don’t have to do anything, I however have had it sorted.”

Samira watched him turn towards the stove and busy himself as he turned off the heat, her eyes narrowing at his infuriatingly attractive back, “Jonathan Lewis Abbot-”

“Hey!” He turned around and pointed the tongs at her again, “I told you that in confidence-”

“Fine.” She slid off the stool as he avidly avoided her gaze and she slowly worked her way around the bench, her eyes never leaving him, “Jacquelyn Louise Abbot, what have you done?”

A small snort escaped him, and after a moment of pretending to look busy, he turned to see her propped against the kitchen counter, her arms crossed over her chest as she looked at him sceptically.

“Hypothetically?” He played with her.

Her eyes narrowed even further, “Hypothetically speaking, if that’s what’s going to get you to talk. Spill.”

He suppressed another smile of his, saying nothing as he pushed towards her, taking his sweet time to lean into her space as he placed one hand either side of her body on the bench and leveled his face close to hers.

“Hypothetically,” He stressed, his head tilting slightly on the word, “One could say that the police are notably terrible at handling cases with women being harassed. And hypothetically, I may have called in a favour to an old army buddy of mine who now works in private security, who as a favour to me, is going to go to your flat sometime today and fix you up with a state-of-the-art security system. He’ll be around shortly to pick up your keys”

Samira frowned at his words and went to interrupt but Jack got in first, “And hypothetically, I may have also given him the name and location of said harasser and my buddy will make sure he knows what is at stake if he ever chooses to get within 50-feet of you ever again.”

Her eyes widened in alarm, “Jack-!” 

“-so once again hypothetically, that man shouldn’t be a problem anymore by the end of tomorrow.” 

Samira was quiet for a moment, and Jack watched an array of emotions flitter over her face: fear, relief, anger and shock at what he was saying to her.

“Samira,” His face lost all humour as he lifted a hand to hold her chin to look at him, “I will not play with your life to entertain the idea that law enforcement might actually do something about this creep. You are too important to me for that, ok?”

Jack steadily held her gaze to ensure she understood how serious he was being, until she gave him a small nod in return.

“Good,” Before he could over think it, he leaned up to place a tender kiss onto her forehead, pulling back to see a tantalizing blush work its way across her cheekbones, “Now, we have bacon, eggs and coffee that won’t stay hot for much longer, so let’s get you fed now, and you can be angry at me for overdoing it later.”

He moved away from being pressed against her body, and she fidgeted a little as the flush continued down her chest, and he preened a bit at being able to ruffle her feathers.

She tried to clear her throat, trying not to let her body betray how much his proximity had affected her delicate sensibilities, “Jack Abbot, if you keep making me food and taking care of me like this, I might want to stay here forever.”

Jack’s head snapped to look at her, a pleased smile creeping onto his face as she gave him a matching smirk in return.

“That’s the point, sweetheart.”