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Jack jolted awake by his alarm, having forgotten to turn it off the night prior. Before he could reach over and turn it off, someone else did. Someone else was in his bed.
Turning to look he found a woman with long dark hair and a tattoo down her spine. A very familiar tattoo. One he hadn't seen in 10 years.
Emery Walsh was in his bed, naked. She turned, the blanket slipping down her chest slightly making jack advert his eyes.
"You're staring you know that?" She said, laying back down and pulling the blanket up.
"And you're in my bed. Naked." He said in return, still trying to make sense of the situation.
"Astute observation." She mumbled. "Now shush, I have a horrible hangover. And I'm sore all over."
Emery fell back asleep before Jack could say anything. And so did he because, as Emery said a second ago, he had a horrible hangover.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
He woke up a few hours later with the sunlight shining softly through the open curtains. Rolling over he realized the other side of the bed was empty. Sitting up he heard sounds coming from the kitchen and the smell of coffee and bacon floating through the air. The thought of food and coffee was enough to force him out of bed.
He found Emery in the kitchen, wearing his shirt, standing at the stove with bacon popping in a pan. She was softly humming something that sounded vaguely familiar but he couldn't place it.
"You know, staring is rude." She said without turning around.
"Well, you're in my house, wearing my shirt, and cooking my food so I think some staring is justified." He said in response, walking up to the counter next to her. "Are we going to talk about it or just pretend it didn't happen?"
Emery turned to him after moving the bacon off the heat. "We were both drunk. It was a…lapse of judgement."
"Lapse of judgement?"
"Yeah. This isn't exactly a new dynamic for us so when were drunk we fell back into old habits." Was Emery's justification. "Now, are you going to eat or just stare at me all night?"
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
He'll admit, Emery's a great cook. He hadn't gotten to eat much of her cooking, active war doesn't have many instances for homecooked meals. But even when he was home and gotten married, homecooked meals were rare. His late wife, Liriel, wasn't much of a cook and with recover from losing his leg and then his long shifts followed by the grief of losing Liriel, he didn't cook all that often. The point is, it's nice to have a home cooked meal once in a while.
They ate in silence that wasn't exactly comfortable, but it wasn't uncomfortable either. It was familiar. Both their phones began blowing up just as he opened his mouth. The attendings group chat, that both Dana and Lena were a part of, began filling with rapid fire replies.
PTMC attendings
lena: MCI PROTICAL
lena: building collapse at a fantasy ball and were the closest trauma center.
lena: ALL HANDS-ON DECK PEOPLE!
They looked up at each other and immediately sprang into action. Thankfully, Emery had extra scrubs in her bag so they could avoid the questions if she hadn't.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
When they got to the hospital it was already pure chaos. There were people in glittery ball gowns covered in blood and draped over beds, people in chairs holding ice packs to their bodies, and hospital staff running around trying to get a handle on everything.
"Thank god you're here, we need you both down at the scene. There's people trapped under the wreckage." Robby said upon seeing them walk in.
They shared a look that said, 'just like old times' and turned back to Robby. "Give us Santos and King. We'll head down to the scene." Jack said, pulling on one of the orange vests.
"How many people can we expect?" Emery asked as Jack handed her another orange vest.
"The organizers of the event said there upwards of 700 people in attendance. All the minor injuries are going to Presby to lighten our work load a little bit but were still getting a large number of victims." Robby said, pulling Trinity gently over to them as he waved Mel over. "You two are going to the scene with Walsh and Abbot to assist in field triage."
"Cool! I haven't done that before." Santos said, taking one of the bags that Jack handed to her. In the bags were all the supplies needed for field medics. They were each going to have one.
"I really think I'll be better here." Mel said, picking at her nailbeds.
"We will most likely need to go into the wreak once they stabilize it which means we need people small enough to fit into the wreak." jack said before walking off with Robby to go brief the rest of the staff.
"You'll be with one of us at all times. Just listen and stay close and you'll be fine. If it does get too much, we'll deal with that too." Emery smiled. Out of this new batch of pittlings Emery liked Mel the most. She was a good doctor and in the few moments that she had interacted with her, and based on Yoyo's reports of the ED shenanigans, very rarely asked stupid questions.
Mel looked at her and nodded. She nodded back then turned to Trinity. "What about you? Any concerns?"
"Nope. I'm fine." She said, maybe a little too fast to be convincing.
Emery looked at her for a moment and saw the tension she was holding in her shoulders. Emery has held her fair share. "Deep breath. In through your nose, out through your mouth. You'll be fine."
It had been a minute since she had to calm someone down before going into the field. Sure, she did it upstairs in her ORs occasionally but being in the field is different. You have minimal supplies and even less hands to work with. One small mistake and everything will go to shit but you can't just out right say that to people.
Jack appeared at her shoulder again, handing her a case of the triage slap bracelets. "The rig is here to take us to the scene."
Turning to the residents who were standing like lost ducklings she said. "Take off any jewelry and put it somewhere safe. It will end up getting caught on something if you don't."
While the residents went to go put their jewelry somewhere, Jack took the small bag she had put hers in out of her hand and placed it into one of the inside pockets of his go bag.
At her questioning look he simply said, "You said keep it somewhere safe and your locker is 3 stories up."
It seems he was over what happened earlier. That or he's just shoving it down and was planning on dealing with it later. She could honestly see him doing either one.
The residents were back from putting their jewelry away and were now heading out to the ambulance bay. Emery locked eyes with Garcia and called. "Yoyo! you're now primary surgery. You'll do great." and ran out to the ambulance.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The vibes in the ambulance were tense, as to be expected. Mel was staring at the floor, Trinity was humming some pop song, and Jack, well, Jack was staring again. She turned to look at him with furrowed brows. Jack smiled. "Reminds you of the good old days, doesn't it?"
"You mean the days where we were all but stuck in the desert with minimal supplies and even less support? Sure, but I don't see how those are the good old days." She smiled back, though hers was incredibly sarcastic.
Trinity, sensing impending gossip, stopped humming and turned to them. "You guys used to serve together?" She asked with a conspiratorial smile.
Before she could say anything, Abbot responds. "Yeah. She dragged me back from hell more times than I can count."
That was… oddly normal for him to say. She thought he was going to mention his leg and how she was the reason he lost it.
"That explains so much." Trinity almost squealed as the ambulance came to a stop. The doors opened to reveal a tall blonde woman in turnouts, her coat open.
"Boy, am I glad to see you two." She spoke. Andromeda Wheeler was on the same deployment as them and instead of following either of them into the medical field she chose to become a firefighter and was now captain if Emery recalled correctly.
"What do we have, Andy?" Jack asked, climbing out of the ambulance, turning to give her a hand.
"The scene is still pure chaos, but the building is as stable as it can be. there's at least ten people still under there that we know are still alive." Andy said, leading them over to the command tent where a table was standing with a few people milling about, answering phones and giving commands. "Here's what happened. Two of the buildings support beams collapsed. These ones here." Andy told them pointing at a blueprint of the building.
"How many people were injured?" Mel asked from behind her.
"Unknown at the moment but a good chunk of the attendees were outside in the garden, that's where the main event was held, and the building collapsed the opposite way. Most of those injuries are going to Presby 400 people were in attendance, 320 of which left the scene alive either to Presby or PTMC, 24 of which were DOA, 10 are confirmed alive but still under the rubble, which means there are 66 people still unaccounted for under the rubble." Andy said, turning back to the blueprint.
"Micah over there has the walkies for you. Medics are channel 4, I'm channel 9, my crew is channel 8, and R&R is channel 6. there's a sticker on each walkie in case you forget." Andy said as Micah, a tall redhead, handed each of them a walkie talkie.
"R&R?" Santos asked, clipping the walkie onto her scrubs.
"Rescue and recovery." Jack responded in a solemn tone. "Anyone you find needs to be reported as either DOA or living to the R&R crew so they can keep an accurate count of rescues or recoveries."
Santos nodded, quiet now. Andy turned back to them. "Your job is to go in after our stabilization crew and help the injured. If all goes well you'll be out by dinner."
"What if it doesn't go well?" Mel questioned.
"Then we adapt. My crew I mostly made up of former military. If it doesn't go well, we'll get you out" Andy said, turning to one of the firefighters who just walked in. "Are the winches ready?"
"Yes ma'am. As are the guides." The man said, holding open the tent flap.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The winches were set up near a hole in the rubble that was being held up by wooden planks.
"The stabilization crew has placed wooden structures down there to form a tunnel that will hold should the rubble shift at any point. they're also working from the back to clear as much rubble as the can to make emergency exits if the tunnels don't hold." Andy told them as Emery helped Trinity untangle her harness. "Good luck down there, Canary. Per aspera ad astra"
"Was that Latin?" Trinity asked as Emery clipped her to the winch.
Emery hummed. "It means 'through hardships to the stars' just something we'd say to each other before either one of us went on a mission."
"Ok, follow up question. Canary?"
"I don't think I need to explain military callsigns to you." Emery teased. turning to the other two who were standing a few feet away. "Alright, here's the plan. Santos and I will be down in the tunnel doing triage, everyone we send up will be going through you two, decide if they go to Presby or PTMC. In a few hours Santos will switch with either of you, if all goes well." she looked Jack in the eyes. "morior invictius" (death before defeat).
"More Latin?!" Santos screeched.
Turning to the winch operator she called up. "Ready whenever you are!"
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
A few hours later and they had found 12 of the 66 unaccounted for. All of which were alive and able to walk out of the rubble with some assistance. Santos had just gone out to switch with Abbot when she heard the banging.
Someone was hitting metal against metal. Like a steel pipe against a car. She followed the noise, Abbot behind her of the uneven steps was anything to go off of. The banging was the result of a teen girl, around 16, who had one of her legs trapped under a large piece of rubble.
"Hey, what's your name?" She asked as she knelt next to her.
"Eleanor." The girl whispered.
"Alright Eleanor, I'm Dr. Walsh but you can just call me Emery. I'm going to take a look at what we're working with, ok?"
Eleanor nodded. It was sluggish which brought concern.
The piece of rubble was crushing her leg so much there was no way Emery could save it even if she was in the OR. Schooling her features she turned back to Eleanor. "Alright sweetheart I'm going to go talk to my collogue but I'll be right back."
She walked past jack, pulling him a few feet away from Eleanor. "I have to do a field amputation. There is no other way to save her leg while keeping her alive."
Jack, thankfully, didn't try arguing. He had seen her leg and there was no war for him to cowboy his way out of it. He walked a few more feet away to radio up to R&R and the residents while she went back to Eleanor, who was fighting to stay awake.
"Eleanor? Can you hear me?" She asked, getting a nod in return. "Your leg is pinned underneath a piece of rubble. I'm going to have to amputate it. I'm giving you some morphine, but you will still probably pass out, ok?" Eleanor just nodded again.
Jack walked back over. "What do you need from me?" He asked, kneeling down on the other side of Eleanor.
"Keep her steady. What's the ETA for R&R?" she asked, tying the tourniquet onto Eleanor's leg.
"They said 5 minutes."
-=-=-=-=-=-
God, she hated doing amputations. It brought back up old memories that she'd rather keep in the past. Eleanor, for her part, did in fact pass out shortly after Emery had started cutting. After Eleanor had passed out Jack moved to her side and began getting the wound dressing ready.
The R&R crew and Santos showed up around a minute ago, when she had gotten the wound clean and was in the middle of wrapping it.
Looking at Santos, she said. "You or King needs to go with her. I don't want her to bleed out in the back of an ambulance. Send back Langdon or Mohan. And whatever you do, you stay with her until she's in recovery. Got it?"
Santos looked her in the eyes and nodded. "Got it."
"Good. Let's get her on the back board. On my count roll her towards me." As she counted down, she said a quick prayer for Eleanor.
-=-=-=-=-=-
Trinity and the R&R team made their way out of the tunnel, she and jack made their way further into the rubble, the walkies crackling the whole way.
They found 3 more people as they walked further down the tunnel, 1 was DOA but the other two were fine all things considered. They had just sent the 3rd victim on her way with 2 members of the R&R crew when they heard an ominous creaking.
Next thing they knew, the rubble shifted.
-=-=-=-=-=-
Mel was assisting the latest victim from the collapse to the med tent when she heard a loud crack. and the rubble shifted.
She stood frozen for a minute before her brain caught up. "Are Walsh and Abbot still down there?" She asked one of the firefighters, the same one who gave them the walkies.
He looked at her for a moment before exclaiming, "Shit!" before running to the command tent, Mel hot on his heels.
"Cap! Cap, Abbot and Walsh are still down there!" He yelled through the chaos of the command tent.
Andy paused, not that anyone who wasn't looking would notice and turned to her. "they're both down there? What about santos?"
"Santos left a few minutes ago with the amputee. As far as I know they're both down there still." She said, squeezing her hands behind her back.
"Fuck." Andy muttered before ordering commands. Turning back to Mel she said. "Get Santos on the phone and tell her about the change of plans. And tell her to update the people there. After that go to the med tent and help the wounded."
When Mel left the tent, Andy was on the phone aggressively whispering.
-=-=-=-=-=-
Trinity was currently sitting in the back of an ambulance when Mel called her.
"What's up, Melatonin?" She asked, keeping an eye on Eleanor's vitals.
"Don't freak out." Mel started, "The rubble shifted with Walsh and Abbot still in the tunnel. There hasn't been any noise on the walkie talkies. Trinity, I don't even know if they're alive."
Trinity paused, gaining her a look from the medic sitting across from her, before responding in a much softer voice than she usually uses. "They'll be fine. They're Walsh and Abbot for fucks sakes. Those two could survive a zombie apocalypse if my nightshift rotation taught me anything."
"Captain Wheeler wants you to update the rest of the staff." Mel said, her breathing getting more and more uneven.
"Mel, take a deep breath. In through your nose, out through your mouth. You'll be fine. I'm sending back Langdon, or Mohan if I can't find him, you won't be on your own for very long."
Trinity listened as Mel's breathing began to slow to a more reasonable rhythm. "Ok, I have to go back to the med tent."
"You do that. They'll be fine I know it."
-=-=-=-=-=-
Jack was freaking out. Internally at least.
One second the rubble was stable and the tunnels were holding the next the rubble had shifted and part of the tunnel collapsed.
That wasn't why he was freaking out though. The reason for his internal panic was Emery. One second she was three steps in front of him, shining her flashlight towards any noise they heard and then the next thing he knew Emery was on the ground, passed out with blood dripping from her side.
"Shit! Emery!?" He called dropping down next to her and putting pressure on the wound. Nipples to navel is no man's land. Any sort or projectile or puncture wound in no man's land has a very good chance of becoming lethal if not treated fast enough. Does anyone want to guess where emery's wound was.
If you guessed no man's land you get a cookie.
It was then he came to the realization that he had to keep her alive until the crew outside found them. The only supplies he had was two picked through trauma kits and his go bag, that he was grateful for now more than ever. He reached for his radio, only to find it wasn't attached to him anymore but rather 4 feet away tucked under a loose piece of rubble.
Emery still had hers thankfully and it was in working condition. Pulling off her scrubs he turned to channel 9. Andy's channel.
"Starshine? It's Spitfire. We're both alive but Canary got hit. I need an ETA on a rescue crew." He said into the radio.
-=-=-=-=-=-
Mel was still in the med tent, though all the wounded were already taken care of, when captain Wheeler appeared next to her.
"Here. Drink." She said, handing her a bottle of water. "I just got word that 2 more doctors are headed this way."
"Do you know which ones?"
"No sorry." Andy opened her mouth to say something else but was interrupted by her radio.
It was Abbot asking for an ETA on a rescue crew.
"Thank god you're both alive, you asshole. ETA is at least 30 minutes." Andy said before lowering her voice enough that Mel, who was standing next to her, was the only one to hear. "How bad is canary?"
"No man's land." Was the whispered response. "I have enough supplies down here to keep her alive, but I need you to somehow make that 30 minutes into 20 or less. We're some 200 feet from the entrance, northwest." He continued.
"Copy." Andy said again, turning to her 2nd in command. "You heard him. Bring the ETA down by ten minutes. And have them prep another harness."
The 2nd looked at her for a moment before nodding and walking to where the winch was.
"Another harness?" Mel asked as an ambulance pulled in.
"I'm going in as soon as its stable enough."
-=-=-=-=-=-
"Robby!" Trinity yelled as she ran in with the gurney. "The rubble shifted with Walsh and Abbot still underneath."
At her words the ED, that is rarely still, froze. Robby was the first to recover and walked up to her. "Are you sure?"
"That's what Mel said. I left the scene before it happened. Walsh said to send back Langdon or Mohan." She said, guiding the gurney into trauma 2.
"You can have both. Things are finally starting to settle down here." Robby told her before turning to the gathered crowd. "Where are Mohan and Langdon?"
The named doctors appeared at the front of the crowd both still wearing blood covered trauma gowns.
Robby schooled his features before turning to them "You're both going to the scene. Dr. King is currently the only doctor available on the scene with Walsh and Abbot otherwise occupied. Any questions? No? Ok, you two," Here he pointed and Samira and Langdon, "Go get cleaned up then head back in the ambulance Santos just came in on."
They both nodded before running to dispose of their dirty trauma gowns and to get the trauma bags.
As they climbed into the ambulance Trinity prayed to any divine being that would listen that everyone would make it back safe.
-=-=-=-=-=-
Emery was still passed out but from what Jack could tell the bleeding has slowed slightly. whether that was a good thing or not Jack wasn't sure. He was working with minimal light and the supplies he could get from the bags.
He had his portable ultrasound but without internet it doesn't work, which is a design flaw that he didn't think about until now. He was digging in one of the med bags, which was incredibly difficult to do with one hand, when he felt Emery shift under his hand.
"Em? Canary, you with me?" He asked, trying to keep his voice steady.
Emery groaned. "What happened?" She asked in a mutter.
"The rubble shifted, the tunnel collapsed, and next thing I knew you were on the floor." He whispered, still holding pressure on the wound.
"I'm going to go ahead and assume I passed out? My head is pounding." She asked.
"Yup. You've been out for a few minutes. You've lost about a liter of blood but it's slowing." He told her, trying to keep his panic hidden.
"I don't think that's a good thing." Emery said, slower than before.
-=-=-=-=-=-
Emery passed out again. But her pulse, however slow, was steady so small miracles.
Jack had packed the wound and given her some pain meds by the time he heard voices coming from the collapsed part of the tunnel.
"Jack?!" He heard Andy's voice yell.
"Here!" He called back.
"We're working on getting the tunnel stable! Stay put!" She called right before the sounds of heavy machinery sounded through the space.
It took 2 full minutes for them to get through the other side of the rubble. jack counted every minute. Finally, Andy and the R&R crew made their way into the pocket he and Emery were in.
"Alright, the way is clear. We'll put her on a backboard and then get the two of you out of here." One of them said, sliding a backboard under emery.
Andy pulled him to his feet and guided him out of the rubble. Outside was best described as organized chaos. There were clear locations for everything and everyone but whether or not people used them, he couldn't tell you.
They loaded her into ambulance, which gat was loaded into as well, and then they were off. A race against the clock to keep her alive.
-=-=-=-=-=-
By the time they got to PTMC someone, probably Andy, called ahead to alert them that they would be coming. Garcia and the OR team met them right inside the doors and whisked Emery up to surgery. He had Wi-Fi in the ambulance and looked at the wound with the portable ultrasound. There was some debris in the wound that needed to be removed in the OR.
A hand met his shoulder and Jack jumped.
"Sorry, brother. Let's go get you cleaned up." Robby said quietly. It was then he realized all the blood on his hands. Emery's blood.
Robby guided him into the locker room and handed him a pack of wipes to clean the blood. They sat in silence for a moment, the sounds of the ED muffled through the door, when Robby turned to him. "She'll be fine." He said as the door opened.
"Robby. MVA incoming. 5 minutes out." Dana said, poking her head into the locker room.
"Ok. Get everyone available. I'll be out in a minute." Robby responded. Dana left with a nod.
"You gonna be ok by yourself for a while?" Robby asked as Dana left. 'No' Jack thought 'I probably won't be'
But he didn't say that. "Yeah, I'll be fine."
Robby didn't look convinced but nodded anyway and left the room to go deal with the next crisis.
-=-=-=-=-=-
He ended up on the roof, not that anyone should be surprised, but he was standing on the right side of the rail tonight.
He had been up here for about an hour, his thoughts were running a mile a minute, yet his body felt as if he was trying to run through molasses.
Most of his thoughts were worse case scenarios regarding what's happening 5 floors down in the OR. Most of them being 'what happens if Emery doesn't make it'. But under the worst-case scenarios were thoughts about Liriel.
Liriel had been dead 7 years. For 6 of those years jack lived in a state of limbo, not quite living yet not quite dying. He had loved Liriel, wholly and entirely, still does. A part of him will always love her. She had been his near opposite. Where he was strict with routine, she had been flowy. She would always be humming or singing, fitting given her name. Sometimes when he misses her, he would play the old recordings of her choir classes just to hear her voice.
Only recently he had come to the realization that he loved Emery Walsh. He had known her for over 10 years at this point and for most of them they had been arguing. And yet he still loved her.
He knew she would understand his grief, she had known Liriel almost as long as he had. Then again, he didn't even know if she felt the same.
Before he could ponder anymore the roof door opened and Robby walked out.
"Walsh is in recovery." Was the first thing he said. "A part of the debris nicked a large vein, but they got the bleeding under control, and she'll be waking up by lunch tomorrow." He continued coming to a stop next to Jack.
"Did I ever tell you how we met?" Jack asked suddenly.
"You and Emery? No, all you said last time I asked was 'it's a long story'"
"I met her a year before I met Liriel."
-=-=-=-=-=-
Middle of the desert, May 2014
-=-=-=-=-=-
Jack Abbot was having a rough day. It was incredibly hot. Too hot for spring if he did say so himself. And one of his guys almost blew his own foot of because he was drunk. Which leads him to the med tent, the sun blazing overhead.
The med tent was 75 degrees which comparing to the near 100 degrees outside was very nice. Thank you generator.
He initially went in to check on his idiot but found a woman, obviously military if the camo and army green were anything to go off of, standing toe to toe with a Sargent. Not quite yelling but using a tone of voice that suggests that if there weren't injured people around, she would be.
"I don't care if you're the Queen of England. You do not get to just barge in here while I'm wrist deep in a patient and start giving me orders. Quite frankly, sir, you are not qualified to speak on this." She said, her voice level. She kept talking before the Sargent could open his mouth. "You do not make the orders in this tent. You do not yell at any of the staff here, especially while there are injured soldiers trying to rest. Understood?"
The Sargent just glared and stormed out.
"Well, that's probably going to get me a wrote up." The woman mumbled to herself before realizing that he was in the doorway. "Can I help you?" She asked, crossing her arms in front of her.
"Uh, I'm here to check on Ross. He almost blew his foot off earlier?" He said, stepping fully into the med tent.
"That idiot? Oh, he's fine. An idiot, but fine. He won't be able to stand on that foot for a while but he should make a full recovery."
-=-=-=-=-=-
PTMC rooftop, October 2026
-=-=-=-=-=-
"That's how you met? That explains a lot." Robby laughed.
"I…I don't know how to take that." Jack laughed in return.
"Take it how you will." Robby said, being interrupted by his phone buzzing. "That was Garcia. They've moved her to recovery if you want to go sit with her."
Jack paused before nodding. "Yeah, I'll go sit with her."
-=-=-=-=-=-
God, she was pale. Almost like a vampire
That was his first thought when he walked into Emery's recovery room and saw her laying against the stark white sheets, the sheets making her look paler than she was.
He pulled a chair up to the side of her bed and took her hand in both of his. "Hey, Canary. I don't know if you can hear me, but Yoyo said you'll wake up sometime tomorrow. At least according to Robby."
He sat holding her hand for a few minutes in silence before he said. "You know I never thought I'd see you like this again. Not in a hospital, recovering from surgery. I mean I never thought I'd see you this peaceful again."
With that he was pulled back into memories from a decade ago. Back to the first time he saw her this peaceful.
-=-=-=-=-=-
Middle in the desert, November 2015
-=-=-=-=-=-
Holidays were a sensitive time at base. People missing family, spouses, children. People getting drunk to avoid missing family. And everyone in between.
Thanksgiving had come and gone quickly enough, someone was slowly replacing the turkeys with Christmas trees.
He and Emery were another conversation entirely. From that day last year where he stumbled upon her berating a Sargent for trying to make demands while she was wrist deep into a guys guts, they had fallen into a rivalry that leaned more fond than anything else.
There were moments where they were almost friends. Moments like this. Sitting against the wall, drink cheap beer, letting the cool evening wind blow over them.
Moments like this tend to lead to deep conversations. And today was no different.
"So, why'd you join?" She asked, draining the rest of her beer.
"I needed to get away. I graduated high school and realized my parents didn't have the extra funds to pay for my collage, and I definitely didn't get any scholarships, so army was the next best thing. I didn't need to worry about housing or food, and they paid for my collage." He said, opening a new beer for her. "What about you? Why'd you join?"
Emery laughed. "Similar reason but opposite side of the spectrum. My dad was willing to pay for my collage but only if I got a finance degree. I joined mainly to spite him. I knew I wouldn't be happy if I stayed stuck in that life more then I had too so I left. Here I am, a little over a decade later. I wouldn't change it, I don't think."
They stared at the stars in silence. They really were much better without light pollution. Jack turned and looked at her. Admiring her side profile. She felt him staring and turned to look at him in return.
Even a decade later he couldn't tell you who leaned in first but the next thing he knew, his hands were in her hair as he nipped at her lip.
That was the first time they fell into bed together. And far from the last.
When he woke up the next morning, he spent the time it took for her to wake up just watching her.
-=-=-=-=-=-
PTMC surgical recovery room, October 2026
-=-=-=-=-=-
The sun was starting to come up. It was peeking through the thick layer of clouds like the universe was trying to apologize.
Emery still hasn't woken up yet. And Jack hadn't gone to sleep yet either. His mind was to busy reminiscing on everything.
They had began what could be called a friends with benefits arrangement of you were generous. They would fall into bed together after stressful shifts more often than not.
They had broken it off the following year when Jack met Liriel and they began dating.
He and Emery stayed friends and friendly rivals until they went their separate ways in 2018. After Emery cut off his leg.
-=-=-=-=-=-
Military hospital, March 2018
-=-=-=-=-=-
Jack woke up gradually.
He first heard muffled voices then he opened his eyes only to get assaulted by the fluorescent lights.
"Hey." He heard a familiar voice say from his left. Emery was curled up in one of the uncomfortable hospital chairs with a bandage above her right eyebrow and her left arm in a sling.
"Hi." He croaked. His throat felt like he swallowed sand paper. "Water?"
Emery got up and crossed the room. That's when he noticed his leg. Or lack there of.
"What happened?" He asked, taking to cup Emery was holding out.
Emery took a deep breath before replying. "About a week ago, we were driving and hit an IED. The first car was gone immediately. We were in the second. It must have knocked me out because when I woke up, your leg was trapped under the car and there was no saving it." She whispered.
Jack stared at her before saying "get out."
And Emery, not one to often be told twice, did so. She stopped in the doorway and turned to him. "Call Liriel. She'll want to know you're alive. I'm sorry again."
-=-=-=-=-=-
PTMC, October 2026
-=-=-=-=-=-
That was the last time he saw her. Even when Liriel died in a car accident later that year, he didn't see her. She sent flowers and a long letter.
He saw her again for the first time in late 2019 when she was introduced as the new nightshift trauma attending.
-=-=-=-=-=-
Robby must have stopped by Jack's car at some point because he showed up in the middle of his shift, holding a bag that was defiantly in his trunk last he knew.
"You've been wearing those scrubs for almost 30 hours. get changed." Robby said before walking back out the door.
After he changed out of the dust covered scrubs, that were also still covered in blood, he came back to Emery's bedside. She looked better. There was color back to her cheeks, however little there was, so that put him at ease slightly.
He grabbed her hand again and thought 'it's now or never' and started speaking.
"I can't pretend anymore. I've ignored my feelings for so long, thinking you wouldn't feel the same but if the past 48 hours, last 10 years really, have taught me anything it's that life is too short to be second guessing yourself. You deserve to know, even if I'm a coward by telling you while you're still asleep but…it's you. For the past 3 years it's always been you." He whispered, bringing her cold hand up to kiss her knuckles.
-=-=-=-=-=-
He must have fallen asleep at some point because he woke up to hand in his hair. Emery's hand.
He jolted awake and saw her trying to hide a smile. The head of the bed was now set to the sitting position instead of flat.
"Have you been here this whole time?" She asked in a whisper. He got a strong sense of Deja vu.
He hummed and Emery smiled again. "I heard you talking last night."
Jack froze. She had heard his confession? Before he could ask, Emery grabbed his shirt and pulled him to her. He had forgotten how strong she was.
This time he knew who initiated it as muscle memory took over and his hands ended up tangled in her hair.
"I love you too, jackass." She mumbled against his lips. They both laughed.
Turns out hospital room confessions work out sometimes.
-=-=-=-=-=-
Jack's house, sometime in the near future
-=-=-=-=-=-
jack woke up to the smell of coffee and the sound of music softly making its way through the house.
Getting out of bed, noting the sunlight streaming through the partly open windows, he pulled on sweatpants and a t-shirt before making his way down the hallway. Coming to a stop in the doorway he paused to take in the scene. Emery was standing at the stove, her back to the door, wearing one of his shirts. Their daughter, Maisie, was sitting in her highchair laughing every time the bacon popped in the pan.
Emery, having noticed the eyes on her, turned. "You're staring." She said with a teasing smirk
He walked over and grabbed her hand gently. "You're wearing my shirt. Staring is a given." He whispered, kissing the ring on her left hand.
It seemed that Maisie had noticed him and was babbling away like most 8-month-olds do.
"Good morning to you, My Lady." He smiled, pulling her out of the highchair and into his arms.
If you had told him some 15 years ago that he'd be standing in his kitchen with his baby in his arms and his wife looking at them with incredibly fond looks, he simply wouldn't believe you. But the universe works in mysterious ways.