Remember Your Worth | Jackson Avery

three

"Is it because you didn't want me to find out you were 13 weeks pregnant?" Her eyes widened.

"We were going to tell you, we just wanted to make sure everything was okay before we told anyone." She awkwardly smiled.

"Right." I looked at her file.

"It says that you're in for severe cramping. Was there any vaginal bleeding?"

"Um, not that I know of."

"When did the cramping start?"

"A couple hours ago. It was a moderate pain but now it's horrifying."

"We'll get you set up for an IV and run a few tests. Is dad here?"

"No. He's at work. I'm going to call him though."

"Do that." I told her. I gave the nurse a list of tests to run before walking away.

~

I dried my hands off, walking out of the scrub room. I was exhausted and ready to sleep for 48 hours. Going to check on my mom, I looked at her updated chart.

Since she was family, I had to hand her off to Dr. Myers. My dad's voice got louder, the close I got to the room. One voice turned into two laughing; the second voice belonging to Jackson.

I quickly rolled my eyes before making my presence known. They turned their attention to me. My dad smiled, coming to hug me.

"I read the chart so I know what's going on."

"Oh, good. Tell that other doctor that you'll take over for him, I don't think he knows what he's doing."

"Dad, Dr. Myers is a good doctor."

"You're better. How's Lola?" My mom chimed in, asking about Jackson and I's dog.

"She's great. Jackson is her favorite person."

"My friend is bringing her pitbull to the house on Saturday. Maybe you should bring Lola so they can have a play date; a little pitbull sleepover."

"Sure. You can discuss that with Jackson. I just wanted to stop by and see how you were doing before I left."

"Thank you, honey. The cramps aren't as severe but there's still a little pain. Dr. Myers is keeping me for observation overnight."

"Relax, please, I don't need anything happening to the other sibling that I didn't ask for."

"Sage, don't start that mess." My dad spoke.

They hated my negative energy towards them having another kid. My younger brother was the most spoiled out of the both of us. He got everything he wanted until the day he didn't.

In my opinion, there's no point in having another kid. They're in their forties and they're just trying to fill that void.

"You mean you guys replacing Jalen?"

"We could never replace him. We just want another kid." My mom said.

"Did you just hear yourself?" I scoffed. Silence filled the room as they looked at each other.

"Right; just go ahead, replace me too."

"Sage-" I left the room, going to the lounge.

Grabbing my things, I stuffed them in my bag before sitting the bag down and going into the restroom. I turned the water on, splashing cold water on my face then turned off the faucet.

The door to the lounge sounded as Mer & Alex's voices filled the room. I dried my face and put my hand on the door handle, suddenly stopping..

"This isn't right." Alex spoke.

"You don't think I know that? It's not our place to tell her." Mer shot back.

"So what, we just let Avery run around here pretending everything's okay? I hate that I'm in this. Why did you put me in this?"

"I didn't want to be in this either but Kepner let it slip. I couldn't hold onto this information and not warn someone."

"You warned the wrong person, Mer. You should've told Sage."

"I was not gonna be in the middle of their breakup. Avery said he'll tell her when he's ready. We have to hope that he's ready tomorrow."

I twisted the knob, stepping into sight. They froze when they saw me, not uttering a word. I tilted my head, throwing the tissue away.

"What is Jackson telling me?" I questioned.

They looked at each other, both struggling to come up with words. Alex sighed, blurting out something that shocked me.

"Avery and Kepner had sex... multiple times."

"Alex!" Mer yelled, hitting him.

"And you both knew?"

"I didn't wanna know but Kepner was rambling about her boards and some big mistake. She let it slip. I didn't wanna tell you because it wasn't my place." Mer said.

"Instead, you let me look like a fool."

They sorrowfully looked at me, their eyes filled with pity. I nodded my head, grabbing my bag and leaving.

I drove to a hotel, checking in for the night. Today was one of the worst days of my week..