10×15
Aurora was sitting outside of the hospital, out of the hospital's kitchen. The place the new residents liked to hide out. And she was hiding. She was hiding from Jackson because she knew that one look from him would make her break her promise. And she had promised to stay away from him until they could find a way out of the new policy. She was not willing to put hers or his career in danger. Jo had gotten suspended from peds and Alex was out of surgery for three days. So she was playing it safe, by staying as far away from him as possible. They were taking a break.
"You okay?" Jo walked outside and handed her a cup of coffee. She noticed the distant look on her face and she was not to seeing Aurora like that.
"Yeah, I'm just in a continuous fight with myself about avoiding Jackson. And I keep seeing him everywhere because he's in around the ER today." Aurora explained and took a sip from her coffee, letting the warmth fill her in.
"You guys are really over?" Jo asked her and sat down next to her.
"Not forever, I hope. We're taking a break, because I am mad at him. When he found out about this he called me and he was like let's take a small break until this quiets down. It was like he didn't give me a chance to react. And the next day he was really sorry, but I told him that he can't talk to me until he finds a way we can be... legal." Aurora shared her story with Jo, feeling nice that she had made other friends around the hospital, apart from Derek. "I heard you got busted."
"Yep. I have to miss out on my education so they can keep me on a separate floor from Alex." Jo complained, feeling like everyone was being unfair to her. The case was a little bit complicated.
"Sorry, Jo." They fell into comfortable silence. Until a crying baby was heard. It was right next to them at the inside of a box.
Aurora and Jo shared a look before running inside to get the baby the help it needed.
"It was right outside." Aurora told Arizona. They had taken the baby at her to examine it and get some help about what to do next. Aurora was holding the baby in her arms trying to calm its cries out. But the baby was scared and alone.
Arizona took it in her arms to examine it and she noticed a scar in the middle of its chest. "What do we got here? You've had some surgeries before. Okay let's get him into the PICU." Arizona laid the baby down.
"Hey, little one, you're going to be fine." Aurora talked softly to the baby that was looking around trying to find anything familiar, but there was nothing. Aurora was really used to working with babies and kids, that what she was doing in Peru. Helping kids that had no one. "I'll get a peds gurney."
Aurora left the room and ran to get a gurney and as she was walking back she was so into getting there as fast as possible to help the baby that she didn't see Arizona walking right outside and she hit her with the gurney making her fall on the floor. "Oh my god. I am so sorry." Aurora exclaimed. "Are you okay?" She bend down on her level. "I'm so sorry, I didn't see you!"
"I think you broke my leg." Arizona replied and Aurora looked horrified at Arizona's prosthetic sticking out at a weird angle. "It's all right. I have another one in my car."
"I'm going to get it. I'm really sorry Arizona."
×××
"I broke Arizona's leg. Oh my god, what's wrong with me?"
After Aurora helped Arizona by getting her other prosthetic, she went to Derek's new office to ramble about it.
"What?" Derek looked up to her from his computer.
"I broke Arizona's leg. I hit her with a gurney. Tell me what's wrong with me? People should stay away from me today." She commented and leaned on a pile of boxes that was around Derek's office, making the top of it falling down and papers covering the floor. "My God." She groaned and started picking everything up.
"I'm just keep wondering why Mark chose to name you after a princess when you're not full of grace or class." Derek laughed at her.
"You're mean" she pouted and placed the pile of papers on his desk. "You can clean the rest of it yourself."
×××
Aurora was waiting for the elevator to arrive so she could go back to the ER where she was originally working at that day. She only hoped that she wasn't going to cause anyone else trouble, because of her clumsiness.
The little ding warmed her that the elevator had just arrived and as she took a step forward, she froze for a quick second when she saw Jackson in there. Jackson couldn't help but smile when she saw her. But she walked passed him in the elevator and stood in the far corner away from him.
Jackson sighed and tried to find anything that would start a conversation with her. He was still working on finding a way for them to be together without being scared about anyone around the hospital seeing them. "Did I hear you found a baby?" He turned his head to her direction but the rest of his body was still facing forward.
"Yeah. In a box, abandoned."
"Oh, is it alright?" He asked her.
"I don't know. I imagine it's pretty traumatised, having been suddenly left behind, thrown aside." Her voice giving away that she was still bitter over what he had told her.
"Ari..." He watched as the rest of the people inside of the elevator walked outside and they were finally alone. "I didn't leave you behind." He turned to look at her, standing exactly in front of her.
"You gave up way too easily." She replied back. "So I am allowed to be bitter about it, okay?"
"I said I am sorry. I am trying to find a way out of it, I am really trying." He defended himself.
"And I told you that until you find it, to not talk to me. So get out of my way." She stood up straight, trying to make him understand that she meant what she was saying.
"Fine." He took a step on the left letting her pass by, but not before grabbing her hand and twirling her around, making her body collide against him. "Just please remember that I love you."
Aurora didn't say anything back, she only stared at him and wished that he'd find a way out of it sooner because it was getting really hard for her to stay away from him.
×××
An incoming trauma had just arrived and Aurora ran outside to the paramedics. "46-year-old male, complaints of tightness in chest, possibly heart related, probably enchilada-related. Pulse in the 70s, B.P. 170/110." Nicole informed her.
"Trauma two." Aurora headed that way as she tried to update her tablet for the incoming patient.
"You do any more bowling for doctors today?" Nicole joked.
"What? You heard?" Aurora asked as she kept pushing the gurney.
"Oh, it's all over the radio. People might start asking you to knock out their exs." Nicole chuckled before leaving.
"Oh, my god." She groaned and watched as Nicole was still laughing about it, so she didn't see Jackson passing by her and she knocked him over with the gurney.
"Oh" he moaned in surprise and fell on the ground.
"Oh, my god." She repeated again as Jackson was holding his knee in pain.
"I didn't know you were that bitter." He commented as Aurora ran down on his side. Dr Webber came next and they helped getting Jackson in an empty bed at the ER.
"I'm so sorry." Aurora kept on apologising again and again as they were getting him for an examination.
"I'm fine, okay?" Jackson pushed their hands away and made his way to the bed. "Was Robbins your warm up?" He commented and even though he was in pain he was only joking. He knew that she didn't do on purpose. Sure, she was mad at him, but that was Aurora. She didn't run people over with gurneys because she was mad.
"Sloan, I'm about to take his pants off. Go be someplace where you won't be a danger to others." Dr Webber ordered her.
"No" she argued. "I mean, sir, I feel really bad about it so maybe I can take his pants off." She mentally face palmed herself. Jackson tried to hold in his laughter. "I mean, examine his leg."
"Sloan, you're aware that relationships between-"
"Yes, of course I know Dr Webber. I am a doctor and that's all that is happening right here. I swear." She interrupted him not wanting to hear again how it was forbidden to be with Jackson. She had enough of that drama for a lifetime.
"I'll come back." Webber warned her and felt closing the curtains behind him.
"Jackson, I am so sorry. I didn't do this in purpose, I didn't see you, I swear." She apologised again and walked closer to him. Jackson put his hands on her waist bringing him closer to her. "Someone could walk in. You heard Webber."
"I don't care." He murmured and tilted his head closer to hers. "I miss you and I want to hold you and kiss you and I want to talk to you until the dawn comes. You know that dawn is now my favourite time of the day?"
Their foreheads were touching and Aurora closed her eyes enjoying every second of it. He knew exactly what to say that could melt her heart, so much that she couldn't stay away from him. "Jackson" she mumbled, their lips almost touching.
"Hmm."
"Take off your pants." Her voice was still quiet. "So I can examine you." She pulled back and Jackson sighed in disappointment.
×××
Jo and Aurora were in the gallery watching a surgery on a kid that Jo was previously on the case. At least before she got kicked out of the peds floor. "That should be you down there." Aurora told her.
"Who cares? I'm doing an organ recovery. Screw peds. I'll basically be on general, cardiothoracic, ortho, plastics, and pulmonary in one operation." Jo said excitedly.
"Wow. I've got to go up to H.R. to fill out an accident report." Aurora's day wasn't going as she wanted. She only hoped that she could get into some cool case, get few more OR hours. But all she did was knock people over with gurneys.
"Oh, for hitting Robbins with a gurney?"
"No, for hitting Jackson with a gurney." Aurora kept her face straight ahead, not wanting to see Jo's shock expression.
"Does that happen where you're mad at someone? Because I don't want to ever have you been mad at me." Jo chuckled.
"I am not mad at him. Not anymore. Hitting him with the gurney made me feel better." She joked. "I just want us to work everything out and let this stupid policy behind us and not let any other kind of drama get in our way. Is this too much to ask?"
×××
Aurora was in an office at the HR floor, filling in the documents for the accident when the woman walked back in the office with Jackson. "You can sit here." She told him and Aurora looked over her shoulder. "Dr Sloan is filling out an accident report, as well. You two mind sharing?"
Jackson raised his eyebrows at Aurora, challenging her to reply at the older woman's question.
"Sounds good."
Jackson sat down at the chair next to hers and started filling out the paperwork. Aurora watched him, waiting for him to say anything, but he didn't. Instead he had a big smile on his face and she had no idea why.
"How's your knee?" She asked him.
"I'm fine." He said and the smile on his face didn't go away. It only got bigger as he looked at her.
"What's going on?" Aurora asked completely freaked out by his behaviour. "Why are you smiling like that?"
"I just heard this hilarious joke earlier." He looked back down and continued writing. "I'm still thinking about it. You wanna hear it?" Aurora only shrugged, not sure how to truly react. "Okay." Jackson said and started saying his joke. "Knock knock."
"Seriously?" Aurora rolled her eyes, but went along with it. "Who's there?"
"Luke." Jackson gave away his next line.
"Luke who?" She crossed her arms on her chest but still smiled at how ridiculous the situation was.
"Luke who found a way for us to be legally together." He handed her a piece of paper and Aurora quickly took it, completely ignoring how bad his joke was. "I just heard how corny that was." Jackson laughed at himself as Aurora was going through the paper he had given her.
It was a love contract. "Declaration of a relationship?"
"If you sign this and I sign this, it clears everybody from any claims of favouritism or sexual harassment. The H.R. said that if we both sign this, it makes the whole thing go away." He explained to her as he moved his chair closer to hers. "Meredith and I found this. She's now telling this to Karev, so they can also be okay with Wilson."
"She's not going to sign this. I mean, she freaked out once when he asked her to marry him and now this? She's not ready."
"Yeah, I don't care. Will you sign this?" Jackson asked her completely ignoring her comment about Jo.
"That's really stupid." Aurora comment. "I mean, it's probably more stupid than the way you chose to tell me." She tried to remain serious, but she couldn't contain her laughter. "A knock knock joke? I mean, who the hell are you?" She laughed harder.
"I'm no one without you." He said melodramatically, making Aurora chuckle.
"Okay, I brought this to myself."
"Will you please sign this?" He repeated the question, already losing his mind that she hadn't said anything. They had been a week apart and that was enough for him for a lifetime.
"I don't know, do we have to exchange rings too?" She asked feeling like this paper was making things as official as a marriage would.
"Not yet." He gave her a sweet smile. Basically telling her that he already imagined marrying her.
"Hmm. I'll think about it." She played it like she didn't care. "Maybe you could come over later help me understand why this is important?" She suggested and got off her seat. "Maybe you'll have to take off your pants for a different reason this time." She whispered in his ear and Aurora left the room, making Jackson stare at her as she walked away.
×××
Aurora had prepared a very romantic setting at her apartment. Candles were the only light that came from the room and there was wine and a plate of different types of cheese. She knew that Jackson was into that kind of stuff. He could be way more romantic than she was. And that's exactly how he ended up surprising her instead. Even though she thought that she was in charge of the way their evening would be like.
Jackson only hoped that he had a camera in his hands to capture her reaction when she opened the door and saw him holding a small puppy in his hands. "Aw, what?" She exclaimed and started from Jackson to the puppy over and over again.
"Can we come in?" He smiled at her and she opened the door wider letting Jackson walk inside. She closed the door behind her and followed him in the living room.
"Who is that? Who are you little guy?" She baby talked to the puppy and stole it from Jackson's arms as they sat down at the couch. "Do you have a name?"
"I was supposed to give this little guy to you at your birthday, but since I kind of messed up. Surprise?" He petted the little dog behind its ear. "I got him few days ago from the animal shelter and he doesn't have a name. I have a few suggestions if you want to hear them."
"You got me a puppy?" Her eyes opening wide at the realisation that she had the best boyfriend and now she also had a puppy. The little puppy snuggle in her arms and closed his eyes feeling comfortable. "Did you hear that?" Aurora whispered. "That was every little piece of my heart coming back to its place." She looked at the dog in her arms.
"You're so adorable. God." Jackson chuckled and played with her hair. "I'm sorry, truly."
"I know. You can stop saying it." She looked up at him. Her eyes warming him up. "I'm going to name him Jax."
"Jax?"
"Yeah. Because I love you so much. Plus I'll always think of you every time I look at him, anyway." She said.
"I love you too." He pecked her lips and before the little peck could turn into a full kiss, Aurora pulled back.
"I need to grab a blanket and put Jax to sleep. And then I'll have sex with you. Even though it pains me to leave him alone." She brought the puppy closer to her face, rubbing her nose on his little head.
"You're so forward sometimes." Jackson commented and helped her make the corner of the couch comfortable for Jax to lie to. "See? He doesn't matter being alone for a while. He's sleeping." Jackson told Aurora, who was staring down at the puppy, not able to leave him alone. "Now can I please show you how much I missed you?" Jackson started kissing her neck and let his hands roam around her body.
"What if he needs something? What if he doesn't feel comfortable in the new space?" Aurora continued asking as Jackson walked her towards the bedroom.
"He'll bark." Jackson only said and easily lifted her up, making her wrap her legs around his waist.
"Wait, your leg." Aurora tried to stop him, but his need to be with her was bigger than any pain he was feeling at his leg.
"I don't feel anything." He said against her ear and placed her on the bed, climbing on top of her.
"Are you sure? Because I had some ideas about making it up to you." She raised her eyebrows at him.
"Yeah. Tonight is all about you." He kissed her and true to his words, that night was indeed all about her.