streets counting backwards

ADELITA: I don't know if you're still in the hospital at this hour but this is your reminder to PLEASE get something to eat! Drink water!

ADELITA: Have a quick break if you need it!! You deserve it!!

ADELITA: No but really, drink water

AXEL: i literally just got out of surgery

AXEL: been in the OR for 6 hours

Axel spent far too much time on his own these days, and he was definitely guilty of self-isolating when things got difficult. He ran, he destroyed relationships, and he withdrew from the world. Axel wanted to be different—he desperately wished to be different—but he was terrible at self-improvement and he wasn’t introspective enough to even give it a shot. All of this is to say that Axel would probably benefit from therapy, but after trying it for a few sessions, he gave up, switched therapists, and repeated the cycle. He never got a chance to actually get into his issues. 

Thankfully, when he did feel like he needed to see someone and needed to feel a connection, he was close to Sheba now, and that was important to him. The whole reason he had come back to Charming was to reconnect with her and their aging mother, and while he may have been a bit sporadic in his visits back home, he was also trying his best to make sure that he remained connected. He knocked on her door with one hand, holding a bottle of liquor in the other, leaving no hand free to smack at the mosquitos that, he swore, were swarming him. 

“Hola, chiquita, soy yo,” he called out through the door. Axel paused. “I have booze.” 

𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐞, adding a bit of whip-cream to the top. ❛  honestly can’t complain. though as of late i’ve been working more shifts. plus i could use the extra money to fix my home. it’s not in the best of shapes considering it’s been vacant for years. but i’m excited about it all.oh, but of course you would know how the long hours fell. anyways, how about you ax ? you feeling okay these days ? ❜ she sat the pie down, sitting across from him. the diner was slow enough for her to take a small break.

axel grinned. “i’m glad to hear you’re committing to fixing that place up. honestly, half the buildings around here look like they should be condemned.” charming was in desperate need of some renovation, but of course, no one wanted to invest in a town that was overrun by bikers. “as okay as i ever do,” he said, turning the fork over in his hand idly. “sleep deprivation has become the norm.” 

Axel knew that he shouldn’t get too close to patients and their families—he had learned that the hard way, when he was a resident, getting too wrapped up and ending up sucked into a spiral of grief and pain that took him weeks to drag himself out of, but this one was different. He had been just a kid—when he was rushed into the ER, that was the first thing that struck Axel. He was young. He was small. 

It reminded him of his time overseas like a shock to the system. Vivid flashbacks had racked his body—suddenly, he wasn’t in the fluorescent lights of Charming General anymore, he was in the beating rays of the sun in the desert, dust swirling up around his face and making him cough, even through the scarf he kept wrapped around his nose and mouth. He was yelling for help through a hail of bullets, he was trying desperately to keep John alive, and he was failing, all over again. 

The whole incident had been enough to shake Axel out of his usual routine, make him care more. It was guilt, perhaps, about the fact that he hadn’t followed up with the family he should have, hadn’t called John’s family, hadn’t apologized to his mother. So, instead, he spent his time apologizing to Sam, and thankfully, she let him do that. Thankfully, he had somewhere to put all of this feeling he couldn’t keep locked in a box. 

He slid the coffee across the table to her, the quiet booth in the back of Hales private enough for them to have conversation without others listening in. Privacy was hard to come by in Charming—Axel took pockets of it as he could get them. “How’ve you been?” he asked. It felt like a useless question, but it was a better start than nothing. 

Charming wasn’t a big city, so Easton found himself doing double duty sometimes. Its why he had gotten his EMT license when he went to the academy. Today was one of those days. He had just left a kid with a broken leg in the ER, when he decided to go find his friend and see if he wanted to have bad cafeteria food for lunch. His partner was eating in the back of the rig already. He found his way around the hospital easy. One of the nurses had told him Dr Garcia was taking a nap in the on all room. With a quick knock he pushed the door wide open. “If you don’t want me to see it, cover it up!” He called to his friend as he entered the room. “I have 20 minutes before we are back in service. Let’s go have some lunch.” He added as he closed the door behind him.

@axelgvrcia

Jordan’s lips pressed into a line. It seemed she would be needing a bigger branch for this one. “Partially wrong,” Jordan corrected, feet planted firmly where she stood. He could play as big and hard as he liked; it wouldn’t phase her. He was neither the first nor the last person that would oppose her, and that was fine. Jordan cleared her throat. “You look tired, Axel. I don’t need a badge to see that.” Judging by the scrubs he donned, Jordan assumed that his day was not over yet. “You can be as angry with me as you like, but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re on the same side.” The irony of their situation alone was enough to incite the return of her smile, this time genuinely amused. “You’re a surgeon,” she motioned at his garb, “and I’m a detective. We’re both public servants. You don’t have to like me, but you should at least realize that I’m not your enemy.”

“Yeah, my dad was Jésus Garcia, the big, bad biker. Congratulations, you know how to look up birth records.” Axel sighed, dropping some of his anger, some of the bitter tone from his voice. It wasn’t going to do him any good to continue to be cruel just because he could, just because he was displeased with how Jordan had handled everything. What’s done was done. “To be honest with you, being grouped together with cops was not exactly what I had in mind when I became a surgeon.” Axel had grown up terrified of the police—and perhaps that was because of his father, but he’d never forget the first time he was stopped and frisked. He was 14. “But, you’re right. You, personally, are not my enemy.” He took a swig of his cold coffee, suppressing a grimace at the taste.

coffee shops are great places to be when you have no place to live; clean bathrooms, (usually) cheap coffee, and the workers won’t bother you until it’s clear you’re loitering, which can be hours depending on how much they actually care about their jobs. he’s been there over an hour without anyone noticing him, and while something like that would usually bother him, christ there’s nothing he hates more than being ignored, he’s fine to sip his cup of water and people-watch. looking at the sleepy older man, actually he’s just plain staring, he finally decides to speak since the man won’t look back. “you good there, man?”

axel blinked a few times before he responded, taking more time to formulate the words than he would have liked to admit. “i just need to wake myself up before i actually drive home, or i’m going to crash.” he paused, realizing that still didn’t make much sense. “i just—i got off an overnight shift, at the hospital across the street. i’ve been in surgery for hours and now my brain feels like it’s numb.” which, he knew wasn’t true, since brains had no nerve endings, but he doubted that this kid wanted an anatomy lesson right then.

·  ·  ·   sloane grabbed a clean mug and poured a black coffee for the gentleman. she could tell that he had felt the same as she had that day but she was sure it was far more stressful in his line of work. she offered him a soft smile and a gentle pat on the back before reaching for the creamer, setting it down beside the coffee for him to decide if he’d need it or not. 

❝ long day doc ?? you look like you could use a slice of pie. interested ??  ❞

axel couldn’t help but grin at the familiar moniker. “is it really that obvious?” he asked, a good-natured smile spreading across his features. “please. maybe the sugar rush will give me enough energy to get me home,” he joked lightly, leaning back in his seat and wrapping both hands around the warm mug. “how have you been, sloane?” this place was one of his regular haunts—and he liked knowing the people who worked there. 

the coffee at home more than sufficed, mona took pride in her coffee maker because her body was practically mostly made up of coffee at that point in her life, it would be a sin if she didn’t have a decent coffee machine at home. still, the ritual of going to a coffee shop and sitting down, enjoying the sounds of people going on about their day. it was kind of funny, seeing him stare off into the distance, looking so tired that it was as if he was going to drop his head onto the table in front of him as if he were in a cartoon. “you know … diving face first into a cup of coffee probably isn’t the best idea,” she teased, chuckling softly as she sipped her coffee, scrunching her nose up as she realised it was a tad bit too hot.

axel blinked a few times, looking up at her before a crooked smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. “yeah, probably not the best,” he said, reaching a hand up to rub his eye before he took another swig of his now-cold coffee and grimaced at the taste. he gestured vaguely towards the barista walking around with drinks, then gestured at his mug. they gave him a thumbs up without a word—he really did spend a lot of time here—and he looked down into his cup ruefully. “i really should have struck while the iron was hot. or, the coffee, at least.” 

Nora groaned at the sight of Axel, when she spilled on her self she was really just hoping he’d be stuck at work for the night so she could go home and change into something less chocolatey. “You helped me get the manager position and that was the end of all the fruit baskets and heart boxes of chocolates.” Nora teased as she wiped off what she could of the milkshake before sitting back at the booth she was holding for the two of them.

Her and Axel’s relationship got off to a rocky start. When she came to the hospital, practically everyone knew when she started dating the guy from the Disciples. She didn’t blame Axel for the way he thought of the gang and of her– it took Nora two years, but she finally figured it out for herself too. Axel was the first one she went to when she knew she had to break things off.

“Oh you’re kidding me.” Nora whined, looking up from her paperwork. “I told her– work relationships are no good. Has Grey’s Anatomy taught nothing of awful work romances?”

“I’m hurt,” Axel replied. “I can’t believe you were using me this whole time.” Axel had approximately 3 whole friends in the world, and two of them were teetering on thin ice—Nora was the one he leaned on the most, while other people tended to lean on him. It was nice, for a change, to have someone asking him how he was doing instead of him always taking care of others. It wasn’t that he minded being a support for people—it was that sometimes, he needed some support as well. 

Charlie was someone Axel had mixed feelings about, and finding out that the one friend he had at work was dating him was certainly not something he had been expecting (nor something he entirely approved of, not that it was his position to give approval over Nora’s life). He had been in a bad place then—worse than he was doing now—and he hadn’t handled things well. Nora had been patient with that, been patient with him. 

“Apparently not,” he said, ordering a coffee for himself as he sat down and leaned back in his seat. “I can’t wait for it to blow up. Things have been boring at the hospital lately.” 

“Guess it’s a good thing I’m no novice to judgement. then.” Everyone had their opinions, some good and bad. Adrian really didn’t pay it too much attention. There were better things to be offended by. “Careful with that hate though—it’s like a bottomless cup.”

“I can assure you, I have plenty to keep filling it,” Axel replied simply. There was nothing that would change his mind on that. He pressed his lips together. “Besides, I don’t really think you’re in a position to be doling out advice.”

“Sugar– oh honey, honey.” Eddie started to sing softly with a grin on his face. “I just want you to start being nice to me is all. You’re being very mean and I’m in very much pain– what if I started to cry?” Eddie traced an invisible tear down his cheek as he tried to make Axel laugh. Whenever things felt too serious, Eddie really tried to lighten the mood between them. As long as he could make Axel laugh, Eddie knew he wasn’t really mad at him.

“When it comes to me, there is no bad side. Sorry, but I figured it out the night I showed up drunk and almost broke all your plates.” Eddie smiled sheepishly as he looked down at his hand, slowly making a fist before opening his hand again. Eddie was childish and made stupid decisions, but he was at least smart with his money– for the most part. He was paying his dad’s bills and he spent another good chunk keeping Axel’s kitchen stocked with medical supplies.

Eddie was quiet as he looked down at Axel, “Okay.” He nodded and spoke softly. “How about I don’t go tomorrow night?” His good hand came up to scratch the back of his neck, “I won’t go tomorrow night– but we should still get dinner and maybe see if there’s a decent game on at Hoopers.”

“Cállate,” Axel admonished, reaching a hand up and poking at Eddie’s forehead with a crooked smirk. Despite how annoying Eddie could be and how worried he could make Axel, Eddie was still his best friend and he still cared deeply for Eddie. It didn’t matter how many gray hairs Eddie gave him—which, Axel was sure, was plenty—he’d always be there to help whenever he was needed. It was a curse. Axel didn’t know when to pull back, when to stop helping and take care of himself.

Perhaps in a contradictory fashion, Axel also had a habit of running away when he felt himself getting too close to people. He ran to L.A. for medical school, he ran to Seattle for residency, and he ran halfway across the world just to avoid the fallout from his father’s death. Eddie, however, had never made him feel like he needed to run. “I needed new plates anyway,” Axel said simply, rummaging around in his first aid kit for some ibuprofen, knocking a few pills into his palm before he offered them to Eddie. 

Axel was still quiet after Eddie spoke. He pursed his lips slightly, wanting to believe that he would wait at least more than one night, until he was fully healed, to go back in the ring, but Axel knew better. He looked away, putting everything back into the first aid kit. “I’m on call tomorrow night,” he said as an excuse. It was true, at least, and he was grateful that he didn’t have to lie.

Eddie knew he caused unwanted trouble and brought into Axel’s life. The way Eddie saw it, Axel made all the bad things go away– pain, loneliness, fear– he felt none of it when he was with Axel. He knew he couldn’t continue to show up bruised and bleeding and expect Axel to drop everything to care for him. Eddie was aware Axel would do exactly that– and he couldn’t continue to let him.

“I think it does.” Eddie scoffed and shrugged his shoulders. “Oh come on, azucar, don’t be so rude. Maybe you should come watch if you’re so worried about me.” He looked up with a smirk, “C’mon, how does tomorrow night sound? We’ll get dinner before the fight.”

He hated when it got silent between them. He hated it because he didn’t know what Axel was thinking. Eddie said everything that was on his mind as soon as it came to him. That’s the way he’d been since he was just a little kid. “Look, the casino is great and all, but it doesn’t put a whole lotta cash in my pocket all the time.” The casino was a front for the Disciples money laundering, Eddie didn’t exactly like that part but it was that way before he inherited the place. The money he was getting went towards his dad’s bills. “I don’t know what else to do.”

Axel was the kind of person who was selfless to a fault sometimes—he’d keep giving and giving until someone told him to stop, and even when they did, he’d just give more pieces of himself. To Eddie, he gave more than just pieces of himself. He gave all of himself, and he didn’t even realize it—Axel had one blind spot, one glaring, obvious gap in his vision, and that gap was Eddie. 

He huffed out a laugh, unable to help himself whenever Eddie was around. “You only call me sugar when you want to be on my good side,” he pointed out. “Because you know that  you are always one slip-up away from getting deep on the bad side,” he teased. 

“You could always ask,” Axel said, finishing wrapping his hand and looking up at Eddie. “You could always ask me for help. You never do until your face is fucked up.” Axel wished he could get in there before Eddie got into these messes, wished that he could keep the blows from bruising his cheeks, wished that he could fix all of these fucking problems. Things would be so much easier if he could just fix things before they were broken. 

“I wouldn’t call it singling you out – but it’s just common.” Adrian admitted. It wasn’t any thing against him or how he practiced. But even Doctors weren’t prone to not fucking up. He wasn’t going to pretend that all of them were only heroes. “I would save your assumptions. They’re not entirely true. But all of us do some pretty stupid shit.” Obviously, not denying what the ohter was insinuating. 

“Hm.” Axel tilted his head, thoughtful for a moment. “I wouldn’t really call them assumptions. I know too much about your little—” He paused. “Posse.” For lack of a better word, at least. Calling them a club seemed a bit ridiculous. And gang was a little too on the nose for Axel’s taste. He tended to be more coy with his language.