#(lena)

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Synopsis: When Jack finds out you’ve been moved to day shift for the weekend, he’s upset you’ve abandoned him. What he doesn’t expect is to see you hours after you left while he’s on shift. Reader’s best friend’s bachelorette night out, and you end up back in the ER with a member of the bridal party when she slips in the bar and wounds her head, and Jack can’t stop staring at you in your going out outfit ;)))

disclaimer: i know nothing about medicine, and this is wildly and dangerously inaccurate! ❤️

2.5k words

embarrassed to say i listened to this on repeat and (for all of my Rivals RCB and Declan O’Hara dilf enthusiasts) it reminds me of sexy old men okay!

You were sat in the desk chair that now felt like concrete, eyes blearily roving over one of your last charts of the shift, when you saw a hulking figure place their weight on the desk in front of you.

‘Since when did you move to the dark side, sweetheart?’

Jack Abbot. The older man you’d had a crush on since you started as a senior resident at the Pitt months ago.

In your defence, your age gap wasn’t as egregious as what the two of you talked in hushed tones about whatever Robby and Whitaker had going on.

He was in his signature tight black tee, stretched taut across his broad chest and shoulders, showing off his well-trained biceps, skimming across his belly into his baggy camo trousers. You could take the boy out of the army, but you couldn’t take the army out of the boy.

You dragged your eyes from what had become a mere scrawl of type in front of you, squinting as you adjusted to the harsh fluorescent lights of the ER, and greeted Abbot.

You pinched the bridge of your nose. ’Since my idiot best friend decided to get married.’

He gave a knowing chuckle, ‘he a nice guy?’

‘Annoyingly nice.’

‘I must say, I don’t follow what he has to do with you abandoning me.’

‘Its her stupid bachelorette weekend, so I had to take the day shift today so we can go out tonight.’ You smirked, looking up at him properly now, meeting his eyes sparkling with humour and curiosity. ‘And then I have the weekend off.’

Abbot dropped his jaw in false upset, but he’d be lying if he said he wouldn’t miss his favourite senior resident over the next few days.

‘You lucky thing. Where you off to tonight, then?’ He raised a brow and swivelled his head like an owl, following you with his eyes as you stood from your chair and rounded the desk to stand beside him, stopping to stretch.

‘Uhhh, I think that bar downtown that does really cheap cocktails.’ You stood facing him, hip pressed against the back wall of the desk, watching as he shifted his weight away from his prosthetic leg.

His eyes widened with sarcasm as he replied. ‘You sound excited,’ referencing your less than interested tone.

‘I’m not much of a drinker, and honestly I don’t know many of the other girls. There’s three of us who went to school together and a bunch of her work friends, and some of her fiancé’s side, but I haven’t met most of them.’

‘I’m sure you’ll be fine, you’re great at this sort of stuff.’ He placed a warm, calming hand on your shoulder, squeezing to ground you. It made you tingle all over.

‘Yeah,’ you laughed, ‘when I’m talking to an elderly man who fell off a ladder into a rosebush, Jack, not fifteen drunk thirty-somethings.’

Now he was laughing, his head tipped back revealing the thick, freckled column of his throat. You were enchanted watching his Adam’s apple bob back and forth.

‘Hey, it’ll be fun not to just be drinking beers in the park after a shift with me and Ellis.’

‘I love drinking in the park with you and Ellis, this is a different ballpark.’

‘Since when were you such a Debbie downer? Go on, get out of here and have some fun, kid!’ He mimed brushing you away, pushing you out of the door.

You laughed, ‘Okay, okay, but I look forward to being back on the night shift!’ Shouting as you exited through the double doors into the setting July sun, getting a last glimpse of Jack’s salute and tight smile.

Two hours later you had had far too much to drink, maybe more than you’d ever drank. But you had a cute outfit on, and had actually done your hair and makeup, rather than raking it into a ponytail and giving a half-assed attempt at concealing your dark circles, only to destroy your work when you fought your scrubs on over your head. For once, you were wearing heels, a mini skirt, and a black cami, with your hair cascading over your shoulders, a glossy lip and sparkly eye to make it feel done-up enough to celebrate a bachelorette.

You were, truthfully, having a fantastic time. All the girls were super friendly, and seemed fascinated with your job. They asked about your love life, where you lived, where you got your top, what you were drinking, if you wanted to take selfies in the bathroom, and why you hadn’t met before. It restored your faith in your life outside of the Pitt, and that the upcoming wedding events weren’t something to be dreaded. After all, you were celebrating your best friend. The only thing that made you feel bad was the spinning in your head, both from copious drinking and severe lack of sleep from switching to the dayshift. You needed it so the next two days of beach activities and day drinking could be accounted for, but god you wished you’d had a nap.

Unfortunately, you got your wish, when the other girl you’d gone to high school with slipped on a spilled drink and hit her head on the bartop. You’d never been more sober in your life, kicking into action and controlling the situation. Demanding people passed you wet towels and spare pieces of clothing so her hair didn’t mat with blood, sooner than you realised you were in the ambulance on the way back to the Pitt, a mere four hours after you’d left.

As the ambulance pulled into the bay and you hopped out, the double doors parted for you, and helping to push the gurney, and shouted for Jack.

He was at your side immediately, taking in your debrief, and what you thought the course of action should be, but he was only half listening.

He’d never seen you like this before. Sure, you’d been on staff nights out before, like for Javadi’s 21st, but never had he seen you so dressed up. If he was in public, staring at you with his mouth agape, someone would probably have socked him in the jaw for being a creep. He realised he’d never seen such beautiful legs before, and in such high heels? Your skin looked almost glossy, shimmering in the harsh lighting as you walked. Your chest, shoulders and arms definitely shimmered, covered in a misting of body glitter and the way your hair obscured your eyes as you looked down to check on your friend made him want to tuck it behind your ears and kiss you.

Jack shook himself out of his trance and forced you to sit in the comfy chair beside your friend’s bed, only looking at you once in a while as he stitched up the gash in your friend’s head. He figured out her name was Sarah, and he could see the two of you being peas in a pod. He yearned to hear her stories of you in high school, and see you in a different context to the ER, with the people you held closest.

Eventually, with the alcohol, adrenaline, and pain meds being pumped through her system, Sarah fell asleep. You let go of her hand and gently opened and closed the curtain, looking for Jack who was long gone at this point, knowing you could take care of her yourself.

However, Shen found you first. As you walked up to the desk to ask Lena where Jack was, Shen gave a low whistle from behind you.

You spun slowly on your impressive heels, giving him a sly and embarrassed smirk, saying nothing as he came to join you at the desk.

‘I bet Abbot nearly fell over when he saw you.’ Shen’s shit-eating grin did not fill you with confidence.

‘What? Why?’

Lena, always one for a commotion, chimed in, making the three of you burst out in laughter, slicing the quiet of the late-night ER in half. ‘Because you look sexy as hell, girl.’

You give a coy look to both of them. ‘Thanks, guys. I feel like shit.’

They give a sympathetic, tight-pressed smile in return, understanding exactly what you meant. Almost everyone, especially the nightshift lot, had dealt with dragging their loved one through the doors during their time off due to drunken falls or exhausted knocks on the head. It was, after all, a revolving door.

Lena’s sympathetic smile broke into a beaming one, cracked across her face like sunlight through the curtains which she tried, failed, to suppress as she saw Jack emerge from a room directly across from her, clock you stood at the desk in your beautiful outfit, and scrub a calloused hand over his face.

You had your ass sticking out, leaning on your elbows across from Lena, displaying your long legs almost up to the crease where hamstring met buttcheek, mini skirt shifting upwards. Usually you’d be insecure about being so sober and so naked, but the people you worked with had seen you covered in every single bodily fluid multiple times, and Lena had even bathed you when you came down with food poisoning on shift and had the cold sweats. You had nothing to hide.

As you and Shen noticed her eyeline, you both followed it, and Jack was there, swaggering over to you, almost stopped in his tracks as you gave a beaming smile over your shoulder, flicking your hair back.

‘Just the man I was looking for!’ You trotted over to Jack, making sure he didn’t need to walk for further than he had to, and changed his path towards Sarah’s room.

Once you made it to her room, you flopped down on the chair, letting out a huge sigh. Jack stood in front of you, arms crossed over his chest. ‘You okay, sweetheart?’

He was looking down at you with such earnestness, another tight smile directed your way, and at his genuine care for you, you snuck a look at Sarah making sure she was still out cold and jumped out of your seat into his arms.

Against his chest you sobbed, and as he realised what was happening, he moved his arms around you, one around your waist and the other stroking your hair gently. He cooed in your ear, and recognised the classic symptoms of adrenaline wearing off. All of the emotions you’d really been feeling had been pushed down by having to jump into action, and when you were finally not needed, you cracked.

The warm bulk of Jack’s embrace calmed you, and, still in his grip, you leaned back and chuckled, rubbing one hand underneath your eyes to dry your tears, and looked up at Jack.

‘I got glitter on your shirt.’ You say, swatting away the sparkly particles on his t-shirt.

‘It doesn’t matter.’ His lack of matching your jokey post-cry embarrassment caught you off guard, forcing you to meet his eyes. ’As long as you’re okay.’ He moved his hand from the back of your head to sweep some glitter from your cheek that had cascaded down with the flood of tears, and shifted some hair behind your ear. He looked at your lips, once, twice, almost thrice, but you beat him to it, craning your head up less than you would ever have to, your heels bridging the gap, and pressed your lips to his.

You felt him smile, as you were too scared to move, and he pecked you back, feeling his stubble against your face, then moving away as he stroked your hair again.

‘You know how long I been waiting to do that, pretty girl? Can’t believe you beat me to it.’

‘Seriously? I’ve had a crush on you since the day I got here!’

The two of you laughed again, and jack let the rough pad of his thumb rove across your face, feeling your damp cheeks and still-glossy lips, a feeling he’d yearned for for ages, wondering how soft your skin would feel in his touch, your face in his hands.

You were pleased he hadn’t deepened the kiss, not wanting anything to escalate on such a terrible night as tonight, wanting to discuss your feelings more. But Sarah broke the sweet, intimate moment of you two looking deeply at each other without insecurity, as she woke from her stupor.

‘Is that your hot boss you keep telling us about?’

Your jaw dropped as you went bright red, words failing you, wanting the ground to swallow you up. Pretending you simply did not exist, you squeezed your eyes shut, feeling heat continue to flood your face. Sarah’s eyes were merely cracked open, and her voice was rough and ragged; you felt Jack jolt next to you, not expecting her to speak.

‘He’s hotter than you said.’

All you could do was groan.

Jack moved to her bedside, unperturbed as ever, and took some vitals as you sat down in the chair and used a piece of dampened tissue to clean your face. He decided she needed some more pain meds and more hydration, and told her to get some more sleep as he left to get a nurse for the order. At his absence, you sat on the side of Sarah’s bed, covering your eyes and laughing self-deprecatingly at her catching you in the act, then made sure she was okay and told her she was in good hands, soothing her off to sleep.

When Jack returned, he cleared his throat quietly as to not scare you, and watched as you hypnotically palmed across Sarah’s sweaty forehead. She only had a surface wound, but the combination of the amount of blood in the bar and alcohol you’d consumed made you prepare for the worst.

He sat down in the chair you’d occupied all night and shimmied it closer to where you were sitting on her bed. Your feet were dangling off the side, and he couldn’t watch you wear what looked like a medieval torture device for much longer, despite how good you looked in them.

‘I don’t know how you’re still wearing those things,’ he croaked in a hushed voice, nodding to your shoes at your furrowed brows.

‘Oh, I didn’t really think about it.’

‘C’mere.’ He held a hand out, and you reluctantly placed your feet in his lap, relaxing as he unbuckled each shoe with great care and placed them beside his own shoes.

‘Better?’

‘Much.’

The two of you fell into comfortable silence, just the beeping of the monitor beside Sarah and the infrequent commotion outside the curtain as background noise.

reader going into labor while she’s working during her 12 hour shift and not telling John cause he’d make her pack up and leave, and she wants to finish her shift so she makes Lena swear to not tell him

an: thank you!! it was so fun to write! if you want just more pregnant! reader x john (or any pitt cast) hcs lemme know. i hope this is alright <3

OOPS? J. Shen

You had told John you’d be fine. Why wouldn’t you be? Your last shift before maternity leave was supposed to go smoothly. The huge bump you carried around acting as a shield to usually rude patients. The nurses helping you around when your feet swelled. Everything was going fine. The odd contractions every now and then, but as you neared your due date that was expected.

That was until a patient had pointed out a liquid running down your leg. Causing your face to burn, wondering if you’d fucking wet yourself, or something. Before standing up, wobbling on your feet as you look down. That’s not pee. Eyes widening as you quickly excused yourself, going to the one person you trusted nearly as much as John, Lena.

As charge nurse for night shift, you trusted her like she was your mother. In some ways, she was. When she saw your stained clothes, Lena grinned. Congratulating you. To which you shook your head, having timed your contractions, you knew the baby was no where close to coming out now. Refusing to be one of those women stuck in a hospital room for hours, waiting.

Instead, you asked her to keep it quiet. To help you change. And to, most importantly, keep this information from John. To which she had raised an eyebrow, “Honey” she had muttered, shaking her head. But Lena knew better than to argue with a pregnant lady.

For the next hour, your soul mission was to ignore John. Which was partially difficult due to:

A) The fact that he was, well, your husband. Who ever since finding out you were pregnant, couldn’t keep his hands off of you and bump. Even before the bump was there. All grins as he excitedly spoke to your future bundle of joy. Making sure you and baby were always okay.

B) Contractions fucking hurt. You had to grip the walls, remove yourself from surgery and hide in the bathroom. Counting the time between.

But as the minutes begin to decline, you had begun to tell yourself it was all false. A trick of the mind. Perhaps if John knew, he would help. But if John knew, he’d make you stop working. And for crying out loud you could still work. Even if every step you took pained you.

It was perhaps your tenth grimace of the last half an hour that told John something was wrong. Before that he had wondered if he had put on that stupid cologne that you had hated during this pregnancy. But the moment he saw your light knuckles, John knew.

He noticed everything about you. From your coffee order to how you’d bite your lip when a waiter mispronounced your name. Everything in between. It’s what originally had scored him a date with you, picking up on those clues you so desperately had tried to hide. Now, he was picking up on these clues once more. Just, this time, getting ready to meet the life the two of you had created.

Walking over to your side, one had around your waist, allowing you to lean into him. All grins, because he loved your stubborn ass. Even if you’d tried to hide this from him. Because it was just so perfectly you.

THE LAST KINGDOM (2015–2020)