Flac ~ If he had gone with her

Under the stars

Fletch raced over to Jac's side and was nearly in tears when he saw her laying lifeless in the bed asleep. He stood and clutched at her limp hand as he watched her chest rise and fall in a rhythmic pattern as she breathed. The concerned Nurse bent down to kiss Jac's head softly. When he rose again he turned around to see Petrenko stood a few feet away with Becky, the physiotherapist in a wheelchair.
"Oh so that's what she meant when she said you were spoken for then." Becky muttered with a smile and a raised eyebrow. Fletch gave her a quizzical glance but turned his concern back to Jac.

Frieda pushed Becky to a bed which was a few metres away from Jac's.
"Come on Darling, wake up for me. Please." His pulled her pale hand up to his lips and kissed the knuckles. Once Becky was comfortable in her bed, Frieda strode over towards Fletch who had now sat in the chair beside the bed, his hand still intertwined.
"So Fletcher. Ms Naylor was found collapsed in her office about two hours earlier. We then took her into theatre and found the source of the problem." She took a pause to give Fletch a chance to take everything in. "We found that her wound in her side had become infected and her body was too tired to fight it. It took us about an hour to sort that out and to patch her up. Jac will need to keep a dressing on it for at least 8 weeks or longer and will probably be staying in hospital for a couple of days just to check she's okay other than that. She will need lots of rest when she wakes up." Frieda explained and picked up her notes and flicked through the folder. She put them back down and looked back up at Fletch. "She will be fine, just give her time. Call me if she wakes up." Fletch nodded solemnly and she walked away to see to another patient.

"Frieda!" Fletch called her back over. "Can you find someone to cover me for today please."
"Of course, I've already done it." She replied casually. "You can stay as long as you like." And off she went back to work. Fletch sat at Jac's side for the rest of the day but started to get sleepy at around 1 am. However he was suddenly jolted wide awake from Jac's hand squeezing his. His head snapped up and he saw her eyes flutter open.
"Hey you." Fletch said quietly. A small sleepy smile appeared on her lips at that sight of him.

Jac turned her head to find Sasha and Essie walking towards the end of her bed. Her smiled reappeared, only a little less sweet this time. Fletch followed her gaze and greeted them.
"Hi Sacha, Essie."
"Fletch," Sasha nodded towards him and continued, "How is she?"
"I'm fine thank you. I can still speak and hear you know." She said in her usual grumpy tone which up until recently had mainly been reserved for Fletch. He smirked, glad to see that she was still her usual self.

"So," Sasha glanced pointedly down at their intertwined hands sat beside her on the bed. He took a sharp breath and waved his hands around a little, trying to find the right words.
"Yes, we are. You don't need to ask." Fletch said in a defeated tone.
"Aw that's lovely." Essie cooed, reminding the three of them that she was still stood there.
"You better look after her Fletcher. You're a very lucky man." He patted the other mans shoulder and turned back to Essie. "Right come on then Missy, let's leave them be, I'm sure Jac's exhausted. See you tomorrow." They said their goodbyes and left, leaving Jac and Fletch in silence once again.

"We might as well shout it out from the roof top at this rate." Jac laughed and rolled her eyes playfully.
"Well why don't we, eh? Come on let's go up there now, I'll take you up there in a wheelchair yeah?" He asked half serious half joking.
"Go on then, better than being stuck here." They completely forgot that it was around one in the morning and made their way up to the rooftop. Fletch wheeled her into the middle of the flat roof and put the brakes on.
"Well? Have you got something you want to shout?" He smirked proudly.
"You go first." She said, a bit embarrassed that they were actually going to do it.
"Okay," He took a deep breath and bellowed up into the sky, "I love you Jac Naylor!" He tilted his head back down to see her laughing away at him and he bent down and pulled her into a kiss. When he pulled away he whispered, "What are you laughing at Ms Naylor? It's the truth and I don't care who knows it." He pressed his forehead to hers and their noses brushed together gently. She wished they could stay like that, under the stars forever.
"I love you too, Mr Adrian Fletcher." She whispered back.