I've got you

Us

"How dare you speak to him like that"
Fletch and Abigail Tate turned at the same time to find Jac standing there with fury in her eyes.
"I beg your pardon, sorry who are you?"
Jac raised her eyebrow, fixed her with a Naylor death stare " I am Jac Naylor, this is my ward and you will not speak to any member of staff like that. I know who you are Ms Tate"
"With respect Ms Naylor I was discussing Mr Fletcher's ability to manage this job and his personal life"
"Mr Fletcher is the best director of nursing this hospital has ever had"
"That's as may be Ms Naylor but right now he's struggling to fulfil his obligations and my wards are short staffed. He is trying to step in and plug the gaps but his other responsibilities apparently get in the way"
"I very much doubt that he is not fulfilling his obligations Ms Tate. Do you have the slightest appreciation what this hospital and Mr Fletcher in particular went through after the shooting? At no point during that whole time was Mr Fletcher anything other than professional and caring for his staff."
"I understand that you've all been through a lot but my concern is what's happening now"
"I'm back now you can rest assured that any issues will be resolved. I'm sure you have other people to go and annoy with ill informed complaints"
Abigail Tate turned on her heel stating " I will be keeping a close eye on this Mr Fletcher"
Throughout the whole exchange Fletch was in stunned silence. He and Jac now just stared at each other. Fletch cleared his throat "You're back" he stated the obvious
"Yes" she paused "My office Mr Fletcher"
They entered the once familiar room. Jac eyed the mess on what was once Mo's desk and the pink fluffy slippers under the chair
"You're fucking joking" Jac muttered under breath. Tate was using this office
She turned to Fletch
"I didn't know when you were coming back"
"I needed extra time to heal"
"I missed you"
Jac"s heart flipped God I've missed you too she thought
"Looks like I came back just in time. What's going on Fletch?" She said neatly avoiding having to acknowledge that he'd said he missed her.
Fletch looked broken as he sat on the sofa. Head in his hands
"She's right Jac. I'm juggling too many things. Home life, trying to run the ward, trying to solve staff shortages. Maybe it's not worth it. That's what Mikey said"
Jac sat next to him and stroked his back taking them both by surprise
"Let me help you"
"I don't see how Jac" she kept stroking his back. Jac had never shown him this much affection
"Well"she said " you don't have to worry about running the ward now I'm back. I can take you off the theatre rota a couple of times a week to give you more admin time" she paused wondering whether to carry on " I could help with child care if you wanted"
"I can't ask you to do that"
"You didn't ask, I offered. Fletch it's about time somebody supported you for a change"
He laughed slightly " and that's you is it?"
"If you'll let me" she said her voice softer
He finally looked up at her. " I can't"
"Why not?" Jac removed her hand from his back
He sighed "you know why. Before you left there was something there between us"
"I ..."
"Don't deny it, the time for playing games is long gone. If I let you help with the kids I'm never going to be able to move away from those feelings" he gave a humourless laugh " the feelings that were so scary or perhaps repulsive to you that you chose to run instead of talking about them"
"I wasn't going to deny it Fletch. I missed you too. You're right I was scared of the feelings I had for you, have for you. I'm certainly not repulsed by them"
"What are you saying Jac?" A small glimmer of hope glowed within him
"I'm saying we've got a lot to discuss but first we need to talk about us" her heart was beating out of her chest. Admitting stuff like this was so far out of her comfort zone she couldn't even see it anymore
"Us?" He questioned
"Us" she confirmed
Fletch took the hand that had been stroking his back and interlocked their fingers together. He then leant in and kissed her forehead like he had before she left. Jac closed her eyes, savouring the gentle gesture.
"I think I love you Jac" he was risking everything by admitting this but it he couldn't hold it in a minute longer. He examined her face carefully, searching for her reaction. Jac's face reddened " I feel the same" she finally replied
Had he heard her right. She loved him too? He looked at her suspiciously, she smiled back at him and laughed out loud to diffuse the tension. Soon they were both laughing with tears rolling down their cheeks and then before they knew it they were kissing trying to convey all the feelings that had grown over the months
Finally they broke away.
"What happened to you Jac" he said, their foreheads resting together
"I had a lot of time to think when i was off. As I got physically better I began to resolve to hold onto things that were important to me. If the deaths of jasmine and raf have shown us anything it's that life's too short to deny your true feelings for someone, even if they reject you at least you'd tried"
"Wow" he hugged her
"Right now let's come up with plan of action to keep Lady Tate happy"