Through Sickness And In Health - Flac

Part Six

At 12pm Fletch hauled his suitcase out into the hotel corridor followed by Jac and her suitcase with a sigh. With a click, the door shut behind them for the final time of their stay and they instinctively held hands as they walked away towards the main reception.
"Back to reality." Jac sighed as they entered the lift. "Considering when we arrived on Friday I wanted this weekend to pass by in a flash and go back to living in solitude with Emma, I'm leaving today with very different wishes." Fletch squeezed her hand.
"Me too."

They reached reception and dropped off their room keys, still with conjoined hands.
"Did you enjoy your stay?" The lady stood behind the desk asked. Fletch glanced towards Jac and smiled.
"Yes, I certainly did thank you." He squeezed her hand and off they went towards the car. The receptionist smiled after them, glad to see a happy couple for once rather than the majority she sees who are on the verge of divorce. The Nurse and Surgeon chucked their bags in the boot and got on their way.

About half an hour into their journey Jac took a deep breath and began to speak the thoughts that had been playing on her mind all morning.
"Fletch...we need to talk." He looked over at her in a fleeting glance before turning back to face the road.
"About what?" The panic was evident in his voice.
"How we play this out. What happens now? With us I mean. Are we...you know...a thing?" She stuttered trying to find the right words.
"I hope so." He smiled bashfully. "I would like to be "a thing", very much so Jac. So...will you be my girlfriend Ms Naylor?"
"Of course Mr Fletcher." She grinned which was a rare sight. "But just one thing?"
"Anything for you, my darling girlfriend." He replied teasingly. She raised an eyebrow.
"Okay make that two things after that comment Fletcher. Firstly don't call me cheesy names. And second, would you mind if we kept us a secret at work for a while please?"
"I told you, anything for you." He said and grabbed her hand which was resting on her thigh, gripping the steering wheel in the other.
"It's just that with the others everyone judged me-" She started.
"Jac, you don't need to explain. I don't mind. When you're ready to let people know, I will have never been prouder to be associated with a woman than I will be with you. You're amazing Jac and I can't believe my luck."
"Amazing isn't quite the word I would use but thank you all the same. You're the amazing one here." She lifted their enclasped hands to her lips and kissed his knuckles softly, a delicate and intimate action which would never have been predicted of Jac Naylor.

"Emma will be pleased to know she was right." Jac whispered, hoping Fletch wouldn't hear.
"What do you mean?"He asked. How am I going to explain this? She thought, panic stricken.
"Well uh...that record that went missing," She paused to gauge his reaction.
"From Raf's collection?" He confirmed.
"Yeah. Well I uh...I took it. You needed a distraction and I thought it would help." She explained.
"And it did so thank you, but what has this got to do with Emma?" He asked, confusion written across his face.
"I found it in the bottom of my bag, defaced in crayon." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Emma had written across it 'Mummy heart Fletch.'" Colour filled the surgeons cheeks as she blushed deep crimson. "That's why I bought the replacement. I couldn't give you the original. I'm so sorry Fletch." She was now looking down at her lap in embarrassment, waiting for him to get angry. His laughter filled the car instead and Jac snapped her head up in surprise.
"You should have listened to her. We wouldn't have wasted so much time then." He spoke with a smile, their hands still entwined in Jac's lap.
"I wish I had." She sighed.

The drive was in a comfortable silence until 1.30pm when Fletch broke it.
"Wanna stop here and grab some lunch? I don't know about you but I'm starving seeing as we missed breakfast this morning." He winked as if to hint that something else had happened in their hotel room that morning which caused Jac to slap his arm playfully.
"You make us sound dirty Mr Fletcher."
"Well I had a shower this morning but I'm not so sure about you. There's a bit of a strange smell in here." He joked and received an exaggerated eye roll.
"I had a shower this morning as well thank you very much!" She stated indignantly. "If anyone stinks it's you because boys are smelly." She sounded as if she was doing an imitation of Emma with her last sentence.
"Excuse me! Not all boys are smelly and anyway I'm not a boy, I'm a man!" Jac laughed at his proudness.
"Whatever you say Adrian, whatever you say."
"Ouch." He pretended to look hurt.
"What?" She questioned, not quite getting it.
"You used my first name, that's usually reserved for when I'm in trouble." He explained.
"You love it really." She chuckled.
"I really don't. But there is one thing I do love though..." He said as he pulled into a parking space in the services.
"Don't do it Adrian, don't be so cheesy!" She yelled as he leant towards her. Jac leaned back as far as she could against the window but it wasn't quite far enough. The Nurse captured her lips in his in a short but loving kiss.
"And it's food." He whispered when they pulled apart. She rolled her eyes in disbelief at his stupidity and took her seatbelt off.
"Come on then, let's go and fix your breaking heart." She climbed out and walked away from the car.

A pair of hands grabbing her light left hand pulled her to a stop and she was spun around so fast that she stumbled. She fell until she crashed into his chest, her hands out in front of her met his solid stance first. His warm breath fanned her face as she gulped in surprise.
"I love...you Jac." He whispered. "More than food."