The Night Shift One-Shots

TCxJordan+Child - I'm coming home - Part 3

3rd Person

"T?" Drew tapped his shoulder.

"Hmm?" TC came too, shaking his head a little and blinking more times than strictly necessary. "Sorry, no, yeah – I did." Drew gave him and exasperated glare. "What! I'm the only one with O-neg blood!" Jordan was giving him 'the look'. She knew something was off, that he'd gone back in his head.

Apparently he had a certain facial expression he did when he was in a different place mentally.

"Oh, and that means you have to give away half your blood volume every now and then does it!" Drew berated, though he was smiling through his rage. "Exactly how many blood transfusions did you have on this tour?"

"Seven," TC muttered, so quietly no-one heard.

"Sorry, what was that?" Drew pressed, still keeping his interrogation somewhat comedic – or so he thought. What he didn't see, was TC crashing in on himself, hearing every last berating he'd ever got from Thad or Jordan playing on repeat in his head. The knot on the back of his head from hitting the desk was throbbing, and every scratch, bruise and scar was burning over his body, reminding him of what he'd endured. A hand, too small to be Drew's, rested on his forearm and worked its way down to hold his hand; Jordan leaned up against his side, her other hand snaked around his back. He tapped her arm three times, discreetly enough that no-one else would notice, but Jordan did.

TC was shaking, Jordan could feel it, Drew could see it, but no-one moved, still expecting an answer. It was too much, the awkwardness, the pressure, the grief, the pain, the-

His thought process stopped. He walked out.

Jordan let his hand go but followed him closely. Three taps meant he needed space. He sat on the bench outside, his head in his hands, shaking hard. Jordan sat next to him but didn't touch him; not yet. He moved suddenly and threw up on the sidewalk. Jordan sighed and rubbed his back, even though he flinched ever so slightly at the touch. He'd done this before, flashback or nightmare, and ended up throwing up.

"I hate this." He groaned through gritted teeth.

"I know you do, you say it every time, T. It's going to be hard for a while, you've only just got back." Jordan tried to soothe, but she knew it would go straight over his head for a while until he realised she was right.

"I'm gonna go home," TC grimaced, "Let Julia get some sleep. I'm sure Niamh will-"

"T, stop." Jordan interrupted. "Stop thinking about everyone else. The next week or so is going to be difficult, and you know it. Why don't you stick around here for a while, not working, but just stay in the break room, I don't like the thought of you being home alone when you're like this." Jordan felt uneasy at the thoughts of what had happened before Niamh came along.

*Insert TC - Trapdoor chapter here*

"Sounds about right, sorry. Should probably talk to Drew too."

"You don't have to do anything you don't want to. What time were you awake this morning?" She asked, noticing how TC was stifling a yawn.

"Afghanistan time or here time?" He questioned, smirking a little at the glare he received. "Half two this morning, here time, but you know that sleep isn't really sleep when we're out there"

"Dammit, T! You've been awake for what, eighteen and a half hours, and who knows how long before that?" Jordan scolded lightly, hugging her husband to her side.

"Yeah, probably. I need to sleep." He sounded a little nervous, almost wary at the prospect. Jordan knew why. Sleep meant nightmares.

Before he'd gone back to Afghanistan, TC had got to the point where he could sleep almost nightmare free, but now he was home, they were back to square one. "Go to sleep in the break room, I'll check in on you whenever I can. If something happens, page me. If I can't leave my patient, I'll send someone straight to you. You don't have to do this alone." Jordan reasoned. TC nodded, and though he was momentarily unsteady on his feet, he allowed Jordan to pull him to his feet and back into the ER.

Now faced with the prospect of sleep, the fact he was tired ran over him like a ten tonne truck. He was barely aware of Jordan half-dragging him through the ER towards the break room. He was barely aware that he had been laid down on one of the couches and a blanket had been thrown over him.

Then he was asleep. Properly asleep, in silent, dark conditions for the first time in nearly fourteen months.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"C'mon, Luke. I know the first is scary, but you've got all of us around you, man!" TC bargained. His troupe's new recruit was a little wary of going out into his first active combat zone. It wasn't uncommon, and they often took a little persuading.

"Like that's supposed to make me feel better." Luke joked, but he took the hand TC offered and pulled himself to his feet, grabbing his pack as he stood up.

-Ten Minutes Skip-

"OK, Luke you go, I've got your six, don't worry." Marty pushed, gently guiding the new recruit into the building. Gunshots exploded around them. Luke went down as the man in front.

TC scouted around for the source of the bullets and quickly shot down three snipers. The small town fell silent once again. The only sounds were Luke's guttural groans are blood poured from his thigh where there were three or four GSW's

"OK, man, We're gonna fix you up. You're gonna be fine." TC reassured him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

TC jumped awake, breathing heavily, still hearing the sound of gunfire echoing in his ears. He curled in on himself, sat upright now, his chin resting on his knees as tears tracked silently down his cheeks. He'd been back less than a day, and was a shaking, crying mess already.

The door opened and a young doctor he didn'trecognise came in.