After all this time...A FLAC story

Chapter 7

The next few days passed quickly. The Jac an Fletch spent on the ward flew by. At home they had quickly settled into a routine, getting home, eating a meal together and relaxing in the living room before they tried to sleep. Together they had decided to take it in turns to cook and to clean up after to make sure it was fair. They had made a conscious choice not to watch television. They were living the reality of Covid-19, they did not need constant news reminders about it. Fletch had logged Jac's TV into his Netflix account and they had picked a series to watch to together. The first evening they did this, Jac was pleasantly surprised by Fletch's programme suggestions. His suggestions would have been what she would have picked herself. She never gave him the satisfaction of telling him that though. Jac was relieved at how easy it was for them to be together in her house even though it had only been a few days, she was enjoying his company more than she would admit.

Jac laid in bed after 5 long shifts, desperately trying to drift to sleep. The lack of control she had of her ward right now laid heavy on her heart. As head of CT she liked complete control of Darwin. She liked to be the one with the answers, with treatment plans, she liked to be the one to solve the problem. Covid was robbing her of this level of control. Work was normally her place of solitude; however she had found these last few days, that even without Emma there, home was becoming the place she looked forward to being. Jac put this down to the horrendous situation at the hospital, rather than it having anything to do with the man sleeping soundly in the room next to hers. Each hour passed, and Jac still couldn't push the uneasy feelings out of her mind. She hated this feeling. Since her breakdown, Jac had used a range of coping strategies to make sure she addresses what was on her mind. At 3am Jac decided enough was enough. She reached in to her bedside table drawer and pulled out the journal she had used to record her feelings so many times over the last year or so. She had used it less and less these last few months. Feeling the worn leather of the cover, Jac contemplated reading some of her older entries. No she told herself. Now isn't the time for that. Turning swiftly to the next blank page, Jac put pen to paper and began writing all the thoughts running around her mind. There was no logic to what she wrote, some full sentences, some paragraphs. Often just single words. After a good 15 minutes of writing Jac felt her mind was now empty and all the thoughts safely emptied in to her journal. She took a short glance at the page in front of her before closing the journal and returning it to its home in the bed side table. One word was on that page more than any other she noted. Fletch.

Jac carefully switched her bedside lamp off and rolled over, her mind finally more peaceful. Allowing her to sleep soundly. For a few hours until her next shift at least.