Remember Your Worth | Jackson Avery

forty-five

Beep. Beep. Beep..

The constant beep flooded my ears as I felt my body wake up. I opened my eyes but quickly shut them due to the bright light shining above me.

I tried to talk but couldn't. There was something in my throat; I felt a sudden need to vomit. My body felt on fire, like it was being stuck with pins and needles.

The beeping on the machine became louder and faster. Suddenly, the room was filled with nurses. I couldn't make out what they were saying, it was just overlapping voices.

I looked around, seeing nothing but distorted faces until I finally saw Meredith. She put her hands on my shoulders making me realize that I'd been hyperventilating.

"Sage?" I softly heard her voice.

"Breathe. You gotta relax so I can extubate you, honey."

I could feel my breathing start to slow; my body started to relax.

"BP is normalizing. How are we feeling?" I coughed, feeling like I was choking on the tube.

"Screw it, I gotta take this thing out."

She carefully extubated me, quickly grabbing the bucket and handing it to me. I gasped, weakly grabbing it to throw up. I wiped my mouth, groaning. She cleared the room so that it was just the two of us.

"Welcome back! I thought we lost you."

I continued staring at her, confused on why I was here. I noticed the bruises over my body and my pregnant belly.

Jackson ran into the room, heavily breathing.

"You're actually awake?" He spoke.

"Yeah, she is! She isn't speaking, though."

"I am... so happy!" He joyfully cried, embracing me.

"I thought I lost you."

My mind suddenly flashed to a memory. I felt pain in so many areas of my body at once, it was excruciating.

"Nick?" I whispered.

Jackson looked down, then at Mer and finally to me.

"They haven't caught him.. I'm sorry."

The memory replayed in my head as my breath was caught in my throat. The monitor started to make a noise as my levels rised.

"You're okay, honey." Mer assured me.

"Everything's fine." He lightly squeezed my hands.

"We love you. We will protect you. Anything you need, we're here for you, Sage. Please, let us be here for you, okay?"

~

"It's been three months?"

"Yes, babe. In case you forgot, our children are five and three."

"I didn't forget, punk." I lightly pushed him, wincing at the pain in my wrist.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to.."