Work Text:
"April," Jackson yelled, shoving his hand in the elevator door to stop it from closing. "I've been looking for you everywhere."
"Oh," April said, shrugging her shoulders as she leaned against the back of the elevator. "I've been busy. What's up?"
"What's up?" Jackson asked, his eyes widening as he stepped into the elevator. He noticed an intern following him onto the elevator and stopped, turning to face him. "Can you take the next one?"
"But I," the intern stuttered, looking back at April, who just shrugged, shaking her head at him. He took a step back and hung his head. "Sorry about that, Dr. Avery. Dr. Kepner. I'll take the next one."
Jackson watched as the elevator door closed and let out a sigh. He reached over and pulled the emergency stop button. He stared at it for a few moments before turning his attention back to April, and she was staring at him with a concerned look on his face.
"What the hell are you doing?" she asked, furrowing her brow. "We are not having sex in this elevator. I have patients I need to get to, Jackson."
"I'm not," Jackson said, shaking his head. "That's not why I stopped the elevator. God, April, that's not the only thing I care about."
"Don't use his name like that," April huffed, rolling her eyes as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Why did you stop the elevator?"
Jackson started to respond but stopped and took a deep breath. He could feel himself beginning to get angry; that wasn't how he wanted to handle this. She had been avoiding him, and he deserved to know why. It felt like he was living in this relationship alone rather than with her. He wanted a partnership, but that could only work if they were talking to one another.
"You've been avoiding me," he said after a few moments of silence. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his scrubs to keep them from reaching out to touch her. Something was going on with her, and he needed to get to the bottom of it.
"I told you," April sighed, shaking her head. "I've been busy, and we've been flooded with trauma cases non-stop. I'm working on a forty-eight-hour shift."
"I know," Jackson said, moving to stand beside her. He leaned his shoulder against the elevator wall and looked down at her. "I've missed you. I feel like I never see you anymore, and even when I see you here, it's like you're trying to get away from me."
April leaned her head back against the wall, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. She didn't want to have this conversation because no matter how it played out, she was going to end up with her heart broken with Jackson hating her. "I miss you too, but…."
"But what?" Jackson asked, reaching out to cup her elbow with his hand.
April looked down at his hand on her elbow, and the wall she had built up collapsed. Her eyes flooded with tears, and she let out a sob as her hands flew up to cover her face.
Jackson took a step towards her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to his chest. He rubbed his hand up and down her back, trying his best to soothe her, but it wasn't helping. In fact, it almost seemed as though his holding her was making her cry harder. After a few moments, she pushed away from him and wrapped her arms around her stomach.
"I don't think I can do this anymore," she whispered, staring at a tile on the floor between their feet. She couldn't bring herself to look at him, even though he didn't deserve to be treated this way. He had been nothing but wonderful to her, but her life was blowing up in her face.
"Can't do what, April?" Jackson asked, his voice cracking as he spoke. His heart felt heavy as he waited for her to say something else. "Please talk to me."
"Everything is falling apart," April replied, stroking her arm as she kicked nervously at the ground. "I didn't pass my boards, so I barely have privileges in the ER, and my life is just falling apart. Chief Hunt told me that he has to let me go at the end of the week because they don't have the money to keep me on without passing my boards. My life is falling apart because we had sex."
"Us having sex had nothing to do with you failing your boards, April," Jackson said, reaching out to cup her cheek with his hand. He forced her to look up at him. "You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. Please, don't end this. We can work something out. You can stay with me until you can retake your test and Bailey's reopening the clinic…."
"Jackson, please just let me go," April said, her eyes blinking rapidly as she tried to stop the tears from rolling down her cheek. "Maybe it's the fact that we were right for each other, but our timing is just wrong. I'm going back to Moline after my last shift, and I'm sorry."
April brushed past him and pushed the emergency stop button. The elevator jolted to life, and the door opened. April stepped out of the elevator without looking back; it was too painful.