Chapter Text
Leanne could hardly lift her head but no weakness could stop the smile that appeared on her face when Jesse told her everyone was okay. Her body was still very weak from the outbreak. Jesse had noticed Leanne’s lack of strength, especially when she tried to push herself out of the hospital bed.
“Don’t you dare start with me Jesse Luis Sallander, I want to see Ariel.” She held her finger out to him and raised a brow.
Jesse held up his hands, “Take it easy. You’re not invincible, your body has been through hell in the past 48 hours. It needs time to recover.” He raised a brow right back at her.
Leanne rolled her eyes and leaned back into the bed. “Jesse, I know that. I’m a doctor, remember?” Her index finger made contact with his chest before falling back down in her lap. She knew there was no winning this argument. “Can you at least tell me how she’s doing?”
“Relax, Daddy. I checked on her ten minutes ago, she was still sleeping and her fluids were good.”
Leanne relaxed into her bed a bit more after hearing that Ariel was okay. Pulling the blanket back over her stomach she settled her gaze upon Jesse who had finally pulled up a chair to sit beside her. He felt staying was the least he could do for his girl.
“So, are you excited to fly out and see your Abuela tomorrow?” A small smile appeared on her face.
“About that.” Jesse rubbed his hands together, noting the way she tilted her head. “I don’t think I’m going. I’ve decided to stay behind with you. I don’t feel right about leaving, not right now.”
“Jesse, the woman is sick --”
“Yeah, and so are you!”
“Well, she’s family --”
Jesse leaned in a little, “And so are you.”
She furrowed her brow a little before rolling her eyes and looking up at the speckled ceiling tile. “Well, I can take care of myself.”
“Cut the ‘I don’t need anyone’ crap, okay? You’re not fooling me. You just about fell flat on your face when you tried to get out of bed three minutes ago.” She was silent but Jesse could see her impatience growing. He shook his head before getting up and returning his chair to the corner of the room. Stopping in the doorway, his eyes settled on her death glare. “You can roll your eyes at me all you want Leanne, but you’re my girl and I’m not leaving you when you need me most.” She clenched her jaw and looked away. She hated that he was making such a big deal over her. It didn’t feel right to her that he was going to stay behind with her when a real family member was sick and needed him more.
Leanne bit at her bottom lip. She looked over when she heard the door to her room close. If she was stronger and had the energy she would’ve went after him and tried to convince him to go, but that wasn’t possible at the moment. Leanne huffed, silently agreeing that he was, in a sense, right - she did need him. She needed someone.
Ethan had come by the hospital room in time to hear the last little bit of their conversation. He approached Jesse at the nurse’s station as casually as possible. “So I saw you have tomorrow off, for vacation? That’ll be nice.” He attempted to bring up their discussion timidly, without looking up from his chart.
“Some vacation. My Abuela is sick and so I was going to make the trip to see her.” He rubbed at his facial hair after looking up from Leanne’s chart.
“What do you mean? Not going anymore?” Ethan looked up from his writing.
Shifting in his feet, Jesse looked over to Leanne’s room. “Yeah, Leanne needs me more. The woman can barely hold her head up.” Ethan’s electric blue eyes moved from the short Puerto Rican man to the frail woman lying in the hospital bed across the hall.
Jesse shook his head, “but she’s so damn stubborn.”
Ethan cleared his throat, “I mean, it does make sense after almost dying from a deadly virus.” Jesse shrugged his shoulders and nodded in agreement. There was a brief silence before Ethan piped up again, “Well I can keep an eye on her, if you want.”
Jesse looked back at Ethan with a raised brow. “Aye G.I. Joe, you sure jumped at that opportunity.”
“What do you mean?” A small grin perked the corner of Ethan’s mouth as he put his pen back in his chest pocket. “I just want you to go see your sick Abuela.” His grin grew, and a small snicker escaped his mouth as he began walking away. “Page me when you decide!” He shouted from down the hall.
Jesse laughed and shook his head. He wasn’t blind. He knew that Ethan and Leanne had a thing going on - he noticed mostly when he watched Ethan take care of her during the outbreak. Jesse was grateful that he could be there for Leanne during the times that he couldn’t. Jesse wasn’t completely opposed to the idea of the two of them spending more time together.
--
Leanne shifted in her bed, the soreness in her muscles still apparent. Doctor Bence had come in to check her levels and her fluids, each day showing minor improvement.
“So, Leanne, I think I’m going to send you home later today.”
Leanne’s ears perked and a slight smile began to grow on her face. “Home, that sounds so nice.”
“I’m sure! I mean I want to keep an eye on your progress throughout the day before I know for sure but I don’t see you staying here another night.” She smiled up at Leanne, scribbling down the latest update on her chart. “However you do know that you will need someone to drive you home and keep an eye on you.”
“Yeah, Jesse’s giving me no choice in the matter. He said he’s taking me home - but what I’m most scared of is his cook--”
“Actually, I’m standing in for Jesse.” Ethan slipped in through Leanne’s open hospital room door.
Leanne turned her head towards his voice. She adjusted her hospital gown a little before clearing her throat, “What?” Her brow slightly furrowing.
“Jesse is currently boarding a flight to Puerto Rico as we speak, which means I’m going to be helping you out instead.”
“Well in that case, I’ll tell you what I told Jesse - I can take care of myself. I don’t need a babysitter.”
“He told me you’d say that - he also told me not to listen.”
Leanne shook her head in utter disbelief, clenching her jaw as she looked up at the ceiling. “Unbelieveable.”
Noting the tension, Dr. Bence laughed nervously. “Leanne, I’ll be back to check on you later before you’re discharged. Dr. Willis, can I speak to you outside?” Dr. Bence nodded towards the door and politely excused herself from the room. Ethan met Leanne’s glare before leaving the room. Closing the door behind him, Ethan folded his arms and waited for what Dr. Bence had to say.
“So there are some thing you should know about taking care of Leanne.”
“Georgia, I’m a doctor.”
She laughed and looked down, “I know, but you know the drill.” She brought Leanne’s clipboard to her chest before taking another breath. “Leanne is still very weak, which means she’s going to need some assistance with even the simplest of tasks. It’s going to be this way for at least a week or two. She needs plenty of fluids and needs to begin to eat more. Leanne’s lack of appetite is making it hard for her body to gain the energy it needs to heal. Also, slowly returning to her usual daily activities will work to avoid prolonging the weakness and fatigue and --”
“And if new symptoms develop along with the weakness and fatigue, give you a call. Yeah, you’re right, I know the drill.” Ethan interrupted.
A corner of Dr. Benson’s mouth curled. “Okay, well one more thing--”
“If symptoms become more severe or more frequent, come in right away.” Ethan rubbed the back of his neck and snickerd.
“What I was going to say was Leanne is extremely stubborn, so I wish you luck.”
A small smile spread on Ethan’s face before the doctor patted him on the arm and walked down the hall to see another patient. Ethan turned around and peeked at Leanne through the window blinds. She was standing and beginning to gather her things. This was a disaster waiting to happen - he could see her legs quivering. Ethan grabbed at the door handle and strutted his way in, “Well someone’s extremely eager to come home with me.”
Leanne frowned, using the bed as a crutch she pivoted on the balls of her feet, “Excuse me?”
“Leanne, relax. It was a joke.” He stood there as she glared at him, her eyes narrowing with every second that passed. “I only left the room for a minute and when I came back you were already out of bed and packing. It was just a joke.”
Leanne pointed at the hospital bed, “the only reason I’m coming home with you, Ethan Willis, is because I want out of this damn hospital bed.” Dropping her hand, she returned to her task, placing a neatly folded shirt into her duffel bag.
“Why are you being so hostile towards me?”
Leanne sighed loudly and angrily before spinning herself around with more force than anticipated. “I’m mad at Jes--” Leanne stopped short when her knees gave out. Ethan lurched forward and caught her before her fragile body hit the cold hospital tile. Ethan gently picked her small body up and placed her back in bed. She avoided eye contact for a moment before her hazel eyes returned to his blue ones. “I’m sorry, I’m just--”
“No need to explain, but let me do this for you.” He grabbed her folded-up scrubs and placed them among her things.
She gave him a small apologetic smile, placing a chilled shaky hand on his forearm. “Thank you.”