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#james wilson fanfiction
shmaptainwrites · 2 days
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𝐋𝐎𝐂𝐊𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍 — 𝐎.𝐑. [𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐒𝐎𝐍]
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PAIRINGS — James Wilson x GN!Reader (no pronouns)
SUMMARY — A child is unaccounted for and the hospital goes into lockdown which makes it a lot harder for Reader to avoid Wilson
WORD COUNT — 2.2K
WARNINGS — mentions/decriptions of blood
NOTE — Okay here's a quick little one shot that will hopefully hold you guys over until I get that series done. As you guys have probably already guessed this is set in 6x17 and I have a few more ideas of different scenarios that could happen in this episode so you may be seeing more of that :)
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It was always an odd feeling when an OR was quiet. All you could hear were the sounds of your shoes, making the floor squeak as you walked, littering bloody footprints wherever you went. You still had your mask and gloves on and were about to leave so the room could be cleaned and sterilized for the next surgery when you heard an announcement over the hospital’s PA. 
You looked over to your friend and colleague who was just removing his gloves as you listened to them say the hospital was under lockdown and no one was to leave their areas until further notice. 
“Guess we’re stuck here a little longer,” he said and you looked around you. It wasn’t the most pleasant place to be stuck, blood littered the floor like a murder scene and surgical tools were messily placed on tables and stands. 
“Yeah,” you sighed and followed his lead, taking off your gloves and discarding them, followed by your mask. 
“You okay?” Wilson asked, coming closer to you.
“M fine,” you nodded and moved towards a wall so you could lean against it. “Would just…rather be at home. Or in a shower,” you looked down at your bloody scrubs. “How are mine dirtier than yours?”
“Cause you’re a messy surgeon,” he teased. 
“Right, and it’s not because you nicked a vein that sprayed all over me.”
“I said I was sorry,” he came over next to you and leaned up against the wall in the same manner you were. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”
“If you’re thinking that if you don’t sit down your legs are gonna give out anyways then yes, I am thinking that,” you nodded and he gave you the encouragement to sit down on the OR floor by taking the lead and doing it first. 
There were a few moments of silence that passed before Wilson spoke up again. 
“Hey are you…sure you’re okay?” he asked. 
“We lost a patient, James,” you sighed. “Kinda knocks the wind out of you.”
“I know, but you know it wasn’t our fault, it wasn’t anything we could have fixed or gotten to for that matter.”
“I know, but it doesn’t really make me feel any better,” you admitted, pulling your knees up a little closer to your chest. 
Wilson reached over and took off your hair cap and you lazily turned your head around before reaching over and doing the same, messing up his now shorter hair. It wasn’t as satisfying to do as when it was longer. 
“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, extending his hand out for you to take. 
You bit the inside of your cheek and reached out, interlacing your fingers with his, letting your back melt further into the wall when you felt his thumb brush against the back of your hand. 
“I don’t think talking will fix my problem,” you turned your head, still letting it rest against the wall as you looked over at him. 
“This isn’t just about the patient,” he inferred. “You’ve been…distant lately.” 
“No I haven’t,” you shook your head and pulled your hand out of his hold. 
“Yes you have,” he sat upright and looked at you curiously. “You just pulled away, again.” 
You pushed yourself up so you were standing again and Wilson followed you. You’d never been claustrophobic, but in that moment, it felt like the walls of the OR were closing in on you. 
“Bee, come on, please talk to me,” he begged.
“You haven’t called me Bee since residency.” 
“You’re deflecting,” he placed his hands on his hips. “What’s going on with you?” 
“I’m trying to tell you, nothing’s going on,” you began to pace the room, wringing your hands in front of you. It’s like you weren’t even trying to be subtle that there was a problem. Every time a lie came out of your mouth your body did something to tell Wilson whatever you were saying wasn’t true. 
“No, you just don’t want to tell me what’s going on,” Wilson conceded. “I just don’t like to see you torn up like this, you know that, right?” 
You stopped your pacing and nodded your head. 
“I miss you, we don’t see each other anymore and I-,” 
“James stop,” you spoke quietly, so much so he barely heard you. 
His eyes fell on you again, watching as you looked down at your hands, your mouth partially open as if you were trying to say something else, but it wasn’t coming out.
“I-I was just trying to-,” 
“I know what you were trying to do,” you said. “Make me feel better, because you’re a doctor, it’s in your nature. You don’t have to make me feel better about this.” 
“But I want to.”
“You don’t even know what it is,” you chuckled humourlessly, moving closer to the OR doors. 
“I-I could, and you could let me try and help-,” 
“James, you're not going to want to help with this.” 
“You can’t know that unless-,” 
“I don’t know what we are,” you blurted and squeezed your eyes shut, hating yourself for being so weak, feeling your back hit the wall again.
“Y-You don’t know what we are?” he looked at you, but you could see past his furrowed brows and concerned features, the thoughts racing in his head, his hands now unsure what to do at his sides. 
“We’ve known each other a long time, James,” you licked your lips and pressed them together. “And throughout that time you have been my closest confidant, my go to person, when I think of someone I can count on and someone who cares about me, I think of you.” 
“I think of you in that way too,” he said, but you shook your head. 
“No, you don’t,” you shook your head. “Because while we joked around, and looked after each other, and followed each other from hospital to hospital you got married, and then divorced, and then married, and then divorced, and then-,” 
“Married, and then divorced,” he nodded his head, filling in the last blank for you. 
“Three marriages, I was there for all of it,” you looked up at the ceiling. “I just thought maybe…I don’t know.” 
He knew what you thought. You thought that maybe since you’d both stuck around for so long, since you’d seen the best and the worst, that maybe it meant something more. 
“I shouldn’t have said anything,” you shook your head, wishing you could disappear into the walls. “You don’t feel the same.” 
“Bee, it’s not that,” he shook his head. “But I-I can’t give you what you want.” 
“If you can’t give me what I want then how is it anything else?” you didn’t understand what he was saying. 
“It’s better if we stay friends, just…just trust me.” 
You nodded and pressed your lips together, trying to push back the tears that were beginning to form, but to no avail. 
Wilson bit the inside of his cheek and shook his head, coming over to you and reaching out to offer you some sort of comfort. You wanted to turn away, shake your head and tell him to give you space, but when his hand came to cup your cheek you just leaned in closer to it, letting your tears flow silently and freely. 
“Is this your definition of friends?” you asked. “Because if it is I don’t know if I can do this.” 
“I…” Wilson closed his eyes, but he could still see the hurt and pain glimmering in your irises. “It’s not you.” 
“Oldest cliche in the book,” you sniffed and wiped away some of your tears. “Still trying to make me feel better, but I think maybe you’re more suited for treating cancer. Maybe you should stick to that.” 
“No, I-I mean it,” his hand dropped from your face and this time you reached out to gently hold his fingers, to maintain some form of contact. “It’s me. My…” he took a deep breath and tried to get himself to meet your gaze, but he couldn’t look you in the eyes. “You said it yourself. I’ve had three marriages, my girlfriend died. Every relationship I’ve had ends in heartbreak. Every person I’ve loved has eventually left.” 
“James,” your whisper drew him closer, his hands coming to rest against your arms, hesitating before moving to hold your face, the creases around his eyes having softened. 
“I thought that maybe if I pretended I didn’t love you you wouldn’t leave and I wouldn’t end up hurting you.” 
You could feel your lip begin to quiver, “You already are.” 
Your voice came out meek and strained, like it took every ounce of your strength to tell him that. 
Wilson pulled you in closer, resting your forehead against his, whispering quiet apologies. 
“I never wanted this, not for you,” he shook his head. “I’m so sorry.” 
Your hands reached out to hold onto his scrubs, the partially dried blood leaving red stains on the palms of your hand. 
“No, don’t be sorry,” you murmured. “Don’t be. Just be honest. With me. With yourself.” 
His voice became stuck in his throat and faded into a whisper, “I’m afraid to say it. I-I don’t want to ruin this…ruin you.” 
“Then I’ll say it,” you placed your hands on his shoulders. “I love you and I’m not going anywhere.”
Wilson nodded his head and you could feel his heartbeat from the pulse in his neck, every move was hesitant. Pulling you even closer, your hearts next to each other, your faces only a breath away. His lips so close to yours, and you did the only thing you could think of to quiet the voices in his head, you told him again. 
“I love you, James.” 
It was like a reflexive response to your words. His lips now moved in sync with yours in tentative movements, as if one wrong move could make everything disappear. 
“I love you,” he whispered first, his lips still ghosting yours before another kiss. “I love you,” his voice now clearer, a quiet murmur. Another kiss, more firm, pushing you back against the wall while your hands moved down, finding any excuse to bring him closer. “I love you,” again, this time fully aloud because you were still there. He had said it and you hadn’t vanished, you’d pulled him closer. “Bee, I love you.”
His lips moved away from yours but only so he could wrap his arms around you, one arm across your back, the other holding your head simply to bring you into what felt like an almost frantic embrace. You reciprocated the urgency, your face now buried in his shoulder while his nose was pressed in your hair, inhaling deeply, relieved.
Wilson could feel your legs shake a little underneath you, in part from the exhaustion of the long surgery, some of it probably due to everything that had just happened. From there it became easy for you to fall back to the floor. Wilson positioned himself with his back to the wall and encouraged you to sit between his legs, leaning back into him. 
His arms wrapped around you, this time his hands now holding yours which rested on your lap. His lips pressed small kisses along your temple and you sighed, easily sinking more into his embrace like you always had, but now knowing there was always something more between you. Maybe it was naïve of you to think things would be different, but at that moment you couldn’t care about the ending, not when things were just beginning.
It felt difficult to speak, you weren’t sure what words would cut it anymore after what you’d said, nothing could be more meaningful than that.
So you sat in silence, absorbing the moment, living in it, sucking every ounce of love you could get from each other sitting in silence. 
“Bee,” Wilson spoke up, but his voice was quiet after the prolonged silence. “You won’t leave right?”
“Not if you don’t,” you shook your head. “I’ve stuck with you for a while yet, James. Just…don’t push me away.” 
He raised a hand to tilt your head back towards him, encouraging you to turn around slightly and meet him in another kiss. 
Just as you pulled apart, the loudspeaker turned on again informing you that the child was found and the lockdown had been lifted. 
You didn’t want to move, but you knew you couldn’t stay in the OR forever. So while you still had the volition, you stood up and offered a hand to Wilson so he could follow after you. 
You pushed open the door and walked out of the OR together, heading towards the now unlocked sector doors to get to the locker rooms to change before leaving the hospital. 
As you walked side by side, you could feel Wilson’s hand brush up against yours before he reached out and properly held your hand in his own. You looked down at your interlaced fingers before looking up at him again, knowing tonight would be different. Tonight you wouldn’t be alone. 
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TAGLIST —
@cuntyvicodin @paola-carter @kiddbegins @il0vebeingdelulu @illicit4ff4irs @lynnsthoughts @miarabanana @iwmflbb @shots-of-wilson-and-whiskey @sarcasm-and-stiles @sun-flower-mad @x-uno @han11dh @qardasngan @alexxavicry @lemonxde @mushycore
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star-girl-05 · 4 months
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You're Hired
James Wilson x Reader
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“So you hired Cameron because she's pretty, Forman because he has a record, and me because my dad put in a good word so why did you hire Y/n?” They were all curious. When they asked you about it you never gave them a straight answer. 
“Me and Y/n are lovers” The three of them stared at him for a moment trying to gauge whether or not he was joking. At their silence House added” She's the mother of my five children” the team rolled their eyes finally understanding he was teasing them. It only made them more curious, what was so secret about the reason he hired you. 
“Come on what's so secret about it?” Chase once again tried he was desperate to know. 
“Can we focus on the case, you know the one with the dying person!?!” Even with House's change in subject it didn’t do anything to get it off their minds. House was asking them questions and no one seemed to be using more than one brain cell each. “Will you focus” once again they don’t seem fully focused 
“Jesus, I’m married to Wilson, not that's the only reason but it's the only one you care about” you shout. While it is true you got the interview with House because of Wilson. An interview you didn’t even want but Wilson insisted.
When Wilson told house he wanted him to interview you, House knew right then and there that he was not going to hire you. However you managed to change his mind when the first words out of your mouth were ‘I don’t want this job, I’m only doing this so James would stop nagging’ and like a match made in heaven House hired you. 
“Wrong, I let you interview because of Wilson I hired you because you didn’t want the job and you're bitchy” You sent a glare his way. While the others were in shock, each talked over themselves to ask questions. You ignored them, focusing back on the case. 
“What do all these symptoms have in common?” House questioned and finally the three idiots answered using more than one brain cell this time. 
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"If you don't stop-" | James Wilson x Reader
Fictober 2023 Day 14 - "If you don't stop-"
James Wilson x gender netural!Reader
Warnings: flirting, some sexual references, no use of Y/N, James being a simp
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A hospital reception isn’t a most thought-of setting for a flashy poker tournament, but the gathering of hospital staff and supporters alike dressed to the nines in suits and gowns certainly helped create a little slice of Vegas.
You were no exception; your own evening wear clung delightfully to your body as you strolled around the room. You clutched two glasses of champagne as you peered through the sea of faces: Chase was lounged against a table as he attempted to chat up his newest conquest, Foreman was hiding his laugh behind his hand at Chase’s romantic desperation, and Cameron had already walked back into the crowd with exasperation at her colleagues.
But none of them was who you were looking for.
Somewhere among the crowd of happy poker players was your boyfriend, James Wilson. Any opportunity to play poker with House (and raise money for charity, of course) Wilson would take and so you scanned over the green tables until, eventually, you found him.
James’s brow was furrowed more intensely than during one of his consults as he glared down at his cards. And his brow furrowed further has House leaned over with his trademarked childish grin with some devious attempt to put his friend off. A shout from Lisa Cuddy broke the two apart, her impressive stack of chips more than signifying her eagerness to play. They all looked so charming in their bow ties and dress respectively, James the most so: he was alluring in his fitted tuxedo, entirely at home in suave and sophisticated finery. He’d been looking forward to this night for weeks and you couldn’t wait to spend it with him.
You started walking over to the trio as Dr House looked up at you and nudged Wilson in the side. James’s eyes flitted up to you and he was immediately transfixed. His gaze followed you like a moth to the flame as you walked towards him, as smooth as the swaying jazz in the background. James’s eyes ran up and down your body unabashedly with a small boyish smile to himself. If he could linger in every single inch of your body he would, worshiping the sight like a holy man to his only vice. Slowly, he dragged his eyes back to your beaming smile as your rounded the poker table to his side. You reached down to press a gentle kiss to his cheek and as you pulled away, he followed into your warmth. James’s eyes remained closed for a moment, breathing deeply into your scent. As you greeted him, he replied with a high-pitched, almost pained sigh and a whisper.
“I really hate you.”
You were taken aback for a second. You looked down at your boyfriend with an incredulous smile.
“Oh, love you too, babe,” you replied, sarcastically. James’s brain suddenly kicked out of its daze as he reached up to stroke your hip.
“I’m so sorry, darling,” he apologised quickly. “I didn’t mean that. It’s just- you look- you’re absolutely stunning… But I still hate you.” He could be such an enigma sometimes.
“Why? What have I done?”
“You’re being very… distracting,” James’s eyes flicked to your lips for a second. Your head fell back as your let out a laugh.
“You’re usually fine with me being distracting,” you said, faux-innocently, using your height advantage to lean over James as your body pressed into his. Even an untrained eye could see his held breath at the touch of your body against his.
“Yes, I’ve seen you be very distracting through the windows of Wilson’s office,” House teased around the cigar between his lips. Your head whipped around like a flash to meet a wink from House as Wilson coughed and spluttered at his friend.
“What?! I thought the curtains were closed!”
“You did what in Wilson’s office?” Cuddy interrogated with disbelief from across the table as you and your equally-guilty boyfriend blushed a deep crimson.
“Anyway…” you rushed to change the subject from your less-than-professional sex life. But that didn’t have to be the end of your fun. “I got you a drink, James.” You bent forwards to place your second glass of champagne down on the table and unashamedly pressed your chest into James’s face as you leaned in. His eyes closed in a dizzy state of bliss.
“If you don’t stop now-“ James warned, lowly.
“Stop what, baby?” you replied coyly, brushing your fingers through your boyfriend’s coiffed hair just how he liked it.
“Please,” James let out in a whine. Just then, you spotted Cameron waving to you from across the room. Suddenly, you stood up straight, righted your dress and pressed a deep kiss to James’s lips. You ripped a low moan from his chest as you pulled away all too soon.
“Bye, babe. Good luck!” You winked as you quickly ran off in search of your friend, leaving James Wilson knowing this would be a long night.
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dearestro · 1 month
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Knight in Plaid Boxers
Summary: James will always be there to save you from danger...big or small.
Warnings: Innuendos and crude language.
Wilson's Pov
I woke up upon hearing a scream.
"James, help!" Recognizing my wife's voice and the empty space next to me, I quickly got up, fearing the worse.
"Shit, shit! Where is it?" I whispered to myself as I searched through the closet looking for the baseball bat she had insisted on keeping 'just in case'. Finally finding it, I armed myself and ran out to the kitchen screaming. Not the smartest idea, but continuing to hear my wife's screams of fear I only had one thought: to scare the intruder. I reached the kitchen and swung blindly, still screaming and shouting only to be met with my wife's voice.
"What the hell are you doing?" I opened my eyes to see her standing on the counter, totally unharmed.
"I-I heard you screaming? I thought- I thought you were being hurt?" I asked as I tried to catch my breath, very confused with the situation. She looked at me like I was insane.
"Yeah, because of the spider!" She pointed to the floor. My eyes followed her finger to see the remains of a mug and a spider crawling around. My hands fell to my side, and I dropped the bat in disbelief.
"What?" I looked at her incredulously.
"Babe, kill the freaking spider!" She continued to point before shrieking when it started towards her. I rubbed my hand over my face and sighed before carefully kneeling beside the broken glass and picking it up.
“It’s only a daddy long leg. You know, I don’t think they’re even classified as spiders.” I picked it up and laughed, seeing how small it was. I started to walk closer to her to show her, but she screamed and pushed her back against the cupboard.
“James Evan Wilson! So help me! If you come any closer I-I…I’ll withhold sex for a month!” I stopped and frowned at her threat before looking back at the ‘spider’ struggling in my fingers.
“Sorry buddy. You heard the lady. It’s either you or me, and well…I’m sure there’s plenty of lady spiders outside.” I opened the sliding glass door and threw him out before coming back to my wife’s aide. “Will you come down now? As much as I enjoy the view, I don’t want you to get hurt.” I approached her as she nodded. I was careful to avoid the broken shards of glass on the floor.
Once I got to her side, I picked her up bridal style.
“My beautiful damsel in distress.” I rolled my eyes and kissed her cheek, and she snuggled closer.
“My handsome knight in plaid boxers.” She laid her hand on my cheek and stroked her thumb on my under eye. I smiled at her. She’s a handful, but she’s mine.
“You know usually the hero gets a reward for saving the princess…” I smirked at her.
“And what…reward…do you have in mind?” Her eyebrow raised even though she clearly knew what I had in mind. I kissed her as I took her out of the kitchen before wiggling my eyebrows at her suggestively. She laughed. "What about the broken mug?" I shrugged.
"We'll deal with it tomorrow."
"What if Sara hurts herself?" We entered the bedroom.
"She's a cat, I'm sure she'll be fine." I said sarcastically while rolling my eyes, I could tell her worry was just a way of teasing me. I set her on her side of the bed before going over to my own. She smirked up at me.
"Alright, if you insist." She feigned disinterest. I smiled before jumping onto the bed and attacking her neck and face with my lips. We continued making out for a little as things got more heated until Sara jumped up onto the bed and tried to wiggle between us. Suddenly, she pulled back. I tried to capture her lips again, but she put her hand on my chest. "As much as I love you and enjoy this babe, I'm not doing 'it' in front of the cat." I frowned, looking at the cat, who was now curled up on the bed sleeping.
"I can kick her out." I said a little too desperately. She shook her head.
"It’s like two in the morning. You have to get up for work tomorrow, sweetheart." She said before leaning over and kissing me. "Goodnight. I love you." And with that, she laid down and went to bed. I groaned and glared at Sara.
"Damn cat." I mumbled before laying down and turning to my side. I was still...calming down when I felt an arm wrap around me. I smiled.
This was nice, too.
Author's Note: I'm working on the requests! This was just a small/easy idea I had in my notes that I thought I could publish as a filler.
Also, is this any good, or is it like weird? idk I'm always worried when I write in his pov and the entire thing is in it.
P.S.
When writing this, I imagined the mug to be one that House got them for their wedding that just has his face on it. I don't know. OH! And when he ran out with the bat, he was in his McGill sweatshirt and plaid boxers with white socks. Again, just the image I had when writing, lol.
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bi-bard · 1 year
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Misdiagnosis - James Wilson Imagine (House M.D)
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Title: Misdiagnosis
Pairing: James Wilson X Reader
Word Count: 1,108 words
Warning(s): none that I'm aware of
Summary: [Season 4, Episode 9] After discovering he had misdiagnosed a patient, Wilson is left in a spiral of thoughts. (Y/n) tries to pull him out of it.
Author's Note: A while ago, I had a House MD OC. I deleted it because I wasn't happy with it. The planning was shaky, and I didn't really like the OC's storyline. So, I went back, I replanned it, and now we have a better House MD OC that I am much happier with. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
FIND MORE OF THIS OC BY CLICKING HERE
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It wasn't common that Greg voiced his concerns to me.
Even when he did, he was never clear about them. He acted like he didn't care and was just making jokes about other people's misery. I could usually see through it.
So, when he came in joking about how James was going to be sued by a patient because the patient was going to live, I understood what he was saying.
"And why did you tell that patient that they had a solid case," I asked, folding my hands together and resting my chin on them.
He dramatically scoffed. "You think it's me?"
"You have very weird ways of intervening when you think someone is being stupid," I shrugged. "Plus, no lawyer would actually tell him that he had an actual case because he was going to live."
House sighed and plopped onto the chair on the other side of my desk.
"Now, why did you do that?"
"Because Wilson was being an idiot," he explained.
"More detail, please."
"He was going to pay that man because he gave that man good news."
"And now, you're here because you want me to go get him to agree with you?"
"Use your psychologist babble."
"You can't only acknowledge my job when you need me to do something."
"I can if I'm asking you to help our friend avoid becoming self-destructive."
"Self-destructive?"
"You won't know for sure unless you talk to him."
Greg pushed himself out of the chair and walked out of my office. I let out a huff and shook my head. He knew exactly how to get under my skin. Asshole.
I found myself outside James's office a little while later. I sighed before knocking on the door. He pulled the door open.
"How did one of you learn to knock and the other one sometimes climbs across to my balcony," James asked.
I just shrugged. He motioned for me to walk in. I took a moment to look out at the balcony once I had.
"You could put tinfoil along the top," I said. James had his eyebrows furrowed when I looked at him. "Like when you have a cat that keeps jumping onto your counter. You put tinfoil along the top and something about the noise spooks them."
"Are you comparing your brother to a cat?"
"It's probably the nicest thing I've compared him to."
James laughed and shook his head, going to walk back to his desk.
"Were you really going to pay a patient for giving him good news," I asked.
He paused, looking at me for a moment before speaking, "House sent you here?"
"He said you were becoming self-destructive," I replied. "Not that I really believe him, but I was very curious-"
"It was 6,000 dollars-"
"Why?" my eyes went wide.
"I... I gave him six months to live," he explained. "He needed the money after he sold his house. He had a trip to Venice planned! I... I wanted to help him."
"This is about the false positive patient?"
"Yes!"
I sighed. "Okay..."
"Don't psychoanalyze me."
"Your guilt surrounding your patients is unhealthy-"
"(Y/n)!"
"Listen to me," I stepped forward and leaned on the desk. "I can't say why, but I think you're feeling unnecessary guilt around events that aren't your fault."
"I gave that man the wrong diagnosis-"
"Because of a false positive," I replied. "At the end of the day, medicine is a field with very little control. I think your guilt is an attempt to control what you can't."
He didn't respond to that.
"I should know... I deal with the human psyche," I shrugged. "Even more variables than the physical body."
He raised an eyebrow at me.
"Wrong diagnoses happen," I continued. "Sometimes they're completely out of our control. And sometimes they work out for the better, sometimes they don't. This last patient was one of the good outcomes, no matter how that man sees it. You cannot control the actions of another person when they believe that they are facing the end of their life or how they choose to handle learning that they aren't. You are not responsible for that. You are responsible for giving that man the correct diagnosis. That's it."
James continued looking at me for a moment before sighing and responding, "I see why Cuddy hired you."
"She does better with two voices of reason than one."
He grinned at me. I pushed myself back, so I was standing up straight again.
"So, do I still have to worry about you becoming self-destructive," I asked.
He scoffed. "I'm not the self-destructive one in your life."
"Yeah, but you're more willing to let people help you," I replied.
I opened my arms and waved him over. He raised an eyebrow at me. I just waved him over again.
He walked over and let me pull him into a hug.
"You're doing a good job, James," I muttered. "I promise."
"Thanks," he mumbled before stepping back and grinning at me. "You have no idea how much hearing that means to me."
I don't think I could've formed a good response to that statement. I don't know if there was one. Saying something like "you're welcome" risked the chance of looking egotistical. Trying to shrug it off could've looked ungrateful. No response felt like it was good enough.
I didn't have to worry about that for long.
I barely had a moment to overthink my response before James leaned over and pressed his lips to mine.
I leaned back a few seconds later out of complete shock.
"I... I'm sorry," he said immediately. "I... I don't know why I did that-"
"It's okay," I stopped him. I started walking toward the door. "Really, it's fine. Just fine. I just... I have a lot of work to do. This was meant to be a quick visit. I'll... I'll see you later."
"(Y/n)-"
"I'll see you later," I repeated before leaving and closing the door behind me.
I looked around, feeling like everyone knew what happened or could easily figure it out by looking at me. I shook my head. Spotlight effect. I knew that.
"Shit," I muttered to myself before running my hands over my face and starting to walk back to my office.
It wasn't that the kiss was bad. It was the exact opposite. It was perfect. That was the problem.
It felt like years of friendship were teetering very delicately on a rope and whatever happened in James's office tried to push it off. And I couldn't tell if I would've been upset but that idea or not.
And that terrified me.
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feline-bookish · 5 days
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Hopefully I didn't already ask this but if you're still taking requests like James Wilson and his lover's reaction to his love handles (especially if he's like insecure about them)
Idk I swear I saw someone say he had them and then I'm pretty sure House makes a joke about 'the ladies not loving the love handles' in one episode???
James’ Lovehandles
This is a head canon because why not and also I think this request fits better with one. Honestly he’s so cute.
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I don’t think he’s the kind of guy to be so self-conscious (the guy flirts with every nurse he works with) but for the sake for this ask we’ll put a condition on it. Let’s just say that he’s self-conscious with someone he really loves. Just because someone cares more about their appearance and whatnot when it comes to the opinions of someone they really care about.
He’d probably take up the gym and then fall behind because let’s face it, between you, House, and his job he doesn’t have the time.
He still takes care of himself though. From what I’ve seen on the show he doesn’t eat nearly as much crap as House (he still eats a bit though).
In the beginning of the relationship he doesn’t like taking his shirt off.
He doesn’t like his stomach being touched.
And when you do touch him he has this nagging sensation in the back of his mind that tells him to pull away.
But when he does and you get sad he feels bad so that’s why he stopped pulling away.
If you figure it out that he has some issue you ask him what’s wrong.
“I just don’t like being touched there.”
“Why? There has to be a reason.”
“I have,” he sighs.
“You have what?” You prompt him to continue.
“Love handles.”
You’ll laugh and tell him that’s a silly reason for him to not want you to touch him and you thought he was hurt or something.
You’ll spend the rest of the time loving on him and making him feel less self-conscious.
Even feel around and tell him there’s a reason why they are called love handles.
“Why?” He asks with a blush. Your hands are feeling his stomach as you cuddle him in the couch.
“Because I have more of you to grip.”
This is how you find out James is ticklish on his stomach. You just grip his love handles and he starts laughing.
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81buttons · 1 month
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I found it! I found the image I had in mind when describing the reader's outfit in 'Like a date?'
This leather jacket 😫
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Natalie Portman will be the death of me; she's so beautiful!
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clementine221b · 2 months
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one thing that this little gay kitty oncologist is going to do is LIE. even though he knows house will take the extremest of measures to try and find out what he’s upto??? but he can’t help himself?? i don’t understand him but i love him.
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buckyalpine · 8 months
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Drama Queen Bucky
Imagine Bucky being absolutely offended, OFFENDED when he’s called out for being dramatic. Not even in a bad way. Just. He thinks he’s so lowkey and quiet and stealthy, not realizing he’s such a little drama queen sometimes. He has his arms crossed over his chest while Sam and Steve exchange examples they can think of, his annoyance only growing more after each one. 
“He tore the arm off his jacket before throwing himself off a plane, who does that?” 
“I have it all on camera-
“I told you I’d break it” Bucky growled but it just made you giggle, imaging your grumpy boyfriend walking around with just a single sleeve of his leather jacket. 
“Remember the time you broke Zemo out of prison and I asked you how a prison fight would randomly ensue and you said “Who knows” with crazy eyes?” 
“Okay but-
“And then you said you didn’t do anything, only to have Zemo walk in 3 second later?” 
“I had good reason-”
“I mean you did dramatically yell “Stop the car” only to walk off like a grumpy old man” 
“M’not grumpy” 
“I remember this one time, I was beating up this guy in the back of an alley way and he came in with his new army uniform and-
“You were getting your ass handed to you, Steve” Bucky said with an exasperated huff, recalling the event much differently, back when Steve was about the same weight as Bucky’s left thigh. 
“Remember when he pouted because Tony wouldn’t let him travel through time and kill baby Zola” 
“I wasn’t pouting” 
“Look, he’s pouting right now!” 
You couldn’t contain your laugh anymore, looking at your poor helpless boyfriend with his bottom lip jutting out, looking like a poor admonished child. 
“No, m’not” He mumbled, letting you coo and wrap your arms around him, his face now buried in your neck, hiding away from his mean friends who were now nearly on the floor.  
“Awww, the big scary white wolf needs cuddles- oh” Sam’s smile dropped when Bucky’s head pulled away from his hiding spot, glaring at him. Steve let out a nervous laugh watching his best friend gently lift you off his lap and plopping you off to the side before getting up and stretching. 
“You idiots have 10 seconds”
“He can’t be serious”
“9″
“C’mon Buck-
“8″
“He won’t- 
“1″ 
...
“Run” 
“OH SHIT”
“USE YOUR WINGS DAMN IT”
“DO YOU THINK I KEEP THEM UP MY ASS FOR SAFE KEEPING, I DON’T HAVE THEM ON ME, YOU’RE THE SUPER SOLIDER, CARRY ME”
*Sam nearly gets clocked in the head*
“Did he just throw his metal arm at me!?”
“Yes. Yes he did” 
“So dramatic” 
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lokiswifeduh · 1 month
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Long Night
Pairings - Roommate!tfatws!Bucky x Fem!Roommate!Reader
Summary - You've been stood up twice in a row now. Bucky is tired of seeing you disappointed. So he takes you on a date.
Warnings - angst, being stood up, angry/annoyed bucky
Notes - I'm horrible at summaries, I know!! This happened to me a couple days ago, wishing I had a Bucky to take me on a date in Brooklyn right about now! Not proofread so lmk if there are any mistakes! Thank you for reading loves!!
WC - 1,750
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"Whatcha gettin' ready for, doll?" Bucky leaned on your bedroom doorframe, watching you straighten your hair in the mirror on top of your dresser.
"I have a date." You smiled, not noticing the slight drop in Bucky's smile.
"Oh, with anyone I know?"
You shook your head. "His name's Nash. Someone Sam set me up with," You explained. "He's supposed to pick me up in twenty minutes."
Bucky internally rolled his eyes. The guys Sam hung around with were nice, yes. However, he never got the guts to take you out on the date you deserved. A date with him.
"Are you sure you want him picking you up?" Bucky asked, making you look back in confusion. "I mean you don't know him that well... You could meet him there or uh, I'll drop you off." You let out a small laugh, "Yeah Buck, I'll just have my male roommate drop me off at a date, that'll go over well."
Bucky shrugged. He walked away from your bedroom to grab a beer from the fridge before sitting on the couch. He turned on whatever channel didn't require him to use the remote too much before slouching into the cushions.
Twenty minutes passed by when you slipped out of your bedroom, shutting the door behind you.
"Wow, doll. You.." Bucky's eyes widened slightly, "You look great."
You grinned, looking down at your outfit. It was basic but it was the most comfortable yet fashionable outfit you had. Black flared leggings with a sage green sweater and some white sneakers. It was simple yet appropriate for a late-night-diner date.
And to top it all off your makeup had cooperated for once. Both eyebrows looked like twins and not sisters. Your highlight was perfect, shimmering, but not too much. And you had the perfect lipgloss that made your lips look sunkissed. Perfect.
"He should be here any minute!" You sprayed some perfume, your favorite vanilla scent, and went to sit in the armchair across from the couch.
Bucky hummed, keeping his eyes on the Tv, taking another sip of beer.
However, twenty more minutes went by and Nash hadn't texted you, hadn't called, and hadn't shown up. Bucky was starting to feel bad and you could tell by the pity looks he kept throwing your way.
"He uhm," Bucky cleared his throat, "Maybe he hit traffic. You know, with it being New York and everything." You nodded, trying to hold onto at least a small bit of hope. "Yeah, traffic." But then another forty minutes went by and he still hadn't even texted.
And then another hour.
And another hour.
By the time Bucky finally turned off the Tv it was three and a half hours since the time Nash was supposed to come pick you up.
You were still sitting in the armchair, having dozed off with a couple tears streaked down your face. Ruining your once-perfect makeup.
Bucky sighed, silently cursing Sam even though he knew it wasn't his fault.
"Alright, doll," Bucky whispered, placing his metal arm behind your back, and lifting your legs with his right. You groaned awake, holding your phone in your palm as you wiped your cheek. "What time is it?" Your eyes shoot open, "Did he show up?" Bucky placed you in your bed, handing you one of his t-shirts you had stolen a while ago. "No, doll. I'm sorry." You stripped your shirt off to change as Bucky went into your bathroom, grabbing a couple of makeup wipes.
"Here." He softly spoke, hating your distraught and disappointed expression.
You wiped your makeup off, shedding a couple more tears in the process. The tears dripped from your cheek to the grey henley Bucky had given you. "It's okay. Maybe he was just busy." Bucky wanted to roll his eyes. He wanted to tell you that any respectful man, any gentleman wouldn't have done what Nash did to you. But he kept his mouth shut, opting to hum in your favor, and threw the makeup wipes in the trash when your face was completely bare.
"Goodnight, Doll." He placed a kiss on the crown of your head as you hummed in response. "Goodnight, Buck."
---
A couple days later, you finally got a text back from Nash.
"Bucky I was right!!" You came sliding into the kitchen, your socks making it easy to ice-skate on the smooth wood floor.
Bucky chuckled at your ability to skid so gracefully without falling. He had tried it once but vowed to never do it again after he slid into the dining room table. You would never let him live it down.
"Right about what, doll?" Bucky flipped the pancake, adding some vanilla to the dough.
"About Nash! He actually was busy!" Bucky quirked an eyebrow. Wondering why he had waited this long to text you back. Six days to be exact. "Did he say with what?" Bucky turned back to making breakfast.
"He said he got busy with work, and that something at work pissed him off so he didn't wanna see me while he was upset." You explained what Nash had told you.
Bucky had never wanted to hit someone in the face so hard.
Well, actually that wasn't true. But he did want to sock Nash in the face for standing you up and giving you a half-ass excuse days later.
"I mean that explains things, yeah..." Your brows furrowed at Bucky's flat tone. "Do you not believe it?" Bucky sighed, pulling the milk and eggs from the fridge as you sat on the countertop. "It's not that I don't believe it, it's just that it kinda seems like he forgot and or didn't wanna see you so he made up an excuse a little less than a week later to not seem like a dick." You nodded, taking in the information. Bucky couldn't sense your reaction quite yet, seeing how you were just staring at the ground with your hands in your lap, swinging your legs in the air.
"I mean, I'm seeing him tonight. If everything goes well after then I'll know it really was true."
"You're seeing him again?" You nod, "But this time I'm meeting him at the fourth corner Bakery. And I'm meeting him earlier this time, around noon."
Bucky looked over at the clock, seeing it was already 10:45. "Well you better go get ready," He said almost reluctantly, "Breakfast will be done before you need to leave."
You smiled, hopping off the countertop as you gave Bucky a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, Buck. You're the best!"
He smiled, but then remembered he's only making you breakfast before you go on a date with a guy who's already stood you up once. Rolling his eyes, he scrambled the eyes, listening to your music in the other room.
---
You had already left for your date three hours ago when Bucky decided to go over to see Sam. His excuse was wanting to discuss the next mission they were due to go on in a week. But he just didn't want to sit at home all day, thinking about how you were on a date with another guy.
However, before he could reach Sam's he had to pass by the bakery where you were meeting Nash.
Yet when he looked through the window, there you were, sitting all alone at a table for two, eating a piece of cheesecake. No Nash in sight.
An internal war started in Bucky's mind. Should he go in and see if you were okay? Or should he believe Nash was in the bathroom and you were just sitting by yourself for a minute or two?
But then he noticed the solemn look on your face. The way your fork poked at the half-eaten cake. And that was your favorite kind. Bucky mumbled a soft curse, opening the door to the bakery and making his way over to you.
Without words, he sat down, his gloved hand resting on the table in front of your plate. You kept your head down, not quite looking at Bucky but knowing he was there.
"He didn't show, again." You mumbled. If Bucky didn't have super soldier hearing he doubted he could've heard what you had said.
"I know, doll. I'm sorry." You finally looked up, tears in your eyes which made Bucky's heart clench. "Why me, Buck? Why am I the one who's alone?" Bucky stayed silent, knowing you needed to vent.
"Am I unlovable? Is that what it is? Why does every single one of my friends get to find the one? Get to fall in love, get married, and have kids and I'm the one without someone?!" Your outburst made some other customers look over in concern.
You groaned, resting your head on your hand and hiding your face from the rest of the bakery. "I- uh, I'm not sure, doll. But I know one thing.. you're not unlovable. You just haven't found the one who wants to take the effort to show you how effortless you are to love."
You looked up at Bucky, fresh tears gleaming in your eyes. You had never seen him look so vulnerable before. He usually grumped his way through emotions. But not with you, not anymore.
He gave you a sad smile, clearing his throat before he stood, "Y'know what, doll. Let's go." He held out his hand. You looked around, "Where are we going?" Bucky took your palm in his gloved hand, "It's a surprise." You laughed, before standing and throwing the rest of your soggy cheesecake away. "You know how I feel about surprises." "Okay, I'll give you a hint." Bucky opened the door for you, making sure to walk on the side of the road with the bustling cars and traffic. Bucky called a taxi, opening the door for you. "You're about to have the best date of your life." You stared at him in awe before laughing and climbing in the taxi. Bucky's knees barely fit as he scooted in next to you. The driver asked where to go as Bucky licked his lips, "Brooklyn, please." You smiled, "Brooklyn?"
Bucky nodded, throwing an arm around your shoulder. "I may be old but I still know some good spots to take my best girl on a date." A blush rose to your cheeks as you looked over to him. "Your best girl?" Bucky nodded, picking up your hand with his metal one before leaving a soft kiss on your knuckles. "Always and forever, doll."
---
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realbeefman · 8 months
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house would put a tracker on wilson’s car to monitor where he is at all times but. then wilson would find out and start purposefully fucking with him. como he’ll leave the tracker in the parking lot of a strip club while he goes grocery shopping and then watch house lose his mind later over why wilson went to the strip club and didn’t invite house along
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shmaptainwrites · 2 months
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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐀 [𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐒𝐎𝐍]
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PAIRINGS — James Wilson x ex-wife!Reader
SUMMARY — James and Reader have not been on great terms since their divorce, but an emerging situation with their son forces them to put aside their differences and work together and hope that past feelings don't resurface
WARNINGS — hospitalization, chronic illness, swearing, complicated feelings (idk y'all they're divorced what more can I say)
NOTE — Okay so I have so many things to say about this fic, but if I say them all this post will be way too long it already is like this came up as 33 pages in my docs but this is a day late birthday present for @shots-of-wilson-and-whiskey who also provided the James pic I hope you had such a fun day and a great year of simping ahead!
Pronounciation — Mahlet = Ma-h-let | Hennock = Hey-knock
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Ever since you had become a mother, birthday parties were the bane of your existence. The sugar overload, the loud noises, the cleanup afterwards, all amounted to your own personal hell. Yet, you would move hell or high water for your son to have the most enjoyable party every single year. 
Today was no different, eight years later you were still breaking your back to ensure every small detail was perfect, from the pin the spikes on the stegosaurus to the cake you’d spent at least a month painstakingly training to make. 
A friend of yours, another parent from the school your son Julian went to, came over in the kitchen to give you a hand with some of the snacks. 
“How are you managing here?” she asked and you took a deep breath. 
“Managing is the operative word,” you chuckled. “Kids having fun out there?” 
“Yeah, loads, you’ve outdone yourself again,” she assured you. “Will James be making an appearance?” 
“I stopped asking myself that question after we got divorced,” you said while fixing the plate of vegetables and dip. “He’s supposed to, he promised Julian, but we all know how that ends.” 
There seemed to be a bit of commotion out in the backyard and you tried to assess what was happening from the window, but your suspicions that something was off was confirmed when Julian’s best friend, Hennock, came rushing inside.
“Mrs. Wilson, something’s going on with Julian,” he said and you frowned while your friend followed you outside to see the kids circling around Julian who seemed to be gripping onto his chest. 
“Jay, what’s going on? Are you okay?” you bent down to be closer to his eye-level, trying to understand what was happening to your son. 
“Can’t…” he pointed to his mouth. “Can’t…breathe,” he wheezed. 
Your eyes went wide, but before you could grab him and run for the car he began to cough and you hoped and prayed there was just something caught in his throat that would make its way out, but with the coughing came spatters of red all over your white shirt.
“Mahi,” you looked over at your friend quickly while picking Julian up. You didn’t have to say a word, she already knew what she needed to do. 
Living close to the hospital, it was worth it to drive yourself, that way you didn’t have to wait for an ambulance to get to you. You had made the mental calculations many times before, just in case there was an emergency and now it was finally coming in handy. 
When you got Julian in the car, you checked in on his breathing, it was still laboured, but at least at this point he was getting in the air, even if he was coughing up blood. 
You turned on the car and began driving while calling your ex-husband with one hand. The line rang until you reached voicemail so you called again, expecting at least this time for him to pick up, only to hear the tone once more. 
“Dammit James!” you threw your phone down on the seat next to you knowing you’d deal with him later, now you needed to focus on getting to the hospital without killing either of you. 
Barely paying attention to how your car was parked, you grabbed Julian out of the back seat and ran into the ER with him. 
“Ma’am, what’s going on?” a nurse came and asked you as you put Julian down. 
“My son, he-he’s having trouble breathing and he’s coughing up blood I-I-I don’t know what’s happening.” 
Before you could say a word they had whisked Julian away and another nurse came to ask you some questions about his medical history and any information that may be important to the doctors treating him. 
“Where’s my son?” you asked, “I want to see my son.” 
“Ma’am I’m sorry, but the doctors are working on getting his airway cleared, you can’t be with him right now.” 
You pressed your lips into a thin line and bit back your tongue. There were a million and one things you wanted to say to the nurse, but none of them would help your situation. On the other hand, finding your ex might. 
So instead of finding the waiting room you went over to the elevator and made your way up to the oncology department, briskly walking through the halls until you reached his office. At this point, you didn’t bother knocking, opening the door to see him sitting down over a file and talking with House. 
“Hey Greg,” you said in a fake cheery voice. “Mind giving us the room?” 
“Oh, this is the wife with the kid, did you forget to pay child support?” House asked James. 
“Get out, Greg,” you said warningly and he listened, instead opting to steal the rest of James’ sandwich and slipping past you, while wishing James good luck and letting you slam the door shut behind you. 
“What’s going on?” James asked, clearly confused by your demeanour and appearance. “If this is about the party I didn’t forget I was-wait is that blood,” he stood up from his chair and came over to you. 
“What’s going on is you didn’t pick up your fucking phone,” you said angrily. 
“Hey,” James looked at you sternly. “What is going on?” he repeated his question, this time more pointedly. 
You could feel your lips begin to tremble and your vision became blurred while you shook your head. 
“Who’s blood is on your shirt?” 
You chewed on the inside of your cheek, “It’s Julian’s.” 
“Julian-I-what happened?” his demeanour changed from frustrated with your attitude towards him to worrying for his son. 
“I-I don’t know he said he couldn’t breathe and then he started coughing up blood and I just picked him up and drove him here a-and now they won’t let me see him.” 
“You drove him?” he asked incredulously. “You didn’t think to maybe call an ambulance?” 
“That’s what you’re hung up on? That I decided to drive because it was faster than getting him an ambulance?” 
“That’s not what I-,” 
“Yes it is,” you stepped back. “I wouldn’t have needed an ambulance if you were there.” 
James sighed and chose to ignore your comment, 
“Where is he?” he asked. 
“Emergency room,” you muttered. “They won’t let me see him, you need to talk to them, say something, anything.” 
James nodded his head, at least you could agree on that. He walked with you out of the office and to the elevator so you could go to the ER together and figure out what the hell was happening to your son. 
When you got down there and James began speaking to the nurses, they informed him that Julian had been moved to the ICU and his respiration was being closely monitored while they ran a few tests to see what had caused the arrest. 
You had to fight to hold yourself upright when they pulled back the curtain and you could see Julian hooked up to all the machines and with a ventilator tube stuck down his throat. You covered your mouth with your hand and shook your head again. This couldn’t be happening, now you were supposed to be cutting into cake and opening presents, not sitting in the ICU. 
You stepped inside with James and he closed the curtain to give you a bit of privacy and decided to look over his chart and see if they had given any relevant information there. Seeing none, he turned his attention over to you, seeing your eyes filled with tears, unable to tear your gaze away from your son. 
James walked over to you and cautiously put a hand on your shoulder, eventually encouraging you to turn around so he could pull you into his arms. You allowed your tears to soak his white coat, gripping onto him so tightly because there was nowhere else to hold. 
You could hear his breathing change, accompanied by the small sniffles and you knew he was doing just as bad as you were right now, wiping the tears from his own eyes as he finally allowed himself to see his son as he was, sick, helpless, vulnerable, and only moments ago, without his dad’s help when he needed him most. 
Your moment was interrupted when you heard the curtain being pulled back and you saw two doctors standing there. You pulled away from James and wiped whatever remaining tears were in your eyes so you could properly address them.
It seemed as though one of the doctors recognized James and when he looked down at the file and saw the name he made the connection internally. 
“Can we talk to you guys out in the waiting room for a moment?” he asked. 
“I don’t want to leave my son,” you shook your head. 
“Ma’am, this is the ICU and the visiting hours are very strictly adhered to, I think your husband maybe got lucky and pulled a few strings so you could see your son, but we need to leave now.” 
“He’s not my husband,” you muttered and reluctantly followed them out of the makeshift room and towards the waiting area. 
“Did you find out what was wrong?” James asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “I looked at his chart. You took him for an emergency CT and bloodwork.” 
“We also ran a few other tests,” the doctor began explaining. “From the medical history your, um, ex wife gave I had a suspicion of something so we ran a sweat test to check for elevated chloride levels and it just came back positive.” 
“Chloride levels?” you looked up at James. “What does that mean?” 
James sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “It means Julian has cystic fibrosis.” 
“I-I’ve heard of that, is it curable?” you asked. 
“I’ll leave you guys with Dr. Liu, he deals with the pediatric cystic fibrosis cases and will be able to answer your questions better than I can,” he wished you a good day and left you alone with the other doctor. 
“Cystic fibrosis is manageable-,” 
“So you can’t cure it,” you reiterated. 
The doctor shook his head, “Unfortunately there is no cure for CF yet, but many people have been able to live longer and happy lives with the medical technology now available.” 
James was silent, taking in all the information that was being presented. 
“How did he get it? Is it contagious or-or was it just always there?” you asked. 
“It’s a genetic condition, so he’s always had it, the symptoms have just gotten to the point where they’re now visible,” the doctor explained.
“I-It’s genetic so one of us is a carrier?” you pointed to you and James. 
“We both are,” James said. “Both parents have to be carriers to pass it down to their child, right?” 
Dr. Liu nodded and you pressed your lips together. 
“C-Can you just tell us what this means for right now?” you asked. “I just think-I think I need a minute.” 
Dr. Liu nodded his head and explained they were giving Julian medication to help with the infection and airway damage that caused him to cough up blood, then they would get him on some bronchodilators to help with his breathing for the time being while they assessed what other issues the cystic fibrosis had potentially caused in his body. He’d have to stay at the hospital for a while, but hopefully could be moved to the pediatric ward within the next day or so.
“We can talk more about what Julian’s medical journey will look like later, I’ll give you guys some time together and if you have any questions, Wilson’s got my pager and knows where my office is.” 
You nodded your head and thanked him quietly as he left the waiting area. You finally sat down on one of the chairs. 
James took the seat next to you and you covered your face with your hands. 
“We couldn’t give him a functional family and a happy home and now we’ve given him a chronic medical condition to top it off.” 
“Blaming ourselves isn’t going to do anything for Julian,” James said. 
“And sitting around here is?” you asked and James sighed. 
“No, no it’s not.” 
You sat there in silence for a little while longer before you noticed James stand up and motion for you to follow him. As much as you didn’t want to listen to him and just sit and wait until they would let you be with Julian again, you got up and followed him to one of the OR supply closets. He used a key to unlock the door and sifted through some materials until he found what he was looking for, pulling out a scrub shirt in your size and handing it over to you. 
You looked down at your own shirt, seeing the red specks of Julian’s blood and closed the door behind your both, pulling your shirt off over your head and handing it to James. You were about to put the other shirt on when you noticed the flecks of dried blood against your chest. 
While you eyes were transfixed on that, James had grabbed an alcohol wipe package from the shelves and tore it open with his teeth, removing the wipe and reaching over to help you clean the blood off yourself. 
“James, I can do it myself,” you reached for the wipe, but he pulled it away. 
“You’ve got some on your neck too, just let me take care of it,” he insisted. 
You knew better than to cause a fight over something trivial like this right now so you put your hands down, watching as James tossed your shirt over his shoulder and carefully began wiping away the specks of your son’s blood off your chest, collarbone, and neck. 
“Have you eaten today?” he asked you while holding your face to tilt it to the side so he could get a spot he’d missed earlier. 
“No, why?” 
“Because it’s his birthday, you’d always forget to eat until dinner and even then it would be scraps from the party until I forced you to eat something better,” he recounted. “Let’s just go grab something from the cafeteria before we go back to the ICU, okay?” 
“Will it make a difference if I say I’m not hungry?” you asked. 
“You can’t take care of Julian if you’re not taking care of yourself.” 
You scoffed and pulled the shirt over your head, “And you’ve suddenly become an expert on taking care of your family?” 
“Believe it or not, we were once happy and there was a reason we got married and decided to have a child together.” 
“And there’s a reason we got divorced too,” you added and opened the door behind you.
You didn’t go to the cafeteria, instead heading back to the ICU waiting room knowing either visiting hours would have to start eventually or they’d move Julian to his own room and you could finally sit with him. 
James clearly hadn’t followed you so you ended up alone again, wringing your hands and waiting for some sort of news. 
Eventually, you felt a bag drop on your lap and you looked up and saw James standing overtop of you. You looked inside and saw a package of a sandwich, a small bag of chips, and a water bottle. 
You knew he was right, that if you didn’t take care of yourself you wouldn’t be able to take care of Julian, so you forced yourself to eat, even if you didn’t want to. 
A little while later, Dr. Liu had returned and informed you that they were moving Julian to the pediatric ward and you could stay with him there in his room. When you joined him there, James had taken off his white coat and tossed it on one of the chairs, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt and sitting down next to Julian’ taking one of his hands in his own. 
“Don’t you have patients you need to see?” you asked, sitting on the opposite side of the hospital bed. 
“I told Cuddy I needed the day, someone else is taking care of it for me,” he said, not removing his gaze from Julian. 
With the two of them sitting next to each other like that, you could clearly see the similarities Julian had with his father. They shared the same eyes and nose, and when they smiled they had the same little creases around their eyes. 
You wished that’s what you could have been looking at, them smiling together, instead of the frown etched onto James’ face and Julian still fast asleep while an oxygen mask now delivered the air he needed to help him breathe. 
“Do you know much about cystic fibrosis?” you asked James, brushing your thumb against Julian’s other hand. 
“Only that it mainly affects the digestive system and the respiratory tract,” he explained. “I’m not too familiar with how it's managed, just that there’s regular doctor’s visits and probably some medication and therapies involved.” 
You could feel a small stirring and you looked down and saw Julian’s hand begin to move underneath yours. 
You smiled when you saw his eyes blink open and James was quick to stand up and come closer to him so he had a familiar face to look at while he took in his surroundings. 
“Hey buddy,” James smiled and you could see Julian light up at the sight of his dad. He lifted his hand to try to remove the oxygen mask, but James gently encouraged him not to. “This is giving your lungs an extra hand right now, let’s just keep it on until the doctor tells us it's okay to take it off.” 
“But you’re a doctor,” Julian countered and James chuckled. 
“I am, but I'm not your doctor. I am, however, your dad so you have to listen to me anyways,” he teased and bent down to kiss his son’s cheek and tickle him a little bit in the process. 
“Hey, go easy on him,” you placed a gentle hand on James' arm and he laid off. 
“You know,” James said. “It’s still your birthday.” 
“It is?” Julian asked and you both nodded and James reached down to grab something he’d brought with him. 
“All the presents your friends got you are at home waiting for you to get better so you can open them, but this is what I got for you,” he said. “I was gonna come and bring it to the party, but I think you brought the party to me.” 
Julian laughed a little at that and you rolled your eyes, of course James could make himself look good by not showing up. 
He sat up with the help of his dad and pulled out the tissue paper from the bag to see the present that was hiding underneath. With a big grin on his face, he took out a dinosaur stuffed animal along with a book all about the different species of the Cretaceous period. 
“This is awesome,” Julian grinned. “Thanks dad, I love it.” 
James gave Julian another kiss and you joined them, taking a seat on the bed and glancing over at the book on Julian’s lap. 
“How are you feeling sweetheart?” you asked, fixing the twisted band of the oxygen mask on his face. 
“My throat hurts a little bit,” he admitted. “And I’m kinda hungry.” 
“Let me call a nurse and we’ll see what you can eat,” you said and pressed the button to send someone over from the nurses’ station. 
Meanwhile, James poured Julian a glass of water and helped him take a few sips of it. His throat was probably irritated from being on the ventilator, but his lungs had become stabilized from the use of the bronchodilators. 
The nurse came and you spoke to her about getting Julian something to eat and she said she’d double check with Dr. Liu and then grab him some food. 
“Hey, Jay,” you walked over to the bed and took your son’s hand in yours. “Are you okay to hang out here with dad while I go grab some stuff from home? The doctors said we might hang around here for a few days so I think I need to pack a bag.” 
“Yeah, that’s okay,” Julian nodded. “Are you okay mom?” he reached up and touched your cheek and you realized you'd let a few more tears slip.
“Yeah, I’m just really happy you’re okay,” you wiped the tears away and pressed a big kiss to his cheek. “Right, Jamie? We’re both happy he’s okay.” 
James looked over at you with softness reflecting in his eyes at the sound of the nickname he hadn’t heard in a long time and nodded his head. 
“Bring some cake back with you,” Julian whispered. “Even if dad and the doctor say no we can sneak some.” 
You laughed at his plan and gave him another kiss, assuring him you’d pack some in a container to bring for him when you came back.
When you arrived at your home, you thought you might cry at the sight in front of you. The kitchen and living room were completely clean, presents piled neatly on the coffee table along with a new card you didn’t recognize. Coming closer, you noticed the bright marker, signature of eight-year-olds across the country, with the message Get Well Soon Julian! written on it and signed by all his friends who had attended the party. 
You packed the card in your bag along with a few other things and made a mental note to grab a nice thank you gift for Mahlet to thank her for what she had done. 
As promised, you cut a big chunk of cake, enough for the three of you to share, and packed it in a tupperware to bring back to the hospital. 
You grabbed a few changes of clothes for both you and Julian and changed out of the temporary shirt you had on and into something more comfortable for the rest of the evening, making sure everything you needed was in place before heading out and going back to the hospital. 
When you got back to Julian’s room you saw James squished in next to him on the bed, the book he had bought him opened on his lap as he read its contents to Julian. Julian was resting his head against James’ arm and James was doing those big exaggerations he always would whenever he’d read bedtime stories to Julian, emphasizing all the insane details and changing the inflections of his voice in just the right way to make him laugh. 
“I brought cake,” you grinned, holding up the container as you entered the room, holding three plastic forks. “If Dr. Dad says it's okay, we can eat it.” 
“Dr. Dad desperately needs some sugar,” James nodded his head and closed the book for the time being while you took a seat by Julian’s legs and opened the container, handing each of the boys a fork. 
You helped Julian take off his oxygen mask for the time being and placed it off to the side, acutely aware of how his breathing sounded more laboured without it. 
James only snuck in a couple bites of the cake before taking the mask from your side and holding it ready in case Julian needed a bit of an extra hand. 
Just as he had predicted, after a few bites of cake Julian was noticing a bit of a difficulty to get air into his lungs and James held up the mask to his face, allowing him to take a couple deep breaths. 
“What do you think of the cake, Jay?” you asked. 
“Really good, just like everytime you make it,” he grinned. 
“I’m sorry you didn’t have a great birthday, buddy,” James apologized. “I mean with all your friends and classmates.” 
“What do you mean?” Julian asked. “I think I had a good birthday.” 
“You do?” you frowned curiously, wondering what kind of light he’d seen in the day that you and James as worried parents had somehow missed. “What made it good?”
“We’re sitting eating cake. Together. Just like when I was little,” he said simply and you chewed on the inside of your cheek, looking over at James whose gaze hadn’t left Julian. He almost looked disappointed, at what, you couldn’t place, but at least for the moment Julian was happy and that was all either of you really wanted. 
You grabbed your purse from the ground and thanked Dr. Liu for all of the information he had given you and assured you’d be there with Julian at the allocated follow-up time you had arranged. You were just about to leave when James came rushing into the room, apologies spewing out of his mouth for being late. 
“Late? You missed the whole appointment.”
“I-I did?” he said, looking down at his watch and cursing when he saw the time. 
“Jay, sweetheart, why don’t you sit down here,” you moved out of Dr. Liu’s office and set him up on a chair in one of the general waiting areas and handed him his dinosaur book from your purse. “I just need to go have a chat with your dad real quick.” 
Julian nodded and opened up the book, flipping through the pages while you grabbed James’ arm and pulled him into a dead-end hallway so you could speak in private. 
“What the hell took you so long?” you asked firmly. “We waited for twenty minutes before even starting the appointment!” 
“I’m sorry,” James apologized, “I was in the OR with a patient and something went haywire and it took longer than expected to fix it.” 
“Still, you couldn’t have told someone to at least pass on a message?” 
“I was in the middle of saving a patient’s life! What did you want me to do?” 
“I wanted you to be there for your son,” you whispered harshly. “You make promises you can’t keep and I have to watch him get disappointed over and over again. He does not deserve that, especially now.” 
James placed his hands on his hips and said, 
“I am trying to be there, it’s not for lack of effort-,” 
“Well try harder!” you threw your hands up in the air. “You’re an ex-husband James, not an ex-father. You don’t have to show up for me anymore, but you damn well better show up for him.” 
When he said nothing you continued. 
“Believe it or not, you don’t have to work as much as you do James. You chose to do that and right now that’s coming at your son’s expense and he is scared and vulnerable and neither of us know half of what Dr. Liu is talking to us about. Do you know what he said to me when I was confused about the management plan? He said Dad would know what this means. Dad can help us. And he’s right, you would have known and you can help so stop acting like your fucking schedule controls you and get your schedule under control.” 
James was quiet for a moment before he nodded his head, 
“Okay,” he said simply. 
You knew better than to get your hopes up with him and you didn’t have any more energy to argue, so you told him you could talk more later, but right now you were going to take Julian home so he could rest in his own bed and finally open his birthday presents. 
“Is dad coming with us?” Julian asked when you picked him up and began walking away to leave the hospital. 
“No, not this time,” you shook your head. 
“Did you fight with him again?” Julian asked and you pressed your lips together. 
“We just had a disagreement,” you settled on. “You can call him later when he’s done work if you want to talk to him, sounds good?” 
Julian was content with your answer and left it at that. 
Over the next few days, aside from Julian’s call, you didn’t hear much for James and you assumed things were right on track to going back to the way they had always been. You loved your son to pieces, but this was one time you wished his dad would be here to support, working and caring for Julian on top of trying to figure out how to be his at home doctor was already taking its toll and you didn’t know how you’d be able to keep it up. 
One night, you were sitting in the living room reading a book Dr. Liu had recommended. It was detailing strategies for parents with children who had cystic fibrosis. In the middle of your chapter you were interrupted by a knock to your door and you put in your bookmark, wondering who was stopping by this far into the evening. 
Unlocking the door and opening it, you found it hard to hide the surprise in your face when you saw James on the other end. 
“James?” you tilted your head. “I haven’t heard from you at all this week, what’s going on?” 
“I reduced my patient load,” he said, “and I talked to Cuddy about reducing my clinic hours. I still have to do some administrative stuff for the department, but it can be done from home for the most part.” 
“Oh,” you were surprised to say the least. You didn’t realize your outburst the other day had worked. 
“You were right,” he said. “I need to be here for Julian and I can’t do that if my work always comes first.” 
You nodded your head, following along with what he was saying. 
“C-Can I come in and see him?” James asked. “I know our custody agreement has always been all over the place-,” 
You didn’t say anything, simply opening the door wider for him to come inside. 
“He’s asleep in his room,” you said. “When you’re done we can talk some more.” 
James nodded and stepped inside, slipping off his shoes and taking off his jacket, making his way to Julian’s room to sit with him for a moment before joining you in the kitchen. 
“Want something to drink?” you asked and he said some water would be nice. You poured him a glass while waiting for the water to boil for your tea. 
“I saw the book you were reading over there,” he pointed to the couch. “Dr. Liu recommended it to me too, I just finished it the other night.” 
“Show off,” you rolled your eyes and handed him the glass. 
“What I was trying to say is I think something that stood out to me is having consistency and a routine is good, especially when things are new,” James explained. “I don’t think it makes sense for him to be moving back and forth from here to my place.” 
“So you think we should have a home base here?” you confirmed and he nodded. 
“I can come by more often, if there’s days where you need to be at work I can be doing the administrative stuff here after school and take care of Julian until you get back.” 
You pursed your lips and as you heard the kettle click, moved to pour your hot water into the mug you were holding. 
“These are all good ideas,” you started. 
“I’m assuming there’s a but coming?” 
“But I don’t want to give Julian the wrong impression is all.” 
James shook his head. 
“You really need to pick whatever it is you want,” James crossed his arms over his chest. “First I’m not here enough, I don’t put my family first. Now I’m putting my family first and you’re worried Julian’s going to think this means we’re getting back together.” 
“He doesn’t need to get his hopes up for something that’s never going to happen,” you said flatly. 
“Have you ever considered having a conversation with him instead of shielding him from every little thing that might hurt him?” James asked and you rolled your eyes. 
“Clearly every little thing can hurt him!” you pointed over to his room. “He can’t even breathe without help, James. Maybe he needs to be protected.” 
“Stop, just stop,” James ran a hand over his face. “I can’t get into a fight with you every single time we see each other. Julian is just as much my son as he is yours, if this is going to work we need to be able to have a conversation with each other.” 
You took a sip of your tea and said,
“Okay, I’m worried Julian might take the fact that you’re around more the wrong way.” 
James nodded his head, “I hear you, so maybe we should talk to him about it and say I’m coming around more to lend a hand around the house and help take care of him.” 
“Dad? What are you doing here?” as if on cue, Julian had walked into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes awake and adjusting to the light. 
“Julian, where’s your oxygen mask?” 
“I don’t wanna wear it mom,” he whined. “I don’t like the way it feels on my face.” 
You sighed, having had this conversation at least five times before, you didn’t know what else you could say to convince him. 
“Hey buddy, maybe we should listen to mom on this one,” James suggested. “You know that feeling you’ve got right here,” he pointed to his chest. “That’s only gonna get worse if you don’t wear it and we don’t want to have to go to the hospital again, right?” 
Julian shook his head and sighed, stomping back over to his room to grab the portable machine and place the tube under his nose and around his ears, allowing him to get the right amount of oxygen. 
You looked over at James gratefully and he reached his hand out to yours and gave it a squeeze. It was nice being on the same team even if you had just been arguing. 
When Julian came back he repeated his question to his dad who explained that he was here to talk to you about a few things that would be changing soon and that he’d be around more to help look after him. 
“If you’re going to be here to help look after me can you stay tonight?” Julian asked. “Mom still has some of your clothes in those boxes in her closet.” 
“She does, does she,” James looked over at you. 
“It was the stuff you wanted to give away and I never got around to it,” you said. “There’s probably a hoodie and some pyjama pants in there if you want to stay.” 
James pressed his lips together and sighed, 
“You know buddy as much as I would love to have a sleepover with you I don’t think it’s a good idea if I spend the night here,” James said. “But I can tuck you in again and wait until you fall asleep to go back home.” 
“Mom, can you come too?” Julian asked and you nodded your head. 
James stood up and helped Julian carry his portable oxygen machine back to his bedroom and you trailed behind them, watching as James carefully tucked Julian back under the covers while peppering his face with small kisses, like he would do when Julian was younger and just learning to sleep in his own room. 
“Dad that tickles,” Julian giggled and James simply smiled and continued littering his face with kisses. 
“Too bad. I love you too much; I just can’t get enough of you.” 
“Alright, move it,” you nudged James from the opposite side of the bed and took your turn. “It must tickle having two parents who love you so damn much.” 
“It does,” Julian’s laughter died out as you both finally left him alone, sitting on either side of his mattress. 
You both wished him a good night and waited as he slowly fell back asleep. When his breathing was steady and his grip loosened on yours and James’ hands you took it as your cue to leave the room. 
James placed a hand on your shoulder as you stepped out of the room, prompting you to turn around and face him. 
“I’ll come by tomorrow and we can work out a schedule or something, does that sound good?”
You nodded your head, 
“Yeah, I have a work thing tomorrow in the evening, I was gonna ask Mahlet, Hennock’s mom, if she could come look after Julian, but if you’re around…” 
“I’ll come for dinner and then do the bedtime routine,” he said and you smiled. 
“James I’m begging you-,” 
“I won’t be late,” he assured. “No surgeries planned and I’m ending my shift with clinic duty.” 
You pressed your lips into a thin line and nodded your head. 
“I’ll see you then,” you patted his arm and he showed himself out. 
You walked back to the kitchen grabbing your now lukewarm cup of tea and sitting back on the couch picking up your book and opening it, reading until you couldn’t keep your eyes open any longer, falling asleep right there on the couch. 
Over the next few months, you, James, and Julian had developed some sort of routine around school, work, and doctor’s appointments. A part of you thought you were spending more time together as a family than when you were married. 
Today you had to go in for work, also having reduced your hours, but in a way that you were working in tandem with James. When you arrived back home the house smelled like warm spices and big plates of home-cooked food. 
You dropped your keys on the entryway table, next to James’ keys and wallet and took off your jacket, hanging it up before coming to the kitchen and seeing Julian and Hennock doing their homework at the island. 
“Mr. Wilson, what is the difference between these two words?” Hennock asked, holding up his paper so James could see while cutting some vegetables for a salad. 
“I think the first one is the kind of principal in your school that looks after all the students and the other one is… man, that’s hard to describe. Hey, how do you describe what principle is to an eight-year-old?” James asked you. 
“I think that kind of principle is something that guides the way people behave or act,” you sat next to Julian and Hennock. “Like a principle is the foundation for something that people believe in.” 
Hennock and Julian still looked a little confused by your explanation so you tried to give an example. 
“So a principle could be to be kind to everyone we meet and so people who believe in that principle will try to follow it.” 
That put it in better terms for them to understand and there was a chorus of oh’s before they looked back down at their papers and scribbled down a few things to answer the questions they were asked. 
“They learning about homonyms?” you asked James and he nodded.
“I talked to Mahlet,” James said, changing the topic. “Hennock’s gonna stay for dinner and she’ll come pick him up around seven.” 
“Sounds good, it’s always nice to have you, Henny,” you smiled and ruffled your hand through his coarse curly hair in an endearing way. 
“Thanks, Mrs. Wilson,” Hennock smiled. 
James was now over the stove, stirring what looked like a soup before giving it a taste and figuring something might be missing.
“Can you taste this?” James asked. “I don’t know why, but every time I make it there’s something off.” 
You took a spoon and tried a little bit of the broth, looking down to see that he was making matzah ball soup and immediately when you tasted it you knew what was missing. 
“I know what it is,” you said. “But you can’t tell your mom I told you. She swore me to secrecy.” 
“My mother told you this?” James asked and you nodded. 
“When we were getting married she wanted me to know how to make it the way she would for you when you were sick.” 
“And she didn’t think to tell her own son how to do this?” he seemed thoroughly offended, but all you could do was laugh. 
“It’s tarragon. I don’t think it’s something everyone adds, it was just something special she’d put in hers to make it a little different. Here,” you reached into the spice cupboard and took out a jar of dried tarragon and took a bit of the herb out of the container and crushed it in your hands before sprinkling it into the soup. James mixed it in and gave the broth a minute to soak in the flavour before trying it again and shaking his head. 
“I can’t believe she didn’t tell me!” 
“I’ll let you finish having your little meltdown,” you patted his back. “I’m gonna hop in the shower quickly and we can eat when I get out.” 
“Did Dad forget the tarragon?” Julian asked and you nodded your head. 
“Wow, so everyone knew, but me?” James asked and you nodded your head with a shrug. 
“Sorry, I guess your mom has favourites, or something.” 
“Figures,” James teasingly rolled his eyes and you chuckled, waving him off and going to take a shower and change into something a little more comfortable. 
When you came back outside they had migrated to the dining room table, each with a bowl of soup in front of them and a plate of salad. You sat on the same side as James since Julian and Hennock were already sitting next to each other and the boys happily recounted the details of their school day and playdate with you while everyone ate their soup and salad. 
“What did you do at work, Dad?” James asked. 
“Oh, nothing interesting,” he shook his head. “I think your mom was doing bigger things than me.” 
“Bigger than treating people with cancer? You flatter me,” you drank some of your soup’s broth. “I had a meeting with a big company about a building they’re making.” 
“Did you go do a site visit?” James asked and you nodded. 
“Engineers are being a pain in the butt, keep making me adjust the design, but we’ll see who gets the last laugh.” 
“Mom always does,” Julian told Hennock and they chuckled along with James. 
After dinner James helped you clear up some of the dishes before heading out and leaving you with the boys. When Mahlet came by to pick Hennock up you invited her in for tea and a little visit. 
“Thanks for coming to stay with Julian the other night,” you said after handing her a mug. “For once, I was the late one and James had an emergency come up so it was a huge help.” 
“And how are things now, with the co-parenting?” 
You took a sip of your tea, “Weirdly good,” you admitted. “We don’t argue as much which is nice and Julian gets to see his dad more.” 
“Do you think maybe you’re not fighting because he’s changing?” she asked. 
“I don’t wanna go down that path,” you shook your head. “If Jay hadn’t been diagnosed things would still be the same as they always were.” 
“But they’re not. More often than not people show their true colours during times of difficulty.” 
You took a deep breath and sighed, “If that was the case I would have seen something worth keeping when my marriage was falling apart.” 
Mahlet nodded, seeing as you had a point and your conversation was halted as they boys came out of Julian’s room. 
Mahlet and Hennock left shortly afterwards and you quickly got Julian ready for bed, tucking him in and then going to get settled yourself. You looked through a few client papers for work before calling it a night and turning off your bedside lamp, curling into bed and falling asleep. 
Your sleep was interrupted in the middle of the night by a tapping on your shoulder and when you blinked your eyes open you saw Julian standing next to your bed. 
“Jay, sweetheart, is something wrong?” you asked. 
“My stomach really hurts,” he told you and you sat up, motioning for him to come sit with you on the bed. 
“Where?” you asked, turning on the light and he pointed to the upper right corner of his abdomen. If you remembered correctly that wasn’t exactly where his stomach was and your suspicions were confirmed when you saw the yellowing whites of his eyes. “Oh, sweetheart, I think we have to go to the hospital.” 
“The hospital? What happened?” Julian looked worried and you assured him everything would be alright. 
“We’re just being safe,” you told him. “I’m gonna call your dad, maybe he can tell us a little bit more of what’s going on. Do you feel good enough to get your jacket and shoes and your hospital bag?” 
Julian nodded his head and you gave him a kiss and he went off to grab his things while you did the same, but also taking your cell phone and calling James. 
It took a few rings, but he eventually picked up. 
“Hey, did something happen?” he asked and you could still hear the sleep thick in his voice. 
“I think something’s wrong with Julian. I’m gonna take him to the hospital, can you meet us there?” 
“Yeah, of course, I’m on my way.” 
“James…the whites of his eyes were yellow. Does he have jaundice?” you asked.
“It’s possible, was there anything else?” 
“Yeah, he mentioned stomach pain, but he pointed to like his upper right abdomen, I think,” you explained while grabbing your bag and putting on some socks. 
“Makes sense as a liver issue,” you could hear his car starting in the background. “If he’s presenting symptoms now I would call an ambulance.” 
“James-,” 
“Just trust me,” he said. “Call 911.” 
“Okay,” you nodded your head and hung up, calling the emergency services and explaining the situation to them and then to Julian while you waited for them to arrive. 
James made the right call, seeing as while you were in the ambulance Julian began to throw up and the paramedics obviously handled it better than you could have if you had driven him. 
When you arrived at the ER they wheeled Julian away and you began getting flashbacks to when you first brought him in. 
“Where are you taking him?” you called after them, but no one answered you. “What the hell kind of hospital is this?! Where are you taking my son?!” 
“Ma’am they're taking your son to do a liver biopsy,” one of the nurses came back and informed you. “We need you to sign this consent form.” 
You nodded your head and took the pen from her hand, signing it, but just as you were about to ask her a question she ran off to give them the okay. 
You could feel your anger and worry bubbling inside your throat and you wanted to let it out in a scream and you were about to go running after her, but before you could you felt someone grab your wrist and pull you back. 
“James let me go,” you said warningly, looking back at your ex-husband. 
“No,” he stated just as firmly. 
“James-,” 
“I am not going to let you do something you’re going to regret,” he said and pulled you into his chest, wrapping his arms around you, even when you pushed to get away. 
“James, let me go.”
“No,” he repeated and simply held onto you tighter. 
“Let me-,” your voice broke and you stopped pushing away. “Please, Jamie, please I just want to see him,” you cried into his shirt and he squeezed you so tight you thought you might get bruises in your arm from the way he was holding you. 
“I know, I know,” he whispered. “You brought him here and he’s going to be fine.” 
“I can’t do this anymore, James. I can't be his mom and his doctor and they can’t expect me to wait out here while they drag him away and ask me to consent to God knows what.” 
James didn’t know what to tell you, instead he just continued to hold you close, rubbing his hands up and down your back, and pressed a soft kiss against your temple. 
You wrapped your arms around him and finally let yourself fully sink into his embrace, hating yourself for how much you liked it and how good it made you feel while your son was in some back corner of the ER getting a piece of his liver biopsied.
Eventually James pulled away from you, helping you dry your tears on the sleeve of his sweater and walking with his arm wrapped around you to the waiting area. You didn’t know how long you were sitting there, but it was possible that you had dozed off once or twice against James’ arm, waiting to hear some sort of news from the ER doctor. 
“Mr. and Mrs. Wilson?” 
Your eyes blinked open when James gently shook you awake. 
“That’s us,” he said. “Is Julian okay?” 
“Your son has a mild case of cirrhosis,” the doctor explained. “Due to his cystic fibrosis diagnosis we believe this is due to clogging and inflammation in his bile ducts.” 
“What does that mean for him? Does he need surgery to fix it?” you asked, fighting back a tired yawn. 
“Unfortunately, yes,” the doctor nodded. “It’s good you caught it early, there’s minimal damage to his liver so far and he’s still growing which means his liver is too. We can get him into an OR tomorrow if you consent to the surgery.” 
You looked over at James and he nodded his head. You trusted him and told the doctor you would sign the papers as soon as you could see Julian. 
“He’s been moved to the pediatric ward for now and Dr. Liu has been informed of the development. He should be in touch with you tomorrow.” 
“Thank you,” James said and when the doctor left, he helped you up and you began the walk up to the pediatric ward. 
When you arrived a nurse pointed you in the direction of his room and after each pressing a kiss to Julain’s forehead you sat on the seat bench together. 
“We should sleep,” James said, but you had a hard time imagining how that would be possible. 
“I’m having a hard time working out the logistics,” you admitted. 
“Come on, it’ll be just like on the way back from our honeymoon,” he insisted, recalling your extremely delayed flight on the way back from France, causing you to sleep with your head on James’ lap, stretched out along the airport chairs. 
You were too tired to argue or try and find another way, so you leaned down and rested your head against his legs, closing your eyes and sighing when you felt his hand rub up and down in long motions along the side of your body. Sleep could not have come quicker.
“Mom…Mom, Dad?” 
Julian rolled his eyes when he received no answer and grabbed the stuffed animal you had placed next to him when he’d come into the room and threw it at his sleeping parents, nailing his dad in the face. 
“Oh, God, mhm, wake up,�� James shook you while he raised his hands to rub his face.
“Huh?” you opened your eyes and pushed yourself off of James’ lap. “Oh crap, my back. Remind me not to listen to you when you talk about doing something I did ten years ago.” 
“Julian, did you throw Steggy at my face?” James asked, picking up the stuffed animal from where it had fallen on you. 
“You weren’t getting up,” Julian shrugged his shoulders. 
“Julian,” you chastised and took the dinosaur from James’ hand. “You could have hurt your dad’s important doctor-face,” you joked and rubbed your hand all over James’ face making Julian laugh. 
“Okay, okay,” James moved your hand away and gave you a look. 
“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” you yawned and moved from the bench to the side of his bed. 
“A little better,” he said. “Did the doctors fix what was wrong?” 
“Not yet,” James shook his head and came to sit next to you and placed a hand on Julian’s. “You’re gonna have to go in for surgery today.” 
“A surgery?” Julian looked a little nervous. “Like cut me open?” 
“It’ll be just a line right here,” James drew it with his finger along Julian’s abdomen. “They’re going to fix a part of you called your bile duct and then sew you right back up and you’ll be good as new.” 
“Is it dangerous?” he asked. 
You looked over at James, a small note telling him to lie to make him feel better. He didn’t need to know all the details. 
“No,” James shook his head. “You’re gonna be fine and your mom and I will be here the whole time.” 
“Promise?” Julian whispered. 
“Swear on it,” James leaned in towards his son and snuck a kiss to his cheek. “We love you, buddy.” 
“I love you guys too.” 
Dr. Liu came by a little while later to inform you what time the surgery was scheduled for and he helped make Julian feel a lot better about the procedure. When it was finally time for him to go, you were a nervous wreck, but tried not to let it show for Julian’s sake, instead just pressing a big kiss to his forehead and telling him you’d be waiting for him once he got out. 
It only took about fifteen minutes of your pacing to get James to grab onto your arm and make you stop. 
“You’re gonna burn a hole in the ground,” he said. 
“I don’t know what to do with myself,” you admitted. “If I sit I’m gonna fidget, if I stand I’m going to pace.” 
“Then come on, let’s go to my office for a second, grab a coffee and a snack and then we can come back out and wait,” he suggested. 
You agreed to his idea so he stood up and you walked side by side to his office, passing House who had some comment about your dishevelled appearance together. 
“You’re an interesting man, Greg,” you shook your head at him. “You can’t think of any other reason we might be here?” 
House was silent so James explained, 
“Julian’s in surgery right now. He’s got cirrhosis.” 
“Ah so not a late night ex-wife rendez-vous. Can’t get ‘em right all the time,” he shrugged and you chuckled. “I hope the kid’s alright.” 
“Thanks, that means a lot coming from you,” you admitted. 
He raised his brows and lifted his cane to say goodbye, letting you and James continue your walk to his office. 
“House mind that you’re not spending as much time here?” you asked. 
“No, he just bothers me more when I am around,” James said while opening the door and letting you inside. 
He went towards his desk and pulled out a few packages of snacks tossing you one and you shook your head when you saw the label. 
“You still eat these? I thought the FDA recalled them?” you asked sarcastically. 
“I’m sorry I have better taste in food than you do,” he said right back. 
“Right, this is food,” you chuckled. “And if you have such good taste why didn’t your mom tell you about her secret ingredient?” 
“That’s cold,” he pointed to you with a bag of chips in his hand. 
“No, it’s true. Just like your dad telling me I was his favourite wife of yours,” you opened the bag James had tossed you. 
“Just shut up and eat your snack,” James chuckled and you listened to him, beginning to eat a little something, not realizing how hungry you were until the food made its way to your stomach. 
“You got another one of these?” you asked and he nodded, passing it to you when you were finished with the first one. 
“Feeling a little better?” James asked and you nodded your head. 
“Hey James?” you said, unsure of how you’d gotten to this point, but you were too exhausted to stop yourself from saying it. “I want you to move back in.” 
“You want me to do what?” he raised his brows and looked at you stunned. 
“I want you to move back in with me and Julian,” you said. “It’s becoming pretty clear to me that it’s safer to have two people around when possible than not and you’re already around all the time now.” 
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” he asked. “I mean you didn’t want to give Julian the wrong idea about us.” 
“Our lives changed the second we got that diagnosis. I think we need to change along with everything else.” 
You couldn’t believe that just barely twelve hours ago you were telling your friend there was no chance James had changed, but here you were saying things that had proved you had changed. Things you wouldn’t have dreamt of saying a year ago. 
“Okay,” James nodded. “I’ll move back in.” 
You just silently hoped you wouldn’t regret asking. 
Waiting for Julian to get out of surgery was a little easier now that you had some food in your stomach and you decided to wait on coffee until you got the note from the surgeon that everything had gone well. 
As James had continued to assure you almost a hundred times, the surgery went fine and before you knew it you were back in Julian’s room watching him sleep off the anaesthetic. 
“You know he looks like you when he sleeps,” James said from the bench while you sat on the bed next to Julian. 
“He does?” 
“Yeah, his nose does that same scrunchy thing when he sniffles and when he snores-,” 
“Hey, I only snore when I’m congested,” you said defensively. 
“I never minded,” James smiled. “I thought it was cute when you sounded like an old man.” 
“Yeah, but you’re not fond of all my old man characteristics,” you turned around to face him, still holding Julian’s hand in yours. 
“All your old man characteristics?” James furrowed his brows in confusion. 
“You told me I argued like an old man. Stubborn and could only see my own way. And I fought dirty.” 
“You sure did,” James nodded. “If you brandishing my mother’s clear favouritism shows anything, it’s definitely that you fight dirty, but I never said I disliked that about you.” 
“Really? Near the end I thought there was a lot you disliked about me.” 
James shook his head, “No, I was just upset and you were passionate. It wasn’t like my other marriages where things just…fizzled.” 
“We did go out with a bang,” you inhaled deeply. 
“If it weren’t for Julian… do you think we’d…” 
You shook your head. 
“No, we probably never would have seen each other again. Another old man trait, I hold a pretty mean grudge.” 
James pressed his lips together and looked over at his sleeping son. 
“I’m happy we had him,” he said quietly. “Even if we didn’t work out.” 
“Me too,” you agreed, looking over at Julian quietly snoring, just like his dad had said. “Best thing that’s ever happened to me.” 
You leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to Julian’s nose watching him scrunch it up, making you smile. It was a miracle that two such flawed individuals could make a child so perfect. 
“Alright, he is asleep, but I do warn you it took some bribery so you’ll have to buy him another dinosaur book to read to him at night,” you walked out of Julian’s room, dusting your hands off like you’d just finished a heavy labour job. 
“I’ll run to the bookstore tomorrow,” James nodded and you fell onto the couch next to him and sighing as you sunk into the plush fabric before noticing what he was doing. 
“Where did you pull these out of?” you asked with a soft chuckle. 
“I was just clearing up the closet in the guest bedroom and I found a box of these,” he picked up the albums. “Look at this one.” 
He placed the book of photos on your lap and you smiled seeing as it was Julian’s baby album, filled with small mementos and little notes you and James had made in the margins. 
“Oh my God, Mom’s first day home, she looks like an angel,” you read from the side. “And my response: I look like I just got hit by a bus, cut it out.” 
“You can still read my chicken scratch writing?” James asked. 
“My most useless talent as I like to call it,” you nodded. “You wrote a lot in here.” 
“I used to bring it with me to work cause I missed you guys so much,” he admitted. “Made me feel closer to you.” 
You read through some of the notes in the book, chuckling a little at some of the written back and forth you had. Eventually you got to the family portraits you’d had taken a few months after Julian was born, smiling softly to yourself. 
You remembered the day well, you felt like you hadn’t slept in weeks, James was just getting off of a twelve-hour shift and you were almost late to your appointment with the photographer. You were worried everything was going to look terrible and you’d barely had enough time to do your hair or makeup, but James had silenced your worries with a kiss and assured you the pictures would be fine. 
In the end most of them were terrible, but the photographer managed to get two shots, one of you and James smiling down at Julian in your arms and another immediately after where you were looking up and smiling at each other. 
“That session was a shitshow,” you recalled and James agreed. “We did get a few nice things out of it though.” 
You looked back down at the pile of albums in front of you and noticed a large white one, tucked under a few things and even though nothing good could come of it, you pulled it out from the bottom of the pile, carefully blowing off the dust and turning the first page. 
Centerfold, just like you remembered it, was a picture of you and James on your wedding day. You leaned further back into the couch and James scooched in closer to get a look. 
You both looked younger in the picture, with that spark of je ne sais quoi in your eyes. 
“I told you there was a reason we got married,” he said quietly, his hand brushing the corner of the photo. 
“Yeah, we loved each other,” you said. “That was the reason.” 
“Same reason we decided to have Julian,” he added. 
You could feel your breathing become a little more shallow and a tightness in your chest as James spoke about Julian. You remembered the conversations so clearly, like you’d had them yesterday, caught between happy and passionate kisses while James made some dirty jokes about getting you pregnant. 
That was back when he still couldn’t get enough of you. Before things changed and he slowly distanced himself until it felt like it was just you and Julian against the rest of the world, and not the three of you like he had promised all those nights throughout your pregnancy. 
You wondered quietly to yourself what had changed? What had become so unbearable that there was distance in the first place? There was never a lack of love on your end which is why this was dangerous. 
At least when there was distance you could be angry with him, you could go to bed at night and not remember all the little things that made you love him in the first place. He wasn’t there as a constant  reminder that you loved his cooking, or even just your banter together. More importantly, it was giving you new reasons to feel that fluttering feeling in your stomach. 
You’d always loved how he’d interact with Julian, but now that you got to see it day in and day out, it made it harder to weigh that against the cons of everything. Most notably, this was the beginning of the end. If you let yourself fall you would both crash and Julian would be caught in the middle once again. 
You tried to distract yourself by flipping through the album photos to find some funny old picture of a relative or maybe even an embarrassing moment to tone down whatever it was that looking at that picture was making you feel. 
All you could focus on was how in every picture, almost without fail, James was looking over at you. Rarely into the camera along with everyone else. He was enamoured, that was the only word to describe it, and oh how much you missed that look. 
You made the mistake of tearing away your gaze from the pictures, looking up at James instead, and for a moment you thought just maybe you saw that same look in his eyes. But no. It couldn’t have been. The dim light of the lamp must have been playing tricks on you. 
Finally you closed the album and put it back down, unsure of what feelings might resurface if you opened another one. Your honeymoon, family dinners and pictures were all just reminders of the happy times, not what came after.
James did what you didn’t want to, grabbing another album and sifting through the pages until he found what he was looking for, taking a picture out of its protective sleeve and showing it to you. 
“Can I keep this one?” he asked. 
You took it from his hands, examining it while your fingers precariously held the edges of the photograph. 
It was a silly picture, something you had taken while you were travelling. James got someone to take the camera, but along with snapping a few shots while you were posed with smiles they caught a few candids, most notably, James kissing your cheek while you laughed and tried to squirm out of his grasp. 
Your finger gently brushed over the spot on the photo where James’ lips were against your cheek before nodding your head. 
“Sure, you can have it,” you handed him back the picture and patted your hands against your legs, preparing to stand up. “I should get to bed.”
“I’ll be out here for a while longer if you need anything.”
You gave him a tight lipped smile and stood up, walking towards your bedroom. When you closed the door behind you, you let out a breath you had been holding and ran a hand across your face. 
Maybe Julian was never the one at risk of getting the wrong idea.
Waking up in the middle of the night always made you feel uneasy. Especially if Julian was the one waking you up. The chance that you’d have to drive to the hospital or call an ambulance was high and you hated the fear and worry that came along with any possible complications. 
Tonight, you woke up on your own accord. Your heart was beating inside your throat and your stomach felt like it was housing a group of persistent butterflies. 
You glanced over at the clock and saw the time, flashing in red. 
3:07
You took a deep breath trying to steady your heart rate and breathing before peeling away your blanket and kicking your feet over the side of the bed. You grabbed a different pair of pyjamas from your dresser and walked into the washroom, tossing them on the far end of the floor while you stripped down and turned on the water for the shower. 
When you stepped inside you hissed initially at the cold, but forced yourself to become fully submerged under the water, closing the curtain behind you. Your muscles clenched as your body adjusted to the temperature, and when the time finally came you let your thoughts and dreams become washed away by the water coming out of the shower head. 
You were simply standing there, letting the water fall on your face when you heard the click of the door opening. 
“Julian, sweetie,” you sighed, turning around so you could speak. “Maybe you should go to your dad if something’s wrong, I’ll come out in a sec.” 
“No need,” you heard a voice that did not belong to your son. 
“James? I’m in the shower. What are you doing?” you asked incredulously, feeling the need to cover yourself up even though there was a curtain blocking his view. You felt exposed nonetheless. 
“It’s three in the morning, I thought something was wrong, I came to check on you,” he explained. 
“And what were you doing up?” you asked. 
“Got in late. There was an emergency at the hospital after you guys went to sleep, I dealt with it and just came back.”
You stepped under the running water again, washing the water over your face with your hands. 
“So, is everything okay?” 
“Peachy,” you said sarcastically, leaning against the wall of the shower. 
“Nobody ever says peachy when things are okay,” James pushed further and you sighed, moving to sit down on the floor of the shower, still positioned under the water. 
“I just had a dream, that’s all,” you said, watching as the water hit your toes and the ground around you. 
“A bad dream?” he asked. 
“No, it was more like… déjà vu.”
James sighed, and rubbed his hands on his legs. 
“Was it about us?” 
He took your silence as a yes. 
James didn’t really know what to say, his hands were clasped together as he leaned  forward sitting on the bathroom counter. 
“You’re not gonna ask what it’s about?” you hugged your knees close to your chest. 
“Would you tell me?” 
“Maybe…I don’t know,” you mumbled. 
There was another moment of silence before James spoke up again, 
“What was it about?” 
You turned to face the water with your eyes closed again, gathering the courage to speak. 
“It started when I told you I was pregnant,” you said softly. “Like the memory replayed in my head, exactly how it happened.” 
“I remember that day,” you heard the soft smile in his voice as he spoke. “You took the test at work and when it came back positive you came straight to the hospital to tell me.” 
“I was barely two steps inside your office when I blurted it out, you were eating lunch and had that stupid look on your face with a mouth full of sandwich,” you chuckled to yourself.
“I almost choked on that,” James shook his head. “And I just remember running up to you and freaking out.”
“And then when you were done freaking out and everything sunk in you kissed me, and you told me you loved me, and we cried because we made a child. Our love did that.” 
You reached forward and turned the shower off, pushing yourself up on your feet and taking a deep breath before pulling back the curtain. You had told him what you were thinking. You couldn’t get any more exposed than that.
James looked stunned for a moment and it didn’t go unnoticed how his eyes raked up and down your figure. 
“Get me the robe, would you?” you motioned to the back of the door and he jumped down grabbing the robe and holding it out for you so you could place your arms into the sleeves and wrap the towelled fabric around you, trying it off with the belt. 
When you turned your head to look back at James, you could tell at least you’d succeeded in raising his heart rate, much like he was doing for you recently. 
You moved to go sit on the closed toilet while James retook his spot on the counter. 
“Do you remember when Julian was born?” he whispered. 
“I like it was yesterday. I can’t believe it’s been eight years,” you nodded your head. 
He was having trouble holding your gaze and you wondered what he was about to say. 
“I-I screwed up,” his voice was soft, almost hurt, like it pained him to think about what he had done. “When you were resting afterwards the nurse asked me if we were going to do a newborn screening. We hadn’t talked about it, but you were so tired and it was such a hard labour…” he swallowed thickly, his voice wavering slightly, remembering the birth. It wasn’t easy by any means and James had often thought that the hardest thing he’d ever had to watch was you in that much pain. “I told her we weren’t going to do it. I just didn’t want Julian to leave and h-he looked so perfect I never thought anything could have been wrong with him.” 
James took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling, “I am a doctor and I didn’t get a newborn screening for my son, what the hell kind of father does that make me?” 
“Oddly enough, I think it makes you a good one,” you admitted. 
“Even though we could have known about this years before? We could have gotten him treatment, medication, therapies, all sooner?” he looked back at you confused. 
“You said it yourself, Jamie. He was perfect for us. Still is.” 
James nodded his head and looked forward at the opposite wall. You stood up and walked over towards him, reaching out a hand to gently hold his face, your thumb brushing against his cheek while he looked at you. 
“I don’t blame you for this,” you whispered. “I don’t blame you and I don’t think you’re a bad father.” 
“I know,” he murmured, “but I do.”
You leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek, not knowing what other comfort you could offer. 
James leaned in a little to your touch, sitting up straighter when it was gone, trying to play it off like he hadn’t been missing it and craving it as much as you. 
You were about to say something when you heard a knock on the washroom door, and this time it had to be Julian. 
“Mom? Dad, are you in here too?” you could hear his small sounding voice, a little strained and worried so you quickly assured him you were both inside and opened the door. 
“Sweetheart, what happened?” you asked, noticing his tear-stained face. 
“I just had a bad dream,” he sniffed and wiped his eyes. 
You kissed away his tears first before assuring him everything would be fine, you and James were there to take care of him. 
“Why don’t you go and lay down on my bed with your Dad?” you suggested. “I’ll get dressed and come join you.” 
Julian nodded and made his way over to your bed while you went to quickly speak to James. 
“It’ll be good for you. Both of you,” you told him. 
“You don’t mind?” 
“Just this once.” 
James thanked you with a kiss to your cheek and left the adjoining washroom, closing the door behind him and giving you a minute to get changed and deal with anything you needed to before going back to bed. 
When you opened the door and came back into your room, you saw James under the covers with Julian pressed close to him, their foreheads resting together while James told him everything was going to be alright and he could go back to sleep. 
You slipped in under the covers, sandwiching Julian between you both, letting his back rest against your chest while you pressed a kiss to his hair. 
One hand was tucked under your pillow and another was draped over Julian, and your fingers carefully placed over top of James’. 
“Will you be here when I wake up?” Julian asked his dad. 
“Right next to you,” he kissed his nose. “Now try to get some sleep, okay?” 
Julian nodded his head and yawned and you whispered a quiet goodnight to bed him and his dad before letting your eyes close, silently smiling when you could feel James’ hand finally hold your own. 
“You guys, relax, he’s going to be fine,” Mahlet placed a hand on both yours and James’ shoulders while you spewed out your worries. “It’s one night, I have the whole list of things he needs and I’ve taken care of him before, right? It’s just at my house this time so the boys can have a sleepover and you two can have a bit of a break.” 
“She’s right,” James sighed. “I’m still worried out of my mind, but she’s right.” 
“Mahi, are you sure you don’t want us to come even for a little bit?” you asked. 
“Absolutely, if something happens I’ll call an ambulance and then you, but Julian’s been good for months now, he can survive one night away from home,” she assured you. 
“Thank you, Mahlet. I’m sure Julian and Hennock will have a great time tonight. Just call us when he’s ready to be picked up tomorrow morning,” James said. 
James wrapped his arm around you, giving you a squeeze knowing you were still uneasy about this, but deep down you knew Mahlet was right. The chances of something going wrong at this point were small and you’d had enough time since your last hospital visit to even consider doing something like this. 
“You boys ready?” James called and Julian came rushing out of the room with his bag in hand, Hennock following close behind him. 
“You have fun tonight, okay?” you bent down and gave Julian a kiss. “And if anything happens or you feel sick, or are having trouble breathing, tell Mahlet, okay?” 
“I know, Mom. Dad already told me this like fifteen times,” Julian chuckled. 
You looked up at James and he shrugged. 
“Alright, well you guys better go before I change my mind,” you crossed your arms over your chest and that was all the permission the boys needed to run off, leaving Mahlet to say goodbye before stepping out and closing the door behind her. 
You sighed and turned around, looking at James who had his hands shoved into his pockets. 
“You hungry?” he asked. 
“I could eat,” you nodded your head. 
“Why don’t we make something for dinner together?” he suggested. 
You looked at the clock and smiled, “I think we’ve got enough time for pizza, what do you think?” 
“I think that’s a great plan,” James agreed. “I can start on the dough and you get the sauce and toppings?” 
You gave him a thumbs up before putting your hand out to high-five him, noticing how your fingers so easily intertwined before you walked apart and let go. 
James rolled up his sleeves and took off his watch, placing it on the small jewelry tray you kept by the sink for when you were washing dishes, while you went to the fridge and began pulling out all the things that could make good pizza toppings. 
Moving to the sink to wash some vegetables, you noticed James’ watch resting there. You didn’t pay much attention when he was wearing it, but now you realized why it looked extra familiar. It was one you had gotten him as an anniversary present after your first year married. 
“You still wear that?” you pointed with your eyes to the watch. 
“It’s my favourite watch, of course I wear it,” he nodded while portioning the flour into a large bowl.
“Even with that engraving?” you raised a questioning brow. 
“Dearest Jamie, Here’s to the first of many happy anniversaries. Love forever, Your Wife,” he recited the engraving back to you. 
“I don’t know why you do that to yourself,” you chuckled a little, looking down into the sink. 
“Yeah, well why do you still go by Mrs. Wilson?” 
“Easier to keep the name than change it again,” you partially lied, it wasn’t the full truth, but it was what you had been telling yourself ever since the divorce was finalized. 
James could sense you were lying, but he knew the only way to get you to open up would be to let himself be open with you. 
“The watch is my favourite because you gave it to me. Functionally it sucks and it's uncomfortable, but you went out of your way to get me something that looked nice and that’s why I love it.” 
You smiled a little to yourself, but kept your head facing the sink and continued to wash the vegetables. 
“You’re not going to say anything?” he inquired. 
“Do I have to?” you asked. 
“That’s normally how a conversation works,” he remarked and you chuckled. 
“What do you want me to say?” you asked. 
“Honestly, the real reason why you kept your married name,” he said plainly. 
You sighed, “It wasn’t a full lie. If I went back to my maiden name Julian and I wouldn’t have the same last name it just makes things complicated and confusing and I didn’t want to deal with it, but,” you added, “I always kind of liked the sound of Mrs. Wilson and even though I was pissed at you all the time I still liked that there was one thing aside from Julian connecting us. I don’t know, maybe I didn’t want to end up like Sam or Bonnie just…detached, like there was barely a trace that you were even there.” 
“It’s a fingerprint,” James said. “Mine.” 
“Yeah, even though it's small for who we were to each other, it's the fingerprint you left on my life.” 
James pressed his lips together and opened his mouth to say something before shutting it and evaluated how he was going to speak, 
“Can I ask you something?” he settled on. 
“Sure,” you nodded, moving over to the cutting board and placing yourself on the opposite side of the kitchen island. 
“Did…Did you ever stop loving me?” 
Your smile faltered and James noticed the change in your demeanor, quickly retracting his question. 
“You know what, forget I asked,” he shook his head and continued to knead the dough. 
There was a moment of silence before you spoke again. 
“I didn’t, but I got tired of not being loved back.” 
James stopped what he was doing and looked up at you with concern. 
“You thought I stopped loving you?” he asked.
“James, I was wife number three. Didn’t take much to connect the dots and see you got tired of me,” you said bluntly. “I wanted to know if I could count on you, and it was starting to feel like maybe I couldn’t. Then the divorce happened and everything after that just made me feel like I was right.” 
James chewed on the inside of his cheek and remained silent. 
“You didn’t fight for me,” you said quietly. “You fought for joint custody, but you didn’t fight for me. You just…accepted it.” 
“I…I didn’t know you wanted me to fight for you.” 
“Are you saying you would have?” you asked, unsure of whether or not you wanted to hear his answer. 
“I’m saying I thought I didn’t even have a chance,” he admitted. 
“So you wouldn’t have,” you clarified for him, beginning to chop the toppings into pieces and separate them into bowls. 
He chuckled humourlessly, “I have dated one person since the divorce. I hated it.” 
“Why do you have to talk in puzzles, James? Why can’t you just come out and say what you really mean?” 
“And then what?” he asked. “We go back to living in the same house. Sleep in separate rooms. Move on now that we know the truth?”
“Say it,” you put the knife down and looked him right in the eyes. 
“What are you going to do about it?” he asked, cleaning the dough off his hand. “I’m going to say it and you’re just going to stand there and I have to live with that?” 
You walked around the counter and came right up in front of him. 
“If you were listening to anything I was saying, you would stop making excuses and say it.” 
“Fine!” he threw his hands up in the air. “I still love you. I never stopped loving you. These past few months, even though stressful, have been the happiest I’ve been in so long because I feel like myself again when I’m with you and Julian. Because I feel like your husband, and I feel like a father and I keep kicking myself wondering how I could have been so stupid to lose that.” 
“Say it one more time,” you whispered, lifting your hands to hold onto his face. “Please.” 
“I love you,” his voice was softer, relieved like after being underwater he could finally breathe again. 
You finally pulled him into you, your lips hesitantly resting on his at first, before you found your rhythm again after so long. It was muscle memory, his hands finding the spot they always rested against on your hips, his lips moving in synch with yours, eventually trailing off and finding their favourite spot against your jaw and behind your ear. 
“James,” you breathed. 
“Jamie,” he mumbled against your skin. “Call me Jamie.” 
“Jamie, Jamie, Jamie,” you repeated the nickname until he silenced you with another kiss, muffling your voice. 
“God, I missed you,” he whispered when you pulled apart, breathing heavily due to your fast beating heart. 
You closed your eyes while your forehead rested against his, feeling his nose touch yours, his hands still firmly planted on your hips when your thumbs brushed against his cheeks. 
“Jamie?” 
James snuck another small kiss at the sound of the nickname. 
“Yes, my love.” 
“Can I count on you?” 
You could feel him nod his head and confirm with a verbal ‘yes’. And even if it turned out to be a lie, at that moment you didn’t care. He had proved to you that it was possible, you could work with that. 
“I love you,” you said and kissed his nose and then you said it and kissed him again for good measure. “You told me twice; I tell you twice.” 
James moved his hands up from your hips and brushed the back of his fingers against your cheek, a warm smile coming to his face. 
And there was that look, the one you thought had vanished over time. His eyes fully transfixed on you with nothing but love and admiration. It didn’t take much to convince yourself you could get used to seeing that look for a long, long time. 
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star-girl-05 · 2 months
Text
Mornin'
James Wilson x Reader
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Wilson has always been a morning person. Waking up over an hour early so he can have a calm morning before work. You on the other hand are always snozzing your seven alarms before finally rolling out of bed and rushing to get to work. It doesn’t matter if you go to bed early the night before your just not made for mornings. Its a fact you’ve grown acustumed to.However now that your dating early riser Wilson your trying to change your ways. The task is proving harder than you orginally thought. 
The last three days you’ve been dragging yourself away from your bed at the hellish hour Wilson wakes up. Your downing a gallon of caffine to off set your lack of sleep. It works well giving you that pep but you find yourself day dreaming about your bed. 
Its ironic the whole reason you wanted to start waking up early is so you could spend a few more minutes with Wilson. Just the two of you chatting while getting ready, it was going to be so nice. Now though your finding yourself resenting the dope. How can he just roll out of bed and look so absolutly breathe taking at FIVE in the morning. No one has any busniess looking that way at that TIME. Then theres the fact that he is so productive on only one cup of coffee at once again FIVE AM. Its absolutly not fair. 
“Honey its time to get up” you seriously can’t do this anymore. You lazily open your eyes finding wilson, the sight of his soft smile and lack of eye bags is your final straw. 
“I can’t do this anymore” your voice is thick in sleep, your eyes barely open. 
“What baby?”
“You, just looking at your face is making me sick” you tuck you head into the pillow trying to reclaim the sleep he just woke you from. While you try to let sleep take over you Wilson is starying down at you with the biggest eyes. He’s completly confused, did you just break up with him and then go back to sleep? Hes quickly shaking you again pulling you from your sleep again. 
“What did you mean by that?”
“Exactly what I said, your face is making me want to vomit” your not understanding whats so hard to understand. 
“I’m- why are you mad?” he was so helplesly clueless at what was happening. If you wern’t so tired you would have noticed but right now your eyes are barely opened. 
“WHY AM I MAD? I’m tired” your voice comes out much more whiny than you intisapated. “Its not fair that you can wake up so early and be so productive. No one should be able to roll out of bed and look as good as you do.” he can’t help but smile his chest no longer filling with anxiety at the thought of you no longer loving him. He’s fianding this adorable. “I go to bed at the same time as you and still i wake up so tired, not to mention my black eye bags. All want is a few extra minutes with you but…” your words die out as tears stream down your face. 
He quick to wipe them away relaying soothing words, “Baby its okay, just breathe for me” You do your best, trying to listen to him. 
“I’m sorry I don’t know why I’m crying” 
“Don’t apologise” he moves back into bed slipping under the covers, wrapping his arms around you. Your quick to snuggle into his embrace, nuzzeling your head into his neck. Instantly being calmed down by his scent. “Why don’t we do this ever morning?” 
“What me having a breakdown?” his chuckle has you pulling him closer. 
“No, us cuddling I’ll wake you up and we can just cuddle for a few minutes. Then I can get up and you can go back to bed for a few minutes.” You just nodd, already finding yourself drifting off.
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lives-in-midgard · 3 months
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Back To You
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Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader
Summary: A few months after Bucky and you broke up you find out that it was all just a big misunderstanding.
Word Count: 1960
Request: Could you do a fic where reader and Bucky broke up because of an argument caused by a misunderstanding and then a few months later they find out what actually happened and get back together? [Full request here]
A/N: Thank you so much for requesting this! I hope you like how this turned out! 💞 Thank you @lokisbiiiitch1993 for helping me!
Masterlist
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Bucky and you have been dating for almost a year now. You were so happy with each other but lately you noticed a change in Bucky. He was spending more time with Natasha. Texting her and when she called, he would immediately pick up. You actually wanted to ask Bucky if he would like to move in with you, but you weren’t sure anymore.
You were having breakfast with Bucky when someone called him. You couldn’t see who it was, but he picked up immediately.
“Hey Nat.” You heard him say as he left the room. After a few minutes he came back with a smile.
“I’m sorry doll, but I have to go soon. Natasha needs something important.”
“Oh, but you will be back, right? Because we wanted to go to the cinema, remember?” You asked him a little sad because you had been looking forward to this movie for a while and had already bought tickets.
“Of course, I’ll be back I don’t want to miss spending time with my girl.” Bucky reached for your hand and then kissed your cheek.
“How about we cuddle before I leave?”
After cuddling, Bucky left to meet up with Natasha. You looked through the mission report again, so you could bring it with you the next time you go to the compound. Then you watched your favorite show and made yourself ready for the cinema.
You waited and looked at your phone but there was no message from Bucky. It was almost time to leave, and you weren’t sure if you still want to watch the movie. But you didn’t want to stay home alone either. You started to feel sad and tears formed in your eyes. You thought about calling Bucky, your finger was already over his phone number, but you decided not to bother him and Natasha. So, you put the phone away and started crying even more.
No, you won’t let Bucky ruin your plans.
You wiped your tears away and then remembered that Sam wanted to watch this movie as well. He’s a good friend of yours, so you decided to call him. You dialed his number, and it didn’t take long for him to pick up.
“Hey, y/n.” He said happily.
“Hey, Sam.”
“I still have another ticket for the movie we talked about and thought you might want to go with me?”
“Of course, I would like to watch the movie with you.” He said and you started to smile.
“When does the movie start?”
“The movie starts in an hour.”
“Wow, that’s soon.” He chuckled.
“It’s okay if you don’t have time. I can go alone as well.”
“No, I’m coming with you. I’ll pick you up, okay?”
“Okay, see you and drive carefully.”
You went to the bathroom and got ready while Sam made his way to you. You checked your phone again for a message from Bucky, but there was nothing.
When Sam arrived, he greeted you with a hug and then drove to the cinema.
“Is everything okay?” Sam asked after a while.
“Yeah.” You mumbled and looked out of the window.
“What did Bucky do?” You had to chuckle and told Sam that Bucky was supposed to go with you and then you told him about Natasha. After Sam parked the car, he pulled you into a hug. He wanted to say something, but you interrupted him.
“Let’s just go and watch the movie, okay?”
“Sure, do you want popcorn?” Sam asked and you nodded. Sam got the snacks while you got some drinks. When you sat down in your seat, you looked at your phone one last time. But there wasn’t any message from Bucky. You put the phone away and then enjoyed the movie with Sam. You had a great time and even forgot that Bucky was with Natasha.
When the movie ended, Sam drove you back to your apartment. Before he left, he hugged you. He rubbed your back and then kissed your cheek softly.
What you didn’t notice was that Bucky was standing at the other side of the street and saw you and Sam together, but from his perspective it didn’t look like a kiss on the cheek. It looked like Sam kissed you on the lips and when Sam turned away, you were smiling.
Bucky didn’t want to see you anymore, so he turned around, walked back to his car and drove to the compound.
The next day didn’t go as you thought it would. You were still sad because of Bucky and when he sent you the following message you were even sadder.
“Hey, do you have time? We need to talk.”
A tear began to run down your cheek because you knew what this would mean. You ignored it for a few minutes but then texted him back.
“Hey, yeah I’m at home.”
“Okay, I’ll be there soon.”
You didn’t have to wait long until you heard Bucky knock on your door. You opened the door and Bucky walked in.
“Hey.” He mumbled.
“Hey, Bucky.”
“Y/n, we need to talk.” He said and you nodded. It was a bit weird for you to hear Bucky calling you by your name because he usually gives you petnames. Bucky started playing with his metal hand, looking at the ground for a second and then he looked back at you.
“Something has changed between you and me.” There it was, exactly what you thought he was going to say. At first you didn’t know what to say, so you just nodded.
“Yeah, that’s true. Especially since you don’t have much time for me anymore.” You decided to say.
“What, that’s not true.”
“Oh, really? And what about yesterday? When were we supposed to go to the cinema together?” You said in an angry tone.
“Oh, I bet you had great company there.” Bucky provoked and you shook your head.
“Actually, you’re right I had.”
“You know what? It really doesn’t make sense with us anymore. It’s over.” Bucky snapped and you took a step back.
“Okay, great.” You shouted.
“Yeah, great.” Bucky said and left your apartment without looking at you. When Bucky closed the door, you started to cry. You walked into your room and noticed one of Bucky’s shirts laying over your chair. You grabbed it and threw it out of the room. You laid down in your bed and cried all day long. Maybe it was for the best and Bucky and Natasha will be happy together.
Over the next few days and weeks, you tried to avoid Bucky as much as possible. You only met him when you really had no choice, like in a meeting or on missions. You found a few of his things in your apartment, packed them all into a box and placed them beside his room on the compound. Sam spent more time with you, trying to be there for you as best as he could.
It had been two months since your breakup with Bucky. It’s been sad and frustrating two months. You missed Bucky so much, just like he missed you.
When you arrived at the compound for a meeting that day, you never imagined that the day would end the way it did.
The meeting went well, and Fury has decided that you, Natasha and Steve will go on a mission tomorrow. At first you weren’t happy that Natasha will go on the mission with you, but there was nothing you could do about it, so you had to accept it.
When you saw Bucky in the living room with Steve and Sam, you decided to go training for a while before you leave. When you entered the training room you saw that Natasha was there as well. You decided to not pay much attention to her and just do your thing. You trained for a while and then took a short break. You sat down on a bench. After a few minutes Natasha joined you. You sat there in silence for a while until you decided to say something.
“I hope you and Bucky are happy together.” Natasha looked at you, had a confused expression on her face and then started laughing.
“You think me and Bucky are a couple? We’re definitely not, me and Barnes are just good friends.” She said after she stopped laughing. Now you were the one who was confused.
“But you were when we broke up, right?”
“No, we definitely weren’t.”
“I don’t understand…because I thought that was one of the reasons we broke up.”
“What?” Natasha asked confused.
“You and Bucky were hanging out a lot and I assumed there was something going on between you two. So I thought that was one of the reasons we broke up.” You said and went quiet again.
“Wait, we were just hanging out so much because...” She paused for a moment but then said more.
“Well, I guess I can say it now. I helped Bucky with something. He wanted to prepare something for your birthday.”
“Really?” You asked and Natasha nodded.
“But I thought there was something between you and Sam?” Natasha asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Me and Sam? What?!”
“Bucky saw you and Sam kissing.”
“What, but we never-.” You wanted to say more, but then you remembered Sam kissing you on your cheek. What if Bucky saw you, but for Bucky it looked like Sam kissed your lips?
“I have to find Bucky.” You said, stood up and ran to the door. You run up the stairs and into the living room looking for Bucky.
When you were having this conversation with Natasha, Bucky was having an almost similar conversation with Sam. Sam told Bucky that nothing happened between the two of you and that he was just there for you.
“I have to find Y/n.” Bucky said and ran out of the room.
When you reached the living room, Bucky was no longer there, so you decided to check in his room. As you ran up the stairs you bumped into someone. When you looked up you saw that it was Bucky.
“Bucky.” You said his name at the same time as he said your name.
“Natasha told me there’s nothing going on between you and her.”
“And Sam told me there was nothing going on between you and him. And what I saw was just a kiss on the cheek.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
“Oh, doll. I’m so sorry I saw you and Sam and I thought …I really thought there was something going on. If we only had talked better with each other that day instead of just assuming things.” Bucky looked away and you reached for his hands.
“Then we would probably still be a couple.” You finished his sentence, Bucky nodded and looked at you.
“Do you think you can give me another chance?” Bucky asked with a sad look in his eyes.
“Yes, but we should talk better from now on.”
“Definitely.” Bucky started to smile, and you pulled him into a hug.
“Oh, doll. I missed you so much.” Bucky said as he hugged you tightly.
“I missed you too.”
“Natasha told me that she helped you prepare something for my birthday.” You confessed as you broke the hug.
“Yeah, that’s true. Did she tell you what it was?”
“No, she didn’t.”
“Okay, then I hope you’re excited for your birthday surprise.”
You’re happy to give Bucky another chance. Although it will certainly take some time for you to forget what happened, you and Bucky will try to communicate better in your relationship from now on. Because it wasn’t just his fault, it was yours too, but you’re so happy to have Bucky back.
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Taglist:
@marvelogic | @eviebuggg | @buckys-wintersoldier | @nicoline1998enilocin | @kandis-mom | @sergeantbarnessdoll | @noellez-best-life23 @beaubbdoll | @sgtgarricks | @ratchildspartan | @scott-loki-barnes |  @mrs-bucky-barnes-73 | @mrsbuckybarnes1917
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dearestro · 1 month
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Heyy I love your stories, can you do a James Wilson x Wife! Reader and maybe one day at the hospital a doctor starts flirting with the reader in front of James (he doesn't know they are married) and when they come home he gets jealous and the reader tries to reassure him
Jealousy, Jealousy
Disclaimer: I know nothing about hospital and doctor stuff.
Summary: Being married as a doctor can be hard. No one knowing? Can be harder.
Warnings: Innuendos and crude language.
Your Pov
It was the end of the day. I only had one surgery consult left, and then it was home sweet home. I was looking over the file at the nurse's station. It was a routine appendectomy. One that wouldn't even be done until tomorrow as it wasn't in a state of emergency. However, the working doctor had asked me to come in and ease the patient's worries, so I was happy to oblige.
I was still looking over the file and waiting for Dr. Robertson, when a certain doctor walked up beside me.
"Dr l/n." I smiled at the professionalism.
"Dr Wilson! Good to see you." I didn't look up from the file and tried to act as casual as possible. "How's your day been?"
"As good as it can be for an oncologist." I smiled sadly and subtly bumped his shoulder.
"Well, I'm sure it'll get better." He looked over at me like he was about to reply, but Dr. Robertson beat him to it.
"Dr. l/n! Are you ready for that consult?" I turned to my right to greet the man. He was on the younger side, bold, but a good doctor.
"Just finished going over the patient's file." I offered a friendly smile.
"Great!" He put his hand on my waist and turned serious. "What do you say you and I discuss this case over dinner tonight?" I frowned.
"I don't see any reason to." I said carefully, trying not to offend him. "After all, it's a routine appendectomy." He left his hand on my side and shrugged.
"Well, we don't have to only discuss the case." He said suggestively. I tried not to outwardly cringe at the thought and the presence of his hand on my body instead offering an uncomfortable smile.
"I don't think that's necessary. Besides, I already have plans tonight." I removed his hand gently. Well aware that James was still behind me and could probably sense my discomfort.
"Well then, another night?" This guy was not getting the hint.
"Not likely. Speaking of which I just remembered. I can't do the consultation on the surgery." He frowned.
"Why?"
"I just remembered I already have a surgery scheduled for that time tomorrow, so I'm unavailable, and I assume the patient would want to meet the surgeon who actually works on them?" I struggled to come up with a lame excuse. "However, I can recommend a different surgeon."
"Oh...alright...I guess."
"Good! Try Dr. Hunters. She's an excellent surgeon." And single. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must get going." And I quickly walked to the safety of my office.
The end of the work day came around quick enough, and I started my walk to the car. Once I dropped my stuff in the back and got into the passenger's seat, I looked at myself in the mirror.
What a strange day. People didn't usually hit on me. So what happened today wasn't anything I expected. It was so... awkward. Truthfully, the only thing I want to do now is get home, put on my pjs, and cuddle up and watch a movie. I closed my eyes and smiled at the image I had created in my head. Pure bliss.
However I was awoken from my daydream by the car door being opened. I looked back and smiled as I saw James shove his things in the back and then take his place in the driver's seat.
"Hey." I smiled at him.
"Hey." It was exactly what I had said, and yet there was something off about how he said it. He started the car, and we sat in silence as he drove home.
"Are you ok?" It wasn't unusual for us to be silent on the ride home, but I couldn't help but feel that something was off.
"Mhmm." He kept his eyes on the road, not even sparing me a glance. Not wanting to push any further until we were at home and relaxed, I just sat my hand on his thigh and closed my eyes for the rest of the way home.
Wilson's Pov
I watched as she quickly fell asleep. Her hand still rested on my thigh as if she were tethering herself to me. I felt guilty for giving her the cold shoulder, but I couldn't help it. We arrived at our home. I parked the car and just sat there for a second before moving to wake her up.
"Babe..." I lightly grasped her shoulder, not wanting to scare her. "Wake up...we're home." She groaned in response but stayed still. I sighed and rolled my eyes at what was likely an act.
I got our bags from the back and dropped them off inside before coming back out and going to the passenger's side. I opened the door, careful not to wake her. I smiled, she looked so peaceful.
I unbuckled her as she murmured something in her sleep. Slowly, I picked her up bridal style, careful that she didn't hit her head on the car. In her sleepy haze, she wrapped her arms around my neck and snuggled into my chest.
My beautiful wife.
I closed the door and brought her into the house. When we got to the living room, I laid her down and covered her with the throw blanket she insisted we keep on the back of the couch. I went into the kitchen to make us some dinner while she slept on the couch.
Your Pov
Before I knew it, I felt the car stop and arms wrap around me. However, I was still in a sleepy haze, so I decided to just let it happen. After all, who was I to deny my husband the treat of carrying me? Besides, he's nice and warm. Of course, the moment ended much too soon for my liking when I was set on the couch and tucked in. I would've protested, but I was much too tired.
After a few minutes, I decided it was time to get up and see what was happening. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as I walked over to the kitchen to find James humming as he cooked. I smiled at his goofy dance he made up as he went along. How did I get so lucky? I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist, effectively burying my head into his shoulder blades.
"Hey babe." I mumbled into his shirt. He hummed in response but didn't say anything. I frowned. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." I turned him around so he faced me and raised my eyebrows. Obviously, I didn't believe him. "It's nothing, really, it's stupid."
"Obviously it's not 'stupid' or 'nothing' if it's bothering you." I cupped his face in my hands. "James Evan Wilson. Please do not lie to me." He sighed.
"It's just...seeing you today. When Dr. Robertson was so obviously hitting on you...it made me....uncomfortable." Oh. I stroked his face and smiled at him.
"Uncomfortable as in...jealous?"
"N-no!" I chuckled softly.
"It's alright James. I understand." I grabbed his hands.
"Y-you you understand?" I nodded.
"Of course I do! You think I don't see all those young, pretty nurses flirting with the hot, sexy, and charming head of oncology?" I smirked as he turned red in the face.
"I-I..." I kissed him softly before he could get anything out.
"My point is...it's normal to be jealous!" I put my hand back up and stroked his cheek. "Besides Dr. Robertson doesn't know we're married. I'm sure if he knew he wouldn't have said any of that."
"I know it's just-"
"Hard?"
"Yeah..." I continued to stroke his cheek as I looked into his eyes.
"I know. Which is why I've been thinking." I paused as he cocked his head in confusion. He was so damn cute. "I know when we got engaged, we agreed to keep things on the 'downlow'. But I suppose...it wouldn't hurt...if we...tamped down the professionalism a little bit." I grabbed his hands and brought them to my chest. "Maybe a hug. Or a kiss here." I brought his knuckles to my lips. "And there." I pecked him on the lips, but he seemed to linger. "And you know...I had this patient. In addition to their wedding bands...they got a design tattooed on their ring fingers. She said they tend to fade but I thought it might be nice. I could get your name tattooed around my finger. That way, everyone knows I'm yours, and you're mine. Of course you don't have to get one if you don't want..." I kissed him again before meeting his eyes again.
"You-you'd do that? For me?" I laughed lightly.
"Of course. I'd do anything you wanted if it showed I loved you." He started to smirk.
"Anything?" I laughed and kissed him before patting his cheek and walking back to the food that had been long forgotten.
"Keep it in your pants, baby. We still have to eat dinner!" He groaned as we went back to preparing dinner.
"Tease."
Author's Note: Thank you for the request! It was literally perfect. I just hope I did it justice! Thanks for reading my other work, I'm so glad you liked it. I was curious though about Wilson's Pov...I can't tell if I'm doing it in his voice well enough or if I should just stick to the reader's pov. Sorry it's kinda short. And yes I did title this after a song, I needed a title for the Masterlist I'm making and couldn't think of anything else. Anyways thanks again!
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bi-bard · 2 years
Text
Feels Like I’m Becoming a Part of Your Past - James Wilson Imagine (House MD)
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Title: Feels Like I’m Becoming a Part of Your Past
Pairing: James Wilson X Reader
Based On: Bye Bye Baby
Word Count: 680 words
Warning(s): mentions of divorce and infidelity.
Summary: Maybe James should accept that he’s the reason so many of his relationships have failed… or not. Pushing away blame is much easier.
Author's Note: Short and angsty. Just how I like it.
Masterlist for From the Vault - Taylor Swift Writing Challenge
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I was convinced that I would never find myself in a divorce. It took me such a long time to love and trust people that I thought that the person I chose to let in would be the real deal.
I was convinced that James was the right person.
How could someone that was so careful be careless when loving someone?
I was shocked at how long my brain could go without acknowledging I was in pain.
It didn't set in when we were yelling at each other.
It didn't set in when we signed the divorce papers.
None of it hit me while I was going through the process. It made me feel cold and heartless. I had resorted to being exactly what he had claimed that I was.
It wasn't until the first night completely alone that it all set in. No more meetings or need to contact him. The first night in my apartment with nothing to do other than face my thoughts.
I had failed. My relationship had crumbled in front of me, and I failed to stop it.
I spent the first night on my couch. Most of it had been me avoiding the empty side of a bed. The smaller the space, the less there was to miss. It didn't make sense to me then, and it doesn't make sense to me now.
The next morning, I woke up to someone knocking on my door.
I had this deep sense of dread in my stomach.
I only wish that I had listened to it at the time.
I pulled the door open to see James on the other side of the door.
"Did I not sign in the right place," I asked, hoping this was just about the papers and not something more ridiculous.
"I wanted to talk," he replied.
"We did that," I said. "Kinda how we ended up choosing to get divorced."
"We have more to talk about."
"No, we don't. I don't have anything to say, and I've listened to every excuse you could come up with."
James sighed, "Please."
"No."
"This is why we ended," he pointed at me. "You could never communicate."
"What?"
"You just shut down. Something doesn't go your way and you throw up all of these walls. I got tired of trying to break through them."
There was a moment of silence where neither one of us spoke.
"You are so much dumber than I originally thought," I finally said.
"What," he asked.
"James, we split up because you fucked someone else," I replied. "My communication skills were not the problem."
James didn't reply. Not to deny it or to make some half-assed attempt to explain himself.
"I know it's easier for you to blame someone else, but you didn't accidentally fall into someone's vagina."
He looked down.
I was right. I was starting to accept that. I was not the reason my relationship failed. I couldn't have stopped what he did. I had no control over that. He did. He had every chance to stay committed to me and he didn't That's not my fault.
He forgot about everything I had ever done for him. Every chance I took in trusting him. It was not my fault that he didn't see that until it was too late. I shouldn't have had to teach him.
"Is there anything else I can help you with," I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. He just looked back up and rolled his eyes. "Then leave. I am not talking about this anymore. I did my talking before signing the divorce papers."
I closed the door in his face.
As I stepped away, I heard another knock. I didn't open it.
"I'm sorry," I heard him call through the door. "I'm sorry for everything."
I didn't respond to him. He didn't deserve that.
This wasn't a movie where he could say all the right things and I would go back to him. That's not how this was going to work. He knew that.
I just wish he would accept it.
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Masterlist (Includes links to All Writing Challenges)
What I Write For
Some Original Characters
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