A/N: Chapter 2! Thanks for all of your kind reviews, and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter Two: Corrupted Lungs

"What even is this?" Jackson asked, holding up the large metal device he had found in a large cardboard box neatly labeled "Kitchen" in April's immaculate handwriting. Eyeing the tool suspiciously, he poked the shiny exterior. "Some sort of torture device?"

April rolled her eyes, punching her friend playfully. "It's a pasta maker, you moron," she teased, grabbing the offending machine from his hands and placing it in one of Meredith Grey's cabinets. The two surgeons were in the process of moving into the large house, and Jackson was astonished by the number of kitchen tools April had.

Jackson's eyes lit up. "Pasta maker? Why have you never made me pasta?" he asked accusingly. April laughed.

"Someday, I'll make you pasta. Today, however, is not that day."

Jackson nodded in agreement. Both him and April were exhausted from their long day of moving boxes and furniture, and the only thing Jackson wanted to do was collapse on his mattress. "Bedtime?" he asked, offering his arm to the brunette. April nodded and looped her pale arm through his, yawning as they walked upstairs.

Jackson and April stopped sheepishly when they reached the hallway. April's new room was across from Jackson's, less than a stones throw away. Jackson cleared his throat, unsure of what to say. "Um, goodnight," he said quietly. April smiled softly back at him.

"Goodnight, Jackson."

Jackson fought to hide his disappointment when he and April turned and entered their respective rooms. He knew that it was selfish and weird, but he needed his best friend to sleep with him. Jackson chuckled humorlessly as he peeled off his jeans and sweater. Normally when girls slept in the same bed as him, they were doing more than just sleeping. But with April, it was different; it was pure, innocent. Maybe it wasn't normal, but it felt right.

The green-eyed man sighed, pulling on a pair of sweatpants and a Tulane shirt before crawling under the covers and turning off the lamp on his bedside table. He shivered slightly as he drifted off. He had forgotten how cold it was without April there to keep him warm.

Jackson paced through Seattle Grace Mercy West, a smile on his face as he checked his pager. The normally bustling hospital was almost completely devoid of patients, something Jackson attributed to the strange time of night. He grinned widely when he saw his friend emerging from an on-call room, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Hey man," Jackson greeted, patting his friend jovially on the back. "Wanna go down to the cafeteria? I'm starving."

Charles checked his watch and nodded. "Sure. Hey, do you know where Reed is?"

Jackson rolled his eyes. Charles' infatuation with Reed Adamson, while an amusing source of entertainment, could be a little bit annoying. "Yeah, I think she's grabbing something to eat before she heads into a surgery with Dr. Shepherd and Dr. Sloan."

"Oh, uh, cool! Maybe we'll run into her, or something!" Dr. Percy said quickly, trying and failing to keep his voice nonchalant.

"Dude, your whole puppy love thing is kind of pathetic," Jackson joked, expecting a defensive response in return. When there was no reply, Jackson raised his eyebrows as he continued walking through the empty hall. "Charles? No snarky comeback?" Jackson looked around in confusion, searching for the reason for his friend's uncharacteristic silence. He didn't expect what he saw when he turned around.

"Charles!" Jackson screamed. Charles was standing completely still, about fifteen feet behind, with a startled look on his face and a large pool of dark red blood spreading quickly across his light blue scrubs. "Charles!" He rushed over as the dark haired man collapsed, droplets of blood splattering over the floor. Jackson frantically searched for the source of the bleeding, ripping the bloody scrubs off of his friend's body and examining his chest hurriedly.

"Reed," Charles croaked, his glazed eyes focusing on something behind Jackson.

"Reed? Is that you? I need your help! It's Charles, he's bleeding and I don't know where it's all coming from!" Jackson cried out as he desperately looked for the wound.

"Sorry, Avery," came Reed's calm voice.

"What do you mean? Reed, I need you! He's going to bleed out if we don't manage the blood loss!" The only noise he got in response was the snapping sound of her gum.

Jackson turned around, looking to see why Reed wasn't helping. "Reed, we need to get him on oxygen and control the-"

Jackson stopped abruptly when he saw the angry red bullet hole in the girl's head. "Oh my God!"

Reed just smirked, a trail of blood dripping from her forehead and down her elfish face. "Sorry, Avery," she repeated, leaning casually against a supply room door and picking at her painted nails. Jackson gasped for air, the room seeming to spin out from underneath him

Suddenly, Jackson heard a sound that made his heart stop.

"Jackson!" April screamed. "Jackson!"

"April!"

Jackson sprang up from the bloodstained floor, eyes wide in fear. "April, where are you! April!"

"Jackson, I'm right here. I'm right here." April's voice was soothing as she stroked Jackson's sweaty forehead. Jackson blinked rapidly, trying to make out his surroundings. "You were dreaming, Jackson. It's okay. It's okay. I'm here."

Jackson looked around quickly. He was lying in bed, his blankets strewn across the floor and his bedroom door open, letting a stream of yellow light enter the otherwise dark room. April was lying next to him in her purple pajamas, rubbing his arm comfortingly. Jackson let out a strangled sob as he wrapped his arms around the brunette, clutching onto her tightly to make sure she was real. She was solid in his grasp, her skin soft.

"You were screaming," April murmured quietly. "Was it… them?"

"Yeah," Jackson said, his body tense.

"It's okay. It'll be okay."

Jackson breathed heavily into April's shoulder, inhaling the smell of her strawberry conditioner. "Don't leave, please," Jackson choked. "Don't ever leave."

April nodded, hugging him back tightly. "I'm not going anywhere."

Tick, tick, tick.

Jackson's eyes were trained on the plain clock hanging on the wall, timing his breathing with the reassuring ticking.

"So, Dr. Avery," Andrew Perkins said, looking expectantly at the green-eyed man. "You haven't said a word since you've gotten here."

Jackson shrugged noncommittally. Tick, tick, tick.

"Well, let's start with the basic questions. How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling like two of my best friends got shot," Jackson said curtly as he shifted his gaze to Dr. Perkins. He had never been a fan of shrinks and their prying questions and concerned glances. Jackson had always been taught that Averys didn't complain, that Averys didn't need help from others. After his father left him and his mother, he became the man of the household. A full time job that left no time for talking about things like "feelings".

Jackson fidgeted uncomfortably under Dr. Perkins' watchful stare. The psychologist's eyes seemed to bore through Jackson's. "I'm very sorry for your loss."

"Yeah. Me too," Jackson said sharply, his eyes wandering back to the clock. Tick, tick, tick.

Dr. Perkins surveyed Jackson closely. "Nightmares, right?"

"Excuse me?" Jackson sputtered.

"Nightmares. You have nightmares. It's not uncommon in post traumatic stress victims, especially for somebody like you."

"'Somebody like you'? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Jackson asked, voice heating up.

"You internalize all of your pain, Jackson. We've been sitting here for almost forty five minutes and you've barely said ten words. You bottle it up. You've been through a lot in these past few weeks, and I know that it's hard to talk about it," Perkins said kindly, his voice soft. "But I need to know that you have somebody to talk to."

"I do," Jackson said quickly. He was telling the truth- he had April.

"Dr. Kepner?" Andrew Perkins asked, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Yes. "

Perkins nodded slowly. "You've got a good head on those shoulders, Dr. Avery. You just need to makes sure that it doesn't explode from all of the pressure you're putting on yourself." He pulled his clipboard closer to him and signed the form. "You're cleared for surgery."

Jackson gratefully accepted the form, almost sprinting out of the conference room before he heard Dr. Perkins call out to him.

"And Jackson?"

"Yes?"

The shrink looked at him closely. "You're allowed to break down. It doesn't make you weak. It makes you real."

Jackson sighed as he opened the door to Meredith's house, tossing his bag next to the entrance and heading into the kitchen. April was sitting at the table, a cup of coffee in front of her.

"Hey," Jackson said tiredly, plopping down in the chair next to hers and grabbing the cup of coffee. He grimaced as he took a swig of the overly sweetened drink. "Jesus, how much sugar did you put in this?"

April pouted defensively. "I like it sweet!" she insisted as she pulled the mug back from him and took a long sip. "Mmm."

Jackson looked down, smiling at the kitchen table. Even just sitting with April made him feel better. Safer.

"Did you get cleared?" April asked Jackson curiously, tilting her head to the side slightly.

Jackson cleared his throat and nodded. "Yeah."

"Good. That's good!" April smiled.

"I guess you're right. Things will finally be getting back to normal."

Normal.

The word tasted bitter in Jackson's mouth. It was invasive, sour. Jackson wasn't sure he could even remember what normal was. In all honesty, he didn't think that a world without Reed Adamson and Charles Percy could ever be normal again.

Sometimes Jackson couldn't believe how much he had changed in the past month. It took less than twenty-four hours for his entire life to be upturned. Less than twenty-four hours for his friends to die, for his heart to shatter, and for everything he had believed was the truth to be torn apart.

He was mortal. April was mortal. They could die at any second- in a car accident, a plane crash. Life was random, and death even more so.

Jackson would give anything to go back in time and tell Charles and Reed not to go to work that morning. To call in sick, and stay home. Everything would've stayed exactly the same.

But if that happened, he wouldn't have April.

It wasn't as if they weren't close before, but in the past few weeks, April Kepner had become more to Jackson than he ever could've known. She became his lifeboat, the one person in his life that he trusted wholeheartedly. He wasn't even sure if he would be alive without her.

The pretty brunette looked up at Jackson and smiled softly, her hazel eyes meeting his green ones. "Back to normal," April echoed quietly.

A/N: Hope you all liked it! As usual PLEASE REVIEW! I love hearing your feedback and comments. Thank you all so much for reading :)