Chapter Text
Josie stirred, she had no idea how long she’d been out. She could tell that she was in the hospital but couldn’t remember anything since the gunfight. Just Cruz standing over her, holding her hand whilst the medics assessed her. Since then, she’d been transported to hospital, had surgery and was now in recovery, unaware of it all. This was the first time she’d really been conscious and she didn’t want to open her eyes and finally face what had happened. So she held onto the moment, just a little longer.
She listened to the sounds around her: the beeping of the machines attached to her, the faint talking and shuffling in the background and the slow breathing of someone next to her. It was only then that she became aware that her hand was warm, holding onto something. It was the curiosity of who was holding her hand that finally made her face reality. God she hoped it wasn’t her mother.
She opened her eyes, blinking and groaning as she adjusted to the bright lights. She looked to her right and saw Cruz in the chair next to her. She was asleep; her chair pulled as close to the bed as it could go and her hand intertwined with Josie’s. The beeping on her monitors increased slightly at the sight. The change in noise stirred Cruz awake and she came around quickly, almost trying to hide the fact she was even asleep in the first place.
“Hey” Cruz said quietly, not wanting to overwhelm Josie. She stood up, reached over to the table by Josie’s bed and grabbed her a cup of water with a straw.
“Hey” Josie responded, “thanks” she said as Cruz lifted the cup to her mouth for her to have a drink.
Cruz put the cup back on the table, returning to the edge of her chair to lean close to Josie. “How you feeling?” She asked, genuine care in her voice.
“Ok I think. Head feels foggy, probably from the meds. How long have I been out?”
“Your surgery was 2 days ago, you’ve been in and out since last night.”
“I don’t remember anything since we got rescued.”
“Probably for the best” Cruz smiled.
“Probably” Josie agreed, a smile creeping onto her face too.
They sat there for a moment smiling at each other, hands intertwined, until a voice came from the doorway.
“Cruz, I’ve never seen you smile before” Joe quipped as she walked in. Cruz immediately shot back away from Josie and the smile dropped from her face; her walls shooting back up. She stood up and leaned against the wall behind her chair. Josie leaned back too, huffing at yet another interruption of her and Cruz having a moment.
“You’ve never given me anything to smile about” Cruz responded bluntly. To this, Joe rolled her eyes and moved towards Josie on the other side of her hospital bed.
“How are you feeling, Captain?” Joe asked.
“Fine. I haven’t spoken to a doctor yet, I don’t know what the situation is.” She responded, looking down at her broken leg with worry.
“I just spoke to your doctor. You’ll stay here for 3 more days, then you’ll be released and we’ll travel to Liberty where we are getting a house organised for the QRF. She said you’ll have around 8 weeks in the cast and then once it’s off, plenty of physical therapy. The rest of the team will be recovering with you so you’ll have the support you need to get you to appointments and anything else you need.”
Josie didn’t know what to say. That was a lot of information to process, her life was going to change drastically again. With no choice in the matter. Again. Then she had a thought “Then what? Will I fly again? Will I go back to my unit?”
Joe sighed “Captain, you won’t be able to return to your unit. We don’t have a plan for you yet. Let’s see how your recovery goes and we’ll talk soon.” Josie just stared blankly at Joe, she really couldn’t take any more disappointment. She wanted to cry but had nothing left. She also refused to cry in front of Joe anymore, she’d seen enough of Josie’s tears already.
Cruz had stood silently, listening to the conversation and had been able to observe emotionless until Joe’s last statement. She clenched her jaw and said sternly “Joe. A word.”
Joe glared at Cruz for the tone she had used but stepped out into the hall waiting for Cruz to follow her. As Cruz left, she turned and gave Josie a quick look of reassurance and whispered “I’ll be right back”. Josie nodded but her expression remained broken.
As soon as the door to Josie’s room closed, Cruz said “That’s the best you can do? You have ruined this woman’s life. You lost her the job of her dreams, stripped her of the title she earned, made her give up her privacy and dignity to a team she’d never met and destroyed what little relationship she had with her family. She nearly died for you in that gunfight, and now her leg is broken and the next 2 months of her life are going to be pain and appointments and grief for everything she’s lost. Everything you took from her. So you’re gonna have to do better than ‘Let’s see how we go.’” Only when Cruz stopped did she realise she’d been almost-shouting. She knew Joe would be pissed, furious maybe, for the way she had spoken to her. Cruz was past caring. All of this had happened to Josie without her having a say in it. She refused to let that happen again.
Joe didn’t speak, she stood jaw clenched, hard staring at Cruz after her outburst. Cruz stared back, refusing to back down. Then Joe’s mobile rang. She reached for it and put it to her ear without breaking eye contact or saying a word. It was Cruz who won the stand off when Joe turned and walked away, responding to whatever had been spoken to her on the phone.
Cruz took a second to watch her disappear around the corner before she turned and re-entered Josie’s room. She walked over to her chair and slumped into it with a sigh. There was beat of silence before Josie said “so I heard all of that.”
Cruz sighed again and ran her hand through her hair. She looked up at Josie and leaned forward to rest her clenched fists on the bed. “Sorry.. I didn’t want to talk about you like you weren’t here but I also didn’t think Joe would’ve let me get that much out with you watching.”
“Thank you.” Josie said softly, taking Cruz’s hands into her own and uncurling her clenched fists. A tear fell from Josie’s eyes and Cruz reached up and wiped it away. Cruz was glad Josie felt comfortable crying in front of her, she could see her fighting it when Joe was in the room.
Although Josie was broken, she was glad that at least one other person understood what she had been through and how she felt. She was glad it was Cruz.
In an attempt to lift the mood, Cruz responded “thank you for not dying, that would’ve been really embarrassing for me.”
Josie perked up with an inquisitive laugh “for you?”
Cruz laughed “first girl I’ve ever asked on a date, and then you go and die? Super embarrassing.” Cruz grinned and Josie let out a genuine laugh, shoving Cruz’s shoulder playfully.
“Oh wow yeah no, I see your point. So glad I saved you that embarrassment.” She laughed.“Although, I think our date might be postponed for a while” Josie sighed looking at her leg.
“Well, maybe. Maybe not. I was thinking… and it’s ok if you don’t want to, it’s a lot to put on you and we haven’t known each other that long so if it’s too much I get it-“
“Cruz. What? Just say it” Josie interrupted. Always straight to the point with Josie. Cruz liked that.
“I wondered if you wanted to stay with me when we go back to Liberty. The team will be nearby, but I’ll be around to help you and take you to appointments and anything else you need.”
Josie sat thoughtful for a second and then her look turned devilish as she said “anything?”
Cruz rolled her eyes and laughed, a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks. “Is that a yes or a no?” She responded lightly.
“Yes. Obviously yes. Only if you promise to tell me when I’ve overstayed my welcome or you want some alone time.”
Cruz smiled back “are you planning on being annoying?” She asked jokingly.
“Babe, you know I’m a brat and you still want me, in fact, I think you like it” she said with a wink. Cruz was definitely blushing now, being called ‘babe’ and being called out for liking Josie’s bratty side. Ohhh she was in too deep already, there was no going back now.
“Whatever” Cruz said sheepishly. To Cruz’s relief, a nurse came in to check on Josie which saved Josie noticing Cruz’s red cheeks.
The next three days in hospital went as well as they could’ve. They chatted, ate hospital food together, had visits from the QRF to get updates on each other’s injuries. Cruz left every now and then to have a shower and Josie was in and out of sleep with all the meds she was on. Three days later she was discharged and on a plane back to Liberty, Cruz by her side.