Once again, you saved me || Jolex

Beers and bruises

It's summer and Alex Karev has nothing better to do than drink at 3pm in a small diner in Boston that happened to have a bar. How he got there is a long story. He devoloped feelings for a patient who had amnesia, but her memories came back after brain surgery and they reached out to her husband, the father of her baby. He took her home later that week. Alex was on his way to visit her, he was halfway there when he chickened out. But he couldn't go home, not while Cristina and Meredith were on Cristina's honeymoon and everyone else was probably doing their own thing. So after a drink or two at a bar in a local town not far off the highway, he decided to spend the rest of his summer cruising in his car, perhaps he would even pick up a girl or two on the way.

"Would you like another bottle, Sir?" The waitress asked, nodding towards his empty beer bottle.

The waitress who had served him earlier was done her shift and replaced by this young brunette. He skims his eyes briefly over her then flashes a devilish smirk. "Yeah, and it's Doctor not Sir, but you can call me Alex."

"Don't bother flirting with me." She grabs his empty bottle and twists her hand so that her wedding ring is practically in his face. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Do I want to talk about what?" He grumbles. He came here to drink and get laid not to talk. At this moment he decides he prefers the other waitress, at least she didn't try to put her nose where it doesn't belong.

"The reason you're sulking in a diner at 3pm." She reaches over to the fridge, hands him his beer then proceeds to rinse out glasses on the other side of the bar.

Alex rolls his eyes, he really is not in any mood to answer any questions besides 'Do you want another beer?' and definitly not questions from her. Judging by how young she looks, he'd guess she's a college student working here to pay her bills. She met her husband in high school and got married after senior year. She hasn't had to worry about anything besides the troubles of friends and customers. Lucky, lucky girl, he thought. If only life were like that for everyone.

"Seriously, what happened?" She asks again, overstepping his boundaries.

"Nothing. Just shut up and get me a drink." He snaps. He squints to read her name on her black apron. Brooke. "Tequila please, Brooke." He didn't mean to be so harsh to her. She was being friendly, and a little too curious. Not wanting to talk isn't an excuse to be so rude, he knows that. He debates on apologizing but what if that makes her think she can start pushing for an answer again?

"I'm-" His half-hearted apology is cut off by a hiss of pain from Brooke. He looks up to see that her back is turned to his, to get a shot glass from the cabinet he presumes. The shirt under her apron has ridden up to reveal a nasty bruise across her back and ribs. For a second it feels like all the air has been knocked out of him. He has seen bruises like that in the ER, they're often accompanied by broken ribs. How the hell did she get that?

"What happened to your back?"

"Now who's nosy?" She replies sharply. "I fell, it's nothing."

Alex wants to believe her but something in his gut tells him it's something more. He wants to inquire about it but keeps his mouth shut instead. Didn't he tell her to shut up for the doing the exact same thing? He could've sworn she flinched when he raised his voice at her. Did someone do that to her? Her husband? You sound paranoid, not everyone is like your dad, he tells himself.

....

tw domestic violence, skip down to the next  '....' if it bothers you

A cold rush of dread runs through Brooke's body as she enters her house. The lights are off, it's as if no one's home. But he is, he's always home on Saturdays at eleven pm. Lola, a friend that works the shift after her asked if she could take over for her today because her grandmother was sick and she wanted to spend time with her before she passed. Like the generous fool she is, Brooke said yes, and she knows she'll pay for it twofold. Paul hates when she isn't home before he gets back for work. And today he got home to an empty house with no food on the dining room table.