Paging Payton(A Grey Anatomy/Jackson Avery Fanfic)

F O U R T Y- S I X

"Stop! Jackson knock it off!" Payton slapped my hands away as I tried to grab at her sides.

"Oh come on, I thought you weren't ticklish." I teased her.

"I'm not, it doesn't tickle. It makes me wanna punch you in the face." She said matter-of-factly, letting a huge grin spread across her face.

"Yeah cause that shit-eating-grin really makes me think you wanna punch me."

"Hey! My grin isn't shit-eating!" She protested. We both broke out into laughter, hers quickly turning to a coughing fit. Payton doubled over, gripping my  arm for support. She held a hand to her mouth and when her cough finally halted she pulled it away, revealing the pool of blood collecting in her palm.

"Payton..." I whispered, moving my gaze from her hand to her face. Blood had begun to stream heavily from her nose and eyes and she coughed harder and harder.

"Payton!" I yelled her name.

"Payton! Payton!" I could only repeat her name, over and over like echoes through a canyon.

"Payton!"

....

"Jackson, honey wake up." I startled myself awake, pushing myself into a sitting position. It took me a second to find my bearings, I didn't remember moving to an on-call room but I was tangled in sheets and scratchy blue blankets nonetheless.

"Jackson, baby." I turned to face my mother who was shaking my arm. "They want to see you. Without hesitation I flung the sheets off of me, racing down the hallway to Payton's room.

"Derek." I panted. "Please tell me she's okay. I need you to tell me that she's okay."

He placed a firm hand on my shoulder. "Jackson, Payton isn't okay. Her body has been through unimaginable traumas so she is not okay. But she will be. She is going to be okay."

"Jackson," Meredith chimed in. "We got it all. The cancer's gone." I let out a deep sigh and my knees felt like they were about to buckle. The wave of relief that had suddenly hit me was so strong and so unexpected it was almost unbearable. It had been years of push and pull, up and down, Payton's health, my health, our relationship. Years of uncertainties and obstacles. I almost didn't know what to do, now that I didn't have to fight anymore.

"Can I see her?" I asked.

"She needs to rest, but you can sit with her." Bailey nodded at me. I grabbed her hand and gave each of the surgeons a nod of gratitude.

--

"Jackson?" Payton's weak voice called out for me. I had been sitting with her for hours, unable to sleep.

"Hey, I'm here, I'm here."

"What happened?" 

"Your tumor blocked your airway. They had to operate. Payton-" I hesitated. "They got it all, all of your cancer is gone." She was silent for a second and I waited for some sort of reaction from her. I was about to ask her if she was alright when a bout of sobs left her mouth.

"It's gone?" She sobbed.

"Yes, love. It's gone, all of it." I pushed her hair back from her forehead. She continued to cry out the rest of her shock and relief. Finally, after a few minutes she stopped crying and she reached for both of my hands.

"Jackson?"

"Hmm?"

" Marry me."