3 months later.

"Evening" greeted Liam with a smile.

Becky had just finally got to sit down. She joined him at the nurses station. It was 2am and for the first time all shift it was quiet, no call bells, no patients argueing with each other over snoring, no agency staff bitching at them.

"Did you call Jack?" He asked.

"Yes, and smudge is fine, he'll be at the vets for another day, but he's going to be ok"

"So glad he's ok babes, so you gonna just keep him at Jacks now?"

"Yeah, Jacks got quite a soft spot for him, and well, I don't feel bad about keeping him in anymore since he got run over, and like Jack said he doesn't intend to live in the flat forever, so by time smudge is well enough to go out again he might have moved"

"Love the way you keep saying 'Jacks flat' like you didn't just move in with him on your birthday"

Becky ignored him. "Mrs Deels across the hall is going to be a bit sad though, she enjoyed feeding him, think she thought I was going to ask her to just take him, like I'd just give someone my cat"

Liam rolled his eyes at her.

"So it's going well then?"

Becky blushed, "so well, so well Liam"

"And it's ok with your shifts and that?"

"Yeah, we've fallen into our own little routine. It's worked a lot better than I thought it would"

"Look at us, both happy and loved up. Bit of a different to a year ago"

"How's Tim finding ITC?"

"He's loving it, and did I tell you that from next month we will be on the same shift pattern?"

"That's the dream right there!"

"Isn't it though?!" Liam hugged himself with happiness before planting a sloppy kiss on Becky's cheek. "We doing breakfast tomorrow yeah? End of night run?"

"Of course!"

-

Becky got back to Jacks just before 9am. He'd already left for training.

She made her way to the kitchen, as always when he had to leave before she got in from a Nightshift he had left a cup of decaff tea on the side in a thermos cup, along with the little whiteboard Becky had bought so they could leave their little crossover notes without destroying half a rainforest.

Morning beautiful, love u!

xx

p.s look in the fridge

Becky opened the fridge and smiled at the bacon butty he'd made for her.

She took her tea and sandwich and sat down to watch a bit of morning TV. By 9.45 her eyes felt heavy so she made her way to bed.

As he always did, he'd left the room cool with the Aircon on and the curtains drawn, so as soon as she entered the bedroom it felt inviting for sleep.

She got undressed and slid between the sheets, checking her alarm was set for 4pm she soon drifted off.

-

Becky was woken by her alarm.

She groaned and fell back to sleep.

"Becks....."

"Becky c'mon beautiful ya gotta get up"

It was 4.30, Jack knew that was the time to go and wake her if she wasn't up. If he wasn't home he'd phone her.

And if he wasn't home and knew he wouldn't be able to phone her he'd pre-set something annoying like the Alexa to shout at her, or the TV to come on at full volume.

But he also knew that after 5 night shifts and only 24 hours off in the last 10 days she was fucked. Totally fucked.

But she had one more night shift, then it was her long weekend off.

"Becks"

"Fuck off" she mumbled

"Don't tell me to fuck off or I'll hafta fuck ya meself"

He waited counting down in his head 3...2....1.....

"Becky I'm gonna open the curtains!"

He got up and pulled the curtains open, letting in the late afternoon sun.

"Noooooooo! Fuck off"

He laid down next to her and started kissing her head.

He'd love to carry out his threat of fucking her but he knew it wouldn't help her feel any less tired.

"Come on bab, it's nearly quarter to now"

Finally she opened her eyes.

"Hey you" he said gently.

She groaned at him.

"The vet called, we can pick smudge up tomorrow"

She smiled at that.

"Ya not driving tonight are ya?"

She shook her head.

"Well I was thinking if ya get a cab to me when ya finish ya breakfast with Liam, ya can rest in one of the lounges and when I finish training we'll go to the vets yeah?"

"What time will you be finished?"

"Between 11.30 and 12, I'll tell Emily you'll be in, she'll find ya somewhere to wait"

Becky nodded "I love you" she smiled.

"Bit a coincidence that, cos weirdly I love ya too"

"Oi!" She giggled.

***

By 6am Becky was dead on her feet. They'd had one of Liam's patients become seriously unwell and been rushed back to theatre for emergency surgery.

So now as well as the normal tiredness, always worse at the end of a night shit run, they were both dealing with the post adrenaline rush slump after dealing with such an emergency.

Becky went to make them both a strong coffee.

She checked her phone.

Morning beautiful. Go into the main acedemy when u get here, Emily said you can wait in their staffroom. Love u xx

She replied

Early start baby, I'm fucked, I might not be the best company. Need a hug. Love you xx

He replied instantly

Early one. Just got here - about to start.

I might join u for a nap later.

Dinner & film Ur choice later xx

She grinned to herself.

-

9am

Liam and Becky sat in their normal seats at the café near the hospital.

It was mostly full of other night shift staff and a couple of paramedics.

After the final night shift in a block the seasoned shifters didn't go home to bed, it was all about trying to survive to a normal ish bedtime to fall into a normal sleep pattern again. Becky knew if she could make it until after lunch, then a two hour nap would get her through the rest of the day to get back onto Jacks schedule.

She had 4 days off ahead of her.

Liam and Becky mostly ate in comfortable silence. Liam's patient had made it through surgery, but was now on critical care.

It never got easier.

"Shall we share a taxi?" She asked him.

He nodded and took her arm as they walked to the nearby taxi rank.

***

10.15

Becky arrived at the training acedemy and was greeted warmly by Emily the receptionist "morning lovely! Staffrooms empty if you want to go and chill"

"Actually, I'm worried I'll fall asleep. Do you think it would be ok if I went outside and watched them? I could do with the air?"

"Yeah of course! Whatever works best for you"

Becky stood at the sidelines watching Jack and his teammates play some kind of game, it looked like piggy in fhe middle, but with keepy uppies.

A man stood near her "they're on the cool down now, I'm Darren, one of the physios, I'm guessing you are Jacks Becky?"

She looked at him "yeah, nice to meet you, how did you know?"

"Uniform, our medical staff don't wear tunics or watches on their chests, so lucky guess"

Becky laughed "yeah that probably is a giveaway, to be honest I'm normally in scrubs, but bad night, ran out of clean ones........ so the proper uniform had to go on"

He nodded at her. "You know, if you were looking for a change the medical team are after a nurse?"

"What kind of nurse?" Becky enquired.

"Nurse practitioner I think, it's on the careers board"

"Oh, I wouldn't be qualified, but interesting"

A whistle blew and the players were dismissed, Jack jogged towards her and hopped over the barrier with ease.

"Hey you!" He beamed he put his hands on her hips, his thumbs rubbing across her front. He knew by looking at her she'd had a bad one.

He kissed her head lightly and let her collapse into his arms for a much needed hug.

"Oooh you feel so good" Becky declared into his chest enjoying being squeezed against him.

"I probably stink a bit"

"I kinda like it though, you smell of man and sex"

"Ya sooooo bad Becks!"

While Jack went off to get showered and changed Becky went to the staff cafe to wait for him.

She ordered their teas and sat down people watching. It was easy to forget just how many people worked here beyond the teams and immediate back room staff.

She spotted Jack heading up the stairs towards her. She watched as he was stopped to chat by everyone he passed. He really was something else.

He plonked himself next to her.

"Right I know ya tired, but do we need to go to the pet shop? He's gonna need a litter tray, anythin' else? Where the fuck ya gonna put a litter tray?"

-

This must be what it's like to have a five year old Becky thought as she watched Jack in the pet shop.

He wanted every animal, from hamsters and parrots to tortoises and Axolotls.

"Would smudge get on with a rabbit?" He suddenly asked leaning over the rabbit pen

"you live in a flat!"

"We live in a flat" he corrected her "that's wot I mean though, ya can have indoor rabbits"

Becky stood next to him peering in at the baby bunnies.

"Look at that one, it's cute, it's black an' white like smudge, they'd match!"

Becky squeezed his waist "you're too fucking cute! Come on I want to see the fur baby I've already got"

They left the shop, somehow Jack managed to spend over £300 on cat toys and accessories that Becky knew the cat was too old and grumpy to be bothered by.

2pm

Becky put their lunch plates in the sink and crossed her arms watching Jack.

She had to wonder at times like this what the legions of fan accounts about Jack on Instagram and tiktok would think if they saw him. Currently he was laying on the floor, head half in the new cat bed, flicking a toy mouse with his finger, trying to convince her cat, who had never shown interest in any toys, that everything was good.....

"Jack, baby I'm going to go to bed for a bit, don't let me sleep past about half three?"

"Yeah" he was still eyeballing the cat.

Becky walked into the bedroom and started taking her badge and watch off, Jack burst in "sorry I need t'get me match day tracksuit I think it needs a wash" he bundled past her into the dressing room.

Sometimes, when he was excited or rushed she still struggled to catch what he was saying through his accent.

He could talk about fucking toenails though and it would probably still turn her on.

Jack stopped as he came back through to the bedroom clutching his black city tracksuit. He saw her watching him.

"Were ya checkin' me arse out?"

He watched her hand frozen at her chest about to undo her buttons.

"Can I help ya with that? I mean it's fine if ya tired...."

They gravitated towards each other, Becky threw her arms around Jacks neck and started kissing him, much more intensely than Jack had expected.

He felt the tension in her and pulled back to look at her.

"Bad night hey?"

"Pretty horrible" she said as she played with the tassels on his hoody.

"What d'ya need? Sleep? A bath? Cuddle?"

"You"

Jack slowly started unbuttoning Becky's tunic, his mouth was so close to her, she could almost feel his lips brush against her.

"You've got a thing about undressing me from this haven't you?"

"It's fuckin' sexy.........I neva woulda got ova that fever if ya'd worn it more when I was in......"

"I ordered more scrubs the other day......there's actually a fitted option now....."

The corners of his mouth flicked upwards as he pulled the tunic off, quickly tugging off her sensible work bra and chucking it down too.

She giggled as his fingers felt around the front of her trouser waistband.

"Fuck sake....." He fumbled around at the back.

"It's at the side....."

"O'course it's at the fuckin' side......"

They were breathing in sync with each other. Both looking down as Jack peeled away her trousers leaving her standing in just her plain black cotton knickers.

He removed his hoody, pulling his t-shirt off with it.

Becky ran her hands down his chest, just the feel of him making everything better.

Their noses were touching now, their lips so close.....

Becky ran her fingers along his waistband....

"Oh you fucking tart, does no one pull you up on never putting bloody pants back on?"

Jack manoeuvred them to the bed, his breath and lips still ghosting her.

She shivered as her nipples brushed against his chest.

He paused, quickly removing her knickers and his bottoms before pulling back the duvet and climbing into bed, taking Becky with him.

He pulled the covers back over them and finally he kissed her.

Becky pushed herself to him immediately, needing him.

His hands ran down her body, she lifted a leg allowing him to push a muscular thick thigh against her.

He fondled her breasts and she reached round to grab his tight arse as she grinded on his thigh.

"Oh fuck Jack"

He pulled her into him wrapping both arms around her and rolling on top.

She felt him hard against her.

They kissed lightly, stopping often to catch each others eyes.

He pushed into her, both gasping.

Becky held his back tight as he gently, firmly rocked his hips into her.

"Ya alright?" He sucked on her earlobe making her groan.

"Mmmm more....."

"Yeah ya wan' it harder?"

"Yes"

She gripped his arse as he pounded harder, thrusted faster.

"Please more Jack!" She begged

He worked harder, she opened her legs further, bending her knees back, pulling him him, kissing him desperately. Desperate for the release only he could bring her.

She felt sweat on his back, his hair flopped over her eyes.

Faster he pounded, pushing back on his knees fully ramming himself into her wetness.

"Aaah so close Jack...."

She felt the feeling building inside her,

He felt her tightening, which only brought him closer himself, his movements became more chaotic desperate to get to her to that peak.

"Fuck, fuck, yes...." She came, her body twisting beneath him.

He was right behind her, with a final thrust and a deep roar he exploded.

"Fuck I needed that Jack, I fucking love you baby" she panted.

Jack smiled into her hair, cradling her to him.

"An' I love fuckin' ya"

"Oi!" She giggled.

"Nah I love ya millions Becks"