#chara:rory weston

[westonthebeston]

Family Reunion \\ Westons

WHO: Juliet and Rory Weston

WHEN: Monday, January 20th, evening.

NOTES: Rory and Juliet haven’t seen each other since he walked out on their family. Juliet wasn’t expecting to see this face on her way back up to the baby she was supposed to be keeping an eye on.

WORD COUNT: 2,043

There were certain hazards that came with working in security. Especially when you had to take someone to the ground and they were high enough to act like a fucking rhino. Rory had been able to do his job - he was great at it, in fact. That's the main reason he was the go-to on big jobs. But there were also some draw backs like having your damn shoulder popped out of its socket. It wouldn't be the first time and before Rory was always one to be able to pop it back in himself but after multiple attempts, he decided not to risk it. A quick visit to the ER would get it popped back into place and he'd be back on his way. Sitting on one of the bed, he checked his phone before giving a quick glance around, not really paying attention to much until he felt the ghost of some one crawl up his back.

No. That was impossible.. Was it..? It had been years since he'd seen his sister, and she looked older now, more grown up, and she was definitely not a patient. She worked here? Something cold curled inside of him and just as one of the doctor's walked up to him, Rory jumped off of the bed. "I'm sorry. I should probably go." The man tried to argue with him about his shoulder but Rory stepped back, about to leave when he knocked over a tray of instruments. "Shit. I'm sorry.. I'm sorry about that.."

Juliet heard the clatter and really hoped it wasn't another junkie getting aggressive with the nurses, though, when she turned around, the man that was staring at her. Rory.

Juliet had tried to keep contact with her brother when he'd taken off, but ... nothing. She knew he went out West, possibly California, and maybe that had influenced her decision to go to Stanford, but she hadn't expected to see him out of the blue, not at work .. Not today when she'd just been given an amazing opportunity. She'd only been walking through the ER to get back to Officer Evans, Alice, and Johnny.

It only took a second to see that Rory was trying to dash for it so she quickly caught up and faced him, even if the idea ... scared her. She hadn't seen him in ... years.

"Ror- Jus- .. What are you doing here? Are you hurt?"

Shit. Rory hadn't been ready for this blast from the past. After he left home, telling his family he was going for a walk and never coming back, he'd started up a whole new life. Somewhere far from anyone who knew what he'd done, and what he'd lost. It was how he'd wanted it. His family would be better off without him.

And he believed it too. But now his little sister was in front of him and he felt.. scared. "Uh. H-hey, uh.. hi. How's it.. going? Hurt? No.. No, i'm just.." He looked at his shoulder and waved his good hand dismissively. "I'm fine. I was actually just heading out," he said, taking another step away from her. She was a doctor now. See? He told himself. Her life was better without him. "It's good to see you though," he turned quickly and stepped outside as fast as he could.

Of course he was trying to escape. Juliet wasn't having that, not again. "Rory!" She shouted after him, hustling outside and grabbing his elbow. "You can't just run away all the time," Juliet told him, hating that there were tears in her eyes. At least they were outside and none of her superiors were around.

When Rory had left Juliet had been beside herself. Her big brother was always there and suddenly he was gone. Losing Cole had been hard enough, but a year later her brother just ... left. Nothing felt like it was going to be okay anymore so she'd done what she could to forget it all and poured herself into school. First high school, then college courses for extra credit. She got into every school to applied to, but, she chose Stanford. Her work didn't stop there though, she graduated at the top of her class and had her pick of hospitals. She stayed in California, probably subconsciously hoping to find him but ... now he was here and she didn't know how to make him stay.

Rory had always known that he'd fucked up back then and it was impossible not to think about it. He still had a scar down his arm from where the broken glass from the window had torn into his skin. Every morning he got dressed, he saw it and he thought about what happened. He hadn't expected to see Juliet and it would be better for her if that didn't last long.

But he should have known she would follow him. "Jules, it's--ow, fuck." He stopped where he was when she grabbed his elbow, making a grunting sound as he grabbed his dislocated arm. Okay so he couldn't exactly hide that little fact now. "I was just getting my arm.. popped back in or whatever. I didn't know you were here," he said in an apologetic voice.

Juliet sighed when he told her his arm was dislocated. Why was she not surprised. It was probably a fight, but judging by his lack of bloodied up face, he'd won.

"Come inside, Rory. I'll help you with your arm." All she wanted was for Rory to stay but ... maybe pushing it was the wrong thing to do. "You can escape after that ... okay?"

He stood in place for a minute, thinking about his options. He could have left. He could walk away. It wasn't far to another hospital, just a couple miles, and he could go there. But before he'd even made a decision on whether he was staying or going, Rory was following her inside. He kept his head down as he walked back to the bed and sat on the edge. He should have just stayed quiet but the curiosity was too loud. "How long have you been here?" They'd occupied the same city and hadn't even known.

"Eight years," Juliet answered without even a thought. When Juliet got into her "Doctor Zone" her friends had called it, she quieted. She gently took his arm, warning him that it would hurt, and efficiently popped his shoulder back in.

"Go easy on it," Juliet warned him, as she scribbled a prescription for some low dose painkillers. "And you can take these as you need. A little stronger than Advil but nothing special."

Did she want to beg him for information? Yes. But Juliet knew her brother and he was stubborn and he obviously didn't want to be here so who was she to force it?

"You've been here for eight--" There was a little warning enough but then a grunt of paint as he felt his shoulder go back into its socket. He turned his head to the side, rode out the feeling and then flexed his fingers to work through the pins and needles he felt.

Waving off the prescription, Rory jumped up to his feet. "I don't need that. Even the low dose stuff makes me groggy and I have to be on it for my job." He should have just thanked her and walked away like he'd been trying to earlier but now he felt like he wanted to stay. That was a dangerous feeling. "So.. eight years, really?"

He didn't leave.

Juliet had been bracing herself for a quick escape but .. he stayed just standing there. She wanted to smile but was scared if she did, he'd vanish into thin air, like it felt he did before. So instead, she nodded. "Moved here after graduation. Stanford for undergrad and med school. I just started interning here in September, for surgery."

All this time, he thought. A part of him wanted to pull her in his arms and hug her. He'd missed her, missed his family, missed a lot of things.. but guilt was real. "Wow," he said under his breath. "That's.." He nodded a few times, lowering his gaze to the ground. It felt like he couldn't even look at her. Like if he did, he'd see her recognizing someone who killed their cousin. He saw enough of that in his mirror every day and he'd avoided seeing it come from her. "That's really cool, Jules. Good for you."

He couldn't even look her in the eye, that stung. All Juliet wanted to do was ... make the last few years disappear. She wanted to be at home, watching him "go for a walk", and just ... follow him. Make it so he couldn't leave again. "Thanks, Rory..."

Juliet took a step back, making sure he knew he could leave if he wanted to. But, as she did she pulled her phone out and opened up the contacts app. "Add yourself? Please?" She asked, trying to look into his eyes.

Rory told himself to apologize and make a quick escape. They hadn't seen each other once in those eight years so they could continue to go back to that. He'd just make sure that he didn't bring himself back to this hospital if he needed it.

But he looked up and caught the look in her eyes, something that was so brightly pleading. He'd seen that look so many times growing up, when his little sister wanted something and she'd figured out how to get him to give it to her. He let out a breath and nodded once before tentatively taking the phone and typing his number.

Then as he handed it back, he lowered his attention back to the ground, holding his arm against his side. "Thanks for.. you know.." he motioned to his arm. "I um, I'm really glad that you're.. you know.. doing well." God, he hated himself in that moment.

Juliet pocketed the phone immediately, not even wanting to check if the number looked fake, she'd have to have a little faith right now, faith he was still the brother she knew and loved. Maybe things had changed after the accident, but she still loved her big brother, always would.

"It's my job," she chuckled, looking at his shoulder. "And, uh, just doing what I can, y'know." I miss you. She couldn't finish her sentence though, she couldn't have him shoot her down, not after finding him again, even if it was an accident.

I miss you. Rory nodded at her comment, "Yeah. Right. I think we just, you know, kind of do the best we can. I guess." What the hell was he saying? If he was going to go, he needed to go so he took a step towards the door. "I uh, gave the front desk lady my insurance information so I'll--" Shaking his head at himself, he sighed, "Sorry. You don't.. care about insurance information. I'm.. I'll.. right.." It was so good seeing you. "I'll... bye." Rory gave a quick nod of his head and then turned, heading out the door and forcing himself not to look back or run back the way he wanted to.

He didn't even hug her goodbye. She watched him go hoping he'd just ... turn around but...

Tears stung her eyes and Juliet knew she needed out of that ER now. She needed to be gone before she ran into Nichol or any of her other higher ups. She needed to stay away from Icaro, she didn't need the Chief seeing her weak like this. The door to the nearest on call room was locked, but, there was an open supply closet across the hall and that was good enough for now.

Closing the door behind her she broke down, sliding down the door onto the ground. She hadn't cried like this in years. It wasn't fair that he could just .. waltz out the door like she was just his doctor.

Eventually she calmed down, figuring it'd only been ten minutes or so. Checking her phone almost an hour and a half had passed since she'd left the ER. Shit, shit, shit, shit. She knew she needed to get back to Johnny or she was dead.