InsaneJournal

The Fourth of July was always an intense day in the ER - an off day - and this one had been no exception. Liv had been in surgery off and on from one in the morning until six at night. She was so drained, but also energized in the weirdest way. Like 15 hours in surgery had sapped the life from her body, but fed her competitive perfectionist brain to the point where she banged in through the front door with a mile-wide grin on her face, even though she really just wanted to sleep for a week.

“I’m starving!” she announced into the house.

“Look,” a disembodied voice shouted back from kitchen, “you can’t just come crashing into the house like the Kool-Aid guy and shout Mee Huungray. Grilling is precise work.”

Liv made a mock-impressed ‘oooo’ as she turned the corner into the kitchen and found Major rubbing spices on steaks. He was wearing his ‘World’s Okayest Cook’ apron, which really didn’t help support his argument, honestly. It did bring out his eyes and make those ridiculous shoulders look even wider, though.

“Precise work,” Liv snorted. “Surgery is precise work. You should be begging for the use of my hands, Mr. Lilywhite.” She came in for a quick groping pass, squeezed his ass, and headed back towards the doorway.

She only made it three steps before Major wheeled her back in for a kiss. Her back connected with the counter, his large warm hands cradling her face. Humming warmly against his mouth, Liv gave into the kiss for a minute. Or three. But eventually, she was still the one to break away, slipping out from her “cage” and making a run for it.

“Hey! I was just about to do this begging thing you were talking about,” Major called after her.

In the hall, Liv grabbed her phone out of her purse. “I need to take a shower. And I need to send a few emails. Oh, and I should call Ravi.”

“Who’s Ravi?” Major asked.

Liv stumbled abruptly against the table in the hall, knocking a vase to the floor with a crash.

Who’s Ravi?

Her gaze raced from point to point around her. The stairs she remembered Major sliding down in his socks that morning. Pictures on the walls of their last vacation, them and her family at Christmas, one of Major’s kids winning a skateboarding competition. Wait, wasn’t that the teenager who was killed by Blaine and his zombie crew a few years a--

Each breath was coming fast and sharp by the time Major came into the hall. He approached her too much like she was a rabid dog getting ready to bolt - he was practically tiptoeing, for God's sake - but it hardly seemed like the time to complain. Besides, there was a mess of glass, water, and tulips on the floor at her feet

“I think I might be having an episode,” Liv gasped. “Or maybe a psychotic break. It could totally be a break. I mean, I have been working really hard lately, but if I want to make a strong move into neurosurgery, I need to--”

“Hey, hey,” Major whispered, caressing his hands down Liv’s arms in soothing strokes. He smelled like marinade and meat, and Jesus, why was she so hungry? “Everything’s fine. You are amazing. You just had a long day.” Major pulled her into a tight hug and rested his chin on her head. “Let’s get some steak in you, Mrs. Lilywhite.”

Just barely in her line of sight was a picture from their wedding. A candid. Liv was laughing and Major was staring down at her with love and a bit of smugness, but none of the baggage every glance carried these days. Because she had never been turned and their lives had never been flipped upside down. Because apparently zombies weren’t even a thing here.

Wait. Of course, zombies weren't a thing. She really was cracking.

Her gaze stayed locked on Groom Major’s face and Bride Liv's smile, but even then she couldn’t ignore the fact that Ravi wasn’t in the crowd of wedding guests smiling behind them. Neither was Clive.

Oh. Oh.

Tears stung sharp and sudden in her eyes.

“Well. This is a shitty dream,” she whispered.