Fic: The Gift of Life
Title: The Gift of Life
Author: aibhinn
Summary: Sometimes Christmas in the hospital is the best gift ever.
Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me. I'm just playing with them.
Characters: Jack and Gwen. No relationship implied beyond friendship.
Rating: G
Author's Note: Winner of the holiday-week prompt for writerinadrawer, and I'm EXTREMELY proud of that. Prompt: Gift-giving. Required additional element: a candle, mentioned somewhere within.
Jack looked through the glass window at the young woman in the hospital bed. Alison, he reminded himself. She smiled wearily at her parents, who seemed to be on the brink of tears-but they were happy tears, he told himself. Their daughter was alive.
Gwen appeared at his elbow, holding out a paper cup of take-away coffee with a lit candle printed on the side. He took it gratefully and sipped. His eyebrows rose. "Did Ianto make this?" he asked.
"No, it's from that new place just up the street. I thought, after last night, you deserved the good stuff."
Jack sighed and took another sip. "I didn't do anything."
"You brought her back to life, Jack."
He could feel her searching gaze on him. She was good at that; just the way she looked at you made you want to give up your secrets. One of the reasons she'd been so good at her job in the police, he figured. She'd have made an excellent DI. "I kissed her," he said simply. "That's all."
"And it brought her back to life. I saw it. And I've seen it before." She laid a hand on his arm. He didn't have the heart to shake it off. "How do you do it? What is it that brings them back?"
He shook his head. "I don't bring them back," he said again. "I don't have any control. The power, it just-flows through me somehow. It can strengthen what's there, even if it's only the barest thread of life, but it can't bring people back from the dead." I don't think, he added in his head, for honesty's sake.
Alison's parents were seated beside her bed now, each holding one of her hands and talking to her. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Not the best place to spend Christmas Day," he said.
"Yes, it is," Gwen said quietly. "Their other option was the morgue, and you spared them that." She slipped an arm around him, resting her hand on the small of his back. "The gift of life. Not many people can give that."
"No," he said just as quietly. "I suppose not." His arm went around her shoulders. "Happy Christmas, Gwen."
She smiled up at him, letting her arm go all the way around his waist now. "Happy Christmas, Jack," she replied.
Author: aibhinn
Summary: Sometimes Christmas in the hospital is the best gift ever.
Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me. I'm just playing with them.
Characters: Jack and Gwen. No relationship implied beyond friendship.
Rating: G
Author's Note: Winner of the holiday-week prompt for writerinadrawer, and I'm EXTREMELY proud of that. Prompt: Gift-giving. Required additional element: a candle, mentioned somewhere within.
Jack looked through the glass window at the young woman in the hospital bed. Alison, he reminded himself. She smiled wearily at her parents, who seemed to be on the brink of tears-but they were happy tears, he told himself. Their daughter was alive.
Gwen appeared at his elbow, holding out a paper cup of take-away coffee with a lit candle printed on the side. He took it gratefully and sipped. His eyebrows rose. "Did Ianto make this?" he asked.
"No, it's from that new place just up the street. I thought, after last night, you deserved the good stuff."
Jack sighed and took another sip. "I didn't do anything."
"You brought her back to life, Jack."
He could feel her searching gaze on him. She was good at that; just the way she looked at you made you want to give up your secrets. One of the reasons she'd been so good at her job in the police, he figured. She'd have made an excellent DI. "I kissed her," he said simply. "That's all."
"And it brought her back to life. I saw it. And I've seen it before." She laid a hand on his arm. He didn't have the heart to shake it off. "How do you do it? What is it that brings them back?"
He shook his head. "I don't bring them back," he said again. "I don't have any control. The power, it just-flows through me somehow. It can strengthen what's there, even if it's only the barest thread of life, but it can't bring people back from the dead." I don't think, he added in his head, for honesty's sake.
Alison's parents were seated beside her bed now, each holding one of her hands and talking to her. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Not the best place to spend Christmas Day," he said.
"Yes, it is," Gwen said quietly. "Their other option was the morgue, and you spared them that." She slipped an arm around him, resting her hand on the small of his back. "The gift of life. Not many people can give that."
"No," he said just as quietly. "I suppose not." His arm went around her shoulders. "Happy Christmas, Gwen."
She smiled up at him, letting her arm go all the way around his waist now. "Happy Christmas, Jack," she replied.