here by my side, the devil

[after this ]

here by my side, the devil;
Luke Cameron had vowed that if Jack Ford ever hurt Janet again, he would find a way to bury him. And he absolutely fucking meant it. When he arrives at George Washington University Hospital, the first thing he wants is blood.

Jack has already gotten into an argument with Carissa that everyone in the hallway could hear before his ex-wife left. The only reason Michael hasn't stormed into the recovery room and punched Jack is because he has his priorities straight and he's taking care of Janet, waiting for Holden to arrive. Luke knows that Michael will be doing everything for Janet and he also knows how he feels about Jack. He finds out where Janet's father is, goes straight through the door, and takes that swing which connects solidly with Jack's jaw. "You son of a bitch!" he snaps. "If she fucking dies, I'll kill you myself. And even if she doesn't, I'm going to make you suffer."

Luke Cameron has always been a fighter. Everyone knows how fierce his cross-examinations and jury statements can be. They know how hard a bargain he drives on plea deals. There are several reasons why he's one of the most formidable attorneys in Washington. What is less well-known is that he's no stranger to a physical fight. He was known in high school for a different reason, being willing to stand up to bullies and even to teachers, and it was the law that kept him from getting into any serious trouble. It gave him something to focus his frustration into. He's had decades to mature and he's become a man who makes people pay in different ways. But he didn't say he'd never get his hands dirty, and this is a reason to. Later on, helping protect Janet and Michael from human traffickers will be a reason to.

Jack knows better than to say anything, just like he didn't with Carissa. He understands he's the target of their anger because he's the one that's there. And he doesn't blame them because he feels guilt for bringing Janet to the park in the first place. When Luke realizes he's not going to get anything out of him, he knows there's no point in staying. "Don't come anywhere near her," he snarls, which is the reason why Janet never sees her father when she wakes up. "Leave her with the people who actually fucking care about her."

He storms out of the room as quickly as he came in, taking several moments to breathe and force his anger back into the bottle. A quick look at his hand confirms that it'll be sore but he's uninjured. Luke has a thought of trying to find Michael and Janet, but he thinks that she's still in surgery, and him coming in wound up like this isn't going to help either one of them. Even texting Michael won't work when her partner probably isn't even looking at his phone. It's a better idea for him to calm down and come back when there's something he can actually do to help. So he walks back to his car, well before Jack vanishes again and Holden arrives, and goes back to his office to give Bryan and Kevin the status update. Not that they didn't know the severity of it by the abrupt way he left.

Luke comes by later that evening, when he's calmed down and Michael is the only one there for the overnight shift at Janet's bedside. He'll offer to stay so Michael can finally go home, but Michael doesn't want to leave. Luke won't meet Janet's mother until well into the Vincent trial, and then he'll snap on her too. But if Carissa knew what Luke had done to Jack, she might have changed her tune about him. If Janet knew, she'd tell him that he didn't have to, while understanding exactly why he did. Yet Luke doesn't need to tell anyone about this moment and he knows Jack won't. All that matters is he made a promise and he kept it.