This idea has been going around my head for weeks and I've been putting off to try and work on other fics first. But with the way the Digby/Chantelle relationship is going I'm starting to forget what it was I used to find so sweet about them and what prompted this idea to begin with. Also, as the spoilers have revealed this week's episode will have Serena going to a posh doctor's dinner I kind of wanted to get my fic out of the way first! Whether or not it will actually be finished before Tuesday remains to be seen, but it shouldn't be anymore than three chapters anyway. I hope you like it.


"…and as one of our most promising junior doctors Ms Campbell and I thought it would be good for you to attend."

Hanssen paused and observed Arthur Digby for a moment. The different emotions flitting across the young man's face were too numerous and too fleeting for Hanssen to read his reaction properly. Dr Digby seemed above all else, nervous, but then Dr Digby always seemed nervous. Hanssen sometimes wished the junior doctor wouldn't be so twitchy all the time, it was annoying.

"So, what do you say?' Hanssen asked eventually when Digby had made no verbal reply.

'Uh…well, I'm honoured. Uh, thanks.' Digby stammered, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

'You will attend?' Hanssen asked.

'Yes! Yes, of course.' Digby nodded vigorously.

'Good.' Hanssen adjusted some papers on his desk in a signal that the conversation was at an end. 'I shall inform Ms Campbell.'

Digby nodded but made no move to leave. Hanssen raised his eyebrows.

'Is there something else?' he asked.

'Um…' Digby adjusted his glasses again. Hanssen wondered if the boy had ever considered contact lenses, at least then he would have one less nervous mannerism.

'Dr Digby?'

'Yea, um… There's going to be a lot of important people at this… event?' Digby gulped.

'Yes.' Hanssen said slowly. 'As I explained, it is an opportunity for you to make some very good contacts which could prove useful for you in the future.' He had already been through all this, he thought impatiently.

'Right.' Digby nodded. 'I'm not… very… good in social situations.'

'Really? You do surprise me.' Hanssen quipped sarcastically.

'No really.' Digby replied earnestly, missing the sarcasm.

Hanssen supressed a bored sigh.

'When I get nervous I… I ramble and I… say… stupid, ridiculous things and I… I think I make people uncomfortable.' Digby said with a troubled expression as he considered this last thought. 'I don't mean to, it's just… I'm not good with people, socially.' He appeared to be getting flustered at the mere thought of it all.

'Dr Digby you will not be alone, Ms Campbell and I will also be in attendance. Do not worry yourself unnecessarily.' Hanssen said calmly.

'Ms Campbell makes me more nervous tha…' Digby trailed off, adjusting his glasses again and swallowing nervously.

Hanssen held back an amused smile. 'Ms Campbell and I have your best interests at heart Dr Digby. We are here to support and guide you.' He paused and gave the uneasy F1 a sympathetic look. 'We all have different strengths. Yours… and mine,' he admitted, 'might not be in social settings but it has to be done. In this respect, Ms Campbell is certainly someone you could learn a lot from. So, you shall put your best foot forward this Friday – yes?'

Digby nodded. Slightly awed by the fact that Mr Hanssen had admitted to not being entirely comfortable in social settings either.

'Yes. Thank you Mr Hanssen.' He said gratefully.


'You'll be fine!' Chantelle said with a cheerful smile and an encouraging squeeze of his arm.

'But what if I'm not?' Digby said anxiously, fiddling with his glasses. 'What if I make some terrible, awful, social faux pas and…' suddenly a myriad of outcomes ran through his mind and his face contorted as though he were in physical pain, 'what if I disgrace myself? Or worse, what if I embarrass the hospital? Or Mr Hanssen? Or Ms Campbell – she'd kill me!'

'Calm down Arthur!' Chantelle took him firmly by the shoulders and looked him in the eye. 'You'll be fine.'

Digby stared into her eyes and felt himself relax. She always had that effect on him. He felt as though the world around him could crumble, but whilst he was looking into Chantelle's blue eyes it wouldn't matter.

'You're over thinking it. It's just a fancy dinner.' Chantelle spoke gently and smiled.

'A fancy dinner with lots of important people who could someday make or break my career. Chantelle I…'

'Arthur!' Chantelle squeezed his shoulders. 'You're a good doctor. You're a brilliant doctor! Best F1 in the hospital remember? You are going to have a brilliant career because of the work you do – not how you hold you knife and fork, or whether you're any good at talking about the weather or… whatever fancy people talk about at fancy dinners.'

Chantelle let go of his shoulders and gave him another encouraging smile. She was glad to see him looking a little more relaxed.

'Mr Hanssen and Ms Campbell know how good you are – and they've seen you dropping files and bumbling about…' Chantelle noticed Digby's face begin to crinkle again and realised perhaps she hadn't needed to point out that Hanssen and Serena had seen him at his worst already. 'Not that you do that a lot!' she added hurriedly. 'I'm just saying… They know you. And they think it's worth bringing you to this dinner. So even if you doubt yourself, I don't think you should doubt them because they don't often get things wrong.'

Digby smiled. 'I wish you could come with me.' He said. 'You always make me feel better.'

'Aww! You'll just have to tell me all about it on Monday.' She replied. 'Or text me on Saturday!'

Digby visibly brightened at the idea of contacting Chantelle out of working hours. 'Really? You'd be interested in hearing from me on your day off?'

'Of course silly, I'm your friend!' Chantelle gave him a gentle smack to his arm. 'You can text me anytime.'

Digby grinned.


Hanssen handed a patient chart back to a nurse and turned towards Digby.

'Looking forward to Friday?' he asked as they began to walk away from the patient's bed.

'Oh yes!' Digby nodded.

Chantelle walked by giving the consultant and junior doctor a bright smile. Hanssen nodded politely at her in response and noticed the way Digby's eyes followed the nurse until she rounded a corner.

'Um… Mr Hanssen?'

'Yes?' Hanssen said somewhat distractedly as they came to a halt at the nurses' station and he picked up another patient file.

'You know what I told you the other day about… well, about how I'm not good in social situations?' Digby began to wring his hands together.

'I vaguely recall some such conversation, yes.' Hanssen replied, not looking up from the file.

'Well.' Digby paused, unsure of how to phrase what he wanted to say. 'I'm very, very grateful to you and Ms Campbell for this opportunity and I really really don't want to let you down.'

'I am sure you won't Dr Digby.' Hanssen began to make a note in the patient file.

'Yes, well, I think there might be a way to ensure that I don't.' he took a deep breath. 'You see,' he gulped, 'Nurse Lane and I have this pact and…'

Hanssen's eyes moved from the file in front of him to glance sideways at Digby with a slightly wary look as he wondered what on earth he was about to hear.

'I do the thinking, she does the talking.' Digby continued. He attempted a small laugh but it caught in his throat. 'Anyway, we… it… um… it's difficult to explain really.'

Hanssen straightened up fully and turned to face him with an unreadable expression.

'Sh… She calms me down, you see and…' Digby was starting to wonder if he was making himself sound insane or simply pathetic. 'You know what, it doesn't matter.' He shook his head and took a deep breath, looking at the floor.

'What did you want to ask Dr Digby?' Hanssen asked evenly.

'Really, it doesn't matter. It was a silly idea, cheeky even!' Digby could feel a blush rising to his cheeks.

Realisation dawned on Hanssen. 'You want to bring Nurse Lane to the dinner, is that it?'

'Yea, I'm sorry, I shouldn't even… It doesn't matter… I…' Digby started to ramble.

'I'll have a word with Ms Campbell. Numbers might be restricted but we'll see what we can.' Hanssen turned back to his file.

'Really? You… don't mind?' Digby asked in surprise.

Hanssen gave him a sideways glance. 'Like I said, it might already be too late to change the numbers so perhaps it would be best not to ask Nurse Lane until it's been confirmed. Now, have Mr Knightley's blood results come back yet?'


'Oh and this dinner on Friday.' Hanssen said as Serena Campbell gathered her files at the end of their meeting. 'Would it be possible for us to add another guest?'

Serena paused and looked at him curiously. 'Another? Who?'

'Do you think it's too late to change the numbers?' he asked without answering.

'I don't know. I can check.' Serena tilted her head as she looked at him. 'Who do you want to add?'

'Nurse Lane.' Hanssen replied.

'Chantelle?' Serena asked in surprise. 'What on earth for?'

Hanssen glanced down at his desk. 'Dr Digby is nervous of attending alone…'

'He won't be alone – we'll be there!' Serena cut him off.

'Dr Digby suffers mildly from social anxiety. He feels that Nurse Lane's presence would be a calming influence.'

Serena raised an eyebrow. 'Really?' she asked dryly.

'Nurse Lane's calming and gentle nature is well known, I don't find it strange that she is a help to Dr Digby.' Hanssen said.

'Oh I don't either,' Serena replied, 'but I rather suspected it was the pretty blonde part of her nature that was a "help" to Dr Digby!' she smirked.

Hanssen pursed his lips slightly. 'Will you find out if she can attend?' he asked.

'Of course.' Serena picked up her belongings and made her way to the door where she paused and turned back. 'Will there be any more changes? Do you want to bring someone along to hold your… hand, too?' she had a bold glint in her eyes.

Hanssen quirked an eyebrow. 'No.'

Serena laughed as she left the office.


Hanssen stood outside the hospital entrance in black tie just as Arthur Digby arrived looking flustered and his bowtie askew.

'Dr Digby, are you alright?'

'Yes, sorry, I'm late I…' Digby looked around and realised neither Chantelle nor Ms Campbell were there. 'Am I late?' he checked his watch.

'Yes.' Hanssen replied. 'But fortunately for you both Nurse Lane and Ms Campbell are later.'

'Oh. They're still coming? I haven't heard from Chantelle…' he trailed off as he began to search his pockets for his phone.

Hanssen looked his up and down, his eyes settling on the bowtie.

'What have you done to mangle that?' he asked.

'Pardon?' Digby asked, then realised Hanssen was looking at his bowtie. 'Oh, I uh… I'm not very practiced at these…' he gestured helplessly with his hands. 'I watched a how to video on YouTube but… I don't think I really got the knack…'

'A how to video on YouTube?' Hanssen repeated. He rolled his eyes. 'Come here!' he ordered.

Digby gingerly stepped closer. Hanssen undid the bowtie and began again. Digby tried to ignore the strange looks they were getting from passers-by. It had taken him almost half an hour to get it to even remotely resemble a bow, so he was impressed by how swiftly Hanssen knotted the perfect bowtie. Hanssen adjusted it until he was certain he was perfectly even.

'There.' He said, stepping back to survey his handiwork properly. He gave a nod of approval.

'How sweet!' Serena's voice came from behind.

They both turned to find Serena and Chantelle standing in the doorway.

'Wow!' Digby gasped as he took in Chantelle's appearance in a royal blue dress which made her eyes shine even more than usual.

'Oh don't you both look so handsome!' Chantelle gushed. 'Don't they Ms Campbell?' she said as they made their way out.

'They do indeed.' Serena said with a half smile. Hanssen looked uncomfortable with the compliment.

Digby couldn't seem to take his eyes off Chantelle as they made their way to the waiting taxi.

'Very suave!' Serena said as she let her gaze wander slowly over Hanssen just before they got into the taxi. She curbed a smile at the almost shy look on his face again.

'And doesn't Ms Campbell look beautiful?' Chantelle asked from inside. 'I love your dress. It really suits you. Doesn't it?' Chantelle looked at Hanssen.

Hanssen looked at the black dress Serena wore and nodded almost imperceptibly. 'Very nice.' He said stiffly.

'Thank you.' Serena said quietly, getting in next to Chantelle.

'Men!' Chantelle rolled her eyes and Serena smiled, her gaze returning to Hanssen as he sat across from her. He caught her eye and his lips twitched as though he was going to smile but instead he blinked and turned away.

Men, Serena thought.