No. I'm not procrastinating from revising for my exam...shut up! ;) I don't know what this is, it just came out and doesn't really make sense.
"Shhh, I know" Jac wasn't sure why but she rubbed the junior doctor's back, much like she would Emma's. Her maternal instinct scared even her sometimes. Zosia's trembling fingers gripped at her senior, as she sobbed, taking in great gulps of air as though she needed to take it all in before it was gone.
Silently, Jac took Zosia's hand, pulling her to her feet and leading her across the ward to her office. She sat her on the sofa before poking her head around the door, summoning the closest nurse and asking her to bring a mug of hot sweet tea. Five minutes later Zosia sat with her hands wrapped around the cup, while Jac sat silently next to her.
"Would he-"
"No." Jac interrupted almost before the words had even left the doctor's mouth, "the stent was his best chance. He wouldn't have been any better off with the original treatment plan. He would have spent his last days on ECMO which we both know is a fate worse than death" Zosia blinked slowly as another tear fell from her eye.
"Then why?" she asked quietly. Jac looked into the sparkling eyes of the young woman, as she replied,
"Shit happens. Life isn't fair."
Meanwhile Dominic Copeland stormed up the stairs to Darwin, his heart hammering in his chest. He burst through the doors, an uncertain rage burning in his eyes as he scanned the ward searching for her.
"Dom?" Oliver approached him slowly, concerned for his current emotional state.
"Where is she?" He questioned sharply, at which moment the door to Jac Naylor's office opened, out of which stepped the two women. Swiftly, Dom marched across the ward, lurching at Zosia, who looked at him in terror."
"WHERE WERE YOU?" he roared, his whole body trembling, "HE'S DEAD ZOSH! HE'S DEAD AND YOU WERE TOO BUSY UP HERE WITH YOU NEW BEST PALS TO EVEN SAY GOODBYE." Zosia stepped backwards, stuttering to try to form a reply.
"Doctor Copeland" Jac spoke sternly, in a completely different manner to her conversation a few moments ago, "I think you need to leave my ward and take yourself home." Dom snapped his head sideways to face her, as though only just noticing her presence. He then continued to speak, slowly, and calmer.
"I'm not going anywhere without her." Zosia took another step backwards, bowing her head as more tears threatened to fall. Jac then moved forwards, shielding the junior doctor,
"I won't ask you again Dominic. Please remove yourself from my ward now, else I will not hesitate to call security." At this point every member of staff on the ward was now standing around watching the scene unfold. For the first time Dom turned his attention to the rest of them, looking around the numerous pairs of eyes focusing on him, conveying their sympathy through a myriad of facial expressions. Subsequently, Ollie stepped forward from the crowd, placing a hand on Dom's shoulder and leading him back downstairs. As he left, Jac turned back around and raised the volume of her voice as she ordered the rest of the ward back to work. Meanwhile, Zosia swiftly snuck away towards the locker room.
After ensuring her nosy staff had gotten back to work Jac turned her focus back to the grieving young doctor in her care,
"Are you g-" she stopped as she turned around and realised Zosia was no longer standing behind her. "Oh bloody hell" she sighed under her breath as she began to search the ward.
As Jac headed towards the locker room, she heard a light repetitive thumping sound, and then began wondering why she hadn't looked there straight away. She opened the door slowly, greeted by the sight of Zosia March sitting cross legged on the floor, her forehead repeatedly hitting the metallic side of the locker unit.
"Hey" she knelt down beside her, snaking a hand to her cheek, turning the young face towards her, "don't" she said, referring to the doctor's previous actions. "Will you be ok getting home tonight?" she asked softly. Zosia shut her eyes tightly, a whole fresh new wave of grief washing over her as she began to realise she and Dom would have to find a new roommate. Jac was out of her depth, unsure of the best actions. "Ok...what about your dad? Do you want me to see if you can stay with him?" Almost straight away Zosia replied with a definite shake of her head.
"I'll sleep in the on call room...Dom needs some space." She said uncertainly, unsure of what other options she had. Jac looked down at her watch and sighed,
"I have a spare room, get your stuff together and meet me outside my office in ten minutes." Then she got to her feet and left, like a woman on a mission.
At the allotted time Zosia stood outside Jac Naylor's office, feeling out of place on the ward in her own clothes rather than blood and vomit stained navy scrubs. A moment later Jac appeared with a bag in one hand and the hand of a small ginger child in the other.
"Ready?" The consultant asked, as she approached her junior. Zosia simply replied with a look of confusion but began to follow the woman anyway. As they reached the car park Jac began frantically patting her pockets and digging through her handbag.
"Oh cr...crumpets!" Zosia stifled a laugh at the Ice Queen trying not to swear in front of Emma. She turned to Zosia, "I've left my keys in the office, will you be ok watching face ache here while I run and grab them?" she asked, gesturing to the small child on the end of her arm. Zosia nodded uncertainly, kneeling down to interact with Emma as Jac literally ran back in the direction they had come from.
Zosia sat in the passenger seat of her boss's car, feeling like a child going home with the head teacher.
"Muuuuuuum" a little voice came from behind them, "Fis fingers?" Zosia couldn't help but smile, and Jac replied
"Em you had fish fingers last night...and the night before...and the night before that, you can have something else tonight."
"But Emmy like fis fingers" the two year old explained to her mother. To Zosia this conversation seemed like a very common occurence.
"I know you like fish fingers" Jac sighed, "but you can't eat them all the time." Then she looked over at the junior doctor, an idea coming to mind. "Besides we have a guest tonight, do you not think she should choose what we eat?" Emma looked dubiously at the stranger who had infiltrated her nightly routine,
"well...what she want eat?" Zosia then realised that in this situation Jac couldn't possibly give her the Naylor treatment...and she was feeling brave.
"Actually y'know what, I quite like fish fingers" she announced, ignoring the wide eyed glare she then received from her boss. Emma's giggles could be heard from the back of the car as she knew that once again she had gotten her way, and the stranger grinning in the front seat had proven to be quite helpful.
After their fish finger supper, for which Jac was still fuming, Zosia offered to wash up the dishes (if only to try to get back in Jac's good books). Meanwhile, Jac took the two year old upstairs for her usual bath, book, and bed. Once Zosia had put everything back in its place, which took a while in the unknown kitchen, she started to wipe over the table and kitchen surfaces. Jac came down the stairs slowly, yawning as she released her hair from the tight band that had been tugging at her scalp all day. Coming down to a clean and tidy kitchen was a new experience for Jac, even when Jonny lived with her she still had to tidy up herself. She could quite get used to having another woman in the house...especially one as good looking as- oh dear, did she think that aloud? Zosia still seemed to be unaware of her presence, thank goodness.