I Don't own anything, not even the coffee cups. So i owe the BBC for the characters and settings and the like
It was a stressful day at Holby city hospital and Jac Naylorhad a lot on her plate, and even though she would never say it, her bad leg was killing her. However she would not give Faye anything to use against her. So on pure determination and pride Jac hobbled over to the nurses' station. As she turned around, she saw something that made her feel sicker than anything she'd seen in surgery. Faye and Joseph playing tonsil tennis in the middle of the corridor. She turned back to see Maddy Young grinning at her.
"Nice sight for the patients that! Have you got that CT scan for Mrs Morris?"
"I'll take it to her."
As Jac walked to Mrs Morris, she purposely pushed the couple apart.
"Get a room!" she hissed, "Some people are sick here!"
Faye just smirked as she retorted,
"Yeah and the patients aren't looking too good either!"
Joseph snickered and walked away as Faye turned to Jac,
"You can keep trying to split us up Jac but it will never happen because Joseph can see straight through you and so can I! So leave us alone and get on with your sad lonely little life!"
With that triumphant speech out of her system, Faye stalked off to the nurses' station, as Jac stood there, lost for words. Shaking herself mentally, she shoved Mrs Morris' scan into the arms of a passing nurse.
"Bay 4, Bed 3, Mrs Morris' scan."
The nurse looked puzzled, but set off to give Mrs Morris the results.
"I need a break!" Jac thought to herself.
Meanwhile Connie Beauchamp was in theatre. She was not having a good morning as she had to talk to Jayne, who was suspecting John was having an affair.
"I mean he's away all the time, writing, it's not like he doesn't have an office at home is it? It's just a bit suspicious, but I knew I could talk to you about it, you always come up with a rational solution."
"Mostly because I'm covering my own arse!" Connie thought to herself.
"Nonsense," she said out loud, "Maybe he just needs his own space, for inspiration."
Satisfied with this response, Jayne nodded and walked back to her office.
At this very moment, Connie was in theatre, but with a thousand and one things whizzing round her head, she snapped for Sam to close up. Feeling the theatres eyes on her, she walked out, her hand running through her curls.
"Out of order! It can't be out of order!" Jac kicked the side of the machine, feeling an incredible surge of pain shoot through her "good" leg.
"Now that was stupid, I thought you were supposed to be resting your leg instead of breaking your other one."
Jac looked round seeing Connie Beauchamp stood there, hand on hip, looking rather stressed.
"Yeah, but there's something about no coffee that really makes it worth it." Jac gave a small smile as Connie raised her eyebrows.
"Why don't you just go buy some from the café, like normal people?"
Jac looked away, her eyes on the floor.
"I didn't bring that much money to be honest; I mean I have like 20p short."
Connie smiled.
"Come on, I suppose I could lend you the 20p, with interest of course."
The pair set of to the coffee shop.
Nurse Donna Jackson was stood at the counter.
"Go on then, I'll have a chocolate chip muffin n'all."
She turned round sensing a presence behind her.
"Nurse Jackson." Connie nodded acknowledging her.
Donna plonked herself down next to Maria, with her coffee and muffin, and was surprised to Connie join Jac Naylor with two coffees.
"Ria, look, Wicked Witches of the West, If death was here now, he'd be shown up on the evil scale!"
"Mmmm, Donna why are you so obsessed with Connie Beauchamp? She's okay now she's had Grace; she even smiled at me the other day."
"I'm not obsessed, it's just, well, she's so cold, daughter or not, that woman is a robot!"
"So what is all this about then? I mean you're not exactly known for being laidback, but kicking the coffee machine? That's a bit extreme."
Jac smiled as she took a sip of her coffee.
"I've been having a war with that coffee machine ever since I arrived and today is when I finally won."
"Wow is that a joke from the ice queen herself? Seriously though, what is wrong with you, I'm not one for petty gossip but I have heard rumours about your, ahem, rivalry with Faye Morton, and it can't just be work, so what is it, Joseph?
"Well look at them, him a dignified, successful surgeon, and her married three times, has secret children and has murder suspicions floating around her! Hardly a match made in heaven is it?"
"Oh and you two are? Come on Jac even you know you've blown it with him! You slept with his father for God's sake!"
Jac looked away, her eyes admitting she knew she was wrong in what she did. No matter how she tried to rectify it, she knew deep down, she couldn't blame Joseph for hating her.
Connie was a little surprised at herself, here she was sat, drinking coffee with Jac Naylor. That itself wasn't surprising, the surprising thing was that she was actually enjoying herself. She would never usually give Jac the time of day, but today she was feeling curious on her collegue. Must be her hormones, she had been feeling a little wierd lately. Since she broke it off with John, he had done nothing but call and beg to get back together, but she had been adamant. He had lied to her about Jayne, what else had he been lying to her about. Not beng able to feel insecure about anything, Connie had ended it.
"So, what's with you, you seem a lttle out of it?"
"Yeah, I've just been you know, busy with looking after Grace after her fall." Connie covered her tracks with John. Jac had been honest with her, but she couldn't bring herself to tell Jac, she wasn't Donna Jackson but not exactly known for being discrete.
"Oh okay." Jac looked a little hurt as she had been honest with Connie, and something told her that it wasn't Grace that was bothering her. With Grace it was panic, wild and Chaotic, but with this, Jac felt she could see Connie as a little girl, she seemed lost in her own world. "God I need to snap out of this!" Jac mentally slapped herself for thinking like this, "I'm not the soppy wierdo fairy type!"
" Earth to Miss Naylor!" Jac snapped out of her trance to see Connie clicking her fingers and waving in front of her eyes, with a smirk on her face. "You there?"
" Sorry yeah. Is it time to get back ?" Jac secretly did as Jospeh walked into the Cafe, with his fiancee on his arm. Feeling her face warm, she turned round to face the other woman who was looking at her intrigued.
"Not bothered by them are you? Because if you are then they have won, don't be bothered be him, show him what he is missing!"
"Not really my style, I usually just wait till they have an argument and sleep with him, it's easier."
Usually Connie would have agreed, but after John, she knew how much it hurt when you were the one on the side. It meant you were never put first, which Connie knew Jac would never stand for. It was just then Connie realised something. Jac was her, pre Grace. Sleeping with people for power and to further her career, having a reputation as an ice queen, doing anything to split up people up to get what she wanted.
"I have to get back to work." Connie briskly walked off, leaving a confused Jac there, wondering what she had said. It couldn't have been the whole sleep with people thing, Connie wasn't exactly one to be offended with that.
"Joseph, it's my op, I refuse to let you take over again!"
"Jac, I'm sure that if you ask Mr Hope, he'll agree, you need my expertise on this."
"Heavens sake Joseph if this is to do with Faye then I think it's about time you left your personal matters out of this, because this is work!"
Just then Elliot Hope wondered over to see what all the commotion, and after agreeing with Joseph, he preceeded to inform him of a major operation on a board members father.
"So you will be assisting with Connie Beauchamp on this. Needless to say this is a big operation, so I need you to be one hundred percent professional on this Joseph. You will be paged twenty minutes before the op to scrub up."
"Of course Elliot, I'll be there."
"Excuse me," Jac Naylor butted in, " Why does Joseph automatically get this operation, in fact, without sounding childish, why does he get all the operations on this ward? I haven't had a lead on an operation in a month."
"Well if it makes you happy Ms Naylor, you will be second in line if Joseph cannot attend, then you will be paged."
"Whatever!" Jac snarled.
Faye stood with her back to the lifts, phone in hand, wondering whether to ring Joseph. There was so many things to plan, whther to have a big or small wedding, whether Joseph wanted to foster Archie, it was alot to think about.
"Why is everything so complicated?" Faye spoke aloud.
"What trouble in paradise?" Faye whirled round as Jac stepped out of the lift.
"Not that's any of your business anyway, but no we are fine thank you, I was just thinking about preparations for the wedding."
"Well surely your an expert now, I expect the caterers give you discount."
Faye's face flushed with anger and her features turned into a scowl that Jac was all too used to receiving. However she it back the retort that was on the edge of her tounge. Instead she scrolled down her list of contacts and pressed the "Call" button.
"What, he's not on speed dial?"
Ignoring this, Faye carried on phoning Joseph.
"Hi darling, how are you? Do you fancy a break from all your hard work?"
The noncommittal response made Jac smirk ever more.
" Come on, please I want to talk to you about important things, and to see you, it's been almost an hour!"
Jacnearly gagged, as she heard Faye go on and on at Joseph until he finally gave in, and she shut the phone with a triumphant grin on her face.
"Well, I suppose seeing as Joseph is taking his break early, you'd better get back to work, the ward won't run itself!"
As Jac got out of the lift once she reached Darwin, she bumped into Joseph.
"Ah, Jac, I'm taking an early break, I have an important meeting."
"What with Faye? Come on Joseph I was there when she rang, she really has got you well trained hasn't she? Jump Joey, Jump! How high Faye, How high?"
" She doesn't have to train me, I go because I want to see her."
"You know, your not even on her speed dial, not exactly girlfriend behaviour."
As the lift door opened, a huge trolley full of medical supplies came out sending Jac, who had her back to the lift, flying right on top of Joseph who lost his balance and they ended up on the floor of the corridor. A crack was heard as Joseph's pager broke in his back pocket. Quickly before anyone could see them in this compromising position, Joseph helped Jac to her feet.
"Are you okay?"
"Fine," Jac turned to the nurse pushing the trolly, "You know the point of hospitals is to help peoples injuries, not cause more of them!"
"Sorry Ms Naylor, hope you're okay." The nurse, knowing what was good for her scuttled off with her trolley.
"Right well I best be off, hope you'll be okay."
"Oh I'll be just fine, go and have your little wedding plan!"
"Have you seen Joseph ?He is not answering his pages!" Connie Beauchamp strode onto the ward in green scrubs and a very angry look on her face.
"No, why? Oh yeah that operation thing? Has he not shown up?"
"No! And if he doesn't within the next five minutes, your filling in!"
"But wait, who will run Darwin?"
"I'll get Mr Hope to cover, right that's it, get scrubbed up Jac, you're in!"
Scrubbing up, Jac thought of Joseph, he was going to hate her, even more than he already did. It wasn't her fault he had got too ingrossed with his fiancee. It was unlike Joseph, he would have never have given Jac that operation, then she remembered his pager, that must have been the crack noise that had broken when they fell.
" Ms Naylor, are you ready?"
This was her decision, she could either tell Connie about why Joseph hadn't answered his pager, or she could go on to do this operation and possibly make the biggest move in her career. That decision, would have to wait as Elliot came stumbling in.
"Connie, where is Joseph? He was supposed to be doing this operation."
"Good question, why don't you find him and ask him why he's not here? In the meantime I have an operation to be getting on with, with Ms Naylor assisting. Your little boy wonder has really missed out on this!"
"But Jac isn't ready for something like this! It's not been long since her accident and is supposed to be taking it easy!"
"Erm, excuse me can you please stop talking about like I'm not here. Elliot I'm perfectly capable of doing this operation why do you have no faith in me?"
"Scalpel"
The operation was underway, and Jac was beginning to feel it, stood up for this long with nothing to lean on. After her fall earlier, it was really hurting her.
" Ms Naylor, are you okay? Jac, Jac?? Okay there's a bleed, he's coding...."
When Jac came round she was in a hospital bed, with Maddy at the foot of her bed, looking intensely at her chart.
"Maddy, what happened, what happened in theatre? What am I doing here?"
"Jac, calm down, you have to rest. You fainted, because the blood in your leg was clotting, did you take your medication for this today?"
"I can't remember, I meant to, I left it on my worktop, but I had my paperwork to finish, no I don't think I did take. Wait what happened in theatre?"
"Joseph happened to be watching you, as soon as he saw you fall, he went straight in. Luckily the guy survived, he really saved your skin this time Jac. I'm going to let you rest now."
Maddy walked back to the nurses station, where there was a gawping Donna and Mark, who as soon as they saw her looking, became suddenly very interested in the counter.
"Can I come in?" Connie Beauchamp stuck her head round the door, " How are you feeling?"
"Like I proved everyone right, I shouldn't be doing important operations, I'm not reliable, I'm sorry Connie I let you down so badly."
"Don't you dare give me that soppy crap! I went into labour whilst operating on another member of staff, I know exactly what it's like! Everyone gossiping, saying your not fit to go into theatre, well you can't give in, especially not to men, because you know as well as I do, give them anything and they will walk all over you! Now you are going to get discharged, I've checked you can go, you just need to take your medication, and then you are coming to the bar with me! "
"What are you having?"
"Vodka, slim line tonic make it a double."
When both Connie and Jac were a little worse for wear, they began discussing men, going over all their bad choices, Connie was surprised that Jac had so many.
"When I was younger, I was in a foster house, well a few of them, I was moved round pillar to post, and I met this guy, we swore we'd stay together forever, but because I moved so many times, the next time I saw him, he was shagging the house matron. I was distraught, I genuinely thought he was The One."
"I never knew you were in foster care, for how long? Sorry, that's a bit rude."
"No it's fine, I was in and out of orphanages, foster care until I was sixteen, and started looking after myself, never looked back really."
Sensing the conversation was getting a little deep for a drunken heart to heart, Connie tried to change the conversation.
"So I have more wine in my fridge, fancy sharing, it's no fun on your own?"
When the taxi pulled up outside Chez Beauchamp, Jac stood amazed.
"It's huge, wow Connie, it's amazing."
"Come on Grace is staying with the babysitter, I called and let her know we'd need the house."
Stepping in, Jac was brought back to being a child and stepping into the Natural History Museum with school. It was the first really big building she'd ever been in, and the other children had laughed at her response to the vastness of it all. Now she felt that in awed again.
"Red, or White?"
Jac's thoughts were interrupted from a voice from the huge metallic kitchen.
"White please."
When Connie came through with the wine, Jac had wondered through to the living room, where she perched on the giant squishee leather sofa, as if she didn't want to break it. Connie felt a flutter through her stomach when Jac smiled a lazy drunken smile at her. Sitting down next to her, she brushed a strand of hair out of the Registrars face, whilst feeling warm and happy, a feeling she had not felt for a long time. With John it was all deciet and lies, and rushing about but with Jac, it was relaxed and calm. "Wait, did I just compare Jac to an ex boyfriend?"
"You okay Connie, you look a bit wierd?"
" You look beautiful tonight Jac, truly beautiful. I never in a million years thought I'd enjoy your company so much. "
"Ha, You're one of a kind Connie Beauchamp coz nobody else does!"
Jac looked at Connie, who's eyes had glazed over as she looked at her, with a little smile on her face.
"Okay Connie, you're drunk, really drunk, so I am going to make the most of this by asking to stay, because it's half eleven, and you have a really big house."
"Sure, there's a spare room right up the stairs, call if you need anything.
Jac stepped out of the shower, hair dripping down her face, and just then remembered she had forgotten to ask Connie for towels. Drying her body with the little hand towel, she shouted down.
"Connie, Connie, have you got any towels? I'm a little stuck."
"Hahah, okay I'm coming, cover up."
Going up the stairs carrying two ginormous fluffy towels, Connie lost her balance, and due to her being a little impaired, fell flat on her face on the top stair. Hearing the thud, Jac came running out of the room in a vest and underwear, with dripping hair. Seeing what had happened, she began to laugh, a proper laugh, not a snigger or a smirk, a pure laugh. Connie smiled, no-one ever saw Jac like that, she looked so human. Then she realised she was still lying on the floor, and joined in laughing. It was a good five minutes before either had stopped and Jac got to dry her hair. Connie was sat on the bed as Jac got ready for bed, both of them still a little tipsy.
"Just think what everyone will say tomorrow, when we turn up together haha. Oh, I havent got any clothes here."
"You can borrow some, I have rather a large wardrobe. Jac can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Why don't you ever act like this at work, I mean I know your drunk, but you're so cold."
"It's been years since I've laughed like I did tonight. When I was little, there was never much to laugh about, and being a doctor, well it's not really a funny job is it? After a while people just get used to it. You have the odd joke made about you, the odd snide remark, but it's just easier to put up a front. You don't get hurt, or walked over. Why?"
"I realised something today. What people say about you, they used to say about me. That I was a cold-hearted bitch and that I would do anything for my career.
"Ha, spare my feelings won't you."
"It's true though Jac, but when you need a shoulder to cry on, whenever you have trouble, there's no-one. After I had Grace, I didn't want Sam around me, so I had no-one. No-one to moan to, no-one to talk to about bringing up children. It's a lonely life Jac, don't make the same mistakes I did."
"You really are one of a kind Connie Beauchamp, no-one else cares, because I'm a bitch, I know it, but I don't want to always be seen as the bad guy but if I try to do anything nice, everyone thinks there is always something in it for me. Sometimes I really hate myself."
Moving closer to Jac, Connie lifted her chin up and looked deeply into her eyes, seeing the frightened little girl that had been pushed aside, to make room for the girl who fought to look after herself.
"Jac Naylor, you're so special."
Leaning in, Connie softly brushed Jac's lips with her own, silently reassuring her that this wasn't a drunken mistake as she swept the hair out of Jac's eyes. When she pulld back, Jac's face was surprised and one small tear had worked it's way out of her eye, making up for all the years she was never allowed to cry.