A Riain fic. Taking a bit of what's coming from (then) upcoming episode 'Maybe this year' (s30e14) and putting my own spin on how that pans out (no doubt with a lot more Riain than will actually feature on the show! Ho hum... Update: ha! understatement!) Hope you enjoy, reviews welcome (encouraged!) as always :) x
That's you all done Mr Davies, I'll leave you with Robyn here to sort out getting you discharged." The blonde nurse directed a smile towards her patient that she definitely wasn't feeling inside. Chewing on the inside of her lip again she sighed knowing she'd fallen short of her own high standards in the time she'd been treating the elderly gentleman. From a clinical point of view she'd been as professional as ever despite the presence of a sickening knot in her stomach throughout. It was the warmth and humour she normally prided herself on that had been noticeably absent. She'd been much too distracted for small talk since news had filtered through to staff about events unfolding outside the hospital.
Drawing back the cubicle curtains she saw the familiar figure of her consultant colleague leaning against the reception desk.
"Zoe! Is there any... any update?" She asked desperately of her friend as she hurried towards her.
"I've not heard anything more, sorry" the doctor replied shaking her head. She reached for Rita's arm and touched it lightly.
"Can I go out there? I need..." Her voice tailed off but before Zoe could answer the doors to reception crashed open, the relative peace of the department shattered by the ensuing scene. The patient, a woman from what Rita could see, was obviously in a seriously bad way. Connie, Jacob and Charlie were all in attendance alongside the trolley with vital stats and instructions being barked out as they rushed straight through to resus. Rita's heart plummeted as she saw that the paramedic with the trolley was Dixie.
"O god it was them" she breathed, bile rising in her throat. She clutched at Zoe to steady herself.
"Dixie are you ok?" Zoe demanded. She had placed her hand on Rita's and squeezed it lightly, The senior paramedic, a graze visible on her cheek, nodded with her lips set in a grim smile. The entourage disappeared into resus as the entrance doors swung open again, this time Max was pushing a wheelchair containing what looked like a police motorcyclist, his arm in a temporary sling.
"Let's get him though to cubicles, Max and get this arm sorted" Louise the nurse alongside them directed.
Rita released her grip on Zoe and made to head towards the door, her face pale and tears starting to prick her eyes. Where was he? This really couldn't be happening...
She stopped dead as the doors opened for a third time.
The dark-haired paramedic with Big Mac looked around reception uncertainly, a far cry from the urgency or swagger with which he usually conducted himself within the hospital walls.
"Iain..." Rita whispered. "O thank god..." Her shoulders shuddered with the force of the huge breath she exhaled. Iain's hand dropped from where he'd been holding it to his head and Rita let out a small gasp
"Zoe his face..."
"Come on" Zoe said to her gently, placing a hand in the small of her back and steering her towards the two men.
"Did you lose consciousness at all, Iain?" Zoe asked casting her eyes over the amount of blood on his right temple and cheek. When he shook his head she continued.
"Right then Mr Dean. I'm sure this looks a lot worse than it actually is but the good news is that you've still qualified for a free upgrade with us here today. I'm going to assign no less than our clinical nurse manager to look after you" Zoe cast her eyes between the nurse and her now patient and smiled softly at the pair. Leaning conspiratorially towards Iain she continued
"You're lucky, apparently she's a bit of a babe" With a little wink in Rita's direction Zoe started to walk away happy that the situation wasn't a lot worse and that she'd at least managed to raise a smile out of the pair.
"I'm going to check how they're getting on in resus and I'll come back to assess the damage once Rita's seen to you ok?"
"Thanks Zoe" Rita mouthed towards her friend as Iain nodded reluctantly "I've got this Big Mac thanks" she addressed the healthcare assistant relieving him of his duties.
"Right well I think I can legitimately do this under the circumstances" Rita said quietly slipping her shoulder underneath Iain's arm, her own arm around his waist and guiding him towards the nearest empty cubicle. She was shocked to feel him noticeably lean into her and had to adjust her stance and grip so that her tiny frame offered up the support he needed.
"Iain?" Rita's voice was full of concern.
"Woah, sorry" he started, righting himself. "I'm knackered, it was pretty full on out there. I guess, I think I just relaxed when you did that. Sorry"
Rita frowned, she felt a little light-headed after all the worry but even her muddled mind felt there might have been a compliment hidden somewhere in that last statement
"I'm not sure that's something you need to be apologising for Iain" she said with a weak smile "C'mon, let's get you sat down before you knock me over"
Iain shuffled himself into a sitting position on the bed while Rita drew the curtain across, taking extra care that it was fully closed. For once this was nothing to do with stolen kisses at work but simply an overwhelming sense that the pair of them needed as much privacy as was possible right now.
She avoided Iain's gaze as she busied herself organising the equipment she needed to tend to her patient's wounds then turned slowly back round to face him.
"Rita are you ok? Your hands are shaking..." Iain searched Rita's face for clues, the nurse biting her top lip to try to hold back the emotion she was feeling. Her vision swam as the tears started to form and she knew she was fighting a losing battle.
"O god, not very professional I'm sorry" she started. She looked up at Iain and gulped back tears "Iain, just thank god you're ok. I-I didn't know what was happening out there and I was so…. scared" her voice broke at the last word.
"Hey, it's OK. Come here you" Iain gently removed the tray and dressings from Rita's hands and placed them next to him. Shifting on the bed he made space for her to stand between his legs and pulled her into him. Rita pressed her face into his chest and succumbed to what were now inevitable tears. Iain held her close and rubbed her back while the sobs silently racked her body, his face against her hair.
'Shush. It's ok now. I'm fine. I'm sorry I was out there so long - it was all a bit of a mess. I wanted to text you but my phone must've flown across the ambulance somewhere. I'm sorry"
Rita's sobs slowly subsided and she pulled herself back to upright accepting some of the fabric dressing as a makeshift tissue. Keeping her head down she tidied up her face before looking back up at Iain sheepishly.
"Feel better for that?" he asked softly, brushing the last trace of a tear away with his thumb.
"Yes thank you, sorry" she took a deep breath and composed herself. "Right let's see what I can do about the mess that is your face"
Iain raised his hand to the wound on his forehead exploring tentatively with his fingers.
"The cut's not that bad is it?"
"Who said I was talking about the cut?" she said with a smirk that was rewarded with a gentle smack on her bum "Deserved" she conceded as she started to clean Iain's face of congealed blood.
Iain marvelled as Rita snapped back into full nurse mode, her touch so gentle, her concentration so focussed. He struggled to suppress a smile as he studied the various facial expressions she pulled whilst totally engrossed in her work. Her question broke the comfortable silence between the pair.
"What happened out there Iain? We all heard a bang but it was only when Robyn came to assist me with Mr Davies' burns that I found out an ambulance was involved. God I just felt sick - I knew the timings tallied with the shout you were on. It had been like what 40 minutes since you got the call out when we were having our break together?" she sighed "Robyn said how many of the team had gone out there, there was just no way I could get away without leaving poor Mr Davies in a lot of pain…"
"I dunno, I think we hit black ice as we came round into the hospital, I was driving, I couldn't brake, steer nothing. Jeez, Reet the ambulance is on its side out there…" Rita's hand shot to her mouth as she took in the seriousness of what had happened.
"And Dixie was in the back?" she asked carefully
"Yes thank God I told her to strap herself in, I was really worried about the road conditions. I wasn't flooring it or anything, it wouldn't have been safe… She would have just gone face first into the side of the ambulance otherwise, fuck…" he shook his head and gulped as he recalled the events of earlier. "But Florence, Rita, she was the one we picked up - I think she's in a really bad way… She got trapped between the side and the trolley, Connie and Jacob were really struggling, there was so much blood from what I could see. Shit, Rita, what happens if I get the blame?" Iain looked up at her with fear in his eyes.
"Hey" Rita took hold of his hands. It was her turn to provide the reassurance. "That's not gonna happen, it was an accident and by the sounds of it you may well have saved Dixie's life"
"Knock knock!" Zoe's voice interrupted before Iain could respond.
"Safe to enter" Rita called, a faint smile greeting the consultant as she drew the curtain back "As always" she added flashing a cheeky grin towards her friend.
"Yeah only just!" Zoe scoffed 'The torch trick was never gonna fool me you amateurs. Used it myself I should know…" She smiled at the pair again. "Got caught up with other patients so I never actually made it to resus. How are we looking here?"
"All cleaned up but I wanted you to have a look before I dressed it. It's not too deep, I reckon we'll be good with glue and a couple of paper stitches what do you think?' Rita stepped back so Zoe could look at the wound. The doctor pressed her fingers gently to Iain's temple either side of the wound.
"Yes I'm happy for you just to carry on with that. Before you get any more of his blood in your hair, eh? I'll not ask how that happened shall I, Nurse Freeman?" She said raising her eyebrows at her friend as Rita and Iain exchanged glances. "I do think we need to send you for a CT Iain, just to be on the safe side"
Iain shifted uncomfortably on the bed.
"Nah you're alright thanks Zoe, it's nothing serious"
"I think I'll be the judge of that" Zoe said firmly "You're probably right, but knowing you you're going to want to be back out there tomorrow and we've got a duty of care to make sure you're in a fit state to do that"
"Tomorrow? I've still got 4 hours of my shift left today" said Iain
"Forget it!" Rita and Zoe said in unison
"Fine" Iain held his hands up knowing better than to argue when two women agreed on something "I still think the scan is OTT. I'll pass"
"Come on Iain you know the score - we're risking other people's lives if we send you out there not having checked you're 100% fit. I'll leave Rita to dish out a bit more TLC and patch you up and I'll be back once I've got us a slot up there. I'd put your feet up while you've got the chance if I were you. See you in a bit." Zoe turned on her heel and left the couple to it.
Rita started to dress the cut but something was making her feel uneasy. She was used to Iain's insistence that everything was fine and him not wanting a fuss made but she couldn't help feeling that she'd picked up on a different emotion when Iain had been resistant to the idea of the scan. Sure he'd recovered from it quickly but for a split second just then she could have sworn it wasn't his usual stubbornness she'd detected, but blind panic.
