This is only my second attempt at any fanfic so please be kind! I hope you enjoy it and please review, it would be much appreciated :) xx
Chapter 1
"Er- Gillian? Could I have a word?" The doctor had poked his head around the door to Alan's room and, upon hearing her name, Gillian had jumped up to step outside.
"I'll just be a minute, Dad." She said as she walked out the door, closing it gently behind her. "Please say it's good news, Dr Trimbly. He's going bananas in here." She peered up hopefully at the middle-aged doctor's kind face.
"He can be discharged today.." the doctor started, pausing briefly to allow Gillian a little victory dance. "However, he needs to a) take his medication at the right time and b) make sure he takes it with him wherever he goes."
Gillian nodded fiercely. "Of course.. thank you, thank you so much. I know he hasn't been in here long, but honest.. he's used to being out and about and doing his own thing, he's so unhappy being couped up in here."
"I understand, I just needed to reiterate those requirements about his medication. Also, as you're aware we have raised his beta-blockers dosage to almost double what it was before and introduced an ACE inhibitor to his script which he needs to take 3 times a day. Alongside that, the clopidogrel-" Dr Trimbly was cut off as Gillian held up her hand.
"Hang on, sorry. The what? Clop.." she gave up attempting to pronounce it, they all sounded like a different language to her. "What does that do again?"
"Clopidogrel.." the doctor repeated slowly, "it's an anti-clotting medication to prevent the platelets in his blood from clotting, which would lead to blood clots and other risks. Basically, it's just something to avoid any further complications." Gillian nodded, taking it all in. "So now Alan is on 3 medications and he needs to remember to take them at all times. There will be consequences if he doesn't, so will you try and drill that in to him?" He waited for Gillian to nod once again. "Okay, good. A health visitor will visit him every couple of days to start with and then we shall try and lessen those visits until he no longer needs them, though the nurses in that team will talk to you about that more at length, okay?"
"Right." Gillian nodded, feeling like all she was doing at the moment was nodding assent to different medical workers, acting like she knew what the hell everyone was on about when really she was just bloody scared and wanted someone to look after her, to make sure she was alright... she wanted her dad. "Has the nurse told you that he's going to be staying at his .. er.. his fiancee's flat while he recuperates?" She had told them this information numerous times, but was still in doubt that any of them had actually passed on the message.
"Yes, Nurse Clarke did mention it. Why is he going to be staying there?"
"Because the distance between my house and Princess Royal hospital is longer than the distance between Celia's flat and Harrogate District Hospital. We want him as close to proper medical care as possible. It just makes sense." Gillian, Celia and Caroline had all talked about it at length, and this seemed like the most sensible solution. None of them wanted to be worrying about how long it would take to get him to hospital if Alan needed it. And Celia had been very nice about it, explaining that Gillian could come over whenever she wanted, all the time if she needed to. And even Raff could stay over in one of the spare rooms at Caroline's if he wanted. It had been decided that at the weekends, when Raff wasn't at school and when Gillian could wriggle out of shifts, they would both stay over in Harrogate.
"Okay. You do realize that it doesn't really, overly matter about the distance? The ambulance will get there as soon as they can if there is an emergency and that will be the same protocol whether he is here in Halifax or over in Harrogate?" He could understand the family being wary, they seemed a really close-knit unit, but he wanted them to be aware of their options.
"Yeah, yeah. Thank you, Dr Trimbly, I know you're trying to help, but we just feel more comfortable with him staying with Celia. And don't worry, I'll tell him about his medications. And Celia. And Caroline. He couldn't get away with not taking them if he tried." The doctor smiled briefly and nodded. "Can I go in and tell him the good news now? He'll be over the moon!" Once again the doctor nodded. "Thank you. Honest, you've been brilliant." Gillian had to keep herself from hugging the doctor tightly, she wasn't sure.. but she had an inkling that it wouldn't be the correct etiquette. She flashed the doctor one last big smile and headed back into Alan's room.
Alan was recounting some funny stories from back in the day at Jessop's to Caroline and Celia when Gillian returned to the room, causing all three heads to swivel to the door with expressions of hope in their faces.
"Okay.. you can leave, Dad!" Gillian started, waiting for the cheers to die down before she continued. "But the doctor told me to remind you about your medication. It's serious, Dad, you need to take them wherever you go, and you need to take them at the correct times. If not, you'll end up back in hospital." Alan squeezed Celia's hand while nodding his assent. "And he said to remind you again about the community nurses that will be coming to monitor you over the next couple of weeks. So make sure you're in when they say they're coming round. Alright?"
"Don't fret, love." Celia said, with a reassuring smile on her face. "I'll look after him. It's about time I spoiled him instead of the other way around."
"I know, Celia. Thank you. I don't know what we'd do without you." Gillian replied, thankful that Celia and her dad's relationship seemed to be back on track.
"And I'm literally a couple of metres away," Caroline grinned. "So he has double protection!"
"I'm a lucky man." Alan laughed, excited at the prospect of finally getting out of this dump.
"You are!" Gillian agreed. "I'm guessing they're sorting out your discharge forms now, so we'd just better hold tight and then we can go. I'll come back to Celia's for a while and then head home. Raff will stay up all hours playing those bloody X-box games with Paul if I'm not there to keep an eye on them." she rolled her eyes. "Actually, I'm just gonna nip outside to give him a quick call now. He should be back from Robbie's by now and I know he'll be chuffed to hear the good news."
xxx
Life for the Buttershaw/Dawson/Elliot family had pretty much been held on pause for the past 2 weeks while Alan had been in hospital. Celia had practically moved into the hospital and regularly joked that she should be paying rent for staying there the amount of time she'd had. Caroline had been driving over from Harrogate almost every school evening and at the weekends to support her mother.. John had shown some sense of decency and had been around quite a bit to look after the boys while Caroline had been doing her almost daily flits between home and the hospital. Gillian had been spending her time between Raff and her dad, though she was due back in work tomorrow after taking 2 weeks off to be with her father. It had taken it's toll on all of them and the news that Alan was being sent home gave them all a sense of relief. Although he still had a long way to go until he was better, he had improved greatly and everyone had agreed that he was more likely to make more steps while at home rather than being stuck in a hospital.
Celia was looking forward to having Alan with her so she could look after him herself. She knew that the nurses were probably doing their best, but she was convinced that she could do better and was eager to prove herself. She'd hated seeing Alan looking so lost and vulnerable in his bloody hospital bed and just knew he'd be more comfortable when he was out of there.
Caroline was sorely missing her girlfriend, who she'd hardly seen due to trying to balance her work, the boys and her mother. Kate, to her limitless credit, had been hugely understanding of the situation and accepted that, for the minute, late-night phone-calls and the odd sneaky five minutes caught in school was all Caroline was capable of at the minute. Caroline couldn't wait to call Kate and tell her the good news.
Gillian was ecstatic at the news of Alan's discharge. Ever since her mother had died, Gillian had despised hospitals. The smell, the atmosphere, the moans and tears of death and the cries of babies being given life made her feel ill. Although she would have stayed there for a year if that's what her dad needed from her, the knowledge that he was soon to be sent home made her feel like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. The only dampener on this situation was the fact that now Robbie would be wanting to spend some more time with her, she would have to answer numerous missed calls from John and she expected Paul to be full of his usual catty, yet extremely thick, remarks. However, she was willing to pay this price for not having to go into this shitty hospital every bloody day.
xxx
"Hello?"
"Hi." the smile in Caroline's voice was evident.
"Well, hello you!" Kate replied, pushing aside her marking with relish and letting the feeling of happiness at hearing Caroline's voice wash over her. "Are you okay?"
"Oh yes. More than okay, in fact. Alan has been discharged from hospital. Which means..." she let her voice trail off, knowing that the open suggestion would make Kate grin.
"Which means?" Kate set her red pen down and leaned back into her sofa awaiting Caroline's response.
"Which means.. what are you doing tomorrow evening?" Caroline was sat in her car in the hospital's car park, having already seen Celia and Alan drive away in the Lexus closely followed by Gillian.
"Absolutely nothing." Kate knew that even if she'd had a diary chock-a-block with appointments she would have cancelled every single one to spend time with her girlfriend. "What did you have in mind?"
"I was thinking.. I could come over yours after school. Say.. 4.30pm? Oh.. hang on, you don't have any after-school groups to run do you?"
"Nope. Not on Mondays. It's only on Tuesdays and Fridays. Thought you would have memorized this by now!" she teased, knowing that Caroline's response would be an involuntary pout and slight frown and wishing she was there to see it.
"Humph." Caroline pouted and her forehead crinkled slightly. "So.. you'll be home by 4.30pm then? What about marking?"
"Don't worry about the marking, I'm doing it tonight. Tomorrow will just be me and you." Kate grinned excitedly at the thought. "Shall I cook dinner?"
"Oh, yes. That would be lovely. Have you got anything in mind?" Caroline asked, wanting to keep on the phone to her girlfriend for as long as possible, never quite feeling as calm and happy as she did when she was talking to Kate. The only thing that would make this better would be seeing her face-to-face.
"Well..." Kate paused, headed to the kitchen to check the fridge and then continued. "I have chicken here, I could marinade it tonight and we could have a nice Bombay curry?"
"That sounds very nice. I hope you're going to make a nice dessert, too?" Caroline smiled widely into the phone, allowing herself to feel relief about Alan, her mother, Gillian.. and yes, for herself as she leaned back into her seat.
"Hmm. For dessert I was thinking.. you.. on a silver platter.. so, I mean, if you could bring the silver platter, that would be great." Kate giggled upon imagining Caroline's expression. "I can't wait to see you." Her tone of voice lowered with intensity.
"You see me everyday!" Caroline joked, before continuing with more seriousness, "I know what you mean. I'm sorry that everything has been so up in the air."
"Shh. It's okay," Kate cradled the phone between her ear and neck, dicing the chicken as she spoke. "I understand. I'm just thrilled Alan has been discharged. I bet he's got a smile bigger than the Chesire Cat's!"
"He has. I don't think he fully realizes that he might as well stay in hospital for all the fussing mum will do over him." Caroline laughed. "Honestly though, thank you. You have been amazing. You're wonderful. Putting up with not only me, but the madhouse that is my family. I know things haven't run as smoothly as we would have hoped."
"You're worth the wait, Dr Elliot." Kate soothed. "Don't think about it right now, just focus on tomorrow night. How are the boys?" she asked. Even though she'd seen them over the past couple of weeks, she'd been sure to be respectful and not approach them what with all the drama that had been happening recently. However, Lawrence had come to her in his lunch break a few times just to 'talk' and William had been popping into her classroom for no particular reason, which she'd felt reassured by. While the boys had both been very welcoming of her relationship with their mother, she hadn't been sure if it was because they generally were fine with it and happy to accept Kate or if it had been to appease Caroline. After their numerous visits and fleeting conversations, Kate felt more at ease and was pleased that the boys were so open-minded and kind. They were definitely their mother's children.
"Oh they're fine. They'll be thrilled with the news of Alan. William has told me about how he has had to bite his tongue with John because he's been a bit of a knob and even Lawrence hasn't seemed thrilled with his dad being around this much. So.. I figure they'll be relieved. To be honest, I think they would have coped fine by themselves without John mooching around but I think John is trying to prove a point about being a good parent or some drivel." Caroline briefly paused for breath before continuing, "He's been spending a lot of time with Judith too, poor bitch. Still, it's not my concern anymore. What are you going to do tonight?" she was eager to change the subject, not because she felt uncomfortable discussing it, God she would have to care to feel like that, but because she would rather spend her time talking to Kate about things that mattered to her.
"Tell them I say hi when you get in." Kate said, referring to the boys. "Tonight I shall be sorting out this chicken and then resuming marking. And after that's all done and dusted I shall be preparing myself for the joy that is 9F first thing in the morning."
"Oh you poor thing. And there I was thinking we could have a sneaky appointment first thing in the morning." Caroline chuckled, not being able to resist teasing her girlfriend.
"Don't tempt me. One more word from you and I'll call in sick just to sneak into your office during first period!"
"Should you be saying that to your boss, Miss McKenzie?!" was the reply, the jest all too clear in her voice. "You don't want to be given detention now, do you?!"
"Depends on the teacher. If it's you, I'll have detention every day of the week!" They both laughed then, each giddy with the thought that their relationship could finally begin moving forward again.
"I have to go.." the regret was plain in Caroline's tone. "I need to get back to sort out the boys and check on Alan and mum. If I don't get to bed too late, I'll give you a ring."
"Okay. Thanks for ringing me to let me know about Alan. Say hello to him for me." Kate almost had a feeling of kinship with him after he'd been so kind and supportive of her during that particular first dinner with him and Celia. "I'm very much looking forward to tomorrow."
"I know the feeling! And I'll pass on your 'hello's' to Alan. Oh, before I forget.. have I ever told you how amazing and pretty and lovely you are?!" Caroline felt alive and free, the way she always felt when she was talking to Kate.
"I think you mentioned it once or twice," Kate coughed and Caroline knew it was to hide her embarrassment at the compliments being sent her way. "And just to let you know.. I think you are magnificent. Always."
"You're going to have to learn to accept a compliment one day, Miss McKenzie. And I shall make sure you have them every day until you get your head around the fact that you are so much more amazing than you give yourself credit for." Caroline's voice was laced with warmth and affection, and right now, she wished for nothing more than being with Kate, looking into her eyes and telling her just what she thought of her.
"That's enough, you! I thought you said you need to head back home, huh? If I don't speak to you later, I'll speak to you tomorrow, love."
After a prolonged good-bye, the ladies finally ended their call and Caroline started the ignition, beaming like a mad-woman and feeling like a teenager. She was following her heart for once, regardless of what everyone else thought. It felt good. It felt bloody scary. She was taking a chance.