Walkabout

Jac Naylor decided to take the long route from Darwin to the AAU of Holby City Hospital. With her hands firmly stuck in the pockets of her scrub pants and a visible mischievous look on her face, she sauntered out of Darwin. Valentine and Effanga gave each other raised eyebrows but knew better than to try and guess at what their intrepid leader was up to. As she turned a corner, she came upon two nurses in full gossip mode.

"You two have the gall to stand here talking about someone?"

They tried to talk but faced with the Naylor stare, remained slack-jawed.

"You," continued Jac, "who have slept with every male under 40 in this hospital. And you, a pethidine addict who steals meds off patients!"

The clear horror on their faces at having their lives being put on display and the fact that Jac Naylor knew things they thought others didn't know was embarrassing.

She breezed through Keller and after a chat with Sascha departed on her primary mission. Her sneaker-clad feet made it impossible for the next two gossipers to hear her. Unfortunately for them, she heard them before actually seeing them.

"Dr. Copeland, I am sure the NHS is not paying you to stand idly by and gossip about your superiors!"

The two doctors sprung apart guiltily not sure where to look. "Ms. Naylor…" began Copeland. "Shut it!" commanded Jac, "if you paid this much attention to your patients, you would know that the patient in bed 8 is going in to cardiac arrest."

He made a face and clearly was thinking of a reply when Jac continued, "don't just stand there making faces like a 5 year old with colic, move it!"

As he turned to go into Keller, Jac ordered, "Copeland, if I hear one more word about this, just one…"

That was enough to get him running to his ward. His companion tried to stay still and pressed to the wall in an effort to avoid Naylor's attention. She just stared at him until he gathered his wits and sped in the opposite direction.

Entering the AAU provided yet more bodies to be slayed. The two porters that were standing in the hallway having a go were brought short with "Oy! Trolley trolls, get back to work and stop tittering about." One look at Jac and they skittered away red-faced.

She breezed pass Fletch and Raf talking and couldn't help intervening. "Nurse Fletcher, I never pegged you for ungrateful. After everything Serena has done for you, you participate in gossip about her?"

"Uh, Ms Naylor, I didn't mean anything by it. I'm sorry."

Before she could reply, Raf added, "Ms Naylor, what Fletch means is..."

"Mr DeLuca, nothing is wrong with neither my hearing nor comprehension," admonished Jac. She walked off before either of them can formulate a thought.

Jac Naylor opened the door to Serena's office and entered without knocking. "How's my favourite consultant?"

"Jac, to…to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Planting herself in the one of the green chairs she asked, "How are you holding up?"

With a long exhale, Serena replied, "I'm not sure but I'll be alright."

"What's your schedule like this afternoon?"

"I'm just going to head home and drink copious amounts of wine." At Jac's raised eyebrow, she continued, "Jason's away for the week."

"Excellent!" replied Jac, "Grab your go-bag after shift. You're coming to mine and we'll have a proper girls' night in."

Serena looked mildly horrified at the idea and even more worried about the silly grin plastered on Jac's face.

"Thanks Jac, but that is not necessary, I, I…"

"It is Necessary Serena Campbell. No arguments. We'll have a Bernie bashing session and draw up our battle plans!"

"Wh, What battle plans?" asked Serena, blinking in double time.

"Valentine called me and I quote, "an incurable romantic" so we need to be strategic when the Major returns."

Serena narrowed her eyes and studied Jac who was looking especially pleased with herself. "You do realize that Mr Valentine was probably being sarcastic?"

"Eh," replied Jac, "they all bask in the awe and wonder that is me."

Jac stood to leave declaring, "Right! I'm returning to Darwin and will see you at 5."

She strutted out of the office while Serena grumbled, "Jac Naylor as friend or foe…I'm not sure which is scarier."

"I heard that Ms Campbell," yelled Jac.

"You were meant to, Naylor," replied Serena.

The staff looked on in various states of shock and horror as Jac laughed and breezed into the elevator.

AN: I'm not sure if my favourite consultant is Jac or Serena. So in my world, they are friends…