Hey guys, this is a joint fic between me and CassidyTVNut; I'm doing the odd chapters, whil she'll be doing the evens.

We're both review monsters, so any you can give, be it good or bad, are appreciated; especially since she is not feeling too great at the moment.

This fic is a semi-alternate take on maddy's stabbing - it provides the opening chapter, as you'll be able to tell, however after this one, it's all ours =) We own nothing, so don't sue us.

Thanks, Woody2792x

Maddy took a deep breath and leaned against her locker door, one hand trailing down her side and her eyes looking into the middle distance. The shift had been ridiculously tough that day, especially since a third of the nurses were off on some form of course. Fate, being kind as kind as she usually was, had given them 2 major RTCs to deal with, the usual Saturday night overspill from the E.D., as well as the usual admissions. She had had to change her clothes into scrubs more times than she cared to remember, and when she had reached the conclusion that staying in them was a safe bet, she had had to go and get a new pair because a patient vomited over her.

None of this had been made any easier by her boss, who seemed to deem it appropriate to be both attractive to staff members, and yet behave ridiculously cold towards them. It was an inexplicable attraction, but Maddy still went along with it. Yes, his wife may have died, and yes, he may be moody and sullen, but somewhere under all of that, she reckoned he felt some human emotions too. And besides, who was honestly going to refuse something nice to look at in a hospital? The sound of her mobile phone ringing brought her focus back to the present, and she fumbled around to grab it.

'Maddy Young; yes, oh yeah, that sounds great Jay. Yup, see you all down there in ten. Yeah, seeya!'

She snapped her phone shut and slipped it into the pocket of her handbag – drinks in the bar with some of both the staff from the upper floors and the E.D. The brunette grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder before leaving the locker room. She paused briefly outside Mr Cullen's office but thought better of it – nobody would thank her for it if he agreed to go!

It was not long before the lift arrived and took her to the ground floor; she left by the main doors and waved to Chrissie who was buying a coffee pre-shift start. Maddy was near the ambulance bay f the ED when a young man ran up to her, almost crying, asking for her to help him. Suddenly alert again, she followed him round the corner to where his friend was lying on the floor. She began checking his vitals when she felt a sudden pressure in her right side, as though she had been punched. Both boys stood back as she collapsed down onto all fours, unable to make any sound other than a choking one. Carefully, she balanced herself, and felt her way around her waist to her side, finding the handle of something sticking out of her. Shocked, she looked to the boys who were laughing, just as they decided to make a run for it. Pain erupted at the entry site, blossoming out over her whole right side, blinding her to anything else. Her elbows gave way, and she lay on her uninjured side, wincing as she tried to reach her bag, to get her mobile; it was useless though – she could not co-ordinate herself enough to manage.

Everything was starting to get colder, even though she had lost very little blood outside her body. She knew she was going to go into shock if she did not do anything, but there was nothing she could do; it was all in the hands of fate.

She blinked slowly, as she came out of a spate of unconsciousness and felt a pair of strong arms around her, clutching her to the body. There was a bright light around her, so she assumed she was inside somewhere; and then she was placed on a bed. She could hear voices, but none of the words were making sense. Eventually the light dimmed, and the voices were tuned out.

She was going to be okay. She had to be okay, didn't she?