Three years of walking the corridors of Holby City Hospital had taken their toll on Lily Chao. When she walked into reception for the first time, she felt a chill go down her spine and a kick of adrenaline made her dive headfirst into her day. Nowadays she was lucky if she felt a glimmer of that same energy.

Losing her father and being forced to work alongside Alicia Monroe again were just the tip of the iceberg. Her people skills, she knew, were terrible. A few weeks ago, she'd overheard some chatter in the staff room as she hurried past.

'…like a robot. Does she even see the patients as people?' Louise' voice rang high and clear above Cal and Max's.

Max snorted and added, 'doubt she sees anyone as a person. We'll probably just all walking statistics to her, like,' he made his voice lower and toneless, 'probability of fracturing ankle on stairs: fifteen percent.'

Granted, she never heard her name mentioned, but unless they'd run into Jac Naylor recently it was fairly clear who they were talking about. Their laughter haunted her for most of that day.

Did their assumptions lead them to think she neither expressed nor felt emotion? Did they not care how hurtful those remarks were? Apparently not.

Even Charlie, the supposed heart of the ED, kept her at arm's length. But he wasn't quite the same. Lily could tell he cared about her, that he wanted to say something each time he heard those comments, but he didn't. No one ever defended Lily Chao. They were all too busy fawning over Alicia.

In a way, Alicia felt like her replacement. Her skill was questionable to the point where Lily would never consider her an intellectual equal, but she brought such heart and feeling to everything she did that patients and staff alike couldn't help but love her.

If their mutual dislike for one and other ever came to the point where Dr Gardner had to let one of them go, there was no doubt in Lily's mind that without Connie Beauchaump there to back her up she would be gone in an instant. It would be better if it was her, anyway. If she stayed, everyone would only resent her as much as they did last time Alicia left.

'Lily? Patient in bay 9.' Charlie said.

She jumped. She'd been standing around for more than three minutes. When she first came to Holby, she set herself a rule: no more than one minute of standing idle unless she was on a break. Scolding herself, she took the patients file from Charlie and examined its contents.

The patient was a nine year old boy, presenting with nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. Blood pressure was a little high, and so was his temperature. Textbook gastroenteritis. Still, she'd have to examine him and make sure, which spending time with a whining infant and its mother.

She gave the boy a prescription and ordered him off school for the remainder of the week. If she didn't, she had no doubt half his class at the very least would be through the ED doors over the coming seven days. That, or wasting the GP's valuable time.

She'd shaken her head at the sight of the boy smiling when she told him about his mini holiday, but only a little. The mother was beady-eyed and made it quite clear she didn't trust the 'failing, money-grabbing' NHS. If she'd seen any indication that her son wasn't treated with the utmost respect there would have been a complaint in Lily's file in a matter of minutes. And she couldn't afford too many more of those.

Once she was done with the boy, she pumped a little of the antibacterial hand onto her palm and rubbed it into her hands as she headed towards the nurses' station. To her dismay it wasn't empty this time around: Cal was heckling Ethan about some matter related to Alicia.

Lily did her best to tune the conversation out as she set about examining another patient's chart, but that proved to be the wrong move a moment later.

'What do you think, Lily?'

She looked up to see the two brothers staring at her, Cal with a malicious twinkle in his eye. She supressed a groan.

'I wasn't listening.'

'Sure you weren't.' Cal winked and continued, 'Does Nibbles here have a chance with Alicia now that we've-?'

'Cal' Ethan gave his brother a look. The look.

'Chill out little bro!' Cal held up his hands and backed off a step. 'I was only asking if you were interested in someone I'd already—'

'Whoever Ethan wants to sleep with is his own business. Now if you don't mind I have work to do.'

Cal's mouth formed a perfect 'O' shape. 'Wait a sec… what about Lily, nibbles? You guys would be perfect for one and other: you could spend all evening nerding out over medical journals!'

'Cal, please. Not today.' Ethan looked exasperated, but Cal either didn't care or didn't notice.

'What do you think, Lily?' he continued.

'I think I have patients to treat. As do you.'

'Oh, come on, I was only having a little bit of fun…'

Lily could tell she was being goaded into saying something more, making herself look like even more of the bad guy than she already was, but this time she managed to hold a stiff upper lip and kept herself calm.

'Dr Knight, would you care to take on this case?'

'What is it?'

'Impacted Bowel.'

He backed off. One step. Two. 'Thanks Lily, but I'm, er, already treating someone, and—'

'Everything alright here?'

She heard his approach before she saw him. The rustling sound of his high-vis jacket made when he swung his arms as he walked. Relief flooded her mind as she turned to greet him.

'Good morning, Iain.'

He smiled and nodded. 'Lily. Cal not giving you a hard time, is he?'

'I was offering him a patient to treat and he declined.'

Iain snuck a look at the file in her hands. The corners of his mouth twitched before he arranged his features into a mock serious expression. Or at least she thought he was pretending.

'Come on, Cal. It's our job to treat these guys. Might not be pretty, but we have to do it.'

'Yeah, Cal,' Ethan said, 'you can't turn down someone in need.'

His face was reddening. 'Like I said, I would, b-but—'

'Why are we all standing around?' Dr Gardner came up behind Cal, making him jump.

Iain saw an opportunity and took it. 'It's Cal. He's refusing to treat this patient.'

Elle frowned at Cal, and then walked over to Lily, who handed her the file. Her eyebrows rose.

'Well, Dr Knight, I'm afraid we don't get to pick our patients based on which are the most glamorous. I'll take over the model you're treating and you'll be handling Mr Fields' bowels. Understood?'

He bowed his head and took the file she proffered, and then hurried away before anyone could see his face get any redder.

Iain touched Lily's arm. She tried her best to pretend a million electric shocks weren't jostling under his touch.

'If he gives you any more problems, just let me know. Okay?'

Unable to speak, she nodded. He winked and then headed back out the doors as his walkie-talkie blared to life, revealing another injured person in need of rescue. He broke into a run as the double doors swung shut behind him.

Lily stared for a little longer than she needed to, and when she turned back around Ethan and Elle had disappeared. Louise was watching her with raised eyebrows.

She prayed her cheeks weren't too red as she supressed a smile.