31st August 2015
She didn't know how it happened. All she remembered was walking along the road and then hearing voices around her as she was coming to. Someone was holding her hand.
"Matthew?" she asked slowly opening her eyes.
"It's okay, Maisie. The ambulance is on its way." Replied her brother.
"What happened?" she asked confusedly.
"You were hit by a car. The paramedics will soon be here to take you to the hospital."
A few seconds later sirens were wailing and the ambulance pulled up. The two front doors swung open and Dixie along with Iain jumped out. Running over with the medical equipment Dixie took charge.
"Hiya, luvs, my name is Dixie and this is my colleague, Iain. Can you tell us what happened?"
"This is my sister, Maisie. She got hit by a car."
"Alright. And what's your name, pet?"
"Matthew."
While Iain ran back to the ambulance to get the stretcher and oxygen can Dixie had asked Matthew if his sister lost any consciousness when she got hit. Matthew responded that she had for a couple of minutes. Once the paramedics were satisfied that Maisie's condition was stable they wheeled her into the back of the vehicle. Matthew held her hand all the way to the hospital. Inside the ambulance Maisie gently took the oxygen mask off and turned towards her brother.
"I want her." She whispered.
"I know. I'll call her when we get to the hospital."
"But, I want her now."
"I know you do, sis, but just wait. And anyway do you know which hospital we're going to?"
She nodded,
"Holby."
Matthew smiled,
"And you know who works there, don't you?"
Maisie smiled back and put the mask over her face. Of course she knew who worked there. It was one of Maggie's closest friends, Charlie Fairhead. Charlie was a great friend and knew how to comfort his patients when they were afraid. Even when they weren't scared, Charlie always made everything better.
"When we get there we can ask to see Charlie. He will be delighted to see us."
"You know Charlie?" Dixie asked while checking on the patient's stats.
Matthew turned around and replied,
"Yes, we know Charlie. I mean who doesn't? He was great when Maisie was here last time."
Iain drove into the ambulance bay and got out. Bursting through the doors with their patient, the two paramedics along with Matthew were greeted by Cal, Robyn and Lofty.
"Alright, Dixie, what do we have here?" Cal asked.
"This is Maisie. 8, was hit by a moving vehicle. KOD at the scene. Suspected fracture tib and fib. Pulse is a bit tachycardic."
After lifting Maisie onto the trolley, Dixie and Iain left while Matthew went outside of Resus. At reception he recognised the man on the phone, so nervously he went up to him.
"Excuse me, but could you call someone for me?" Matthew inquired hesitantly.
"Sure." Noel replied, "Who do you want me to contact?"
"Maggie. Maggie Coldwell."
The phone stopped in mid air. Noel looked at Matthew.
"Maggie Coldwell?"
"Yes."
Noel let the phone rest in mid-air. There was a name he hadn't heard in a long time. Not since the court case when Maggie had been
wrongly accused. Matthew noticed Noel's hesitance and quietly asked,
"Are you okay?"
Noel didn't realise he had gone quiet until Matthew had spoke to him. He quickly composed himself and returned to what he was doing. Dialing the number Noel was received by a ringing. Suddenly it stopped and he heard the familiar voice.
"Hello?"
"Uh, Maggie?"
"Noel?" Maggie asked shocked. "What is it?"
"I have a Matthew here."
Back in Resus, Cal was busy treating Maisie. Her SATs were stable and she needed was a x-ray and CT scan just to make sure there were no internal injuries to her brain. Cal was busy cleaning Maisie's cuts when she started to thrash about. Cal and Lofty grabbed her arms so she couldn't do any more damage.
"Calm down, Maisie." Cal said. "It's going to be okay."
Maisie continued to thrash around. Lofty and Cal tried their best to make sure she calmed down, but it was no use. Robyn, being her kind self asked Maisie if there was anything she wanted. To which, Maisie replied,
"I want Charlie."
"Do you mean Charlie Fairhead?" Robyn questioned.
Maisie nodded. Cal instructed Robyn to fetch Charlie hoping his presence might soothe her. Minutes later the doors to Resus swung
open and Maisie saw the familiar face of Charlie.
"Maisie? What happened?" Charlie asked as he walked over to where she was lying on the trolley.
"She got hit by a car." Cal informed him.
"How bad are her injuries?"
"She has a broken rib fib. Head injuries. But, we won't know until the CT scan."
Charlie stood beside her and took her hand. While Cal continued to treat her head wounds, Charlie asked Maisie,
"Maise, are you alright?"
Maisie nodded.
It had been ages since she stepped onto the hospital grounds. But, she knew leaving it behind was the best decision she had made. Even if it was painful leaving behind those she cared about, she wouldn't have been able to stay. Not after everything that had happened. Stepping out into the fresh air, she saw an ambulance in the bay. In the back she recognised one paramedic. Taking a deep breath she walked up to the ambulance.
"Hello, Dixie."
Dixie turned around, surprised to hear the voice call her name.
"Maggie? What are you doing here?"
"I've got a phone call from Noel telling me that Maisie was brought in."
"Maisie?"
Maggie nodded. Iain soon appeared beside Dixie.
"Oh, Iain this is an old colleague of mine."
Iain shook Maggie's hand.
"Pleasure."
"i'm sorry to hear about Jeff, Dix. He'll be missed." Maggie told Dixie.
"Cheers."
Maggie then left Dixie and Iain to carry on cleaning the ambulance. Going through the double doors, Maggie was met by the familiar scene of phones ringing, patients waiting and hospital staff being rushed off their feet. Before she could step through the doors, Maggie was greeted by a small crowd consisting of Zoe, Big Mac, Tess and Noel. She was confronted by loads of questions of how was she? and what was she doing? After they had parted telling her they should head to the pub later on to catch up Maggie saw Matthew sitting in the Relative's Room.
"Matthew, where's Maisie?"
"Hiya. She's in Resus at the moment. That's all I know."
Maggie could see that Matthew blamed himself for what had happened. She sat down beside him and gave him a hug. Back in Resus, Cal was still treating the head wound when Tess walked through the doors.
"Charlie, she's here."
Charlie was a bit confused. "Who's here?"
Tess smiled. "Maggie."
Informing Maisie that he would be back and she was in safe hands with Cal, Charlie left with Tess. On the way, Tess informed him that they were going to the pub later with Maggie and wondered if he wanted to join them. Charlie responded that he would. Reaching the Relative's Room, Charlie could feel his heart beating a bit faster than usual. He didn't know why his heart was beating so fast. Perhaps he was nervous. But, he shouldn't be. Collecting his composure, Charlie took a deep breath and opened the door. Hearing the door open, Maggie turned around.
"Hello, Charlie."
Hearing Maggie say his name again, Charlie was left speechless. He couldn't respond. Instead of speaking he smiled. It was great to see her again and seeing her brought back all his feelings he had for her. Feelings he had never really got over when she left. Not waiting any longer Maggie wrapped her arms around his neck. He hugged her back.
"It's been too long." she whispered.
"I know."
The two of them broke apart and were rewarded with an applause and whistles from Tess, Big Mac, Noel and Zoe. Both Maggie and Charlie turned to face their friends. Once the team had left them alone again, Charlie said to Maggie,
"Zoe told me that you visited it last week."
"I did."
"Why didn't you say hi?"
"I couldn't bring myself to face you or the others."
"Why not?"
"You know why."
Charlie nodded in understanding. Leading Maggie towards Resus, Charlie updated Maggie on Maisie's condition. Once inside Maggie could see that although Maisie's leg was severely injured her condition was stable.
"Maisie." Maggie said as she walked over. "What happened?"
Maisie smiled when she saw Maggie.
"I don't remember."
Maggie stroked her hair.
"It's okay. The doctors here will fix you."
Cal then entered Resus. He had the results from the x-ray and CT scan.
"Maggie, this Cal." Charlie introduced.
"Hiya. The results are back. The good news is that the CT scan is all clear. But, her leg is broken in two places and it needs surgery to fix it."
"Will you be able to do the surgery today?" Maggie asked.
"Yes. She is booked in for this afternoon."
"Thank you."
"No worries." Cal replied. "I'll leave you two alone."
With that response Cal turned back and headed back outside to reception.
"I'll see you later." Charlie said. He too then left.
Back outside Cal was busy filling in the paperwork when he asked Noel,
"Who was that Charlie was talking to?"
"That Cal is… was one the best doctors this hospital's ever had."
"Was?" Cal inquired.
"She left."
"Why?"
Noel sighed. He didn't want to tell Cal as it was too painful to remember what had happened between Maggie, Simon and Marilyn but, he was going to anyway.
"About 7 years ago, Maggie was wrongly accused of killing a patient by another member of staff. It went to court and everyone thought that she was going to lose her job because of that accusation."
"What happened?"
"Luckily, she got acquitted. Unfortunately, after what she had gone through she could no longer stay here at Holby and so she left. Afterwards, it was a tough couple of years especially for Charlie. But, we managed to cope. Well, that was until the person who lost Maggie her job came back. Then it all came flooding back."
"That's understandable. What happened to the staff member that accused Maggie of killing a patient?"
"Got fired."
"Who got fired?" Big Mac asked listening to the conversation.
"Simon." Noel told him.
"Ah, yes. Good old Simon." Big Mac responded sarcastically.
"It seems that you all liked Maggie, then?" Cal said.
"Yeah. She was one the best doctors. She cared about her patients and wasn't afraid to go against the Board if it meant the best interest for the patients." Big Mac replied.
The day shift was slowly turning into the night shift and for most of the team it was time to hit the pub. Maggie had just told Maisie she would see her tomorrow when as she walked through the doors was greeted by her friends and new colleagues. Heading out to the pub, the team caught up on what Maggie had been doing. And she in turned found out what had happened since she had left.
"Hiya, Maggie." Dixie announced as the rest of the team entered the warm room.
"Let me get you a drink." Iain offered.
"Thanks. I'll have a glass of red wine." Maggie told him.
Iain nodded and went to the bar where Charlie stood ordering everyone else's. While they were busy getting the drinks, Tess introduced Maggie to the new members of the team. Maggie nodded and smiled as she was introduced to Cal, Rita, Robyn, Ethan, Lily and Lofty.
"So what's it like being back at Holby?" Cal asked.
"It's weird." Maggie said as Iain and Charlie came back with the drinks. "I mean it's nice but, it just has loads of memories, you know?"
"Would you come back?"
"I don't think I could."
"But, it would be nice to have you back." Tess interjected.
Maggie smiled. She had missed seeing her ex-colleagues and friends. And the truth of it was it would be nice to come back. But she wasn't prepared to. Not if something happened to her like it did all those years ago. It was pleasant company and Maggie enjoyed hearing stories of what happened since she had left.
"Has this place changed much since you were here?" Ethan asked.
"Oh, yes. Very much." Maggie said, "Much more fancier than I remember."
At that comment all the old team laughed. The whole team sat chatting the night away. They had been in the pub for an hour when Maggie interrupted their conversation and told them she would be back in a sec. Watching Maggie get up from the table and head outside, Tess turned to Charlie.
"So?" she asked.
Charlie turned to face her.
"So what?"
Tess looked at him knowingly.
"You know what."
"I don't know, Tess. I mean it's great to have her here again and it's great to see her. But, I just don't think she would stay even if I asked her to. I know she still finds it difficult facing the hospital after what happened."
"Well, you won't know if you don't ask her." Tess told him. Charlie smiled weakly. He knew Tess had a point. If he didn't ask her now then he would never know.
"You're right. I'll ask her."
Tess patted him on the shoulder. Charlie then followed Maggie outside.
"Is everything alright with Charlie?" Big Mac asked.
"I think so." Tess replied.
"What's going on?" Dixie asked.
"It's Charlie." Big Mac responded.
"Is he okay?"
"We don't know."
"Where did he go?" Noel inquired.
"Maggie." was all Tess told them.
