Disclaimer: Nah... only the italicised poetry is mine. And people I made up. I don't own skull candy either.

AN: So I wrote a wee poem randomly and decided to use it because I get bored easily and apply it to a Casualty fic. Poem is in italics and has been slightly altered to fit the story.

Also this chapter is sort of a scene setter at nearly 3000 words

Featured Characters:

From Casualty cast: Kirsty & Nita Clements, Tess, Adam, Jay, Mads, Zoe

My own creations:

Miller family: Hannah, Ben, Lucy, Charlotte

Nathan Jensen, Chloe Turner & gang

Enjoy!

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Casualty

Dream Girl

Chapter One

Follow Me

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~~Casualty~~

Blank faces with empty voices, living in boxes.

Being told what to do. What to think.

Unseen eyes, watching.

Prickling skin. They are coming.

Hear the allies shout:

'Run!' 'Far away!' 'Escape!'

Running afraid, feeling pain.

Hot fluid flowing as vision blurs.

No more running.

Trapped by pain.

~~Casualty~~

Lucy shot up in bed. She'd been having the same dream every night for the past two weeks. Each night would be slightly different, affected by that day's events, but still the same. She was running away. She could feel them always watching her in her dreams. Whoever they were.

She glanced at her clock. 5:42 am. She had another two hours until anyone else would wake up. She knew she wouldn't sleep again, so she quietly got up and crept to her door, careful not to wake Charlotte, her little sister, who she shared a room with. They always had the door cracked open to let in a little light from the hallway for six year old Charlotte, who still had a little trouble sleeping in the dark. She carefully slipped out and into the hallway, putting the door back in its original position.

They never bothered her during the day. Then again, she couldn't hear the allies for some much needed help either. They were a small comfort when she was going to sleep at night. Even though they would be there, the allies could help her. She knew it wasn't real, of course she did. But when she dreamed, it was so real. So material. The pain last night had been real. That was the first time she had felt pain.

She was downstairs and had turned on a small desk lamp in the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of water and lifted a small tattered book from behind the fridge. Her dream diary. After the third dream, she'd decided to keep a record of her dreams and check for any change in them. She began writing.

What did they want with her? Why did they follow her? What was so special about her that her dreams were constantly invaded? Questions which circled her mind every day after waking up early from a dream.

Muffled footsteps sounded on the stairs from beyond the kitchen door. She leapt up and hid her diary in her schoolbag which had been left on the kitchen counter. She sat down again just as the kitchen door opened.

"You're up early, mum."

"So are you, Lucy. It's ten to seven. How long have you been down here?"

An hour. "Not long. I woke up a bit warm, so I came down for a glass of water." She lifted the glass and drained the rest.

"Oh. Have you got a temperature?" she asked putting her own quite warm hand on Lucy's forehead

"No mum, I'm fine" she wriggled away "I'm going to go get dressed and come back down for breakfast."

"Ok, well could you get your sister up, I'm going to see your uncle Mike about the car later and I need you guys off to school as early as possible today."

"Sure thing, mum." She got up and placed her glass in the sink, before running upstairs to wake Charlotte.

~~Casualty~~

Morning.

The sun breaking over the horizon. A brief glimmer of hope, before realising that someone somewhere is in pain.

Morning.

The feeling of invincibility before the realisation that a new day of life has begun and the atrocities of work beckons. Doctors have to have a level of precision and professionalism. A bedside manner that is caring yet detached, impersonal.

Morning.

The end of another long night shift, the calling of black-out blinds and a warm bed.

~~Casualty~~

"Lucy, why are you being so loud?"

"I could ask you the same thing about last night, Ben. I didn't get to sleep until two am. I have a maths test today. You know how bad I am at it. I really could have done with the sleep."

"Shut up. Has mum given you a job to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"Get the baby up, idiot."

"I'm not a baby, I'm six." Said a defiant little voice

"Charlotte. Right, could you go downstairs and get your breakfast while I get changed for school, then we'll swap."

"Okie dokie karaoke." She said, skipping down the hallway and going down the stairs in the same impish manner.

"There's no need to be so rude, Ben."

"Yeah, I know. This is just more fun, my dear little squirrel."

"Mum told you not to call me that."

"Yeah, well mum's downstairs. She won't exactly come running to your rescue when she sees you haven't got ready for school."

"Shut up. Get out of my way."

"I'm just stating the obvious." He said as he stepped back to allow her access to her room

"Go away!" she shouted from behind her door

He chuckled, swung his bag over his shoulder, and followed Charlotte down the stairs.

~~Casualty~~

Kirsty had been asleep for only a few hours when she was being shaken awake.

"Why are you in bed, mum? It's half seven."

"Sorry, darling. I was working nights do you want me to take you to school?"

"No, mum. Sorry, I forgot you were on nights. I'll get the bus. See you later, yeah?"

"Yeah. I'll be awake a bit later again, I'm going to do a little shopping, so I can pick you up from school."

"Okay. Just get some sleep, and I'll see you later."

~~Casualty~~

"Mads, can you help me in CDU for a bit?" Adam called to the young nurse

"Ok. I'll just finish with this patient."

The ED was at its usual weekday morning busyness, Changeover from night to dayshift was as smooth as usual with the normal minor timetable hiccups where they ended up being either under or overstaffed for an hour around shift change.

"Right, Jay, the usual suspects; LFT; U & E; full bloods and could you order a head CT, just to be on the safe side." Zoe said to Jay, before regarding their patient. "Ok, Michael, we're going to take a picture of your head and run some tests to see how we can make you better."

~~Casualty~~

"Nita! Wait up!"

"Jensen, if you wanna catch up then live up to your name."

"Oi! That's not nice." He laughed, slightly out of breath "So, is your mum alright?"

"Yeah, she's better. Especially after dad-"

"Hey, it's alright. You guys'll be fine."

"Yeah. Come on we'll miss the bus if we're not careful."

"You know I'm here if you wanna talk, yeah?"

"I know, Nathan."

"Hey," he grinned "That's the first time you've called me Nathan in a long time."

"That's 'cause it's your name, Nathan Daniel Jensen."

They walked the last few metres to the bus stop, Nita groaned inwardly as she realised who was at the bus stop. Chloe Turner and her little entourage. A slight relief when she realised that Lucy Miller and her brother were also standing there. Chloe wouldn't get physically violent when there were witnesses who wouldn't take her side.

"Well, well, well. Nita Clements. Star of the show. Finally graces us with her presence, with her leading male, Jensen Button."

"Chloe, no-one even likes you, so go away."

"Who asked you, freak?"

"Leave her alone."

"Clements has a voice of her own. Wow. Never thought I'd see the day."

"Chloe, do I need to remind you that the next time you're reported you're gettin' chucked from the school? As for you, Lucy, I'd leave well alone. Not good to get in a fight the first time you get the bus. Especially not with her."

They were silent until the bus arrived. Nathan put his hand across Chloe, blocking her entry onto the vehicle and allowing the others to board. "Now, are we going to be a good little Barbie doll or do I need to go to the principal and recommend that you find an alternative source for your educational needs?"

"I'll behave Jensen. You've changed. Ever since you started hanging around with that little freak-show, you've pushed me further and further away. I still think you're amazing. Come on. Ditch the weirdo and come back to the crew. I'll even take you back."

"No. She's a more wholesome, genuine and overall nicer person than you. I was shallow and naive. Now I'm able to see how fake you guys really are. You'd better get on the bus." He moved his arm to let her past, and followed her, showing his pass to the driver as he got on.

~~Casualty~~

Adam knocked the door to Tess's office and put his head around the door. "Tess, was Kirsty not supposed to be working today?"

"She was but she switched with Mads."

"Did she give a reason?"

"It was Mads who actually wanted the shift change. She couldn't do last night because her son caught a bug and she couldn't get anyone to look after him overnight at such short notice. Kirsty said she was able to switch, why?"

"No, nothing I was just a bit confused."

"Adam, it's all over. Kirsty and Nita are fine. Stop worrying."

"Yeah. I guess it just became second nature where Kirsty's concerned." He smiled and said a quick "thanks, Tess" before leaving to continue his shift.

~~Casualty~~

English. Worse, double English. Lucy sat bored as her over enthusiastic teacher went on and on about poetry. Shakespeare was ok, to a point. Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot and Ernest Hemmingway were probably exciting for some, but poetry just wasn't her thing.

She looked across the room and saw Nita looking as bored as she felt. In fact half of the class was like that. She wanted to talk to Nita after class but she usually was the first out of classes. She'd talk to her during lunch.

Maybe Nita could help her.

~~Casualty~~

Nita saw Lucy looking at her and smiled. The Chloe Turner incident that morning had been annoying and the other girl seemed quite nice. Lucy's brother hadn't stepped in, he'd been useless. He'd just stood there with his bright green skull candy headphones, and only moved to get on the bus. Lucy was a nice enough person but Nita hardly knew her. She could tell Lucy wanted to talk to her but she just wanted to stay in her small group with Jensen.

Last year, Ben Miller had set fire to the head-teacher's shed. There hadn't been much damage, but he'd been suspended for a month and had been in solitary confinement for the two months after. Her dad had told her to stay away from him. An old work mate of his had landed in the hospital with severe facial burns after the incident.

Her dad had said it could have been much worse. So he made her promise to not have anything to do with 'nutters with lighters' and he meant their families as well.

~~Casualty~~

"Nita. Can I talk to you about something?"

Nita chewed her lip "Ok. What about? Is it anything to do with Ben?"

"No." She'd expected this, so didn't say more.

"Ok. That's alright."

"Do you know anything about dreams?"

"They happen when you go to sleep. Your imagination makes stuff up and shows it to you."

"No, that's not what I mean. What I mean is, do you know why someone would have recurring dreams?"

"I don't know, sorry. Are they... bad?"

"Yeah. Sort of. They're confusing and kind of creepy."

"Do you want to talk about it? I don't know if I'll be much help, but I could ask my mum. She's a nurse."

"Listen, forget it. We hardly know each other."

"If you remember we were best friends from nursery up to Year 4."

"Until I had to move to Wales."

"Yeah, but now you're back. So, how about you come back to mine some time and we can catch up. Maybe you could tell my mum about the dreams."

"I don't really know, Nita. I haven't told anyone about them. Not even my mum."

"Well. You came and talked to me. Obviously you had a reason to."

"I don't know what it was. But I guess I'm glad I did."

"Me too. It's nice to know you again."

"Same here." The two reunited old friends grinned as they walked off to their next class together.

~~Casualty~~

'Adam,

Just in case you're wondering, I've gone to pick up Nita from school. I know you'll probably be back before us. Call if you want me to pick anything up on the way back.

Kirsty x'

He smiled at the note and dropped the shopping onto the counter. Adam lifted his phone and texted her; 'I got pretty much everything we need, I can't think of anything else, I haven't got anything to eat for dinner but I could probably make something up. See you when you get home. Adam.'

He unloaded the groceries and put them away in their respective places. He'd finished putting away the last few things when he heard the front door open. "Hey," he called "I'm in the kitchen."

"Wow. Organised as well as a doctor. Nice."

"What are you trying to say about the many doctors of this world?" He replied in the same jokey manner

"Mum was just saying on the ride home how doctors are useless when it comes to handwriting."

"Well, she's probably got us there then. Sometimes I can't even read my own writing. It's a stereotype which is so terribly true for quite a staggering majority. Although it is generally more a male thing. Again with the stereotypes being stupidly correct."

"Oh, Mum can I talk to you about something later?"

"Yeah, sure thing. Go on. Get out of that uniform, you, while we try and think of something to eat for dinner."

~~Casualty~~

Lucy had been acting strangely for the past few weeks. It was as if she wasn't getting a lot of sleep. Ben usually was to blame, keeping half the neighbourhood awake either coming home late and making lots of noise or just playing music in his room. 'Playing', meaning blasting it at deafening levels. Charlotte seemed oblivious to everything; she was only six after all. Six year olds don't normally pick up on teenage mood swings and rebellion. Hannah Miller cradled a cup of hot chocolate in her hands, hoping it would ease her racing mind into sleeping.

~~Casualty~~

Run. Run away.

Hide the fear under your mask.

All is well.

None of this is real.

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AN: so this could basically go any way

Which storyline would you like me to go along or will I continue on this mishmash TV style everyone gets a go kinda thing

Drop me a wee review to let me know

daydreamerkid xx