"Nah, she's on holiday… back after Christmas, apparently". Max felt his heart sink into his stomach. He wasn't sure what he wanted: did he want to get back together? To just be friends? He didn't know, but he did know that he cared enough to not want Zoe to be on her own at Christmas.
But what if she wasn't on her own? Had she found someone else? Max swallowed to stop the tormenting questions and braced himself for a day at work. A day without her. A day wasted.
The day dragged on. Max was busy: there was no shortage of Christmas related incidents, but every time Max heard high heels, every time he turned a corner, he expected to see her. But he didn't. She wasn't coming.
As he saw Connie standing by reception, he remembered how he and Zoe had joked about her being a dragon, how fierce she'd been, but how she'd quietly approved of their relationship, hadn't lived up to Zoe's expectations when she found out about them. He swallowed, butterflies doing somersaults in his stomach. "Connie." He wasn't sure what he wanted to ask. "Err, do you, do you know where Zoe, er, Dr Hanna is? Or when she'll be back? Anything really…" he faltered.
"Mrs Beauchamp" she corrected. "Listen, I don't know what's happened between you and Dr Hanna. Frankly, I don't care, but I can't have her gallivanting off every ten minutes and you moping around like… well… something" she fired at him, waving the notes she was holding so close to him that he had to move his head back to avoid being decapitated. "Ask Dylan. He seems to poke his nose in more than is healthy". Max nodded, thanked her and apologised, although he wasn't really sure why, and wondered why he hadn't thought of Dylan before.
There was only an hour before the end of Max's shift. "Robyn! Have you seen Dylan anywhere?" he questioned his step-sister. "He was in cubicles with Lofty: a patient needed suturing and he didn't think Lofty could cope on his own" she shrugged. "K, thanks" he touched her shoulder as he rushed past, spotting Dylan in the distance leaving the cubicles.
"Dylan, where's Zoe gone? It's important. I reeeaallllyyy need to know" He looked at the older man with desperate eyes, trying to convince him of the need to know where she'd gone. "It's taken you this long to ask?" Dylan looked down at the bowl of sick he was holding. "Seeing as I want to get rid of you so I can empty this" he moved the bowl closer to Max to make a point "she's gone to stay with her parents. In Liverpool.
Max nodded, grateful for the information. He had to find her. He still didn't know what he wanted, but as he zipped up his blue jacket ready to go home, he knew he had to find her.