Kate took a long, shaky draw on her cigarette and exhaled slowly as she attempted to calm herself down. She was a jumbled up mess of feelings; angry, upset and emotionally wrought. Everything all at once had made her feel jittery and on edge. And it was cold; the very early hours of a bitter November morning after a very long evening before. The sky was dark but not pitch black, almost as though daylight was trying to break through a smidgen too early. Kate wrapped her blue woollen coat around herself tighter and kept one arm wrapped around her waist. It gave her the illusion of being hugged when she felt more alone than she had done in a very long time. Kate needed Osgood to tell her what she should do; go home and rest or stay in the vain hope that the situation would miraculously change in the next few minutes. Except that Osgood was lying in intensive care, hooked up to a ventilator that was helping her to breathe.
It had begun as an ordinary day, as these things often did. Although, ordinary in an organisation such as UNIT, usually involved running for your life in an attempted takeover of the planet by hostile aliens. Today was simply quiet. Osgood had gone to visit her parents in Hertfordshire for her mother's birthday. She'd travelled up straight from home first thing and had arranged to stay overnight so that the family could all go out for a meal and enjoy a drink together. Kate was tied up with routine UNIT paperwork; field commission overtime invoices and equipment expenses didn't get approved without some sort of audit trail and it was one of the bug-bears of her job.
Osgood had sent her a text at lunchtime to let her know that she'd arrived safely, however that had been the last Kate had heard from her. She hadn't been at all worried until she'd sent her another text to bid her a good evening but had not received one back. It was unlike Osgood to fail to respond and she was only in Hertfordshire after all. They usually kept in frequent contact when one or the other of them was away so Kate simply assumed she was busy for a few hours. However, when she phoned her mobile just after midnight to say goodnight, it rang out and that's when she became concerned. She called several more times over the course of fifteen minutes before a deep, male voiced finally answered.
"Hello?"
"Hello, err... I was after Osgood." Kate obviously hadn't been expecting someone else to answer and her voice must have given away her surprise.
"I'm afraid she can't come to the phone right now. To whom am I speaking?" The man had sounded hurried and gruff which hadn't appeased Kate's concern in the slightest.
"It's Kate, Kate Stewart. I'm…. Osgood's boss." She felt that was the safest explanation for the time being.
"Ah, Alistair's daughter?" It made sense to Kate now and she realised that she should have worked it out before.
"That's right. Is that Tom, Osgood's father?"
"Yes. I'm sorry Kate but Osgood's in hospital at the moment."
"Oh my goodness! What happened?" Kate had very nearly jumped out of her desk chair, shoved what she could into a bag a ran out of the Tower. But she calmed herself and awaited Tom's explanation.
"She had a bad asthma attack which led to a collapsed lung. I'm afraid she won't be in work for a few days." The last part of Tom's sentence threw her, she'd forgotten that she'd said she was Osgood's boss.
"I… er I…"
"Sorry Kate, I've got to go." Tom must have pressed the end button before Kate could gather her thoughts. She'd wanted to protest, tell him that she was on her way to meet them. But she didn't even know which hospital they'd taken her to.
It had taken a bit of persuading but she'd eventually managed to get the tech team at the Tower to trace the location of Osgood's phone from the last known call. There was a definite hit on The Princess Alexandra in Harlow so at least Kate now had somewhere to start from.
She had jumped into her UNIT vehicle and driven as quickly as she was legally allowed to do so. Fortunately once she'd hit the North Circular and then the M11, the traffic had become fairly free-flowing. All the while she had been panicked and worried about what she'd find when she arrived.
Osgood had been through a few bad asthma attacks but nothing so serious as a collapsed lung or one that had warranted a stay in hospital. Kate felt lost, useless and guilty for not being there when Osgood needed her. At least with alien invasions she could be proactive, lead the team and work towards a resolution even if she was out of her depth. She had no control in this situation, had to trust that Osgood's family and the hospital staff were doing the best for her that they could.
Kate hurriedly parked in the crammed hospital car park; woe betide anyone who attempted to criticise her parking abilities, she might be slight and female but she was an expert when it came to handling an official UNIT vehicle. She'd had specialist training after all, although that hadn't stop Osgood from turning positively green on some of their multi-terrain trips. She made her way to the main reception and looked at the map of departments and wings, all colour coded in the interests of clarity. She had absolutely no idea where Osgood could be; A&E, Intensive Care, Respiratory Unit, all were feasible so she approached the woman on the desk.
"Excuse me, I'm looking for someone. She was brought in earlier with a collapsed lung and breathing difficulties." Kate had just about managed to calm herself down enough to be coherent and practical. Getting into a state wouldn't get her anywhere or do any good for Osgood.
"Are you family?"
"I'm her partner." Kate could see that the receptionist had an issue with that by the way she'd tutted and raised her eyebrows at her. But she let it go, now was not the time to get into that sort of a discussion, her priority was finding Osgood so she could be with her and support her.
"Can you tell me her name?"
"Osgood."
"Surname or first name?"
"Both, either." Kate said dismissively, why did people just not accept that Osgood's name was simply Osgood? The woman gave Kate a doubtful look but typed some things into her database anyway.
"She already has three family members with her. They only usually allow two in intensive care. I'm afraid you'll have to wait until one of them leaves." Kate shook her head; surely that's not how these things worked?
"I'm sure we can take it in turns."
"Sorry, I don't make the rules." Kate's emotional upset flipped to rage and she whipped out her official ID.
"I'm a senior government official and I want to see my sick girlfriend." The officious woman didn't seem to have a kind bone in her body and Kate knew that she'd ensure she didn't have a job this time tomorrow. Or later today, whatever time of the morning it was now.
"You could be the Queen for all I care, you will not be permitted entry. Now please, kindly leave these premises before I call the security guard over and have you forcibly removed." The tall, lanky man in question had taken a moderate interest when Kate had raised her voice, and was ready and well used to the abuse hospital receptionists often bore the brunt of.
"This isn't the end of the discussion." Kate muttered as she exited the same way she had come in. She wasn't giving up that easily and people should learn never to piss off a Lethbridge-Stewart, it only makes them more determined! Fortunately the receptionist had let slip that Osgood was intensive care, although that wasn't good news and it had only made Kate worry more. But at least she now knew where she was heading and had already had a good look at the map. Kate had worked out ICU was on the third floor towards the back of the building, thankfully far away from the main reception. She was confident that she could find another entrance into the hospital and so began to head that way on foot.
She couldn't believe the attitude of the receptionist, given the sensitivity of her job and the age in which they were living, she'd have thought she would have been more understanding and broad minded. Surely she'd seen far stranger things than a woman wanting to visit her sick girlfriend? Kate had never had any issues like that before, well only once. She and Osgood had managed a rare weekend away, just a couple of nights up in Yorkshire to relax and spend some quality time together. It might also have been a milestone birthday treat for Kate but she'd kept that information very quiet from her UNIT colleagues. Anyway, they'd faced the classic issue of the owner of the B&B becoming flustered and confused when she had a double room booked and two women had turned up. Kate had dealt with it in a very matter of fact manner, much to Osgood's amusement. Once the owner had been suitably educated, they had no other problems during their stay, although there had been a few curious sideways glances during breakfast each morning.
Kate eventually found anther entrance and slipped her way inside. She found a map about 50 yards in and established that she just needed to venture up the stairs to the third floor and Intensive Care would be within her reach. Fortunately it was late enough that she hadn't bumped into other visitors or staff, so that if she had been looking a bit lost and unsure of where she was going, she hadn't been questioned about it. Kate skipped up the three flights of stairs as quickly and elegantly as she could in her heels and rounded the corner. In bold, dark lettering 'I.C.U.' glared at her from just a few more yards along the corridor. She approached cautiously, full of trepidation for what she was going to find when she got there, wondering how serious Osgood's condition was. It must be fairly bad for her to be there in the first place but then her father had said that she wouldn't be at work for a few days, so it wasn't life-threatening, at least not now. The fact was that she simply did not know until she'd seen Osgood for herself.
Kate opened the heavy double doors into a room stacked with sheets and blankets; following the path ahead of her she reached a reception desk and hoped she'd have more luck this time.
"Hello, I'm here to see a young woman brought in earlier, by the name of Osgood." The middle-aged woman behind the desk looked to her right where there was a whiteboard with six bed numbers and names written on with a wipe-off marker pen.
"Yes, bed number three. Are you family?" Kate internally screamed and took a deep breath in preparation for the battle that was to follow.
"I'm her partner," Kate leaned forward so she could speak to the receptionist discreetly "...but her family don't know about me yet. I just want to see that she's okay and let her know that I'm here." The receptionist gave her a look of sympathetic understanding.
"I can't promise anything but if you make your way over to her room they might let you in. If you don't want them to know who you are, then I can't force them to allow you to see her. Do you understand that?" Kate was relieved and please that her persistence had paid off. She was dammed if she was leaving this hospital without seeing Osgood.
"Yes. Thank you." She wandered over to the room and peeked in. She couldn't really see much as the glass was opaque but she could make out a couple of figures in the foreground. She tentatively knocked on the door and watched with baited breath as one of the figures moved to open it.
"Yes?" A short woman with curly grey hair and round wire glasses appeared at the door and greeted Kate.
"Hello, I'm Kate. Kate Stewart, I work with your daughter. I just wanted to see how she was doing, if she's alright?" Kate was nervous but also scared, upset and desperate to see Osgood for herself.
"Thank you for dropping by but I'm sure UNIT can do without her for a short while? You take up far too much of her time as it is." Kate hadn't quite been expecting the hostile reception, or at least anything quite that forceful.
"I… it's not about work. I'm… a friend. Please, can I just see her?" Kate could feel the pathetic welling up of tears in her eyes but swallowed them down quickly. She didn't want to come across weak or desperate to Osgood's family, even if that was the truth.
"I'm sorry, there are too many of us in here already. Perhaps once she's out of here and back home with us. Thank you for your concern, I know you people are very busy." Becky attempted to shut the door on Kate but she stopped her with a hand on the door before it could close.
"Can you at least tell me how she is? What happened? She seemed fine this morning." Kate instantly realised that that information was too telling but if Becky had thought anything of it she didn't say.
"She had a massive asthma attack, it had probably been coming on for a few days but she missed the signs. Clearly you've been working her too hard, otherwise she'd have been better at preventing it from getting this far. And her lung collapsed so they had to do emergency surgery to re-inflate. It'll take a few days to a week for it to properly heal." Becky was blunt and to the point, giving no thought to sparing Kate's feelings.
"This isn't the first time?" If Osgood had experience of this before Kate wondered why she hadn't been more prepared for it.
"No, when she was younger and too busy studying she'd forget to take better care of herself. Happened a few times, scared her father and I half to death. You do realise people can die from an asthma attack?" Becky clearly had an issue with UNIT and the time Osgood spent at work, indirectly putting all the blame on Kate.
"I know, and I'm sorry. Osgood and I… we work closely together and I care about her. I was worried when I heard she'd been taken ill…."
"Becky? What's going on? Who's at the door? Oh, hello." Tom had stepped out to see why they'd been disturbed and by whom. He'd never met Kate in person but he'd seen enough photographs and the resemblance was so stiking it would have been difficult not to have known who she was. "Kate, isn't it?"
"Yes sir, you must be Osgood's father?" Kate stuck her hand out by way of greeting and Tom respectfully shook it.
"Tom, please." Becky looked between the two in confusion. "Kate here is the Brigadier's daughter and she's now in charge of UNIT." Becky shook her head sadly and slipped back inside the room muttering to herself.
"I'm sorry to disturb you at a time like this. It's just that I was very concerned when we spoke on the phone and I wanted to see how she was doing for myself."
"That's very kind of you, you must have travelled all the way from the Tower?" Kate nodded in response. "I am sorry though, they won't let anyone else in here and Osgood's sister is sitting with her at the moment. Perhaps once she's home and settled? And anyway. it's a bit late this evening, morning now I suppose." Kate couldn't help the look of utter disappointment on her face and forced heself to choke back the tears once again.
"Could you… could you at least let her know that I was here?" The last thing Kate wanted was for Osgood to think that she didn't care and had abandoned her just when she needed her the most.
"Of course. It was nice to meet you, I just wish it had have been under better circumstances."
"Me too."
"Goodnight Kate."
"Goodnight Tom." Kate felt the burning in her chest and just about made it past reception and out into the main corridor before she burst into tears. She was heartsick, worried and angry and had no way of getting to see Osgood. She supposed she could have forced her way in, but Osgood wouldn't have taken too kindly to Kate treating her parents that way. Besides, if she was ever to meet them properly, officially, she wanted to have a good relationship with them.
She could always have told them the truth, that she and Osgood were a couple but that would have been betraying Osgood's trust and putting her in a difficult situation. As far as Kate was concerned, Osgood's parents knew nothing of her life outside of UNIT, only that she still went to chess club regularly. Whether they'd asked her about friends and relationships and she'd given them non-committal answers, or they'd not asked at all, Kate had no idea and she knew that she shouldn't be the one to break it to them.
So now Kate was stuck, unable to help Osgood or herself and there was absolutely nothing she could do to change the situation. She left the building and stepped outside into the cold wind as it whipped around her, but she was grateful for it really. The hospital had been too warm and too clinical in that way they usually were.
Kate fished around in her handbag and found her emergency box of cigarettes and a lighter. She'd smoked regularly back in the day; had been a bit of a rebel in her wild youth, but once she had experience of working at UNIT and understood what proper stress was, cigarettes just didn't seem to have any real effect. Kate lit up against the wall, out of the way of the wind and once done she made her way over to a bench overlooking the hospital grounds.
"Mind if I sit here for a moment?" The voice startled her out of her reverie. She'd not been expecting it, particularly at this late hour.
"Tom! Of course, has something happened?" Kate felt her heart sink and a mild panic build up inside of her.
"No, no. Sorry to have worried you love." He patted her knee kindly, not unlike an uncle or father would. "I just… Can I ask you something?" Kate nodded, unsure as to where he was going with this unexpected conversation.
"Is she happy?" Kate looked at him in confusion, it was a very general question and one that she found very difficult to answer.
"In what context?"
"Just humour me." He looked at her in the eye with an imperceptible wink and then and Kate clued in. He may or may not have a suspicion or entirely know what he was asking but he knew enough to ask the question in the first place and that was enough for Kate.
"Yes, she is. Very happy." She truly believed it; Osgood herself had explicitly said so on a number of occasions
"Good. Good." Tom seemed to consider the point for a few moments before he suddenly sat up from the bench and held his hand out to help Kate up too. "Right, so I'm going to take Becky to the cafeteria for a cup of tea. You're welcome to come inside and spend some time with Osgood. Just make sure we don't see you when we get back. Becky's a bit… sensitive to these things." That was a euphemism if ever Kate had heard one but she knew it wasn't the time or place to make a quip. "UNIT I mean." Tom clarified but Kate had understood the alternative meaning in any case. "No offence to you father, he was a good man. My best days were served under him in the Taskforce. But we can perhaps talk about that another time?" Kate nodded and they walked slowly back towards the hospital together.
Kate had waited until she'd seen Tom and Becky, as well as a young woman who she assumed to be Osgood's sister, leave the room before she quietly slipped in. Kate still had no idea what to expect; machines maybe, noisy, life-affirming machines that were keeping her lover alive. She'd probably been watching too many hospital dramas because the deafening silence was most certainly unexpected. Aside from the heart rate monitor quietly beeping every so often, she would bet she'd be able to hear a pin drop. Osgood had a cannula in the back of her hand and oxygen was being delivered to her lungs via another cannula up each nostril.
She looked so much younger without her glasses, her features softer without the stress of her job but her skin paler and lacking the usual rosy hue to her cheeks. Kate felt a sob in the back of her throat and was transfixed by the sight of her, before she came back to herself and went to stand by her bedside. She was conscious she didn't have too long before Tom and Becky would come back from their short break. Kate reached the bed and cupped Osgood's cheek gently with the palm of her hand. At least she was warm and breathing and she felt it all the more because her own were still freezing from being outside. Kate ran her thumb over the pale cheek a few times and then pulled up a chair to make herself more comfortable.
"Hello you. If you had wanted to get my attention I'm sure I could think of much better, and more pleasant, ways of doing it." The joke fell flat in the context of the situation but Kate laughed it off to herself before she grew serious. "I'm so sorry, your mum was right. I should have been paying more attention to you and your health. I should have been able to recognise the signs that you weren't well." Kate shook her head from those thoughts "That's not what I want to talk to you about. This is going to be difficult for both of us, I want to be right here with you and not leave your side until you're able to come home. But I know that I can't and I wish I could make your parents understand why I'm here, but that's not my place and I respect your choice not to tell them about us." Kate leaned closer and ran a finger over Osgood's pale, plump lips and then pressed a firm kiss to them. "I love you. I probably don't say that often enough, not with words anyway. But I do, more than I could ever express."
Osgood's lips moved as she brought them together in an effort to wet them but her mouth and throat were bone dry. Kate recognised her need immediately and poured a small amount of water into a glass for her. She propped her up slightly with an arm around her back and brought the glass to Osgood's lips so she could take a few sips. It wouldn't do any good for her to take too big a gulp at this early stage.
"Thank you." Osgood's voice was still dry and husky and Kate could hear the wheeze in her lungs through it. "Love you too." Kate's heart ached then.
"Don't try to speak, you've been through enough." Osgood looked at Kate then and shook her head.
"Sorry… for scaring you." She was still breathless and unable to talk without pausing every few words.
"You're going to be okay, that's all that matters now. I can't stay long, I have to go before your parents come back." Osgood looked at her sadly.
"Tell them." The younger woman urged her lover but Kate shook her head; she knew that it was just a knee-jerk reaction to her scare and she couldn't take away such an important decision from her.
"You do it in your own time, not now. You deserve to sit the, down and have a proper conversation about me, about us."
"There'll never… be a right… time. Tell them… please?"
"I promised your dad I'd be gone. I don't think it's right sweetheart, as much as I really want to, I think I should leave it up to you."
"Please Kate…. I need you here… don't want you… to go." Osgood reached out and caught Kate's hand.
"If you're really sure?" Osgood nodded and smiled.
"Kiss?" Kate grinned and rolled her eyes but obliged and pressed a firm but gentle kiss to Osgood's dry, cracked lips. Kate held onto her hand and continued to brush the hair away from her eyes as they talked softly about what had happened. After a while Kate heard voices as Osgood's parents arrived back from their tea break. Osgood felt Kate tense up in anticipation of the fallout to come but she held onto her hand firmly.
"I'm sure she'll be happy to…. Oh…. It's you. What are you doing in here?" Becky was first to spot Kate and then Tom walked in a split second behind her. Kate looked up at him apologetically but then glanced back down to Osgood, indicating that she was now conscious. Becky ran over to her and scooped her daughter up in a hug. "Oh, my darling! You're awake." Kate attempted to pull her hand from Osgood's grasp but the younger woman held firm. She was nothing if not determined.
"Aw Mum… give me some… space to breathe." It was said half in jest but Becky swatted her on the arm.
"Please don't joke about it!" Finally she let go of her daughter and then noticed their clasped hands. "What's UNIT got to do with this? I thought I told you this was family only time? You take up enough of hers as it is!"
"Mum… this is Kate."
"Yes, we've met."
"No… I mean..." Osgood shuffled herself up against her pillows so she could sit up higher and look at everyone in the room properly. Kate briefly let go of her hand to help her but Osgood immediately reached for her again once she was settled. "Mum, Dad… Kate and I… we're a couple. She has every… right to be here too." Stunned silence descended upon the room and for a while it was very awkward.
"Well, it's about time you introduced us to someone!" Osgood's sister piped up for the first time and it was almost as though everyone had forgotten she had also been in the room. She walked over to Osgood's bed and offered an outstretched hand to Kate. "Welcome to the family." Kate shook it in return and smiled her thanks. Suzanne then gave Osgood a punch on the arm. "That's for scaring us half to death!" However, she then pressed a kiss to her cheek and gave her a hug. "Congratulations, she's gorgeous!" She whispered in her ear so no one else could hear. Osgood blushed but was very proud of her sister and grateful for her support. Theirs wasn't an easy sibling relationship but they truly cared for one another once they'd smoothed out all the problems they'd had in the past.
"I need some time to take all this in. It's not what I had hoped for you but then again, neither was a career in UNIT. I had enough trouble with your father working for them." Becky looked at Kate sternly. "I hope to god that this is the worst thing to ever happen to my daughter. If you ever come to us and have to deliver bad news…." Becky couldn't finish her sentence but Kate understood the meaning behind her intent. It was the stuff of her own nightmares and she hoped Osgood would never ask her about them. Kate's face remained serious and stern but she maintained eye contact with Becky throughout.
"I can't promise anything other than I will do what I can, do my very best to protect Osgood and everyone else on this planet. But she's also her own person and I can't stop her from doing a job she loves." Osgood smiled gratefully at Kate then. At least she understood, Osgood took those risks knowingly and would think less of Kate if she ever tried to stop her. Becky seemed to think about it for a moment and then gave Kate an imperceptible nod. Kate knew it would take much more than that for her to come round but at least for the moment, tonight, they were through the worst.
"You're definitely your father's daughter. Happy to have you in the family, we need someone like you to keep this one in check. Perhaps keep a closer eye on her health if she forgets to do it herself?" Tom looked at his daughter sternly, knowing full well she was stubborn and independent at the best of times. However, not acknowledging she needed a bit of extra medical assistance was something she could ill afford to do.
"Dad…" Osgood started but he swooped in for a hug.
"Love you too, and don't you forget it! Right, now that all this has been sorted out, I think it's time we went home and got some sleep, don't you Becky?"
"It's certainly been one of the most eventful birthdays I've had in recent years but I think I'm getting a bit too old for this much excitement in one evening."
"We'll be back later tomorrow so we'll leave you two alone for a while." It was very generous of Tom to be so understanding and discreet and Kate thought to suitably thank him another time.
Once Osgood's family had all said their goodbyes and left the hospital Kate felt that she could finally relax. Osgood shuffled herself over to one side of the bed and patted the space she'd just created. She inclined her head and indicated for Kate to join her.
"I can't, what about all the tubes and wires?"
"Don't care… want cuddles." Osgood had practically pouted and she knew that was something Kate couldn't possibly resist. Kate slipped off her high heeled shoes and her suit jacket before climbing carefully atop the bed. Osgood laid her head on Kate's chest and curled into her as best she could while giving her lungs some space. Kate kissed the top of her head and wrapped her arm loosely around her waist.
"Is that better?" Kate asked when she'd settled herself.
"Mmm hmm. I love you." Osgood already sounded sleepy but she knew it was important to say it.
"I love you too."
A short while later a nurse came to check in on Osgood and saw the two women fast asleep in each other's arms. She took the patient's vitals and checked the equipment before pausing to look at them. It was abundantly clear they were very much in love and it gave her a warm and fuzzy feeling for the rest of her shift.