Lily and Zoe-Fix You
"Lily, I'm sorry. It's your father. Last night, he died in his sleep." Lily's mother informed her.
"I… How? Why?" The registrar asked, in total and utter shock.
"It was a heart attack." Her Mum said.
"When's the funeral?"
"I don't know yet. Lily, you can always take compassionate leave and come and stay with me for a bit" her mother urged.
"No, I am sure that I can stay here, I might take some time off work though. Lily replied. "I have to go now, goodbye."
"Goodbye Lily, I'll speak to you later."
She knew that she needed to tell someone about her loss, she had to.
The registrar hurriedly thought over the list of staff that were on the same shift as her. She sifted through the various choices. Connie wasn't in, she didn't want to talk to Dylan. Ethan and Cal already had enough on their plate, she didn't want to talk to any of the nurses.
Zoe. Doctor Hanna. She was Lily's only other option. She'd understand.
Lily wiped her eyes, tears had gathered there. She made her way out of the empty staffroom and upstairs to Zoe's office.
She took a quick peek inside. Zoe was flicking through what seemed to be pictures of herself and Max on her phone, tears in her eyes, too. Oh, perhaps it wasn't the best time...
Lily made to go downstairs, but Zoe had heard someone outside.
"Lily, it's okay, come in." The consultant called.
"What can I do for you?" Zoe asked as Lily entered.
"Um..." Lily didn't know what to say.
Zoe sat, arms folded, waiting patiently.
"My mother just called me... My father, he died, last night, in his sleep."
"Oh, Lily, I'm sorry. I'll get Connie to arrange some compassionate leave for you." Said Zoe sympathetically, Lily looked very shaken.
"Thank you... Doctor Hanna, may I ask you a question?"
"Of course." Said Zoe gently.
"If you were my parent, would you be proud of me?"
"Yes, I would be. You're sharp, clever, and an excellent doctor." Zoe responded.
"Thank you." Lily said. "You see, my father-" she broke off, her vision blurred by years which she was unable to hold back.
Seeing this, Zoe got up. "Come here, Lily." She said.
The registrar stood up and allowed herself to be embraced by Zoe.
"It's okay" Zoe reassured Lily, rubbing the sobbing young woman's back gently. "It'll be okay, shhh."
After a while, Lily stopped crying and Zoe let her go.
"Now, what did you want to say about your father?"
"My father never once told me that he was proud of me. Never. I'm the first in my family to go to university, but it was never enough. He wasn't satisfied when I passed my registrar exams, he said that I should push myself to become a consultant. He always told me that 'that's not good enough', he never told me that I was enough. I don't know why I'm sad, even. I loved him, but he didn't love me enough back."
"Lily, if I was your parent, your achievements would be more than enough, trust me. I'm very proud of you, I've seen you grow as a doctor, and I feel privileged to have seen it happen. Listen, you have strength, beauty, and determination, you can do anything that you set your mind to." Zoe said, meaning every word.
"I don't know what to say... Thank you, Zoe." Lily addressed the consultant by her first name.
"That's okay, I mean it." Zoe replied.
"I'd better be going, my mother is going to ring me." Lily said, standing up.
"Okay" Zoe said, handing her a card. "This is my mobile number, you can call me if you ever want to talk."
"Thank you. For everything." Said Lily, taking the card and leaving Zoe's office.
Zoe checked the time on her phone, it was late, the night staff would be starting soon. Her background picture on her phone was a selfie she'd taken with Max at the ball earlier in the year.
She sighed, there wasn't hope for them now.
The consultant gathered her things together and exited her office.
To her total and utter surprise, Max was standing there.
"Hello" Zoe smiled, confused.
"I'm sorry."
"What for?"
"Everything. For lashing out, for acting like a grumpy teenager, for not being there for you when you could've died. Zoe, you made a mistake, and I couldn't accept that. But now I've realised that I can't lose the one person who I love most in the world, you. So could we try to make this work?"
Tears brimmed in Zoe's eyes. "Oh Mary-Jane, of course we can." She said, and walked towards him.
He kissed her gently.
"I've missed you, and Max, I'm sorry too." Zoe said when they broke apart.
"That's all in the past. From now, we're going to have a fresh start."
"I would love nothing more more. And I love you, Max."
"I love you too."