Okay, so this is what happens when I get really bored and snowed in at work!
Serena Campbell was feeling irritated; she had so much paperwork to do, it was becoming ridiculous and here she was: stuck at some useless conference about management and team work. This was all Henrik Hanssen's doing; the board had felt it important for them to form some sort of close working bond, seeing as they had obviously been in serious competition the past few months. Apparently Holby deserved the best form of leadership. Serena tried to suppress a glare as she passed Hanssen his cup of coffee, feeling the urge to drop it over him.
Henrik nodded politely, taking the cup of coffee from his colleague, noticing the slightly annoyed look on her face. It almost reflected his own. This was after all, all her doing. If she hadn't made it clear to Cunningham that she was not happy about him returning, then the board might even have been happy with leaving them to do the job. But instead, they had been banished to this idiotic team building conference half way across the country.
"No, we all have our differences," the presenter said from the front of the room. "And sometimes we have to work at our relationships."
Serena rolled her eyes, before returning her gaze to the man in the front of the room who was looking straight at her. She cringed, hoping he hadn't noticed her irritation.
"And now I need a volunteer," he said, keeping his eyes focused on her.
Serena quickly averted her gaze to the floor. There was no way she was going up there.
"The lady in the back, over there?" The man called.
Serena made no attempt to look up. Perhaps if she pretended she hadn't heard him, he would spare her the embarrassment.
"I think he's speaking to you," Henrik leaned over and said with a slight smirk.
"Yes, I am aware of that, thank you," she snapped, finally looking up.
"Please, join me," the man smiled at her.
Serena carefully handed her cup of coffee to Henrik before very begrudgingly heading to the platform. She gave the little man a fake smile, before turning to face the audience who were watching her intently.
"Now, in order to build a sound foundation, we first need to be able to show that we can trust and be trusted."
Serena felt that ominous feeling; this was going to be bad.
"Now, what's your name?" The man turned to her.
"Campbell," she answered. "Serena Campbell."
"Okay, Serena, and where do you work?"
"Holby City," she answered dryly.
"You're a doctor?"
"Yes," she nodded.
"Do we have any more doctors in the house?" The man chuckled, looking into the audience.
Serena noticed Hanssen vaguely raise his hand.
"Ah, TWO doctors! Aren't we lucky?"
Once again, Serena had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes. This was a waste of time.
"Okay, Serena, here's what I want you to do," the man came to stand behind her. "I want you to close your eyes."
Serena just stared blankly at him.
The man smiled sheepishly at the audience. "Go on, close your eyes. Now I'm going to count to three and then I want you to fall back into my arms."
"Uh, no," Serena answered.
"It's okay. I promise I'll catch you."
"Yeah, I'm not doing it."
"I'll catch you," the man insisted.
"No," she said with more force than she had intended.
"Now, what we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is someone who is scared."
"Excuse me?" She turned to him.
"Scared to trust people."
Serena glared at him.
"And that's exactly what we're here to change. You can have a seat now, Serena. Thank you."
Serena headed back to her seat, feeling her cheeks flush slightly. "I'm about ready to ditch this joint," she hissed as she took her seat.
Hanssen passed her her coffee, trying to hide the amusement in his eyes.
"Okay, we'll take a short break and then we'll resume our training," the man called from the platform. "Serena, you'll be up first."
Serena sighed. This was torture.
"You seem to have made an impression," Hanssen said as he sipped his coffee.
"So it seems," she sighed. "Well, if I'm up first that means that we're up first."
Hanssen paused for a moment, watching her. She was right. She had inadvertently put him in the firing line as well. How typical. "Any ideas of how we can get out of this?"
"Well, there's a window in the ladies' room. I don't mind jumping out."
"Somehow I think that might end badly."
"I don't mind a few broken bones. Anything will be better than having that idiot berate us in front of everyone."
"I think you'll find he'll be berating you more so than me."
"Whatever," she sighed, sipping her coffee and watching the man as though he were a bug that needed to be exterminated.
"We'll just have to grin and bear it. There's no getting out of this one."
She couldn't bring herself to answer the man. The only thing that was keeping her sane was the thought that they would be able to go home soon.
Henrik watched the presenter start walking towards them. He suppressed a sigh. Serena would no doubt throttle the little man if he angered her any further.
"And what's your name?" The man asked Henrik as Serena turned in her seat to watch the exchange, a strange smirk crossing her face.
"Henrik Hanssen," he replied curtly. "Director of Surgery and CEO of Holby General."
"Impressive," the man smiled. "I'm John."
Hanssen nodded, glancing at Serena who was still watching them.
"Unless the NHS has suddenly changed its procedures, I'm guessing the two of you must have done something naughty to be sent here."
"Oh please," Serena snorted.
"We're only here to observe and implement some of your strategies in the everyday life of the staff," Henrik lied.
Serena had to give him credit for that answer; it was good.
"So, Serena's little trust issue has nothing to do with it then?" John smiled at her.
Serena suppressed the urge to throw her coffee over him. "No, it doesn't. I just don't like to be touched by people when I don't know where they've been."
John paused, taking in her comment. "Uh, okay."
"What Ms Campbell means to say," Henrik quickly interjected. "Is that she's not an openly affectionate person."
Serena glared at him.
"Well, we'll work on that," John smiled, clearly distracted by another group of people. He squeezed her shoulder as he walked passed them.
I'll kill him, Serena thought. "Not an openly affectionate person?" She hissed.
"You are digging us into a hole," Henrik reprimanded her. "I will not allow you to turn us into the laughing stock."
"Well," she got up, practically dropping her cup on the table. "I will not continue with this pointless seminar."
"Ms Campbell, you have been requested to complete this course."
"No," she replied, grabbing her coat and handbag.
"You cannot walk out on this."
"Try and stop me," she made her way passed the crowd who had assembled at the doorway and out into the reception area. Pausing as she reached the front desk, she realized that she had travelled with Henrik. "Damn," she sighed. "I wonder if it's possible for you to call me a taxi?" She asked the receptionist who gave her an odd look.
"Unfortunately, due to the weather, I've been told that the taxi services aren't running," she glanced apologetically out of the window.
Serena turned to see the whole garden covered in thick snow. It looked like a blizzard outside. "Is there any other way of getting out of here?" She turned back to the young lady. "I'm desperate."
"Well, the train's will still be going – some of them. But you'd have to walk there. It usually takes ten minutes, but in this weather . . ."
"That's okay," Serena smiled. A little snow never killed anyone. "Which way?"
"Uh, it's down our driveway and then you need to turn left," the woman answered with a concerned look. "But I don't think you should be walking in this weather. It's going to get worse."
"I'll be fine. I'd take a blizzard over this . . . seminar any day," she smiled before heading out into the snow. The woman was right; it was pretty bad. She buttoned up her coat all the way up to her chin, pulling out a pair of gloves from her handbag. "Stupid seminar," she mumbled as she started marching down the driveway, almost choking on the flurry of snowflakes. She could feel her eyes start to sting from the snowflakes melting into her eyelashes.
It finally dawned on her that she had possibly overreacted to the John character and that she should perhaps have heeded the receptionist's warning after she had been walking for over twenty minutes and could not see more than a metre ahead of her, let alone a train station. The whole town had grown quiet. She was in two minds whether to attempt to go back to the hotel or continue to try and find the station when she heard someone call out for help. She froze, listening for another cry. Surely she had not imagined it. She was about to keep walking when she heard it again. This time is seemed clearer. It sounded like a woman. She turned around and noticed a stationery car with flashing emergency lights. It seemed strange in the middle of a deserted town.
She headed over to it, leaning to get a closer look through the window. She could just about make out the shape of a woman in the driver's seat. She was clutching her enlarged belly.
Serena quickly opened the passenger's door. "Are you alright?"
"I'm going into labour," the woman said between clenched teeth.
"Oh for heaven sake," Serena said under her breath as she climbed into the car. "Don't worry, I'm a doctor. But I am going to need to get you out of here. Where's the nearest hospital?"
"About twenty minutes away," the woman cried.
Serena rolled her eyes. Of course it was. "Okay, well, that won't do. I'm going to call an ambulance and hope for the best. In the meantime, deep breaths."
Henrik had managed to evade John's eye as the seminar started. He had hidden himself rather well right at the back of the room, near to the coat stand. Serena had disappeared over twenty minutes ago. He had imagined she would have reached reception and perhaps realized that he had driven them here and been forced to eat some humble pie; not something that he would imagine Serena Campbell was accustomed to.
The fact that she hadn't returned didn't entirely worry him as much as aggravate him. She had left him in the lurch once again. She had a tendency to ruffle feathers and then leave him to deal with the consequences.
Well, not this time, he thought as he got up and very discreetly vacated the room. She wasn't in reception. Perhaps she had gone to the ladies' room and climbed out the window, he smiled to himself. "Excuse me; I wonder if you can assist me in locating my colleague?" Henrik asked the receptionist. "She has short brown hair and would possibly have not been in a particularly good mood."
"Oh, yes, she left a while ago. She was going to walk up to the train station as the taxi services aren't running."
"She walked?" Henrik asked with some alarm. Quickly reaching for his mobile phone, he attempted to call her but it went straight through to her voice mail. He tried her again, only to reach her voicemail again. He wondered if it was worth waiting a few minutes. She was a very capable person, but as he very well knew, having grown up in Sweden, that snow could confuse even the best of people. And it was coming down quite hard.
"How would one reach the station?" He asked the receptionist, realizing that he could not in good conscience leave her.
After receiving directions from the woman at reception, Henrik tried calling her once more and then decided he would drive down the road to find her. He was travelling at a snail's pace, focusing on keeping the wheels on the road. The snow had become slippery.
He couldn't imagine what had possessed the woman to walk in this weather. It was obvious that she was the type of person who let her emotions overshadow her ability to think logically, which was strange seeing as she had such a brilliant business mind. This was exactly why he felt she needed keeping an eye on. She was a fantastic physician, but sometimes she could be impulsive and erratic; both traits that scared him.
He kept his eyes peeled for any signs of movement in the street, but could see none. Perhaps she had arrived safely at the station?
"Damn stupid phone," Serena grumbled, dropping her mobile back into her pocket. She couldn't get a signal in the weather. "Okay, we're just going to have to sit tight for a minute or so. How far apart are the contractions?"
"I don't know," the woman cried. "About three minutes apart I think."
"Is this your first child?"
"Yes," the woman answered, before grabbing onto the steering wheel again, fighting the urge to scream.
"If you don't mind me asking, why did you leave your home?"
"I thought I'd be able to make it to the hospital before it got any worse. I knew the ambulance would take too long to get here."
"Couldn't you get anyone else to drive you?"
"The father's in Iraq."
Serena grimaced at the thought. "Okay, well, don't panic. I'm going to try to move you into the back seat and then I'll drive."
"The car won't move," the woman said. "It's stuck."
"Of course it is," Serena mumbled. "Well then, I guess you're stuck with me. I'm Serena Campbell by the way."
"Stacey Brady," the woman tried to smile.
"Okay, Stacey, let's see what we can do . . ." Serena froze as she noticed the lights from a car. "Hold on for me," she quickly jumped out of the car and raced into the road, trying to get the driver's attention. The car slowed down quite quickly.
"Ms Campbell?" Henrik jumped out of the driver's seat.
"I can't even begin to explain to you how happy I am to see you," Serena called out to him. "I have a woman who's going into labour over here and I could do with some help."
Henrik quickly followed her to the station wagon. "You don't half know how to get yourself into perilous situations, do you?"
"It's not like I go out looking for them," Serena opened the driver's seat. "Okay, Stacey, my colleague Mr Hanssen and I are going to attempt to carry you to the other car."
Henrik watched as Serena attempted to get the woman out of through the door. Had it not been an emergency it would have seemed rather amusing. "Okay, give me a hand," Serena called out to Henrik who quickly grabbed the woman's right arm, slamming the door shut behind her.
They both proceeded to somewhat drag the woman to Henrik's car. Serena climbed into the backseat with her and Henrik started the engine, heading towards the hospital. At least his SatNav was working.
Henrik had clearly had experience in driving through the snow. They reached the hospital with only minutes to spare. "She's fully dilated," Serena called as the hospital staff rushed to their aid. "Good luck, Stacey, I'm sure everything will be fine."
"We'll take it from here," one of the doctors called over their shoulders as they wheeled Stacey away.
"All in a day's work," Serena smiled, turning to face Henrik.
"Probably not one of the smartest things to do," Henrik heard himself scold. "Walking alone in the blizzard; you could have been killed."
"I'm touched by your concern," Serena said sarcastically, smiling at the Swede's tone.
"As Director of Surgery, it would be my responsibility to inform your family of your demise," he replied with subtle sarcasm.
"A task I'm sure you'd take great pleasure in doing," she laughed.
"On the contrary," Henrik turned back to his car. "Who would I find to complete my extra work?"
"Well, I'm sure Ric would jump at the opportunity," she smiled, following him. "Besides, he might even stay put at these team building seminars."
Henrik waited until she was about to get into his car before answering. "Ah, yes, but it wouldn't be nearly as much fun."
"Fun isn't exactly a term I'd describe you with," Serena smirked as she climbed into the passenger's seat. She hoped that hadn't hurt the man's feelings, but it was true.
"And how would you describe me, Ms Campbell?" Henrik persisted as he climbed into the driver's seat, adjusting his seatbelt.
This seemed to take Serena aback. She had never imagined him actually asking her that. "Well," she ventured. "I would describe you as a fussy, anal retentive neat freak," she kept her eyes on the ambulance parked in front of her as she noticed his head snap towards her. She felt the urge to apologize, but then realized that he had in fact asked her for her opinion and if he didn't like the answer, then he shouldn't have asked.
Henrik wasn't sure how to reply to that. He knew he was a perfectionist and definitely liked things being a certain way, but he would never have described himself so crudely.
"Now I'm scared to ask you what your opinion of me is," she chuckled, glancing over at him.
"Well," Henrik started the engine. "I would describe you as impulsive, enigmatic and a loose cannon."
Serena spun around in her seat, getting ready to argue, but then realized how futile it was. "But at least I'm enigmatic."
"Well at least I'm a neat freak," Henrik's lips twitched upwards as he carefully drove them out of the hospital's driveway.
"It can be seen as a positive," Serena nodded, knowing full well that Henrik knew she meant it in a derogatory manner. "I'm fortunate you came when you did," she said, trying to change the subject. "I had completely lost my way."
"It can happen quite easily in the snow."
Serena pulled her compact mirror out of her handbag, thinking it would be best to ensure she at least looked the part for when they arrived back at the hotel. John would no doubt be there, ready to torture her. She was horrified to find that her mascara had run all the way down her face. She looked like a tramp. Pulling out a tissue, she rubbed the black marks off of her face, slightly aggravated by the fact that Henrik had not mentioned the state she was in.
Henrik slowed down as a policeman waved them to stop.
"I hope you've hidden the stash," Serena chuckled as Henrik gave her a disapproving look and wound his window down.
"Good afternoon," the policeman greeted through clenched teeth as the snow battered down on him. "Are you and your wife heading home?"
"Uh," Henrik was about to explain that Serena was not his wife when he was cut off.
"You won't be able to go anywhere else in this weather."
"We were actually going to travel back to Bristol today," Serena said.
"No chance," the man answered. "You're going to need to get off of the road as soon as possible. This weather's just going to get worse."
"Okay, we will. Thank you," Henrik watched as the policeman headed back to his vehicle.
"Oh well, this is great," Serena huffed.
"It appears we might be staying over tonight," Henrik said, watching the look of dread on Serena's face. He would take offence if he wasn't aware that her dread was more directed to being stuck with John.
"Company credit card's going to take a battering," Serena finally smiled. She intended to fully take advantage of this. A hot bath and room service were definitely in order.
"You only have one room left?" Serena asked in horror.
"I'm sorry, but everyone from the seminar has had to stay over tonight due to the snow. We're even having some of their colleagues sleep on the floor."
Serena sighed heavily. She could hear the lady behind her speaking on the phone. She was also looking for a place to stay. "Okay, I'll take it," Serena finally said. It wasn't like she had much of a choice. Henrik was not going to take this well. She paid the receptionist, accepting the key with some disdain. So much for a relaxing bath. She stepped out of the queue, glancing over to where Henrik was standing, speaking authoritatively on his phone. She leaned against the wall, waiting for him to finish.
"I expect you to have it done by the time I return. Thank you," he hung up.
"We have a slight little problem," Serena started.
"And what's that?" he gave her an ominous look.
"Well," she swallowed. "They only had one room left. Which means . . ." she trailed off, waiting for his reaction.
"Which means we'll be forced to share?" he asked.
Serena couldn't tell if he was amused or annoyed at the thought. "Well, yes."
Henrik sighed heavily. He hasn't been forced to share a room with someone since he had been in boarding school. "I don't suppose we have a choice."
"No," Serena shook her head, glancing over his shoulder to see John standing nearby, talking loudly to another poor idiot. "Let's go," she grabbed his arm and practically dragged him up the stairs.
"Ms Campbell, I am actually capable of walking without being marched," Henrik grumbled.
"Sorry," she said sheepishly. "I just didn't want John to see us."
"You can't avoid the man forever."
"Oh, believe me, I can try," she called over her shoulder.
They finally made it to the third floor and had to wander around the corridor looking for their room.
"Here," Henrik called.
Serena sighed, strolling over to him and passing him the key.
Henrik awkwardly took it from her before opening the door, motioning for her to go in first. She obeyed, looking around the room. And there it was; one double bed. How would she make it through the night?
Henrik was obviously thinking the same thing. "I can sleep on the floor."
"Don't be ridiculous," Serena snorted. "You want to sleep on this floor? It doesn't even look like it's been hoovered in over a week."
Henrik glanced down at the carpet. Serena was probably right. The thought filled him with dread.
"And as a fussy, anal retentive neat freak," Serena smiled. "I wouldn't wish that on you at all."
Henrik smiled gently.
"We're both adults, Henrik. I'm not going to jump your bones."
Henrik paused for a second. That was the first time she had ever used his first name. He wasn't sure he appreciated her becoming so friendly. But one night couldn't hurt. It wasn't like they had much of a choice.