Chapter one

The air outside was crisp as Lofty walked into the ED. All around him sat patients still waiting to be seen as he walked to the front desk and dropped his rucksack at his feet.

"Morning Sunshine" called Rita as she walked over to greet him. "You'll be with Dr Keogh today, Loft" she smiled, patting him on the back in sympathy.

It was a known fact among the staff at Holby that Dylan Keogh was difficult to work with; it seemed even Dylan himself knew this, judging by his constant insistence that he work alone rather than with a helping hand. However, he always made an exception for Lofty. Over the past few months the two men had grown closer after settling their differences and embracing each other's flaws. This came to a surprise to a majority of the staff, because everyone knew what Dylan was like. He was not a man of great expression when it came to things as mundane as emotion; it seemed the doctor was not capable of processing when a patient was in distress and was seeking comforting words - rather than a cold diagnosis and a rehearsed apology. This is where working with someone like Lofty came in hand, because Ben 'Lofty' Chiltern was the complete opposite of Dylan Keogh. Lofty was kind and compassionate. He would actively go out of his way to help someone in need, and never let anyone down. Lofty was caring – he was incredible with working with the younger patients, compared to Dylan. But Lofty didn't mind that about Dylan. In fact, in a way he liked it.

"Hurry up, mate. Keogh will be on your back if you don't make a move!" warned Max, as he brushed what remained of yesterday's mess up.

And with that, Lofty took his bag to the staff room and dumped his possessions into his locker. After changing into his clean scrubs, he tried to neaten up his hair as much as he could. Lofty remembered how Dylan had once commented on how his hair was always messy, so whenever the two worked together Lofty would try to straighten his curls out a bit. Of course, this never usually ended well, as his hair had a mind of its own that did not want to comply with Lofty's feeble attempts at a hair brush. After giving up on hopelessly trying to tame his mop, Lofty headed out of into the ED to meet Dr Keogh.

"Ah, there you are. I was wondering where you'd gotten to." Dylan said, with very little life in his words. "I was going to assume you'd fallen into a bin or something."

Lofty tried not to laugh but couldn't contain the small chuckle that slipped out. Even Dylan seemed to half smile at the remark, as he carefully stitched the gaping cut on the patient's forehead. Lofty handed Dylan the scissors to finish the job, while making casual conversation with the man on the cubicle bed.

"I hate coming to hospitals." The old man huffed. "Especially for something as small as a scratch on the head. But of course the missus wasn't having any of it!" he laughed.

Lofty smiled at the pensioner, as Dylan tidied up his suturing. The two men had become a team over the past few weeks, Lofty comfortably filling the silent gaps Dylan always struggled to fill. Dylan admired this about Lofty; he seemed to complete the doctor at times when he only felt half alive. Life had been lonely living by himself since Sam left. Even with Dervla's constant affection, it just wasn't the same on the boat. But since making a truce with Lofty – Dylan's mind was less lonely and empty.

There was a steady flow of patients throughout their shift, and each round of treatment had been to Dylan's high standards of success. However, something strange had begun to grow inside Dylan's head. Working with Lofty was usual for the doctor; he had done it countless times before today. But there was something different about today. Every witty response or kind-hearted gesture Lofty would make led to a flutter in Dylan's stomach, a light-headed feeling that made him feel short of breath. He found the behaviour strange but concluded it wasn't anything serious – he was sure it was merely a fever of sorts.

"Are you okay?" he heard Lofty's voice say. But Dylan couldn't respond, simply standing with one hand against the corridor wall.

"Dylan? Dylan snap out it!" Lofty urged, gently nudging the doctor with his shoulder.

Startled, Dr Keogh's eyes opened wide as he frantically blinked around the room – trying to find something to readjust to. Of course, Lofty was standing right in front of him. Dylan stared at Lofty for a minute trying to breathe slowly, as Lofty awkwardly shifted from left foot to right and back again. After a moment of silence, Dylan straightened up and regained control of the situation.

"Ahem….. um… sorry" Dylan coughed.

"Oh no, it's fine – really! Are you alright? What happened to you?" Lofty reassured him, his eyes full of both worry and relief.

"Oh, well, it um… it happens quite a lot when I'm at home. I'll just be sitting having a conversation with Dervla for a moment and then all of a sudden everything kind of… goes away, I suppose. It's nothing serious, it just happens when I'm thinking about something." Dylan sighed and rubbed his forehead, before stretching his back and walking away from the young nurse.

"Come along, Benjamin. You should know it's never not busy in here!" Dr Keogh called from down the corridor. He seemed different to Lofty somehow, suddenly more lively, more energetic. Lofty stood still for a moment, and then realised something.

"Did he just call me Benjamin?"