This is dedicated to all the leddie fans still out there, who still miss them. The idea for this short story came to me over the Christmas holidays and wont go away so I thought I'd write it down.
Chapter 1:
Luc and Eddie walked towards the doors of Holby hand in hand. They both looked slightly tanned and healthy but in their eyes you could see a sadness that only good friends of theirs would notice. India had been wonderful and horrible for them in equal measures. The events of three months earlier were still raw and had convinced both of them that maybe it was time to return home. Home to their friends and to familiar surroundings which they hoped would help them heal. Serena had offered both of them jobs when she heard they were returning to the U.K. She had always liked Eddie's spirited and hardworking nature and since there had been no repercussions of Luc's actions before he had left Holby she thought it would be ok for him to come back, besides she said to herself, he is a brilliant doctor. Serena hoped that being married to Eddie now may have helped him improve his bedside manner.
Luc and Eddie headed for Serena's office next door to Hansen's old office. She welcomed them with open arms and sorted out their new hospital ID badges for them. They were returning to work on their old ward AAU and Luc was offered the chance to continue with his research, which he jumped at.
Luc and Eddie headed back down familiar corridors and entered AAU. They looked around, not much had changed, the same old beds and nurses' station but some of the faces were new. They walked over to the nurses' station, Marie-Claire was behind the desk. She looked up at them and smiled.
"Great to have you two back, I hope you're ready to work cos were slammed!" she exclaimed.
"Nice to see you too" said Eddie with a smile. Luc took their coats and bags and put them in the consultant's office. By the time he came back to the nurses station, Eddie was being briefed on the patients by Marie-Claire. Eddie handed a patient's chart to Luc, he quickly read it and scurried off to find the patient.
A few minutes later Sacha entered the ward and stopped in his tracks when he saw Eddie behind the nurses' station. He rubbed his eyes and then ran over to her.
"Now there's a sight for sore eyes!" he exclaimed. He grabbed Eddie and pulled her into one of his famous bear hugs. Eddie didn't resist, she'd missed his hugs. A few seconds later Luc came over, he smiled and said "please unhand my wife" to Sacha.
Sacha looked over to Luc seeing his wedding ring. He pushed Eddie away from him and said "so he finally made an honest woman out of you then" to Eddie and pulled her into another hug. They all laughed. Sacha gave Luc a hug and began asking them millions of questions. They explained how they had gotten back from India a couple of weeks earlier and had been offered their jobs by Serena. They told him how they had gotten married in India in a small ceremony by the edge of a lake with a couple of colleagues and friends as witnesses. Sacha thought it sounded romantic and then asked why they had come home. Eddie just said it was time to come home but didnt elaborate. Sacha knew by both of their faces that there was more to it but didnt push them on it. He knew they would tell him when they were ready to. He could see the sadness in both their eyes and knew it was something big and emotional.
The next couple of days flew by, Luc and Eddie got back into their old working routine. Sacha was amazed at how much in sync they were with each other, it was as if Eddie and Luc could read each other's minds sometimes. He laughed when he thought back to when they first met and how much they seemed to hate each other initially. Now he could see that they adored each other and would be lost without one another even though neither of them would probably ever admit it.
It was a saturday morning when baby Adam was admitted to AAU. He was nine months old and his parents had bought him in because he had a fever and was lethargic. He was admitted to AAU as the childrens ward was closed to new admissions due to a outbreak of a vomiting bug on the ward. Sacha, Luc, and Eddie greeted him when he was wheeled into AAU.
He was transferred into bed eight and Sacha began giving his details.
"Ok, this is Adam Jones, he's nine months old and is suffering from a fever, he's been lethargic for the last few hours and was vomiting up to an hour ago" Sacha said.
Luc and Eddie's faces both fell and they looked at each other shocked. Sacha didnt notice he was too busy looking at the notes. "Any suggestions Luc, Eddie?" Sacha asked.
Luc and Eddie didnt answer, they just stared at each other. Sacha looked up at them both, he could tell there was something wrong by the looks on their faces.
"Is there something wrong?" asked Sacha.
"No, no nothing" Eddie said eventually. She reached over to Luc and squeezed his hand. "Everything's ok, isn't it Luc?" she said with a sad smile. "Yes, yes it's ok" replied Luc. He took the notes from Sacha and began reading through them himself, he hadn't heard anything Sacha had said after Adam's name.
"I suggest fluids, the usual tests and that we run some tests for bacterial and viral infections" Luc said. Sacha agreed and Eddie began taking blood samples from Adam while Luc went off to get some drips to attach to Adam.
About half an hour later Eddie noticed that Luc had disappeared. She checked the whole ward but there was no sign of him. She put on her hoodie and went looking for him. She had been worried about him for weeks, he hadnt really reacted at all to their son Adam's death in India. He'd been putting on a brave face for her she guessed. She knew seeing baby Adam so sick today had had an effect on him. She arrived at Luc's lab and walked inside. She stood silently in the semi-dark for a few seconds and heard a sobbing noise coming from the other room. She walked just inside the door and scanned the room. Eventually she saw Luc sitting on the floor in the corner of the room, he was sobbing uncontrollably.
She walked over and sat down beside him. She stroked the back of his head. "Let it all out, sweetheart, let it all out" she whispered to him. Luc opened up his arms and pulled her to him. "It's happening again, I couldn't save our Adam and now we're going to loose this Adam too" Luc sobbed.
Eddie kissed him on the head and pulled him closer. "Listen to me Luc, it's not happening again ok. We lost our Adam to one of the most virulent fevers ever seen in India, it took out strong, fit men five times his size. There was nothing else either of us could have done to save him. For heaven's sake, it nearly killed me too. You know the only reason I survived it was because I got the correct medicine in time. I am ordering you right now to stop blaming yourself for Adam" Eddie said. Luc looked up at her with tears in her eyes and gave her a sad smile. He continued to cry. Eddie just pulled him close and held him tightly. After a few minutes the crying subsided. Luc looked up at Eddie, he kissed her on the lips. "I dont know what I would have done if I had lost you too. My whole heart would have broken instead of the half that broke when we lost Adam. I love you so much" Luc said. He kissed Eddie again.
"I know what you mean about the heart. I feel as if there's a big whole in my heart since we lost Adam" she replied sadly. Luc pulled her close and kissed her on the top of her head. Eddie lifted her head and kissed her husband passionately on the lips. She felt more in love with him at that moment than she ever had before. She knew how big a moment this was for him, finally admitting to her how he felt about losing their son. Their love for each other overtook them. They made love to each other for the first time since losing Adam there on the cold, hard lab floor.
About half an hour later Eddie and Luc arrived back on AAU both looking slightly scruffy but in happier moods since they had left. Eddie went over to the nurses' station and checked what new results had come in in their absence. Luc went over to check on Adam. He was stable, no better or worse than earlier. He was sleeping soundly. Eddie walked over to Luc as he chatted to Adam's parents Jackie and Kevin. Eddie handed him some test results. Luc looked at them and thought for a few minutes. Eventually it came to him. Jackie and Kevin looked at him with hopeful eyes.
"From the looks of these results I think Adam has bacterial meningitis, the less serious form of meningitis. We'll start him on the correct antibiotics and keep him on the fluid drips. With luck, he'll start to improve in the next few hours. Both of you and any family and friends who have been in contact with Adam in the last 2 days will need to get tested for it. You will also need to tell anyone you have been in contact with in the last 2 days who is feeling unwell to go to hospital immediately. I'm afraid this form of meningitis is very contagious. You brought Adam in at the right time, we caught it early" Luc said reassuringly.
Jackie and Kevin both thanked Luc. They both breathed a sigh of relief.
"Eddie will arrange for the blood tests for you and your family with the outpatients department, it will only take about 5 minutes to have it done. If you can contact your family and let them know to come in as soon as possible" Luc added.
Jackie and Kevin both nodded and thanked Luc again.
Luc handed the notes back to Eddie. "Can you ask the children's ward to send down that antibiotic so we can start Adam's treatment asap please Eddie?" Luc asked.
"No problem" replied Eddie with a smile.
A few hours later Adam was showing good signs of improvement. Only one of his family tested positive for the meningitis but thanks to Luc's quick actions, they received the treatment they needed before it had become serious.
Eddie walked back from Adam's bed over to the nurses' station and stood by Luc. She reached up and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"What was that for?" Luc asked surprised.
"My husband the medical genius!" she exclaimed with a smile as she looked back towards Adam's bed.
"Hardly. You can put it down to mis-spent teenage years spent reading medical books for fun instead of chasing girls like a normal teenager would have been doing" Luc replied humbly.
Eddie grabbed Luc, pulling him towards her so she could give him a passionate kiss on the lips. Luc blushed as wolf whistles rang out around the ward. Eddie smiled. "I for one am glad you spent those years reading instead of chasing girls. You probably wouldn't be married to me now if you had been chasing girls" replied Eddie.
"Why do you say that?" asked Luc.
"You'd probably have ended up a banker or something with a blonde trophy wife instead of me" Eddie replied.
"I dont think so. I hate maths and I've never really been into blondes. You know I prefer mad brunettes from Leeds" Luc said with a smile.
Eddie gave him dig for calling her mad and gave him a massive big smile.
Adam was released from hospital a few days later after making a full recovery. Luc and Eddie were sad to see him go, he reminded them of their lost son who would have been the same age as Adam if he had lived. Life went on as normal in AAU, the usual mix of accidents, fights, and illness that they usually had to deal with. Luc re-started his research work while Eddie tried to find them a flat to live in. It was starting to get cold and the campervan wasnt going to be warm enough for them for the coming winter.