Diane lay back on her bed. The room seemed to be spinning around her and her head was thumping. It was her own fault, she knew that. She should have just said no when Nick asked her for a drink. But, she had reasoned at the time, it was better than moping around at home. And it had been for the first hour. Nick was plying her with expensive champagne and compliments. It's always nice to be appreciated once in a while. Everything was going fine until Nick nudged her and told her to look over at the door. Diane turned to discover a couple walking in. They noticed Diane and Nick and wandered over to them. Diane just wanted to sink into the floor.
"Mind if we join you?"
"Not at all"
Trust Nick to be completely oblivious to her pain. Diane poured herself another glass of champagne and downed it as fast as possible. She desperately needed to dull this pain. It was threatening to eat her up, or at least make her do something she would regret in the morning. Another glass of champagne and she locked eyes with the person across the table. Bad move, need another glass.
It was at this point that Diane tried to stand up and failed. Lying in a heap on the floor she looked up to the three concerned faces peering down at her. But she could only see one. One face that she could always pick out from a crowd. She reached out a hand to touch it as they turned away, the concern completely gone. They were probably only worried about whether she would be able to turn up for work the next day. Tears welled up in her eyes as she felt Nick's arms pick her up and take her outside.
"Come on Diane; think I'd better get you home."
She cried into his shirt all the way home in the taxi. To his credit, he really didn't seem to mind, her just held her gently, stroking her hair. He made sure she could get into her house then, giving her a fleeting kiss, disappeared into the night leaving Diane home alone with the face going round and round in her mind.
Nick was waiting for her in the locker room as Diane stumbled into work late the next morning.
"You okay after last night?" he asked, looking genuinely concerned.
"I will be after I've taken some of these," she replied, waving a box of aspirin at him. "What happened last night anyway?" she asked as she hunted for a glass. "I don't remember anything after Mr and Mrs Beauchamp arrived."
Nick laughed, "I'm not surprised, the amount you drank!"
"I'm sorry if I embarrassed you in front of them."
"Oh no you didn't. You only managed to fall off your chair."
"That would explain the bruises on my arms then."
"Yeah. I picked you up and took you home before anything else happened."
"Thanks Nick. It's really nice to have someone on my side."
"It's fine. Better get back to work now. Oh and by the way, Ric thinks I sent you to chase up some X-rays. It might be a good idea to go with it."
He winked at her and left.
Diane sank down into a chair and smiled. She had a lot to be grateful for. Nick had covered for her without knowing whether she would even turn up this morning. And he'd removed her from a rather dangerous situation the night before. Copious amounts of alcohol and the Beauchamps sitting opposite her, who knows what she could have said or done; who knows how many lives she could have ruined.