Healing
A/N
I'm currently suffering from writer's block with "Together", and I was talking to a certain someone about possibly writing this fic the other day and they loved the idea (you know who you are!) so this is for you.
Will be multi-chapter.
Reviews welcome,
Laura xxx
Zoe Hanna was back from her holiday, and it was her first day back at the ED.
The consultant stood, cigarette in hand, gazing at the large building where she'd worked for so many years.
She'd been to France, to a small holiday home by a beach. She'd spent her days looking out to sea, wondering if a return to Holby was right for her. Perhaps she should move away, make a fresh start?
But then she thought of her husband. She couldn't leave him, even if they weren't together. He was her friend, and despite everything that had happened between them, she knew that he'd always be there for her.
She stubbed her cigarette out with her shoe, straightened her jacket, and made her way inside.
"Zoe." Connie greeted her with a smile. "Did you enjoy your holiday?"
"Yes thank you." Zoe smiled slightly. "How are you?"
The two chatted, catching up on news from the previous two months whilst Zoe had been away.
Max spotted his wife talking to Connie. He'd been constantly checking the rotas and asking around as to Zoe's whereabouts, but he hadn't received any answers. And now, here she was.
The porter was reminded of when Zoe had come back from her big adventure- none of the staff had known that she was coming back then either.
Zoe noticed Max looking over at them and gave him a small smile and nodded, and Max did likewise.
The consultant went to the staffroom to put her things in her locker, wondering if Max had been dating anyone else in her absence.
She smiled as she put her stethoscope on her shoulders. She'd missed the weight of it, a constant reminder of who she was whilst she was at work- a powerful consultant, deputy clinical lead.
Yes, once upon a time she'd had it all- she'd been engaged to a man who she loved more than anything, a lovely flat, and a job that paid extremely well. True, she still had two of those things, but without Max they didn't seem worth it.
"Zoe." Her husband's voice startled her as she made her way to the nurses' station.
"Max." She said, standing still.
"How are you?" He asked.
"I'm alright, thank you. I've erm, been to France, just to clear my head." Zoe explained.
Max nodded. He knew his wife, if there was something that she couldn't cope with, she'd run. He knew that it was their conversation just before she'd left that had confused her.
"Zoe?" He asked.
"Yeah?" Zoe's eyes met his.
"Could we talk, after work maybe?"
"Okay." Zoe said softly, something resembling panic in her brown orbs.
"It's positive." He smiled softly at her, knowing that she thought he'd ask for divorce papers.
"Okay." Zoe repeated, a smile gracing her features.
The rest of the day went on in a blur, Zoe and Max wrapped up in their work, both too busy to talk to one another again.
It was almost two o'clock before Zoe had time for a break. She stepped outside, and automatically began walking to what used to be her and Max's smoking spot.
She had a cigarette, and was just about to walk back into the ED when Max walked up to her and silently handed her a curlywurly.
She raised an eyebrow at him, a smile playing at her lips.
"I know that you probably won't have any lunch, so..." He offered as a way of explanation.
"Thank you." She whispered.
"Zoe!" Dixie's voice interrupted their exchange.
Zoe smiled at Max again and hurried off.
Max watched as Zoe made sure to tuck the chocolate carefully into the pocket of her blazer before making her way over to the ambulance.
The rest of the shift went by slowly, Zoe wondering what Max was going to tell her and Max wondering how Zoe would react.
Connie noticed that Zoe was a lot calmer since going on holiday before she seemed to be constantly on edge. She'd noticed the consultant talking to Max, too- an improvement compared to a few months ago.
"Right, I'm off." Zoe announced to no one in particular as she entered the staffroom, opening her locker.
"See you tomorrow." Ethan smiled at her.
Zoe got her coat on, dropped her phone into her bag, and left the hospital. She realised with a scowl of frustration that she hadn't specified where to meet her husband.
Just as she was about to call him, an arm rested on her shoulder. She looked up to see Max, and beamed.
"Afternoon." Max said cheerfully.
"Hello. Right, what's all this about then?" Zoe asked rather abruptly, nervously.
"Patience." Max began walking to the little garden at the back of the hospital.
Zoe shivered slightly in the cold. "What are we doing here?" She said, reminded of the conversation that she'd shared with her husband over a year ago in that very place.
Max sat on a bench and patted the space next to him, indicating for Zoe to do the same. She did so.
"Zoe." Max began.
"Since I... Forgave you for what you did, I've missed you. I've missed waking up next to you every morning, I've missed our fag breaks... So what I'm suggesting is, we try to make it work again, between us. As husband and wife."
A smile spread across Zoe's face. "Really? I... I'd love that, Max. I feel the same... I really have missed you too."
"That's settled then. Two o'clock, Holby Skating Rink." The porter responded, standing up.
"What?" Zoe was confused.
"We're going on a date. After all, what do two people who like each other do to get to know one another better?" He said with a grin.
Zoe beamed back at him. "I suppose. I'm looking forward to it." She smiled, excited at the prospect of a happy future with her husband.