Chapter 1
Jac screwed up her eyes and put her head in her hands. 2 hours of staring at a computer screen had given her a massive headache. She looked at her watch. It was only 2:30, meaning she was only half way through her shift. A sharp knock on the door brought Jac out of her daydream. She sat up straight and took a deep breath.
"Come in!" The door opened and Mo walked in, a cup of coffee in each hand.
"Thought you could use some caffeine, since you're near the end of a double." She walked over to Jac's desk and put a cup down. After a couple of minutes, when Mo hadn't moved, Jac looked up.
"What?" She was starting to feel really quite unwell, and listening to whatever Mo had to say was unlikely to make her feel better. Mo took another step towards the desk.
"Jac, are you alright? You look a bit peaky."
"I'm fine." Jac stood up and stormed out of her office and onto the ward.
"Dr March. Can I have a word before you leave, please?" Zosia rolled her eyes and sighed. She had spent the day trying to keep well away from her father, and she had, surprisingly, managed. Until now, that was. She turned round to see him walking towards her.
"What do you want?" she asked, trying to conceal her exasperation. Guy motioned towards Keller staffroom.
"Would you come in here for a minute please?"
"Jac. Jac, wake up." As she lifted her head of the desk, a shower of paper fell off the edge. She looked up to find Mo stood staring at her.
"Are you sure you're okay Jac?" Mo was starting to get worried. She had never seen Jac like this before.
"I'm fine. Just tired." That wasn't true, but she didn't want Mo to know she was ill. She was sure it wasn't anything serious, but she knew that Mo would just make a fuss about it.
"Well why don't you go and downstairs and get a coffee? It's not busy up here, I'm sure we'll cope."
"Sure, why not." Mo was momentarily stunned, Jac had actually agreed with one of her ideas. As Mo left, Jac got up and walked over to the lift.
Zosia sat at the table in the staffroom looking bored. Guy had spent the last 10 minutes lecturing her about turning down opportunities in theatre.
"Seriously though Zoshie," As she heard Guy use her pet name, Zosia gave him a cold stare. He continued unperturbed.
"This is your career. You need to think hard about what you're doing." She had finally run out of patience. She got up, collected her bag and coat and began towards the door.
"Zosia! Where are you going? I haven't finished yet." Guy clumsily got to his feet and followed Zosia out onto the ward. He caught up with her and grabbed her arm. She spun round and pulled her arm from his grip.
"Get off me! I'm fed up of listening to you lecture me about what I should and shouldn't be doing with my life. It's MY life, not yours! My shift ended half an hour ago, and so now I'm leaving." Zosia turned and strode towards the lift, leaving her father stood, surprised at her outburst.