This will be an ongoing story which I will update as much as possible, please feel free to leave suggestions in the comments, and kind critique is always appreciated.
"Nurse Freeman…" Connie called nonchalantly across the ED, from the door of her office.
Rita's head flicking up and paying immediate attention to the gorgeous brunette who apparently desperately required her attention.
A small smile played on the Clinical Leads soft red lips, a strange feeling overcoming her stomach as she watched Rita stare intently at her, expecting her to finish her sentence.
"My office." She simply said, Rita restraining her eyes from doing their signature roll.
Usually when Mrs Constance Beauchamp summoned you to her office it was for one of two things, to tell you to tell you off, or to fire you.
Rita's heart was beating double time in her chest, she had no idea why she was being called to the Doctor's office.
As her feet began to move unconsciously her brain drastically racked its memory for any small, or major, thing that she had done that would result in a smack on the wrist.
Rita drew a blank.
Coming to the conclusion she had done nothing, which she could recall, to piss off the tall woman, her feet picked up the pace at which she was strolling.
Intrigued Rita made her way into the room, Connie not moving to allow the smaller woman past, forcing Rita to press her scrub clad body against Connie's.
The electric between the two of them eliciting an increased breathing rate from both women.
Rita sat down on the chair, her back turned to Connie as she slam the door closed, the only indication she was moving was the loud clicks of her far too expensive shoes.
"I don't have all day…" Rita grumbled, expecting Connie to place her toned behind on her desk chair, instead she took up residence on the edge of the desk.
Their knees were practically touching, and all Rita could look at was Connie's toned legs, wondering how on earth the busy ED Consultant even found time to work out.
"You're um… You're not as awful as I first presumed you were." Connie said, her hands fiddling with one another in her lap, her big brown eyes glued to the squirming fingers as Rita furrowed her brows and half scoffed at Connie's statement.
"Gee thanks." She got up, the half-hearted compliment supplied by the older woman not filling her with hope for the rest of their conversation.
Rita began to move towards the door her now almost shoulder length hair swishing gently around her neck, Connie's words catching in her throat as Rita left.
"Your hair looks lovely." The words Connie had wanted to say had run away to Timbuctoo, the other words, which had supposed to stay in her head flew out of her mouth, cutting through the awkward air like a knife.
Rita paused and turned around, seeing no sarcasm in Connie's eyes, only fear for Rita's reaction.
"Thanks." Rita managed a half smile, Connie feeling a smile tugging at her own lips as she intently memorized every crease on Rita's face. "You look lovely when you smile." Rita grinned back, then slipping out of the room.
Connie was glad Rita left when she did, her whole face turning a flushed beetroot, all the way to the tips of her ears.
Connie shook herself, not knowing what had taken over her, in her waffling she had completely forgotten what she had meant to say to the Clinical Nurse Manager.
She had been utterly taken back by how beautiful Rita was, not that she hadn't noticed it till now.
But last night Connie had had an epiphany of sorts, as she flicked through group photos of the staff, just how much Rita had grown as a person (obviously not literally), but she had become so much more mature, responsible and all while keeping her youthful nature.
In truth Connie half envied her.
Rita had everyone wrapped around her finger, not in a spoilt brat way, but in a way that everyone loved her to the deepest depths of their heart, everyone looked out for the tiny Nurse and everyone knew she was the shoulder to cry on.
But to Connie's dismay she realised Rita didn't really have a shoulder to cry on, sure her and Dixie used to be close, but she could tell something had gotten between them and they weren't as tight as they used to be.
Connie knew she had to try and build a bridge of friendship between the two of them, Connie needing Rita to lean on just as much as Rita needed Connie to lean on.
"RTC MRS BEAUCHAMP!" Rita called from the hallway, Connie cursing as she saw the door had been left open, feeling exposed as she sat zoned out on her desk.
She quickly grabbed her stethoscope, dashing after the speeding gurney which Rita and Ian lead expertly to resus.
She found herself next to Rita's cool body, their arms grazing innocently as they pulled the patient across onto the bed.
"Get me up to speed, Nurse Freeman." Connie instructed, starting ABC's as Rita relayed the information from the paramedics.
"Unidentified female, unrestrained driver of the vehicle which was crashed into. She hasn't regained consciousness since the crash, no pain relief has been given." Rita paused as she saw Connie's face freeze, her hands continued to move, but a look of fear engraved onto her face.
"Mrs Beauchamp?" Rita whispered, touching Connie's arm gently.
Connie jumped, her eyes fixating on Rita as she tried to regain her composure.
"We need a CT and MRI, to rule out brain injuries which could be preventing her from waking up, or internal bleeding. Could someone get Big Mac to take her up? Thank you." She said, snapping the gloves off her hand and made her way quickly out of the room.
Rita wanted nothing more than to follow Connie out of the room and ask her what caused her to stop, but she was stuck waiting for Mac to come and move the patient.
Cal ended up taking over the case, as Connie didn't reappear, Rita's worries multiplying by the second as she couldn't figure out where the Clinical Lead had got to.
The CT results returned and Cal shook his head in dismay, realising this poor woman was already brain dead, and keeping her on life support was just prolonging the inevitable.
The medics dropped their heads in respect as the ventilator was turned off and the heart machine slowly flat lined down to zero.
Rita wanted to help clean up the poor woman, she had no one and they didn't even know her name, but at the same time she was panicking about the disappearance of a certain Doctor.
She decided the living had a priority over the dead, excusing herself from the room to launch a one man search team.
It took her less than 2 minutes to locate the supposedly missing Doctor.
She wandered into reception, knocking on Connie's office door, shocked to see it was open and there was a figure, ungracefully slumped behind it.
"Mrs Beauchamp?" Rita called tentatively, not able to open the door due to Connie's body.
"I don't need your help." Connie said, her mind trying to put on a firm tone, but her emotions betraying her, a slight wobble causing her to sound more upset than she wanted anyone to know.
"Right, I'm going to get two cups of coffee, I expect you to be up and away from that door by the time I get back, ok?" Rita asked, walking off before she could hear an answer.
She had never spoken to Connie in that way again, her hands were shaking nervously as she thought of the earful she was about to receive when she returned.
But she knew, nothing other than a strong hand would get Connie to do anything.
Rita almost got pulled into another case by Tess, blagging her way off of it as she wound up some half-hearted excuse about a meeting with Connie.
With two cups of coffee in her hand she finally arrived back at Connie's office, knocking carefully with her elbow.
She smiled to feel the door swing freely on its hinges as she pushed it with her foot.
Her smile fell directly into a sad line as she saw Connie sat on the sofa.
Her knees were pulled up to her chin, a fine tear track was present on her face to those who were studying her closely and her hair fell loosely in front of her face.
Rita walked over to her, placing the coffee before her hands, Connie's fingers clasping around the hot cup slowly.
"I didn't want anyone to see me like this." Connie whispered, her voice so quiet and sad that she sounded like someone else.
"I know…" Rita told her, settling onto the sofa next to her and sipping at her coffee.
They sat in silence for a good 5 minutes as Connie watched the steam rise from her paper cup, Rita content with the quiet.
"You know…" Rita started, capturing the attention of Connie, who seemed to have calmed down, even though she still looked slightly dazed. "I'm always here you know, if you ever wanted to talk about anything, I know what it's like to feel like you're on your own." Rita told Connie, Connie not having a chance to reply as Lofty practically tripped through the door.
Connie dropped her coffee on the floor, Rita glaring at Lofty who proceeded to turn beetroot red, forgetting to relay his message.
"Lofty?" Rita looked at him, trying to divert his attention from the exhausted Doctor who was doing nothing but watching as the hot liquid spread over her carpet.
"There has been a shooting in the Farmead estate, a medical team is needed." He almost shouted frantically, Rita switching to high alert and switching to Nurse Manager mode.
"Get Cal to take Tess." Rita said. "GO!" She ordered, knowing ordinarily either her, or Connie, or both would have taken the shout, but the fact that Connie seemed unable to process her emotions correctly at the moment told Rita she would be better staying here where Rita could keep an eye on her.
"Talk to me." Rita said, putting her own coffee down and choosing to strategically ignore Connie's own spillage.
"I can't." Connie said, her voice cracking as she did so, Rita's hands twitching as she longed to reach out and take hold of Connie's hands. "We should be preparing for the MAJAX."
"I know, but at least let me stick with you…" Rita begged, but Connie shook her head, flashing Rita a sad smile and finally claiming a packet of tissues off her desk to clear the mess up off of the floor.
"You'll be needed elsewhere…" Connie assured her, Rita still looking at her with a cautious eye. "I'll be ok." Connie told Rita, who although was not convinced, gave up on trying to persuade Connie any different.
"You know where I'll be…" Was all Rita could say as she saw the first wave of patients flying through the doors.
"Thank you." Connie whispered, but Rita didn't hear her as she flew out of the office door to assist Dixie with the first patient.
Rita busied herself, joining Ethan on the patient and running all over the place to get everything sorted and bloods sent off.
Patients kept flying in, Rita seriously worried about the amount of gunshot wounds which were being dashed to resus.
She tried to corner the Police Officers but none of them seemed to have any more information than she did, either that or they were very good liars.
Rita tried to focus on her job, but all she could think about was how Connie had almost broken down earlier, how she had almost confided in her, and how she hadn't seen her since she left her in her office.
But Rita's thoughts took a drastic turn as she heard a gunshot in the ED. She immediately left the patient she was treating, ignoring all of the cries from her colleagues.
"Rita, I really don't think that's a good idea!" Were the words that were shouted from Ethan's usually placid mouth.
"Rita, no!" Robyn cried out to her friend, grabbing Rita's arm, but Rita shook her off, determined to find the source of the gun fire.
Screams of terror and panic filled Rita's ears as she battled the tide, assuming that the direction people were running away from was where the gun man was.
She eventually reached a very deserted reception, she could hear scuttling from behind the desk and a jittery police woman stood up the corner, Rita almost scoffing at the woman's inability to do her job.
"Sir!" Rita called out to the gunman who was now sat calmly on a waiting chair. "Are you ok?" Rita took baby steps forward, not wanting to spook the man who seemed to have burnt himself out.
"I'm here to help." Rita said, the man suddenly jumping up and grabbing Rita, ramming the gun into her side.
"Rita no!" Rita looked around frantically to see where the cry had emanated from, shocked to see Connie's dishevelled hair and petrified eyes staring at her from behind the reception desk.
"That's what they always say!" The man started to cry, much to Rita's surprise.
"Who always say?" Rita tried to keep the attention on her as she could see armed Police Officers creeping in behind them, in the reflection of the reception sign.
"EVERYONE! They say they're going to be there for you and then…" Rita jolted as she heard a gunshot, sinking to the floor as she heard several screams and the man's body slump against her own.
Does Rita get shot? Does Connie dash to her aid?
Leave a review, and if you have any questions I'll reply to them in the next chapter :)
Thank you so much for reading!