A/N - For the purpose of this fiction - Connie doesn't have any Grace and her Dad is still alive. I wanted to do something a little different with this one. Enjoy

"You're so useless, can you actually do anything right? You can save lives but you can't even make my dinner correctly, god help those patients" Richard yelled at Connie, she'd had to take a call from work and accidentally overcooked his fillet steak. 'Great' she thought, just another excuse for him to smack her about.

Connie Beauchamp had been with her partner, Richard, for 18 months. They lived together in his flat near Holby, but she still hadn't sold her house, she wanted to keep it, just in case. Richard was just your average guy, he was a businessman, he travelled all around the world for various conferences, meetings and other ad-hoc business duties, as he was a top accountant in an international firm. That was the only thing that kept Connie sane, knowing that he was away more than he was home with her.

Richard was about a foot taller than Connie, he was of slim build, with messy brown hair. When Connie first met him, he was just your typical business man who wanted a surgeon turn emergency department consultant. She used to love him, but she had stopped loving him a long, long time ago, but she was too scared to leave him.

"Morning Zoe" Connie greeted Zoe as she walked into the department. Connie and Zoe hadn't always seen eye-to-eye, but recently, Zoe had become almost a friend to Connie, a concept which was almost alien to her. 'Why would anyone want to like me?' That's what Richard always told her, she was worthless, and no one would ever, ever really like her.

"Morning Connie, ooh, Starbucks for coffee this morning? Coffee shop not good enough for you?" Zoe teased Connie.

"Ah this? No, I had to drop Richard off at the airport this morning, he's off to Los Angeles until Friday night for a work conference, I know he's my partner, but I'm really looking forward to spending a week in my own house" No one knew the truth about how unhappy she was. No one knew what he did to her, he always hit her in places it would never show, places no one would ever, ever see.

"I know what you mean, nice to have a bit of me time now and again, anyway, have a good day today, that must be our new senior staff nurse, Jacob someone?"

"Masters, yes. He's exactly what this department needs"

Connie made her way to her office, where she was quickly followed by her newly acquired puppy-dog, Jacob Masters.

"Good morning boss"

"Is it though?" She snapped back to him.

"Oh, OK then, I know to leave you until the afternoon"

"Sorry, I had a bit of a bad night last night, my boyfriends an idiot" She couldn't quite believe she had said that. She'd never, ever mentioned to anyone that there were issues there, she'd always led everyone to believe that she had a perfect relationship, to go along with her perfect life

"I'm sorry, man obviously doesn't know he's onto a good thing when it hits him in the face"

"He's in LA for a week so at least I have peace and quiet, I'm heading back to mine for a couple of nights, I hate being at 'ours' it just reminds me of how much I hate hime"

"Well if you're feeling up to it, come round to mind for a few drinks when the shift is done, let it all out, I'm a good listener"

"I don't think that's a good idea Jacob, but there's a bottle of white in my fridge if you want to come back to mine?"

"You got yourself a deal, see you later, boss"

She had arrived home at her house, just outside of Holby. She was awaiting the arrival of Jacob Masters, a new member of staff who'd made quite the impression on her. From the moment she set eyes on him she fancied him. He gave her a fresh lease of life, something she thought she'd never have after Richard, she wanted him more than anything, and if things went to plan, she'd get him, tonight.

Shortly after, Jacob arrived, he was dressed down, in jeans and a tight t-shirt.

"Come in" she said shyly as she opened the door "My directions weren't too bad then were they" she teased.

"Not at all, I brought a second bottle, you know, just in case"

They chatted away on her couch, she told him how unhappy she was, but she never mentioned that he hit her, that would make her weak, and Connie Beauchamp was not weak. The sexual tension was intense, they could both feel it, it wasn't long before they locked lips, she pushed him down on her couch and explored his mouth with her tongue

"Shall we take this upstairs" she whispered in his ear. The pair quickly relocated to her bedroom, neither of them felt guilty about doing this to Richard, not after what he'd done to her.

The pair lay, exhausted in her bed, she rested her head on Jacobs' chest.

"You're the one" she said "You're the one I want to be with Jacob Masters"

"Leave him then"

"It's not that simple, I can't" tears started welling up in her eyes.

"Tell him you don't love him anymore and you don't want to be with him any longer"

"I tried that, and this happened" She sat up in her bed and pulled her top down slightly, revealing a large bruise on her shoulder and back. Jacob was stunned.

"What?"

"If you think this looks bad you should have seen it when he first did it, it was black, I had to wear polo necks to work to hide it. I told him I didn't want to be with him anymore, and he grabbed me by the neck and threw me against a wall and told me I'd never leave him, that I was his and he wouldn't let me leave him"

"Shit Connie, surely that's enough evidence against him that you could go to the Police?"

"You haven't met him, I can't, I can't face it, I've documented it all though, I have pictures of what he has done to me, in the hope that one day i'll be strong enough to stand up to him"

"Awh Con" Jacob stroked her hair as she buried her head in his chest.

"We can still, you know, be" she said, Jacob didn't understand. "He's away all the time for work, I want to see you again, I'd sleep with you every night if I could, Jacob Masters be mine, maybe one day, in the future, when you've made me strong again, I can stand up to him"