Title: Misty Rains

Summary: Modern AU. Anna is a nurse who lives a normal life until John Bates arrives in town.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: I'll be very honest with you: I never thought I'd write a modern fan fiction for Downton Abbey. I've never read any because I never thought it would make much sense. Then again, this might make no sense at all. But then I had this plot idea, and it would only seem possible in a modern setting and, well, here I am. I'll give those modern fan fictions a shot now. Anyway, I really hope you'll like it. This is only an intro, more of a prologue perhaps, so I'll try to post next chapter soon – if you feel like reading more, of course!

Misty Rains by fuzzydream

Chapter One

People always say there's calm before the storm.

And it's true, it really is.

The birds are singing and the air is pure and the sun is high in the sky. And, suddenly, everything goes quiet. The birds return to their nests, the air changes and the clouds are coming. It's calm, and then it starts raining and it's not calm anymore.

Anna never really believed that until she became a nurse; one minute, everything was slow and calm. Next thing you see, there's been a car accident and the emergency room is filled with victims and chaos breaks out as a fight in a local pub turned quite serious and she doesn't even have time to think, let alone feel.

The day started out normal enough; Anna's shift would start soon, busy enough for a week day, and she would leave twelve hours later.

It was just another day, and she was as ready for a storm as she had ever been.

Except that this time the storm would happen in her heart.

Anna woke up late, something she rarely did – especially if she needed to be at work in the morning. She got up in a hurry and, seeing as she would have no time to eat a bite before going to the hospital, she put on her uniform and, as she was pulling her hair into a ponytail, she heard the very distinct noise of ambulances in the distance.

"Looks like this will be a busy day, Boris," Anna said, looking at her cat, which literally couldn't care less about what she was saying, too busy with himself.

She sighed, put on her shoes, grabbed her bag and managed to get the bus in time, though she had no idea how.

The sun was shining brightly against her face as she sat down, appreciating the quiet moment that would precede her twelve hour shift. The bus stopped for a minute and Anna enjoyed looking at a group of birds that stood watching them near a lamppost. As the bus started again, an elderly woman sat next to her.

"Hello, Anna, dear," she said motherly, looking at the nurse.

"Hello, Mrs. Cook," Anna greeted her with a smile, "How have you been?"

"Just alright. How's your grandmother?" Mrs. Cook asked.

"She's great. Dad is convinced she'll outlive us all with her brand new knee," Anna said with a small laugh.

"Your dad should be worried alright! I've seen how much brandy he drinks," Mrs. Cook said, shaking her head. "Hear about what happened this morning?"

"No, what?"

"You know that Victorian house they were renovating, in downtown Scarborough?" Anna nodded, and Mrs. Cook continued on, "Apparently a roof collapsed while the men worked around. Such a tragedy. Ruth said she heard it from her house, and that's nearly a mile away!"

Anna had no idea who Ruth was or where she lived, but that would definitely explain the ambulances around in the morning.

Several houses in Scarborough were being renovated, but so far none of them gave a problem whatsoever. Of course it was tragedy – not only for the house itself, but for the people involved.

"It's a tragedy, indeed. Were there many men working on the house?"

"I couldn't say, my dear," Mrs. Cook shook her head, "Now, your grandmother tells me you're single. You know, Anna, my Georgie is single too."

Fortunately for Anna, her stop came and she stood up.

"It's always nice seeing you, Mrs. Cook, but I've got to go now," Anna said apologetically, but Mrs. Cook smiled and Anna breathed in relief.

She quickly made her way into the hospital, going straight to the nurses' station, where she found Gwen.

"How was the night?" Anna asked Gwen.

"The usual," Gwen told her, "Mr. Hill's been calling every half an hour, so you probably shouldn't get worried. Apparently I'm not as good as you, so there's no point on asking me for anything."

Anna smiled, "He doesn't mean to bother. He's just lonely."

"Well, you should accept one of his proposals, then," Gwen teased her, turning serious as she handed Anna a few charts, "Did you hear about the accident?"

Anna nodded, "The one with the collapsed roof? I heard about it. How many injured?"

"Most of them barely had a scratch, or that was what the paramedic told us. Three suffered minor injuries, they'll probably be discharged soon," Gwen explained, "One of them is in surgery. Something to do with his spine. Looks serious."

Anna was about to agree when Ethel arrived, sounding disgusted.

"I just saw a guy who ate a fork. They're preparing him for surgery. Why do people do these things?"

"No idea," Gwen told her just as they heard the offending beep indicating one of the patients was calling for a nurse. Gwen looked pointedly at Anna, "It's Mr. Hill."

"I'll go," Anna said, picking up a few charts, "See you later."

The victim from the collapsing roof wasn't more than a boy, in Anna's eyes – apparently the doctors tried to fix his spine, but whether he would be able to walk again it was impossible to know yet. The young man – William Mason – returned from surgery and Anna, as the designed nurse, was checking his vitals from time to time. As if it couldn't get any better, Anna was chaperoning the new nurse, Daisy Robinson, for the day, explaining to her everything about the hospital and the ward.

"Daisy, will you check on Emily Richards for me? And if she's awake, please let me know," Anna said, and the young woman nearly fled, almost knocking an officer who was standing in front of the entrance door.

"That one surely got some energy," the man said and Anna looked around.

"Sam!" Anna asked him, stopping what she was doing. "I told you I didn't want to see you in my work place. Whatever are you doing here?"

"The world doesn't gyrate around you, sister," Sam said with a grin, "I'm here for William Mason. Or maybe you didn't hear that a historical house fell upon his head?"

Anna pursed her lips, "Of course I did. Do you think it wasn't an accident?"

"Can't discuss the details with you, sorry," Sam said, "The city might want to sue the Grantham Corporations on the damage, of course. They were supposed to be responsible around the house."

"Well, either way you won't be able to talk to him," Anna said while writing a few notes, "He just got out of surgery. It'll be hours before he wakes up."

"Will you tell me when he does?" Anna nodded at his question and Sam smiled, "Hey, wanna go out tonight? We're going to that pub you like later."

"Who's going?"

"Just some friends."

"No, thanks," Anna said quickly, "Even if I liked your friends I wouldn't be able to go. I agreed to help Gail at the store tonight."

"You work here the whole day with sick people and works as a cashier at night? Only you, Anna," Sam said distractedly, looking around. "You should get a boyfriend. That might stop you from working."

"Gail needs help. Her two cashiers are sick, and maybe you've forgotten all about it, but she just gave birth and shouldn't be working. You should be a good brother and help her as well," Anna rolled her eyes and smiled. "I need to go back to work. I'll let you know when Mason wakes up."

Sam winked at her and petted her cheek, "That's me sister."

Anna shook her head, returning to the charts and realising she should check on Mr. Mason soon. However, her brother was barely out of sight when Ethel voiced her thoughts.

"How come you never told me you had a brother who looked like that?"

"Like what?"

"Hot, handsome, beautiful. I can go on, y'know."

Anna laughed, "He's my brother. I don't see him like that."

"Well, I do, and I like him a lot!" Ethel said interestedly, "Is he single?"

Anna stood up and looked at her apologetically, "I honestly have no idea."

"If he's not married, I don't mind. Can you give me his number?"

Anna chose to ignore her pleas and left for Mr. Mason's room.

She had no idea what the young man really looked like – there was too much black and purple around his face – but he seemed like a handsome lad, and far too young to suffer from such a thing. She shook her head, thinking of what would happen to him if he never got to walk again. A terrible shame, indeed.

"Excuse me," said a voice from the door, "may I come in?"

Anna turned around from the machines and looked at the man at the room's entrance. He looked calm, almost shy, and wore fancy clothes – a suit and a tie – and looked from William Mason to her.

"Oh, yes," she said quickly, "I'm just checking on him. Are you family?"

"I'm afraid not," the man said quietly in a pleasant voice, but he appeared to be worried. "I'm William's boss, so to speak. I don't suppose you could tell me his condition?"

Anna smiled apologetically, "No, I'm sorry. You can visit, but only his doctor and his family can talk about it."

"I thought so. I'll stay around, then," he gave her a small smile and she found herself smiling back. His phone started ringing then, breaking them from the spell, "Excuse me. This is Bates. No, he's still unconscious; I won't be able to know anything..."

Anna turned around to check on William Mason's condition, and soon left the room.

Ethel was at her side the moment she reached the nurses' station.

"Who is that guy?"

"Mr. Mason's boss," Anna told her, narrowing her eyes. "You're not interested on him, are you? Half an hour ago you were begging me for my brother's number."

"I like to keep the doors open. Plus, that one's probably a keeper. Did you see his clothes?" Ethel asked her with a smile, "If he's the bloke's boss he probably makes good money. He's not wearing a ring either – I think he's in the market."

"You've looked for a ring already? Only you, Ethel," Anna shook her head.

"'Course I did! He's a bit older than us, but no problem with that. But I think I prefer your brother," Ethel said, "Can't you introduce us?"

"No, Ethel."

Gail's store was in full swing when Anna arrived, right after the end of her shift at the hospital. It was a small, corner shop, that wasn't very busy during the night. Gail was ever so grateful that Anna had come, and Anna promised she'd be alright on her own.

As the night progressed and things got slower, sleep was finally getting at her. She grabbed an old magazine from a drawer and started to read it. The words were beginning to blur after a few minutes, and Anna had no idea about what she was reading anymore.

"Excuse me?"

The sound of an unknown voice broke Anna from her nap, never even hearing the sound of the door opening. She looked back at the customer, embarrassed and self-conscious, noticing it was the same man who visited William Mason at the hospital during the afternoon.

"I'm so sorry. It's been a long day," she told him with an embarrassing smile, wondering if he would remember her. He gave her a sympathetic smile.

No, of course he didn't remember her. Why would he? He barely looked at her, after all.

"No problem, I understand. I just can't find a shaving cream, that's all."

"First shelf on the left," Anna said quickly, pointing at the corridor on their side, and he muttered a quiet 'thank you' before disappearing in it.

Anna took the opportunity to rub the sleep away from her eyes; at least Gail wasn't there to see this.

He came back a minute later with a few items on his hands. He smiled at her as he put them on the counter and Anna started scanning the products, noticing the shaving cream and a toothbrush; he obviously hadn't planned on staying around.

"You're William Mason's nurse, aren't you?" he asked her out of sudden, in a shy way.

Anna smiled, "Yeah. Did you manage to talk to him?"

"Yes, he woke up a few hours ago. I think you'd left already," he said. "I'm John Bates, by the way."

He extended his right hand, and Anna stopped for a moment before shaking it.

"Anna Smith."

She let go of his hand and went back to the register.

"I'm confused. Are you a nurse or a cashier?" he asked her, apparently interested.

"I'm a nurse most of the time, even though some patients see me as a waitress," Anna told him with a smile, "I take it you weren't planning on staying here?"

"Not at all," he answered her, looking around the shop. "Given the circumstances, I might have to stay in town for a while."

She gave him a sympathetic smile as he paid her.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" he asked her quietly.

"You probably will."

"Until then, Ms. Smith."

"Until then, Mr. Bates."

They shared a smile. Anna hadn't realised she had been holding her breath until he left.

And this time she noticed he hadn't been wearing a ring.

A/N: Reviews are very much appreciated – I'd really love to know what you think of this. Anyway, thanks for reading!