I've written something a little similar in the past, but thought maybe it would be a good idea to involve the whole of Holby and perhaps later to see what the effects of something as traumatic and confusing are one the whole staff. Be kind! ;)
They stood in the shadows of the car park; watching, waiting. They had already noticed how many security guards were working, how many security cameras were around and their positions. They had been surveying the hospital for a good two days. They had been banned from the reception area, but that had not stopped them from assembling on the grounds.
They were in for revenge and for their brothers. And they never failed.
Serena Campbell pulled into the car park, carefully making her way to the nearest parking spot that was reserved for hospital staff. It was still dark and by the look of the clouds, it was not going to get much brighter any time soon.
The ground had frosted over and was shimmering from the street lights. Serena very carefully made her way towards the entrance of the hospital. She just couldn't get warm and felt weighed down by her heavily padded coat. "Morning," she smiled to the security guard as she stepped in the reception. Today was going to be a long day. She had arranged for assistance with a patient who had been shot in the chest. The bullet was lodged near his aorta. Scans had shown that it would be difficult to remove the bullet but that if they didn't, the young man would not be able to live an active life; any strong movement would be able to dislodge it and rupture his aorta. The best they could do was operate, although it would be tricky and would push them to their limits. But Serena had always been up for a challenge.
Serena stood near the lift, waiting for it to open. She would first have to check up on her patient, make sure that he was well enough for such drastic surgery.
The door opened to reveal Henrik Hanssen. Serena felt her stomach drop. She had barely spoken to him since he had been reinstated as CEO. In fact, she had been trying to avoid him as much as possible.
"Ms Campbell," the tall man nodded.
"Mr Hanssen," she smiled back politely. "I thought I was the only early bird."
"I had some work which needed to be accomplished before the masses arrived," Henrik said cryptically.
Serena stepped into the lift, pressing the floor for AAU. Hanssen made no move to press any other button so Serena assumed he was heading the same way she was.
"How's your gunshot patient coming along?" Hanssen asked.
"I'm just on my way to check on him now. If all's well, we can go ahead as planned with surgery."
"I'll accompany you."
Serena had to bite her tongue. She hated having Hanssen watch over her shoulder, but the thought of partaking of a unique surgery kept her spirits up.
"I believe the police have been informed of your patient's progress?"
"The police have been hanging around like flies on . . ." she thought better of the analogy she was about to use. "They're very keen for an outcome," she said instead.
Hanssen nodded. "I understand we've been keeping the patient in an induced coma?"
"That's right," Serena said as the lift doors opened. "He suffered severe trauma from the gunshot. By all accounts, he was the only one who saw the shooter, so the police are understandably interested in speaking with him."
"Was it gang related?"
"What makes you say that?"
"I understand you banned some of the patient's visitors from the hospital?"
"Well, I'm not entirely sure if they were actually his friends or not and they were intimidating the other patients, not to mention the staff."
"I would appreciate it in future if you notified me when you get security to remove someone from the building."
"Of course," Serena answered, trying to keep her calm composure. Hanssen had treated her strangely ever since he had been reinstated. She assumed it had something to do with the fact that she and Cunningham had been speaking to each other right before Hanssen was supposed to meet with the members of the board. It would probably be a good idea to sit down and have a heart to heart conversation with the man, but he wasn't exactly the type to invite out for a drink. She quickly dumped her coat and bag in the office she shared with Michael Spence, acutely aware of the fact that Hanssen was standing in the door way, waiting for her. So much for that cup of coffee, she sighed.
"Good morning," Hanssen greeted Chrissie and her husband Sasha Levy.
"Morning," they answered in unison, glancing at Serena as she untied the scarf around her neck – it felt much like a noose. She appeared from her office slightly flustered and gave them a quick smile. "Shall we?" She turned to Hanssen who nodded and followed her to her patient's room.
Serena immediately reached for the patient's medical notes which were located at the foot of his bed. There had not been any incidents during the night which came as a relief. It looked like all seemed well enough. "Seems okay," she said.
"Is Ms Naylor assisting with this procedure?"
"No, Mr Hope has decided to take on the gargantuan task himself," Serena answered happily. This is why she became a surgeon. The thrill of being part of something this risky, but also the knowledge that – if all went well – the patient's life would saved. She almost felt like she was on a bit of a high.
"I see."
"We'll have to do a few more tests this morning, but I see no reason why we can't proceed. Do you?"
"I wouldn't mind scrubbing in on this," Hanssen answered.
Serena felt her stomach drop. "Oh?"
"Should be interesting," he nodded.
"Okay," she smiled politely.
"Let me know how the tests get on," Hanssen called over his shoulder as he walked away.
"Will do," she glanced back at the young boy. He had definitely taken a beating.
"The police would like to know if Mr Young is conscious yet," Chrissie called from the doorway.
"Not yet," Serena said. "But with any luck after today, he'll be able to tell them whatever they want."
"Is it true he witnessed someone murdered?"
"Uh," Serena replaced the notes and turned to Chrissie. "I'm presuming that's what the police are hoping."
"Well let's hope his 'friends' aren't planning on coming back today. I heard you had them thrown out."
"They were shifty," Serena answered. "Security are under strict orders to keep them out."
Elliot Hope thanked the woman at the canteen as she passed him his blueberry muffin. He balanced it on his folders as he headed towards the lift.
"No chocolate chip?" Ric Griffin asked as he joined the older man at the lift.
"I chose blueberry," Elliot smiled. "It's fruity enough to make me feel like I'm being healthy, even though I'm not."
Ric chuckled.
"So I hear you're stealing my fellow consultant," Michael Spence called from behind them.
"If you're referring to Ms Campbell," Elliot smiled. "Then I was coerced into taking on this case."
"Yeah, Serena's pretty good at coercion," Michael said with a spark in his eyes.
Elliot gave Michael a disapproving look. "She's very excited about this operation," he said. "I've had at least two text messages off of her already relating to it."
"Two?" Michael said with sarcastic surprise. "I usually only get one."
"Telling you what to do with yourself, no doubt," Ric chuckled.
"Would you expect anything else from that woman?"
The lift doors opened and Serena stood leaning against the door. "Mr Hope," she greeted warmly.
They all exchanged glances. "Good morning," Elliot greeted. "Are you all set?"
"I'm waiting on a few more tests, but we should be ready to go in three hours, tops."
"Aren't we in a good mood?" Michael teased.
Serena gave him a look. "At least I am taking a few hours leave from broken noses and drunken tramps," she said, stepping passed them into the canteen.
"Whatever," Michael snorted, following his two colleagues into the lift. He was about to call something out to her when he noticed a man in a hoodie standing in the car park, his hands in his pockets, watching the hospital. Something didn't seem quite right about it.
Antoine Malick stood near the white board, reading through the planned electives for the day. If all went well, he would have at least four hernia operations to get through.
"It's freezing out," Chantelle called from the reception desk on Kellar. "We're supposed to get snow this week."
"Nothing beats snow," Malick turned to her, clapping his hand together as he did.
"Well, maybe not at Christmas, but after that when everything turns to sludge . . ."
"I will be working through Christmas," Malick answered. "So I don't mind."
"Another year without a proper Christmas?" Chantelle asked, horrified by the idea. "You're more than welcome to my house, you know. My mum makes the most amazing turkey and her chocolate logs are to die for."
"Yeah, I'll give the logs a skip," Malick smiled.
"Morning," Ric called as he headed from the lift to his office.
"Oh, Mr Griffin," Malick ran after his mentor. "I was wondering."
"That's never a good sign," Ric answered with a smile.
"You know Ms Campbell and Mr Hope are doing this operation this afternoon on the kid with the bullet?"
"I don't think there's anyone in this hospital who doesn't know about it," Ric sighed.
"Well, I was wondering if I finished most of my electives, if I could maybe go down and watch them work?"
"Malick, you should be more concerned about your own patients than Ms Campbell's."
"I am," Malick said sternly. "But I'd love to see them work."
"If you have finished everything and only for a few minutes," Ric nodded. "Then that's fine."
Malick threw his hands in the air victoriously as he turned and headed back to Chantelle. "Right, let's get these hernia ops out of the way."
Jac Naylor slumped in her seat as she stared at her Emails, hearing Elliot walk into the office. She watched through the corner of her eyes as he carefully placed his folders all over his desk, making sure his muffin didn't topple over.
"Ready for your explosive operation today?" She said, watching him straighten up.
"Jac, if this is about Ms Campbell asking me to lead this surgery instead of you, then I've already told you, she knows I have extensive experience."
"As do I," Jac countered. "So much for us girls sticking together," she huffed. "I guess I'll just have to watch you work."
"Actually," Elliot grimaced. "Mr Hanssen is scrubbing in as well and we won't have enough space for everyone."
"So you're saying I can't come?" Jac spat, sitting up straight.
"Well, it would be recorded. You could watch it afterward."
"Afterward? Thanks a lot," she stormed out of the room and nearly into Johnny Maconie.
"Easy tiger," he smiled.
"Not now," she snapped.
"Has the empress not had her coffee yet?" Mo Effanga smirked.
"Sour grapes," Johnny answered, watching Jac race down the corridor with her usual malice.
"How so?" Mo asked.
"Lady Campbell asked Mr Hope to lead the surgery on that shooting kid."
"Oh," Mo smiled. "Somebody needs to learn a little humility."
"I feel for Ms Campbell when Jac tracks her down," Johnny laughed.
Serena was heading to the surgery theater when she noticed Jac standing outside the door. She was tempted to hide behind the vending machine, but she was used to taking the bull by the horns.
"Ms Naylor," she smiled, watching the petite woman straighten up. Her eyes were as cold as ice.
"Would you care to explain to me why you asked Mr Hope to take the lead on this when you knew all too well that I was ready for it? And more than capable of it."
"Well," Serena stepped towards her. "I am also aware of Mr Hope's background and I know that he has worked on a case like this before."
"So you thought I couldn't do it?"
"No, not at all. I'm sure you would handle it perfectly, but seeing as Holby has had some bad press as of late, I wasn't willing to take the risk."
"Ready?" Elliot called from inside the theater.
"I'm sorry Jac," Serena moved passed her. "I'll keep you in mind next time."
Jac rolled her eyes and watched as Serena prepared to scrub in. Elliot gave her a concerned look before continuing into the operating theater.
They had come prepared and were ready for a fight. They had seen where the hospital's weaknesses were. And it was time to save themselves. If anyone found out what had actually happened that night, their leader would be destroyed. They had to protect him. They had to eliminate the only witness who could tell the story.
Ollie Valentine was standing outside in the cold air, smoking his first cigarette of the day. He didn't usually like smoking but today was a tough day. He felt anxious over something and he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Maybe it had something to do with Tara's strange behaviour.
"D'you have another smoke?" Someone asked.
Ollie turned to face two men in hoodies. There was something threatening about them. They seemed to be nervous. "Uh, sure," Ollie held out his pack to them.
"You a doctor?" One of them asked. He had a scar on his chin.
"Yes, I am," Ollie answered. "Are you visitors?"
"You could say that," the other smirked, glancing behind him.
"You know, the hospital entrance is on the other side."
"We're not going that way," the scarred one said.
"Well, where are you planning . . ." Ollie hadn't finished his sentence when one of the men punched him in the face. The scarred one grabbed him by the arms and dragged him behind the nearest skip, kicking him as they went. The other kicked him in the stomach again and again while the scarred face one punched him in the face until he stopped moving. "Do yourself a favour, mate," the scarred face man whispered. "Stay down."
With that, both of them raced towards the door that Ollie had left open. He felt a sense of dread at the thought of these men making their way into the heart of the hospital. He was scared for Tara. But he couldn't move and every bit of fight he had was going to staying conscious. It wasn't enough.
Michael watched Ramona tend to a patient. She treated her with such compassion. He could easily fall for this woman which was probably not a good idea. She had a lot of baggage. He had his own kids to take care of and he was concerned that she would expect him to do the same for her own.
"Michael," Chrissie dragged his attention away from the Spanish nurse. "Mr Anderson's in bed nine. You need to come and have a look at his shoulder. It's swelling up."
"Have we got his results back yet?"
"I've just been on the phone to the lab – there's a bit of a hold up."
"Well, that's the NHS for you," Michael smirked as he headed over to Mr Anderson. He was about to reach for the patient's records when he heard it; a loud bang. It sounded like a car back firing. He spun around to see two men standing at the door, each holding a gun. One of them let off another round into the air. Michael felt Sasha grab him and pull him to the ground.
There was another gunshot. The sound seemed to echo in the ward.
Someone screamed out in pain.
"William Young!" One of them shouted. "Where is William Young?"
There was silence as another gunshot was fired. This time it was Chrissie who screamed.
Michael watched in horror and Sasha scrambled to his feet, his hands in the air. "Please," he begged.
Michael dared to peep over the bed. One of the men had cornered Chrissie and was pointing his gun at her head.
"Please," Sasha repeated, glancing over at his terrified wife. "I can help you. Just let her go."
"William Young," the man repeated. "Where is he?"
"The name doesn't ring a bell, but let me look on the system."
"He's trying to contact the police," the other man said.
"No I'm not," Sasha answered.
"Get rid of him," the man shouted to his friend.
"Wait," Michael raised his hand, keeping his face hidden. "I think I know who you're talking about."
"Get up!"
Michael slowly got to his feet, keeping his hand in the air as well. "He came in yesterday. Mr Levy wasn't here yesterday," Michael glanced at Sasha. "And neither was Chrissie."
"Where is he?" The man left Chrissie and focused on Michael.
Sasha moved cautiously over to his wife's side and grabbed hold of her, making sure that his body would protect her if the men started shooting again.
"He's in surgery right now. Ms Campbell's performing surgery right now to save him. Okay? I'm sure he's going to be fine."
"Ms Campbell?" One of the men smirked. "The one who got us thrown out yesterday."
Michael felt his blood run cold. "Look, she's intense, but she's all about the patient. She's just trying to keep him alive."
"Well that's not what we want," the man answered. "Where are they doing this surgery?"
"I'm not sure," Michael lied. "There are a few theaters."
"You get to show us," the man in the red hoodie motioned for him to follow him out. Michael could barely feel his legs; they felt lame as he followed the man out. The other man was going to make sure that no one from AAU could get away.
"We're taking the stairs," the man pulled Michael's arm and forced him onto the staircase. "You try anything, I have no worries shooting you."
"Look, the chances of your 'friend' making it out of surgery are slim to none as it is. The bullet's in a very difficult spot. You're doing this for nothing."
"And if he makes it out alive, the police have a witness."
"A witness to what?"
"Keep moving," the man raised his weapon. Michael led him up the stairs in silence. He knew this was not going to end well.
As they reached Kellar, Ric Griffin was laughing with one of his patients until he saw the look on Michael's face. He glanced over at the reception desk where Chantelle had just put the phone down, turning around to come face to face with a gun. "William Young," the man said. "Where is he?"
Chantelle froze. She was trying to keep her hands from shaking. "I don't know who you're talking about," she whimpered.
"I don't believe you," the man hissed, raising his weapon and firing a warning shot into the air.
Chantelle dropped to the floor, covering her head for protection.
"Whoa, whoa," Malick stepped out of the lift, his hands in the air. "What the hell is going on?"
"William Young, where is he?"
"He's in theater two," Malick answered.
"What was that?" Elliot asked, just as he had finished the last incision on William Young's chest.
"It sounded like fireworks," one of the nurses answered.
"I'll need to take a look," Hanssen said as he headed out of the theater, not bothering to remove his surgical gloves or scrubs.
Serena and Elliot exchanged glances.
There was another loud bang.
"I'll be right back," Elliot said as he headed out the exit after Hanssen, leaving Serena to attempt to open the chest cavity herself.
"Almost sounds like a car backfiring," the nurse smiled.
"I don't think Holby has any of those inside," Serena smiled. "But when I worked at St George's over fifteen years ago, we actually had a car come straight through the entrance of the hospital. It was great fun."
Serena was about to reach over for the scalpel when the door flew open. "Mr Malick?" Serena was about to scold him when she noticed the man appear behind him.
"Ms Campbell?" He said.
She froze as she watched him raise his weapon and fire at her. She felt warm liquid spatter over her. Looking down, William Young's head had literally exploded. The alarms went off on all the monitors.
Another shot was fired. This time, Serena managed to drop to the floor. Her ears were ringing from the noise. She watched as William Young's blood streamed down from the stretcher, forming dark pools on the floor.
The man came around the stretcher and grabbed her by her hair. "You're lucky we're out of time," he whispered before bringing his gun down and whacking her in the face with it. He left her lying on the floor as he raced out of the room, shoving Malick against the door as he did.
"What's the racket about?" Jac asked Tara who was standing in the corridor, obviously confused.
"It sounds like gun fire," Tara answered.
"That's ridiculous," Jac snapped as Johnny stepped into the corridor. There was a look of sheer relief on his face when he saw Jac.
"Thank God," he said.
"What's going on?"
"We need to get out of the corridors," he answered as he grabbed Jac's arm and guided both her and Tara into the nearest store room.
"You need to tell me what's going on right now," Jac demanded.
"Someone's going around shooting people," Johnny whispered, leaning his head against the door to listen out for any movements.
"What?" Tara cried. "Have you seen Ollie?"
"I just left Mo in AAU – they think there were two men. One of them ran away and the other might still be inside."
"Why are they here?"
"Ms Campbell's patient," Johnny answered. "It's something to do with him."
Tara's heart started racing. What if Ollie had been hurt?
"Ms Campbell!" Malick called as he raced around William Young's stretcher. Serena was trying to pull herself out of her patient's pool of blood. She could feel the side of her face begin to swell up.
"I'm fine," she mumbled as Malick pulled her up. "Where'd he go?"
"I'm guessing he's left. He did what he came here to do."
"Which was to kill my patient?" Serena spat out blood from her mouth.
"You need an ice pack," Malick raced out of the room to get one.
"Ms Campbell?" Elliot stepped back into the room, horrified by the sight that greeted him. Serena was covered in blood and the side of her face had swollen up. My lip was bleeding.
"Is everyone okay?" She asked, pulling her gloves off and dropping them to the floor. She couldn't wait to remove her scrubs which were soaked with blood.
"Are you okay?" Elliot asked.
"I'm fine," she reached up to touch the side of her face and winced. This was going to be difficult to explain to her daughter, she thought as she stepped into the corridor, heading towards Kellar. She could hear Elliot walking after her.
Hanssen was standing near to Chantelle who was crying. He was obviously trying to calm the whole situation down.
Ric suddenly appeared in front of her. "Oh my god," he said.
"I'm fine," she repeated, noticing Hanssen turn to see what the commotion was about.
"Ice pack," Malick called as he rushed up to Serena and held the pack against her face. She grabbed it from him.
"I am quite capable of doing it myself, you know," she snapped. "Is everyone okay?"
"They're all fine up here," Ric answered. "Apart from one," he looked at her.
"Mr Spence has reported the injury of one patient in AAU. Other than that, I believe we got off lightly," Hanssen answered. "I'm going to have a word with security to see how this happened."
"I need to get out of these scrubs," Serena mumbled as she noticed the blood dripping onto the floor.
"William Young?" Ric asked.
"Dead," she answered before getting into the lift with Hanssen.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Hanssen asked as the lift doors closed.
"We'll need to account for every staff member," Serena said. "Make sure everyone's safe and sound and then we'll need to give the security staff a stern talking to. I mean, I don't take what they do lightly, but allowing armed men into a hospital? That's at least worth a disciplinary."
"Ms Campbell?" Hanssen turned to her.
"I'm fine," she answered. "I feel as though my eardrum's been burst, but I'm fine."
Michael was standing on the other side of the doors when they opened. "Whoa," he said as he saw Serena.
"That good, huh?" She tried to smile, but it hurt too much.
"Are you . . ."
"Yes, I'm fine," she cut him off, glancing behind him at AAU where broken glass was lying on the floor, paper was strewn every where.
"Can we get some help in here?" Chrissie called as Ollie was raced passed on a stretcher.
Hanssen watched as Michael and Sasha tended to Ollie. He was glad there had not been more casualties, but the repercussions would be tremendous. There had been a breech of trust which would be difficult to mend. Would anyone feel safe at work again?