So I told myself that I wasn't going to post anything new, not until Family Bonds and Behind the Screen were finished. However, I've had this idea in mind for a long time and I've been working on this chapter for quite a while as well. I really wanted to get it posted. There will be some triggers which I'll write into various chapters along the way.
I hope you like it.
Chapter One
It was a different day for Lily.
Usually, she'd arrive at work at least half an hour early before she was due to start. She'd park her bike in the exact same spot in the car park, walk into the ED with Ethan, and they would talk about their plans for that week. Lily would laugh about Ethan's love for comic book conventions, and Ethan would tease her for the amount of studying that she was planning on doing. The two of them would then grab a coffee and join the others in the staffroom, before heading off to start their shift.
Not today though, today was different.
Lily arrived at the ED dead on 9:00am, not a minute earlier or a minute later, and she parked her bike in a completely different spot. She walked into the ED alone, and she didn't even stop to grab her morning coffee. She didn't say a single word to anyone.
"Good morning," Alicia greeted, as she happily skipped into the staffroom.
Lily was in the middle of packing her things away into her locker. Her 'five year plan' was stuck on the inside, staring her in the face and reminding her of what a failure she was. She didn't even smile at Alicia, she couldn't be dealing with her early morning happiness.
"It's such a lovely day outside," Alicia said. "It's a shame that we're working really."
Lily nodded faintly at the young junior doctor and hung her stethoscope around her neck. Lily liked the fact that she was working, she didn't want to be outside in a busy, crowded street full of screaming children and swearing parents. It was the beginning of August, in other words the summer holidays, so everyone on earth was bound to be out in the sun.
"Are you going on holiday this year?" Alicia then asked.
Lily pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. When was she going to shut up? She didn't let Alicia see the look of annoyance on her face though and just slowly turned and shook her head.
"My mam wants to take me on a mother and daughter bonding holiday," Alicia said. "I'm not sure if I'm going to go though. I'm in my late twenties, it'd look a bit daft really."
Shrugging her shoulders, Lily shut her locker door and cleared her throat. She caught sight of Alicia smiling weakly in her direction, as if she'd noticed that there was something wrong but she was way too scared to say anything. In a way, Lily hoped that she'd ask her, but she never did.
"We best get working," she said instead. "Mrs Beauchamp will come tracking us down otherwise."
Lily followed her out, her mind on many other things. The two of them made their way up to the reception desk, where Louise was collecting the patients notes from Noel. She and Alicia got talking about the karaoke that they'd gone to on Saturday night, leaving Lily to just hover nearby.
She'd never been invited.
"Anyway." Louise shook her head and got back to the topic of work. "Forty-two year old man in cubicles, fell onto some broken glass. His wife has been contacted and she's on the way now."
"Thank you," Alicia said, clutching the notes to her chest.
"Try and at least smile for the patient, yeah?" Louise snapped.
To Lily, it was quite clear that the comment was aimed at her. Alicia was still smiling, making conversation, jumping about and feeling completely happy in her job. She was basically a puppy. Lily could have fought back, she could have acted as if the comment hadn't hurt her, but instead she kept up the silence and followed Alicia to the cubicle where David and Dylan were waiting.
"Ah, Doctor Chao," Dylan said. He seemed pleased to see her, but only so that he could catch a break. "This is James, and he has quite a nasty piece of glass sticking out of his leg. It will need to be removed."
"Really?" James hissed through clenched teeth, looking from Dylan to the two women. "Never have been that great with blood, and...Well...Hospitals altogether really."
"Well," Dylan sighed, allowing David to step in front of him. "I'll leave you in Doctor Chao's capable hands."
And with that, Dylan left. Lily just stayed back, arms folded across her chest, her eyes on Alicia as she communicated with the patient.
"It's okay, honestly," Alicia comforted him. "My parents are exactly the same with blood, unlike me, but I guess I'm just weird really. I'll tell you a secret though, I am absolutely petrified of small spaces."
"And I have a fear of public speaking," David mentioned.
"I didn't think doctors were afraid of anything," James scoffed. "There's me, in my forties, and terrified of everything. I'm such a wimp, I really am. My kids would love a dog, but they can't have one because I'm scared of them. Do any of you have pets?"
"I don't." Alicia shook her head, as she started to examine him. "And Doctor Chao here is allergic to dogs, so I doubt she has any."
"I wish I was allergic, believe me," James said. "That excuse works better than telling people I have a fear of them."
"It's nothing to be ashamed of," Alicia spoke again. "Why don't we get this leg fixed up, huh? Trust me, it'll be over before you know it." James nodded, clearly trusting the junior doctor. "Is it okay if I lead?" Alicia asked Lily. "I need this sort of stuff for my portfolio."
Lily just nodded and gestured to the leg wound. She saw the way that James was looking at her, and it made her uncomfortable.
"Are you a trainee?" James suddenly looked very concerned, as he eyed Alicia's steady hands.
"Oh yeah, but don't worry," she replied. "I've worked here for a while now, and I've read up on all of this stuff. I know what I'm doing."
"But the other doctor is staying to observe, right?" He asked, referring to Lily.
"Of course," Alicia said, whilst Lily didn't utter a word.
"I don't think you're the only one with a fear of public speaking, mate," he joked with David, before addressing Lily again. "Do they call you 'The Silent Doctor' then, eh?"
"Doctor Chao's usually quite talkative, but it's been a bit of a rough week for her," Alicia said, quickly making up some excuse as to why Lily was so quiet.
Lily secretly felt grateful, but she wasn't able to thank her for it.
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that," James sighed, looking at Lily with sympathetic eyes. "But look on the bright side, you're not the one with broken glass sticking out of your leg."
"That is true," Alicia laughed, turning to see if Lily was laughing with her.
She wasn't.
"Anyway," Alicia sighed. "I'm just going to carefully remove the glass."
"What happened in there, Lily?" Alicia asked, as she and Lily exited the cubicle to get the discharge papers for James. "You didn't say a single word to him, what if he puts in a complaint?"
Lily didn't say anything and just sat down at the computer in reception, sitting the notes down onto the desk. She tapped the keypad anxiously, and slowly lifted her face to lock eyes with Alicia.
"I don't think he will," Alicia sighed, taking a seat beside her. She could sense the nerves building up inside of Lily. "He was nice, but you're lucky. He could have been an awkward patient Lily, one who could have put in a complaint against you for being unprofessional."
"Just..." Lily hissed and cursed herself for saying something. "Just...Don't tell me how to do my job, alright?" She whispered, her voice soft and croaky.
"So you can speak," Alicia stated. "You haven't lost your voice or anything. Where was that ten minutes ago?" She sighed and asked, "Is there something wrong? Has something upset you?"
Lily shook her head and whispered, "I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" Alicia asked.
Lily faintly nodded at her and repeated the same words, "I'm fine."
"Okay," Alicia decided to drop the subject. She really did not want to cause an argument between the two of them. "But we're going to be dealing with more patients, Lily. You won't be able to keep up this silent treatment. Sooner or later, someone will complain."
Lily didn't want to think about that, but deep down she knew that Alicia was right.
So there's the first chapter. I'm actually quite pleased with it so far and I really enjoyed writing this. I'll try and update soon. Let me know what you think and if you have any conscructive critism or improvement ideas, just let me know.
Thank you x