When You're Alone
Present day is in normal text and the past is in italics.
Chapter 1
Sam's Flat - Holby
A blank wall greeted Sam when she opened her eyes. She stretched her legs and sat up. She pulled the covers back and climbed out of the bed. She had a thumping head ache; she'd most definitely had too much to drink last night. She hadn't gone out with her colleagues from the E.D., instead she had come back to her flat - she didn't consider it a home - and drunk into the earlier hours of the morning, alone. She had been drinking to forget, and it was a dangerous reason. All Sam wanted was someone to hold her at night and tell her everything was going to be all right - all she wanted was Dylan as he had done both those things during their marriage. She hadn't meant to fall in love with him, she just had. She also hadn't meant to break his heart, she just had.
She arrived at the E.D. twenty minutes later. As she entered the building of her work, Dylan appeared beside her. "Rough night, eh?" He asked, turning to face her.
"Is it that obvious?" She asked him, and Dylan smiled.
"I was married to you." Dylan replied, indignantly. "I learnt to tell." Sam laughed, as they arrived in the bustling reception area.
"Dylan, Sam, can you hurry up, please. You're late already." Nick said, coming up behind them.
"Of course." Sam answered, walking off. Dylan followed her.
If he'd been told before he had met Sam that Dylan was married, he would have felt sorry for the woman who had to live with him but it was obvious to him that she was completely fine fighting her own battles – and that she was completely, utterly in love with her husband still. Dylan hadn't seemed to grasp the fact that his wife – or was it ex now? – was still in love with him. Other people were starting to notice – Dixie and Jeff to start with- and Nick was counting down the minutes till Dylan realised. He still hoped that their marriage could be saved, the question was would Sam let it be fixed?
St Paul's Hospital - London
"Dr Keogh – Dylan - you can come in now." Dr David Norris, the clinical lead at St Paul's Hospital, called to Dylan, who had been waiting outside his office for close on twenty minutes now - twenty minutes since the end of his shift. Dylan entered the room and was surprised to see Miriam Turner, his former mentor, sitting in one of two available seat opposite Dr Norris' desk.
"Miriam, how nice to see you." Dylan said, trying half-heartedly to sound cheerful but failing miserably.
"Nice to see you too, Dylan." Miriam didn't even have to try to sound cheerful, it was her default setting.
"Well, now we can get on to why you are here." He gestured at Dylan. "Miriam and I have talked and we have both agreed that to improve your development as a doctor you should take on a mentee."
"Did I just here you right?" Dylan was blunt and straight to the point. "I don't want to be a mentor. It will be some stupid person who things they're going to be the best doctor in the world but probably faints at the sight of blood." Dylan lamented.
"Actually Dylan, she is the best student in her class and she has a very bright future ahead of her." Miriam told him.
"I don't want a mentee." Dylan said, knowing full well he sounded like a stubborn child.
"Her name is Samantha Nicholls and she wants to specialise in emergency medicine. It says here that she is very stubborn and is very calm in the face of danger. I want you to rise to this challenge and take Miss Nicholls on. Stop being a child, Dylan and this will make you a better doctor." Dr Norris stated. "She will be coming in three weeks, Dylan and you will mentor her." Dr Norris finished.
"I guess." Dylan coaxed out of his mouth after a short period of thinking.
"Thank you, Dylan. Prepare as you wish." Dr Norris told him. Dylan nodded and left the room.
"How do you think he'll get on?" Dr Norris directed his words at Miriam.
"I think he'll rise to it and excel, like he had done with most things." Dr Norris nodded in agreement.
"Thanks, Miriam." Dr Norris told the other doctor.
"It's fine, David. I want to help him." Miriam disclosed.
"Dr Keogh?" Miriam asked Dylan, who had a vacant expression on his face. "Dr Keogh, you remember I told you that Dr Norris and I had decided that you could use the experience from mentoring a student?" Dylan made a gruff noise that Miriam took as a yes. "Well, this is your student, her name is Samantha Nicholls." Miriam continued. She turned away and leant into Sam. "Good luck."
"Well, Samantha, I haven't done this yet so just please do as I say." He gruffly told her. "I hope she doesn't faint at the sight of blood." He muttered to himself but Sam heard him.
"Nope, I don't." Dylan shook his head. "Please don't judge me on how I look, I'll show you – I'm going to be a doctor – okay, no matter what you think." Dylan smiled at this girl – what was her name Sandra, Sally? Wait it was Samantha- and her feistiness.
"We'll get on fine, Samantha." Dylan told her.
"It's Sam." She said, with the same determination.
Holby City Hospital E.D. – Holby
"Sam?" Nick called across the crowded E.D.
"What?" Sam bluntly replied. Nick slightly shook his head.
"The paramedics are one down and I thought you could go with them on call today." Nick inquired.
"That's fine." Sam turned and left Nick.
Five minutes later, she was crossing the forecourt and had nearly arrived at the ambulance when Dixie's radio went off.
"Ambulance 3402?" The radio blared.
"Ambulance 3402 here." Dixie called into the device.
"A thirty year old male has collapsed at the Luxbridge Football Stadium. Suspected epileptic fit. Dixie nodded and they climbed into the ambulance.
"That's fine." Dixie replied. The older woman looked at Sam. She noted that she was very pale and had black rings around her eyes. "You all right Sam?" Sam nodded, rubbing her eyes.
"You better be on top form today, princess!" Jeff called from the front seat.
"Don't worry, I will." Sam answered with some of her usual determination but it was quite all there. Dixie wondered what was up with Sam.
"Let's go." Jeff called as they piled out of the ambulance. Sam pounded up the stairs with Dixie and Jeff close on her heels. She turned a corner and there was the man. Sam raced up to his side, Dixie running to the other side of him. The man was struggling to get up.
"Just lie down and relax." Sam told him.
"What's your name, love?" Dixie asked him. They were busying themselves checking him over.
"Daniel…Lannigen." The man stuttered out.
"Daniel, do you have epilepsy?" Sam asked him. He violently shook his head. "Okay, calm down. Does anyone in your family have epilepsy?" Daniel shook his head again. "Well, I believe that you might have-" He cut her off.
"There is no way in hell I have epilepsy!" He screamed. Sam recoiled and sat on her haunches, staring at him.
"I am trying to help you, so you could help me by accepting that, thank you." Sam spoke in a sharp tone.
"I don't care." Daniel replied. Sam raised her eyebrows.
"Dixie, we can't treat time wasters when a person could be dying." Sam stood up and started to walk away.
"Sam! Sam!" Jeff ran up beside her. "Please." He begged.
"Sam, walk away now and I will report you." Dixie had stood up. Sam froze, she couldn't lose this job, it was all she had now. She turned and went back down to the floor. "Please, Daniel, be a bit more cooperative." Dixie pleaded.
Sam was standing chatting to Dixie. Their shifts had just finished. "Do you want to come out for drinks tonight? Tom managed to convince Dylan to come tonight." Sam's head snapped up at the mention of her husband.
"I'll come then." She was mainly going to keep an eye on Dylan, she knew most of all what happened when Dylan was drunk.
"Sam, you all right?" Nick asked, walking up to them and noting how pale the blonde was. She nodded.
"Nick, can I have a word, please?" Dixie asked him. After words she mouthed 'it's about Sam' to Nick.
"Of course, Dixie, my pleasure." He gestured and they walked into his office.
"See you, Dix." Sam called after the departing pair.
"What's up, Dixie?" Nick asked, and there was concern in his tone.
"Something's up with Sam, she could hardly concentrate today and she has been very pale. I'm worrying, Nick. I know she's strong and all that, but she's struggling and I think it's because of Dylan. It's obvious if you know her that she still loves him, she's too proud to admit it. I don't know why they separated but I think that oaf should realise before he loses her for good." Dixie relayed to her boss.
"She's too proud to admit that she's still in love with her husband? It's strange how it works out, doesn't it?" Nick inquired. Dixie nodded.
"Can you keep an eye out and please have a word with Dylan." Dixie asked. This time it was Nick who nodded. "Are you coming for drinks? Dylan's coming so you could talk to him then." Dixie questioned her boss.
"Sorry, Dix, but I've got paper work to do. I'll talk to him tomorrow." Dixie nodded and left the room.
The group that entered the pub consisted of the main bulk of the staff of the Holby E.D. Sam usually made and excuse not to come, and so did Dylan but for some reason Dylan had decided to come today.
As the night spiralled on, Sam got drunker and drunker. She knew in the part of her brain not clouded by alcohol, that it bad to get this drunk but she waved the thought away. She still kept an eye on Dylan, who had one pint and then started drinking lemonade. There was no way Dylan was getting drunk. Sam was happy that Dylan wasn't getting drunk as she knew how angry he could get whilst under the influence.
"You're drunk, Sam." Sam had gone over to Dylan.
"So what?" She replied. Dylan shook his head. "This reminds me of..." She stopped herself before Dylan scolded her for going back down memory lane. To her surprise he didn't.
"I'd had a bad day and you invited me out to the pub with some of your mates." Dylan continued the story.
"And we both got so drunk, didn't we?" Sam added.
"So much that we didn't remember what happened when we woke up in the morning." Dylan continued.
"But it wasn't too hard to fill in the gaps was it, Dylan?" Sam asked and Dylan had gone bright red. They both started laughing and several heads turned in their direction. "I'm going home." Sam announced.
"You're not driving in that state." Dylan scolded.
"Of course not, I'll walk." Sam replied, annoyance in her tone.
"I'll walk you home." Dylan announced his own plan.
"Dylan, I'm not a child." Sam told him.
"I know. Still won't stop me." Dylan replied. Sam shook her head and stood up. Dylan stood up too.
Outside in the cold of the evening, Sam and Dylan stood making idle chat whilst waiting for something, neither quite sure what. "I missed you." Sam admitted, after they had been standing in the street for a while.
"Sam, please, don't make this more difficult than it is at the moment." Dylan tried to reason with her, but it didn't work as a couple of seconds later Sam leant in to kiss him.
I've worked hard at making this long and interesting so I hope you like it. Chapter two will be up soon, I hope! Reviews are welcome!